Francis Went Home To The Portiuncula To Die

Francis asked to be brought to St. Mary of the Portiuncula, so that he might yield up his spirit where he had first received the spirit of grace.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
Chapter XIV

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The Lord's Bridal Ring

Temptation overcome is the ring by which the Lord espouses the soul of his servant to himself.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
Chapter LXXXV

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Our Heavenly Inheritance

St. Francis once said, "Dearest brothers, the Son of God was more noble than we and he made himself poor for us in this world. We have chosen the way of poverty out of love for him; we should not be ashamed to go out and beg for alms. It is not right for the heirs of the kingdom to be ashamed of their heavenly inheritance. I say to you, there will be many noble and wise men who will join our Order and who will consider it an honor to beg for alms..."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
Chapter XLIV

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Father Tom Forrest Coming to Sunman, Indiana November 13, 2010

Fr. Gregory Bramlage & “Word of God” Prayer Ministry
invite you to spend a day with

Father Tom Forrest

November 13, 2010
East Central High School
St. Leon, Indiana

Father Forrest is a redemptorist priest who was ordained in New York in 1954 by Cardinal Spellman. For the first 23 years of his priesthood, he worked among the poor of the Caribbean. In 1978 he was elected director of the International Office for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. He served in this capacity for six years, first in Brussels and then in Rome.

Father Forrest has traveled to, and spoken in, 104 different countries and his articles and books have been translated into a number of languages. He has met and spoken with Pope John Paul II many times and on numerous occasions has attended breakfast, lunch and supper meetings with the Holy Father.

Father Forrest has organized two Worldwide Retreats for Priests, one in 1984 and the other in 1990. At present, he is the International Director of Evangelization 2000, a Catholic effort to promote Church renewal through prayer, proclamation of the Word and the formation of a more evangelistically activated people of God. He resides in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

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Poverty of Spirit

There are many people who spend all their time at their prayers and other religious exercises and mortify themselves by long fasts and so on. But if anyone says as much as a word that implies a reflection on their self-esteem or takes something from them, they are immediately up in arms and annoyed. These people are not really poor in spirit. A person is really poor in spirit when he hates himself and loves those who strike him in the face. (cf. Matthew 5:39).


Saint Francis of Assisi
The Admonitions
Admonition XIV

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How The Brothers And Sisters Of Penance Are To Dress

These are the Little Friars and Sisters V.V. of Jesus and Mary

The men belonging to this brotherhood shall dress in humble, undyed cloth, the price of which is not to exceed six Ravenna soldi an ell, unless for evident and necessary cause or temporary dispensation be given.

Saint Francis of Assisi
FIRST RULE OF THE THIRD ORDER
For the Brothers and Sisters of Penance

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Intoxicated By Love And Compassion For Christ

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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Honor All Priest With Special Respect

St. Francis admonished the brothers faithfully to observe the holy Gospel and the Rule to which they had bound themselves; to bear themselves reverently and devoutly towards the services of the Church and all ecclesiastical observances; to hear Mass and adore the Body of the Lord with devotion and worship. He also taught the brothers to honor with special respect all priest who were ministers of the sacraments.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Legend of the Three Companions - 57

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St. Francis Prepared For His Death

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Francis began THE CANTICLE OF BROTHER SUN in the summer of 1225, at a time indeed when he was deep in suffering, but when he had already attained the mystical heights in his experience on Mount La Verna. But the joy he had experienced in that great privilege was tempered by the thought of how many men were greatly offending their Creator by misusing the creature world God had given them. "For His praise," he said, "I want to compose a new hymn about the Lord's creatures, of which we make daily use, without which we cannot live, and with which the human race greatly offends its Creator."

The first part of the Canticle, up to the verses about pardon and peace, he composed in the garden of the Poor Clare's convent at San Damiano, where he lay sick and in intense suffering for six or seven weeks. He then composed a melody for it and frequently urged his brothers to sing it when they were out preaching. The second part, consisting of the next two verses about pardon and peace, he composed a short time later in an effort to restore peace between the quarreling parties in a dispute between the civil and religious authorities of Assisi. The final verses about Sister Death Francis added shortly before his own death, after Brother Leo and Brother Angelo had sung the Canticle at his request. Celano adds that his last words were: "Welcome, my Sister Death."

