Going Back To The Basics

Indulging In Vices And Sins

All those who refuse to do penance and receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are blind, because they cannot see the true light, our Lord Jesus Christ. They indulge their vices and sins and follow their evil longings and desires, without a thought for the promises they made. In body they are slaves of the world and of the desires of their lower nature, with all the cares and anxieties of this life; in spirit they are slaves of the devil. They have been led astray by him and have made themselves his children, dedicated to doing his work. They lack spiritual insight because the Son of God does not dwell in them, and it is he who is the true Wisdom of the Father.

Saint Francis of Assisi
LETTER TO ALL THE FAITHFUL

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"Do Not Be Afraid To Put On My Crown Of Thorns!"

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The Crown of Thorns is a "Helmut of Salvation" a "Crown of Glory"

I would like to share with everyone a vision that was received by one of the F.L.A. Brothers that should be appropriate not just for himself alone, but for all God's children:

At one time I was in an area of complete and utter darkness.

Then a mist appeared, through which two hands appeared that were handing me a crown of thorns.

 
I took the crown of thorns from the outstretched hands and placed it upon my head. As the crown was being seated upon my head, I prematurely winced, fully expecting searing pain from those thorns to shoot through my head and throughout my entire body.

But instead of pain, a warm and wonderful feeling of joy and peace settled over me. I was being bathed in God’s love.

Simultaneously with the crown of thorns being placed upon my head, a vision appeared before me of a glass mirror “unfurling” like a window shade, even though it was made of solid glass.

Jesus then appeared in the glass before me.

I was immediately filled with shame because my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, had caught me, a grave sinner, wearing his crown of thorns, and I immediately pulled it from my head.

As I did, the solid glass mirror rolled up and Jesus disappeared.

I then placed the crown back onto my head.

As I did, the glass again unfurled before me...and once again Jesus was standing before me.

At that very moment it hit me and I realized that I was looking into a mirror and seeing my own reflection, and that reflection was my Savior and my Lord! And me! One and the same!
I was scared to death! After all, who did I think I was, anyway? Am I so vain as to think of myself as being equal to Jesus? GOD FORBID! For a long time the vision continued to frighten me with a sickening fear that my attitude was sinful and deplorable in the sight of Almighty God…that is, until Jesus spoke these words to me:

“Do not be afraid to put on my crown of thorns.
It is My crown of glory!
Wear it as I did.
I will bear the pain so that you have none.
Then, and only then, will you see Me in glory.
Then we shall meet face to face.
You in me, and I in you.
People will see me in your image.
Give yourselves to Me fully,
And I will come to you in glory…”

Pace e Bene!

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URGENT! Obama's General Electric(GE) Moving $2 BillionTo China!

 

 

General Electric is planning to move its 115-year-old X-ray division from Waukesha, WI , to Beijing, China. In addition to moving headquarters, the company will invest $2 billion in China and train more than 65 engineers and create six ...research centers. This is the same GE that made $14-billion in the United States last year, but paid no taxes - the same company that employs more people overseas than in the United States .

So let’s get this straight. President Obama appointed GE CEO Chairman Jeff Immelt to head his commission on job creation (Job Czar). He is supposed to help create jobs. I guess the President forgot to tell him in which country he was supposed to be creating those jobs.

Soon, you all will understand that Obama has an agenda, this agenda is to remove the last super power from the world.

Please pass this information to others and think about it before you buy a GE product.

 

 

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Catholic Heretics Deny the Annunciation

 

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Portiuncula Hermitage's Daily Prayer

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"Lord God we have set aside this place for an assembly of your people. We ask your blessings on this place that it might serve effectively as an area to promote unity, peace and the furthering of your kingdom. We command in the name of Jesus all spirits of discord or evil of any sort to depart and we ask, O God, that you send your angels to guard and protect this place and all who participate in the events held here. We pray through the intercession of Holy Mother Mary and the Saints and in the name of Jesus our Lord. Amen"

Father Michael Scanlan, TOR

Prayers and Blessings for Daily Life in Christ

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This Is What Happens When Catholics Vote Their "Conscience" !!!!

(CBS News)
DENVER -- It took one night for Rick Santorum to become a player again in the Republican presidential race.

The former Pennsylvania senator came out on top in the voting in all three contests Tuesday night, including an unexpected five-point victory in Colorado's caucuses. Santorum also won the Minnesota caucuses, by an 18-point margin, and he won by 30 points in the Missouri primary.

