GoodSearch: Please Help Build The Portiuncula Chapel

"Searching" For Jesus!

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!

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half of its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

Although this may not sound like a lot of money, if only 1000 of our supporters use GoodSearch.com just 5 times per day for the year, the Portiuncula Hermitage would receive over $18,000 towards its mission of spreading God's love!

It's easy. Just download the GoodSearch – Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center toolbar at:

Website owners can also help by adding a customizable badge to their homepage or blog.

So please, make a commitment to browsing the Internet with GoodSearch.com with the Portiuncula Hermitage as your designated charity. Set it as your homepage, or bookmark it so using it becomes a habit.

As well, you can earn money for the Portiuncula Hermitage by doing your online shopping through GoodShop.com. It is a new online shopping mall which will donate up to 37 percent of each purchase to the Portiuncula Hermitage. Hundreds of popular stores, including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop.com and every time you place an order, you'll be supporting our valuable mission.

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 YOU KNOW!

Pax Et Bonum!


T

Holiness Should Be Known Only To God

"Behold my Knights of the Round Table: the brothers who hide in abandoned and secluded places to devote themselves with more fervor to prayer and meditation, to weep over their sins and those of others. Their holiness is known to God, but most often unknown to the brothers and men."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Legend of Perugia - 71

T

Have No Fear Of Being Thought Insignificant Or Unbalanced

Original Tunic worn by St. Francis at the time of his death

Have no fear of being thought insignificant or unbalanced, but preach repentance with courage and simplicity. Have faith in the Lord, who has overcome the world. His Spirit speaks in you and through you, calling men and women to turn to him and observe his precepts. You will encounter some who are faithful, meek, and well disposed; they will joyfully receive you and your words. But there will be more who are skeptical, proud, blasphemous, and who will insult you and resist your message. Prepare yourselves, therefore, to bear everything with patience and humility.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Legend of the Three Companions
Chapter X

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Preach With Your Eyes

Once St. Francis was giving a mother and her virgin daughter the comfort of the word of God. All the while he spoke, he never looked at them, and so when they left, his companion said to him, "Father, that holy woman and her virgin came to you with such devotion; why didn't you look at them?" But the holy father answered, "Who would not be afraid to look upon the bride of Christ? A whole sermon was preached with my eyes and face when they looked at me, but not I at them."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
CHAPTER LXXX

T

"Come To The Quiet" - 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 and Sisters,

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 the Portiuncula will become a haven for those who need a fresh touch of God. I will return soon to restore my soul with peace.

Please prayerfully consider joining me in supporting the Portiuncula Retreat Center by simply contributing $5.00 $10.00 $15.00 or more a month.

Simply Click On This
Parish Pay
Icon

Or mail payments to:

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

Thank you and God bless!

Yours In Christ,

Dr. Tom Ringenberg
Centerville, IN

T

Bishop Brandt Blocks Expansion Efforts of Nuns who Supported Health Bill

By James Tillman

GREENSBURG, PA, April 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- The Sisters of St. Joseph in Baden, Pennsylvania opposed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops by supporting the Health Care Reform Bill. Now Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt of Greensburg has withdrawn his diocese's support for their community by prohibiting the use of any diocesan media or parishes in their recruitment efforts.

"He has the right to disapprove a request from a religious community that wants to host a recruitment event when that community has taken a public stance in opposition to the Church's teaching on human life," said diocesan spokesman Jerry Zufelt.

“Furthermore an environment of dissent and public opposition to the positions of the U.S. Catholic bishops does not provide an appropriate seedbed for vocations."

The Sisters of St. Joseph had signed a letter written by NETWORK, a Catholic "social justice" lobbying group, which urged members of Congress "to cast a life affirming 'yes' vote" to the Senate Health Care Reform Bill. The USCCB as well as countless pro-life organizations had opposed the bill as seriously flawed and as opening the floodgates to federal funding of abortion.

Afterwards, the Sisters of St. Joseph requested promotional support from Greensburg parishes for a vocations awareness program called "Explore," which was meant to show teenage girls what it was like to be a sister. They were refused because of their signing of the letter.

Msgr. Lawrence T. Persico, the Greensburg diocese's vicar general, wrote a letter on April 8 to diocesan priests stating that no diocesan office, the diocesan newspaper, or any parish or event would "would promote a vocation awareness program of any religious community that has taken a stance against the United States bishops by being a signatory of the Network document."

