Saint Francis’ Greetings to the Blessed Virgin:
Hail, Lady and Queen, holy Mary, Mother of God,
Virgin who became the Church,
chosen by the Father in heaven,
consecrated by His beloved Son
and His Spirit, the Comforter:
in you was and remains,
the whole fullness of grace
and everything that is good.
Hail, His palace, Hail, His tabernacle, Hail, His dwelling, Hail, His robe, Hail, His handmaid, Hail, His mother!(more…)
Homily #111215k (06min) Play – Our Holy Father St. Francis placed his friars under the protection and advocacy of the Holy Virgin Mary. He knew that anyone who has her in his life, is well directed toward their goal.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Our Lady Queen of the Seraphic Order – Form: EF, Egredimini Et
Readings:
1st: sir 24:11-13, 15-19
Gsp: luk 1:26-33
Homily #111129 (09min) Play – On this feast of All Saints of the Franciscan Order, Fr. Dominic explains the charism of the Franciscan friar and sister, following the examples of our seraphic father St. Francis, holy mother St. Clare, and the multitude of Franciscan saints.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Ordinary Form - All Saints of the Franciscan Ord. – Feast
Readings:
1st Reading: Sirach 44:1, 10-15
Responsorial Psalm: 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Gospel: Mark 10:17-21
O Most Holy Our Father: Creator, Redeemer, Consoler and Our Savior.
Who art in Heaven: in the Angels and in the Saints; enlightening them unto knowledge, because Thou, Lord, art Light, inflaming them unto love, because Thou, Lord, art Love; indwelling and filling them unto blessedness, because Thou, Lord, art the Highest Good, the Eternal One, from whom is every good, without whom nothing is good.
Hallowed be Thy Name: may the knowledge of Thee in us be made bright, so that we may know what is the breadth of Thy benefactions, the length of Thy promises, the sublimity of Thy Majesty and the depth of Thy judgments.
Thy Kingdom come: so that Thou may reign in us by grace and make us come unto Thy Kingdom, where vision of Thee is made manifest, love of Thee made perfect, company with Thee blessed, enjoyment of Thee everlasting. (more…)
Lord, I ask you for two graces before I die: to experience in myself, as much as possible, the sufferings of your cruel Passion, and to feel for you the same love that drove you to sacrifice yourself for us.
My Lord Jesus Christ, I beg thee to grant me two graces before my death: first, that for the rest of my life I may experience in my soul and in my body, as much as possible, the same pain that you suffered, O sweet Jesus, during the time of thy most cruel Passion; and second, that I may feel in my heart, as much as possible, the same love which inflamed thee, the Son of God, and led thee to suffer thy passion gladly for us sinners.
+ St. Francis of Assisi
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On Holiness and Suffering for Christ:
In other parts of the world our brothers in Christ are suffering for their faith. And here we are at ease, just undergoing a slight test and dividing our loyalty between Christ and the world. We must realize in minds and hearts that this is a new age, that we will have to be a creative minority, and that the only argument that is left to convince others is holiness. The world has heard every other argument, and it is ready to reject them all, all except one: holiness
Marian Shrines of the World #9 – St. Mary of the Angels of the Portiuncula (7 min) >>> Play
Ave Maria!
August 2nd is the feast day of St. Mary of the Angels of the Portiuncula, near Assisi, Italy. It was this small church which St. Francis rebuilt and where he established his first community of followers. Join Fr. Andre as he details the story of this beautiful Marian Shrine.
Homily #110524 (12min) Play – Today we Franciscans celebrate the dedication of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi as a feast. Fr. Bonaventure preaches on the greatness of St Francis and the importance of reverencing holy places and church buildings. He stresses how this is not idolatry as some would claim or a waist of money as others say, but rather celebrating what God can do when He gives extraordinary gifts of grace to His saints and how we should imitate St. Francis in his reverence for churches, winning many of these same graces.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Dedication of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi – Feast – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: rev 21:1-5
Resp: psa 95:1-7
Gsp: joh 10:22-30
From the Omnibus of Sources: Of Francis’ devotion to our Lady, to whom in particular he entrusted his order
Toward the Mother of Jesus he was filled with an inexpressible love, because it was she who made the Lord of Majesty our brother. He sang special Praises to her, poured out prayers to her, offered her his affections, so many and so great that the tongue of man cannot recount them.But what delights us most, he made her the advocate of the order and placed under her wings the sons he was about to leave that she might cherish them and protect them to the end. – Hail, advocate of the poor! Fulfill toward us your office of protectress until the time set by the Father.
