Live Stream: Marian Symposium at Guadalupe Shrine October 11-12

details at Guadalupe Shrine

Fr. Peter Fehlner has left the Friars of the Immaculate to rejoin the Conventual Franciscans

Fr. Peter Fehlner was a prominent member of the Franciscans of the Immaculate and former rector of the Guadalupe Shrine in LSE.  Since I've been asked about it I thought I would post the information I had.  It's worth noting the state of the FFI (sorry for an aside, but I laughed out loud, everybody in that article's comments called me Steve for some reason), and that Father Peter was one of the signees of the request for papal intervention, along with Fr. Angelo Geiger (whom remains in the FFI and as I understand pursuing doctoral studies).  It seems that there had been individual FFI friars that had expressed frustration to him over the visitation.

Back around October the FFI US Provincial superior was notified by Fr. Peter that he was returning to the Conventual Franciscans.  Fr. Peter is currently stationed at the Shrine of St. Anthony in Ellicott City, MD, still staying busy and keeping in touch with many of the FFI friars quite regularly.

The FFI provided me with some of the details with this in conclusion:

We greatly miss Fr. Peter, no doubt, and trust that he was acting according to his conscience with such a difficult move, desirous only of doing God's Will.

Profession of Religious Vows of Peter Damian Fehlner, OFM Conv.: The candidate approaches the Minister Provincial (the Very Reverend Fr. James McCurry, OFM Conv.), kneels before him, folds his hands between the Minister’s palms resting on the book of the Gospels, and recites the formula of profession. Witnesses: Friar Jim Moore, OFM Conv. (Guardian of the St. Bonaventure Friary Post Novitiate) and Fr. Michael Heine, OFM Conv. (Guardian of the St. Joseph Cupertino Friary, in which Friar Peter Damian resides) {Novice, friar Emmanuel Wenke, OFM Conv. kneeling at center}

On Saturday, September 17, 2016, Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, OFM Conv. professed Solemn Vows in the St. Joseph Cupertino Friary Chapel (Ellicott City, MD), in the company of many of his confreres, as well as some visiting seminarians from the Diocese of Savannah. Friar Peter began his life as a Franciscan as a member of our community. For the past few decades, he has been a member of another Order but on Saturday returned “home” to us and is assigned to the St. Joseph Cupertino Friary which serves the needs of the pilgrims to the Shrine of St. Anthony. We welcome him home and ask for you to keep him and all of our friars in your continued prayers. For more pictures from the day, please visit our Province Facebook page.

Our Lady of the Angels Province

Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!

Immaculate Conception (c. 1618)
by Diego Velázquez (1599-1660)

From the very beginning, and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for his only-begotten Son a Mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, he would be born into this world. Above all creatures did God so lover her that truly in her was the Father well pleased with singular delight. Therefore, far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully.

- Ineffabilis Deus: Pope Pius IX

NewAdvent

The Franciscan Monk Duns Scoto in his Cell

John Duns Scotus can be described as a Franciscan theologian who provided the Church with the Christological basis for the doctrine on the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, in such a way that it could truly be seen as the result of divine revelation. His Christ-centred vision of creation and redemption proves that the primacy of God’s love in the mystery of the Incarnation is still at work in the Church and in the world. The mysterium iniquitatis, or mystery of evil, has been won over by Christ and his Immaculate Mother, whom Saint Francis salutes as the Virgo Ecclesia facta, the “Virgin made Church”.


Christendom Awake

The Catholic Times profiles Brother Joseph Schmitzer, FFI

Since the interview is in PDF, I posted the whole thing here.  
Year of Consecrated Life Q & A:
Brother Joseph Schmitzer, Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate Serving at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse.

Sister Donna: Tell us a little about your background.

Brother Joseph: I am 36 years old and grew up with my eight brothers and sisters in a small town called Logan in Southeastern Ohio. After graduating from high school I spent a number of years working with my father installing and sanding hardwood floors and I did this more or less until the age of 22 when I entered religious life. SD: How did you discover your vocation to be a brother?

BJ: During my time working after high school I read a book called “True Devotion to Mary” by St. Louis de Montfort. It inspired me to consecrate myself to Mary as a way of offering my work to Jesus in the most pleasing way through her hands as His sinless mother.