Santorum moves on without any new delegates, but with plenty of momentum.

For everyone who flat-out declared the GOP battle a two-man race between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, voters in three states Tuesday night said, "Not so fast." Rick Santorum pulled off huge wins in Missouri, Minnesota and, incredibly, Colorado -- a state Romney was supposed to have locked up.

"Conservatism is alive and well in Missouri and Minnesota," Santorum told a cheering crowd in Missouri.

Santorum was such an underdog that, just a week ago, people were speculating he'd drop out. Last night, he not only won -- he blew out his competition.

"Your votes today," he declared, "were not just heard loud and wide across the states of Missouri and Minnesota, but they were heard loud and louder all across this country."

Santorum wins in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado
Full CBSNews.com coverage: Election 2012

The states were a bit quirky -- Missouri, for example, was basically a beauty contest, with voters caucusing next month for real.

Still, Santorum's strong showing is a huge blow to the front-runners, especially Newt Gingrich, who's been campaigning as the conservative alternative to Romney.

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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The Franciscan Friars Minor Alcantarines or Discalced (Barefoot)

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7.29. The Spanish reform was born before the division of the Order in 1517. In 1480 Juan de la Puebla had began an effort at reform, followed by Juan de Guadalupe in 1495. At this time this reform was under the obedience of the Minister General, and developed independently of the Observant Vicars General. In 1496 the Minister General Francesco Nanni gave him permission to live the Rule in the most strict observance. In 1499 the group of friars formed the Custody of the Holy Gospel.

7.30. The famous reformer Cardinal Cisneros, with the approval of the Spanish monarchs Fernando and Isabella, wanted to eradicate from Spain all religious who wanted to start reforms outside the Regular Observance. So in 1502 the permission given to Juan de Guadalupe was revoked, and the friars were asked to join the Observance in the houses of recollection which the Order in Spain had instituted for the purpose. But these reformed friars did not accept and declared their obedience to the Minister General of the Order. In 1515 these friars were known as "fratres de caputio", or "Discalced" Friars Minor and were given the Custody of Estremadura. They were also known as Reformed Conventuals, because of their obedience to the Minister General.

7.31. The "Ite vos" of 1517 commanded them to join the Order of Friars Minor, made up of the Observants and the other reformed groups. The Custody of Estremadura became the Province of St. Gabriel in 1520.

7.32. In 1515 Juan Pascual joined these friars. Later on he would ask to be left under the obedience of the Friars Minor Conventuals. Paul III gave him permission to accept novices and other Observants who would like to join the reform. When Juan Pascual died in 1554 he had laid the foundations for the Custody of San Josè.

7.33. A key figure in this Custody and a great reformer in Spain was St. Peter of Alcantara. He was a Minister Provincial of the province of St. Gabriel of the Reformed Conventuals. In 1557 the Minister General of the Conventuals gave him permission to become General Commissary of the Reformed Conventuals in Spain. Peter founded the hermitage of Pedroso. In 1559 the Custody of San Josè became a Province. The Alcanatarine reform was one of the strictest in the history of the Order. The same year in which Peter of Alcantara died, in 1562, the Province of San Josè left the Conventual obedience and entered the Observant family. Peter of Alcantara was instrumental in helping St. Theresa of Avila in the reform of the Carmelite Order, when she founded the Discalced Carmelites.

7.34. The Alcanatarine family was very intransigent in its sense of autonomy from the Observant mainstream and way of life. In 1621 the Alcantarines were given a General Commissary and a Procurator General.

7.35. By the end of the 18th century the Discalced or Alcantarine family of the Order of Friars Minor had spread to Italy (Naples and Lecce), Brazil, Mexico, East Indies, Japan and the Philippines. The Alcantarines were also a school of sanctity, with eminent figures such as St. Paschal Baylon, St. John Joseph of the Cross.

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The F.L.A. (Franciscan Lay Apostolate)

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Following in the footsteps of the great Gregorian Reform movements of the 10th and 11th Centuries, and in the spirit of the Alcantarines, the F.L.A. is an attempt to return to the original purity of the Franciscan life as it had been lived in the little mountain hermitages; we are not in favor of causing divisions within the Order of the Church.

The F.L.A. seeks a moderate and balanced approach to a reformed lifestyle, never seeking the rigid poverty and exclusive solitude of the "Spiritual's" hermitage. On the contrary, the importance is felt to balance solitude and apostolic work and preaching. However, if simple Franciscans are to preach the truth well, we hope to establish a firm bond with the T.O.R.'s (Third Order Regular) from the Franciscan University of Steubenville as our Custos, to help us humbly preach and counsel to the humblest people of our day.

