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Video – Fr. Angelo Geiger on Fr. Peter Fehlner’s Franciscan-Marian Renewal – CONF 314

apostolate — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 02:42:11 +0000

Ave Maria!

At the Symposium titled “Sursum Actio” at Notre Dame Univ. from Jun 8-9, 2015, in honor of the life work of Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, F.I., Fr. Angelo Geiger, FI, from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas, gives the thirteenth conference which he titles, “In the Counsels of the Immaculate: Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner’s Contribution to the Renewal of Franciscan Immaculatism”. He points out how much Fr. Peter has contributed to renewing the great Marian tradition of the Franciscan Conventuals and how this is the way they will regroup and fulfill their mission of renewing the Church. Fr. Peter did this primarily by bringing to light the great patrimony of St. Maximilian Kolbe in promoting total consecration to Mary in the Church as a way of bringing to fruition the declaration of the Immaculate Conception as a dogma in 1854.

He starts by quoting from a work of Fr. Peter that he read thirty years ago that was instrumental in discerning his vocation with the Franciscans:

It is not so much a question of what place Mary has in our lives as what place we occupy in hers. That is the starting point of any discussion. Only when the correct starting point from which to begin any study of the distinction relations between Mary and our order has been clearly identified, do we find ourselves in a position to assess the claims and implications of the militia movement within the order.

Fr. Angelo explains how much Fr. Peter has done to answer this question, “Where does the order fit into the plans of the Immaculate?” In the talk he mentions:

The Golden thread of St. Maximilian that divides the History of the Franciscans into two pages, the first page leading op to the declaration of the Immaculate Conception of Mary as a Dogma and the second page is the implementation of the dogma into the life of the Church.

How the stigmatization of St. Francis relates to the martyrdom of St. Maximilian in Auschwitz.

The many articles that Fr. Peter wrote, some as the editor of Miles Immaculata, which St. Maximilian founded.

How Mary Immaculate is the answer to the Franciscan and the Church going back and forth between worldliness and anti-ecclesial, apocalyptic sectarianism and how this resolves the Post-Vatican II crisis.

The Immaculatist roots of St. Francis and how he called her “Spouse of the Holy Spirit” and “Virgin Made Church.”

The observance of religious life at Niepokalanow and how it was both rigorous and yet not elitist

By choosing Mary, Francis and his followers chose the Church as well as being a reform movement of the Church.

Marian ecclesial form of life renews Conventuals by means of total consecration and in line with the tradition of large friaries like Sacro Convento and practicing the perfect common life in the City of the Immaculate, enabling Conventuals to achieve a synthesis between between extremes.

How Fr. Peter by starting the Academy of the Immacualte did so much to fulfill St. Maximilian’s desire to start an academy for the study of the Immaculate Conception.

The many books and articles and Fr. Peter wrote and edited as well as the symposiums he organized under the banner of the Academy of the Immaculate.

Some lines of thought in his writing for the Academy:

– Early roots of Franciscan Immaculatism
– St. Maximilian’s sources for his two page Franciscan history.
– A Marian Franciscan geography of faith using insight from John Paul II in Redemptoris Mater, relating the Portiuncula to the first page of Franciscan history and Niepokalanow, St. Maximilian’s City of the Immaculate, to the second.

Evolution of the thought of Fr. Peter seeking first to achieve the balanced implementation of Vatican II in the Conventuals in order to avoid the fluctuation between extremes and how this was confirmed by Pope Benedict’s thoughts on the Joachimites. The solution being the sanctification of the intellect, the Sentire Cum Ecclesia, thinking with the Church according to the counsels of the Immaculate.

He concludes by pointing out the need for a City of the Immaculate as the most important patrimony given by St. Maximilian and how the role of the Franciscans but especially the City of the Immaculate is to promote total consecration to Mary Immaculate and thus renew the Church. He says:

But in the end it is not that Our lady needs us but that we need her. And the realization of this truth is something for which we will be eternally grateful to Fr. Peter.

The talk is followed by a commentary by Fr. Peter where he points out that Marian devotion is not an either/or, either Marian or Franciscan but both/and, where both complement each other.

Dec 08 – Homily – Fr Angelo: The Positive Meaning of the Immaculate Conception

Griswold Friars — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 12:03:12 +0000

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception is phrased negatively–that Mary never was touched by sin–but it has a very positive meaning as expressed in Her God-given name of “Full of Grace”. Historically, the greatest defender of this dogma was the Franciscan Order, and it was Bl. John Duns Scotus that provided the theological understanding that was later proclaimed as dogma. Saint Maximilian Kolbe saw this dogma as a ‘blueprint’ of the Church, and that getting the dogma proclaimed was only as the first half of the Franciscan Order’s calling. Now that the dogma was proclaimed, it was time to incorporate it into the life of the Church by the spirituality of Total Consecration to the Immaculate. Let us make the act, let us live the life, let us allow Her to use us as instruments for the salvation and sanctification of souls.

