"CUM GRANDE HUMILITATE!"

"Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words."

A special "Thank you!"
Goes out to
John Michael Talbot
for giving us permission
to use his song on our
"Come to the Quiet"
You Tube Video
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Showing posts with label Sister Briege McKenna OSC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sister Briege McKenna OSC. Show all posts

Sunday, December 22, 2019

Sister Briege McKenna, OSC, "The Healing Nun"

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Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta was the first person to call Sister Briege "The Healing Nun," and now she in known for this gift all over the world. 

Sister Briege was a guest on my radio talk show several years ago and it was perhaps the best interview we ever had on that program.

Chris



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Wednesday, February 08, 2012

2012 "Come to the Quiet" Retreat Schedule






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2012 "Come to the Quiet"  Retreat Schedule:

May 4-6 – Men Only
June 1-3 – Women Only
July 6-8 – Men Only
August 3-5 – Women Only
September TBA – Men Only
October 5-7 – Women Only

There appears to be a growing interest in the monastic life among people of all
lifestyles – and no wonder! For centuries, the monastic life has provided monks and nuns with disciplines and practices aimed at helping them maintain balanced, healthy and centered lifestyles while they “prefer nothing to Christ.” But these practices are not only for monks! Join us as we explore practices such as silence,prayer, simplicity, solitude and celebration, and the benefits they have for all our lives.

Fee $120.00 per person which includes meals, and lodging.

To register, or for additional information, please contact Fra Chris Dickson Cell phone: 765-220-1623 or email us at hermitage@parallax.ws

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Sunday, August 01, 2010

Mystic Monk Coffee: Order Through The Portiuncula And Donate To Birthright (a loving alternative to Abortion)



The Carmelite Monks of Wyoming

Mystic Monk Coffee is roasted by the Carmelite Monks, a Roman Catholic monastery in the silence and solitude of the Rocky Mountains of northern Wyoming. The monks live a hidden life of prayer and contemplation in the pursuit of God. The monastery is inundated with young men who seek to leave everything to pray for the world, in a tradition at least a thousand years old. It is the monks’ great joy and privilege to share the fruit of their life with you in every cup of Mystic Monk Coffee.


The Monk Master Roaster

Br. Java is the master roaster who meticulously roasts beans in small batches. His philosophy is that each roast must be not only the labor of his hands, but a master roast of the highest quality. Br. Java is passionate about obtaining the perfect roasts for you. He carefully roasts only the finest gourmet beans under conditions that will make each roast consistent and smooth with a taste that will make your taste buds tingle. With experience and perfection, Mystic Monk Coffee is a coffee to savor and enjoy – with or without cream.

The Legend of the First Mystic Monk

Coffee is a product perfected and loved by monks from its beginning. When a monk of old heard the anguished tale of a shepherd who had sleepless goats, he himself discovered growing on shrubs the berries, which had such a wonderful affect. Delighted at his find, the ingenious monk boiled the beans in water and drank the resulting coffee. He found in his discovery a hot drink that could keep his eyes awake even amidst the midnight vigils and unceasing prayers of the monastic life.

The secret of coffee continues to keep monks ever alert and vigilant for their prayers, but now Mystic Monk Coffee shares the hidden, master roasts of monks with all who seek a delightful cup of coffee.

Monks are passionate Perfectionists

The monastic life is one of ordered perfection, which you will taste in every bag of Mystic Monk Coffee. Passionate about perfection, no challenge is too great for Br. Java and the monks, if it will result in a Mystic Monk brew suited for the most discriminating coffee drinker. The Carmelite monks have mastered the ancient art of roasting coffee, laboring with steadfast determination to make each cup of coffee simply superb. Taste the monastic perfection in each brew, which makes all the difference.

Please remember to keep our pre-born in your daily prayers!

To Order Direct, simply click on the Mystic Monk Icon at the very top of this page!



Please remember that when you buy Mystic Monk Coffee through the Portiuncula Hermitage, ten percent of all our commission sales are donated to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion.)

Fra Chris





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Can You Afford Just $5.00 A Month For The Love Of God?



Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,


It's times like these that tempt Catholics to throw in the towel and give up on the culture of despair.

