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The Principal Virtues of the Child of God

We continue what be began in our last number, a three-part study of spiritual childhood by Father Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. (1877-1964).

St. Teresa of the Child Jesus reminds us that the principal virtues of the child of God are those in which are reproduced in an eminent degree the innate qualities of the child, minus his defects. Consequently the way of spiritual childhood will teach us to be supernaturally ourselves minus our defects.

by Brother André Marie March 17th, 2010

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig


Brian Kelly

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

I just read on the New Advent website the Catholic Encyclopedia’s excellent account of the life of Erin’s great apostle. I would highly recommend it if you can spare fifteen minutes today. I can’t think of anything I’ve read elsewhere over the years about the saint that …


‘England should be a Catholic country again’


Brother André Marie

That’s the motion that was debated last week in London, at an event hosted by the Spectator and held at the Royal Geographical Society. And guess what — “the 700-strong sell-out audience voted overwhelmingly in favour of the motion”!

Excerpt from The Catholic Herald:

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, author Piers Paul Read and Dom Anthony Sutch, former headmaster of Downside, spoke for the motion.


No Way to Anime


Brian Kelly

Anime cartoons and their characters are a huge cultic phenomenon, the most popular of all escapist media venues. It is very addictive and very dangerous, to the soul and the mind. I don’t post weird stories, but this blog by Zoe Romanowski from Inside Catholic, along with another, even …


CDF Prefect Affirms: ‘Union with the Catholic Church is the goal of ecumenism’


Brother André Marie

One of the commentators on the relevant CWN article expressed it well: “It’s past time someone said this. Too often ecumenism is taken to mean the weakening of the teachings of the Church and the addition of non-Catholic ritual and beliefs.” A-m-e-n-!

Past time is better than no time — or, “better late than never.” All the scandal that has transpired, and is ongoing, in the name of ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue should cease at these words of Cardinal Levada defining its purpose (or “final cause” to you Aristotelians out there): “Union with the Catholic Church is the goal of ecumenism.”


2010 Saint Benedict Center Conference


The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Our 2010 conference will be held on October 8 and 9 at Saint Benedict Center in Richmond, New Hampshire.

The information currently available is as follows:

Theme: “The Romance of Wisdom”

Cost: $100 for both days (Friday and Saturday). This includes meals. Single days without meals: $40.

Note: This year, Friday and Saturday will both be full days. There will be eight speakers giving presentations in addition to the master of ceremonies, our Prior, Brother Andre Marie.


Why Buddhism Is Open to Suicide


Brian Kelly

Archbishop Alberto Bottari de Castello, apostolic nuncio to Japan, has a very perceptive insight into the subversive effects Buddhist doctrine  has on the soul of a suffering devotee confronting hopelessness.  From Sandro Magister’s latest column: “Why Life is Worth So Little in Prosperous Japan.”

“The Japanese do not have a personal …


Is the False Apparition in Medjugorje Finally to Be Condemned?


The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

[March 5, 2010 - Rome Reports (with hat tip to Rorate Caeli)]

Benedict XVI has formed a commission to investigate if Our Lady truly appeared in Medjugorje, a small town in Bosnia.

The commission is part of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and Cardinal Camillo Ruini will preside over the commission. Ruini is the pope’s former vicar of Rome’s diocese. Ruini goal will be to explain to the pope what’s happening at the sanctuary which has become the third most visited in Europe.

Allegedly, at least 6 people have witnessed the Virgins apparitions there since 1981.


Yet Another Defense of Pius XII


Brother André Marie

When the enemies of the Church, the enemies of Christianity in general, and those who want to “hold” the Catholic hierarchy’s “feet to the fire” constantly jabber about Pius XII’s supposed complicity in the Nazi murder of Jews, it becomes necessary to defend the truth as well as the honor of the Holy Father. He was, after all, not only innocent of the crime of which he stands accused by an angry mob, but was also proactive in the protection of innocent Jews. That’s history. Catholics have a particular duty to defend the Church’s honor, but even secular historians of the era ought to vindicate Pius XII, if only to protect the integrity of their science.


The ‘Woman’ of Genesis


Brian Kelly

In changing the traditional Douay-Rheims rendering of Genesis 3:15 from “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel” to the Catholic Revised Standard Version translation (based on the King James Bible), “I will put enmities between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed: he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel,” the scriptural foundation for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception is compromised. So, too, is the traditional doctrine concerning Our Lady’s essential role in salvation history, which has been translated into her more modern title of “Co-redemptrix.”


Iraq’s Dechristianization Continues


Brother André Marie

“The United Nations estimated that 683 Christians fled Mosul between February 20 and February 27. Chaldean Catholic Bishop Emil Shimoun Nona of Mosul estimated that ‘about 400 families’ had left the city’s community of 4,000 Christians.”

