A Fruit of the Blood of the Martyrs

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Fiat

The following letter is taken from The Remnant website.  For the full account of how this appeal came to be written,  please visit their site.   A slumbering church is awakening!

Dear Mr. Michael Matt and friends of the Remnant,

Greetings from Fr. Jonathan Romanoski FSSP in Guadalajara México. As you may have heard the Fraternity of St. Peter opened up its second Latin American apostolate two years ago in the “holy land” of Mexico. I say “holy land” as the area of Guadalajara, Jalisco was in many ways the heart of the Cristero movement less than a century ago, when valiant Catholics rose up, ready to shed their blood in defense of the one true faith that Christ is King of all the earth, against a Masonic government which had prohibited all public worship, and was literally hunting down priests to kill them.

I am sure that you have all heard of el niño Cristero, Bl. José Sanchez del Río, who at 14 yrs. of age, begged his mother leave to join the Catholic army, telling her that never was it so easy to gain heaven as now.

Taken captive, he was told that he would never see his parents again if he did not join the enemy’s ranks. He told them to tell his parents that they would see each other in heaven, and as they stabbed him to death he cried out “long live Christ the King, long live Our Lady of Guadalupe.”

This is the patrimony of faith of our dear Mexican people here, who boast more canonized saints from this one state, than there are in all the Americas combined. The eldest among them still have memories of the persecution when public masses were not permitted. It is a faith that inspires many vocations as well. The Archdiocese of Guadalajara boasts the highest number of vocations in the world, with well over a thousand seminarians, their minor seminaries very much in operation still.

Hence our ever wise superior general deemed it fit to plant the base of the future growth of the Fraternity of St. Peter in Latin America, here in this fertile soil. Yet as we know from the parable of Our Lord, the devil is always sewing chaff to suffocate the wheat of Christ. And the persecution is in some way worse than before, as so many now voluntarily put their faith in danger by viewing bad programs on television, listening to worldly music, and conforming to a pop-culture so poisonous to a good, holy catholic life.

Hence we have plenty of work to accomplish, and it is indeed the crucial time to salvage and foment what remains of catholic civilization, and to speak boldly against modern evils which so few pastors do. We see very much the providence of God in our apostolate here, as we introduce once again the traditional Mass, source and summit of our traditional catholic culture, to the Archdiocese while there yet remains such traditional sensibilities in the hearts of the faithful, despite the ignorance and opposition which so often accompany the first phase of the return of the traditional Mass.

But thanks be to God we were invited by a very traditional Cardinal, who neither allows communion in the hand nor girl “altar-boys.” At the visit of the Very Rev. John Berg, the Cardinal elevated us to the status of a quasi-parish, but with only two more years in the church that we use now.  And thus we embark upon an urgent fundraising project to obtain our own property for the exclusive celebration of the Mass of the ages, to continue our work in perpetuity in the land of the Cristeros, and to have one day soon a house of formation for Latin American candidates for the priesthood.  And so I beg first of all your prayers, that our Lord grants success to the work of our hands, and humbly ask that you consider in your charity a donation to this important work for the expansion of the FSSP throughout the Americas.

Donations can be sent directly to the FSSP headquarters in Scranton at the address below, noted that it is for the FSSP Mexican apostolate. If you would like more info on our apostolate down here, or if you know of any who might be interested to help us in any way in this project, please feel free to contact us, Fr. Ken Fryar FSSP, padre.fryar@gmail.com; Fr. Jonathan Romanoski FSSP, padre.romo@gmail.com. An American tel. number at which one can reach us is 402-403-1783.

May God himself be your reward!

Viva Cristo Rey!

Donations FOR FSSP MEXICAN APOSTOLATE can be sent to: Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter North American District Headquarters Griffin Road, PO Box 196 Elmhurst, PA 18416

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Birthday Greetings to our Heavenly Mother!

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Fiat

 

 

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“It is a common opinion that Mary was born…just when the smoke of the holocaust….”

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Fiat

From The life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by Msgr. R. Gentilucci

It is a common opinion that Mary was born the eighth day of the month of September, which corresponds to the beginning of the month Tisri, that is to say, the first day of the civil year of the Jews, just when the smoke of the holocaust was rising to heaven in expiation for the sins of the people.  And in this agree perfectly the Greek and Latin churches,…*Holding for certain that this “little pillar of smoke,” as Ezechiel calls it, or this “light cloud,” as Elias calls it, came to the light, in the year 3987 of the creation of the world, we shall here give some pious opinions touching this happy birth, relying upon what some of the Fathers, Greek as well as Latin, tell us.

