We met as students in Rome in 1987 at the Capuchin Franciscan Institute in the Antonianum. We discovered a mutual interest in the works of St. Bonaventure and initiated our study with his Itinerarium Mentis in Deum (Journey into God) by developing a retreat experience centered on this masterpiece.
Shortly after beginning our work with the Journey retreats, we entered into a dialogue on solitude as experienced and lived by St. Francis. This led to our first publication venture when we organized translations of articles that evolved into the anthology, Franciscan Solitude, to encourage a broader dialogue on solitude within the Franciscan family. It was the first of a long line of publications. Interest in the topic of Franciscan solitude had grown, and we decided to risk a pilgrimage to the Franciscan places of solitude in Italy frequented by St. Francis. So in summer of 2000, under the auspices of Franciscan Pilgrimage Programs, we conducted a pilgrimage to thirteen of these holy sanctuaries.
Later on, in the year 2010, we took two groups of pilgrims to southern Bavaria to visit sanctuaries connected with the Capuchin, Saint Konrad of Parzham, to the Austrian church dedicated to Secular Franciscan, Blessed Franz Jägerstätter, to the most popular sanctuary in Germany dedicated to Mary—the Capuchin chapel at Altötting, and finally to the renowned Passion Play at Oberammergau.
When Laurent Gallant OFM and André were preparing St. Francis’ Office of the Passion for publication as a prayerbook, Laurent was interested in the possibility of the Office to be chanted. So Josef was commissioned to compose the music for theOffice. And with a generous grant from Secular Franciscan, Paul Perkins, we produced our first CD—The Geste of the Great King.