On Trust in God in all Trouble  [III]

O righteous Father, ever to be praised, now is the hour of Thy
servant's trial. Father, worthy of all love, it is right that I should
now suffer something for Thy sake. 0 Father, ever to be honoured, the
hour has come (John 16:32) which has lain in Thy foreknowledge from
all eternity, when for a while Thy servant will seem utterly defeated;
yet let him inwardly feel Thy presence. He will be maligned and
humiliated, a failure in the eyes of men, broken by suffering and
sickness, that with Thee he may rise again in the light of a new dawn,
and receive glory in Heaven. This, most holy Father, is by Your
appointment, and all is done as Thou hast ordained.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3 Ch 50

<<>><<>><<>>
April 10th - Bl. Mark Fantucci

AMONGST the Franciscan leaders of the 15th century a special place
must be assigned to Bl. Mark Fantucci of Bologna, to whom was mainly
due the preservation of the Observance as a separate body when it
seemed on the point of being compulsorily merged into the Conventual
branch. After having received an excellent education to fit him for
the good position and large fortune to which he was left sole heir, he
had given up all his worldly advantages at the age of 26 to receive
the habit of St. Francis. Three years after his profession, he was
chosen guardian of Monte Colombo, the spot where St. Francis had
received the rule of his order. So successful was he in converting
sinners that he was given permission to preach outside his province by
St. John Capistran, then vicar general of the Observants in Italy.

Having served twice as minister provincial, Bl. Mark was elected vicar
general in succession to Capistran, and showed himself zealous in
enforcing strict observance of the rule the various reforms he brought
about all tended to revive the spirit of the founder, After the taking
of Constantinople so many Franciscans had been enslaved by the Turks,
that Mark wrote to all his provincials urging them to appeal for alms
to ransom the captives but in answer to a request for instructions how
to act in the danger zone, he sent word to, Franciscan missionaries in
places threatened by victorious Islam bidding them remain boldly at
their posts and to face what might happen.

He was able to execute a long-cherished plan to form a convent of Poor
Clares in Bologna. St. Catherine of Bologna came with some of her nuns
from Ferrara to establish it, and found in Bl. Mark one who could give
her all the assistance she needed. He visited as commissary all the
friaries in Candia, Rhodes and Palestine, and on his return to Italy
he was elected vicar general for the second time. Never sparing
himself he undertook long and tiring expeditions to Bosnia, Dalmatia,
Austria and Poland, often travelling long distances on foot. Pope Paul
II wished to make him a cardinal, but he fled to Sicily to avoid being
forced to accept an honour from which he shrank.

The next pope, Sixtus IV, formed a project which was even less
acceptable, for he had set his heart upon uniting all Franciscans into
one body, without requiring any reform from the Conventuals. At a
meeting convened to settle the matter, Bl. Mark used all his eloquence
to defeat the proposal, but apparently in vain. At last, in tears,
throwing down the book of the rule at the pope’s feet, he exclaimed,
“Oh my Seraphic Father, defend your own rule, since I, miserable man
that I am, cannot defend it”; and thereupon left the hall. The gesture accomplished what argument had failed to do; the assembly broke up
without arriving at a decision, and the scheme fell through. In 1479,
while delivering a Lenten mission in Piacenza, Bl. Mark was taken ill
and died at the convent of the Observance outside the city. His cultus
was confirmed in 1868.

Bl. Mark is very fully dealt with under different years in Wadding’s
Annales Ordinis Minorum; and a summary account may be found in
Mazzara, Leggendario Francescano, vol. i (1676), pp. 431-440. See also
Léon, Aureole Seraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. ii, pp. 1-13. Sundry
letters and other references have been published by Faloci Pulignani
in his Miscellanea Francescana, vol. xiv (1913), and also in the
Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, vol. xxi (1928). Fr Mark is said to
have been one of the founders of monti di pietà to combat oppression
of the poor by usury.


Saint Quote:
If we look forward to receiving God's mercy, we can never fail to do
good so long as we have the strength. For if we share with the poor,
out of love for God, whatever he has given to us, we shall receive
according to his promise a hundredfold in eternal happiness. What a
fine profit, what a blessed reward! With outstretched arms he begs us
to turn toward him, to weep for our sins, and to become the servants
of love, first for ourselves, then for our neighbors. Just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away sin.
--Saint John of God

Bible Quote:
We have been ransomed with precious blood of Christ, as with the blood
of a lamb without blemish or spot.  (1 Peter 1:19 )


<><><><>
Meditation for the Day

  The rule of God's kingdom is perfect order, perfect harmony, perfect
supply, perfect love, perfect honesty, perfect obedience. There is no
discord in God's kingdom, only some things still unconquered in God's
children. The difficulties of life are caused by disharmony in the
individual man or woman. People lack power because they lack harmony
with God and with each other. They think that God fails because power
is not manifested in their lives. God does not fail. People fail
because they are out of harmony with Him.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)