As I began to live this out I started to notice a conviction growing in my heart that a life of service to God was something that I should look into. The priesthood, however, was not something that I was particularly drawn to as I enjoyed very much working with my hands and had no real desire to go to college. So when I visited some religious communities and discovered that through the brotherhood there was the possibility of committing myself to God in a way that more suited me. I was very happy to follow that path.

SD: What role did your parents and other family members play in your vocation?

BJ: My mom was the spiritual “backbone” of our family and she made sure we all made it to church each Sunday and were involved at our parish. While I have to confess that I didn’t always appreciate her efforts growing up nor did I always hold the Faith as a top priority in my life, her perseverance and good examples planted many seeds which most certainly had their effect in my eventual decision to put Christ at the center of my life and follow Him as a religious.

SD: What drew you to the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, and how long have you been a brother?

BJ: I was drawn, in particular, to the FFI because of their fourth vow of Consecration to Our Lady. By this vow we give ourselves as a community to Mary as her possession and property, asking her to use us in whatever way she wants for the Kingdom of her Son and to transform us into His image. This vow is the base on which our other vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience are observed–all with, in, and through the Immaculate for the greatest possible glory of God. As I was looking into religious life I was already trying to live out this kind of Marian Spirituality from the influence of “True Devotion to Mary” so the ideal of the FFI made me feel right at home. I have been a brother now for 13 years and my final vows were made in 2007. While the life of a brother in our order is in many ways similar to the priests because we all observe the same schedule and community life, most of our work involves the practical needs of the Friary and of the apostolates while theirs is more generally occupied with administering the sacraments, studying, giving spiritual direction, etc.

During my time as a brother I have been a cook (It must not have been too bad as they kept me on for five years), worked maintenance, coordinated Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, taught Catechism and Apologetic classes, and performed sacristy work as I am now at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I have also been involved in some internet and computer projects.

Fra. Angelo: State of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate

Fr Angelo at 2011 Marian Symposium

In the interest of full disclosure, I love the FFI and pray for the friars I know daily by name.

I suspected that Fr. Angelo was one of the friars who appealed for intervention.  This is the first time he publicly admitted such.  I thought Fr. Angelo had written some good pieces on the topic of traditionalism vs. tradition.  It's along the lines of something Michael Matt talked about a while back asking what is this whole "tradition-minded" thing versus "traditionalist."  At any rate, there's distinctions to be made along those lines, but the point is Fr. Angelo was planning on publishing a book on the topic but it seemed to go by the wayside after the intervention began, and perhaps a sign of the struggles within the FFI.

I am one of the original five friars who appealed to the Holy See concerning the problems within our Institute. I mention this in the interests of full disclosure.

State of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate(full article there is a must read on the topic)

I do not ask the Friars at the Guadalupe Shrine anything on the topic of the visitation; I am on the outside looking in like everyone else.  Because Fr. Peter Fehlner wrote the forward to Fr. Angleo's book, I have assumed it would be a fair assumption that he also felt a visitation was needed for the order.

Also you may have seen that the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate have now been placed under visitation.  

For the most part I have not posted on this topic much(I guess this is probably my first time commenting at length).  I have appreciated efforts of the Rorate Caeli blog covering the story, and although Fr. Angleo has stated that it's a personal matter to the FFI and Rorate should butt out and quit stirring up the masses, I am one of the faithful whom go to the Friars for instruction and sacraments, so I don't feel like it's idle gossip or war mongering to try to learn the facts.  I mean, to have a religious order charge with "crypto-lefebvrian and definitely traditionalist drift" has so many implications it's hard to imagine why such a vague and quite frankly a non-criminal charge was brought.  Calling a religious a "crypto-lefebvrian" is like calling an American a "closet-communist."

Okay, so Father Angelo has posted details on why the visitation was called for and the current state.  The visitation was called for in January of 2012, one year before the resignation of Pope Benedict in 2013(I think an important point to note).  The list of grievances "definitely" brought forth at that time:

1. the authoritarian implementation of Summorum Pontificum,
2. the manipulation of the General Chapter of 2008 in this regard,
3. the traditionalist drift in the seminary and apostolic work,
4. our association with known sympathizers of the traditionalist movement,
5. the arbitrary character of the government of the Institute and absence of any mechanism to address this problem,
6. the ways in which all these problems had been affecting the formation program,
7. the influence of the former Mother General of the Sisters on the Founder,
8. and the increasingly radicalized character of the sisters’ community.

