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Tobias and the Priest’s Mother

Father Michael Jarecki is our chaplain. At ninety-two years of age, he is not yet quite as long-lived as Brother Francis (who died at ninety six), but he’s close. I fear that his recent hospitalization is a sign that he is soon to exit this world. Truth to tell, he wants to do just that, because, as he has told us many times, he wants to go to Heaven soon. Whether his departure is anon or no, I think a few words in tribute to this heroic alter Christus are appropriate now, even while he is still with us.

by Brother André Marie February 8th, 2010

Do We Need a New “Study” to Tell Us What We’ve Known for Fifty Plus Years?


Brian Kelly

Sometimes you just want to throw up your hands. Hey, we went through it in the 60s and 70s and 80s. Send your beloved son or daughter to a typical “Catholic” college and forget about having a “Catholic” young man or woman graduate. I know I am preaching to the choir here. I mean, lesbian “witches” teaching in theology departments, as one parent told me happened to his son in a Jesuit University in New Orleans; and this was not just that University, but other “Catholic” colleges gave similar tenures to radical feminists and other subversives. But, now we’ve had a “study.” 


Habeas Corpus


Brian Kelly

Saint Thomas Aquinas, whose feast day on the new calendar was yesterday, died at the age of forty-nine in the Cistercian monastery of Foss-Nuova on his way to the second ecumenical council of Lyons. He died on the seventh of March, 1274, exactly two months before the council opened. Even …


Update on Father Jarecki


Brother André Marie

Our chaplain, Father Michael Jarecki, is now back home after a three-day hospital stay. He needs more care and attention than he did prior to his recent illness. The brothers, with the help of visiting nurses, are attending to him 24/7. We thank everyone who prayed for him. And he, …


Father Michael Jarecki Hospitalized


The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Our longtime chaplain, Father Michael Jarecki, was hospitalized Saturday evening at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, NH.  He has an infection in his leg. The problem is not life-threatening per se, but at Father’s advanced age (92), such a condition is of concern. We ask for you prayers for an indefatigable alter Christus, who has been wondrously conformed over the years to Christ the Victim-Priest. He is an edification to us all.


‘Dear Abe Foxman… You Infuriate Me’


The Philosopher

One need not be a neoconservative, a Rush Limbaugh fan, or a partisan of Israel to appreciate this Jewish lady’s frank words to Abe Foxman. I’m none of those things and I appreciate them immensely. She is not alone. There are many Jews who resent Foxman’s profiteering lefty-liberal …


Father Schmidberger, SSPX, Thanks the Pope


The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Father Franz Schmidberger, the German District Superior of the Society of St. Pius X, sent a message of gratitude to the Holy Father on the anniversary of the lifting of excommunications from the Society’s four bishops. Included in his video recorded message to the Holy Father were these comments:…


Sedevacantism and Schism


Brother André Marie

A recent little talk I gave on the sin of schism — part of my comments on the Chair of Unity Octave — prompted a question from one of my auditors: “Is sedevacantism schism?” I had to reply in the affirmative.

In the last analysis, sedevacantists reject the jurisdiction of the Pope over the universal Church. While their schism is different than that of most schismatics — who reject his authority in principle — they have withdrawn themselves from communion with the Vicar of Christ. Since that is precisely what schism is, sedevacantists are in schism.


Commentary on Dr. Jeff Mirus’ Commentary


Brian Kelly

Dr. Jeff Mirus has an article in the Commentary section of his Catholic Culture website called “The Coming of Christ in the Flesh,” in which he attempts to convince a biblical fundamentalist that people need not have explicit knowledge of, and divine Faith in, Christ in order to be saved. He says that this is the teaching of the Catholic Church, which Christ founded upon Saint Peter, and that, without the guidance of this magisterium, the Bible can be misinterpreted, even on so basic a teaching as whether or not explicit faith in Christ is necessary for salvation.


Democracy Our Downfall


The Philosopher

Patrick J Buchanan shows how those itching to spread “our way of life” throughout the world, instead of forming a pro-American network across the globe, are forging the alliances that will ultimately destroy us. It’s a form of geo-political suicide that seems inherent in democracy. Let’s dump the phony pieties; democracy is “the god that failed.” 


Chair of Unity Octave


Brother André Marie

Today begins the traditional Chair of Unity octave, originally planned to last from the feast of Saint Peter’s Chair at Rome (today) until the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul on January 25. The devotion has evolved into the “Week of Prayer,” since the removal from the calendar of the feast that opened the octave. But even in the 1962 rubrics, a priest may offer the votive Mass of Saint Peter’s Chair at Rome, so we still have our octave in the traditional rite. Readers may find an inelegant but useful PDF file with the appropriate prayers.


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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.


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

Feb 4

Learning Unreality

February 04th, 2010

You have read and read and
read some more,
History, fiction, science, lore, Read More »

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Feb 2

Saint Joan of Arc

February 02nd, 2010

O valiant maiden of Orleans,
Leader in armies, model for heroines,
Inspirer of kings and queens;
O heaven instructed shepherdess Read More »

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My life is just one instant,
one passing hour.
My life is just a moment,
that skips and runs away. Read More »

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Jan 26

The Poets

January 26th, 2010

Let not the poets fool us,
They do not fly; they climb.
For even were they birds of flight,
Their wings are struck in lime. Read More »

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Jan 21

Virtue and Religion

January 21st, 2010

Virtue is the science
Of how not to annoy.

Religion is the art
Of how to suffer with Joy.

From Divine Alchemy

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Jan 19

Apostrophe to Saint Joseph

January 19th, 2010

(whose name means ‘increase’)
Blessed are you, O man of benediction
May the treasures you guard be ever multiplied.
God the Father to you, his Son entrusted, Read More »

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Jan 12

The Prayer of the Gerasenes

January 12th, 2010

The Gerasenes certainly

Know how to pray

In polite dignity and

Solemn display, Read More »

Jan 5

Andalusian

January 05th, 2010

Oh! What glory I have seen in your eyes!

Oh! What beauties you have made me realize!

I shall see you with the flowers of heaven

I shall meet you in the courts of Paradise.

Read More »

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Dec 17

The Versifier

December 17th, 2009

I cannot run the open mile
It puts me out of breath.
I consider skiing parties
As the close approach of death. Read More »

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Dec 15

The Heart

December 15th, 2009

Whence come those anguished works of art,
Those songs of man’s distress? Read More »