The Portiuncula Franciscan Chapel, located adjacent to the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Ozark, Ohio (Diocese of Steubenville) is humbly committed to imitating the Gospel life of Christ, and observing the Sacraments.
Placing ourselves under strict and holy obedience to Father Nick Ward, we follow the Medieval Penitential First Rule of the Third Order of St. Francis, dated 1221 A.D.
Portiuncula Franciscan Chapel in Ozark, Ohio
"CUM GRANDE HUMILITATE!"
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE DO NOT ACCEPT FINANCIAL DONATIONS
Servant General of the F.L.A. (Franciscan Lay Apostolate); Hermitage Scullion; Former Radio Talk Show Host; 3rd Degree Knights of Columbus, Former Staff Member of United States Senator Dan Coats; Retired Infantry Major: served with U.S. Army Intelligence in Vietnam and Europe; Wife: Karen (married 55 years), 5 children, 11 Grandchildren ...
To request your special intentions to be offered up before our Eucharistic Lord in intercessory prayer, please e-mail your Prayer Intentions to the Portiuncula Hermitage at: chrisdicksonfla@gmail.com
Mailing Address: Portiuncula Hermitage P.O. Box 34 Jerusalem, Ohio 43747
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.
A friar is not bound to obey if a minister commands anything that is contrary to our life or his own conscience, because there can be no obligation to obey if it means committing sin.
"Francis went to a place called the Portiuncula, where there stood a church of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God that had been built in ancient times, but was now deserted and cared for by no one. When the holy man of God saw how it was thus in ruins, he was moved with pity, because he burned with devotion toward the mother of all good; and he began to live there in great zeal."
Saint Francis of Assisi Celano, First Life Chapter IX
Welcome to the Portiuncula Chapel, adjacent to the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Ozark, Ohio where we completed our tiny little chapel on October 4th, 2024, the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi.
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
A thief climbs a ladder to break into the vault where treasures are stored. The soul, too, ascends the secret contemplation to plunder the riches of heaven.
Dark Night of the Soul St. John of the Cross Chapter 18
Saint Francis was the humblest of men and thought of himself as the lowest, most contemptible of sinners. In prayer he would implore, "Lord, why have you laid this burden on me? Why have you made a simple, unlettered, wretched creature like me the head of this Order?" And the Lord would reply, "I have placed a man like you over this Order to show that what I achieve in you is of my grace and not a human accomplishment."
Deep concern within the Franciscan Order today is that we are becoming far less concerned about winning souls to Christ than we are of pushing Social Engineering, Climate Change and New Age Rieke
"They then began to long miserably for the fleshpots of Egypt, which they had left behind; and what they had once despised with a generous heart, they now shamefully wanted. They were sad in walking in the way of the commandments of God, and they were arid of heart in following his injunctions...Gaiety filled their countenance; their gait was without modesty; their garments were soft and delicate, carefully cut, and even more carefully sewn...they had no care for spiritual exercises, no interest in the salvation of souls."
St. Francis of Assisi Sacrum Commercium CHAPTER IV:47 Lady Poverty Continues to Speak
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 e felt and saw the presence of Christ and of a throng of angels and saints, so that he almost fainted because of their grandur which he felt in his soul.
St. Francis of Assisi Little Flowers of St. Francis - 53
When blessed Francis was at the Chapter General held at Saint Mary of the Portiuncula - known as the Chapter of Mats, because the only shelters there consisted of rush-mats, which were used by five thousand friars - a number of prudent and learned friars went to the Lord Cardinal of Ostia who was present, and said to him, 'My Lord, we wish that you would persuade Brother Francis to follow the advice of the wiser brethren, and allow himself to be guided by them.' And they quoted Rules of Saint Benedict, Saint Augustine, and Saint Bernard, which lay down the principles of the regular life.
Saint Francis replied, 'My brothers! My brothers! God has called me by the way of simplicity and humility, and has in truth revealed this way for me and for all who are willing to trust and follow me...The Lord told me he wished me to be a new kind of simpleton in this world, and He does not wish us to live by any other wisdom but this. God will confound you through your own prudence and learning.'
Francis did his utmost to encourage the friars to lead austere lives, but he had no time for exaggerated self-denial which excluded tender compassion or was not tempered with discretion.
Saint Francis of Assisi Bonaventure, Major Life CHAPTER V
Athanasius comments:"For Anthony [St. Anthony of Padua] did not heal by issuing commands, but by praying and calling upon the name of Christ, so that it was evident to everyone that it was not he who did this, but the Lord manifesting his compassion to men and, through Anthony, was healing those who suffered." (Matthew 17:19 and John 16:23-24)
When you no longer love yourself But love Goodness, You and your Beloved will become one. When you love Him, He must love you in return; In His charity you are drawn to Him And the two are made one. This is true union That admits of no divisions.
