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TREATISE ON THE LOVE OF GOD Book II, Chapter IV By St Francis de Sales Book II. The History Of The Generation And Heavenly Birth Of Divine Love. Ch 4. Of The Supernatural Providence Which God Uses Towards Reasonable Creatures. All God's works are ordained to the salvation of men and angels; and the order of his providence is this, as far as, by attention to the Holy Scriptures and the doctrine of the Fathers, we are able to discover and our weakness permits us to describe it. God knew from all eternity that he could make an innumerable multitude...

In recent times, an expert on angelology and demonology, the chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome, Fr. Gabriel Amorth, wrote a most concise and lucid summation of the Franciscan thesis in his book An Exorcist Tells his Story. Before he ‘tells his story’, he begins by “first stating some basic facts about God’s plan for creation.” He writes (in Chapter 1): “All too often we have the wrong concept of creation, and we take for granted the following wrong sequence of events. We believe that one day God created the angels; that He put them to the test, although...

In Memoriam: Br. Francis Mary Kalvelage, FI (1923-2007)THE EARLY YEARSBorn Martin Kalvelage on April 9, 1923, Bro. Francis Mary was raised in San Francisco, California. During World War II he served with the armed forces as a pilot in the Pacific theatre of operations. Such initial training prepared his natural propensities for the gift of grace: discipline, fidelity, hard working and above all a deep sense of purpose. The angelic doctor St. Thomas confirms that grace is built upon nature. A humorous account Bro. Francis used to tell his confreres that served as one of the factors for him to...

A Son of St. Francis, A Knight of the Immaculate 1923-2007 Br. Francis Mary Kalvelage, FI was born in Portland, Oregon in 1923, the youngest in a family of five brothers. While he was still young the family moved to San Francisco and it was here that he was raised. During the period of World War II, Br. Francis served his country in the United States Air Force as a naval aviator. It was in this period of his life that Our Lord was preparing him to engage in a different type of service. One day Brother attempted to perform...

Ave Maria!With Pope Benedict XVI's Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum there are priests who would like to celebrate the forma extraordinaria of the Roman Rite, also known as the Tridentine Latin Mass, and there are faithful who would like more opportunities to attend.We are planning a seminar on the history, theology and spirituality of the Tridentine Mass according to the Roman Missal of 1962 under Blessed Pope John XXIII on August 24-25 (9am-12pm) with a practicum for priests and servers on August 30-31 (9am-12pm).Any priests or boys/men interesting in learning to serve a Tridentine Mass are welcome to attend. The seminar...

[...]It should be noted that, while Faber did not hesitate to employ the hypothetical mode of defending the Scotist position, his aim always went beyond such a limited formulation. What he underscored was that "Jesus was decreed before all creatures, and therefore before the permission of sin". Faber clearly saw the implications of the Scotist thesis in establishing the predestination and primacy of Christ. Here is how he put the matter in his last work and masterpiece, Bethlehem: What then was the first aspect of creation in the divine mind, if we may use the word "first", of that which...

You think you know what factors pose a barrier to religious vocations? Think again. A group met in Chicago last month to discuss an emerging and growing barrier to vocations — financial debt, particularly that acquired from student loans. The Chicago-based Institute on Religious Life organized — and the Arlington, Va.-based Fraser Family Foundation sponsored — a diverse gathering of grant-makers, college presidents and vocation directors at Marytown Feb. 20-22 to examine the growing problem. As most religious orders will not accept someone with debt, it places many vocations in jeopardy. Brother Matthew Ball of the Franciscans of the Immaculate...

St. John Mary Vianney was born in France in 1786. His childhood coincided with the terrible French revolution. He was devout even as a boy and quietly taught other children their prayers. He would be ordained a priest in 1815 but struggled mightily through seminary and was a poor student. He had a very difficult time with Latin. There was even talk among his superiors if he should be ordained or, if ordained, be allowed to hear confessions. They decided to ordain him but gave him one of the least desirable of assignments: to the little town of Ars. The...

St. Maximus the Confessor (580-662) seems to be the only Father who was directly concerned with the problem, although not in the same setting as the later theologians in the West. He stated plainly that the Incarnation should be regarded as an absolute and primary purpose of God in the act of Creation. The nature of the Incarnation, of this union of the Divine majesty with human frailty, is indeed an unfathomable mystery, but we can at least grasp the reason and the purpose of this supreme mystery, its logos and skopos. And this original reason, or the ultimate purpose,...

Franciscan (Scotistic) Thesis: Absolute Primacy Of Christ -Jesus Christ was absolutely predestined for grace and glory in His Incarnation quite apart from any question of sin. The elect (men and angels) were chosen and predestined in Him by an eternal decree. And this before the universe had been created. Supporters of this: -St. Maximus the Confessor: “This [the Incarnation] is that great and hidden mystery. This is the blessed end for which all things were created. This is the divine purpose foreknown before the beginning of creation… Really, it was for the sake of Christ, that is the mystery of...