St. Francis of Assisi
Omnibus of Sources

il Cantico delle Creature
(The Canticle of the Creatures - St. Francis of Assisi)

by
Angelo Branduardi

Lyrics

A te solo Buon Signore
Si confanno gloria e onore
A Te ogni laude et benedizione
A Te solo si confanno
Che laltissimo Tu sei
E nullomo degno e
Te mentovare.
Si laudato Mio Signore
Con le Tue creature
Specialmente Frate Sole
E la sua luce.
Tu ci illumini di lui
Che e bellezza e splendore
Di Te Altissimo Signore
Porta il segno.
Si laudato Mio Signore
Per sorelle Luna e Stelle
Che Tu in cielo le hai formate
Chiare e belle.
Si laudato per Frate Vento
Aria, nuvole e maltempo
Che alle Tue creature dan sostentamento.
Si laudato Mio Signore
Per sorella nostra Acqua
Ella e casta, molto utile
E preziosa.
Si laudato per Frate Foco
Che ci illumina la notte
Ed e bello, giocondo
E robusto e forte.
Si laudato Mio Signore
Per la nostra Madre Terra
Ella e che ci sostenta
E ci governa
Si laudato Mio Signore
Vari frutti lei produce
Molti fiori coloriti
E verde lerba.
Si laudato per coloro
Che perdonano per il Tuo amore
Sopportando infermite
E tribolazione
E beati sian coloro
Che cammineranno in pace
Che da Te Buon Signore
Avran corona.
Si laudato Mio Signore
Per la Morte Corporale
Che da lei nesun che vive
Pue scappare
E beati saran quelli
nella Tua volonte
che Sorella Morte
non gli fare male

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"Come to the Quiet" Retreats Mean Living For God

Portiuncula Hermitage Jerusalem, Ohio

The desert is a place of spiritual revolution, not of personal retreat. It is a place of inner protest, not outward peace. It is a place of deep encounter, not of superficial escape. It is a place of repentance, not recuperation. Living in the desert does not mean living without people; it means living for God. Antony and the other desert dwellers never forgot this. They never sought to cut off their connections to other people instantly. They sought rather to refine these relationships increasingly.

Of course, the desert was, on a deeper level, always more than simply a place. It was a way. And it was not the desert that made the Desert Fathers and Mothers, any more than it was the lion that made the martyrs.

In the Heart of the Desert
Rev. Dr. John Chryssavgis

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Seek Out Solitary And Wild Places

The Pond at the Portiuncula Hermitage Jerusalem, Ohio

"For a matter as intimate as converse with God, one should choose that place which least occupies and most transcends the human side of our natures. And then it must not be a place that is pleasant and delectable to our feelings (such as some habitually contrive to find) for, so instead of the recollection of the spirit in God, naught is achieved but recreation and pleasure and feelings of delight. Therefore, that place is good which is solitary, and even wild, so that the spirit wholly and directly soars upward to God, not hindered nor detained by visible things: for even though these sometimes help to raise the spirit, that is better done by at once forgetting them and resting in God."

St. John of the Cross
The Ascent of Mount Carmel

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Please Support The Portiuncula Every Time You Search The Internet Or Shop On Line

Please help us duplicate this Portiuncula Chapel
found on the campus of the Franciscan University of Steubenville

What if the Portiuncula Hermitage earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or what if a percentage of every purchase you made on-line went to support our cause? Well, now it can!

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By simply surfing the web with GoodSearch.com and shopping with GoodShop.com you can raise much-needed funds for the Portiuncula Hermitage!

PLEASE FORWARD THIS PRAYER REQUEST TO
EVERYONE IN YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS BOOK!

Pax Et Bonum!


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Have No Anger Toward A Sinner

We must be careful not to be angry or upset because a brother or sister has fallen into sin, because anger or annoyance in themselves or in others makes it difficult to be charitable.

Saint Francis of Assisi
THE RULE OF 1223
Chapter 7

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When You Shop, Please Remember the Portiuncula

We Can Glory In The Cross Of Tribulations And Afflictions

"Above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christ gives to His friends in that of conquering oneself and willingly enduring suffering, insults, humiliations, and hardships for the love of Christ. For we cannot glory in all those other marvelous gifts of God, as they are not ours but God's, as the Apostle says: 'What have you that you have not received?' "But we can glory in the cross of tribulations and afflictions, because that is ours, and so the Apostle says: 'I will not glory save the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.' "

Saint Francis of Assisi
Little Flowers of St. Francis - 9

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God Cannot be Thought, Caught, or Sought by Understanding

For silence is not God, nor speaking; fasting is not God, nor eating; solitude is not God, nor company; nor any other pair of opposites. He is hidden between them, and cannot be found by anything your soul does, but only by the love of your heart. He cannot be known by reason, he cannot be thought, caught, or sought by understanding. But he can be loved and chosen by the true, loving will of your heart.

