2025 March | penitents

Confraternity of Penitents Newsletter
March 2025

LENTEN PRACTICES FOR PENITENTS

All should observe, of course, the fast and abstinence provisions of the Roman Catholic Church.

No meat on Fridays of Lent.

Fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday of Lent.

Those at the Novice 3 level and above should observe the Lenten fast of one full meal and one partial meal (smaller than the full meal) or, if a bite to eat is needed at a third time during the day, the bite plus the smaller meal combined should be less food than the larger meal.

Those not yet at the Novice 3 level should select an additional penance (a spiritual director can assist with the selection) to practice during Lent.

All should strive to make Lent a time of deeper prayer, increased charity, and additional sacrifice, all in union with Christ without whom we would be lost.

SPIRITUAL GUARDIAN’S INSIGHTS: DEVOTION TO THE MOST HOLY EUCHARIST: THE HEART OF THE SPIRITUALITY OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

By Rev. Fr. Joseph Tuscan, OFM Cap., CFP Spiritual Guardian

THE HEART OF A FATHER

Pietro di Bernardone dei Moriconi was a gregarious and generous man, a very ambitious and successful businessman. He was part of the “new money" demographic of the high Middle Ages known as the merchant class. He was born into the lower classes of society; the surfs or “minores” as they were referred to in the Italy of his day, but he was determined to elevate himself and his family’s social status. He was domineering and driven but not abusive or wicked. He loved beautiful things like the fine cloth he purchased for his business during his frequent trips to France. He married a very refined and religiously pious French lady named Pica di Bourlemont, also called “Giovanna” about whom little is known except that she was a noblewoman originally from Provence.

Giovanni was the first born of several siblings, though the exact number is not known; some sources suggest the number seven and identify one brother as being named “Angelo.” Giovanni was the first child and first son, a privileged and favored position to be sure. He was born and baptized during one of the many absences of his father who was in France to purchase cloth. Pietro returned home filled with joy; the birth of his first child, his successful business trip and his love for all things French caused him to refer to his newborn son as “Francesco.”

This was the father of St. Francis of Assisi, a “good man" characteristic of his era but driven by worldly ambition. He wanted to break the “glass ceiling" of the social structure of his time and become a “lord" or “majore". Personal wealth was not enough to accomplish this ambition in the social framework of the high Middle-Ages. Such a change of status needed to be granted by imperial and ecclesiastical authority. The only way for Pietro to achieve his ambition was for him or one of his sons to be victorious in battle. Then his family would be granted a title and therefore status as “majores.”

THE HEART OF A SON

Giovanni “Francesco” Bernardone loved his earthly father; he had no reason not to. Francesco was the heir to the family business and hopefully the one Pietro could rely upon to achieve his ultimate ambition of becoming a noble family: “Majores.” Francesco willingly united himself with his father’s ambition, embracing his status as firstborn helping in the promotion of his family not only by working in the family business but also by using the family fortune to promote their status. Francesco became a leader among the young men in his town through his charismatic personality and the use of his father’s fortune to pay for entertainment. Pietro was supportive of his son in such activities, seeing the use of his money as an investment in his own ambition.

Assisi was engaged in a battle with the neighboring and much larger town of Perugia. Pietro saw his opportunity. Outfitting his son in the finest armor he could afford, he sent Francesco off to win the longed-for family status. Medieval combat was largely hand-to-hand. Nothing in Francesco's past prepared him to witness the taking of human life in such a gruesome way. Francesco fell prisoner to Perugia and wound up in a medieval prison cell waiting for his father to pay the ransom for his release. Haunted by the trauma of medieval combat and poor health caused by the primitive conditions of his confinement, Francesco was at a crossroads in his life. It was during his confinement that he had a mystical dream that would be the start of his conversion to Jesus Christ as the center and focus of the remainder his life.

Francesco was ransomed by his father and returned home, but he was a changed man. His health slowly returned, but he had completely lost any interest in his father’s business and ambition for which he had done everything to promote. A growing divide with his father escalated, culminating in a public confrontation in front of the bishop of Assisi (pictured in the famous fresco by Giotto illustrating this article - Giotto, by the way, lived our original Rule of 1221) in which his father publicly disowned him. Francesco suffered his earthly father's rejection, but from that point on he rejected any worldly ambition and embraced completely “Our Father who art in heaven.”

THE HEART OF A SAINT

Having embraced the life of a “minore", Francesco approached life now as a penitent for the superficiality of his past worldly ambition and materialistic excesses which had led to such suffering and tragedy. He realized that the “Most High God" was love poured out. Unlike his earthly father’s worldly ambition for upward mobility, the Most High God “Emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2: 7-8).

