Finding calm within the storm
People
When Hurricane Ida tore through Southern Louisiana on August 29 2021, it destroyed almost everything in its path. Among the team providing disaster relief were the Little Friars and Little Nuns of Jesus and Mary, USA (also known as Poor Friars and Poor Nuns). Leading the way was US-based Fr Friar Antonio Maria Farrugia, a former Adelaide graphic designer-turned priest.
The bayou Fr Antonio calls home is about 110km southwest of New Orleans. For all the swamp land’s natural beauty, it is often whipped by storms.
“I’ve spent the last three years in hurricane recovery, and that phenomenal journey has totally shaped my life in a way I never expected,” Fr Antonio said during a recent trip to his hometown to visit his father, Alan ‘Lino’ Farrugia and sister Natalie Mooney.
“The thing that affected me, other than the beauty of the Cajun Catholic culture and the people who are so wonderful and welcoming, is the natural threat of hurricanes,” he said.
“Unlike many other places in the world, you can say ‘God bless you’ to anybody here, and they will receive it with a heartfelt thank you.”
Fr Friar Antonio Maria Farrugia with his father Alan Farrugia and sister Natalie Mooney.
As hurricane season roles in each year, there is the very real threat of losing everything in an instant. When this happened three years ago, the Poor Friars and Nuns, with the help of Divine Providence, were quick to provide disaster relief to the Catholic parish of the Holy Family Church and the people of Dulac.
A documentary capturing the recovery efforts was commissioned by Fr Mitch Pacwa (of EWTN) after his post-hurricane visit to Dulac. The House of the Lord was directed by Seth Farmer and Ragan Wells of Uriel Media Productions and captures the Poor Friars and Nuns at work within the communities of Grand Caillou.
“We worked with people who are essentially in humanitarian crisis and helped get them get back to livable conditions,” Fr Antonio said. “Approximately 90 percent had damage to the house in one way or another, 40 per cent of whom lost their entire home.”
The battered community was without electricity and water for two long months of high humidity, and consequently the houses began experiencing serious mould infestations.
“Through the help of many benefactors, we first met their basic needs like water, food, and nappies. We then addressed temporary housing needs by distributing 30 caravans to our homeless. Then, over the next two years we addressed some of the permanent housing needs by building our people 24 houses. Given we have made a vow of poverty, asking for help in the Name of the Lord (Matt 25:35-40) comes easy to us, we therefore thrive in such situations. It was a blessing to walk with a community through that; to have faith and hope and meaning in a time of difficulty.”
The work continues.
“I’m juggling two parishes that still are not repaired from the hurricane,” he said. “Both churches were damaged and three years later, we’re celebrating Mass in the equivalent of an RSL hall.”
Fr Antonio is also in charge of a religious community of friars and nuns and is studying an online course in Pastoral Theology with a focus on new evangelisation.
When he visited Australia in June for a series of talks and a spiritual retreat in Sydney, he was joined by Friar John Paul Tsatsoulas and Sr Caterina Curth.
“It’s been a wonderful blessing for them to accompany me in this journey,” Fr Antonio said. “It strengthens me and my own my path to see how God is working in their lives as well.”
Texas-based Friar John Paul Tsatsoulas, Louisiana-based nun Sr Caterina Curth, and Louisiana-based Fr Friar Antonio Maria Farrugia.
The community’s motto is ‘ora et evangeliza’ which means ‘pray and evangelise’ and the trio for a good part did exactly that as they made their way across the nation, documenting their adventure via social media (@poorfriars).
It’s been quite a journey.
Fr Antonio, formerly known as Matthew Farrugia, grew up in a Maltese Catholic family in suburban Adelaide and was a Belair parish altar server and Mercedes College student before completing a Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication and working in an animation studio and as a scenic painter in the Australian film industry.
“I never knew that I was being called to this as a child,” he said.
