‘Sentimental Theology’ and ‘Faith is a Gift’

06 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M. in Ecclesiology, Fr. Leonard Feeney, St. Benedict Center, and Friends

In this video, Michael Voris presents some good thoughts on the subject of sentimental theology. There are two points here where he appears to have borrowed from Saint Benedict Center’s founders. (Note that I do not say he borrowed, but “appears to have” done so.) First is the name itself, which was the title of an article by Dr. Fakhri Maluf (later Brother Francis, M.I.C.M.) published in the September 1947 issue of From the Housetops. That article may be read here: Sentimental Theology. There is another article that explains the history surrounding its publication: Sentimental Theology Revisited.

Second is Mr. Voris’ correct series of observations about the much abused statement, “Faith is a gift.” That, too is the title of an article by one of our Founders, Father Feeney himself, who also points out the need for a gift to be not merely offered, but also accepted. Father Feeney’s article, Faith is a Gift, is on our web site, too.

Saint Benedict Center Will Host Papal Knight at Conference

04 Wednesday May 2011

Posted by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M. in Announcements, Fr. Leonard Feeney, St. Benedict Center, and Friends

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The theme of this year’s conference will be Right and Freedom: Catholic Considerations on Misused Concepts.

Included in the list of speakers is author, papal historian, and lecturer, Charles A. Coulombe, K.C.S.S. By order of Pope John Paul II, Mr. Coulombe was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Sylvester for his services rendered to the Holy See. Author of the chart-climbing The Pope’s Legion, and Puritan’s Empire: A Catholic Perspective on American History, Coulombe is recognized internationally for his in-depth knowledge of Vatican politics and the influence of Catholicism in America and Europe. His audiences regularly range from graduate students at Oxford University, England to the New Mexico Military Institute, from which he graduated. His international articles have appeared in the New Oxford Review, National Catholic Register, American Thinker, Los Angeles Catholic Mission, Monarchy Canada, and The Irish Democrat.

Read the full press release here. Learn more about the conference here.

Here is a YouTube video of Mr. Coulombe speaking on one of his favorite subjects, monarchy:

They Fought the Good Fight, by Brother Thomas Mary Sennott

05 Monday Apr 2010

Posted by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M. in Ecclesiology, Fr. Leonard Feeney, St. Benedict Center, and Friends, Theology

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An excellent book is now back in print. Brother Thomas Mary Sennott, who was one of Father Feeney’s original followers, wrote a defense of Father’s doctrinal position in his book, They Fought the Good Fight, which was originally published in 1987. Besides Brother Thomas Mary’s narrative and annotations, the book has long excerpts from Father Feeney’s and Orestes Brownson’s most pointed writings on “no salvation outside the Church.” Significantly, the book bears the Imprimi potest of Bishop Timothy J. Harrington, the Bishop of Worcester. (His Excellency granted this on January 15, 1987, thus indicating that the volume is free of doctrinal or moral error.)

Brother Thomas Mary, who is now deceased, had a web site that a friend of his now keeps on line. Continue reading →

The Church of Salvation, by Brother Leonard Mary

08 Monday Feb 2010

Posted by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M. in Ecclesiology, Fr. Leonard Feeney, St. Benedict Center, and Friends, Theology

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Among all the issues facing the Church in these times of epic confusion, the issue of salvation — where it is to be found, and how achieved — is the most pressing. If you have not yet read Brian Kelly’s review of Brother Leonard Mary’s book, The Church of Salvation, I strongly recommend you do so.

Father Feeney, Mary Daly, and Boston College

09 Saturday Jan 2010

Posted by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M. in Catholic America, Church History, Fr. Leonard Feeney, St. Benedict Center, and Friends

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Writing for The New American, Jack Kenny has compared and contrasted the Boston-College career of recently deceased pagan-lesbian-radical-feminist* “theologian,” Mary Daly and the phenomenon of my own dear founders, who were treated harshly by that same institution in the 1940s. Unlike Daly, the four professors (including Dr. Fakhri Maluf) were neither witches, nor sexual deviants, nor dissenters from the Church’s magisterium, nor advocates of the non-extant “right” of a woman to butcher her unborn offspring. No, they simply defended a defined doctrine, one the Church has bound us to, which teaches that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church. Continue reading →

A Great Man Has Died: Brother Francis, M.I.C.M. (Fakhri B. Maluf, Ph.D.)

01 Thursday Oct 2009

Posted by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M. in Family/Personal, Fr. Leonard Feeney, St. Benedict Center, and Friends

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This is a small tribute to my recently-deceased superior, mentor, father, and friend, Brother Francis. As our Byzantine brethren say, “May his memory live in eternity!”

Brother Francis was born, in the town of Mashrah, Lebanon, about thirty miles from Beirut, in 1913. His given name was Fakhri Boutros Maluf. The Maluf family is descended from the ancient Ghassanids, Christian and Catholic Arabs who courageously kept the Faith in the face of Moslem aggression.

Though poor, Fakhri’s family saw to his education, which was provided at home, in a small school that his father operated. In 1934, Fakhri graduated from the American University of Beirut with a Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics. From 1934 to 1939, he taught physics at that same University.

In 1939, he moved to the United States to attend the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he received first an M.A. and, in 1942, a Ph.D. in philosophy. After receiving his Ph.D., he continued post-graduate studies at Harvard University and Saint Bonaventure University. Continue reading →

Christendom’s Building Blocks — Catholic Communities

09 Thursday Jul 2009

Posted by Brother André Marie, M.I.C.M. in Fr. Leonard Feeney, St. Benedict Center, and Friends, Society and Culture

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(This is the paper written in preparation for a talk given at the 2005 St. Benedict Center Conference.)

In this talk, I am going to propose that the building blocks of tomorrow’s Christendom are Catholic Communities. Before I proceed in explaining why I believe this is the case, and before I explain the principles behind it and what it entails, it would be appropriate to give some definitions. Continue reading →