Reflection by Fr. Ed Ondrako, OFM Conv.

The Annunciation, 1907-1908 (Oleksandr Murashko – Ukrainian, 1875–1919) is part of the Permanent Collection of the National Art Museum of Ukraine, in Kyiv. https://www.artsy.net/artwork/oleksandr-murashko-the-annunciation

Newman as a Volcanic Eruption 

Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.

The Archangel invited Mary to conceive the Son of God[1] by the power of the Holy Spirit. Her reply motivates us: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Love for Mary at home and in Catholic grade school prompted me to ask; why did it take so long, until 431 at the Council at Ephesus to declare that the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of God? Little did I know that I was raising the question of development of doctrine, a question which, a decade later, would be at the heart of the Second Vatican Council. Development of the reform within the Church came when I assumed the duties of the Catholic priesthood. In life, stormy seas follow, but happily with many stops at safe harbors. Interpretation of the idea of development and the future is one reason why Vatican II is called Newman’s Council. After he was canonized on 13 October 2019, the seal of Vatican II confirms his work as a saint.

John Henry Newman grew up in England with the Bible. He records that, at the age of 15, a great change of thought took place in him. “I fell under the influence of a definite Creed, and received into my intellect impressions of dogma, which through God’s mercy, have never been effaced or obscured.” In 1845, Newman wrote himself into the Catholic Church by resolving how doctrines develop. No one before or after him has demonstrated as precise an understanding of the character of the development of doctrine as he did when he laid out seven marks, notes, or tests, as he calls them. They are unique to the enigmas in his life. Many read and misinterpret them, but when read within lines of proper interpretation, his seven marks are readily persuasive. A lifetime of study of Newman convinces me that there is room for a lot more work about development vis-à-vis corruption. His seven marks are far more flexible, experimental, and have the potential to add marks, notes, and tests than imagined. They serve for reform and renewal within the Church.

Mark seven is “its chronic vigor.” Vigor is associated with the adjective “acute,” as in acute youthful vigor which declines with aging. Newman wrote:  “A corruption, if vigorous, is of brief duration, runs itself out quickly, and ends in death; on the other hand, if it lasts, it fails in vigor and passes into a decay. This general law gives us additional assistance in determining the character of the developments of Christianity commonly called Catholic.” Mark six is “conservative action on its past.” Newman was responding to the general pretext of critics of every age who claim they are serving and protecting Christianity by their innovations. They charge the Catholic Church and her successive definitions of doctrine as overlaying and obscuring Christianity. The heretics[2] (as he calls them) assume, and Newman does not deny, “that a true development is that which is conservative of its original and a corruption is that which tends to its destruction.”

Mark five is “anticipation of its future.” If the doctrine has, in any early stage of its history, given indications of those opinions and practices in which it has ended, Newman argues in favor of the fidelity of developments. Together with mark six, “conservative action upon its past,” is where we find Newman summarizing the prerogative of the Virgin Mary as intimately involved in the Incarnation itself. Justin, Irenaeus, and other Church Fathers taught the parallel between the Mother of the Redeemer and the Mother of all the living. Devotion to Mary in Newman’s life, which he did not have as a youth, developed as he grew and went beyond the formative Evangelical influences. During his twenties, a battle with the rationalist influences at Oxford developed within. At age 24, he chose Anglican orders; and by 27, he almost succumbed to letting rationalism overtake him. A growing devotional life included devotion to the Virgin Mary and the saints. One can trace his sermons and other writings to conclude how that devotion prevented disaster. By 1845, he was well on the way to developing a high Mariology. By the end of his life, he had arguably become the greatest Mariologist in England in the 19th century.

Newman’s Mariology was sound because he built upon and developed a proper Christology. E.g., if we compare the first chapters of Scripture with the last, we notice the serpent in Genesis directly identified with the evil spirit, just as we read in the twelfth chapter of Revelation. The woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, would endure the enmity of the serpent and the war with her Seed.[3] The mystery at the close of Scripture answers the mystery at the beginning of Scripture. There is a correspondence between the apocalyptic vision and what unfolded at the dawn of human history. Newman’s marks, notes, and tests diagnose deficient and insufficient forms of Christianity and Christian simulacra.