The Lord himself has not only placed us as examples and mirrors to others, but also for our own sisters whom the Lord has called to our way of life, so that they in their turn will be mirrors and examples to those living in the world.
Saint Francis was very happy that this place had been given to the brothers because the church bore the name of the Mother of Christ, because it was very poor, and also because of its name of Portiuncula. The fact that it was called the church of the Portiuncula was indeed a presage that it would become the mother and head of the Order of the poor lesser brothers. The church had been given the name Portiuncula because the aforesaid place where the church had been built had already been called Portiuncula for a very long time.
In May 1994, a French priest named Fr. Raymond Arnette claimed he was given a locution revealing what the Third Secret of Fatima originally was:
"There will be a wicked council planned and prepared that will change the countenance of the Church. Many will lose the Faith; confusion will reign everywhere. The sheep will search for their shepherds in vain. A schism will tear apart the holy tunic of My Son. This will be the end of times, foretold in the Holy Scriptures and recalled to memory by Me in many places. The abomination of abominations will reach its peak and it will bring the chastisement announced at La Salette. My Son’s arm, which I will not be able to hold back anymore, will punish this poor world, which must expiate its crimes. One will only speak about wars and revolutions. The elements of nature will be unchained and will cause anguish even among the best (the most courageous). The Church will bleed from all Her wounds. Happy are they who will persevere and search for refuge in My Heart, because in the end My Immaculate Heart will triumph."
Photo of the Portiuncula Chapel next to the Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Ozark, Ohio
(the diocese of Steubenville)
"If anyone is visited by God in his prayer, he should say, 'Lord, you have sent this comfort from heaven even though I am a sinner and unworthy, and I entrust it to your keeping because I know that I only steal your treasures.' When you leave his prayer, such a person should seem as much a sinner and worthy of contempt as if he had received no new favor." ~ Bonaventure, Major Life
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.
All those are damned who see the sacrament of the Body of Christ which is consecrated on the altar in the form of bread and wine by the words of our Lord in the hands of the priest, and do not see or believe in spirit and in God that this is really the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the Most High himself who told us, 'This is my Body and Blood of the new covenant' (Mark 14: 22-24), and, 'He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life everlasting' (John 6:55).
By casting our hearts firmly on God, and we are of good conscience concerning our devotion and innocence, we have nothing to fear when others say things against us. Great blessings flow when we ignore these things, which is easy to do when we humble ourselves and trust in God more than ourselves. ~ Fra Chris
While St. Francis fasted from food a lot, he also had a great love for a particular kind of almond cookie in Italy. And on his death bed he asked to have these cookies. Here is a recipe for those cookies. Make a batch and celebrate St. Francis of Assisi: Mostaccioli - An Italian Almond Pastry 1 pound blanched almonds 1/2 cup honey 1 teaspoon cinnamon, or 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 egg whites, lightly beaten Approximately 1 cup of flour Chop the almonds very fine or coarsely grind in a blender. In a bowl combine the nuts, honey, cinnamon, and egg whites. Mix thoroughly. Gradually stir in enough flour to form a thick paste. On a lightly floured surface, knead the paste until smooth and stiff. Roll out to about 1/4 inch. Cut into diamond shapes, about 2 1/2 inches long. Place the diamonds on a lightly buttered and floured baking sheet. Let dry for 1 to 2 hours. Bake in a preheated 250°F oven for 20-30 minutes or until set. Do not let brown. Yield: about 3 dozen
Starting now, the Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage and Retreat Center will be serving these at our "Come to the Quiet" Retreats in Jesusalem.
Franciscans are itinerant ministers called to travel throughout the world preaching repentance and penance. At first, in the early thirteenth century, this exempted them from praying the Office of the Hours in a church or monastery. Also, the complete Office of the Hours was very large and bulky, consisting of several volumes of books, making it impossible to carry them all around when walking from town to town. Therefore, they developed a briefer version of the Office of Hours called the Breviary. As the friars carpeted Europe they spread the use of the Breviary throughout the entire Church. ~ Fra Chris
The emperor Constantine permitted Christians to legally worship in the Roman Empire in 313 after 250 years of persecution. In 335, he erected the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at the site where Jesus’ tomb was believed to have been. Processions of pilgrims to the church, especially during Holy Week, began soon after its completion.
Devotions to the Way of the Cross began in earnest after 1342, when the Franciscan friars were given custody of the holy sites in the Holy Land. The Franciscans have been closely identified with the devotion ever since; for years, Church regulations required a set of the stations to be blessed by a Franciscan when possible.
"Above all the graces and gifts of the Holy Spirit which Christ gives to His friends is that of conquering oneself and willingly enduring suffering, insults, humiliations, and hardships for the love of Christ. For as they are not ours but God's, as the Apostle says: 'What have you that you have not received?'"
Saint Francis of Assisi Little Flowers of St. Francis - 8
