Fr Stan Fortuna C.F.R. might be controversial, not so much for his hair and beard, as pictured in your post, but because he has been known to utilize rapping in his ministry to youth. He performs rap music (check YouTube), and sometimes to get a point across in a homily, he utilizes rap. Other than the use of rap during the homily, Fr Stan does a very reverent OF for the youth.
Some wouldn’t attend an OF if the priest was a long-haired and bearded man, let alone an EF celebrated by the same priest. And I agree with you, it would be a crazy reason to not attend Mass because the priest was bearded and had long hair.
If St Francis lived today, I’m sure many traditionalists would like him even less than they do already.
As far as external appearance, it was always Francis’ deliberate intention that his sons and daughters not look like clergy or like monks. That’s why we have more than 100 variations of the Franciscan habit. We never had a standardized habit for men or women. The Conventual Franciscans, adopted the Augustinian habit, but wear a chord where the Augies would wear a belt. That’s why they are called Conventual. They lived in convents and dressed like canons. They even wore shoes. However, they were much more austere than the canons. Their convents were like prisons. That’s how austere they were. The rest of us live in fraternities that we call friary, which is a derivative from the Latin word, Frater, or Brotherhood. Our houses are not cloistered and we don’t have any barriers between us and the world, because Francis had none. The Conventual movement had a practical reason for that particular group of friars. It has served them well. Francis would not disapprove. He would be upset, if his entire family lived that way; but he always made allowances for the exception.
In the Franciscan tradition, the exception is the rule. Better yet, it is normative to do what others do not do. This applies to dress, manner of prayer, way we preach, our ministries, and how we relate to each other and to the world. Francis opted to be the exception, not the rule and his entire rule is one of exceptions. The Franciscan rule is the flip side of much of what Traditionalists embrace about the clergy, the mass, dress, evangelization, obedience to authority and even poverty.
Personally, I have never developed a taste for Rap. However, I have heard Father Stan’s Rap. When I listen to the content, I hear very solid spiritual theology. He reminds me of our Holy Father Francis. Francis laid aside traditional Gregorian Chant. Actually, he prohibited its use at mass and in the Divine Office. It was not introduced into Franciscan houses until after Vatican II. Prior to that, we had a rather monotone type of chant for those times when the liturgy required chant. It’s the chant that you normally hear at a parish mass. It’s not as elaborate as Gregorian Chant.
Anyway, Fr. Stan reminds me of Francis. Francis also used music to deliver the Gospel message. He composed what Laudas. These were musical pieces that used Provencal and Italian tones that were very popular in his day. That’s how many of his prayers came to be recorded and remembered for centuries. People did not write them down until much later. They remembered the Laudas and they would sing them. His most famous is the Canticle of the Creatures, often called the Canticle of Brother Sun, which is a theological masterpiece. It has layers and layers of theology in very simple words that were sung in a very popular tone. The other very famous Lauda that he wrote is used by everyone today, “We adore thee O Christ and we bless thee, here and in all your churches throughout the whole world, because by your holy cross, you have redeemed the world.” That too was a Lauda. The melody has long been lost. But the words have been preserved and are still used in the Franciscan Stations of the Cross that Francis wrote and which most people use, but don’t know they came from him. Fr. Stan is actually being very faithful to Tradition. This was the tradition handed down to us by our Holy Father, to use popular music and simple words to express very profound theological and moral teachings.
I think that the problem many Traditionalists have with St. Francis of Assisi may be his imperative on obedience. He and Benedict were very clear on the command of absolute obedience. Many Traditionalists find it hard to hold on to their defense of Archbishop Lefebvre while they hold on to Benedict and Francis. The Archbishop’s actions are totally incompatible with Benedict and Francis command regarding obedience to the abbot, the minister, the bishop and the pope. Benedict and Francis taught that you could disagree, but you obeyed regardless. You were never to obey a command to sin. In everything else, who submitted and accepted the hardship as penance.
Some tend to use Aquinas to annul Francis’ theology of obedience. However, it does not work. Aquinas is very clear that obedience is never given when one is commanded to sin. Aquinas calls this blind obedience. Francis had said this several decades before Aquinas. One always asked oneself if that which was commanded was a sin. If not, one obeys even if one knows that the superior is wrong. The virtue of obedience is not about being right. It is about being poor. One owns nothing, not even his opinions, just a Christ owned nothing and as Christ surrendered to the Father’s will, despite his agony. Obedience is the willingness to experience agony and surrender one’s freedom in order to be like Christ.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
