Singing is praying twice

 

Pax et bonum

Prayer to Our Lady, Help of Christians (St. John Bosco)

Most Holy Virgin Mary, Help of Christian, how sweet it is to come to your feet imploring your perpetual help.

If earthly mothers cease not to remember their children,  how can you, the most loving of all mothers forget me?     

Grant then to me, I implore you,  your perpetual help in all my necessities,  in every sorrow, and especially in all my temptations. 
    
I ask for your unceasing help for all who are now suffering.      
Help the weak, cure the sick, convert sinners. Grant through your intercessions many vocations to the religious life.      

Obtain for us, O Mary, Help of Christians, that having invoked you on earth we may love and eternally thank you in heaven.

- St. John (Don)  Bosco, OFS

Pax et bonum

St. Thomas More's Prayer

Grant me, O Lord, good digestion,
and also something to digest.
Grant me a healthy body, and
the necessary good humor to maintain it.
Grant me a simple soul that knows to
treasure all that is good and that
doesn’t frighten easily at the sight of evil,
but rather finds the means to put things
back in their place.
Give me a soul that knows not boredom,
grumblings, sighs and laments,
nor excess of stress, because of that
obstructing thing called “I.”
Grant me, O Lord, a sense of good humor.
Allow me the grace to be able to take a joke
to discover in life a bit of joy,
and to be able to share it with others.

- St. Thomas More, OFS


Pax et bonum

Franciscan Litany of the Saints

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.
God, the Father, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, the Immaculate Conception, Queen of the Franciscan Order, pray for us.
Holy Father Francis, pray for us.

All you holy martyrs of the Franciscan Order, pray for us.
Saints Berard, Accursius, Adjutus, Otto, and Peter, Protomartyrs, pray for us.
Saints Daniel, Angelo, Domnus, Hugolinus, Leo, Nicholas, and Samuel, Martyrs of Africa, pray for us.
Saints Nicholas Tavelic, Deodat of Aquitaine, Peter of Narbonne, and Stephen of Cuneo, Martyrs of the Holy Land, pray for us.
Saint Thomas More, Martyr of England, pray for us.
Saints Nicholas Pick, Anthony Hornaer, Anthony of Weert, Cornelius, Francis, Godfrey, Jerome, Nicasius, Peter, Theodoric, Willehad, Martyrs of Holland, pray for us.
Saints Peter Baptist Blasquez, Martin de Aguirre, Francis Blanco, Philip of Jesus of Mexico, Gonzalo García of India, and you holy seventeen Japanese members of the Third Order, Saints Anthony of Nagasaki, Bonaventure, Cosmas, Francis of Fahelante, Francis of Miyako, Gabriel, Joachim, John, Leo, Louis, Matthias, Michael, Paul Ibaraki, Paul Zuzuki, Peter, Thomas Danki, and Thomas Kosaki, Protomartyrs of Japan, pray for us.
Saints John Jones and John Wall, Martyrs of England, pray for us.
Saints Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Protomartyr of the Sacred Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, pray for us.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Martyr of Auschwitz, pray for us.

All you holy priests of the First Franciscan Order, pray for us.
Saint Anthony of Padua, Doctor of the Gospel and Wonderworker, pray for us.
Saint Bonaventure, Seraphic Doctor, pray for us.
Saint Benvenute of Osimo, Bishop, pray for us.
Saint Louis of Tolouse, Bishop, pray for us.
Saint Bernardine of Siena, pray for us.
Saint John Capistran, pray for us.
Saint Peter Regalado, pray for us.
Saint James of the March, pray for us.
Saint Peter of Alcantara, pray for us.
Saint Francis Solano, pray for us.
Saint Joseph of Leonissa, pray for us.
Saint Lawrence of Brindisi, Doctor of the Church, pray for us.
Saint Joseph of Cupertino, pray for us.
Saint Pacificus of San Severino, pray for us.
Saint John Joseph of the Cross, pray for us.
Saint Theophilus of Corte, pray for us.
Saint Leonard of Port Maurice, pray for us.
Saint Leopold Mandic, pray for us.

All you holy lay brothers of the First Franciscan Order, pray for us.
Saint Didacus of Alcalá, pray for us.
Saint Salvator of Horta, pray for us.
Saint Felix of Cantalice, pray for us.
Saint Benedict the Black, pray for us.
Saint Paschal Baylon, pray for us.
Saint Seraphim of Montegranaro, pray for us.
Saint Charles of Sezze, pray for us.
Saint Ignatius Laconi, pray for us.
Saint Francis Camporosso, pray for us.
Saint Conrad of Parzham, pray for us.