Newman’s fourth mark is “its logical sequence,” a mis-term in the sense that Newman is not giving a syllogistic argument, but one from history. He demonstrates historically how doctrines such as forgiveness of sins, penance, merit, salvation, and purgatory, are related to each other. The intelligible structure includes their praxis.

The third mark, “its power of assimilation,” proves doctrine’s staying power, as the doctrine of the Mother of God, Theotokos. The second mark is “the continuity of its principles.” [4] A principle is a simple or complex presupposition—not an argument, but ground zero for an argument. The first mark is: “the preservation of its type,” i.e. fidelity to its type from first to last. In the Christian Church of the 19th century what corresponds to the early Church? Newman’s collision course was with the Rationalists and Evangelicals who proscribed the Roman Church. His argument was a battery, a guerilla war which rests on the cumulation of arguments against their presumptions. The Church grows slowly. When studying Newman’s life and development, all seven marks are equally valuable. In 1845, his discovery of seven marks, notes, or tests helped him to resolve the definition of papal authority. Its resolution became the reason for his transfer from the Anglo-Catholic part of the Church of England to the Roman Catholic Church.

Fr. Edward J. Ondrako, OFM Conv, Univ. Of Notre Dame,  Remembering Forward, #5 Annunciation

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[1] The sacred Council at Ephesus (431) declared, Theotokos, Mother of God, to be binding on the Church, accepted and embraced by all of Christ’s faithful.
[2] At the Second Vatican Council, “heretic” fell into disuse for its perceived counterproductivity to dialogue.
[3] As the world witnesses the absolute horror and evil in the unjust war on Ukraine, compare the war of the serpent with the Virgin Mary to the current annihilation of Mariupol (Mary’s city).
[4] Pope Benedict XVI refers to “continuity” in his first Christmas Address to the Roman Curia in 2005.

Fr. Edward J. Ondrako, OFM Conventual
Research Fellow Pontifical Faculty of St. Bonaventure, Rome
Visiting Scholar, McGrath Institute for Church Life
University of Notre Dame
March 25, 2022

Congratulations, Frei Jesus!

Saturday, March 19, 2022:
On the Solemnity of St. Joseph ~ Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at Paróquia São Pedro e São Paulo Paraíba do Sul-RJ (St. Peter and St. Paul Parish, in the city of Paraíba do Sul-RJ), the friars of our Custódia Provincial Imaculada Conceição do Brasil (Province Custody of the Immaculate Conception, in Brazil) gathered to celebrate the Ordenação Diaconal (Diaconal Ordination) of Frei Jesus Rodrigues do Amaral, OFM Conv., at the hands of Dom Gregório Paixão, OSB, bispo da Diocese de Petrópolis (Bishop of Petrópolis), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He is pictured above at right, with Frei Ricardo Elvis Arruda Bezerra, OFM Conv. (photo cred), with whom he professed the Solemn Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, on August 2, 2021.

Post on Curia’s Website

For vocation information for our
Custódia Provincial Imaculada Conceição do Brasil,
contact Frei Willian Gomes Mendonça, OFM Conv.
at despertarfranciscano@gmail.com

More Photos

Statement of the Franciscan Friars Conventual

The Franciscan Friars Conventual of Our Lady of the Angels Province are saddened and disappointed in the decision of The Catholic University of America to terminate the friars’ 24-year service as University Chaplains and Directors of Campus Ministry.
When the Franciscans assumed leadership of campus ministry at the University, they were mandated by the U.S. bishops to restore a fuller sense of Catholic identity in the ethos of life on campus – orienting the undergraduate and graduate students, along with faculty, administration, and staff, to the Church’s gospel principles of truth, charity, and justice.  For 24 years the friars, in collaboration with hundreds of lay ministers, have striven to create a faith community at the Catholic University, committed to the principles of the Christian intellectual tradition, the sanctity of life, the dignity of the human person, the culture of social justice, the witness of interreligious dialogue, and the sacredness of liturgical celebration.
The friars depart with profound gratitude to God for the privilege of having accompanied the Catholic University community on its journey of faith through 24 years of unprecedented times.  We hope, in the humble spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, that we have contributed to upbuilding the faith-life of the University.  We offer our support to those whom the University has chosen to replace us.  May the Franciscan blessing of “Pax et Bonum” (“Peace and Good”) descend upon all.

