Portiuncula: the Little Portion

OPEN WIDE THE DOORS !!!

2012-01-24T14:03:00.000-05:00

Take Care Lest You Be Found Sterile

2012-01-23T14:55:00.000-05:00

Tomb of the Unborn Child

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Next to the Portiuncula Chapel

"Take care lest, when the dung of worthlessness has been placed at your roots, you be found sterile, for then there will remain nothing but that the axe be put to you. Do not trust entirely the spirit that is in now in you, for man's senses are more prone to evil than to good, even though it may have been considerably separated from it."

Saint Francis of Assisi

Sacrum Commercium

An Awsome Gift Of Human Life

2012-01-19T10:50:00.000-05:00

"This past week someone shared with me the story of Dana Lu Blessing. I share it with you as we reflect on the awesome gift of human life.

"A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as a doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery. Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon, March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24 weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver the couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.

"At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. 'I don't think she's going to make it,' he said as kindly as he could. Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived.

"Because Dana's nervous system was essentially "raw" the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so for the first two months of her life her parents couldn't touch or cradle their tiny baby girl. Little by little this miracle child gained weight and strength. Five years later she was a petite and feisty little girl with no signs of physical or mental impairment.

"While her survival was a miracle, another miracle was revealed when Dana was just five years old. One afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ballpark watching her brother play baseball. She suddenly asked her mother, "Do you smell that?" "Yes," Diana responded, "it smells like rain." Dana closed her eyes and asked again, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're going to get wet. It smells like rain." Dana shook her head and announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest." And off she ran to play with the other children.

"And Dana knew that during those long days and nights of her daughter's first two months of life when her nerves were too sensitive for anyone to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it was His loving scent that she remembered.

"May Dana Lu Blessing never forget that scent and may we never forget God's love for His little ones both born and soon-to-be-born."

In God's love,

Fr. Todd Riebe
Pastor
Richmond Catholic Community

F.L.A. (Franciscan Lay Apostolates)

2012-01-18T10:16:00.001-05:00

"Carried away by the force of his preaching, great numbers of people adopted the new rule of penance according to the form instituted by St. Francis which he called the "Order of the Brothers of Penance." The way of penance is common to all those who are on the road to heaven and so this way of life includes members of both sexes, clerics and lay folks, married and single. How meritorious it is in the eyes of God is clear from the numerous miracles worked by some of those who followed it."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
Chapter IV

Voting Pro Abortion and Receiving Holy Communion

2012-01-15T09:05:00.000-05:00

The Power To Heal Comes From Humility

2012-01-14T15:48:00.000-05:00

Saint Padre Pio

In his love for true humility, St. Francis devoted himself to the lepers and lived with them, waiting on them all, for the love of God. He washed their feet and bound up their sores, drawing off the puss and wiping them clean. He was extraordinarily devoted to them and kissed their wounds, he who was soon to play a part of the worthy Good Samaritan in the Gospel. As a reward, God endowed him with such power to heal that his influence over ills of soul and body were miraculous.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life

Endure With Joy Every Pain and Every Adversity

2012-01-12T14:42:00.000-05:00

"St. Francis was once praying in an abandoned church when he was attacked by devils. Francis cried out and said, 'My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You for the great love and charity which You are showing me, because it is a sign of great love when the Lord punishes His servant well for all his faults in this world, so that he may not be punished for them in the next world. And I am prepared to endure with joy every pain and every adversity which You, my God, wish to send me for my sins.' Then the devils, having been humiliated and defeated by his endurance and patience, went away."

Saint Francis of Assisi

Little Flowers of St. Francis

Alan Colmes: Shame on you!

2012-01-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

Holy Obedience

2012-01-10T11:06:00.000-05:00

Monte Casale Friary

A legend from the friary at Monte Casale: Here every year the brethren plant a cabbage in the garden and let it flower to remind them of the time the saint bade two young brothers plant some cabbage plants upside down. One did, but the othe...r knew better and planted his right side up. St. Francis dismissed the second brother, for, he said, it had been a test of obedience, not of planting cabbages.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Mother Teresa: Abortion Destroys Peace

2012-01-09T09:43:00.000-05:00

Thirty-eitht years after the U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion on demand, people from across America plan to gather in the nation's capital in January to show their opposition to the ruling. The annual March for Life is expected to draw tens of thousands of people of all ages, faiths, and nationalities.

