Month: January 2015

Septuagesima

admin Liturgical Seasons

Septuagesima

by Fr. Mortier, O.P.

So far we have followed Our Lord from the manger in Bethlehem to His public life, to the time when, baptized by John, He began and carried out His preaching about the kingdom of God. But the hour is approaching, His hour of suffering and dying for the salvation of men. He teaches divine doctrine; He proves His origin, His mission, His sovereign domain over all creatures, His absolute right as God made man to impose upon men, now become His brothers, the way to follow so as to gain eternal life. He increases the number of His miracles of good will for the infirm, of mercy for sinners, so that it will be well established that He is the dispenser of life and the master of man’s destiny. He presents Himself in the full light of truth and goodness, in such a way that the words of the prophet are realized in all justice: “They have hated me with an unjust hatred.”

This recounting of Our Lord’s public life continues in the Sundays from Septuagesima to Easter. We follow the Master step by step. But the Church is already troubled. She knows that His days have been reckoned. She too counts them. Starting this Sunday, she tells herself, “Seventy days, again!” In seventy days this Divine Mouth will be closed! In seventy days this so good, so compassionate, so merciful Heart will no longer beat! In seventy days He who is so beautiful, so holy, so true, He will die on a cross! And so the Church’s heart is troubled; it is moved; it is already in mourning.

In union with sorrowful longing of the ages, during Advent the Church puts on violet vestments. The joyful feasts of Christmas have adorned her in the splendor of gold and silver or simple white finery, the symbol of joy. The priestly vestments for the Sundays and ferias after Epiphany and Trinity Sunday are green. Innocent III explained the meaning. He said that the color green is an average color, quite ordinary, common, indeed, it may be found in profusion all over the earth. Thus he inferred that this common color is suitable for these Sundays of which the solemnity is comparatively inferior to those of Advent and those in preparation for Easter.

Therefore, beginning with Septuagesima Sunday — the first herald of the solemnities of the Passion of the Savior and of His resurrection — the Church, absorbed by such sorrowful remembrances, puts on violet vestments.

Seventy days! Not that this number is absolutely exact. Rather, it is better to say, “in the seventh decade [of days], in Septuagesima,” because, in reality, there are no more than sixty-three days in the nine weeks between Septuagesima and Easter, but the last “decade” is at least begun. The Church uses this round number in remembrance of the seventy years Babylonian captivity of the Jews, symbol of the captivity of all of humanity under Satan’s empire. Easter is the day of final deliverance. And this is why on this Sunday that figuratively marks the beginning of this captivity, the liturgy counts seventy days until the triumph of Christ 1.

This usage is very old. It can be traced back to Rome in the 8th Century, and even earlier in the East. But the method for counting the days and, consequently, of celebrating these Sundays has not been the same everywhere.

The three Sundays of Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima combine with Lent without taking on all the solemnity. They are the prelude for the preparation for Easter; they are not yet the preparation itself.

Nevertheless, starting with Septuagesima, signs of mourning are manifested throughout the liturgy; signs which become more and more numerous until the death of the Savior. It is not only through the exterior ornaments that the liturgy joins from afar with Our Lord’s Passion, the texts themselves are impregnated with it. The joyful cry of the Alleluia is immediately removed, in all the offices and the Mass; the Te Deum and the Gloria are also eliminated. In the Dominican rite a certain number of the Psalms are changed as well, in preference for those which have a more direct rapport with the Passion. Thus, beginning with Septuagesima, a shadow of sorrow shrouds the whole of the Divine Office. We follow the Master; we listen to Him, but in looking at Him, our hearts are moved to compassion. We know where He is going, and, like Him, we must “steadfastly set our faces” (St. Luke 9:51) to go up to Jerusalem. At the end is Calvary. Let us go with Him, without fear.

(Translated from: P. Mortier O.P., La Liturgie dominicaine [The Dominican liturgy], Paris, DDB, 1921, volume III, p. 7-9.)

1 Actually this explanation is incomplete. In the past, the Church counted down the days until the beginning of the Easter Triduum on Holy Friday. This Sunday was called Sunday “In Septuagesima” because it fell during the “seventh decade” of days before Holy Friday (61 days before). This also explains the names of the following Sundays: “In Sexagesima” (54 days before), “In Quinquagesima” (47 days before), and “In Quadragesima” (40 days before). Of course, this does not contradict the mystical signification of the “captivity” given by Fr. Mortier.

Issue #18 (Jan 2015), Friends & Benefactors Letter

admin Letters to Friends and Benefactors

Issue #18 (Jan 2015), Friends & Benefactors Letter

 

Before the Cathedral of Angers at the end of the procession in honor of the Immaculate Conception (see chronicle).

Dear Friends, Family, and Benefactors,

Dear Friends, Family and Benefactors,

During a September 1988 conference to seminarians, Archbishop Lefebvre responded to the objection of those who were telling him, “You only speak of anti-liberalism and anti-modernism. You are too negative.” Here are the words of the Archbishop:

“Do not be intimidated by the labels we are given, « You are anti-liberal! All you ever do in the seminary is anti-modernism! » Do not be impressed by such reflections which could well be applied to all the encyclicals of all the Popes before the Council, as well as to the Faith of the Middle Ages, the entire life of the Middle Ages – the life of Christendom – in which Our Lord reigned in civil society.”