Greed and corruption have wreaked havoc on our nation's economy. Euthanasia just received Washington State's stamp of approval. And all the pro-life victories of the past decade are now in jeopardy. It's the perfect storm for despair. But despair is the last thing we should do.

In troubled times, Christ calls us to pray, to trust in his perfect will, and to cooperate with his grace.

Ultimately, Christ calls us to hope. He calls us to remember that for Christians, peace does not rest on who wins an election or on the value of our stock portfolios, but in a loving God who “in everything...works for good.”

Of course, God doesn't just call us to hope. He gives us reasons to hope and signs of the good things to come.

I truly believe one of those reasons, one of those signs, is the Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center.

While many other Catholic institutions have sold out to the culture of death, the Portiuncula, along with a few others, has fought steadfastly for a culture of life. It has faithfully stood alongside the Church, forming men and women capable of true leadership and committed to bringing Christ to the culture.

But the Portiuncula Retreat Center can't be built alone. To build, we need your help! And that is why I'm writing you today: To invite you to join me in helping our culture through these troubled times by helping build the Portiuncula Retreat Center.

United in the Roman Catholic tradition and obedient to the Magisterium of the Church and the Bishop of Steubenville, we are committed to our Lord and Savior in the Scriptures, the Eucharist, the Sacraments of the Church and in our Brothers and Sisters.

With God's grace and your help, I believe past Portiuncula retreatants and those soon to follow in their footsteps will lead our culture and our country out of these troubled times.

That is why I invite you to share the work of these Catholics and the Portiuncula Hermitage that is forming them.

First, allow them to pray for you.

Prayer is the lifeblood of the Portiuncula Hermitage, and the Franciscan family would be honored to include you in their prayers. Please e-mail your most pressing intentions to: hermitage@parallax.ws

Everyone at the Portiuncula will pray for your intentions before the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and at Mass.

In turn, please pray for the Portiuncula, that it might continue to form leaders who can be salt and light to our world.

Finally, I would be grateful if you supported the work of building the Portiuncula Chapel with a generous financial contribution.

Your support of the Portiuncula will make it possible for the sons and daughters of the Church to grow in faith during their retreats, and become the courageous Catholic leaders the world desperately needs.

Today, I want to ask you to become a partner in the Portiuncula's mission to build the Portiuncula Retreat Center by simply donating $5.00 $10.00 or $15.00 a month.

PORTIUNCULA FRANCISCAN HERMITAGE/RETREAT CENTER

ON LINE DONATION



Or mail your Alms to:

Portiuncula Hermitage
% 508 South 16th Street
Richmond, IN 47374

Please, become a part of the Portiuncula Hermitage's work today. Don't let this chance to turn the culture around pass you by.

Pax Et Bonum!





Fra Chris


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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

INSTRUCTION ON PRAYERS FOR HEALING


CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

In sanctuaries, other celebrations are held frequently which may not be aimed per se at specifically asking God for graces of healing, but in which, in the intentions of the organizers and participants, the obtaining of healing has an important part. With this purpose in mind, both liturgical and non-liturgical services are held: liturgical celebrations (such as exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction) and non-liturgical expressions of popular piety encouraged by the Church (such as the solemn recitation of the Rosary). These celebrations are legitimate, as long as their authentic sense is not altered. For example, one could not place on the primary level the desire to obtain the healing of the sick, in a way which might cause Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament to lose its specific finality, which is to «bring the faithful to recognize in the Eucharist the wonderful presence of Christ and to invite them to a spiritual union with him, a union which finds its culmination in sacramental Communion.»(26)

The «charism of healing» is not attributable to a specific class of faithful. It is quite clear that St. Paul, when referring to various charisms in 1 Corinthians 12, does not attribute the gift of «charisms of healing» to a particular group, whether apostles, prophets, teachers, those who govern, or any other. The logic which governs the distribution of such gifts is quite different: «All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who distributes to each one individually just as the Spirit choses» (1 Cor 12:11). Consequently, in prayer meetings organized for asking for healing, it would be completely arbitrary to attribute a «charism of healing» to any category of participants, for example, to the directors of the group; the only thing to do is to entrust oneself to the free decision of the Holy Spirit, who grants to some a special charism of healing in order to show the power of the grace of the Risen Christ. Yet not even the most intense prayer obtains the healing of all sicknesses. So it is that St. Paul had to learn from the Lord that «my grace is enough for you; my power is made perfect in weakness» (2 Cor 12:9), and that the meaning of the experience of suffering can be that «in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church» (Col 1:24).