All you holy virgins of the Second Franciscan Order, pray for us.
Holy Mother Clare of Assisi, pray for us.
Saint Agnes of Assisi, pray for us.
Saint Colette of Corbie, pray for us.
Saint Catherine of Bologna, pray for us.
Saint Veronica Giuliani, pray for us.

All you holy priests of the Third Franciscan Order, pray for us.
Saint Yves of Brittany, pray for us.
Saint Charles Borromeo, pray for us.
Saint Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, pray for us.
Saint Vincent Palotti, Founder, pray for us.
Saint John Mary Vianney, Patron of Parish Priests, pray for us.
Saint Joseph Cafasso, pray for us.
Saint Michael Garicoits, pray for us.
Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Founder, pray for us.
Saint John Bosco, Founder, pray for us.
Saint Pius X, Pope, pray for us.
Saint John XXIII, Pope, pray for us.

All you holy foundresses of religious congregations who were members of the Third Franciscan Order, pray for us.
Saint Bridget of Sweden, pray for us.
Saint Jane of Valois, pray for us.
Saint Angela Merici, pray for us.
Saint Mary Bartholomea Capitanio, pray for us.
Saint Mary Magdalen Postel, pray for us.
Saint Vincentia Gerosa, pray for us.
Saint Joachima de Mas y de Vedruna, pray for us.
Saint Mary Josepha Rossello, pray for us.
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, pray for us.

All you holy men of the Third Franciscan Order, pray for us.
Saint Ferdinand, King of Castile and Leon, pray for us.
Saint Louis, King of France, Patron of the Third Order, pray for us.
Saint Elzear of Sabran, pray for us.
Saint Roch of Montpellier, pray for us.
Saint Conrad of Piacenza, Hermit, pray for us.

All you holy women of the Third Franciscan Order, pray for us.
Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Patroness of the Third Order, pray for us.
Saint Rose of Viterbo, Virgin, pray for us.
Saint Zita of Lucca, Virgin, pray for us.
Saint Margaret of Cortona, pray for us.
Saint Clare of Montefalco, Virgin and Religious, pray for us.
Saint Elizabeth of Portugal, pray for us.
Saint Joan of Arc, pray for us.
Saint Frances of Rome, pray for us.
Saint Catherine of Genoa, pray for us.
Saint Hyacintha Mariscotti, Virgin and Religious, pray for us.
Saint Mariana of Jesus of Quito, Virgin, pray for us.
Saint Mary Frances of the Five Wounds, Virgin, pray for us.

All you holy Cordbearers of St. Francis, pray for us.
Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop, pray for us.
Saint Joseph Calasanctius, Founder, pray for us.
Saint Benedict Joseph Labre, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette Soubirous, Virgin and Religious, pray for us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

Let us pray:
Almighty everlasting God, we thank You for granting us the joy of honoring our holy Father Francis and his sainted followers and enjoying the protection of their unceasing prayers. Grant us also the grace to imitate their example and so attain their fellowship in eternal glory. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

(From Franciscan Focus.)


Pax et bonum

Official obituary for Father Groeschel

 

OBITUARY FOR FATHER BENEDICT JOSEPH GROESCHEL, CFR

Famed author, speaker, psychologist, and spiritual director, Father Benedict Joseph (Robert Peter) Groeschel, CFR, 81, died at St. Joseph’s Home for the elderly in Totowa, New Jersey on October 3, 2014, after a long illness. The eldest of six children, Father Groeschel was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on July 23, 1933 to the late Edward Joseph Groeschel and Marjule Smith Groeschel and attended Catholic schools in both Jersey City and Caldwell, New Jersey. Ten days after his 1951 graduation from Immaculate Conception High School in Montclair, New Jersey he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. Joseph in Huntington, Indiana. Adopting the name Benedict Joseph in honor of St. Benedict Joseph Labré, he pronounced his first vows as a Capuchin in 1952 and his final vows in 1954. Father Groeschel completed his theological studies at the Capuchin Franciscan Seminary of Mary Immaculate in Garrison, New York in 1959, and on June 20th of that year was ordained to the priesthood in Sacred Heart Church, Yonkers, New York.


His first priestly assignment, that of interim Catholic Chaplain at Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry, New York, a residential facility for troubled children, was a post he expected to occupy only for a few months. However, he stayed at Children’s Village for fourteen years, working with hundreds of troubled youths, quite a few of whom remained his friends for decades. He often described his years at Children’s Village as "the happiest time of my life," and in many ways that period set the tone for the rest of his life, prompting him to begin graduate study in psychology to better serve the children in his care. After earning a master’s degree from Iona College in 1964 and a doctorate from Teacher’s College, Columbia University in 1970, he began lifelong work as a counselor who always endeavored to unite effective psychological methods with true Christian compassion and a vibrant spirituality.

