‘Brother, Where Is Your Coat?’
GUEST COLUMN
When I about five years old in 1930, my Dad’s cousin, Brother Aloysius Gilmartin, would come down on the train to Altoona, Pennsylvania, from St. Francis College in Loretto to visit us. He would get off the train and walk half a block to Westfall’s Men’s Store where Dad worked. Dad would usually bring him home for lunch. He enjoyed our big family so much. And we all loved Br. Aloysius too; he was such a gentle and humble man.
One day it was bitter cold, about zero degrees, when he came to Dad’s store. Dad was shocked to see that he was not wearing an overcoat.
“Brother, where is your coat? It’s freezing out!” my Dad exclaimed.
“Oh, Frank, I don’t have one,” he replied. The monks of the Order of Francis take a vow of poverty and do not personally own anything, even their clothes.
You May Also Enjoy
Apart from the possible connection to Francis’s old pal McCarrick, McElroy is basically a Francis clone. He’s parroted the Pope’s pet projects at nearly every turn.
Why Bother to Convert?... A Prisoner Calls for Real Discipline in the Church... Common Ground, Episcopalian-Style... In the Silk (for Now)... Silly Ads, Senile Cause... Many Sacrifices... Gentle Rebukes Don't Cut It...
Not to know God is not to know nature or your own nature – to trade the abnormal for the normal, to choose sterility over abundance.