Francesco’s mouth would water when he pronounced the Holy Name of Jesus and his hunger would only subside in the reception of Holy Communion which became now the center of his life and apostolic zeal. He was offered ordination as a priest, but he felt unworthy. He did, however, accept ordination as a deacon. Though we have no historical record of his ordination as a deacon, it is widely acknowledged that he served in this capacity. Francesco cherished this servant role at the altar and all things connected to it; the obligation to pray the Divine Office (he also prayed the little office of the Blessed Virgin Mary and another office of the Passion which he composed and prayed every day), the commitment to clerical continence, obedience to the bishop and especially the “Lord pope.” In every aspect of his life Francesco sought, and demanded of his brothers, that they be “Catholics” seeking only; “The Spirit of the Lord and His Holy operation.” Their living of poverty was to be modeled on the “Most High" who once made Himself poor in the Child at Bethlehem and eternally poor and ever present to humanity in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

There is a famous text that is usually called “the Prayer of Saint Francis,” this beautiful text was not written by St. Francis. The prayer in its present form did not exist before 1912:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

To be consoled as to console,

To be understood as to understand,

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life

“The first occurrence of this text was in French, in a small spiritual magazine called La Clochette (The Little Bell), published by a Catholic organization in Paris named La Ligue de la Sainte-Messe (The League of the Holy Mass). The author’s name was not given, although it may have been the founder of La Ligue, Father Esther Bouquerel. The prayer was widely published during both World War I and World War II…. The second half of the prayer bears a strong resemblance to this famous saying of Giles of Assisi (c. 1190 – 1262), one of St. Francis’s closest companions:

Blessed is he who loves and does not therefore desire to be loved;

Blessed is he who fears and does not therefore desire to be feared;

Blessed is he who serves and does not therefore desire to be served;

Blessed is he who behaves well toward others and does not desire that others behave well toward him;

And because these are great things, the foolish do not rise to them.

Around 1918, Franciscan Father Étienne Benoît reprinted the text as: “Prayer for Peace” in French, without attribution, on the back of a mass-produced holy card depicting Saint Francis of Assisi on the front of the card. The prayer was circulating in the United States by at least the month of January in 1927, when its first known English version (slightly abridged from the 1912 French original) appeared in the Quaker magazine Friends’ Intelligencer, under the misattributed and misspelled title “A prayer of St. Francis of Assisi”.

The saint’s namesake American archbishop and military vicar Francis Cardinal Spellman distributed millions of copies of the “Prayer of St. Francis” during World War II, and the next year it was read into the Congressional Record by Senator Albert W. Hawkes. As a friar later summarized the relationship between the prayer and St. Francis: “One can safely say that although he is not the author, it resembles him and would not have displeased him.” (Wikipedia: The Prayer of St. Francis)

References:

Francis of Assisi: A New Biography (Rev. Fr. Augustine Thompson, OP)
St. Francis of Assisi: A Meditation on His Life and Writings (Dr. Joshua C. Benson, Ph.D.)
Francesco: A Story of Saint Francis of Assisi (Mrs. Madeline Pecora Nugent, CFP)
“The Origin of the Peace Prayer of St. Francis” (Christian Renoux)
“Spoiler alert: St. Francis of Assisi did not write the ‘Prayer of St. Francis’ — and it’s only about 100 years old” October 5, 2018 (Deacon Greg Kandra)
Wikipedia: The Prayer of St. Francis

OUR RULE: BUILDING A GODLY PLATE

As I close my fasting year of formation, I can’t help but want to share what I call my secrets of success. I have had success with fasting, most of the time this year, not only due to the wonderful formation and Gods’ grace but also with the help of my nutritionist Katie from the company called Nourish. (It is free, by the way, with my insurance).

I want to share with you what she shared with me to help you be as successful as I have been this year. My article is called “Building a Godly Plate”, because this plate is all about balance as we build a plate that is both penitential and prudent. To build this balanced plate you will need protein, carbs, fat, vegetables and fiber. All of these things are needed to keep you satisfied and satiated until your next meal. For our penitent lifestyle I made sure I hit these targets with certain caveats such as not eating perhaps, my favorite protein or not adding salt or sauce or of course eating smaller portions during the seasons of Advent and Lent.

Also what I am to share is based on the fact that I am a 30 year old woman with kidney issues. I hope you can gain some insight from my tips even if you need to accommodate for your personal health or what your body needs.