Mary was born in autumn, when nature, more than in any other season, is wont to repay the toil of the husbandmen by giving them the ripened clusters.  “Rejoice, O earth,” says St. John Damascenus, “because from the womb of Anne, as from a fertile vine, has sprung a sweet ripe cluster.  To the harvesting of this vineyard all are invited, none is excluded, it is the joy of all.”  Mary too is born in the autumn,…because it was proper that the new Eve, the mother of the Redeemer, should change tears into joy, at the same time in the year as the first Eve had changed joy into tears.

As the beatitudes are eight in number, this eighth day of the month when she was…born, was admirably chosen, since by her was the whole world to know all beatitude, and since by her, as mother of the Redeemer, were all the elect to be ushered into the glory of heaven, there to enjoy supreme felicity.  She was born, as Luchesino remarks, on the Sabbath, the day when God rested, to show that the human race, at the glorious birth of the Virgin, was to enjoy a real repose.  Hence Saturday is a kind of festival especially consecrated to devotion to our august Lady.

As to the hour of that fortunate day which beheld the birth of Mary, St. Peter Damian believes that it was at daybreak.  Others add, that the sun that day shone with a twofold light, and that on the night preceding her birth, the moon shone with an extraordinary brilliancy, almost like that of the sun, and that for some time, far from showing usual spots, a refulgent star sparkled upon her disc.

St. John Damascenus cries joyfully:  “Yes, by Mary’s birth the human race has been restored, by it the sadness caused by Eve is changed into a perfect joy.”  St. Bernardine of Sienna,…observes joyfully, “that heaven made earth an inestimable present,” and the Abbot Rupert says:  “The nativity of the Virgin is the end of sorrow and the beginning of joy.”

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*The menology of St. Basil places the birth of the Blessed Virgin on the 8th of September.  This date is also given in the menology translated into Latin by Cardinal Sorlet, and published by Henry Canisius in his Thesaurus.  The same thing is said in the edict of the Emperor Manuel Comnenus, which fixes the days for the various festivals.  In the Nomocanon of Photius (In Scholiiad ut VII.,) we read:  “Natalis itaque dies purissimae Dominae ac Dei Genitricis, qui est octavus Septembris, feriatus est.”  We find the same day set down in many other Greek authors, as well as in the Latin.

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Conclusion – The Priesthood of the Laity

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Fiat

by Abbé Astruc

I think that now you see how, by uniting yourself to Jesus, either sacramentally or spiritually, by participating in His interior and exterior life, you do communicate as the Priest does.  But you must make the likeness in every way complete.  The Priest, saying Mass, is not selfish; he shares his Host with others.  So should you do also.  You partake of Our Lord in intimate Communion, but you must not keep Him only for yourself.  Let Jesus, abiding within you, find His way through you into other souls.  To those of your own family, to your friends, to all who live with you, be as a living Eucharist Table.  Make them to sit down at the festal banquet of your heart and of your soul; let them share in your thoughts and your affections, your words and your works; to each one give with generous charity the Jesus Who dwells in you.  In the words of St. Francis de Sales, strive ever to have “Jesus Christ in your mind, in your heart, on your breast, in your eyes, in your hands, on your tongue,  in your ears, and with all your footsteps.”  And then give Him out to all, bestow Him freely, make Him in some way reach all who pass you by, all who happen to come near you.  “Thou art My living Sacrament,”  Jesus once said to a mystical soul of our own days.  “I give Myself to thee, and through thee to souls.”  He says the same thing to you.

It seems to me that now you can see clearly what this Communion with Jesus is, and that you have understood how easy, and how possible at every moment, is this manner of spiritually communicating.  Let your life, then, become one continual Communion with Jesus.  And so you will accomplish the third act of your Mystical Mass [thus exercising your priestly role most fully according to your state in life.]

