Monday, December 9, 2013

Franciscans of the Immaculata --- Founder’s Health Situation “Serious” AVM


(Rome) A letter from the Apostolic Commissioner of the Franciscans of the Immaculate laid bare last week what has been long suspected. The dismissal of the Order's founder Father Stefano Manelli, as General Minister and the entire Orders leadership was carried out with the approval of Pope Francis for a reason,  Pope  Francis' really sharp criticism. He repeatedly admonishes that he does not to see the Church as an ideological battleground. The Apostolic Commissioner Father Fidenzio Volpi  wrote to the daily La Stampa that the action was taken because it is  Crypto-Lefebvrian, anyways traditionalist. The attitude of the Commissioner can be recognized in the formulation. Obviously, they came across some curial representatives  who noticed that  the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception  sought a canonical recognition of the Society of St. Pius X.. Meanwhile,  there are suggestions  that  about150-200 brothers, who were loyal to Father Manelli and his charism, want to start a new order. A request has already been sent to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei. 

Meanwhile, to the health of the 81 year old Founder, Father Stefano Maria Manelli, who was almost completely isolated from the outside world, has deteriorated dramatically. For this reason, we are publishing the following guest commentary of "Cordialiter".
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For the Health of Father Stefano Maria Manelli

of Cordialiter
Readers have recommended prayers for Father Stefano Maria Manelli (FI) , who needs them really badly. The health status of the founder of the religious family of the Franciscans of the Immaculate Conception is serious and it seems like the time is approaching to leave this world of misery and enter into eternity for him.
Representation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, venerated in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Rome
In the 90s, my grandfather gave my father a little book with the title: "The Great Promise of the Sacred Heart", whose author is Father Manelli. Also, I wanted to read it and asked my father about it. The book impressed me deeply. It addresses the key question of the eternal salvation of the soul, of mortal sin, the existence of the devil, the concrete possibility to end, because of a mortal sin, in  eternal damnation, of the apparitions of Fatima. The reading of this document caused a spiritual sensation in me because I was until then, used to the usual shallow sermons and religious instruction, which were focused on a kind of life advice entirely on people and their daily lives, which are as sweet as sugar and serve only to stun souls. Of the last things , nothing  was never spoken, because God is so infinitely merciful, that he has actually long since abolished hell,  would  not even be limited to very bad villains as Adolf Hitler, who would otherwise not be so accommodated. If minds differ about Joseph Stalin. 
For the good people who actually all go to heaven, it is completely pointless to seek a spiritual life, because at the end of both a penitent souls like St. Francis of Assisi and the souls of those who spent a lifetime wallowing in numerous vices and abominations, experience the same promotion.
At that time I was a boy, but by the writings of Father Manelli it was clear to me that this patronizing view of religion is just a scam. It is quite true that God is infinitely merciful and can forgive any sin, but he is also infinitely just,  so the forgiveness of sins requires sincere repentance.
This booklet did my soul so much good. I wanted this instruction to deepen, but was convinced that the author must be dead long ago. And anyway, that priests like him had died out long ago. Only years later did I learn that this zealous servant of God lived and worked and was the founder of a religious community, who had enjoyed a good reputation and whose brothers  thought of him as their religious father.
I sat down at the desk and wrote a letter to one of the monasteries of this order, I basically addressed it to the brothers.To my great surprise, I received a reply, not from anyone, but a handwritten letter from Father Stefano Maria Manelli personally. It was not just a courtesy reply with the usual friendly phrases. It was a letter of great spirituality with numerous spiritual references, recommendations and instructions. A letter which comparable those those which   St. Francis de Sales wrote, whom I got to know later.
Some time ago I finally had the chance to meet Father Manelli personally and exchange a few words with him.
The Franciscans of the Immaculate were thrilled with the  2007 Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, I was excited about their joy and their decision a year later,  internally to fully adopt the traditional Rite. I was then convinced then   that the faithful who came to the Masses of the brothers in the Old Rite, did not only for aesthetic reasons, but the Mass locations entrusted to the Order’s Mass\developed an intense spiritual direction themselves. Today you can see in not a few churches, the faithful after Mass stampede even before the priest has left the sanctuary. The Franciscans of the Immaculate stopped the faithful to persevere a little after Mass and give thanks to God, as the fine manual of asceticism, as well as Pope Pius XII., recommend. And so it embraced the faithful also. Much misery lies in the widespread error even  among priests  that believers of this and that "today" would no longer accept. Not infrequently,  it is concealed behind a  lack of willingness to give instruction. The fact is that the faithful may be instructed willingly and gratefully, often eagerly if this instruction attended by their shepherds.
So we pray to Mary Mediatrix Gratiarum, the Mediatrix of All Graces, to assist Father Stefano Maria Manelli  in this crucial hour of his life. The Founder understood his life as a life of penance, he offered to accelerate the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In this spirit, a loyal and faithful heart, he will sacrifice the recent adversity. The world does not like to understand. Let us pray for him and for his spiritual sons.
Introduction / Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Cordialiter
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmailcom
AMGD

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

They are now going to suppress all FI Monasteries. The next battle is with the Sisters will they be offered up to?

May the sufferings of Fr. Manelli be like roses to Our Lady and to usher forth the 5th Marian Dogma Our Lady as Co-Redemptrix he ardently strifed for.