A European voyage of “self-discovery” changed all that. “I met this community in 1999 whilst backpacking through Italy,” he said. “With a series of remarkable coincidences, the community’s founder Friar Volantino helped me discover the certainty in the Resurrection of the Body and that (while respecting all people of good will), the Full Truth is found only in the Catholic Sacraments. I therefore came back after a very strong conversion, trying to figure out how to conform my wayward life to the gospel.”
Fr Antonio entered seminary under Archbishop Wilson and was sent to Sydney.
“The whole time, I knew I was being called to be a Friar so after a year in seminary, I returned to Italy to join the community.”
Friar Volantino (an ex-atheist nightclub manager and building constructor) played a particularly inspiring role.
“Upon meeting Friar Volantino, I came to faith and understood that God was calling me to use all my gifts to serve him as a friar. Priesthood naturally flowed, with a desire to imitate Christ to the fullest.”
Fr Antonio’s path to priesthood isn’t your average tale.
“It was different because I met the first three members of a new establishing community,” he said.
“Living the Franciscan spirituality meant we didn’t have means of communication. We live a vow of poverty, and our community was still maturing in its understanding of how to live that authentically in the modern world.”
At one point, they went about duties under the glow of candlelight.
“We would wash with water boiled in a pot, and shower in the winter with a ladle,” he said. “For the first four years it was a complete disconnect from a lot of normal communication from Italy to Australia and the internet wasn’t a big thing at that time, either.”
Friar John Paul Tsatsoulas, Sr Caterina Curth, and Fr Friar Antonio Maria Farrugia in Australia.
He’ll never forget phoning home to tell his family.
“When I’d call them from a pay phone they were always concerned and worried that I was being brainwashed or living in the gutter. They thought all sorts of terrible things but after three years, they came and saw me and understood that I was well fed, I was happy and I was doing God’s will.”
Former school friends also found it difficult to comprehend.
“I’m only just starting to reconnect with a lot of them. Six years ago, we reconnected at our high school 20th reunion and many of them were very happy to see me doing what I’m doing.”
In 2003, Fr Antonio had his friar formation in Italy.
“I then reentered into seminary as a friar, graduated at the Lateran Pontifical in Rome, and was accepted in the Diocese of Houma Thibodaux, where I was ordained as a deacon, and then finally ordained as a priest on December 6 2014.”
As challenges go, there have been many. That’s the point.
“When I joined, The Little Friars didn’t have any canonical standing, and wasn’t approved by any bishop, except verbally. We looked a little odd to the Catholic world as well but as anyone trying to live their faith authentically, you strive to persevere in holiness. Death to self on the cross is what converts hearts.”
The Little Friars were canonically approved by Rome in May 2019 and now includes more than 50 members across seven dioceses in Italy, USA, Mexico and Brazil.
“Over these years, we’ve been misunderstood in many ways, but after 25 years, we’re getting greater canonical approval and interest on behalf of many bishops and priests. We are also starting to get more and more vocations.”
Poor Friars and Nuns sharing their lifestyle with the parishioners of Our Lady of the Way in Belair.
His faith grows stronger every day.
“We all have our storms to face. What’s important, is that we sincerely ask what God’s will is, and ask for certainty and signs in understanding that. Our community is starting to grow and flourish. After many years of prayer and sacrifice, and sometimes feeling misunderstood and persecuted, our perseverance is starting to bear fruit. It’s been a wonderful experience to kind of see some of those fruits begin to mature.”
He feels a sense of hope for the new generation.
“There used to be an accusation that Catholics didn’t know the scripture, but I find that, at least in the United States, it’s the other way around. Even the young Catholics are very well prepared. I see the Catholic Church beginning to grow stronger because a lot of young men and women are taking their faith seriously.”
What does his future hold?
“I foresee my myself being where I am for quite some time until God wills. If God calls me somewhere down the track, I’m open to it. I definitely have to be with my people to see our churches rebuilt. From there, I guess it’s in the Bishop’s hands.”
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