Given the enormity of the situation, I couldn't help but imagine waking up in the morning to the newspapers headlines:

"Nine American cities completely wiped out! No one left alive in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit, St. Louis or Atlanta."

After witnessing America's reaction to 9/11 and its aftermath., it's hard to imagine how angry American's would be if these headlines were true. Men, women and children would be lining up to join the armed forces to strike back at the enemy. But the sad fact is that these headlines are true. As of 1996, 32 million innocent American citizens had been slaughtered, the equivalent of nine major U.S. cities! Who is this enemy, China, Afghanistan, or Iraq? It's inconceivable to imagine the massive firepower it must have taken to inflict such destruction. Was it from atomic bombs, biological warfare or perhaps nerve agents? It was none of these. It was abortion.

Mother Teresa said, "If we can accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people that killing is wrong? After all, any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people love, but to use whatever violence necessary to get what they want."

Sure, everyone's concerned for the children of India and Africa, where thousands of children are dying of hunger and disease every day. Many people are concerned with the violence in our streets and classrooms as well. These are valid concerns, but all too often these same people aren't the least bit concerned by those being killed by the deliberate decisions of their own mothers. This is the greatest destroyer of peace today - abortion - which brings people to such blindness.

Does abortion destroy peace and cause blindness toward the sick, the hungry and the naked? Of course it does! When life is regarded so lightly and its disposal becomes so trivial, so clinical, so easy. After all, why should people or nations regard human life as noble or dignified if abortion flourishes? Why agonize over indiscriminate deaths in Bosnia, the Sudan, Iraq, or Afghanistan, when babies are being killed far more efficiently and out of sight of TV cameras?

Just imagine, the populations of all those major cities combined - all dead....who is left to cry?

Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage Talk On Spirituality

2012-01-04T12:53:00.001-05:00

A Dog Always Returns To Its Own Vomit

2012-01-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

"There are many religious who, under the pretext of seeing better things than those which their prelates command, look back (Luke 9:62) and return to the vomit of self-will (Proverb 26:11; 2 Peter 2:22). Such as these are murderers because by their bad example they cause many souls to be lost."

Saint Francis of Assisi

The Admonitions

Admonition 3

Cum Grande Humilitate: A Retreat Experience With Father Murray Bodo, O.F.M.

2012-01-03T12:10:00.000-05:00

Fr. Murray Bodo, O.F.M.

Cum grande humilitate! This last verse of St. Francis’ “Canticle of the Creatures” clearly expresses our weekend retreat at Oldenburg with Fr. Murray Bodo, OFM. Cum grande humilitate, translated from the original Umbrian dialect, means “humbly but grandly!”

My first encounter with Fr. Bodo began in 1987 with a copy of his book, “Through the Year With Francis of Assisi: Daily Meditations from His Words and Life.” I had no idea then who Fr. Murray Bodo was or of the importance his writings would one day play in my life. That book has now become a “loose-leaf” edition due to so many years of daily abuse I have inflicted upon it. (I still had no problems with having Father sign that torn, raggedy old book during the retreat.)

Knowing the special place I hold in my heart for Father’s gift of words, every birthday, anniversary and Christmas my wife Karen always surprises me with Fr. Bodo’s latest publication. Needless to say, when we heard Fr. Murray was coming to Oldenburg to give a weekend retreat, we immediately decided it was a perfect gift to give to one another for Christmas. And what a Christmas present it was!

As I sat there at the Oldenburg Franciscan Center, I was mesmerized by the man – the priest – the monk, who, through his writings for the past twenty-four years, had shared with me his most intimate thoughts and visions of Saints Francis and Clare through his magnificent gift of prose. That weekend in Oldenburg, right before my eyes, Father Bodo transformed from being a humble Franciscan Friar to becoming Francesco Bernardone, the son of Pietro Bernardone, a cloth merchant from Assisi. By the end of the weekend, I could see in Father Murray Bodo the man Francesco might have become had he lived another thirty or forty years; kind, considerate, articulate, unassuming, and still burning brightly with that insatiable desire to share a life of intimacy with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Deep in the footsteps of Francis and Clare, Father Murray transhumanced our group from high atop the mountains all the way down to our brother lepers deep in the valley. I found his words of encouragement to be warm, gregarious, comforting, and full of charm and wit.

Please have him return to us soon. In the meantime, may we all follow Fr. Bodo’s example and go together as brothers and sisters of Francis and Clare cum grande humilitate, “humbly but grandly” to rebuild His Church

Pace e Bene my brothers and sisters!