Moreover, the Archbishop explained that, in order to be the doctor of souls, one must know about the diseases of the soul. We know of what spiritual health consists: the principles of the Faith. However, we must also understand the current errors which are opposed to these principles, and especially the error of liberalism which is at the root of all modern errors. We must have the weapons to defend and protect the souls entrusted to our care. Such has always been the conduct of the Church. For example, in the first years of Catholicism, the Church has had to fight against the errors of the Judaizers and the Gnostics, and, later on, against the Cathars, the Protestants, the Jansenists, the “Enlightenment” philosophers, the secularists, and so on.

Procession through the streets of Angers in honor of the Immaculate Conception.

Archbishop Lefebvre continues to point out the importance of studying errors for the reason that

“We are only following the Popes, in fact all the Popes, who have studied and condemned liberalism. It is even amazing to take note of the numerous encyclicals and Papal teachings, from Popes Pius VI and VII right up to Pope Pius XII, which deal with the pursuit of error.”

For example, the Popes, from the 18th to the 20th century, have promulgated 15 documents that condemn Freemasonry, which is just one aspect of liberalism. The encyclical Humanum Genus (April 20, 1884) of Pope Leo XIII is the most well-known of these anti-Freemasonic documents. Doesn’t this example illustrate the importance the Church gives to pursuing and condemning errors?

To study such errors is to understand the causes that are currently destroying society, and which are also destroying souls and the Church… If we remain ignorant of error, we will be incapable of understanding the current situation in the world – and in the Church – which are so disastrous. If we choose to remain ignorant of error, we will be powerless to understand the diffusion of the evil that is spreading everywhere now, even in the Church itself. Thus, not only shall we be powerless to stop evil from growing: we ourselves will fall prey to evil. Hence, “it is an absolute necessity to study liberalism, and to know it well,” concludes the Archbishop.

The Archbishop speaks further:

“Many of those who have left us to join [Conciliar] Rome have a wrong understanding of liberalism and have never really understood how the authorities in Rome, ever since Vatican II, have become infested with error. If they had a right understanding of liberalism, they would have shunned and avoided these authorities, and then remain with us. But they did not want to believe in the danger of these errors, which is a grievous matter, because having relations with these authorities necessarily results in being contaminated by them. These authorities are imbued with the liberalism and necessarily act according to their way of thinking. Therefore, once they begin having relations with us, they shall impose their ideas on us because they are the authority, and we, their inferiors. We will become liberal because they have imposed liberalism on us. Thus, as long as they hold to these errors of liberalism and modernism, there is no way to get along with them.”

May our Infant King give us the grace during this New Year to study more profoundly both truth and error in order to fight ever more faithfully to spread His reign.

News of Occupied Rome

Our readers remember that June 8, in the Vatican gardens, the Pope and the Jewish and Palestinian Presidents “prayed for peace”. Two days later Mosul fell into the hands of the Sunnite Muslims, and since then the blood of Christians has been flooding the Middle East. There have been children beheaded, people crucified, and other horrors. Yet, the prayer for peace in the Holy Land “has absolutely not been a failure”, as Pope Francis calmly affirmed August 18 coming back from Korea on the plane:

“The door of prayer has been opened. (…) Afterwards happened what has happened. But that is conjectural. On the other hand, this meeting was not conjectural. It is a fundamental step of human attitude: prayer.”

At the Epistle during a Solemn High Mass of our boys’ school

For fifty years the Conciliar Church hierarchy remains obstinate in this false ecumenism that leads to death. It would be time to learn one’s lessons.

It is known that Tertullian said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. As for the Pope, after the September 7 assassination of three religious Sisters in Burundi, he hopes that “the blood shed become seed of hope in order to build a true fraternity among nations”.

The Worksite

The All Saints’ Day break for the school allowed us to finish up the new dormitory “Naïm”. The study hall on the second floor was able to be painted and the floor installed. Thanks to your generosity, the boys now have a true dormitory up and running.

The completed boys’ dormitory

However, the projects continue (for example, a new sewer system for the school), and we still have some last bills to pay. Be assured of our grateful prayers for all your help in whatever way it may be.

Community Chronicle

August 14-18: Three days of formation and Catholic friendship for our tertiairies here at our friary.

September 8: First vows for our three scholastic Brothers: Brother Alain (Quebec), Brother Louis Bertrand (Brazil), and Brother Agostinho (Brazil). “O Lord, grant us many holy Dominican vocations!”

September 20-21: Father Marie Dominique and Father Angelico preach for the pilgrimage to Our Lady of Laus in the French Alps.

First vows of three brothers in Avrillé

October 4: Second reunion of the Society of Jesus Crowned with Thorns (for the practice of perfect Christian ladylike modesty) under the direction of Father Prior and Father Hyacinth Marie.

October 11-12: Several meetings for our tertiaries throughout France.

October 18: Conference for the high school boys and the faithful by Father Pagès on the dangers of Islam. Although Father Pagès is not “traditionalist”, but he bravely says the truth about Islam.

October 24: Father Marie Dominique and Father Terence begin a mission to the US and to Canada under the protection of Saint Raphael. They have the joy to meet everywhere faithful thirsting for doctrine. Unable to visit them often, we are opening a website (www.dominicansavrille.us) in English so that we can give them articles and documents of our publications.

October 31: Most of the community goes on pilgrimage to Pellevoisin where Our Lady appeared about fifteen times to a Dominican tertiary named Estelle Faguette in 1875 and 1876.

November 15: Father Marie Dominique and Father Marie Laurent give a public conference in Paris. The theme is “How to see clearly through the current situation of Tradition” and the goal is to analyze peacefully and objectively official documents without judging persons.