Featured Ministry ~ The Shrine of St. Anthony

Located on a 236 acre campus in rural Ellicott City, MD, the rich history of relationships surrounding the property on which The Shrine of St. Anthony sits extends all the way back to the founding of the colony of Maryland and even to a relation to the first bishop of the Premier See of the United States. From their early start as owners of the property and the establishment of a Novitiate in the manor house in 1928, to today’s two friary-property, with friars serving in varied capacities, through nine on-site and six off-site ministries, our Franciscan Friars Conventual have made this beautiful landscape their home.

The video above was created in 2017 and features much of the beauty of the Ellicott City Complex. A large part of the property, and the ministries within, have been enhanced and enriched over these past years.  One of the largest changes is that of Carrollton Hall Historic Site. This is the original manor house of Folly Quarter, built in 1832 by Charles Carroll, and given as a gift to his granddaughter – Emily Caton McTavish. After varied hands of ownership, it was purchased by our friars in 1928. Through the generosity of a large group of distinguished donors, the historically significant 190 year old manor house has recently gone through an extensive restoration project that was many years in the making. In addition to restoring the grand manor to its original beauty, our friars have made some unique spiritual and historically significant additions. A period home chapel was adapted in one of the manor rooms, housing a vast array of relics and artifacts, including a restored marble altar which covered the Tomb of St. Francis in Assisi for over 100 years (1821 Assisi Altar). The manor’s front facade’s retaining wall is being converted to “The Carrollton Hall Memorial Project – Memorializing the people who were enslaved there…” The renovation projects are almost at their completion and on Sunday, March 27, 2022 Carrollton Hall Historic Site will be blessed and dedicated by Archbishop William E. Lori, of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. (Opening Celebrations)

Other additions to the property include our Little Portion Farm ministry, producing vegetables donated to the economically disadvantaged via the work of the Franciscan Sisters of Baltimore’s Franciscan Center, in Baltimore, MD. The barn was also updated to assist in the storage and transfer of the harvests from Little Portion Farm and Farmer Matt has an office located in the rejuvenated Carrollton Hall. In 2021, our province’s Franciscan Soy Candles ministry relocated from one of our New York friaries to the lower level of The Shrine, which continues to grow with many more pilgrims visiting each year. The other ministries on-site include: FMA (Franciscan Mission Association), the Companions of St. Anthony, and the Provincialate Offices.

Many of the outdoor prayerful reflection features of The Shrine grounds, such as the Grotto in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes, the St. Maximilian M. Kolbe, OFM Conv. Outdoor Shrine, the Outdoor Stations of the Cross and the numerous Prayer Paths and Gardens are depicted in this 2017 video.  Excitedly the friars of The Shrine of St. Anthony look forward to the most recent development project, which is in the midst of completion. A very generous donor to The Shrine has gifted a beautiful St. Anthony Garden of Eternity, which will be completed May 2022.

The 14 friars of the Portiuncula Friary and the St. Joseph of Cupertino Friary invite everyone come spend some time with them in prayer and peace, in personal reflection and in group day retreats or meetings. Daily Noon Mass is celebrated in the Chapel at The Shrine and friars are on hand Monday – Saturday, prior to Mass for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The on-site Gift Shop is open daily and the grounds are open during daylight hours, even on days when The Shrine buildings are closed.

Meet Fr. Bogusław Dąbrowski, OFM Conv.

{Photo Cred: Animazione Francescana Missionaria OFMconv}  Fr. Bogusław Dąbrowski, OFM Conv. of the Prowincja św. Antoniego i bł. Jakuba Strzemię w Polsce (Kraków) is seen here in the procession with the people whom he served as a Missionary in Uganda for almost 20 years.

Friar Bogus spent time with the friars of our Province during the Summer of 2014, preaching a Mission Appeal in various parishes in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, on behalf of our Franciscan Mission Association (FMA). In December 2021, he returned to the USA and is now living with our province friars in the St. Joseph Cupertino Friary, in Ellicott City, MD. He is currently providing priestly assistance at The Shrine of St. Anthony and will be working again to promote our Province work through the FMA.

Friar Bogus is the author of “Oddech Słońca” [Breath of the Sun] which is available in the USA via: https://thepolishbookstore.com/en/p/678255/oddech-slonca