To get into the nitty gritty, Katie, my nutritionist said I should be eating 20- 40grams of protein, 1-1 ½ cups of carbs, 2 ounces of fat, and fiber, 1-2 cups of vegetables with each meal. Protein can go up or down. Even though I am building muscle currently I cannot go over 100 grams of protein a day due to my chronic kidney disease. Our CfP rule actually helps my kidney disease due to my need to limit animal protein. I have been finding protein in lentils, beans, eggs, tofu, salmon, diary and cottage cheese. Looking on the back of the package to know how much protein is contained in certain foods helps significantly in hitting the 80 gram goal I have. Also, when it comes to protein in eggs I recommend eating more than two eggs. Two eggs is only 12 grams of protein and if it is your only source of protein for your meal you will need at least four.

Moving onto carbs, Katie has told me that carbs are not the enemy. (unless of course you have gluten intolerances or celiac) Your body burns carbs as fuel. For strength training or for any form of intense exercise, the body needs carbs to get through the workout. Of course, Katie recommends complex carbs such as whole wheat and if making potatoes its best to have them baked or roasted instead of mashed. When it comes to toast, she recommends two medium slices of toast which is the equivalent of the 1-1 ½ cups of carbs.

Now onto fat. Fat is actually a great way to make you feel satiated but make sure you don’t eat too much. Katie recommended that for my fats I should try to have healthy fats that also double with fiber or are more complex. For example, avocado, cheese and nuts are better options then just having olive oil or mayo although those are not bad, but you do feel more full with complex fats. The recommended two ounces is about two tablespoons. I’m trying now to eat fats with fiber. Katie recommends 28 grams of fiber per day.

To help hit all these targets I use the app called Carb Manager, or you can use MyFitness Pal. Both are free.

Lastly, cruciferous vegetables such as arugula, cauliflower, cabbage and brussels sprouts are recommended because they are nutrient dense and high in fiber. Especially during Lent when we eat less, it’s great to have these vegetables because they pack more of a punch.

I hope what I have shared helps those in formation and those who have been around the block. Even though my plate isn’t always perfect with the correct amounts. I try to get a little something of everything that I have talked about into my meal. I would think St Francis would be happy with being prudent and penitential in the area of food. Of course, there is always more detachment we can do with our food intake and penance, but I am so happy God gave me Katie since I can tend on the side of eating too little and then feeling like I'm going to faint. We don't want that! As we enter Lent, I pray you and I can find a balance and sacrifice all that you can in this area for your own soul and the salvation of souls. May God bless us to be as innocent as doves and wise as serpents in the area of fasting and may all the glory be given to Him. Amen! –Mariana Esposito, Novice 3

THE LOVE OF MONEY: THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL

The whole United States should be doing penance this Lent. If you have any doubt about the national need for penance, look no further than today’s headlines.

Why do penance? For conversion, of course. But conversion from what to what? That is the question.

St. Paul has the answer: From the love of money. And he has the reason, too. The love of money, he tells Timothy, is the root of all evil (1 Tim. 6:10).

Now, you might say the money is not the root of ALL evil. What about passion? After all, many murders are committed as an act of passion. Or what about the sort of neglect of one worker to follow rules that ends in the death or mutilation of another worker? Fair enough.

But St. Paul’s point is fundamentally valid. If you doubt that, again, consider today’s headlines. But first, pause for one moment to consider another of St. Paul’s dictums about money, one that is directly applicable to our pledge:

“Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)

The Rule of 1221 required anyone entering the brotherhood to “make satisfaction for his debts, paying money according to what pledged provision is given.” Our CfP Constitution requires us to “begin at once to pay up (our) debts.”

Why? Because to not repay debts -- the love of money -- leads to all sorts of evils:

Bankruptcy: Joann, the fabric and craft store chain; Nikola, the electric vehicle maker; Infowars (Alex Jones’s media empire). Usually, companies go bankrupt because they don’t have the cash to meet their needs, and then something disrupts sales, and the business doesn’t recover.
When Harborside, a New York continuing care retirement community, went bankrupt, it sold itself to a real estate investor in a deal that averted a shutdown but cost residents $130 million in fees they were owed.
Ponzi schemes, in which people “invest” money for impossibly high “guaranteed” returns. The returns are paid from the “investments” of the next investors. Eventually the whole thing collapses. The most recent large Ponzi scheme involved Bernard Madoff, who stole $20 billion. Once his scheme became public, his son hung himself on the second anniversary of his father’s arrest. Madoff died in prison.
Chief Justice John Roberts approved a request from the Trump Administration to delay payment for work already completed under contracts with the U.S. Agency of International Development. (Remember, we must promptly pay up our debts.)
About 70% of contributions to a retirement program of the African Methodist Episcopal Church were lost from 2000 to mid-2001, but the 5,000 participants in the plan received reports showing steady investment gains. Behind the scenes, retirement savings were being routed through companies owned in part by a now-deceased church official. The money was invested in low-interest annuities that paid high commissions, and in risky ventures and undeveloped Florida real estate.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, its bishop and St. Claire’s hospital were sued when a pension plan covering hospital employees said it was running out of money and would cut benefit payments. The bishop presided over board meetings and two-thirds of the board were priests reporting to him or people reporting to him but the bishop and the archdiocese said they weren’t responsible for the pension payments.