And now, devout Christian, ever bear in mind that your soul is priestlike, and that there is a Mass that you must say.  Each day, and many times during the day, ascend the altar of your heart, and repeating the words of the Priest:  “Introibo ad Altare Dei,” say your Mystical Mass.  Say it, in the first place, for yourself, that you may ever remain the faithful friend of Jesus; say it for your family and your friends, for all who are dear to you, and whom you love, that Jesus may bless and protect them; say it for Our Holy Mother the Church, and for your own country, that Jesus may shorten their time of strife and trial, and hasten the day of deliverance and triumph.

A priestly soul, Blessed Jacinta

Remember, too, that, as the Priest says his Mass, so you should say yours – in a holy manner, with faith, with devotion, with love.  And once again remember, that your Mass is one that is ever begun, but never finished and that you must ever continue to say it, until the call of the Angel of Death. Then only will you finish it.  Your last word on earth will be your“Ite Missa est,”  and from Heaven you will give the eternal answer,

Sr. Lucia's 'Mass' ended on Feb 13, 2005

                         

                         “Deo Gratias.”

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“…may [God] help all those who are working for seriousness in sacred music”, pleads the maestro.

Posted on September 3, 2011 by Fiat

Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci from a post on Rorate Caeli:

“I am here, Blessed Father, in order to thank Your Holiness for the strong call for the use of music in the current celebrations of the Holy Mass. I am certain that, by calling a musician to be part of the College of Cardinals, you desired it to be a call for the use of sacred music in Holy Liturgy. …

“Today, a true a proper reawakening by so many young people can be noticed, who wish to relive the beauty of the Latin Mass and the greater spiritual fruit derived from it. This is great, a very great comfort, and makes us hope for a liturgical future which you certainly desire. We thank the Lord, that he may help all those who are working for seriousness in sacred music. I firmly trust that, we the help of God, a true return to the bimillenary tradition of sacred music will take place.”

__________________________________________

Yes, may God help us.  St. Cecila pray for us!

 

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4th Post – The Priesthood of the Laity

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Fiat

 by Abbé Astruc,  “Irish Messenger“ series,

a continuation on the theme of Communion:

Jesus is in the Holy Gospels, where, in some sort, an incarnation of Christ lies hidden beneath the letter.  When you meditate on the Word of God – and here I quote Mgr. Landriot, who has summed up the doctrine of the Fathers on Spiritual Communion with Christ – as you go deeper and deeper into its divine meaning, and find your way right to its very heart, there takes place within you a true Eucharistic mystery:  the Word enters into you, nourishes your mind, enkindles your heart, renews your life, and transforms you into Himself; then you partake in Spiritual Communion of Jesus hidden in the holy Gospels.

Jesus is in every soul in a state of grace. He Himself has publicly and formally declared that He has made such a soul His dwelling place, in a permanent  and lasting way.  “If any man love Me, He will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and will make Our abode with Him”  (John 14:23).  And many a time besides has He said the same thing.  When, therefore, in thought, affection and charity, you are united to souls who are in possession of the life of grace, you partake in Spiritual Communion of Jesus, dwelling within them.

Jesus is in little children, in the lowly, the poor, and in all who suffer.  He Himself has told us so:  “Whatsoever you do unto the least of these my brethren, you do it unto Me.”  So when you work at the intellectual, moral, or religious formation of little children  – when you serve and help the needy – when you visit and care for the sick – when you become a consoling angel, or a kind Cyrenian to those who have a cross to bear, and a Calvary to climb – when you give a little joy, a little happiness, to the outcasts of life – then you communicate spiritually and partake again of Jesus.

Jesus is in everything that you do.  All the actions, all the sacrifices, all the little details of your daily life, are as Father Faber says:  “So many Sacraments, so many real presences, for God is within each one.”  When, then, following the advice of St. Paul, who wrote:  “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philipp. 2:5); you strive to think, to will, to love, to feel, as Our Lord Himself did – do you know what you are doing?  You are partaking of the Interior Life of Jesus; you receive, as it were, a Communion of His Spirit, of His Will and of His Soul.

When, in accordance with the Divine Master’s teaching:  “I have given you an example, that as I have done to you, so you do also” (John 13:15), you endeavor to reproduce His manner of life, His way of acting towards persons, events and things, what then do you do?  You unite yourself in spiritual Communion to Jesus, in His active exterior life.