December 8: A candlelight procession in honor of the Immaculate Conception follows a solemn High Mass. We give this public homage to our Blessed Mother through the streets of Angers and in front of the Cathedral.

December 22-January 6: Final preparations and solemn offices to honor, once again, Our Lord and Savior’s birth and the mysteries of His Nativity.

Contact us

Please see our Contact and Subscription page.

Converted to Catholicism by studying the “Counter-Church”

admin The Fight for the Faith

Converted to Catholicism by studying the Counter-Church

To confront world-wide subversion [with its “Communist International”, or Comintern], there ought to be an “International of Truth”!

For one man, Swiss political philosopher Karl Ludwig von Haller (1768-1854), it was by thinking about politics and by studying the subversive forces (at work in the world to bring about the destruction of society) that he found the true religion.

Born into a Swiss Protestant family (a grandson of the famous biologist and poet Albrecht von Haller, and son of the statesman and historian Gottlieb Emmanuel von Haller) Karl Ludwig (Charles Lewis) made a trip to Paris in 1790. He was seduced by the revolutionary ideas of the time,

but not for long, for reflection and experience gradually disabused him of them.

As a member of the Council of Berne he was able to follow European political events closely and often went to Paris. It was from this city, on 13 April 1820, that he sent a letter to his family (at Berne, in Switzerland) to explain to them how he had discovered that the Catholic Church is the true religion.

The steps of his reasoning can be summarized as follows:

1. There exist in the world organized forces working for destruction.  (He is alluding to the secret society of the Illuminati of Bavaria, documents of which were discovered in 1785; today, one could cite the Masonic sects, globalist clubs, and all the other secret societies working to fight against religion, destroy the family, dissolve nations, and ruin any natural order.)

2. Since these evil societies derive their power from their organization, the men of good will ought to be organized in a society against them.

3. Since evil is universal (and international secret societies exist), there should be (were it possible) a universal society of men of good will for the defense of family, authority, the natural order, civilization, and so forth. And this society would have to have teaching authority, guardian of truth.

4. But in the natural order of things (the target of subversion), authority comes from above and not from below! (A father has authority over his son by nature, and not by the latter’s delegation!)

5. Therefore, if there has to be a universal society uniting men of good will, it cannot originate from below, but only from an absolutely superior man having great authority (both intellectual and moral). This man would have to group together disciples and transmit to them a trustworthy, reliable authority for the condemnation and combating of error, and an effective, perdurable organization.

6. Can such a high authority exist? It would seem superhuman. (Logically, a Divine intervention would be necessary.) Yet history shows that this has occurred. A man had enough authority to found a religious society both universal and durable that has maintained its organization for twenty centuries, and that continues still: the Catholic Church.

7. For Jesus not only preached, taught, healed the sick, and suffered crucifixion. He founded a society. To grasp this, one need only read the Gospels or the Epistles of St. Paul. (In the Gospel, Jesus repeatedly announces that He has come to inaugurate the Kingdom of God, a kingdom that will only be perfect in the here-after, after our death, but which already exists on earth in the form of the Church.)  The Protestants, who reject the Church founded by Jesus Christ, are thus in error.

That is why Karl Ludwig von Haller leaves them in order to join the religious society founded by Jesus Christ: the Catholic Church.

Having set out Haller’s argumentation, we give him the last word in an excerpt of the letter in which he explained his conversion to his family:

“The study of books about the revolutionary and secret societies of Germany showed me the example of a spiritual association, spread round the globe to teach, maintain, and propagate impious and detestable principles, but nonetheless become powerful by its organization, the union of its members and the various means they employed to achieve their end.

“And while these societies horrified me, nevertheless they made me feel the need for a contrary religious society, one with the authority to teach and to safeguard truth so as to put a brake on the divagations of individual human reason, to unite the good, and to keep men from being buffeted by the winds of changing doctrine.

“But I had not yet suspected and I did not notice until much later that this society exists in the universal or catholic Christian Church. […] All religious and honest souls, even in the separated denominations, approach it at least by sentiment. […]

“But it was especially my political reflections and studies that led me little by little to recognize the truths which I was far from foreseeing.

“Disgusted by the prevailing false doctrines and seeing in them the cause of every evil, my purity of heart compelled me to seek other principles for the legitimate origin and nature of social relations.

“A single idea, simple and productive, truly inspired by the grace of God—that of starting from above, of putting order in temporal affairs and in knowledge as it occurs in nature, to wit, the father before the children, the master before the servants, the prince before the subjects, the teacher before the disciples—led, from consequences to consequences, to the outline . . . of this body of doctrine . . . .

“I also pictured to myself, then, a power or pre-existing spiritual authority, the founder of a religious doctrine, receiving disciples, uniting them in a society to maintain and to propagate this doctrine, giving them laws and institutions, gradually acquiring territorial properties to satisfy the divers needs of this religious society, able even to arrive at an external or temporal independence, and so on.

“Then consulting history and experience, I saw that all of that had been realized in the Catholic Church; and this one observation made me recognize its necessity, truth, and legitimacy….

“The frequent and attentive reading of the Bible confirmed that I had not been mistaken; for […] I could not fail to recognize in countless passages that have to do with a kingdom of God on earth, that is to say, a Church or a society of faithful, whom St. Paul calls the Body of Jesus Christ, having its head and members, destined to keep and to perpetuate the Christian religion, to gather the good, to separate the wicked, and by their union to strengthen them, etc.; passages which our [Protestant] ministers never cite because, in the Protestant sense, it is impossible to give them a simple and natural explanation.”1

1   Extract from the Letter of Mr. Karl Ludwig von Haller to His Family, declaring to them his return to the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church (Paris, 1821), pp. 6-10. The letter was sent from Paris on 13 April 1820, and published the following year.