It is hard to describe any of these – but especially those involving the government and the churches – as demonstrating anything other than the sort of evil that results from a love of money.

There’s not much we as penitents can do about the sort of hardness of heart shown above except obey our Rule, which requires us to pay up our debts and, by implication, to be debt free the rest of our lives. The first step is to stop using credit cards, especially if we are carrying a balance from month to month. We’ll discuss that in more detail next month, especially for our new postulants. – Joel Whitaker, CfP

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NO GREATER LOVE: THE WAY TO GETHSEMANE

When the Last Supper was completed, Jesus and His disciples went out into the night to the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem to a garden called Gethsemane. During the Last Supper, and perhaps even afterwards, the Lord and His disciples must have sung some of the Hallel psalms (113-118 and 136) which Jews recite at Passover and other feasts. These psalms are hymns of thanksgiving for God delivering Israel from Egypt and from other enemies. However, the psalmist also speaks of trouble and oppression. “Death cords were tightened round me, the nooses of Sheol;” (Ps 116:3) “They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like fire among thorns;” (Ps 117:12) This trouble is followed by deliverance by God. “in the Lord’s name I crushed them.” (Ps 117:12)

The psalms constitute a large part of the Liturgy of the Hours. Those who recite the entire Liturgy of the Hours recite several psalms each day. Why are the psalms so important for the Church? The psalms are the prayer of Israel to God. They also are part of the prayer of the Church to God. Many of the psalms are attributed to David who is considered to be the primary author of the psalms. David, as the greatest King of Israel, leads the prayer of Israel to God. For the Church, Jesus is the new David. “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” (Mt 9:27) The Church is praying with Christ, the new David, when she prays the psalms.

The Church’s use of the psalms again illustrates the unity of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Church soon considered itself to be in continuity with Israel, the new Israel, the fulfillment of Israel. This could only happen because Jesus Himself thought of it this way. Jesus and His Apostles were faithful Jews. During Holy Week, Jesus would spend the night outside Jerusalem, in Bethany, probably to avoid premature arrest. On the night of Holy Thursday, however, He did not go to Bethany but stayed near Jerusalem going to the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane. He fulfilled the Jewish requirement to stay near Jerusalem, but He also fulfilled the requirement of His Father that He be arrested so that He could die for our sins on Good Friday and be raised on Easter Sunday. We need to understand that the Lord was in control even when He seemed to be in the power of others.

Pope Benedict, in Jesus of Nazareth, cites prophecies which Jesus made which show how much He was in control of the situation. He applies to himself the prophecy of Zechariah, who had said that "the shepherd" would be struck downkilled, in other words-and then the sheep would be scattered (Zech 13:7; Mt 26:31). Zechariah, in a mysterious vision, had spoken of a Messiah who suffers death, after which Israel is once again dispersed. Only after going through these extreme tribulations does he await redemption from God. Jesus gives concrete form to this dark vision of an unknown future. Yes, the shepherd is struck down. Jesus himself is the shepherd of Israel, the shepherd of humanity. And he takes injustice upon himself; he shoulders the destructive burden of guilt. He allows himself to be struck down. He takes up the cause of all who are struck down in the course of history. Now, at this hour, there is the further consequence that the community of disciples is scattered, the newly formed family of God falls apart before it has been properly established. "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn 10:11). Zechariah sheds new light upon this saying of Jesus: its hour has come.

The prophecy of doom is followed by the promise of salvation: "After I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee" (Mk 14:28). "Go before" is a typical expression to apply to a shepherd. Jesus, having passed through death, will live again. As. the risen Lord, he is now in the fullest sense the shepherd who leads, through death, to the path of life. The Good Shepherd does both: he offers up his life, and he goes before. Indeed, the offering up of his life is the going before. It is through these actions that he leads us. It is through these actions that he opens the door onto the vast panorama of reality. Having experienced dispersal, the sheep can now be definitively reassembled. So right at the beginning of the night spent on the Mount of Olives, we find the dark saying about striking down and scattering, but also the promise that through these events, Jesus will reveal himself as the true shepherd who gathers together the scattered ones and leads them to God, to life.