Sister Mary Pellegrino, moderator of the leadership team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Baden, claimed that "based on our prayerful discernment and careful research" there would be no public funding of abortion caused by the bill.

"It would not violate the doctrinal and moral teachings of the Church," she said. Her community has requested that the diocese reverse its decision

Eighth U.S. Bishop Severs Ties with Anti-Poverty Arm, CCHD

by Patrick B. Craine

GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania, April 26, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Bishop Lawrence Brandt of Greensburg, Pennsylvania announced Thursday that his diocese will no longer support the U.S. bishops' domestic anti-poverty arm, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), because the national organization has funded groups that promote activities contrary to Catholic teaching.

Speaking at a fundraising dinner for Catholic Charities of Greensburg, the bishop announced his plan to develop a Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund to support the poor locally with funds that had previously been sent to the national CCHD.

"This change allows our diocese to know exactly how the poverty relief funds are spent,” he said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It also assures the parishioners who make generous contributions to the diocese that they are helping their neighbors right here in southwestern Pennsylvania."

He explained that he made the decision at the end of 2009 following complaints to him and his priests. He also stressed that no local CCHD grants, which are approved by the local bishop, had been given to groups advocating positions contrary to Church teaching

A statement from the diocese, reported by the Post-Gazette, noted that "Bishop Brandt and other U.S. bishops have been critical of CCHD because some of the national grants it awarded did not receive appropriate oversight, and monies were used to fund activities that were not in keeping with the teachings of the Catholic Church."

Monsignor Raymond E. Riffle, managing director of Catholic Charities for the diocese, told the Herald Standard that the new diocesan program will allow the funds to be used to support direct services to the poor, which are specifically denied funds by CCHD. "CCHD funds cannot be used, for example, to help a parish food pantry or a St. Vincent de Paul Society store expand its services or fill an emergency need," Msgr. Riffle said. "The Diocesan Poverty Relief Fund also allows us to respond to requests from these worthwhile organizations for funds to buy food, clothing and other necessities and then distribute them to people in need."

Bishop Brandt also made headlines last week after he denied his diocese's support to the Sisters of St. Joseph in Baden, Pennsylvania because they went against the U.S. bishops in supporting the health care reform bill.

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Bishop Brandt Blocks Expansion Efforts of Nuns who Supported Health Bill
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/apr/10041914.html

Seventh Bishop Won't Take Up CCHD Collection
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/feb/10022611.html

List of Bishops:
Bishop Robert J. Baker - Birmingham, Alabama
Bishop John O. Barres - Allentown, Pennsylvania
Bishop Lawrence Brandt - Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz - Lincoln, Nebraska
Bishop Victor Galeone - St. Augustine, Florida Statement
Bishop Robert C. Morlino - Madison, Wisconsin Statement
Bishop David Ricken – Green Bay, Wisconsin LSN
Bishop Edward J. Slattery - Tulsa, Oklahoma

Can You Afford Just $5.00 A Month?

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!

T

Offering The Love Of God

Immediately upon hearing "the love of God," Francis would become excited, stirred, and inflamed, as though an inner chord of his heart had been plucked by the plectrum of the outward voice of the speaker. He said that to offer the love of God to get an alms was a noble prodigality, and those who valued receiving the love of God less than their money were most foolish men indeed.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
Chapter CXLVIII

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Shame

If people insult you and refuse to give you alms, you should thank God for it, because you will be honored before the judgment-seat of God for it, because you will honored before the judgment-seat of our Lord Jesus Christ for these insults. The shame will be imputed to those who cause it, not to those who suffer it.

Saint Francis of Assisi
THE RULE OF 1221
Chapter IX

T

GoodSearch for the Portiuncula Hermitage

"Searching" For Jesus!

We need to raise $120,000 to duplicate this Portiuncula Chapel
at 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!

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half of its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

Although this may not sound like a lot of money, if only 1000 of our supporters use GoodSearch.com just 5 times per day for the year, the Portiuncula Hermitage would receive over $18,000 towards its mission of spreading God's love!

It's easy. Just download the GoodSearch – Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center toolbar at:

Website owners can also help by adding a customizable badge to their homepage or blog.