Indult Masses – What did Archbishop Lefebvre think of them?

admin The Fight for the Faith , ,

A Letter from Archbishop Lefebvre, regarding Indult Masses

Let us put this document in context:  It was written several months after “Operation Survival,” the consecration of the four bishops on 30 June 1988, which was accomplished not only without the approval of Pope John Paul II, but also against his will. The Fraternity of St. Peter was created the day following the consecrations, and conciliar Rome was busy trying to ‘pull in’ the more or less traditional Catholics.

It is always good to reread Archbishop Lefebvre, particularly in order to understand that beyond some conciliatory steps and words towards the supreme authority (of the Church), he was not fooled.  He was well aware of the Fight for the Faith that (unfortunately) it was necessary to lead against this authority.

Here is the text of his letter [bold emphasis is added by us]:

Saint-Michel en Brenne, 18 March 1989

I am responding immediately to your kind letter which I received yesterday at Saint-Michel1, to tell you what I think about those priests who have received a “celebret” from the Roman Commission2 charged with dividing and destroying us.

It is evident that by putting themselves in the hands of the current conciliar authorities, they are implicitly accepting the Council and the ensuing reforms, even if they have received some privileges which remain exceptional and provisory.

Their speech is paralyzed because of this acceptance. The bishops are watching them! It is very regrettable that these priests are not aware of this reality.  But we cannot fool the faithful.

The same may be said regarding these “traditional Masses” organized by the dioceses. They are celebrated between two conciliar masses. The celebrating priest says the new as well as the old.  How, and by whom is Holy Communion distributed? What will the sermon be? etc.

These masses are scams which lead the faithful to compromise their principles!  Many have already abandoned them.

What must change is their liberal and modernist doctrine.  We must arm ourselves with patience and pray. God’s hour will come.

God’s blessings to you on this holy feast of Easter.

Best regards to you in Christ and Mary.

Abp. Lefebvre

1 Saint-Michel en-Brenne is the Mother House of the sisters of the Society.

2 Ecclesia Dei Commission

News of Occupied Rome

admin In defense of our convent, The Fight for the Faith , , , , ,

News of occupied Rome

In the traditional world the suspicion seems to be circulating:  You criticize the Pope, therefore you are sedevacantists, or at least you are beginning to become one.  We reply by citing an author who is not suspected of being a sedevacantist:

Some, to put us down, accuse us of being overly traditional or even sedevacantist. Well, I’m not a sedevacantist; we are not sedevacantists, because sedevacantism destroys the visibility of the Catholic Church.  The Catholic Church is visibly recognizable by its exterior characteristics, She is always One, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman.  The Catholic Church is visible because She is not a purely spiritual entity, She is not simply a gathering of persons who think alike, nor a movement of ideas or a school of thought but a true society having a juridical structure having a hierarchy coming from living men with a Head recognized by all, as in other human societies.  This Head is the reigning Pontiff Pope Francis, in whom we recognize the Vicar of Christ. But we know that, precisely because the Church is a visible institution, we must always make a distinction between the Church and the men of the Church: The Church is always visible, infallible and indestructible, immaculate, in faith and morals; men of the Church are not all and are not always impeccable nor infallible.  Even the Pope may be respectfully criticized.  The Pope is not Jesus-Christ nor His successor:  he is His Vicar, but it is Jesus-Christ who holds and governs the Church 1.

The Pope asks the blessing of a heretic

Pope Francis received, on June 14, the new Anglican “Archbishop” of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who was wearing

the episcopal ring offered to the “Archbishop” Ramsey by Paul VI. The Pope took advantage of the opportunity in order to ask to be “blessed” by this heretic, who is nothing but a simple layman because Anglican orders are not valid.

But that shouldn’t shock us if we recall that Benedict XVI allowed himself to be blessed by a Rabbi:

« At the end of an [inter-religious] encounter [at the Monastery of Saint Benedict in Sao Paulo on May 11, 2007], Rabbi Henry Sobel, 63 years old,

from the Jewish Congregation of Sao Paulo, declared: “The Pope [Benedict XVI] is a friend of the Jewish people”. […] The Rabbi explained that after having asked “very humbly” for the Pope’s blessing, the Pope, having given it, then accepted in his turn to receive a blessing from him. » (Zenit.org, May 11, 2007.)

The recipe of happiness for Francis

« What is the recipe for happiness? »

In answer to this question asked by the Argentinean journalist Pablo Calvo on July 7, the Pope reflected a moment, and then became animated.  Visibly relaxed, he delivered in 10 points his “recipe for happiness”:

1. Live and let live:

« The Romans have a saying that we can take as a theme which goes “Go ahead, and let the others go ahead”. Live and let live, it’s the first step towards peace and happiness. »

2.  Give yourself to others:

« Those who are isolated run the risk of becoming selfish.  And stagnant water is the first to become corrupted. »

3.  Be animated with kindness and humility:

« In “Don Segundo Sombra” (an Argentinean novel by Ricardo Guiraldes), the hero tells how, young, he was like a waterfall off a mountain which rushes over everything; become an adult, he was like a river which went ahead then, as an older man, that he advanced, but slowly, as if canalized.  I use this image of the poet and novelist Ricardo Guiraldes, this last adjective, canalized.  The capacity to move yourself with kindness and humility.  The elderly have this wisdom; they are the memory of a people.  And a nation that cares not for its elderly doesn’t have a future. »