The Penitential Movement follows the example of our Seraphic Father, Saint Francis of Assisi. Entrance into the Penitential State is a formal ecclesiastical act involving the full approval of the bishop, a change of external garb to a penitent's habit, and a committment to a radically changed lifestyle.

Eremitical colonies often require an informal committment of the three evangelical councils of obedience, chastity, and poverty in a way similar to the commitment of the first hermits of the Eastern deserts. As such, these penitent hermits were no longer seculars nor were they vowed monks, but they constituted an informal religious, eremitical expression with a distinct Order in the Church that was both authentic and unique. Yet, like the first hermits of the desert, the F.L.A. hermits are still lay people.

We hold that only the clerics may preach to the people regarding "deeper" theological topics such as church structure and the sacraments. As Fratres Conversi, our only goal is to preach Repentance and Penance to all God's children.

Chris Dickson, F.L.A.
General Commissary

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Please Help Build the Portiuncula Chapel

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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!

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

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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!


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The White Cord of Saint Francis of Assisi

"Walfred, who lived in Citta della Pieve, a devout and God-fearing man, as was all his household, had a cord with which the blessed Francis had been girded at one time. It happened that in this place many men and not a few women were afflicted with various illnesses and fevers. This man, after dipping the cord in water and mixing some strands of the cord with the water, would give the water to the sick to drink; and thus all of them were healed in Christ's name. These things took place in the absence of Blessed Francis"...

Saint Francis of Assisi

Celano, First Life

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OPEN WIDE THE DOORS !!!

 

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Take Care Lest You Be Found Sterile

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Tomb of the Unborn Child

Franciscan University of Steubenville

Next to the Portiuncula Chapel

"Take care lest, when the dung of worthlessness has been placed at your roots, you be found sterile, for then there will remain nothing but that the axe be put to you. Do not trust entirely the spirit that is in now in you, for man's senses are more prone to evil than to good, even though it may have been considerably separated from it."

Saint Francis of Assisi

Sacrum Commercium

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POPE'S OBLIQUE SHOT AT OBAMA

January 19, 2012

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on today’s address [to read it click here] by Pope Benedict XVI to U.S. Bishops on their “Ad Limina” visit:

Without explicitly naming President Barack Obama, Pope Benedict XVI made it clear today that he sees the administration as a threat to religious liberty. The pope spoke eloquently on the role that religious freedom has played since the founding of America, and of the need for Catholics to follow the natural law. But he also said, “The legitimate separation of Church and State cannot be taken to mean that the Church must be silent on certain issues.” Specifically, he called attention to the “grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres.”

How do we know that the pope was addressing the Obama administration when he cited the threats emanating from the political sphere? Speaking of his discussions with U.S. bishops, the Holy Father said: “Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.”

Pope Benedict XVI is obviously aware of the public pronouncements of people such as Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, Bishop William Lori, and others. They have rightfully objected to the Obamacare provisions that would mandate Catholic institutions to provide sterilization and contraceptive services (including abortifacients) without any realistic religious exemption, and of the decision to deny funding to a Catholic agency that combats human trafficking simply because the Church opposes abortion. The term “freedom of worship,” which was coined to distinguish it from “freedom of religion,” expresses a highly privatized understanding of religious liberty that does not embrace the public expression of religion. It is the preferred term of President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

An Awsome Gift of Human Life

 

Father Todd Riebe

Pastor

The Richmond Catholic Community

Richmond, Indiana

"This past week someone shared with me the story of Dana Lu Blessing. I share it with you as we reflect on the awesome gift of human life.

"A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as a doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery. Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon, March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24 weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver the couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.

"At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs. 'I don't think she's going to make it,' he said as kindly as he could. Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived.

"Because Dana's nervous system was essentially "raw" the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so for the first two months of her life her parents couldn't touch or cradle their tiny baby girl. Little by little this miracle child gained weight and strength. Five years later she was a petite and feisty little girl with no signs of physical or mental impairment.

"While her survival was a miracle, another miracle was revealed when Dana was just five years old. One afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ballpark watching her brother play baseball. She suddenly asked her mother, "Do you smell that?" "Yes," Diana responded, "it smells like rain." Dana closed her eyes and asked again, "Do you smell that?" Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're going to get wet. It smells like rain." Dana shook her head and announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest." And off she ran to play with the other children.