Number 4 seems to be an indication of a relationship with the SSPX or its members, although still at issue is what constitutes "traditionalist."  In this context, "traditionalist" seems to essentially equate to the SSPX.  But we can see that it was this original intervention that also lead to the recent intervention on the Franciscan Sisters (but honestly, I had assumed the intervention was all along on both orders considering their relationship).

And I guess this is what it boils down to, indeed an incredibly hefty charge, Fr Angelo states that the FFI founder,  Fr. Stefano M. Manelli,  directed the Friars to support a hermeneutic of rupture - or that specifically the Vatican II Council is fundamentally flawed and cannot be read within the tradition of the Church - and later claims the use of "every Machiavellian tactic" to suppress opposition.

The author presumes to suggest that the Founder and the friars who support him advocate the “hermeneutic of continuity” taught by Benedict XVI, when, in fact, under the Founder’s direction our Institute became one of principle instruments of the traditionalist movement in Italy to undermine the authority of that same hermeneutic.

Anywho, I'd highly recommend reading the article to those following the situation.

The order seems on the road to a definite split.  

Cardinal Burke walks out of Rome Summorum Pontificum conference after Pope Francis criticized

Finally, Sandro Magister gave his contribution as a lecture on which Katholisches.info already reported (see separate report Pope Francis and the Liturgy - "Pure Functional Access" Reservations to Tradition, weakness in the knees before the Lord ). Master analyzed in a critical manner, the previous decisions of Pope Francis in the Liturgy: The ban for celebration in the old rite by the Franciscans of the Immaculate, the dismissal of all five consultants for the Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, who were close to the liturgical understanding of Benedict XVI., the refusal to genuflect in the Holy Mass at the words of consecration, although from papal Mass to papal Mass always newly master of ceremonies Guido Marini always included the two relevant points and finally the halting by CDF, that they no longer check the bizarre special forms in the Mass of the Neocatechumenal Way, as Benedict XVI. had ordered. Magister has also expressed the opinion that the Pope is "friendly" to everyone, "except with the traditionalists."

"Scandal Currently The Dominant Characteristic of Climate in Rome"
The lecture finally came to a scandal. Magister so openly expressed his criticism of Pope Francis, that Cardinal Burke and Archbishop Pozzo had to leave the room. “The response of Cardinal Burke and Archbishop Pozzo is indicative of the currently prevailing climate in Rome,” the website Chiesa e Postconcilio (Church and Post-Conciliar). “Was it because of the time for both of them or was it simply a precaution, because of the polite but harsh criticism by Magister of Pope Francis? The withdrawal of a Cardinal during a major event is something glaring. All interpretations are allowed, “said the Spanish Catholic blogger Francisco de la Cigoña.

details at Eponymous

HT Fr. Z

Photo

Meet the skateboarding Friars of the Immaculate

via New Advent

Limit Break is a web series about people who do extraordinary things, and how their faith inspires them. In this episode we meet Friar Didacus and Friar Gabriel, two brothers who skateboard and were called to religious life. The brothers skated for 7 years as teenagers, but felt their vocation was religious life. They were prepared to abandon their passion for skateboarding to live a life of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience as Friars of the Immaculate. Six years after becoming Friars and having not skated, they were given obedience to obtain a skateboard and go to the skatepark once a week - to "preach the gospel at all times, when necessary, use words" as Saint Francis stated. Friar Gabriel explains that God has so many ways of using peoples talents to give Him glory. Skateboarding allows the Friars to help others see the compatibility of exercising the body as well as the soul. Friar Didacus reflects that if he had always tried to live in a state of grace growing up, he would have been far better at skating and enjoyed it much more- because his mind would have been clear and at peace.

HT Diemish

Taylor Marshall on the Franciscans of the Immaculate situation

Father Stefano Manelli

Pope Francis has instructed that the Franciscans of the Immaculate may not celebrate the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. No more Latin Mass for the FIs – without permission.

Readers of my blog know that I am an associate member of the Franciscan of the Immaculate’s MIM. I’ve been a fan of the Franciscans of the Immaculate for awhile now.

So what’s going on?

The order’s founder is Father Stefano Manelli. He is a man known for his sanctity. He received his first Holy Communion from Padre Pio in 1938. He is also the author of one of my favorite books on Mary, Devotion to Our Lady. I give out copies of this book.

Over time Father Manelli has gravitated toward the Latin Mass of 1962, the Latin Breviary of 1961, and to Msgr. Brunero Gherardini’s reading of Vatican II.