4.  Play with children:

«Consumerism has led us to the anguish of losing a healthy culture of pleasure:  read, enjoy art…Today, I don’t hear many confessions, but in Buenos Aires, I heard the confessions of a lot of people and I asked the young mothers who came, “How many children do you have?  Do you play with them?”  It was an unexpected question, but it’s a way of saying that children are the key to a healthy culture.  It’s difficult for parents who go to work early and come home when their children are sleeping.  It’s difficult, but it must be done. »

5. Spend Sunday with the family:

« The other day, at Campobasso, I encountered University students and people from the workforce and, to each I reminded them that we don’t work on Sunday.  Sunday is for the family. »

6.  Help the young to find work:

« We should be creative with this part of the population.  Because of a lack of opportunities, they can end up falling into drugs.  And the amount of suicides is very high among the young without work.  The other day I read, but I’m not sure it’s a scientific fact, that there are 75 million young people under the age of 25 who have no work.  And it doesn’t suffice to just feed them:  we must make up for them classes of one year to become plumbers, electricians, tailors and seamstresses… It’s dignity that will help them bring food to the table. »

7.  Take care of the world we live in:

« We must take care of creation, and we don’t.  It’s one of our greatest challenges. »

8.  Rapidly forget whatever is negative:

« The need to speak ill of others is a mark of having little esteem for oneself. That’s like saying that I feel so bad, that instead of lifting myself up, I put others down.  It is healthy to speedily forget whatever is negative. »

9.  Respect those who think differently:

« One can go all the way to witnessing with another, as long as both make progress in this dialogue.  But there’s nothing worse than religious proselytizing, one that paralyzes:  “I dialogue with you to convince you”.  No.  Each one dialogues according to who they are.  The Church grows by its attractiveness, not by proselytizing. »

10.  Actively seek peace:

« We are living in a time where wars are numerous. […]  War destroys.  The call to peace needs to be cried out.  Sometimes the word “peace” brings to mind the idea of “calm”, but peace is never tranquillity:  it is always an active peace. »

God is not even mentioned.  It used to be, in illo tempore, that joy was a fruit of the Holy Ghost (Gal. 5, 22), but for the Pope, one has no need of the faith, nor of Our Savior Jesus Christ, to be happy!

Prayer for peace « was absolutely not a failure »

On May 29, the Pope, Rabbi Skorka and the Imam Abu (friends of the Pope who accompanied him during his whole trip in Israel) gave each other the accolade in front of the “Temple Wall” under the amused eyes of Jewish journalists who qualified the trio “the Holy Trinity”!  The rest of the story takes place on June 8:  in the gardens of the Vatican, the Pope, together with the Jewish and Palestinian Presidents “prayed for Peace”; the Muslim Representative, departing from the prepared text of his prayer, asked his “Master” (in Arabic):  « Grant us the victory over the infidel people ».  Two days later, Mossoul fell into the hands of the Muslims who then massacred the Christians.  And ever since then, the blood of Christians flows in the Middle East:  we see children decapitated, adults crucified, etc.

Without doubt God did not directly answer the prayer of the Imam, but He could have permitted this triumph of Islam to punish our sins, and especially the horrible apostasy of the Conciliar Church who presents Islam as if it were a respectable religion while it is nothing but an intellectual imposture (a tissue of contradictions) which imposes itself by violence2.

But the prayer for peace in the Holy Land « was absolutely not a failure », affirmed tranquilly Pope Francis on August 18 in the plane returning from Korea:

— « Holy Father, seeing the war in Gaza, wasn’t the prayer for peace organized at the Vatican last June 8th a failure according to you? »

— « Thank you, thank you for the question.  This prayer for peace was absolutely not a failure. Firstly, the initiative didn’t come from me:  the initiative of praying together came from the two Presidents, from the President of the State of Israel and from the President of the State of Palestine. […] These two men are men of peace, they are men who believe in God, and who have lived through so many horrible things, so many horrible things that they are convinced that the only way to resolve this story is through negotiation, dialogue and peace.  But now for your question: wasn’t it a failure? No, I believe that the door is open. […] The door of prayer was opened.  One says: “we must pray”.  It’s a gift, peace is a gift, a gift which is merited by our work, but it’s a gift.  And tell mankind that with the way of negotiation – which is important, of dialogue – which is important, there is also that of prayer.  It’s true.  Afterwards came what came.  But that is circumstantial.  On the other hand, our meeting was not [just] a circumstance.  It is a fundamental step of human behavior:  prayer.  Now the smoke of bombs, the wars, don’t allow us to see the door, but the door remains open from now on.  And as I believe in God, I believe that the Lord sees this door, and He sees all those who pray and all those who ask Him to help us.  Yes, I love this question.  Thank you, thank you for having posed it.  Thank you3. »

Errare humanum est, persevare diabolicum.  How much time will it take before the hierarchy of the Church realizes the Utopia of Conciliar ecumenism?  And how long will God permit the infiltration of the hierarchy by the Masonic Lodges?

Construct an authentic brotherhood among people

We know that Tertullian said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.  As for the Pope, after the assassination of three religious of Burundi on September 7th, he hopes that « the blood spilled would become the seed of hope to construct an authentic brotherhood among people ».