The Sovereign Pontiff John Paul II, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect, approved the present Instruction, adopted in Ordinary Session of this Congregation, and ordered its publication.

Rome, from the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, September 14, 2000, the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross.

+ Joseph Card. RATZINGER
Prefect

+ Tarcisio BERTONE, S.D.B. Archbishop Emeritus of Vercelli
Secretary

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My God and My All!


Looking up to heaven and raising his hands, he prayed with intense fervor and devotion, saying: "My God and my all!" And he sobbed out those words with so many tears and kept repeating them with such devout persistence that until matins he said nothing but "My God and my all!"

Saint Francis of Assisi
Little Flowers of St. Francis - 2


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Monday, June 28, 2010

Oh, God, My Flesh Faints For You (Psalm 63)

The little Chapel at Mogliano, Italy

Once when Brother John was staying in the Place of Mogliano of the Custody of Fermo in the Province of the Marches...when he had proceeded as far as the Preface of the Blessed Virgin, the supernatural illumination and sweet consolation of God's love increased so much within him that when he reached the Qui pridie he could hardly endure such overwhelming sweetness. Finally, when he came to the Consecration itself and began to pronounce the words of the Consecration over the Host, he kept repeating the first of the formula - Hoc est - Hoc est - very often, and he was unable to go any further. And the reason why he could not go on was that he felt and saw the presence of Christ and of a throng of angels and saints, so that he almost fainted because of their grandeur which he felt in his soul.

St. Francis of Assisi
Little Flowers of St. Francis - 53

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Sunday, June 27, 2010

"Come To The Quiet" Men's Retreats At The Portiuncula Hermitage


Become a Monastic

without having to leave your

Day Job!



Dr. Tom Ringenberg during personal prayer time at the
Portiuncula Hermitage in Jerusalem, Ohio


Dear Christian Brothers,

Having just experienced one of the most peaceful and fulfilling weekends of my Christian life, I feel led to write you and encourage you to take a fresh breath of the clean air at the Portiuncula Retreat in Jerusalem Ohio. Surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation in the hills of Appalachia, I was refreshed in God’s peace.

The initial reaction to a weekend of silence, fasting and prayer was mixed as I revel in the world’s flash of media and the madness of twenty-four hour news. I feared boredom and the lack of external stimulus. But God is good, and He provided plenty for me. Walks in the woods and fields, silent prayer and meditation, communal prayer with my Brothers in Christ, prayers of intercession, and theological discussion on the travel to and from Jerusalem, stimulated my spirit far more than my flesh has ever been stimulated.

It is my hope that Portiuncula will become a haven for those who need a fresh touch of God. I will return soon to restore my soul with peace. Join me in supporting the Portiuncula project by attending a retreat weekend of fasting, prayer, brotherhood and silence in the Franciscan Tradition.

Yours In Christ,

Dr. Tom Ringenberg
Centerville, IN

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Pond at Portiuncula Hermitage in Jerusalem, Ohio

July 9-11
July 16-18
August 13-15
August 20-22
August 27-29
September 17-19
September 24-26

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Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Intoxicated By Love



Intoxicated by love and compassion for Christ, blessed Francis sometimes used to act in ways like these. For the sweetest of spiritual melodies would often well up within him and found expression in French melodies, and the murmurs of God's voice, heard by him alone, would joyfully pour forth in the French tongue. Sometimes he would pick up a stick from the ground, and laying it on his left arm, he would draw another stick across it with his right hand like a bow, as though he were playing a viol or some other instrument; and he would imitate the movements of a musician and sing in French to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Saint Francis of Assisi

Mirror of Perfection - 93


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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Become A Thief


A thief climbs the ladder to break into the vault where the treasures are stored. The soul, too, ascends the secret contemplation to plunder the riches of heaven.

