Saints Francis, Therese, and Bernadette, My Companions on the Journey: Book Ii

By Brother Bernard Francis

These books of Poems have received great reviews from both Carmelite and Franciscan Community Ministers, Diocesan Priests, and everyday Catholics who recommend it as a means of spiritual growth and a great source for devotions.
Two ministers of Franciscan and Carmelite communities, priests, and publishing houses most strongly urged these books be published for use as devotionals; so following their advice he has done this with the assistance of AuthorHouse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456726638

Book preview

The Ian Clark Foundation & Therese’s Missions.

Our Mission:

To make God much loved; sending a shower of roses down on others.

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Ian Wesley Clark of Huber Heights Ohio died on May 17, 2002 after a tragic auto accident. He was a bright, caring young man who showed so much Christ-like love to so many of all ages and backgrounds in the Huber Heights area.

Many of his friends & family desired to not let him be forgotten & so a memorial foundation was established to continue charitable works in his name in 2002.

St. Therese of Lisieux was a young Carmelite nun who died at 24 of tuberculosis after having suffered greatly for many years. She has led many people into a closer relationship with Christ through her little way of doing ordinary things with extra-ordinary love. She is said to be the most loved, most popular saint. She is a doctor of the Catholic Church, of the Science of Love, and co-patron Saint of France and Missions.

She said, After I am dead, I will send down a shower of roses from heaven. a shower of blessings. Her name & intercession was added to the foundation in 2006.

This non-profit organization was established by two secular Franciscans to continue their work of showering love and blessings out upon others. It has led many to a deeper love of God. It has provided for medical, financial, & other needs of ordinary people, such as food & relief efforts, who had no place to go for help.

Through Therese’s Hermitage it provides seminars/Days of Recollection, and free copies of Therese’s autobiography, Story of a Soul to many. It contributes to many other little ministries such as a monthly e-mail newsletter to its friends and those who are home bound. It has published three books of poetry, composed in 2004-2010, by Bro. Bernard Francis, for personal devotional use well received by Priests, Franciscan and Carmelite ministers and seculars, and many lay Catholics. These will help us support our missions to include the monasteries, such as Therese’s own at Lisieux France.

It also acts as an intercessor for many, daily offering prayer in their behalf. If you would like prayer call 937-313-7290, Therese’s Hermitage, and state your request. You will be prayed for every day.

E-mail: [e-mail]

Finally it supports many charities as seen on the following page.

Ian’s Foundation & Therese’s Mission’s Charities

Divine Word Missionaries

PO Box 6099

Techny, IL 60082-6099

Society of the Little Flower

1313 Frontage Road

Darien, Illinois 60561

Covenant House

Times Square Station

PO Box 731

New York, NY 10108-0900

Boys Town

200 Flanagan Blvd.

Boys Town, NE 68010

Catholic Missions of Northern Alaska

1312 Peger Road’

Fairbanks, Alaska 99709

Elizabeth’s New Life Center 359

Forest Ave. Suite 203

Dayton, OH 45405

National Pro-Life Alliance

4521 Windsor Arms Court

Annadale, VA 22003-9916

Catholic Relief Services

PO Box 17145

Baltimore, MD 21297-1145

Friends of Mercy Stockbridge

Association of Marian helpers

MA 01263

Motherhouse

Sacred Heart League

6050 Hwy 161 N

Walls, MS 38686-0213

PNCEA Prison Ministeries

A Ministry of the Paulist National

Catholic Evangelization Association

3031 Fourth Street, NE

Washington, DC 20017-1102

Monasteries

Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Angels

5817 Old Leeds Rd.

Irondale, AL 35210-2164

Poor Clare Monastery of Our Lady of Mercy

Mother Giovana, PCC, Prioress

300 N. 60th Street

Belleville, IL 62223-3927

Poor Clare Monastery of St. Clare

1505 Miles Rd.

Cincinnati, OH 45231

Monastery of St. Therese of Lisieux

Mother John of the Cross, OCD,

P O Box 57

Loretto, PA 15940-0057

Carmel de Lisieux

Mother Frances Marie

37 rue du Carmel

14100 Lisieux, France

Carmelite Monastery-The New Carmel

Fr. Daniel Mary of Christ Crucified,

PO Box 2747

Cody, Wyoming 82414

Carmelite Monastery of the Sacred Hearts

8540 Kenosha Dr.

Colorado Springs, CO 80908-5004

Congrégation des Soeurs de la Charité de Nevers Bernadette

27 Avenue du Gl Michel Bizot

75012 PARIS – France

Dominican Congregation of Mary Mother of the Eucharist

Mother Assumpta

4597 Warren Road

Ann Arbor MI 48105

Dominican Congregation of St. Cecilia

801 Dominican Drive

Nashville, TN 37228 Benedictine

Benedictine Mission House Christ the King Priory

1123 Road 1, PO Box 528,

Schuyler, Nebraska 68661-0528

Little Sisters of the Poor

476 Riddle Road

Cincinnati, OH 45220

book reviews of:

St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Francis of Assisi Companions on My Journey.