Since the last Council, the Vatican actively works at the construction of this “brotherhood”.  As for Pope Francis, he established in Buenos Aires, while he was Archbishop there, a scholastic inter-religious and multi-cultured network of cultural integration called “Scholas Occurrentes”. On September 4, the Pope explained to the delegates of the Scholas Occurrentes the reason for this network:  to organize inter-religious football matches, to combat the unemployment of the young, to promote the “culture of encounter”, to struggle against “discrimination”, to promote dialogue between religions, to create a “human village” that brings peace and hope:  « Sports saves us from selfishness; […] let us walk through life together; […] the young must build the future; […] let us build bridges, not walls; […] let us share our experiences; […] let us enter into the spontaneity of life”, etc. »

This project has nothing specifically Christian about it, it is naturalistic (without reference to the supernatural end of man) and won’t displease the “brethren” [i.e. the Masons]. Indeed, we know that the end of Freemasonry is the “reconstruction of the Temple”, that is to say, to rebuild all humanity under a “universal republic” with no reference to the supernatural end of man, nor to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The “United Nations” of religions

The project of the Pope is in perfect harmony with those of the other leaders of the contemporary world.  It is thus that the former Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero proposed on July 15, at the time of the international symposium on World Peace at the University of Nebrija of Madrid, the creation of a “permanent alliance between religious denominations” joined to the “Alliance of civilizations” (one of his creations) and to the United Nations.

As for Shimon Peres, the former President of Israel, he met the Pope again on September 4, 2014 and suggested an “Organization of the United Nations of religions” to fight against all violence perpetrated in the name of the faith.  « The Pope didn’t engage himself personally, but listened carefully and expressed his respect for this initiative, assuring him of the attention of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia concerned – the Pontifical Counsel for inter-religious dialogue and the Pontifical Counsel Justice and Peace », specified Father Lombardi.

Evangelical Christians:  The Pope has gone to find his brothers

On August 12, 2014, Pope Francis affirmed: « the Pope has gone to find his brothers! », while visiting an Evangelical [= Protestant] Community.  He encourages them to walk « on the path of unity », in « searching for Jesus » because « when one walks in the Presence of God, one finds this brotherhood ».

Pope Francis gave a speech in which he indicated « the path of Christian holiness:  every day, seek Jesus to encounter Him and every day allow yourself to be sought by Jesus and allow yourself to be found by Jesus ».  Finally, the Pope asked pardon in the name of the Church for the persecutions perpetrated by Catholics against Evangelical Christians throughout the course of History: « Among those who wrote up these laws and persecuted, denounced our Pentecostal brothers because they were “enthusiastic” almost “mad”, there were some Catholics: I am the Pastor of the Catholics: I beg your pardon for what happened.  I ask your pardon for these Catholic brothers and sisters who have not understood and who were tempted by the devil and did as the brothers of Joseph.  I ask the Lord to give us the grace to acknowledge and to forgive…Thank you! »

The laws for which the Pope asks pardon are the laws which restrained the freedom of exercising a public cult of certain Evangelical sects in Italy, under Pope Pius XI.  They were perfectly in accord with Catholic doctrine…before Vatican II.

1 — Roberto De Mattei in the “Courrier de Rome”, June 2014, p. 6.  Roberto de Mattei presents himself as a disciple of professor Plinio Correa de Oliveira, Founder of the TFP (Work Family Property, see the “Sel de la terre” 28, p. 185; 39, p. 262 and 46, p. 266), which he frequented during about 20 years (1976-1995) and of which he wrote a biography.  He directed the “Alleanza Cattolica”.  He is president of the foundation “Lepanto” and he founded and directed the “centre culturel Lepante” (1982-2006). He writes regularly in the “Correspondance européenne”.  He is now in the “Ecclesia Dei” movement, but that doesn’t keep him from participating in the “Courrier de Rome” congresses presided by Bishop Fellay (for example the next one, in January 2015).  In the beginning of September 2014, he gave a conference during a Pilgrimage of the Society to Rome in front of an “audience of very interested Priests” (DICI #300, p. 10).

2 — See especially the works of Father Guy Pages (www.islam-et-verite.com <http://www.islam-et-verite.com/> ).

3 — Osservatore Romano en langue française, Thursday, August 21, 2014, n° 34, page 16.

Liturgical Seasons, meditations, etc

admin -FEATURED POSTS - FRONT PAGE, FEATURED POSTS - Articles and Texts section

Liturgical Seasons

Septuagesima

Septuagesima by Fr. Mortier, O.P. So far we have followed Our Lord from the manger ... Read More

Lent

Lent By Fr. Mortier, O.P. Beginning with Ash Wednesday, we are once again in a ... Read More

Passiontide

Meditation for Passiontide ...according to saint Thomas Aquinas Our Lord said, when His Passion was ... Read More

PENTECOST

PENTECOST A meditation of Fr Mortier O.P. There is an admirable harmony in the work ... Read More

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary a text of Fr Garrigou-Lagrange O.P. 1. What ... Read More

November Lists of the Dead

November Lists of the Dead Several of you have asked if we accept “November Lists ... Read More

Charity for the poor souls

Charity for the poor souls by Fr Garrigou-Lagrange O.P. (extracts) 1. What is the foundation ... Read More

The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven

The Ascension of Our Lord into Heaven By Fr McKenna O.P. The sanctuary of PONTCHÂTEAU ... Read More

The Descent of the Holy Ghost

The Descent of the Holy Ghost By Fr McKenna O.P. In this Third Glorious Mystery ... Read More

