Brother Leo remembers Brother Francis

An older one today... But one I keep coming back to....

Brother Leo remembers Brother Francis.

“What was he like?” 

I asked,

exhausted from my climb to pierce the

cold cliff top cloister of

this cowled brother’s retreat 

hoping to stir to remembrance his soul 

first stung by the Seraph’s fire so long ago,

yet burning still in eyes ancient but clear

that gazed upon my lack of grace with mercy, 

and smiled at me from a distance I cannot fathom.

“What was he like?” he whispered to himself 

holding my question as carefully as the jug 

with which he poured me water, cave cold and clear,

to quench a pilgrim’s thirst.

Then on that hill above Assisi

the old hermit friar spoke,

slowly at first, and stumbling,

as though his tongue, long lost in silence

of cave and forest, had now to stretch itself

and awaken language once spoken long ago,

like one who comes home from a foreign shore

and finds now the accents of his own confusing. 

So we sat before his cave he and I, 

friar and novice both,

lost in legends and lore, 

all the more beautiful for being

at the same time, 

truth; 

and needing to be told once more

to a world longing for his possibility to be made present

in edenic blessing

once again.

"What was he like?"

"Like a Tree he was, 

that on Summer days shines green 

and in its topmost branches feels, 

the waft of Heaven’s winds 

and dances even at the stillest hour, 

or that in Autumn clings not to leaf 

but 

changes loss to gift by 

casting clothes windwards and 

delights in lightness, 

its bare bones describing sky 

and pointing arrowlike 

always upwards."

"What was he like?"

"Like a Stone he was, 

smoothed by the sweet rain, 

graced by countless hours of chiselling prayer 

into a solidity of stillness. 

A cornerstone, a keystone, a foundation stone 

able to hold the weight of wisdom lightly,

yet bear up the broken and bridge the gap;

a stepping stone to wholeness and home

for those long lost."

 

"What was he like?"

"Like the Night Sky he was, 

open, and sheltering, and many 

couloured in magnificence, but 

starlit in simplicity. 

Its beauty simply a gradation of light, 

infinite in scope and eternal in origin."

"What was he like?"

"Like Fire he was, 

tracing his storied path from spark to ember, 

even in stillness, a banked flame, 

and always energy of exultation breathing blessed,

a conflagration of communion, 

buried just beneath the ashes of abstinence."

"What was he like?"

"Like a Stag he was,

who knows where the sweet water flows, 

and travels the deep dark valleys 

and mountain crags to reach his slaking spirit stream."

"Loud as a Bear he was, 

and as quiet too, 

spending his winters between 

wakefulness and sleep, 

lost in the cave of the heart, 

barely breathing, 

but 

murmuring mercy for all, 

until spirit spring stirs and his 

honeyed roar was heard again 

upon the hills."

"Like a Wolf he was, 

singing soul songs beneath sister Moon’s gaze 

with clear eyes lost in Heaven’s love, 

calling to himself his pack, those

who heard their song and soul sound 

in his echoes of emptiness."

"Badger brawny and 

filled with faith’s wisdom he was, 

and, likened to old Broc 

he knew the ancient ways and 

night walked, as they do, 

secret silent paths of prayer,

long trodden, but needing 

refinding always, in each 

generation’s journey."

"Like a Salmon leaping he was,

glittering like glass,

light sparkling from sliver scales, 

struck by sunlight, suspended

between sky and stream in a 

moment of stillness

over ever rushing river."

"What was he like?"

"A living song spark wrapped in the 

nest of Mother earth,

enfolded in the dun dust brown of the Sparrow,

small and thin he was,

with a barefooted skipping gait

barely holding the joy that burst from his breast,

his cross feathered soul 

never far from song."

"Like a Wren in a thornbush he was,

cocking its eye wryly at the earth bound,

certain of its power of flight

and yet choosing our company."

"Like a Robin he was,

who, tree hidden from view,

sings its piercing song of Heaven

drawing down remembrances 

of innocence past

into tired hearts sure they were 

long past childhood’s delight in sheer being,

and there waking wonder once again."

"Thin like a Thrush he was, 

who seeks the highest branch

even in storm, and sway-sings with delight a tone made purer

for the assault of wind, and rain, 

and thunder crackling all around it."

"Like a Hawk he was, 

staring with unblinking eye into Love’s light 

and falling like a stone from heaven 

to shock his sleeping prey awake."

"And now?"

"What is he like now?"

"Like a Lark he is, 

free and flying heaven high

whose sun-kissed song 

seeks only an open soul and then, 

beckons all skywards."

"And I miss him, though 

he sings his lark song in my heart too,

Aye, and in yours as well or you 

wouldn’t have visited me here

now would you?"

