Ave Maria!

Fra Gabriel Mary, FI does all things for the Immaculate near our Friary in Perth, Australia. He inspires the youth to aim for higher things as he skateboards to the tune of Schubert’s “Ave Maria.”

Ave Maria!

The post Video – Fra Gabriel – Skateboarding Down Under to Schubert’s Ave Maria! first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Here is a slide show of our Friars in New Bedford filmed over a period of 19 months (~2005-2006) by award winning photojournalist Peter Pereira, also from New Bedford. He filmed the entire series in black and white Kodak film, the old fashioned way. He even filmed some of the friars on errands away from the friary. He did an extraordinary job. Thank you, Peter.

Or you can order the book (not associated with friar’s Academy of the Immaculate. Revenue from sale of this book goes solely to pay for Peter Pereira expenses as he financed the entire printing himself.)

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Roving Reporter #34 – Tour of Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine ( 10min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

In anticipation of the opening of the new Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Lacrosse, WI on July 31, 2008, this Roving Reporter Special tours us through this new beautiful shrine, which at the time was under construction, and will be staffed by the Franciscans of the Immaculate. Deo Gratias!

for more information on this Marian shrine: http://www.guadalupeshrine.org/Home/Home.asp

Some photos from New Liturgical Movement

Ave Maria! +++

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July 30^th: St. Leopoldo Mandic

A Saint of the Confessional and a Saint for the Cause of Unity

The august Mother of God is in truth co?redemptress of the human race and source of all grace. In fact on the one hand we have in her the most perfect obedience to God?s laws and, after her Son, the most perfect innocence: He impeccable by His nature, she impeccable by grace. On the other hand we see her as Our Lady of Sorrows, as He was the Man of Sorrows. If, therefore, by eternal decree of God, the Immaculate Virgin was the moral victim of sorrow as her Son was the physical victim, and if God?s avenging justice found no shadow of fault in them, it follows inevit?ably that they were paying the price of the sins of others, that is of mankind.

St. Leopoldo had a great love of Our Lady, a love that sustained him though his life of suffering, was light to his mind and warmth and comfort to his heart. Not even those who lived with him could describe accurately the extent and depth of this love. The tone of when he spoke of her, his expression when he looked at a picture or statue of her, cannot be described: one had to experience them to the ardor of his love

?Fr. Leopoldo,? someone once remarked to him, ?you have heard so much that noth?ing can surprise you now.? ?On the contrary, my son, I am con?stantly astonished by the way people put their immortal souls in jeopardy for the most frivolous and futile reasons,?

Fr. Leopoldo lived the Mass and always tried to instill into others a vivid faith in what he rightly considered to be the source of all grace and blessings. Probably every priest who came to him to confession was frequently exhorted to celebrate Mass well and to make central point of his spiritual life.

?I recommend daily Communion?, he wrote to a penitent, ?You?ll see what a marvelous effect it has.?

Jesus told the Jews that if they kept His commandments they would know the truth, and the truth would set them free. This truth is none other than the grace of the Holy Ghost, the grace promised by Christ to the Samaritan woman under the simile of the living water. Let us therefore approach God, Who is Truth and Light, and we shall be illuminated. Before the splendor of this Light, satan, who is darkness, will be put to flight, and the kingdom of Gad and the Gospel of Christ will be safe within us.

Great was the mystic joy with which Fr. Leopoldo held the Sacred Host in his hands and consumed It. But this did not last long. After Mass he folded his arms across his breast as though trying to retain the treasure of which he had partaken, but before long the Sacramental Species lost their identity and the Real Presence dissolved with them. Jesus, truly present in Body and Blood was, however, not far off: He was always still there in the tabernacle, and it was to the tabernacle that Fr. Leopoldo now turned his attention, never turning it away. Whatever he did during the day, wherever he might go, his heart remained in adoration before God. He was constantly aware of call of the tabernacle and the necessity of it in the spiritual life.

At any time when he was free of other duties, he went immediately to, the Blessed Sacrament altar and plunged into adoration. In spite of acute arthritic pains in his legs, he always knelt upright without the support of the bench, and very often on the bare floor. He remained completely immobile, like a statue, and his face, turned to the tabernacle

Even in his genuflections when passing before the altar, one could see that here was no routine gesture, no everyday acknowledgement of a belief however firmly held, but a genuine, almost spontaneous act of adoration. From his great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament stemmed a desire to ensure that, as far as he was concerned, everything to do with the tabernacle should be perfect.

Aware that in the Holy Eucharist was the inexhaustible source of all good, Fr. Leopoldo, moved .by his ardent charity, did everything in his power to persuade others to approach the Blessed Sacrament. He often included a visit to the Blessed Sacrament in the penances he gave, and was always recommending frequent Communion as a sov?ereign aid to perfection.

As Christ our Redeemer redeemed mankind through His sufferings and cross and death, so He wishes his followers to apply His merits to redeemed mankind by use of the same means of suffering, sorrow and sacrifice, united with and sanctified by His sufferings as priest and eternal victim. Every member of the faithful is called upon to cooperate with the divine plan in this manner for the benefit of mankind, for to all of them was given the command to pray one for another and to be a cause of salva?tion one to another.

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Homily #080811 ( 19min) Play – On this feast of St. Clare, celebrated as a Solemnity at our Franciscan Friary, Fr. Angelo Geiger preaches on the Gospel passage “I am the vine and you are the branches” to explain to us how St. Francis and St. Clare and their two orders relate to each other, the importance of poverty and, finally, how Our Lady fits in. And, of course, St Clare is our Patron Saint for AirMaria so it is doubly a time for celebration.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
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Here are some photos from the opening of the National Shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe at La Crosse, WI last week. This makes our fifth friary in the US and, Wow, what a house and what a church! We have much to be grateful for. Many thanks to Abp. Raymond Burke for this great honor and … thanks be to God.

You can click on any photo below to see a larger view and then just keep clicking next. In this mode you can see the captions. You can also view this as a slide show but this is rather small and slow. There are some more links to other material on the web about the shrine at the bottom.

Video – Roving Reporter #34: Our Lady of Guadalupe at Lacrosse, Wisconsin

La Crosse Tribune Photo Gallery

New Liturgical Movement:

Progress at La Crosse

More New Paintings at La Crosse

The post FiNews – Photos from La Crosse first appeared on AirMaria.com.

FI News #40 – Preparing the siege engine ( 01min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Here is a short video of the preparation for the All Hallows Eve Celebration at the Friary where we have the Great Siege of the Tower at Griswold, CT with water balloon launchers of all sorts.

Also see the homily for the event and the event itself

Ave Maria!

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FI News #49 – Friary in La Crosse, WI ( 04min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

Fra Joseph gives us a tour of the new friary in La Crosse, WI attached to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Grand Finale is the new AirMaria studio on a floor of its own. Well,  … sort of … you’ll see.

BTW this friary is a little nicer than any of ours. We’re just using it as we staff the shrine.

Ave Maria!

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Homily #090323 ( 07min) Play – And he found in the temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, he drove them all out of the temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the changers he poured out, and the tables he overthrew. -John 2;14,15

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)
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Homily #090331 ( 10min) Play – Our Lord shows us His love over and over again in extraordinary ways, yet we still  do not put our trust in Him.

Ave Maria! Mass readingss

Audio (MP3)
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The post Mar 31 – Homily – Fr Angelo: This Wretched Food! first appeared on AirMaria.com.