Sermon of His Excellency Bp. Gerardo Zendejas given in Avrillé (France) for the Consecration of the Holy Oils and Chrismal Mass of the Holy Thursday

Sermon of His Excellency Bp. Gerardo Zendejasgiven in Avrillé (France)for the Consecration of the Holy ... Read More

Saint Vincent Ferrer

Saint Vincent Ferrer  Model for Times of Crisis   After the scandals given by Pope FrancisIn ... Read More

Letter from the Dominicans of Avrillé

Letter from the Dominicans of AvrilléNo. 34: August 2020A Bishop Speaks OutBishop Carlo Vigano, former ... Read More

Various Meditations

The Devotion of the Five First Saturdays of the Month

The Devotion of the Five First Saturdays of the Month “Father, the Blessed Virgin is ... Read More

Meditation for Holy Week

Meditation for Holy Week The Crucifixion and death of Our Lord By Fr Charles Hyacinth ... Read More

Meditation for Easter time

Meditation for Easter time The Resurrection of Our Lord By Fr Charles-Hyacinth McKenna O.P. He ... Read More

The Assumption

The Assumption By Fr. McKenna O.P. (extracts) “Behold! My Beloved speaketh to me; arise, make ... Read More

The Agony of Our Lord in the Garden (By Fr Charles Hyacinth McKenna O.P.)

The Agony of Our Lord in the Garden By Fr Charles Hyacinth McKenna O.P. Then ... Read More

Response to an article on the SSPX-USA web site

admin In defense of our convent, The Fight for the Faith , ,

Response to an article on the SSPX-USA website

An article called “A New Dominican Community” was published on October 24, 2014 on the SSPX USA web site1.  Here are the principle passages with some added commentary.

It is interesting to note that on 24 October, the same day this article appeared, two Dominican Fathers from Avrillé arrived in the United States for a 15 day stay to visit the Dominican Tertiaries attached to the Avrillé friary. Two days later on 26 October, the SSPX District Superior of the United States. Fr. Wegner, sent a letter to all his priests and to all the Avrillé Tertiaries living in the United States, warning them against the Avrillé friary and asking the Avrillé Tertiaries to join the Steffeshausen Third Order.

In his turn, on 31 October, Fr. Albert sent a letter to the Avrillé Tertiaries living in the United States, warning them against the Avrillé friary and asking the same Tertiaries to join his Third Order.

The Avrillé Dominican Fathers

Start of the article appearing on the SSPX-USA web site:

A New Dominican Community

“Find out about a new traditional religious community, the Dominican Friars of Steffeshausen, Belgium, and see how you can help them… or even join the Third Order of St. Dominic.

A video has just been posted about a new foundation of traditional Dominican friars in Belgium and the Third Order that they are offering to the faithful.

This new community of traditional Dominican friars was founded on November 15, 2013 in Steffeshausen, a little village in the southeast corner of Belgium. They were invited there by the villagers after the death of their parish priest, who had kept the traditional Mass and was persecuted by his bishop some 25 years ago.

They offered the church and rectory built by this priest to these friars as a first home for their fledgling community.”

Our Commentary: The Steffeshausen house was not offered to these four priests, but to the Avrillé Dominicans.  Here are the facts:

On 26 January 2013, during a meeting in Suresnes, in the presence of Fr. de Cacqueray [then District Superior of France], Bishop Fellay asked the Avrillé Dominicans to bring together five “vagus” Dominicans (all perpetually professed to the Avrillé friary) in a house which would be under the jurisdiction of Avrillé. That day, Bishop Fellay promised to support that foundation with his authority and to tell the religious who would refuse to submit that they must remove the habit or they would no longer be recognized as Dominicans by the Society of St. Pius X.

The Avrillé Dominicans accepted this decision. A committee of lay people who were taking care of the house of Steffeshausen contacted the Avrillé Dominicans early February 2013 offering to hand over this house, so the fathers proposed to Bishop Fellay that the foundation be made there. The bishop accepted, and contacted the five religious to offer to install them in this house.

However, in June 2013, Bishop de Galarreta told Avrillé that it was he who would take this foundation under his authority. When the fathers told him that Bishop Fellay had promised that the foundation would be instituted under the authority of Avrillé, Bishop de Galarreta answered, “Bishop Fellay considers himself to be relieved of his promise.” He declined to comment further and referred to Bishop Fellay. Father Prior of Avrillé then wrote three letters to Bishop Fellay on 14 July, 26 July and 11 August 2013 (the last of which was personally delivered by Fr. de Cacqueray) asking for explanations— he has never received a response.

The SSPX article continues:

“Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, who assists those religious communities affiliated with the SSPX, accepted to help the foundation as its ecclesiastical superior. You can help the Dominicans by making a donation . . . On their behalf, thank you very much for your support!”

(End of the text from the web site of the SSPX-USA.)

Our Commentary: The Dominican Order, which is an exempt Order, has never been put under the jurisdiction of a bishop.

What’s more, being a bishop without jurisdiction, Bishop de Galaretta’s action of removing the five religious from their legitimate superior, without that superior’s agreement, is an illegitimate act and indicates a schismatic mentality by attributing to the bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre a jurisdiction they do not have and which Archbishop Lefebvre never wanted to give to them because he himself did not have it, as he so often said.