So please, make a commitment to browsing the Internet with GoodSearch.com with the Portiuncula Hermitage as your designated charity. Set it as your homepage, or bookmark it so using it becomes a habit.

As well, you can earn money for the Portiuncula Hermitage by doing your online shopping through GoodShop.com. It is a new online shopping mall which will donate up to 37 percent of each purchase to the Portiuncula Hermitage. Hundreds of popular stores, including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop.com and every time you place an order, you'll be supporting our valuable mission.

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 YOU KNOW!

Pax Et Bonum!


T

Beware The Sin Of Envy

Stone bed in Grotto of Eremo delle Carceri where St. Francis Slept

When a man envies his brother the good God says or does through him, it is like committing a sin of blasphemy, because he is really envying God, who is the only source of every good.

Saint Francis of Assisi
The Admonitions
Admonition VIII

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Patience

We can never tell how patient or humble a person is when everything is going well with him. But when those who should co-operate with him do the exact opposite, then we can tell. A man has as much patience and humility as he has then, and no more.

Saint Francis of Assisi
THE ADMONITIONS
Admonition XIII

T

We Can Boast Only Of Our Humiliations

There is one thing of which we can all boast; we can boast of our humiliations (2 Cor. 12-15)...

Saint Francis of Assisi
THE ADMONITIONS
Admonition V

T

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

Brother 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. Brother 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 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 coffee continues to keep minks ever alert and vigilant for their prayers, but now Mystic Monk Coffee shared 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 Brother 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.

To Order Direct:
simply click on the
Mystic Monk Icon
at the
top of this page.

Please remember that the Portiuncula Hermitage tithes ten percent of all their Mystic Monk Coffee sales to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion).

Fra Chris

T

Wood and Color

Francis said, "An artist who paints our Lord or the Blessed Virgin honors them and recalls them to our mind; nevertheless, the painting claims no other merit than what it is, a creation made of 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 or the color do. 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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Miracle Of The Vineyard In Rieti

Tiers Vino outside Assisi, Italy

Blessed Francis was staying near the church of St. Fabian in Rieti. A number of cardinals, accompanied by clerics, almost daily visited the saint out of respect and devotion.The church had a small vineyard and since the church had but one door, all those who came to visit passed through that one door, trampling the vineyard under foot. The priest was scandalized and disturbed: "This year," he said, "my vintage is lost. The vineyard is small but every year I harvest enough grapes for my needs."

St. Francis said to the priest: "Stop being disturbed and scandalized: nothing can be done about it. Place your trust in the Lord, because through me, his poor servant, he can repair the damage..."

The priest usually harvested thirteen loads of wine, but that year he harvested twenty from his destroyed vineyard.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Legend of Perugia - 25

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Begging For Stones in Ozark, Ohio

Catholics in Monroe County, Ohio 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

We are begging our Catholic 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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Sincerest Purity

When Francis found an abundance of flowers, he preached to them and invited them to praise the Lord as though they were endowed with reason. In the same way he exhorted with the sincerest purity cornfields and vineyards, stones and forests and all the beautiful things of the fields, fountains of water and the green things of the gardens, earth and fire, air and wind, to love God and serve Him willingly.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, First Life
Chapter XXIX

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Burning With Love

Francis burned with a love that came from his whole being for the sacrament of the Lord's body, and he was carried away with wonder at the loving condescension and the most condescending love shown there. Not to hear at least one Mass each day, if he could be there, he considered no small contempt.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
Chapter CLII

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Abstinance

All are to abstain from meat save on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, except on account of illness or weakness...

Saint Francis of Assisi
First Rule of the Third Order
Chapter II

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Persevere

"I pray and beg you as my most dear sons that you persevere in the things that you have begun at the instigation of the Holy Spirit, not forsaking your perfection as so often happens among certain ones; but that, avoiding all the snares of darkness, you strive always for more perfect things. Your profession is very exalted, above man, above virtue, and it illumines the perfection of those of old with greater brilliance."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Sacrum Commercium - 65

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Welcome To The Portiuncula Healing Ministry

Parresia: the quality of a Monk to perform miracles

"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:

hermitage@parallax.ws

We encourage you to participate in our

Healing Services and Retreats

Thank you for visiting.