Anonymous said...

This is interesting. Father Manelli was a very pious man - a real "Francis" - who inspired souls. Perhaps this sheds some light on the true motivations of "Pope" Francis - maybe he wishes he had the faith and is deathly envious of anyone who does. Maybe Father Manelli has something in common with this altar boy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QgP0YaOLT4

Was this vain man who made sure that there were plenty of cameras around to record his pious prayers (cf. Matthew 6 : 3) afraid that the pious young altar boy would attract the eyes of the faithful away from him and spoil his "photo op"? Maybe Father Manelli inspired this same type of reaction in the Pope? Maybe he thought Father Manelli's charism would interfere with his own "charism"?

I will say a rosary for Father Manelli tonight. He had the blessing to share somewhat in our Lord's suffering: "Forgive them for they know not what they do".







Anonymous said...

God Bless Fr. Manelli and the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate. Dear Brothers and Fathers of the Franciscans, Sisters and cloistered nuns of the Order, and the new branch of cloistered monks....my advice to you.....DO NOT TRUST ECCLESIAE DEI. DO NOT TRUST THIS "pope" FRANCIS.
Go to the true leaders of the Catholic Church.,....seek out Bishop Fellay of the SSPX, ally yourselves, 200+ friars, and the 300+ sisters etc. with the SSPX. They will welcome you with open arms. They will pray with and for you. They will love and encourage and appreciate you.
Turn your back and your obedience away from this "pope" Francis and his clique of liberals. They are worthless in the eyes of all good faithful Catholics.
Follow the true remnant of the Catholic Faith.....follow the SSPX.
Pray for "pope" Francis, that the Lord may soon release him from the office he refuses to uphold and the tradition of the Papacy he apparently hates so much.

Tomas said...

Anonymous, His Excellency Bishop Fellay would take exception to your comment about "true leaders of the Catholic Church" and your use of quotes around the word "pope". And much of the rest of what you said. The SSPX asks the Faithful for prayers for Pope Francis, not to reject him as pope or turn our backs to him. Who are you to say who is worthless?! Shame on you!

Your comments are so outrageous and so in opposition of anything ever stated by the SSPX that I have to wonder if you are not perhaps an Agent Provocateur?

Anonymous said...

I'm no agent, just a faithful Catholic who knows what this "pope" stands for, and the liberal agenda he will push through the Church. He will try to transform and destroy the Catholic Church as we know it, and as Popes have presented themselves for at least the last 150 years.
If he appoints a woman to head a curial office in the Vatican, or if he appoints a woman or layman as a Cardinal in the next consistory as has been rumored, I hope you will sing a different tune. Any traditional and faithful Catholic who would accept that is not truelya Roman Catholic, but rather a true Vatican II Catholic........and there is a big difference between the two.
I indeed pray for Pope Francis....that he doesn't destroy what is left of the Catholic Church and the Papacy before he dies.

Damask Rose said...

This is so very sad... especially in the light of this in an earlier thread...

"after Founder Father Stefano Manelli was deposed as Superior General and exiled and even though he has met all instructions and guaranteed absolute obedience, even his closest relatives are forbidden to visit him, and it is forbidden to make phone or receive phone calls and any contact with the outside world is denied to him ..."

How absolutely dreadful to treat Fr Manelli like this. Fr Manelli isn't the founding father of the Legionaries of Christ is he?

Enoch said...

It might be a good idea to ask for the prayers and intercession of St. Padre Pio for Fr. Manelli and the FFI. Fr.Manelli was a close friend of St. Padre Pio, and it was this good saint that Fr. Manelli turned to for guidance in establishing the FFI.
Here's a book that Fr. Manelli wrote about St. Padre Pio:
http://www.catholicfreeshipping.com/piopiet.html

Tancred said...

I would suggest that placing points of view on Bishop Fellay and the SSPX they don't have is the mark of an agent provocateur, whatever your interest in Sedevacantism, and firm belief in your integrity, may be.

Anonymous said...

Please, do not use this opportunity to denigrate the pope. And the FI can NOT turn from their obedience to him or any successor of St. Peter. They cannot go into schism; they must accept the dismantling and persecution first. What took years to build is being torn down before our eyes and only for its faithfulness. So much for the 'new evangelization' while many prelates praise the likes of a Mandela but faithful Catholics are persecuted in this white martyrdom and also in red martyrdoms all over the world. When an order with a Marian Vow is destroyed, it is not a good sign of the direction of the Church. But then, we knew that. Who can we trust? Who can we depend upon? Only Our Lord. From all other things we must have a detachment. The holy things are torn apart; that is nothing new. It continues. And the heretical, the renegade, and the unfaithful continue on with impunity. Our Lord never was one for numbers. Only a few dared to stand at the foot of the Cross. The holy Fr. Stefano is there now.

Damask Rose said...

Really! How beautiful. It seems that the more a Franciscan becomes conformed to Christ, the more bullied he becomes. Truly St Francis must have been so beloved by Jesus. It must have made the soul soar to heaven to be in St Francis' presence.

Fr Manelli is the type of founding father that the Church needs so desperately today.

Anonymous said...

Same things happened to St. Theresa of Avila & St. John of the Cross. A very heavy cross, but look where they are now, and look at the impact of their struggles. Let's pray that this will glorify God.