Chris Dickson, F.L.A.

Oldenburg Associate

A Tunic That Bears A Likeness To The Cross

2011-12-29T10:08:00.002-05:00

The tunic worn by St. Francis at the time of his death

"Francis designed for himself a tunic that bore a likeness to the cross, that by means of it he might beat off all temptations of the devil; he designed a very rough tunic so that it might crucify the flesh with all its vices and sins, he designed a very poor tunic, one that would not excite the covetousness of the world."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, First Life
Chapter IX

The Eremitical Way Of Life

2011-12-28T11:13:00.001-05:00

An early Franciscan Skete

"For many change the place of contemplation into a place of idleness and change the eremitical way of life, which was devised for the perfecting of souls, into a cesspool of pleasure. The norm for such hermits of the present time is to live as each one pleases...Would that the hermits of our time would not fall away from the primitive beauty, the praise of the righteousness of which remains forever."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
CHAPTER CXXXVI

The Real Presence in the Eucharist

2011-12-26T11:04:00.000-05:00

The Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center talks about the Real Presence in the Eucharist; the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

No Honeyed Words Of Flattery Or Blandishment

2011-12-23T08:28:00.001-05:00

T

Fra Volantino Verde

"Saint Francis wandered through the cities, villages, and hamlets, and began to preach with increasing perfection, not using learned words of human wisdom, but through the doctrine of virtue of the Holy Spirit most confidently proclaiming the kingdom of God. He was a genuine preacher confirmed by apostolic authority; therefore he spoke no honeyed words of flattery or blandishment; what he preached to others he had already put into practice himself and his teaching of the truth was full of assurance."

Saint Francis of Assisi

Legend of the Three Companions

Chapter XIII

Live For The Benefit Of Our Fellow Men And Women

2011-12-22T10:07:00.002-05:00

Spoleto, Italy

Brother Francis and his companions arrived at the Valley of Spoleto, still full of good dispositions, and there they fell to debating whether they should live among the people or seek refuge in solitude. Francis, who was a true servant of Christ, refused to trust in his own opinion or in the suggestions of his companions; instead, he sought to discover God's will by persevering prayer. Then, enlightened by a revelation from heaven, he realized he was sent by God to win for Christ the souls which the Devil was trying to snatch away. And so he chose to live for the benefit of his fellow men, rather than for himself alone, after the example of Him who was so good as to die for all men.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
Chapter IV

Adoration to the Most High Body and Blood

2011-12-19T18:05:00.000-05:00

Kissing your feet with all the love I'm capable of, I beg you to render, as far as you can, all reverence and total adoration to the Most Holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all in heaven and on earth are made peaceful and are reconciled to God the Almighty (cf. Col 1:20).

Saint Francis of Assisi

Letterr to the Whole Order

Canticum Sola (Canticle of the Creatures) in Original Umbrian Dialect

2011-12-15T18:31:00.000-05:00

The oldest written version of the Canticle of the Creatures in contained in ms 3...88 of the Municipal Library of Assisi (originally in the Sacro Convento of the Basilica of St. Francis) and dates from 1279 A.D.

CANTICUL SOLIS

Altissimu, onnipotente, bon Signore,
tue so' le laude, la gloria e l'honore et onne benedictione.
Ad te solo, Altissimo, se konfano,
et nullu homo ène dignu te mentovare.

Laudato sie, mi' Signore, cum tucte le tue creature,
spetialmente messor lo frate sole,
lo qual'è iorno, et allumini noi per lui.
Et ellu è bellu e radiante cum grande splendore:
de te, Altissimo, porta significatione.

Laudato si', mi' Signore, per sora luna e le stelle:
in celu l'ài formate clarite et pretiose et belle.

Laudato si', mi' Signore, per frate vento
et per aere et nubilo et sereno et onne tempo,
per lo quale a le tue creature dài sustentamento.

Laudato si', mi' Signore, per sor'aqua,
la quale è multo utile et humile et pretiosa et casta.

Laudato si', mi' Signore, per frate focu,
per lo quale ennallumini la nocte:
ed ello è bello et iocundo et robustoso et forte.

Laudato si', mi' Signore, per sora nostra matre terra,
la quale ne sustenta et governa,
et produce diversi fructi con coloriti flori et herba.