The Cross of Daily Duty Lovingly Borne

When suffering in body, soul, or heart; when, burdened with your cross, you painfully struggle up the Calvary of your life; when, fastened to that cross, you expiate, make reparation, and gain merit for yourself and others, are you conscious of all that you are doing?  Father Faber makes it clear to you when he says that “suffering is the greatest of all sacraments.”  Your suffering becomes a Spiritual Communion; through it you partake of the saving Passion of your Lord.

When you visit the poor and sick, or come to the aid of the suffering – when you promote the sanctification of souls, by catechising, or by occupying yourself with other works of zeal – when you give those around you an example of Christian virtue – when you speak a kind, well-chosen word, some little word that does good, consoles, encourages, that uplifts and edifies, do you realize what you are doing?  You then communicate spiritually; you are united to the Apostolate of Jesus.

When you are recollected, when in words or silently within your hearts you pray, then, in Spiritual Communion, you partake of the Prayer of Jesus.

…to be continued

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3rd Post – The Priesthood of the Laity

Posted on August 26, 2011 by Fiat

by Abbé Astruc,  “Irish Messenger“ series,

a continuation on the theme of Consecration:

You, too, are to be changed into Jesus; you are to become “other Christs.”  I do not say that this is done really, that is, substantially, but spiritually, mystically. You must then consecrate your bodies, that they may be pure and holy, in some degree, as in the Body of Jesus; your souls, that they may be made divine, somewhat like the soul of Jesus; your hearts, that they may love a little as the Heart of Jesus loves; your mind, that it may think thoughts that are like the thoughts of Jesus; your wills, that their acts may be in some way like those of the Will of Jesusl your whole daily life, that, as it becomes a continuation of the life of Jesus, it may grow in some small measure like unto His own – a life of holiness, of charity, of apostleship and of redemption.

Blessed Alexandrina, Victim Soul

And so you will ever work towards your consecration, which is to transform you, to change you little by little into Jesus Christ.  And when with St. Paul you are able to say:  “It is no longer I who live, but Jesus liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20), then you will have realized the second effect of your mystic consecration.

I have already said that after the Consecration by the Priest there only remain the species, or appearances, of the host of white flour.  Now these species, these sacramental appearances, are what Jesus makes use of in order to live His eucharistc life.

Joyful in Accepting the Cross

Joyful in Accepting the Cross - exercising her priestly role

In proportion to the extent of your mystic consecration will Jesus make use of you, in order to live and work on earth.  He will make use of you as a means of thinking, speaking, praying, loving and suffering;  He will use you to combat and resist the evil one; to console, convert and sanctify; to make reparation, expiate and save; in a word, He will so use you as to be able still to “go about doing good” (Acts 10: 38), and then you will, in a way, be performing the divine functions of the sacramental species or appearances of the Consecrated Host.  You yourself will be the species, the living appearances; not sacramental ones, but spiritual and mystic, as it were veiling Jesus, hiding His presence and His action in the world; your life will be to Jesus here below as another life engrafted on His own; you will be living members of His Mystical Body, and in a certain way, you will take the place on earth of His Most Sacred Humanity.

This is, then, the Consecration that you have to make your own.  You must thoroughly understand that your consecration consists in transforming yourself, in changing yourself into Jesus; it consists in making Jesus live in you, in giving Him all that you do, that He may make use of it.  Bear well in mind, that as a thing never completely perfect, never finished, it must continue to take place at every moment.  Make then your life just one continued consecration of your whole selves.  So will you accomplish the second act of your Mystical Mass.

The Communion

The Host that he has offered and consecrated, and that has become Jesus Christ, the Priest now takes, even as we take food, and he receives It into the sanctuary of his own soul.  This is the Communion, that is to say, the most intimate, the most divine of unions between Jesus and the Priest.

Communion is also the third act of your Mystical Mass.  Each time that at the holy table you receive Jesus in the Sacred Host, you communicate in the same way as the Pries does.  This Sacramental Communion is the Communion above all others; indeed, strictly speaking, it is the only real one.  Nevertheless, besides this Eucharistic Communion, there still remain other ways of receiving Jesus Christ.  Every act, in fact, that unites us to Jesus, is a communion, doubtless only a spiritual, mystical one, but still, in a sense a true communion.  Seek then to find Jesus wherever He is, wherever He hides His presence, and strive to receive Him in Spiritual Communion.

…to be continued

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First TLM ever for Gilman’s Immaculate Conception Parish!

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Fiat

All for Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

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Something’s a brewing…something’s in the air.

