Subj : April 10th - Bl. Mark Fantucci To : All From : rich Date : Thu Apr 09 2020 09:44:33 From: rich April 10th - Bl. Mark Fantucci Also known as Marcus Fantuzzi Marco Fantucci Marcus of Bologna Pace Pasotto Memorial 10 April 19 April=C2 on some calendars AMONGST the Franciscan leaders of the 15th century a special place must be assigned to Bl. Mark Fantucci of Bologna, to whom was mainly due the preservation of the Observance as a separate body when it seemed on the point of being compulsorily merged into the Conventual branch. After having received an excellent education to fit him for the good position and large fortune to which he was left sole heir, he had given up all his worldly advantages at the age of 26 to receive the habit of St. Francis. Three years after his profession, he was chosen guardian of Monte Colombo, the spot where St. Francis had received the rule of his order. So successful was he in converting sinners that he was given permission to preach outside his province by St. John Capistran, then vicar general of the Observants in Italy. Having served twice as minister provincial, Bl. Mark was elected vicar general in succession to Capistran, and showed himself zealous in enforcing strict observance of the rule the various reforms he brought about all tended to revive the spirit of the founder, After the taking of Constantinople so many Franciscans had been enslaved by the Turks, that Mark wrote to all his provincials urging them to appeal for alms to ransom the captives but in answer to a request for instructions how to act in the danger zone, he sent word to, Franciscan missionaries in places threatened by victorious Islam bidding them remain boldly at their posts and to face what might happen. He was able to execute a long-cherished plan to form a convent of Poor Clares in Bologna. St. Catherine of Bologna came with some of her nuns from Ferrara to establish it, and found in Bl. Mark one who could give her all the assistance she needed. He visited as commissary all the friaries in Candia, Rhodes and Palestine, and on his return to Italy he was elected vicar general for the second time. Never sparing himself he undertook long and tiring expeditions to Bosnia, Dalmatia, Austria and Poland, often travelling long distances on foot. Pope Paul II wished to make him a cardinal, but he fled to Sicily to avoid being forced to accept an honour from which he shrank. The next pope, Sixtus IV, formed a project which was even less acceptable, for he had set his heart upon uniting all Franciscans into one body, without requiring any reform from the Conventuals. At a meeting convened to settle the matter, Bl. Mark used all his eloquence to defeat the proposal, but apparently in vain. At last, in tears, throwing down the book of the rule at the pope's feet, he exclaimed= , =E2=80=9COh my Seraphic Father, defend your own rule, since I, miserable ma= n that I am, cannot defend it=E2=80=9D; and thereupon left the hall. The gest= ure accomplished what argument had failed to do; the assembly broke up without arriving at a decision, and the scheme fell through. In 1479, while delivering a Lenten mission in Piacenza, Bl. Mark was taken ill and died at the convent of the Observance outside the city. His cultus was confirmed in 1868. Bl. Mark is very fully dealt with under different years in Wadding'= s Annales Ordinis Minorum; and a summary account may be found in Mazzara, Leggendario Francescano, vol. i (1676), pp. 431-440. See also L=C3=A9on, Aureole Seraphique (Eng. trans.), vol. ii, pp. 1-13. Sundry letters and other references have been published by Faloci Pulignani in his Miscellanea Francescana, vol. xiv (1913), and also in the Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, vol. xxi (1928). Fr Mark is said to have been one of the founders of monti di piet=C3 to combat oppression of the poor by usury. Saint Quote: If we look forward to receiving God's mercy, we can never fail to do good so long as we have the strength. For if we share with the poor, out of love for God, whatever he has given to us, we shall receive according to his promise a hundredfold in eternal happiness. What a fine profit, what a blessed reward! With outstretched arms he begs us to turn toward him, to weep for our sins, and to become the servants of love, first for ourselves, then for our neighbors. Just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away sin. --Saint John of God Bible Quote: We have been ransomed with precious blood of Christ, as with the blood of a lamb without blemish or spot.=C2 (1 Peter 1:19 ) <><><><> Christ is the Husband of the Church his Bride "This means he alone is the husband of the Church (John 3:29), he is the expectation of the nations, and the prophets removed their sandals while offering to him a union of nuptial grace. He is the bridegroom; I am the friend of the bridegroom. I rejoice because he is coming, because I hear the nuptial chant, because now we do not hear the harsh penalties for sinners, the harsh torments of the law, but the forgiveness of offenses, the cry of joy, the sound of cheerfulness, the rejoicing of the nuptial feast." --by Ambrose of Milan,(excerpt from ON THE PATRIARCHS 4.22) --- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2 * Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4) .