Pax Et Bonum!

T

Hiding Himself In A Small Piece Of Bread!

O wonderful ascent, O stupendous descent! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity, that the Lord of the Universe, God and Son of God, should so humbly hide himself, for our salvation, in what seems to be only a small piece of bread! Look, then, upon the humility of God! And pour out your hearts before him. Humble yourselves that he might exalt you. Hold back nothing of yourselves, that he may receive your all who gave his all to you.

St. Francis
Letter to the Whole Order

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Itching Ears

Francis did not want the brothers dwelling at the Portiuncula, who were restricted severely as to number, to have itching ears for news of worldly things, lest, with their meditation on heavenly things interrupted, they should be drawn to the business of inferior things through those who spread rumors.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Celano, Second Life
CHAPTER XII

T

GoodSearch: Please Help Build The Portiuncula Chapel

"Searching" For Jesus!

We need to raise $120,000 to duplicate this Portiuncula Chapel
at 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!

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half of its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

Although this may not sound like a lot of money, if only 1000 of our supporters use GoodSearch.com just 5 times per day for the year, the Portiuncula Hermitage would receive over $18,000 towards its mission of spreading God's love!

It's easy. Just download the GoodSearch – Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center toolbar at:

Website owners can also help by adding a customizable badge to their homepage or blog.

So please, make a commitment to browsing the Internet with GoodSearch.com with the Portiuncula Hermitage as your designated charity. Set it as your homepage, or bookmark it so using it becomes a habit.

As well, you can earn money for the Portiuncula Hermitage by doing your online shopping through GoodShop.com. It is a new online shopping mall which will donate up to 37 percent of each purchase to the Portiuncula Hermitage. Hundreds of popular stores, including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop.com and every time you place an order, you'll be supporting our valuable mission.

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 YOU KNOW!

Pax Et Bonum!


T

The Devils Are Afraid Of Rough Clothes

Original tunic worn by St. Francis of Assisi found in Cortona, Italy

Saint Francis had a horror of expensive clothes and used to be delighted with coarse garments, adding that John the Baptist was praised by our Lord for being roughly clad. If the habit he was given felt too soft, he used to sew pieces of cord on the inside because, as he used to say, it is in the palaces of the rich that we must look for men who go clad in soft garments, not in the hovels of the poor. He knew from his own experience that the devils were afraid when they saw a person wearing rough clothes, whereas soft or luxurious garments gave them courage to attack more fiercely.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER V

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Seek For Pure And Holy Simplicity

Foreseeing the future, Francis knew through the Holy Spirit and often repeated that many Franciscans, under the pretext of edifying others, would abandon their vocation, that is to say, pure and holy simplicity, prayer and Lady Poverty; they would consider themselves more fervent and more on fire with the love of God because of their knowledge of the Scriptures, whereas precisely because of it they would inwardly remain empty and cold; and they would not be able to return to their former vocation and they had let their time given to them to live in this holy vocation slip by. "And I strongly fear," he concluded, "that what they seem to have will be taken away from them because they have abandoned their vocation."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Legend of Perugia - 70

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Creation Is The Ladder To God

The Portiuncula Pond in Jerusalem, Ohio

In everything beautiful, Francis saw Him who is beauty itself, and he followed his Beloved everywhere by His likeness imprinted on creation; of all creation he made a ladder by which he might mount up and embrace Him who is all-desirable.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER IX

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Who Will Be Today's St. Francis And Rebuild God's Church, Which Is Falling Into Ruin?

The Portiuncula was the place where St. Francis founded the Order of Friars Minor by divine inspiration and it was Divine Providence which led him to repair three churches before he founded the Order and began to preach the Gospel. This meant that he progressed from material things to more spiritual achievements, from lesser to greater, in due order, and it gave a prophetic indication of what he would accomplish later (the repairing of the entire Roman Catholic Church.)

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
CHAPTER II

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Dan Coats for Indiana

SCOTUS Sam Alito with his lobbyist and friend Senator Dan Coats

The first time I saw U.S. Senator Connie Mack was several years ago at a Catholic Men's Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. Connie witnessed to over 8,000 men how then Senator Dan Coats, a Presbyterian, was holding weekly Bible Studies in the basement of the Senate Building. It was at one of the Bible Studies that Dan Coats led Connie Mack into a “born again” experience and back to his Roman Catholic faith.