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Fiat
The most recent post from Rorate:  A very happy bunch in black and white

“On 28 May 2011 Father Couture, the District Superior, came to visit our Convent. He had been delegated by Bishop Fellay to receive the vows of Mother Mary Micaela as she transferred from the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of New Zealand to the Dominican Sisters of Wanganui. [A congregation “friendly” with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X – FSSPX / SSPX.]
“She had special permission from the Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes in Rome to do this. As far as we know this is a world first, that a Sister would be allowed to transfer from a Novus Ordo congregation to a congregation set up by Bishop Fellay. The whole procedure implies a recognition of our Congregation, and of the religious of Tradition, by Rome.”
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2nd post, The Priesthood of the Laity

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Fiat

Abbé Astruc,  “Irish Messenger“ series:

The Priest, in offering up the Sacred Host, says:  “Receive, O Holy Father, Almighty and Eternal God this spotless host which I, Thy unworthy servant, offer unto Thee, my Living and True God, for mine own countless sins, offences and negligences, and for all here present; as also for all faithful Christians, living and dead, that it may avail both me and them unto salvation for life everlasting.  Amen.”

“Will you offer yourselves to God?”

In like manner should you also offer yourself to God, and say: “Lord, I offer myself to Thee to be the living victim of my family:  I desire to be sacrificed so that my relatives and all those I love may be blessed, sanctified and saved.

“Lord, I offer myself to Thee to be the living victim of such and such a good work that I am interested in, and to which I devote myself;  I desire to be sacrificed that this work may live and prosper.

“Lord, I offer myself to Thee, to be a living victim for Thy Priests; I desire to be sacrificed in order to succor Thy Sacred Ministers, that their Priesthood may be made holy and fruitful.

“Lord, I offer myself to Thee to be the living victim of Thy Holy Will, that I may follow my vocation to its utmost limits, that I may fulfil my whole mission, that I may realize all Thy designs upon me.

“Lord, I offer myself to Thee to be the living victim of Thy Love; I desire to be sacrificed that Thy Holy Name may be hallowed, that Thy Kingdom may come, that Thy Will may be done, that Thou mayest be better known, more loved, more glorified.

“Lord, I offer myself to Thee to be a little living victim for sinners; I desire to be sacrificed so as to be associated with the Redemption wrought by Thy Son, and to make up that ‘which is wanting to His  Passion,’ His sufferings, and His Death;  I wish to be sacrificed that I may, in union with Him, expiate, make amends, and win merit.”

These little ones generously said "Yes!" They exercised their priestly role to the fullest.

In doing this you will be carrying out a great, a fruitful, and much needed apostolate….No one can tell, for God alone knows, the supernatural, sanctifying and fruitful influence you will exercise around you through this work of your secret immolation.  [This, then is how we the laity are called to be ‘priests’.]

Such then is the offering that you are to make.  But notice this – your offering ever remains unfinished; at each moment of your days and nights you can, and should renew it.  Let your life then be one continued offering; and so you will accomplish the first act of your Mystical Mass.

The Consecration

When the Priest says Mass, he takes into his hands the host that he has offered up, and pronounces over it the words of Consecration.

In like manner should you also consecrate the host that you have already offered unto God.  That which the real Consecration effects upon the wheaten host, your mystic consecration should also, in some sort of way, effect upon yourself, the living host.  This is what I will now try to show you:  still making use of analogy and comparison.

The Priest consecrates his host by pronouncing over it these four words;  “Hoc est Corpus Meum – This is My Body.”  At the same instant the substance of the host of wheaten bread has ceased to be bread; of it there remains nothing, save that something which we call species, or appearances. The first result, then, of the Consecration is the disappearance of the substance of that little host of bread.

Now you as well have to disappear; not indeed suddenly, but little by little and by degrees.  This will be done by humbling yourself, forgetting yourself, renouncing yourself, ever and always putting self to death within you, [“Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, … “ John 12:23-25]. It is by “dying daily,” as St. Paul says, that you will attain to that mystic death of self which will be the first result of your Consecration.

The words of Consecration pronounced by the Priest have a second effect, even more marvelous  than the first;  they trans-substantiate the host into Jesus Christ.  The Consecration, then, is the changing of the substance of the bread into Jesus Christ, the real, living Jesus Christ, with His Divinity and His Humanity.

to be continued…..

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