Here is my subjective, non-authoritative, outsider’s interpretation of the facts:

continue at Canterbury Tales

Yep, go read, great post.  

Also this: Vatican Insider Interview with FI Spokesman

Confirmed: Public Extraordinary Form Mass at Guadalupe Shrine will continue under Friars

I was able to confirm that the 9:30 am Sunday Traditional Latin Mass will continued at the Guadalupe Shrine in La Crosse(also heard the Cardinal himself has confirmed) and will be celebrated by the Friars of the Immaculate.

Still in question is whether or not the Friars can celebrate Mass in the Friary in the EF.  The answer appears to be no.

On my to do list(maybe I should do a post on this list?) was "Start a La Crosse Latin Mass Society."  With the Friars handcuffed now, I'll just cross that off.

Fr. Maximilion's comments make me feel a little better. 

Pope Francis severly restricts/bans Friars of the Immaculate from saying the TLM

All the details are at Rorate: IMPORTANT: Pope Francis severely restricts the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate from celebrating the Traditional Latin Mass, imposes the Novus Ordo on all their priests
UPDATE: FULL TEXT OF THE DECREE that abrogates Summorum for the FFI 

Sandro Magister's latest column (For the First Time, Francis Contradicts Benedict) has the details.

The total ban on the Mass begins August 11th of this year. 

HT Andrea & Creative Minority

My "home parish" (Guadalupe Shrine is not a parish) is staffed with the Friars who celebrate the Traditional Mass.

I have no idea what this means at this point.  But if everything indicated is true, it appears that the fears of this pontificate were indeed well founded.  Why he is "picking on" the Friars is unclear as well. 

This comes on the heels of this: Cardinal Burke sees ‘perfect continuity’ between Popes Benedict, Francis in liturgical teaching

And this:
First EF Solemn Masses at Franciscan Friary in Griswold, Connecticut

especially this:

Readers may also be interested to know that the friars will be switching over to the usus antiquior beginning this Ash Wednesday as their primary form of the Roman liturgy.

UPDATE: Fra. Angelo has thoughts on the matter.

The restrictions on our community are specific to us and have been put in place for reasons specific to us.  Pope Francis has not contradicted Pope Benedict.  The visitation of our community began under Pope Benedict and the Commission was recommended by Cardinal João Braz de Aviz who was appointed to the Congregation by Pope Benedict.

UPDATE 2: Hmmmm...   Rorate makes this note and I assume he means our dear Father Angelo

Rorate has learned from its own sources that the "internal dissidents" were led by an American member of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate who was notable for his opposition and hostility to the any criticism of Vatican II, in direct contrast to the Italian friars of the FFI, many of whom adhered to the "Gherardini line" of loyal but unflinching criticism of at least some elements of the Conciliar documents.

UPDATE 3: Fr. Z has comments on the situation

Friars of the Immaculate are these guys:


This is terrifying.

Guadalupe Shrine's Knights of the Altar featured in NCRegister

Knights, chivalry and their ideals have always been inspiring.

What if knighthood were under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary and associated with a Marian shrine?

That’s exactly what is happening at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wis., with the start of Our Lady’s Knights of the Altar.

This new altar-boys guild raises altar service to a new level, both in the sanctuary and out in the world.

The idea began in 2008, when Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke — at the time, the archbishop of St. Louis — was celebrating the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe at this shrine that he founded.

"During his visit, he mentioned it would be good to get a program together for altar servers," says the shrine’s Friar Joseph Schmitzer, a Brother of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate.

Reflecting on that beginning, Cardinal Burke says that he wanted "from the very first foundation of the shrine that there would be a group of young men to assist with the sacred liturgy of the shrine. One of the most important aspects of the shrine is that the sacred liturgy be celebrated worthily."

The cardinal credits "Brother Joseph, who took it forward and has done a wonderful work."

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/our-lady-inspires-youth-as-her-knights-of-the-altar/#ixzz2M1HpOdAn

Prayers for former rector of Guadalupe Shrine in La Crosse

Fr. Peter Fehlner

As you may know, Father Peter is practically blind in his right eye following cataract surgery and is seeking a physical miracle through the intercession of Blessed John Duns Scotus.

Please join in praying for this intention with the following prayer.

Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed John Duns Scotus:

O Most High, Almighty and gracious Lord, Who exalts the humble and confounds the proud of heart, grant us the great joy of seeing Blessed John Duns Scotus canonized. He honored Your Son with the most sublime praises; he was the first to successfully defend the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary; he lived in heroic obedience to the Holy Father, to the Church and to the Seraphic Order. O most holy Father, God of infinite love, hear, we beseech You, our humble prayer, through the merits of Your Only-Begotten Son and His Mother, the Gate of Heaven and Spouse of the Holy Spirit. And if be Your holy Will, please grant the favor of a physical cure from blindness for Father Peter through the intercession of Blessed John Duns Scotus, so that his sanctity may be recognized in the whole Church. Amen.

 I happened to run across this awesome image of Fr. Peter with Mother Angelica.

New statue to Bl. John Duns Scotus at Guadalupe Shrine

Ask and ye shall receive.

More at Guadalupe Shrine on Facebook

Our Lady's Knights of the Altar

Friar Joseph, FI at the Guadalupe Shrine let me know that the Knights of the Altar program at the Shrine is now expanding and can be started at your own parish.  It's a program where boys can learn to serve both forms of the Mass and some levels of knighting as you progress. The nice thing is that Cardinal Burke does the knighting ceremonies while he is in town.  I'm sure if you are in the area the knighting could happen at the Shrine, but it can also happen in your home parish.  Our boys once old enough will be joining.  At any rate, check out the sharp looking website for details.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, ora pro nobis!

Source
MAXIMILLIAN KOLBE, APOSTLE OF MARY Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.

Cdl. Burke offering retreat for priests in Indiana this December

The Cardinal receiving the blessing of a
newly ordained priest

Priest Retreat 2012 “Canon Law and the Priest in His Role as The Good Shepherd.

Date:
December 3 – 7, 2012 (Monday – Friday)
December 3-4 by Father Bernard Luedtke,
December 5-7 by Cardinal Burke

Place: Mother of the Redeemer Retreat Center (Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate)
8220 West State Road 48
Bloomington, Indiana 47404

Phone: 812-825-4642, Ext. 1
Email: marianoasis@bluemarble.net

Cost:
$290 for all 5 days – single room
$260 for the 3 days of Cardinal Burke’s presentations – single room
$228 for 5 or 3 days – share a room

Tentative schedule is attached. The retreat ends Friday but departure can be made Saturday after 6:30 a.m. Mass with Cardinal Burke.

Register soon by mail or call the Retreat Center at 812-825-4642.

2012 Retreat Flyer(scribd)
2012 Retreat Schedule(scribd)  *
*The bottom line on the tentative schedule should say "violet" chasuble.

Snowboarding in style

A photograph from a few months ago of Friar Joseph and Father Jacinto of Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate getting ready to snowboard with Chef Doug Dahlgren of the Culina Mariana Café on the next hill over from the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Guadalupe Shrine

Clarity

Truth Himself

HT Felicity

Verso l'alto! To the heights!

The Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate and friends overlooking the city of La Crosse during the the annual Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The pilgrimage was sponsored by the Servants of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Guadalupe Shrine

Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!

Immaculate Conception (c. 1618)
by Diego Velázquez (1599-1660)

From the very beginning, and before time began, the eternal Father chose and prepared for his only-begotten Son a Mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate and from whom, in the blessed fullness of time, he would be born into this world. Above all creatures did God so lover her that truly in her was the Father well pleased with singular delight. Therefore, far above all the angels and all the saints so wondrously did God endow her with the abundance of all heavenly gifts poured from the treasury of his divinity that this mother, ever absolutely free of all stain of sin, all fair and perfect, would possess that fullness of holy innocence and sanctity than which, under God, one cannot even imagine anything greater, and which, outside of God, no mind can succeed in comprehending fully.

- Ineffabilis Deus: Pope Pius IX

NewAdvent

The Franciscan Monk Duns Scoto in his Cell

John Duns Scotus can be described as a Franciscan theologian who provided the Church with the Christological basis for the doctrine on the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, in such a way that it could truly be seen as the result of divine revelation. His Christ-centred vision of creation and redemption proves that the primacy of God’s love in the mystery of the Incarnation is still at work in the Church and in the world. The mysterium iniquitatis, or mystery of evil, has been won over by Christ and his Immaculate Mother, whom Saint Francis salutes as the Virgo Ecclesia facta, the “Virgin made Church”.


Christendom Awake