Ave Maria!

Mass: Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Solemnity
Readings:
1st: gen 3:9-15, 20
Resp: psa 98:1, 2-3, 3-4
2nd: eph 1:3-6, 11-12
Gsp: luk 1:26-38

Audio (MP3)

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Passing of Fr. Peter – Golden Thread #1 – Introduction to Bl. John Duns Scotus

Fra Roderic — Wed, 09 May 2018 02:55:44 +0000

Ave Maria!

With heavy hearts we announce the passing of Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner to his eternal reward, this morning May 8th, 2018. After a fall and a stroke. God rest his soul. Please keep him your prayers.

As small tribute we upload this video to YouTube and reposted it to AirMaria. It was the first in his theological series, The Golden Thread, and was the first video ever uploaded to AirMaria.com way back in November, 2006. In the coming days we will post any other videos from him that we might have in our archives.

Farewell Fr. Peter! You were a great example, mentor and a friend to so many of us in the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate and beyond. You will be dearly missed. May we meet again.

From the original post:

Fr. Peter gives an introduction to his theological series on Bl. John Duns Scotus in the context of a remedy for the modern crisis of faith, philosophy and culture in the world and in the Church.

Scotus on Wikipedia, New Advent

Duns Scotus’s Oxford by Gerard M. Hopkin’s

Google of Dunston, England

7 Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Aug 26 – Homily – Fr Alan

apostolate — Mon, 26 Aug 2019 14:30:19 +0000

On the Franciscan Feast of the Seven Joys of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Aug 26, 2019), Fr. Alan enumerates the Seven Joys of the “Franciscan Crown,” the Rosary given mystically by Our Lady to a Franciscan novice who was one of her faithful devotees. Our Lady’s joys derive from her perfect union with God, and her expectant maternal joy as Mother of the Redeemed, that is, of all souls destined for eternal life.

The Seven Joys of Our Lady as prayed by the Franciscans of the Immaculate in the traditional “Franciscan Crown”:

1. We rejoice with You, Mary, for the immense joy that filled Your heart at the announcement of the Archangel Gabriel.
2. We rejoice with You, Mary, for the consolation You felt in Your visit to Saint Elizabeth.
3. We rejoice with You, Mary, for the ineffable joy You felt at the birth of Jesus.
4. We rejoice with You, Mary, for the profound happiness Your heart experienced at the adoration of the Magi.
5. We rejoice with You, Mary, for the jubilation Your heart felt at finding Jesus in the Temple.
6. We rejoice with You, Mary, for the purest joy that filled Your heart when the risen Jesus appeared to You.
7. We rejoice with You, Mary, for the immense joy You had when You were assumed into heaven and there crowned Queen.*

* In the more recently composed Rosary of the Seven Joys (one of the “Three Crowns” of Our Lady), the final joy is:
“Mary Most Holy, Mother of the Church at Pentecost” (cf. The Three Crowns: The Seven Joys, the Seven Sorrows, and the Seven Glories of Mary, compiled by Jonathan and Clara Fleishmann, published by Academy of the Immaculate Books, 2013. (https://academyoftheimmaculate.com/products/the-three-crowns?_pos=1&_sid=bb9f6f724&_ss=r)

See also:
– Definition of “joy” from from Fr. John Hardon’s Modern Catholic Dictionary (https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=34391)
– “The Joys of the 7-Decade Seraphic Rosary” by Angelo Stagnaro, National Catholic Register, Sept. 27, 2018 : http://www.ncregister.com/blog/astagnaro/the-joys-of-the-7-decade-seraphic-rosary

Ave Maria!

Mass: Seven Joys of the BVM – Feast

Readings:
1st: Song 2:1-14
Gsp: Lk 1:26-38

More on the Readings: http://dev.airmaria.com/r?m=1355

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Fr. Elias on the Golden Thread – Kolbe Dude #5

apostolate — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 17:00:37 +0000

Fr. Elias, the Kolbe Dude, explains St Maximilian Kolbe’s idea of the Golden thread and how Franciscan history relates to the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception.

Ave Maria!

+++ – KBDU 5

The post Fr. Elias on the Golden Thread – Kolbe Dude #5 first appeared on AirMaria.com.