In the video presented with this article, Fr. Albert recounts his history and very rapidly skims over the 19 years of his life that he spent with “some traditional Dominicans in France,” omitting to say that he was a part of the Avrillé community, that he studied there, that he received all his ecclesiastical orders from as a member of this community and that he made a vow of perpetual obedience between the hands of the prior of Avrillé. He also forgets to tell that he was sent to the United States in 2006 by his superiors in Avrillé, on the recommendation of Bishop Fellay, and that afterwards he refused to return to the Avrillé friary where his superiors still wait for him. He also keeps quiet about the situation of the four other religious, all perpetually professed to Avrillé, of whom three left the friary in the middle of the night of 11-12 April 2011 with the complicity of the German SSPX District Superior, Fr. Franz Schmidberger. There are many lapses of memory and much silence in the telling of this tale.

This foundation, made on dishonesty and disobedience, is a violation of religious law.

But above all, in the current context, it is a maneuver by Menzingen to weaken the Avrillé community and to have a nice, happy community of Menzingen Dominicans, who neither bark nor bite.

1 — http://sspx.org/en/news-events/news/new-dominican-community-5298.

2 — http://sspx.org/en/media/video/new-dominican-community-third-order-5297.

Archbishop Lefebvre and the sedevacantists

admin In defense of our convent, The Fight for the Faith , ,

Archbishop Lefebvre and the sedevacantists

(a little known document)

Concerning the position of Archbishop Lefebvre on the “non una cum” sedevacantist position, after the Episcopal consecrations of 1988; here is an excerpt from a conference given by Archbishop Lefebvre during a retreat preached to the sisters of Saint-Michel en Brenne 1, France, on April 1st, 1989 (AUDIO excerpt attached).

« … And then, he (Dom Guillou O.S.B. 2) goes through all the prayers of the Canon, all the prayers of the Roman Canon. He goes through them one after the other and then he shows the difference, he gives translations, very good ones. He gives, for example, precisely this famous.. you know, this famous una cum.., una cum of the sedevacantists. And you, do you say una cum? (laughter of the nuns of St-Michel-en-Brenne). You say una cum in the Canon of the Mass! Then we cannot pray with you; then you’re not Catholic; you’re not this; you’re not that; you’re not.. Ridiculous! ridiculous! because they claim that when we say una cum summo Pontifice, the Pope, isn’t it, with the Pope, so therefore you embrace everything the Pope says. It’s ridiculous! It’s ridiculous! In fact, this is not the meaning of the prayer.

Te igitur clementissime Pater. This is the first prayer of the Canon. So here is how Dom Guillou translates it, a very accurate translation, indeed :

“We therefore pray Thee with profound humility, most merciful Father, and we beseech Thee, through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Our Lord, to accept and to bless these gifts, these presents, these sacrifices, pure and without blemish, which we offer Thee firstly for Thy Holy Catholic Church. May it please Thee to give Her peace, to keep Her, to maintain Her in unity, and to govern Her throughout the earth, and with Her, Thy servant our Holy Father the Pope.”

It is not said in this prayer that we embrace all ideas that the Pope may have or all the things he may do. With Her, your servant our Holy Father the Pope, our Bishop and all those who practice the Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox faith! So to the extent where, perhaps, unfortunately, the Popes would no longer have …, nor the bishops…, would be deficient in the Orthodox, Catholic and Apostolic Faith, well, we are not in union with them, we are not with them, of course. We pray for the Pope and all those who practice the Catholic and Apostolic Orthodox faith!

Then he (Dom Guillou) had a note about that to clarify a little:

“In the official translation, based on a critical review of Dom Botte O.S.B. 3, the UNA CUM or “in union with” of the sedevacantists of any shade is no longer equivalent but to the conjunction “and ” reinforced either by the need to restate the sentence, or to match the solemn style of the Roman canon. Anyway, every Catholic is always in union with the Pope in the precise area where the divine assistance is exercised, infallibility confirmed by the fact that as soon as there is a deviation from the dogmatic Tradition, the papal discourse contradicts itself.

Let us collect the good grain, knowing that for the rest, it is more necessary than ever to ask God, with the very ancient Major Litanies, that be “kept in the holy religion” the “holy orders” and the “Apostolic Lord” himself (that is to say the Pope): UT DOMINUM APOSTOLICUM AND OMNES ECCLESIASTICOS ORDINES IN SANCTA RELIGIONE CONSERVARE DIGNERIS, TE ROGAMUS, AUDI NOS.”

It is a request of the litanies of the Saints, right? WE ASK TO KEEP THE POPE IN THE TRUE RELIGION. We ask that in the Litanies of the Saints! This proves that sometimes it can happen that unfortunately, well, maybe sometimes it happens that… well there have been hesitations, there are false steps, there are errors that are possible. We have too easily believed since Vatican I, that every word that comes from the mouth of the Pope is infallible. That was never said in Vatican I! The Council never said such a thing. Very specific conditions are required for the infallibility; very, very strict conditions. The best proof is that throughout the Council, Pope Paul VI himself said “There is nothing in this Council which is under the sign of infallibility”. So, it is clear, he says it himself! He said it explicitly.

Then we must not keep this idea which is FALSE! which a number of Catholics, poorly instructed, poorly taught, believe! So obviously, people no longer understand anything, they are completely desperate, they do not know what to expect! We must keep the Catholic faith as the Church teaches it. »

Archbishop Lefebvre, retreat at Saint-Michel en Brenne, April 1st, 1989

1 — General Mother House of the sisters of the Society.

2 — A famous traditionalist benedictine monk, friend of Archbishop Lefebvre.

3 — A famous Belgian modernist monk. It is he who made the new rite of the consecrations of bishops.