The Cloud of Unknowing

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Virtue

Virtue sought by fraud does not last long.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
Chapter III

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Speak Continually Of Holiness And Virtue

"The more strongly a man is tempted, the more needful it is that he speak continually of holiness and virtue; for as by means of unholy talk of evil things a man is easily led to do evil, so oftentimes by speaking of virtue a man is led and disposed to virtuous actions."

Saint Francis of Assisi
A Quote from Brother Giles
Little Flowers of St.Francis
PART FOUR: CHAPTER XIII

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President Mike Pence? Republican Values Voter straw poll says 'yes'

MIKE PENCE
RECLAIMING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
AND
THE AMERICAN DREAM

by

Chris Dickson

http://mikepencethebook.blogspot.com/

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

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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In Comparison, All Things In Heaven And Earth Are Nothing

The Poor Friars V. V.

Francis used to say that the servant of God ought to ask alms for the love of God more willingly and gladly than one who, out of his own generosity and sympathy, might go and say, 'If anyone will give me a penny, I will give him a thousand pieces of gold.' For, by asking alms, the servant of God offers the love of God to those of whom he begs, and in comparison with this all things in heaven and earth are nothing.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Mirror of Perfection - 22

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JINGLE BELL JAVA IS BACK !!!!! Order In Time For Christmas

The Mystic Monks have been busy preparing some surprises for this Christmas Season!

The most important of these is the



Fra Chris

Christmas Blend 2010

It is the most sophisticated blend available with a special blend of eight beans from all over the world. It is best described as a Medium Dark Blend with Citrus Flavors at first taste then a very smooth finish with pleasant pungentry. But hurry, because it is a Limited Edition Coffee Only!

And what would a Mystic Monk Christmas be without a little

Jingle Bell Java?

Our famous Jingle Bell Java will only be available until the end of the
Christmas Season
so be sure to stock up now!

We also have a beautiful new single handled Christmas Mug with a logo,and an insulated Mystic Monk Travel Mug - Perfect for enjoying our coffee while on the go!

Thank you for your support of the
Portiuncula Hermitage,
Mystic Monk Coffee®
and Birthright.

Please remember that the Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center donates ten percent of their Mystic Monk Coffee Sales to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion)!!!

To order, simply click on the
Mystic Monk Icon
at the Top of this screen!

God's Servant Is Like A Painting

St. Francis said: "An artist who paints our Lord or the Blessed Virgin honors them and recalls them to our mind; nevertheless, the painting claim no other merit than what it is, a creation made with wood and color. God's servant is like a painting: a creature of God through whom God is honored because of his blessings. He must not lay claim to any more merit than the wood and color do. Honor and glory must be given to God alone. The only thing we must retain for ourselves, as long as we live, is shame and confusion, for as long as we live, our flesh is always hostile to the grace of God."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Legend of Perugia - 104

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Taking Nothing With Us But Christ Crucified

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 habit 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 - 5

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Become Hidden In The Wounds Of The Savior

With fruitful devotion St. Francis frequented only heavenly dwellings, and he who had totally emptied himself remained so much longer in the wounds of the Savior.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano - First Life
Chapter XXVII

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St. Francis Preached Repentance And Penance

In the city of Bologna, when the entire square was filled with men and women and students, St. Francis's heavenly words seemed like sharp arrows which were shot from the bow of divine wisdom and pierced the hearts of everyone so effectively that by this sermon he converted a very great multitude of men and women from a state of sin to remorse and penance.

Saint Francis of Assisi
The Little Flowers of St. Francis - 27

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Making No Excuses

Blessed the religious who is in no hurry to make excuses, but accepts embarrassment and blame for some fault they did not commit.

Saint Francis of Assisi
The Admonitions
Admonition XXIII

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Elder Beerman "Community Day" Booklet Benefits the Portiuncula

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Go shopping to support
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Portiuncula Hermitage!

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This valuable coupon booklet can be purchased for just $5 each, good toward great merchandise at the Bon-Ton family of stores during the special One Day Community Day Sale on November 13th.

Buy your Elder Beerman Community Day Coupon Booklet today by contacting us at:

email:

hermitage@parallax.ws

Cell phone:

(765) 220-1623

The Sublime Virtue Of Humility

Original habit worn by St. Francis found in Cortona, Italy

In their pride the demons take flight at the sight of the sublime virtue practiced by those who are truly humble.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER VI

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