Please note some of these are long time members of third order communities, 18-40 years, and some even ministers, of various Franciscan and Carmelite Third Order Communities: some priests, some normal everyday Catholics.

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It is rare that one may partake of the intimate journey a soul has with God.  In this collection of poems, the reader is being gifted with access to the depths of a soul in love with God and His Saints, especially St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Bernadette, and St. Francis of Assisi.  The author’s candor provides an insight into a loving response to the graces and blessings as well as trials and tribulations found in life.  The poems are remarkable for the spirit of love found in them and the action of God’s grace in a soul.  Many of the poems are based on an aspiration of the heart that may be used as an instrumental tool in helping one enter into a deep level of prayer…and a more personal relationship with God.

—Frances Harry, a fellow companion on the Journey

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When I read these poems I came closer to the knowledge of God with in us! Our God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and how He draws us close to him through prayer, each other, our songs in our heart, the suffering we carry with us, the joy we find everywhere, in the need for us to cling to Him always in sorrow and pain, good days and bad. We are never alone with the Communion of Saints. I learned how St. Therese of the Little Flower loved and served her God in the simple ways." I am grateful for the gift brought forth from this author, who knows, loves and serves his God in the simple ways just like his sister in Christ, St. Therese, and all of the Saint’s in heaven. 

 Mary Ellen Herrmann, SFO

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RE: My Companions on the Journey…Book 1

I am about halfway through reading the entire book, yet wanted to give you feedback.   Thank you for sharing it with me.   My favorites thus far are the Dandelion and Love is a Warrior. The writings are from the heart and show a purity of love and intention. They have produced a calming and healing presence and I can feel a truthful, humble, childlike faith that is meant to inspire others to just come close to Jesus and simply love Him.Again, thank you for sharing.   God Bless.

Mary Ann

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Patrick,.

I hope that this isn’t too late but I did just finish it (a little late in the evening but I really did enjoy those poems that I was able to have time to read and YES it is a very personal journey and a hard book to put down once you start them).  I will be keeping these as a form of contemplative prayer and thank you for the opportunity to review them and I hope that your friend does get them published. Yours in Christ, Fr. Pat

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Having read Brother Nientello of the Holy Face SFO (Bernard Francis SFO)recent collection of poems entitled Saints Thérèse of Lisieux & Francis of Assisi, My Companions on the Journey I can honestly say it is very hard once you start them to put them down. While the theme of a journey with his companion saints is very evident from just the title, when you start reading his poetry I think you will find that they truly are a collection from a holy man of God who has a gift for describing that journey not through prose but in the ancient language of the psalmists, poetry.

I would highly recommend that while they can be read in a very short amount of time, please try to actually use them as a way of assisting your prayer life, maybe a form of prayer that you are not yet familiar with but given a chance may help you to bear fruits of your own. The recurrent theme in this collection is God’s love for us, as seen both in the personal relationship with our Lord but also in our relationships with our fellow sojourners that God places into our lives as companions on that journey. My personal favorite My Sole Occupation is Love is a good representation of the whole collection. Please consider reading these either during Eucharistic Adoration or even just during those times of the day when you have a bit of time, I think you will enjoy them.

Fr. McMullen

Associate Pastor

St. Peter’s Parish Huber Heights, OH

Dedication

St. Francis of Assisi taught me that all of us make the journey, the journey from this life to the true, real life that follows. It is a hard, but wonderful journey.

Saints: Bonaventure, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, are all doctors of the Church, all those we are urged by the Church to turn to regarding matters of mysticism. They all tell us we are all, every one of us, called to be mystics. What is a mystic? One who is called to participate in the mystery of knowing God.

Catechism 2014 – Spiritual progress tends toward ever more intimate union with Christ. This union is called mystical because it participates in the mystery of Christ through the sacraments- the holy mysteries – and, in Him, in the mystery of the Holy Trinity. God calls us all to intimate union with Him, even if the special graces or extraordinary signs of this mystical life are granted only to some for the sake of manifesting the gratuitous gift given to all.

So if you have been baptized, received communion, been married or taken religious vows, then you are a mystic. And, if you have ever thought, What if… He may be calling you to more. And O! once you begin to experience, not know He loves you, but experience His love, … then eternal life begins.

Therese said that there is only one who is worthy of our love, will truly appreciate it, and give us more love than anyone, … God.

Does it not follow then that we should all desire to grow ever closer to Him? Once we seek it, He will draw us. Or perhaps He draws us, we seek a closer relationship, to know Him more intimately, and He grants it through various means.

I was once told, by a very excellent and dear priest, There are far more saints in this parish than most would ever suspect. So perhaps you are one, for sure you are a mystic, though you may not know it.

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