This disheartening data comes from an article in Catholic World News. The Iraqi Catholic bishops themselves are bemoaning the situation. But that’s not all they are doing; they are also praying, fasting, and organizing their people to protest peacefully. The facts are not to be denied, and they are not the “spin” of liberal news pundits trying to make a Republican effort look bad.


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About Br. Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.

Br. Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.

Brother Francis was born, in the town of Mashrah, Lebanon, about thirty miles from Beirut, in 1913. His given name was Fakhri Boutros Maluf. The Maluf family is descended from the ancient Ghassanids, Christian and Catholic Arabs who courageously kept the Faith in the face of Moslem aggression.

Though poor, Fakhri’s family saw to his education, which was provided at home, in a small school that his father operated. In 1934, Fakhri graduated from the American University of Beirut with a Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics. From 1934 to 1939, he taught physics at that same University.

In 1939, he moved to the United States to attend the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he received first an M.A. and, in 1942, a Ph.D. in philosophy. After receiving his Ph.D., he continued post-graduate studies at Harvard University and Saint Bonaventure University.

From 1942 to 1945, Dr. Maluf taught mathematics and science at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts. From 1945 to 1949, he taught philosophy, theology, and mathematics at Boston College.

In addition to his academic career, Dr. Maluf's first decade in America was filled with great religious activity. On the Feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30) in 1940, he became a Catholic. (Although he came from an historic Catholic family, his father had become a Mason and raised the children with no religion.) Two years later, he met Father Leonard Feeney, chaplain of Saint Benedict Center. In 1949, Dr. Maluf and two other professors at Boston College were dismissed from the faculty after charging the College, in a letter to Pope Pius XII and the Superior General of the Jesuit Order, with promoting the liberal doctrine of salvation outside the Church. That same year, Dr. Maluf became one of the pioneer members of Father Feeney’s religious Order, the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, eventually taking the vows of religion and the name Brother Francis, after Saint Francis Xavier.

Since that time, Brother Francis continued to teach Sacred Scripture, philosophy, theology, science and mathematics at various levels. For many years he was the Superior of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary monastery in Richmond, New Hampshire. While in his 90s, he continued to give weekly lectures on various topics, teach high school, head the Saint Augustine Institute of Catholic Studies, and oversee the publishing apostolate of Saint Benedict Center.

On July 19, 2009, Brother Francis marked his 96th birthday. On September 5 of that year — a first Saturday — Brother went to his reward.

Although our Order is of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, Brother Francis was a Melkite Rite (Byzantine) Catholic.

Please read Brother Francis’ Obituary and the Ad Rem, The Funeral of Brother Francis, in Thoughts and Pictures.

He gave numerous lectures and courses that are available on our online store in books or on audio.


Posts by Br. Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.:

Mar 16

On Father’s Anniversary —1959

March 16th, 2010

The Sacred Heart of Jesus,
Searching the wide world through
For the faithful steward giving
His wheat in season due; Read More »

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Mar 11

The Prayer of Saint Francis Xavier

March 11th, 2010

Remember, my God,
who all things didst make,
That the souls of the infidels too,
To Your image and likeness and for your sake
Were also created by You.
Read More »

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Mar 9

The Invisible Empire

March 09th, 2010

Whatever you are
we can take you and make you,
And while you play ball
we need not forsake you. Read More »

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Mar 4

The Lion — Lamb

March 04th, 2010

Eternal Care, all present God,
How gentle! How omnipotent!
You tend the flimsiness of sod,
While keeping firm the firmament. Read More »

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Mar 2

On Free Verse

March 02nd, 2010

There is a law in our land
Which says that everyone,
Of fitting age and fitting strength,
Must bear a soldier’s gun. Read More »

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Feb 25

A Short Biography

February 25th, 2010

She looked at him once and said;
“To hell with him.”
She looked at him twice, and sped
To hell with him.

From Divine Alchemy

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Feb 23

The Test Tube — Not for the Child

February 23rd, 2010

And not for the eyes,
I was made to distract you
Away from the skies. Read More »

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Feb 18

The Poor Man’s Response

February 18th, 2010

O Prince of the realm of happiness and mirth!
Who reigns unseen in gentle majesty;
O Lord and God of all in heaven and earth,
That is or was and all that ever shall be. Read More »

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Feb 11

Appreciation

February 11th, 2010

All the stars
Must shine on high
To make the sky. Read More »

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Feb 9

The Sky

February 09th, 2010

O, Dear God why so much sky?
The birds don’t need that much to fly,
And far less is more than fills the eye. Read More »

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