Brother Francis, M.I.C.M.
Our superior and beloved teacher, Brother Francis, went to his reward yesterday morning. It was the feast of Saint Lawrence Justinian and a First Saturday (dedicated to making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary). You can Brother Andre Marie’s brief comments, get information on the wake and funeral, and read Brother’s biography here.
Brother Francis left us a tremendous legacy of fortitude, patience, and charity (to name just a few of the virtues we all saw him practice), but possibly his greatest contribution was his ability to “wonder” — his love of wisdom. As a true philosopher (“lover of wisdom”), he defined wisdom as: “The most perfect knowledge of the most important truths, in the right order of emphasis, accompanied by a total, permanent disposition to live accordingly.” Think about that for just a moment . . . If that doesn’t define a saint, I don’t know what does!
The Sisters compared notes when we gathered for our last couple of meals and some interesting quotes were presented. On First Saturdays the Sisters have a Day of Recollection and make a Preparation for Death (in fact, we were reading about “the death of the just” when Brother Francis died). One of the Sisters had opened Saint Alphonsus’ The True Spouse of Jesus Christ to the meditation on the Advantages of the Religious State (a commentary on a quote from Saint Bernard of Clairvoux) – to the section “A religious dies more confidently” – and found the following statement:
Saint Bernard says that “it is very easy to pass from the cell to heaven; because a person who dies in the cell scarcely ever descends to hell, since it seldom happens that a religious perseveres in her [the book is written for Sisters] cell till death, unless she be predestined to happiness.” Hence St. Laurence Justinian says that religion is the gate of paradise; because living in religion, and partaking of its advantages is a great mark of election to glory. [. . .]
Brother Andre arranges Brother Francis' hands in death.
Brother Francis made many sacrifices to enter the religious state . . . and his death was very peaceful (his face was very beautiful in death).
Another Sister looked up Saint Lawrence Justinian in Dom Gueranger’s The Liturgical Year and found that St. Laurence and Brother Francis shared a love of wisdom. Here are some quotes from the saint:
Come, all ye who are drawn by the desire of unchangeable good, and who seek it in vain in this passing world; I will tell you what heaven has done for me. Like you, I once sought with feverish eagerness; and this exterior world could not satisfy my burning desire. But, by the divine grace, which fed my anguish, at length she, whose name I then knew not, appeared to me, more beautiful than the sun, sweeter than balm. As she approached, how gentle was her countenance, how peace-inspiring her voice, saying to me: “O thou, whose youth is all full of the love wherewith I inspire thee, why dost thou thus pour out thy heart? The peace thou seekest by so many different ways, is with me; thy desire shall be amply fulfulled, I promise thee, if only thou wilt take me for thy bride.” I acknowledge that at these words my heart failed, my soul was all pierced with the dart of her love. As I wished to know her name, her dignity, her origin, she told me she was called the Wisdom of God; and that, at first invisible in the bosom of the Father, she had taken of a mother a visible nature, in order to be more easily loved. Then, with great delight, I gave my consent; and she, kissing me, departed full of joy. Ever since then, the flame of her love has been growing within me, absorbing all my thoughts. Her delights endure forever; she is my well-beloved bride, my inseparable companion. Through her, the peace I once sought is now the cause of my joy*. Hear me then, all of you: go to her in like manner; for she makes it her happiness to reject no one. Fasciculus amoris, cap. xvi
Brother Francis at one of the night lectures (the Summa, I think) - c. 2001
And several shorter quotes:
O Wisdom, who sittest on Thy lofty throne; O Word, by whom all things were made, be propitious to me, in this manifestation of the secrets of Thy holy love. De casto connubio Verbi et animae.
All things here below are reflections of God’s eternal beauty; they teach us to love Him, and help us to sing our love. Ibid.
All things are profitable to her [the soul admitted to ineffable intimacy with the Wisdom of the Father]; which way soever she turns, she perceives but the gleams of love. Sights and sounds, sweetnesses and perfumes, delicate viands, concerts of earth, brightness of the skies: all that she hears, all that she sees in the whole of nature, is a nuptial harmony, the beauty of the banquet wherein the Word has espoused her. Ibid.
Those of you who know Brother Francis or who have heard his tapes will see many Providential notes in these quotes.
Brother Francis was Father Leonard Feeney’s first disciple. Many of us now fighting in Our Lady’s Crusade (to defend the dogmas of the Church, especially Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus) owe our participation to the fidelity of Brother Francis. I personally knew and studied with Brother for fifteen years, and was actively influenced by him for ten years before that.
June 2004 - High School Students & Faculty
Our little school owes its foundation and preservation to Brother Francis. He has been an important part of it since the foundation in Cambridge in the 1940′s. He saw the school as an integral part of the Crusade of Saint Benedict Center, set the policy that no one would be turned away for financial reasons, and made tremendous sacrifices to keep the school going. With his intercession and God’s grace, we plan to carry on his many-sided work — and in the school facet, make it what he wanted it to be: “a consolation prize to Our Lady.”
Brother Francis - high school chemistry
Thank you, Brother Francis, for your love, your simplicity, your sacrifices, and your wisdom. Help us to be true Slaves of Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart!
*That title “the cause of my joy” is one of Our Lady’s titles (very fitting — Our Lady is the Seat of Wisdom, Our Lord is the Incarnate Wisdom, Holy Scripture refers to Wisdom in the feminine — and readings about Wisdom are used indiscriminately for Our Lord and Our Lady). Brother Francis wrote a poem that was set to a Lebanese melody:
Cause of Our Joy
O Cause of all our joys!
Queen, merciful and kind,
What makes our girls and boys
So precious in your mind?
From heaven you still have yearned
For this our lonely place.
With all that you have earned
In glory and in grace,
What keeps you so concerned
About our race?
O Mary, Chosen One,
Eternal Father’s boast,
Mother of God the Son,
Spouse of the Holy Ghost.
Queen raised above the stars,
Exalted, set apart,
What do our wounds and scars
And all our hurts impart?
What thoughts and what memoirs
To your dear heart?
Comments 3
I am shocked and saddened by the passing of our dear Brother, who was a co-Founder of the Order. Brother will be in my prayers for the dead along with the other deceased Members and will remain there until I die. I personally owe him more than I can ever repay.
Posted 07 Sep 2009 at 6:09 pm ¶With a tinge of sadness and a profound sense of loss, I read the news of Brother Francis’ passing. I am very grateful to have known him and to have benefited from his personal attention. Perhaps my dear daughter has been able to gain something that I was not to achieve, myself, by her proximity to his last years here on earth, and to daily see the effect of his work at the Center. My thoughts and prayers are with you all, while we join in remembering this great man’s life and pray for the peaceful repose of his soul. I am consoled in knowing that he received the Golden Rose I sent for him in the care of Brother Andre and Brother Maximilian this summer: I guess I wasn’t a minute too soon! Now he has the great privilege and joy of meeting Our Lady and Our Lord face to face. I can only guess he must be as ready for that event as any of us could ever hope to be….. perhaps he could remember to put in a good word for us? (He always had a very good memory!)
~btpcm
Posted 07 Sep 2009 at 7:09 pm ¶I too am very sorry to hear of Brother Francis’ passing. I have been reading his Philosophia Perrennis and I greatly admire his intellect, his faith, and his absolute dedication to arguing for what he perceived as the truth. I would have loved the opportunity to have talked with him, and posed questions, and sought to reconcile apparent discrepencies between his philosophical reasoning and scientific fact. I can see by his pictures that he was kindly and gentle. He must have been a marvelous teacher.
Posted 08 Oct 2009 at 12:17 am ¶Post a Comment