In 1973 at the request of Terence Cardinal Cooke, Father Groeschel left Children’s Village to become the founding director of Trinity Retreat in Larchmont, New York, a retreat house primarily for
Catholic clergy and religious. During his forty years there, he became known throughout the Catholic world for the depth of the spiritual and psychological direction he offered, as well as for the extent of his caring for all who came to him for help. During this period he was urged by colleagues and friends to try his hand as a writer, and so he began work on a manuscript that he called Spiritual Passages. Published by Crossroads in 1983, Spiritual Passages is still in print and has been read by people the world over. Known for his inexhaustible energy, Father Groeschel continued writing throughout the rest of his life, becoming popular among Catholic and non-Catholic readers alike. In all he published forty-six books, most of which remain in print, and was for years a much-sought-after author by Catholic and secular publishing houses. At the time of his death he was working on a memoir to be published by Our Sunday Visitor and entitled The Life of a Struggling Soul. He also wrote a large number of articles, which have appeared in various periodicals, including First Things and Priest Magazine.


Despite his many commitments, in 1974 Father Groeschel took over the Office of Spiritual Development of the Archdiocese of New York, at the request of Cardinal Cooke. In that capacity he organized widely attended classes, conferences, events, and symposia aimed at deepening the spiritual lives of Catholics, lay, clergy, and religious throughout the archdiocese and beyond.

In constant demand as a retreat master and a speaker, Father Groeschel, always in his Franciscan habit, traveled the globe for years, bringing the Gospel message to any who were willing to listen. His unique blend of prayerfulness, penetrating insight, scholarship, and gentle humor was as irresistible as the spellbinding power of his preaching was undeniable. He became for many a badly needed voice of orthodoxy, as well as of common sense in a world that seemed beset by shrill contradictory voices and uncertainty. His monthly "afternoons of recollection," events held at various parishes throughout the Archdiocese of New York, drew large crowds for decades. Many people credit those afternoons of prayer, liturgy, and inspiring preaching with reviving their faith and teaching them

how to live a truly Christian life in an aggressively secular world. Despite his unfailing devotion to Catholic doctrine, he was deeply committed to ecumenism, speaking in both Protestant churches and synagogues and counting among his good friends ministers of several denominations as well as rabbis.

An invitation to conduct a retreat for the Missionaries of Charity in India was the beginning of Father Groeschel’s long relationship with that community and his deep friendship with its founder, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and in the early 1970’s he was instrumental in helping her establish her first convent in New York.

In 1987, striving to live more faithfully the Franciscan life, Father Groeschel left his religious order with seven other friars to form a new religious community, of which he became the first Servant (Superior). The Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, based in the south Bronx and dedicated to the service to the poor, have grown from eight to 115 members, and in the same year a similar community for women, the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal was formed, which currently has 35 members. Although he was deeply proud of his new community and always believed that its foundation was a "work of God," Father Groeschel often said that his separation from the Capuchins was the most difficult and painful day of his life. He never lost hope that a reunion might one day be possible.
Always eager to find new ways to spread the Gospel message, Father Groeschel took to the airways 30 years ago, appearing on EWTN television network, at the invitation of Mother Angelica. He became a regular on the network in various formats, the last of which was his Sunday Night Live show, which drew a large audience week after week, as people tuned in to listen to Father Groeschel interview guests from throughout the religious world or simply to hear him speak deeply and movingly about the faith that meant so much to him.


Father Groeschel’s compassion for the poor and those in any kind of trouble was legendary. And it was never a compassion that was limited to words or even to prayer. It always overflowed into

deeds, and usually very energetic ones. For decades he distributed food to hundreds of people in the South Bronx who could not afford to buy their own. As the holidays approached, he would be especially determined to make sure that people who otherwise would have no Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Easter dinner would be given enough to have a small feast. He was a master at finding generous donors to help him purchase hundreds of turkeys and hams and other foodstuffs which he delighted in distributing with the help of a small army of volunteers.

In 1967, very aware that the needs of older adolescents could not be met by institutions such as Children’s Village, Father Groeschel founded Saint Francis House in the Green Point section of Brooklyn. Its goal was to give some stability to the lives of young men who have no home to go to and no one to care for them. Since its first days, Saint Francis House has guided generations of young men as they made the difficult transition from a chaotic adolescence to a stable and productive adulthood.