Laudato si', mi' Signore, per quelli ke perdonano per lo tuo amore
et sostengo infirmitate et tribulatione.
Beati quelli ke 'l sosterrano in pace,
ka da te, Altissimo, sirano incoronati.

Laudato si', mi' Signore, per sora nostra morte corporale,
da la quale nullu homo vivente pò skappare:
guai a quelli ke morrano ne le peccata mortali;
beati quelli ke trovarà ne le tue sanctissime voluntati,
ka la morte secunda no 'l farrà male.

Laudate e benedicete mi' Signore et rengratiate
e serviateli cum grande humilitate.

Saint Clare of Assisi: A Contemplative And A Mystic

2011-12-12T11:05:00.000-05:00

Photo of Father Murray Bodo, OFM, taken on Mount Subasio

(just outside of Assisi, Italy)

"Saint Clare is a contemplative and a mystic. The way into her mystery is the way of mystical language, language like that of the Song of Songs. It is language that speaks of lover and beloved, bride and bridegroom. The way of the mystic is the way of poetry and metaphor and allegory..." ~ Father Murray Bodo, OFM

Having A Greater Desire To Receive Shame And Insults

2011-12-12T08:19:00.000-05:00

Because St. Francis and his companions had been called by God and chosen to bear the Cross of Christ in their hearts and in their actions and to preach it by their words, they appeared to be and they were crucified men, both in their clothing and their austere life and their deeds and their actions. Therefore, they had a greater desire to receive shame and insults for the love of Christ than the vain honors or respect or praise of the world. On the contrary, they rejoiced in being insulted, and they were made sad by being honored. And so they went through the world as pilgrims and strangers, taking with them nothing but Christ Crucified.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Little Flowers of St. Francis
Chapter 5

St. Francis Built The First Christmas Crib in Greccio, Italy

2011-12-10T20:15:00.000-05:00

Photo of the actual cave in Greccio, Italy where

St. Francis of Assisi built the very first Christmas Creche

Pace e bene! Peace and all good!

May the peace and love and joy of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you this Christmas and every day of your lives. We offer this little story about St. Francis at Greccio—from the Major Legend of St. Francis-- for your reflection and meditation. The tradition of the crèche (or crib) originates with St. Francis and is uniquely Franciscan contribution to the celebration of Christmas. Know that we, your Franciscan brothers, are keeping you in our prayers at this most sacred time as you continue to discern God’s will for you in your hearts and in your lives. Merry Christmas!

“It happened, three years prior to his death, that he (Francis) decided to celebrate at the town of Greccio the memory of the birth of the Child Jesus with the greatest possible solemnity, in order to arouse devotion. So that this would not be considered a type of novelty, he petitioned for and obtained permission from the Supreme Pontiff.

"He had a manger prepared, hay carried in and an ox and an ass led to the spot. The brethren are summoned, the people arrive, the forest amplifies with their cries, and that venerable night is rendered brilliant and solemn by a multitude of bright lights and by resonant and harmonious hymns of praise. The man of God stands before the manger, filled with piety, bathed in tears, and overcome with joy.

"A solemn Mass is celebrated over the manger, with Francis, a levite of Christ, chanting the holy Gospel. Then he preaches to the people standing around him about the birth of the poor King, whom, whenever he means to call him, he called in his tender love, the Babe from Bethlehem.

"A certain virtuous and truthful knight, Sir John of Greccio, who had abandoned worldly military activity out of love of Christ and had become an intimate friend of the man of God, claimed that he saw a beautiful little child asleep in that manger whom the blessed father Francis embraced in both of his arms and seemed to wake it from sleep.

"Not only does the holiness of the witness make credible the vision of the devout knight, but also the truth it expresses proves its validity and the subsequent miracles confirm it. For Francis's example, when considered by the world, is capable of arousing the hearts of those who are sluggish in the faith of Christ.

The hay from the crib was kept by the people and miraculously cured sick animals and drove away different kinds of pestilence. Thus God glorified his servant in every way and demonstrated the efficacy of his holy prayer by the evident signs of wonderful miracles.”

St. Francis of Assisi

Celano, First Life
Chapter XXX

T

Christmas For Saint Francis

2011-12-10T20:03:00.000-05:00

"The birthday of the Child Jesus St. Francis observed with inexpressible eagerness over all other feasts, saying that it was the feast of feasts, on which God, having become a tiny infant, clung to human breasts."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life - 199

Advent Message from the Portiuncula Hermitage

2011-12-09T09:23:00.000-05:00