"And Dana knew that during those long days and nights of her daughter's first two months of life when her nerves were too sensitive for anyone to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it was His loving scent that she remembered.

"May Dana Lu Blessing never forget that scent and may we never forget God's love for His little ones both born and soon-to-be-born."

In God's love,

Fr. Todd Riebe
Pastor
Richmond Catholic Community

F.L.A. (Franciscan Lay Apostolates)

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"Carried away by the force of his preaching, great numbers of people adopted the new rule of penance according to the form instituted by St. Francis which he called the "Order of the Brothers of Penance." The way of penance is common to all those who are on the road to heaven and so this way of life includes members of both sexes, clerics and lay folks, married and single. How meritorious it is in the eyes of God is clear from the numerous miracles worked by some of those who followed it."

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life
Chapter IV

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Voting Pro Abortion and Receiving Holy Communion

 

 

 

The Power To Heal Comes From Humility

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Saint Padre Pio

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.

Saint Francis of Assisi
Bonaventure, Major Life

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Endure With Joy Every Pain And Every Adversity

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"St. Francis was once praying in an abandoned church when he was attacked by devils. Francis cried out and said, 'My Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You for the great love and charity which You are showing me, because it is a sign of great love when the Lord punishes His servant well for all his faults in this world, so that he may not be punished for them in the next world. And I am prepared to endure with joy every pain and every adversity which You, my God, wish to send me for my sins.' Then the devils, having been humiliated and defeated by his endurance and patience, went away."

Saint Francis of Assisi

Little Flowers of St. Francis

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Alan Colmes: Shame on you!

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Holy Obedience

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Monte Casale Friary

A legend from the friary at Monte Casale: Here every year the brethren plant a cabbage in the garden and let it flower to remind them of the time the saint bade two young brothers plant some cabbage plants upside down. One did, but the othe...r knew better and planted his right side up. St. Francis dismissed the second brother, for, he said, it had been a test of obedience, not of planting cabbages.

Saint Francis of Assisi

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Mother Teresa: Abortion Destroys Peace

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Thirty-eitht years after the U.S. Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion on demand, people from across America plan to gather in the nation's capital in January to show their opposition to the ruling. The annual March for Life is expected to draw tens of thousands of people of all ages, faiths, and nationalities.

Given the enormity of the situation, I couldn't help but imagine waking up in the morning to the newspapers headlines:

"Nine American cities completely wiped out! No one left alive in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Dallas, Philadelphia, Detroit, St. Louis or Atlanta."

After witnessing America's reaction to 9/11 and its aftermath., it's hard to imagine how angry American's would be if these headlines were true. Men, women and children would be lining up to join the armed forces to strike back at the enemy. But the sad fact is that these headlines are true. As of 1996, 32 million innocent American citizens had been slaughtered, the equivalent of nine major U.S. cities! Who is this enemy, China, Afghanistan, or Iraq? It's inconceivable to imagine the massive firepower it must have taken to inflict such destruction. Was it from atomic bombs, biological warfare or perhaps nerve agents? It was none of these. It was abortion.

Mother Teresa said, "If we can accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people that killing is wrong? After all, any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people love, but to use whatever violence necessary to get what they want."

Sure, everyone's concerned for the children of India and Africa, where thousands of children are dying of hunger and disease every day. Many people are concerned with the violence in our streets and classrooms as well. These are valid concerns, but all too often these same people aren't the least bit concerned by those being killed by the deliberate decisions of their own mothers. This is the greatest destroyer of peace today - abortion - which brings people to such blindness.

Does abortion destroy peace and cause blindness toward the sick, the hungry and the naked? Of course it does! When life is regarded so lightly and its disposal becomes so trivial, so clinical, so easy. After all, why should people or nations regard human life as noble or dignified if abortion flourishes? Why agonize over indiscriminate deaths in Bosnia, the Sudan, Iraq, or Afghanistan, when babies are being killed far more efficiently and out of sight of TV cameras?

Just imagine, the populations of all those major cities combined - all dead....who is left to cry?

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Portiuncula Franciscan Hermitage Talk On Spirituality

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A Dog Always Returns To Its Own Vomit

"There are many religious who, under the pretext of seeing better things than those which their prelates command, look back (Luke 9:62) and return to the vomit of self-will (Proverb 26:11; 2 Peter 2:22). Such as these are murderers because by their bad example they cause many souls to be lost."

Saint Francis of Assisi

The Admonitions

Admonition 3

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