Before he gave these two prophesies, Jesus tells His disciples “You will all fall away.” (Mt 26:31, Mk 14:27) He knew everything that was to happen to Him. He knew that not only would He appear to be totally defeated, His “movement” would be scattered and seemingly destroyed. He appeared to be like so many other Jewish “messiahs” who appeared before Him and after Him. They had commanding personalities and seemed to be invincible until they were crushed by Roman power. The same is true for other political “saviors” who promise to liberate people and make everything wonderful. Perhaps most of His disciples suspected that He was like them. Yet they were puzzled that the One who could walk on water, command the wind, and even raise the dead could be defeated so easily. This tells us how easy it is to misread God’s plan. They could see that God was with Him, and He did come to save Israel. Yet, save them from what? They could see that He had supernatural powers and could save them from the Romans. However, He had something more important to do. Throughout history, Israel has had many enemies, the Midianites, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Greeks, and finally the Romans among many others. None of these were their greatest enemy. After Israel had been defeated by the Assyrians, they were deported to parts of the Assyrian Empire. Why? We read in the book of 2 Kings: “This came about because they had not heeded the warning of the Lord their God, but violated his covenant, not heeding and not fulfilling the commandments of Moses, the servant of the Lord.” (2 K 18:12) The greatest enemy was not Assyrians or Romans. The greatest enemy was sin. This is what the Lord had to defeat.

Throughout history God has worked great miracles, such as the parting of the Red Sea. This and many other miracles saved Israel from enemies, but these did not save Israel from sin. Soon the miracles were forgotten and Israel returned to Idolatry and immorality. For example, see Exodus 32:1-6 concerning the golden calf. Neither military might nor miracles can conquer the greatest enemy, sin. The Precious Blood of the Son of God can and did conquer sin. The apparent defeat of the Lord was necessary for His victory.

The defeat of the Lord was not the end. Christ’s prediction of defeat was accompanied by His prediction of victory, His Resurrection. Of course, at this point, the Resurrection was only a prediction. Throughout His Ministry, the Lord showed that He was in command of the situation. The death of His friend Lazarus caused Him grief, “Jesus wept.” (Jn 11:35) Yet, He was still able to bring Lazarus back to life. (Jn 11:38-44) As the Lord’s Apostles were walking with Him, they knew that He was “in charge”.

However, that is not enough. We also have to accept His way of accomplishing His Mission and not our own. When Jesus made His first prediction of disaster, that all would fall away, the shepherd would be struck, and the sheep would be scattered, (Mt 26:31) Peter declares, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” (Mt 26:33) Then, Jesus predicts that Peter would three times deny knowing Him. (Mt 26:34-35) When things did not happen the way Peter expected them to happen, his confidence suddenly faded. Peter was right to believe that Jesus was in command of the situation, but he could not accept the Lord’s means of carrying out His Mission, suffering, disgrace, and death. The Lord had the victory, and not His enemies, but Peter and the Apostles had also to accept the Lord’s means of achieving the victory. This was very hard for them, just as it would have been for us. Even when we believe in the power of the Lord, we want Him to do it our way.

After Pentecost, guided by the Holy Spirit, the Apostles could start to make sense of what had happened to Jesus. They could then reconcile the contradiction of the One who was in charge of events seeming to be a powerless victim of events. To this day, our understanding of the events of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday is not complete since the events of those four days are not something we can possess with “scientific” certainty, but rather a gift from above which we must accept in faith.

Many of us have also gone through things which we did not understand at the time but the meaning become clear only later when God had more fully implemented His plan for us. We need to be grateful to the Apostles, the Blessed Mother, and all the early disciples who did not reject the Lord and have nothing more to do with Him when they did not understand what was going on. In our lives, too, we sometimes do not understand what is going on. Peter “wept bitterly” (Mt 26:75, Mk 14:72, Lk 22:62) when he realized what he had done by denying Jesus. However, he did not hang himself like Judas. We need to pray for the gift of faith that God is truly “in charge” no matter what happens. “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (Jn 16:33) – Jim Nugent, CfP

KEEP OUR MEN DRY!

Guadalupe Men's Vita Dei House needs a roof replacement and new gutters.

The roof and gutters would complete the renovations on this house.

Cost: $19, 172

Raised to March 5: $860

See this page for more information and to donate to keep our men dry!

May God reward you!

Note: Following our Rule of Life, the CFP does not take out loans or acquire debt so the roof and gutters will have to be completely paid for before we give the go ahead to the contractor.