Father Stan Fortuna CFR
Author Information: Stan Fortuna was born on June 9, 1957, in Yonkers, New York. He joined the Capuchin Franciscans in 1979. In 1987, along with seven other Capuchin friars under the leadership of Fr. Benedict Groeschel, he helped with the founding of a new community - The Franciscan Friars of The Renewal in the South Bronx, New York City.
Ordained a priest of Jesus Christ on December 8, 1990, Fr. Stan's commitment to the community's life of working with the poor and evangelization increased tremendously. Having left behind a life in the world of music, the Spirit of the Lord and the art of improvising intermingled, resulting in a whirlwind of renewal in the realm of music with melodies, notes and words. Having studied with the great Lennie Tristano - one of the greatest jazz improvisers of the 20th century - Fr Stan was equipped to build upon the disciplined foundation of the spontaneous world of improvisation, taking on the challenge for a new evangelization by the great John Paul II. Compositions, hymns, lyrics and books soon flowed from his rich and diverse experiences - many of which have contributed to this current first volume of his poetry. Proceeds from the sales of his recordings and books assist in the community's work with the poor through his nonprofit Francesco Productions. Participating in the community's work of preaching as an "itinerant preacher," Fr Stan was sent nationally and internationally to preach, sing and improvise. Those he met in the streets of New York, Toronto, Brazil, Krakow, Rome, and Assisi, as well as countless other places around the globe - in Europe, Asia, India, Africa, South America, Australia, and New Zealand-- contributed to his crossing "the unbridgeable gap" described by John Paul II in his 1999 Letter to Artists (#6):
"All artists experience the unbridgeable gap which lies between the work of their hands, however successful it may be, and the dazzling perfection of beauty glimpsed in the ardor of the creative moment: what they manage to experience in their...creating is no more than a glimmer of the splendor which flared for a moment before the eyes of their spirit." Fr Stan's spiritual father Francesco d'Assisi was a poet as was his major hero, Saint Pope John Paul II The Great.