Moved by the plight of young woman who were pregnant, alone and who had no place to turn, he along with Chris Bell, founded Good Counsel Homes in 1985, to give such women not just a safe and supportive place to live, but help in the care of their children and the tools to begin to build a new and better life.

Deeply committed to education, Father Groeschel, taught pastoral psychology for nearly four decades at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York. He also taught various times at Iona College, Fordham University, and the Maryknoll School of Theology. During the 1970s he and theologian Ewert Cousins organized a regular series of lectures at Fordham University featuring many of the most prominent thinkers in the Catholic world.

On January 11, 2004 Father Groeschel suffered a near-fatal car accident, leaving him with a shattered left arm and a number of other permanent injuries. He was in a coma for ten days and his recovery took many months. Most people expected that he would be an invalid for the rest of his days

on earth. Yet within a year he was at work again. He was somewhat bent over, and he walked slowly and with the aid of a cane from that point on. Yet his astonishing determination didn’t waver nor did his profound faith. "God still has some work for me to do," he said, and in little more than two years, with remarkable resiliency, he returned to the same grueling schedule he had kept for years.

Over the past decade, despite his decline in health, Fr. Groeschel continued to serve the Church generously and with great fidelity. In 2012, after Fr. Groeschel experienced great difficulty in communicating, following a minor stroke and other health complications he officially retired from public life and was welcomed by the Little Sisters of the Poor in Totowa, NJ. There he realized the time had come to slow down and enter a new chapter of his priestly life. Daily visits of family and friends were the highlight of his days along with spending time in the chapel, concelebrating the Holy Mass and making his daily holy hour. To the very end, Fr. Groeschel exhibited his sincere care for others and great love for being a priest.

Father Benedict Joseph Groeschel is survived by his sister Marjule Drury of Caldwell, NJ, his sister Robin Groeschel of Glendive, MT, and one brother Garry Groeschel of St. Petersburg, FL and nine nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brothers Ned and Mark.

Pax et bonum

A few profession pictures (Dick and Ann Marie Kunz)

Dick and Ann Marie Kunz were professed September 19, 2014, at the St. Padre Pio Chapel, the newest members of the Franciscan family. (Though they have been active in the fraternity for several years.)

 

And, of course, being a Franciscan celebration it had to include food! 

 

Congratulations!

Pax et bonum

I Thirst - For You (St. Theresa of Calcutta)

     …Jesus wants me to tell you…how much love He has for each of you – beyond all you can imagine.  I worry some of you still have not really met Jesus – one to one – you and Jesus alone.  We may spend time in the chapel – but have you seen with the eyes of your soul how He looks at you with love?  Do you really know the living Jesus – not from books but from being with Him in your heart?  …Ask for the grace, He is longing to give it.  Until you can hear Jesus in the silence of your own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying “I thirst” in the hearts of the poor.
 

     Never give up this daily intimate contact with Jesus as the real living person – not just the idea.  How can we last even one day without hearing Jesus say “I love you” – impossible?  Our soul needs that as much as the body needs air.  If not, prayer is dead – meditation is only thinking.  Jesus wants each of you to hear Him – speaking in the silence of your heart.

   Be careful of all that can block that personal contact with the living Jesus.  The Devil may try to use the hurts of life, and sometimes our own mistakes – to make you feel it is impossible that Jesus really loves you, is cleaving to you.  This is a danger for all of us.  And so sad, because it is completely the opposite of what Jesus is really wanting, waiting to tell you.  Not only that He loves you, but even more – that He longs for you.  He misses you when you don’t come close.  He thirsts for you.  He loves you always, even when you don’t feel worthy.  When not accepted by others, even by yourselves sometimes – He is the one who always accepts you.

     My children, you don’t have to be different for Jesus to love you.  Only believe – you are precious to Him.  Bring all your suffering to His feet – only open your heart to be loved by Him as you are.  He will do the rest. 

     You all know in your mind that Jesus loves you – but in this letter Mother wants to touch your hearts instead…That is why I ask you to read this letter before the Blessed Sacrament, the same place it was written, so Jesus Himself can speak to you each one.

     His words on the wall of every MC chapel [“I Thirst”], they are not from the past only, but alive here and now, spoken to you.  Do you believe it?  If so, you will hear, you will feel His presence.  Let it become as intimate for each of you, just as for Mother. – This is the greatest joy you could give me.  Mother will try to help you understand – but Jesus Himself must be the one to say to you “I thirst.”

Pax et bonum