Saint John of the Cross
Dark Night of the Soul
Chapter 18

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Monday, June 14, 2010

Welcome To The Portiuncula Healing Ministry


"Only say the word Lord, and I shall be healed"

We are a

Franciscan Prayer Ministry

located in Jerusalem, Ohio.

Through prayer and Adoration before our Eucharistic Lord, we seek His awesome power, grace, and mercy, to bring His divine healing and peace into your life.

Simply e-mail your Prayer Requests to:


We encourage you to participate in our

Healing Services and Retreats

Thank you for visiting.

Pax Et Bonum!


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Hermitages


Not more then three or at most four friars should go together to a hermitage to lead a religious life there. Two of these should act as mothers, with the other two, or the other one, as their children. The mothers are to lead the life of Martha; the other two, the life of Mary Magdalen.

Saint Francis of Assisi
RELIGIOUS LIFE IN HERMITAGES

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Holy Simplicity


Saint Francis was zealous with more than usual care to show forth in himself, and he loved in others, holy simplicity, the daughter of grace, the sister of wisdom, the mother of justice.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
CHAPTER CXLII

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Sunday, June 13, 2010

Keeping Devotions Private


My friend, it is more to your advantage - and it is safer, too - to keep your private devotions to yourself. The way you worship God on your own is a great grace; do not flaunt it or talk much about it or think much about it. Instead, keep it to yourself, and be wary of it as a thing given to someone who does not deserve it. Never cling too tightly to these holy feelings, for they can quickly change to the opposite.

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST
THOMAS A KEMPIS
Chapter 7

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Saturday, June 12, 2010

Jerusalem, Ohio: Begging for Stones!



Jerusalem, Ohio Catholics are being asked to collect all their field stones and drop them off at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Cemetery on Ozark-Eddy Bridge Road so that we can duplicate this Portiuncula Chapel located at the Franciscan University of Steubenville


Francis set to begging for stones with which to restore the church of San Damiano. He called to the passers-by: "Whoever gives me one stone will have one reward; two stones, two rewards; three stones, a treble reward!"

Saint Francis of Assisi
Legend of the Three Companions
CHAPTER VII



Please note : We are begging our Christian brothers and sisters in Monroe County, Ohio to round up all their field stones and dump them into the woods next to the Immaculate Conception Cemetery on Ozark-Eddy Bridge Road (in the direction of the large white house towards Woodsfield). These stones will be used to erect the Portiuncula Chapel.

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Preferring Insults To Praise


For his part, Francis preferred insult to praise, because he knew that insult leads to self-improvement, praise to downfall. And so when people praised his merits and holiness, he would command one of the brothers to assault his ears with phrases that humiliated and mortified him.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER VI

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Friday, June 11, 2010

Ladola Capellata (the Hooded Lark)


http://www.tropicalbirding.com/tripReports/TR_SouthIndia_Nov2006/WEB-Malabar-Lark--Goa.jpg

Above all birds, St. Francis loved the little lark, known in the language of the country as lodola capellata (the hooded lark). He used to say, "Sister lark has a hood like a Religious and is a humble bird, for she walks contentedly along the road to find grain, and even if she finds it among the rubbish, she pecks it out and eats it. As she flies she praises God very sweetly, like good Religious who despise earthly things, whose minds are set on the things of heaven, and whose constant purpose is to praise God. Her plumage resembles the earth, and she sets an example for to Religious not to wear fine and gaudy clothing, but cloth of a humble price3 and colour, just as earth is inferior to the other elements."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Mirror of Perfection - 113

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The Habit Is A Sign


(Photo of Original Tunic worn by St. Francis found in Cortona, Italy)

The habit is a sign of the religious state and an indication of a good life; a lustful person has no right to it.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER V

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Virtue And Vice


Where there is Love and Wisdom,
there is neither Fear not Ignorance.

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here there is Patience and Humility,
there is neither Anger nor Annoyance.

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here there is Poverty and Joy,
there is neither Cupidity or Avarice.

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here there is Peace and Contemplation,
there is neither Care nor Restlessness.

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here there is Fear of God to guard the dwelling,
there no enemy can enter.

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here there is Mercy and Prudence,
there is neither Excess nor Harshness.


Saint Francis of Assisi
The Admonitions
Admonition XXVII

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