I've just been watching various performances of Panis Angelicus on Youtube in order to collect them for my new Catholic Music blog. I found a couple of lovely performances by Andrea Bocelli, Charlotte Church and Chloe Agnew then I came across this brief video by a monk (possibly friar?). His voice is divine and he displays such joy and light in his face when he sings. Simply beautiful. I am trying to find out who he is in the hope there are more recordings out there. I tried contacting the profile on youtube to no avail...

Here is the video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGZMz...ature=youtu.be

Who is he?

Clare

At the risk of sounding like a church nerd, he is a friar, not a monk.   :smile:

If he is a priest, he could sing a High Mass beautifully.

The habit is OFM.  The Capuchin habit is just a tunic with a hood and cord.  There is no teardrop shaped piece of cloth that forms the rounded part of the upper OFM habit when viewed from the front and the the pointed cloth when viewed from the back.  The EWTN Friars wear a Capuchin style habit, with the addition of the monstrance on the chest.  

The Third Order Regular friars wear a basically OFM habit, but it is black instead of brown.  The  Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (Fr. Benedict Groeschell's group) fear a gray Capuchin style habit.  There is a really interesting group of friars in Boston, The Little Brothers of St. Francis, who wear a blue denim habit.  They are a very small community of brothers whose sole ministry is wandering the streets of Boston and talking to people, mostly homeless people.  There is another somewhat trad group called the Friars of the Immaculate who wear a very cool looking blue habit.

They say on their website that the original Franciscan habit was made of the cloth associated with the poor.  The feel that denim occupies the same place today.  

I had an interesting talk with two of them when I was on vacation in Boston a few years ago.  I was invited to Vespers at their chapel, which I gather is unusual.  (Their oratory is private.)  It was certainly Novus Ordo, but was very reverent.  The friars seem to love God, The Blessed Mother, and St. Francis very much.  They also make a tremendous difference in the lives of the poor in Boston, especially the mentally ill, by being "Martha's" and just listening to people and sharing the love of Christ.  

I have a personal reason for liking them so much as well.  I have mentioned a 17 year old cousin, who will be eighteen next month, who is seriously mentally ill.  He very much wants to be a Franciscan friar, and contacted several Franciscan communities.   All but this one said a quick no.  They have certainly not said yes, but are at least willing to talk to him.  I don't know that he will ever be able to make it in a religious community of any kind, but I am very grateful to these friars for treating him with such kindness while avoiding giving false hope.  

BTW, I don't mean to suggest that the other communities were unkind.  They were not.  

This is their website

http://www.littlebrothersofstfrancis.org/

He was a victim of severe physical and sɛҳuąƖ abuse before he was adopted into our family.  He has been with his adoptive parents since he was 9, and he is now nearly 18.  For many years the mental health professionals have seen him as bipolar.  His current psychiatrist, while not disputing this as a secondary diagnosis, believes that PTSD is his primary problem.  This approach has worked much better, and has resulted in a decrease of medications.  He used to cut himself regularly.  Under this doctor's care he went for two years with out doing so.  He recently had a relapse and ended up in the hospital for a few days, but is doing okay now.  

I had always assumed that the cutting was motivated by suicidal feelings, but apparently this is not so.  He does not want to kill himself, but finds the pain resulting in from cutting himself as a way to manage more upsetting emotional pain.  His parents told me that for a long time the people treating him could only focus on how bad his symptoms were (Despite his mental health problems, he has never been what most people would see as a bad kid behaviorally.)  When told this, the current psychiatrist said, "Actually, given what he has been through I would expect him to  be much worse that he is."  Some of my annoyance at the antisemitism on this board is due to the fact that the psychiatrist and therapist who have been the most helpful to him and the most concerned about him, as well as the most supportive of his religious beliefs and practices, have been Jєωs.  One religious, the other secular.  

He has a great devotion to St. Francis, and the Blessed Mother, prays the rosary daily, says the Jesus Prayer almost constantly, and assists at Mass or the Divine Liturgy almost daily.  I don't know if he will ever be stable enough to be a brother.  (He feels no call to the priesthood.)  I will not blame this community at all if they decide this is not his vocation.  Many, if not most orders, can't accept people who come to them with serious physical illnesses, so there is no reason to expect menial illness to be treated differently, I suppose.  They are happy to stay in contact with him, and have welcomed him to visit after he is 18.  They have also suggested that he become a Third Order Franciscan.  Whatever happens, I am grateful for the kindness they have shown him.

I hope so too, if it would be the best place for him.

The youtube video is not available here in the US.  I get this message: The uploader has not made this video available in your country.

I am able to view the CBS video.