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Response to an article on the SSPX-USA web site
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
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 Brenne1, 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 VaticanI, that every word that comes from the mouth of the Pope is infallible. That was never said in VaticanI! 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 PaulVI 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.
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May God bless you, and please know that you will be in our prayers.
About the Third Order of Penance
The Dominican Third Order
I heard that you have a Third Order. What is a Third Order?
In each Religious Order, the secular Third Order constitutes, as its name indicates, the third part of the Order (after the Brothers and Sisters or Nuns), which is given to persons living in the world to permit them to associate themselves in order to live according to the spirit and the spirituality of the Order to which they attach themselves, in a manner adapted to their state in life. The Third Order secular of Friars Preachers, which goes back to Saint Dominic himself, is also called the “Third Order of Penance of Saint Dominic”.
What is its purpose?
It has two ends:
One general purpose which consists in promoting the personal sanctification of its members by the practice of the Christian (Catholic) life in a more perfect manner (Constitutions, art. 2);
And a specific purpose, based on the special end of every Order of Saint Dominic, that is; to procure the salvation of souls by means in conformity with the state of the faithful living in the world (ibid.).
These means aid the tertiary to advance more easily, more surely and more rapidly towards that Christian Perfection to which he aspires, giving him a spiritual family and making him contribute to the great work of the propagation of the Faith which Saint Dominic assigned to his sons.
What are these means?
- Prayer, especially liturgical prayer (the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary), meditation and the Rosary of Our Lady;
- The practice of penance and the struggle against the spirit of the world;
- The study of Doctrine and the works of the apostolate for the defense of the Faith and the Church;
- The works of fraternal Charity.
- Wherever the Societies of Tertiaries are organized, regular reunions are carried out with the Dominican Fathers, to pray (Mass, Rosary, Little Office), to be instructed in Doctrine, to exchange with one another and find themselves in an atmosphere of Christian emulation and of fraternal Charity.
What are the conditions for entering the Third Order?
Rather than conditions, one should speak of dispositions. To enter the Third Order of Saint Dominic, one must sincerely desire to attain Christian perfection, as the Rule states (article 8). Nevertheless, the rules don’t mean to say that one must already be advanced in the ways of the spiritual life: entrance in the Third Order isn’t a reward but a beginning, a help offered to Catholics who desire to work on their own sanctification and who want to help save souls and spread Catholic Truth.
All the faithful who come with these good dispositions, male or female, working or retired, married or single, can then become members of the Third Order of Friars Preachers.
Can such a Third Order be relevant or a reality in the Twenty First Century?
More than ever! The Catholic Faith has never been attacked as much as it is being today, and in the most insidious ways. We are approaching the time predicted by Our Lord Jesus Christ: “The Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?” (Luke 128.8).
The attacks against the Catholic Faith are not only coming from the outside of the Church, but the smoke of Satan even introduced itself into the Church (said Paul VI) and the wolves are in the sheepfold.
The Third Order of St. Dominic, also called the Militia of Jesus Christ (from the Constitutions of the Order of Preachers, art. 233), is a small army of laypersons in the world who help the Order of St. Dominic to lead the good fight for the Faith.
We know that our Order has, from the beginning, been specially instituted for preaching and for the salvation of souls. This is why we must apply ourselves principally to being useful to the souls of our neighbors. To this end is tied the work of teaching and the defense of the truth of the Catholic Faith, as much in word as by various forms of writing. (Constitutions O.P. art. 3).
Any questions should be addressed to the :
Couvent de la Haye aux Bonshommes, 49240 AVRILLE. France. Or, contact us online.
Our Convent and Apostolates
The Convent of the Haye-aux-Bonshommes
“We know that our Order, from the beginning, was especially for preaching and the salvation of souls. That is why our efforts must mainly enable us to be useful to the soul of our neighbor. Intimately associated with this end are education and defense of the truth of the Catholic faith, by speech, in the courts, and numerous writings. This requires that we obtain this purpose by preaching and teaching the abundance and fullness of our contemplation, following the example of our Holy Father Dominic, who to win souls, spoke of God or to God. ”
(Constitutions of the Order of Preachers)
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A Meditation on Christmas
December 25: The goodness and usefulness of Christ’s birth
(a meditation of saint Thomas Aquinas)
«The goodness and kindness of God, our Saviour, appeared.» (Titus 3, 4.)
It must be remembered that Christ showed to us His goodness in communicating His Divinity, but He showed His mercy in assuming our nature. Hence, Saint Bernard says, «The power of God appeared in the creation of things, his wisdom, in the government of things, but His goodness especially appeared in his assumption of our nature.» For God revealed a wonderful sign of his goodness when He willed to add the name of God to humanity, for «Not from works of justice which we did, but by His mercy are we saved.» Did He not show forth His mercy, when He received and took upon Himself our misery? What was so full of holiness as the Word of God, which was made flesh for us and dwelt amongst us? Hence, the Church sings, «Oh! Christ, the Redeemer of all, the Only God of the Father.» And Isaias (63, 16) says, «Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer, from everlasting is Thy Name.»
Moreover, concerning the blessings and usefulness of our Saviour’s birth, Isaias (11, 6) says, «A child is born to us,» that is for our benefit and welfare. ln truth, there are four great blessings Which have come down to us from the birth of Christ, which we may consider from the four special virtues which children possess; namely, purity, humility, lovableness and pleasingness. These are found in the Christ Child in a most excellent manner.
First, we find in Him the greatest purity because He is the brightness of eternal Light, and the unspotted mirror of God’s majesty, and the image of His goodness. (Wis. 6, 26.) Moreover, He demonstrated His purity in being conceived and born without sin. Hence, Alcuin observes that, «The Maker of aIl men, in order that He might become Man for the sake of men, had to select such a mother for Himself, and He knew that it was becoming that she should be Immaculate and most pleasing to God. Therefore, He willed that she should be a Virgin Immaculate, and from the Immaculate was born the Immaculate Child, Who will purge the sins of all mankind.»
Secondly, in this Child, we find the greatest humility, for «He, God, emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave.» (Phil. 2, 7.) He showed this humility, as saint Bernard says, in being born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling c1othes, and laid in a manger.
Thirdly, we find in the Christ Child the highest kind of lovableness. He was the most beautiful of the sons of men and the delight of the Angels. The union of His Divinity with the humanity caused this lovableness in a certain manner. Hence, Bernard said, «Behold the Man, the Maker of Man, filled with every manner of sweetness.»
Fourthly, we find in the Christ Child the greatest pleasingness for, «He is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in mercy, and ready to repent of evil.» (Joel 2,13.) Wherefore, saint Bernard says, «Christ is a Child and is easily pleased. Who does not know that a child easily gives? Behold if Christ were not great and kind to us, we could never be reconciled to Him in the least thing; but the least thing, l say, done for Him is pleasing to Him.» And just as the kindness of God appeared as something beyond aIl hope and expectation, so we can, if we repent, hope for a similar manifestation of God’s mercy at the judgment.
(The Kindness of Christ.)
(Saint Thomas Aquinas Meditations for every day, translated and illustrated by Fr E. C. McEniry O.P., Columbus [Ohio], Long’s College Book Company, 1951)
Other Articles
Other articles and texts we offer
Besides our regular publications, we also occasionally publish other articles on various subjects.
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The Fight for the Faith
The Fight for the Faith
The Catholic Faith is being eroded by the Conciliar Church, and by many groups who wish to compromise with it. In this section you will find articles on this subject.