Hail, holy Lady, most holy Queen,
Mary, Mother of God, ever Virgin.
You were chosen by the Most High Father in heaven,
consecrated by Him, with His most Holy Beloved Son
and the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.
On you descended and still remains all the fullness of grace and every good.
Hail, His Palace. Hail His Tabernacle. Hail His Robe. Hail His Handmaid.
Hail, His Mother.
And hail, all holy Virtues, who, by grace and inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
are poured into the hearts of the faithful so that from their faithless state,
they may be made faithful servants of God through you.
Homily #101231 (07min) Play – Fr. Angelo preaches on the Gospel today from Luke where Our Lady ponders the events of Christmas in her heart and the first reading from Titus where Paul speaks about how Christ poured himself out for us. We still see this principle somewhat alive in today’s society when we say it is better to give than to receive. This is the true Spirit of Christmas and central to Christianity where we become poor in earthly goods and rich in heavenly ones. This was central to St. Francis’ spirituality.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Seventh Day Octave of Christmas: St. Sylvester I, Pope and Confessor – Commemoration – Form: EF, Puer Natus Est
Readings:
1st: tit 3:4-7
Gsp: luk 2:15-20
“Take up your cross,” the Savior said,
“If you would my disciple be;
Forsake the past, and come this day,
And humbly follow after me.”
Take up your cross; let not its weight
Pervade your soul with vain alarm;
His strength shall bear your spirit up,
Sustain your heart, and nerve your arm.
Take up your cross, nor heed the shame,
Nor let your foolish heart rebel;
For you the Lord endured the cross
To save your soul from death and hell.
Take up your cross and follow Christ,
Nor think till death to lay it down;
For only those who bear the cross
May hope to wear a golden crown.
Homily #100826 (07min) Play – On this feast day of the Seven Joys of Our Lady, celebrated by the Franciscans, commemorating the Franciscan Crown of the Seven Joys of Lady. Fr Angelo Geiger preaches on the Gospel account of the Annunciation where Our Lady finds joy in the message of the angel that she was to conceive by the Holy Spirit and have the presence of God within her. He ralates this to St. Francis who, after his conversion, was liberated from all that held him back from following Christ and was able to find joy in the ever-present Lord despite the fact that he had no earthly possessions.
Ave Maria! Readings: 1st: Song 2:1-14
Gspl: Luk 1:26-38
Homily #100802 (15min) Play – Today is the feast of the chapel of Our Lady of the Angels also known as the Portiuncula or “Little Portion” and it is there that St Francis took up residence after his conversion and where the Order of Friar Minors first started to grow. Also it was known for being frequented by angels and thus its name. It is one of the three churches that St Francis rebuilt as preparation for his mission from Christ to rebuild the entire Catholic Church in general. So it had a very dear place in St Francis’s heart and he commanded his brothers to never give up possession of it. In fact, he asked his brothers to bring him there when he was dying and there passed from this life to the next.
Ave Maria! Our Lady of the Angels of the Portiuncula – Mass: OF, – Readings:
1st: sir 24:1-4, 16, 22-34
Resp: psa 34:5, 7, 9-10, 18-19
2nd: gal 4:3-7
Gsp: luk 1:26-33
Homily #100428 (10min) Play – Bl. Lucius (Luchesius) was a Third Order Franciscan who lived in Tuscany in the 1200′s with many similarities to St. Francis in his upbringing. He was reputed to be the very first Third Order Franciscan when St. Francis came to visit him and his wife. Fr. Angelo uses the example of Bl. Luchesius to preach on the need to give God the first fruits of our life.
Roving Reporter #107 – Renaissance Art at its best at Bosco ai Frati (05 min) >>> Play
Ave Maria!
Recently, Friar Terrance had the privilege of visiting the ancient Franciscan convent of Bosco ai Frati (which literally translates as “the wood(s) of the friars”), located in the central part of Italy. The history of the convent is fascinating and very rich, as are the treasures contained within its walls, and we hope you’ll enjoy this brief but interesting video of a famous convent which the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate currently occupy.
Audio (MP3)