"But I shall fly to him soon, 

and there we will sing together 

once again our lark lauds for the One

who gathers all, bird, and beast, and brother, in blessing."

And then we sat, old and young together

Cowled in brown both, though centuries between,

and ghosts to each other,

meeting in eternity's one moment,

until the sun set and the moon rose

waiting for the Nightingale to chant her compline call

and Assisi bells 

to ring out again 

in midnight matins 

his song of peace.

Priest, Monk, Brother... What's the difference?

Monk, Priest, Friar, Brother... 

What's the difference?

Over the years, and particularly recently, many people have asked me what the difference is between the terms above... Sometimes it can even cause confusion to those who are discerning a vocation... "You're a brother but you say Mass???" Hopefully the following will help!

Priest: a Priest receives the Sacrament of Holy Orders (instituted by Christ Himself at the Last Supper) by which he is ordained to offer the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist or Mass, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession, and also to minister the Word of God to the people. He takes a Vow of Obedience to his Bishop or Religious Superior if he belongs to an Order, and a promise of Celibacy if he has not already taken the Vow of Chastity. (This is in the Roman Rite... Married diocesan clergy are allowed under certain conditions in the Eastern Rites and in exceptional circumstances in the Western Rite). The Priest is called to be an Alter Christus, another Christ, in that as he steps into the celebration of the Sacraments Christ chooses him to become present through him to the world in those sacred actions. 

This is nothing to do with his own personal holiness or worthiness but is a grace conferred at the moment of Ordination when the Bishop lays hands on his head and prays the prayer of consecration. 

A monk (from the Greek Monachos root meaning solitary or alone) is a member of a Monastic religious Order such as the Benedictines, Cistercians, or Carthusians to name a few. This is the oldest form of Religious or Consecrated life for Men. It may be lived in a solitary or community form. He takes perpetual vows, sometimes called Solemn Vows, by which he professes the Evangelical Counsels of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience, (often under the form of "conversion of life"), and to this may be added other vows such as Stability, (that vows him to a particular monastery), or even of Silence. 

He follows a Rule of Life that establishes the conditions of day to day life enabling the monk to dedicate himself to prayer. He may be ordained as a priest or not. His life is dedicated to Prayer first and then to manual work and study and sometimes works of charity too. The Superior is known as an Abbot or Prior. Traditionally to meet a Monk you go to them! Their spirituality is often based on the scriptural descriptions of the gathering of the first disciples in the Acts of the Apostles...

The Mendicant (begging) Orders of Friars are a development/reform of the monastic orders that took place in the 1200's beginning with St. Francis of Assisi. The Friars also take Solemn and Perpetual Vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience and follow a Rule of Life. The Franciscan, Dominican, Carmelite, Servite, Trinitarian and Augustinian Orders (and many others) belong to this group. The Friars are bound to the Order but not to particular communities and travel to preach and to be present to the needs of the people. They find a balance between contemplative and active life with the various groups finding their own level of balance depending on their tradition and the teaching of their founders. Like their Monastic forefathers they may be ordained or not. The important thing is Profession of Vows first and Ordination is seen as a secondary Vocation within the primary Vocation of Friar. The word Friar is an old English word simply meaning brother. They may be referred to as Father if they are ordained but in the Capuchin Franciscan tradition, returning to the primitive tradition of St. Francis and the first Friars, the only official title is Brother and all of the Brothers are equal based on Profession of Vows and not on Ordination. As we Capuchins often say, "All of the Fathers are Brothers, but only some of the Brothers are Fathers!" Got it?

St. Francis also rejected any title that implied power over someone and asked that the superiors would be called Guardians rather than Abbot or Prior.... A reminder that they were servants of the fraternity and were there to guard the "places" of the Friars so that they would be free for the work of prayer and ministry.

Religious Brothers: Brothers such as the Christian Brothers, De La Salle or Presentation Brothers are part of a movement of Religious Congregations of men and women that began in the late 1700's. They are dedicated to specific apostolate such as teaching, nursing, missionary work etc. They may take either simple or temporary vows renewed every few years or perpetual vows taken once, often with promises related to their apostolate. They would be classed as active or missional rather than contemplative in character though often have a very deep spirituality of work. In the male congregations ordination would not be usual though some practice ordination for the sake of the community, ie a brother may be ordained for sacramental ministry to the brothers themselves...

While the above descriptions give clear boundaries to the various institutions it should be understood that on an individual level there can be blurring in the way an individual group or order understand themselves; however the above are the basic major categories of male religious life in the Roman Catholic Church all descended from those first monks who entered the deserts of Egypt and Syria in the early days of the Church in order to follow the command of Christ to seek first the Kingdom of God and to learn to pray always by becoming living prayer.