A couple years later, when Dan and Marsha Coats left Germany as our American Ambassador, I spoke to Connie on the phone. He told me he had invited Dan to join his law firm and the two of them were lobbying for Pro-Life organizations, saving the lives of America's Pre-Born babies. It came as no surprise to me, then, when Sam Alito hired Dan Coats to be his lobbyist when he made his bid to become a Supreme Court Justice. After all, Justice Alito is one of the most conservative Pro-Life voices on the United States Supreme Court.

You can imagine my dismay when some young Republican's began a smear campaign against Dan Coats by pretending it was somehow filthy to be a lobbyist. If they were my kids, I would wash their mouths out with soap! After all, these young kids today have no idea what it means to be principled men of honesty, integrity, and high moral character like Dan Coats. The way they are running their campaigns prove it. Maybe that's why Congressman Mike Pence, another man of high moral character, endorsed Dan Coats for U.S. Senate and not one of them.

Pax Et Bonum!

T

Let Your Nose Hit The Dirt!

Recently I was asked, “How do you become a good Franciscan?” I replied, “It's simple, the same way you become a good Catholic...let your nose hit the dirt!”

Humility is said to be the guardian of all virtues, and some believe the most lacking virtue in the Church today. In his letters, St. Paul tells us that it is only through humility and a contrite heart that we can dare to come face-to- face with our living God. The arrogant He will destroy! Yet many of us continue destroying ourselves through our selfish arrogance and pride.

Polls indicate that more and more people today view God and religion as irrelevant, disingenuous, and tiresome. Of grave concern to the Catholic Church is that many of its clerics and religious are now beginning to share these same views with the public (and in public), placing themselves in direct opposition to the teachings of the Pope, bishops, priests and Magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church. Some Catholic Theologians even tout the modern-day disciplines as being far more superior to the archaic early Doctors of the Church (most notably St. Thomas Aquinas), primarily due to our new, modernistic, open-minded approach. They have stamped the early church Fathers as obsolete and therefore irrelevant. Please show me the humility in that. St. Francis warned us all in his letter to St. Anthony, “I am pleased that you are teaching sacred theology to the brothers, so long as this kind of study, as our Rule has it, does not extinguish the spirit of prayer and devotion.”

Francis maintained constant vigilance in his pursuit of perfect humility, understanding that it is the singular virtue by which we learn to know our true selves. Only through the knowledge of his own sinful nature was Francis able to see himself as he really was in God's eyes; a vile and worthless sinner, saved only by God's merciful gift of grace. The Psalmist begs “Can we be anything else before the awesomeness of our God?” We are what we are in God's eyes, and nothing more! It is this self-realization that tore a hole large enough in Francis' heart to allow God to pour His graces into him. This is how God knocked Francis off his "High Horse" and brought him down low enough to care for lepers and sinners, to openly confess his faults in his sermons to the people, and to prefer insults and injury to vain and worthless praise and glory!

Society's quarrels lie not with the Church nor it's people, rather it's with what the Church represents: God! People simply don't want God telling us how we should think, believe, and especially not how we are to behave. It's been this way since Adam and Eve and remains so today as we continue reaching up to pull that fruit off the tree and devour it! Like water, human nature has never ceased following the path of least resistance.

So how do we find humility so that we too can open ourselves up to receiving God's love and mercy? For those who are unfamiliar with the Admonitions of St. Francis, they are twenty-eight observances or words of advice used as a model for the followers of St. Francis to imitate. Studying and observing these sublime exhortations will teach us how to achieve holy humility while still here on earth. They continue to instruct us how to “let your nose hit the dirt!”.

Pax Et Bonum!

T

Recounting Worldly Events

None of the friars assembled at the Chapter ever dared to recount worldly events; they spoke together of the loves of the holy fathers of old, and how they might best live in God's grace.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Legend of the Three Companions - 58

T

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

T

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

Brother 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. Brother 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 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 coffee continues to keep minks ever alert and vigilant for their prayers, but now Mystic Monk Coffee shared 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 Brother 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.

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Please remember that the Portiuncula Hermitage tithes ten percent of all their Mystic Monk Coffee sales to Birthright (a loving alternative to abortion).

Fra Chris