Sunday, October 5, 2014
Solemn High Mass for Blessed Karl of Austria in Roslyn, NY

Join us in celebrating the exemplary life of Blessed Karl, Emperor and King.

Reception after Holy Mass

Sponsored by the Saint Agnes Institute
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Saturday, October 4, 2014
2014 SSPX Starkenburg Pilgrimage


Come join us with your family in this 3-day, 40-mile pilgrimage in honor of Our Lady!

Renew and increase your devotion to the Blessed Mother!

The SSPX is pleased to coordinate this Pilgrimage of Tradition in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows to Starkenburg, MO. The pilgrimage route will be along the historic and beautiful Katy Trail.

We offer both a 3-day and a 1-day option for pilgrims.

The 3-day pilgrimage will start at the Katy Trail access point in Jefferson City, MO, proceeding through Tebbetts, Mokane, Portland, and Bluffton to conclude near the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows in Starkenburg, MO.

The 1-day pilgrimage will join the 3-day pilgrimage at Portland, MO on the morning of October 18 for the final 12.5 miles.

Learn more by clicking here.
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Requiem Aeternam: Fr. Benedict Groeschel

Please join me in praying for the soul of Father Benedict Groeschel, requiescat in pace. He has passed away after a long life of service to the Faith. May God forgive him his sins.  May St. Francis of Assisi intercede for Fr. Benedict, who has died on the eve of St. Francis' feast.

Taken from the press release:
Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, beloved priest and preacher, died on October 3, 2014, the vigil of the Feast of St. Francis, after complications with an ongoing illness. He was 81.

Fr. Benedict was a founder of the Community of Franciscan Friars of the Renewal (CFR), a reform community started in 1987 by eight Capuchin Friars based in New York City. A priest and psychologist, he was director of Trinity Retreat House in Larchmont, New York, and also taught Pastoral Psychology for many years at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie. Fr. Benedict was a popular writer, preacher, retreat master, and evangelist on Catholic television. His greatest joy was serving the poor and underprivileged. Founder of St. Francis House and Good Counsel Homes, he also served as chaplain at Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry for 14 years. Always deeply concerned with the welfare of others, he tirelessly provided food, clothing, and assistance to people in need—people he always considered his friends.

Father Benedict is survived by his sister, Marjule Drury, sister Robin Groeschel, brother Gary Groeschel, nine nieces and nephews, 115 CFR brothers and priests, and 31sisters who were inspired by his authentic witness to religious life and devotion to Jesus and His Church. He was preceded by his brothers Edward and Mark.

Image: Fr. Benedict Groeschel after his ordination.
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Friday, October 3, 2014
Photo: First Mass in Versailles Since the French Revolution

Cardinal Spellman, celebrated Mass for the U.S. military in the Royal Chapel of the Palace of Versailles on September 10, 1944. The Mass was the first Mass to be celebrated in the chapel since the French Revolution. Thanks to Archives of the Archdiocese of New York for this photo.

Let us pray for a restoration of the Traditional Mass and an end to the erroneous ideas of the French Revolution, which still plague us.
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Tuesday, September 30, 2014
Happy Michaelmas!

"Michaelmas" is pronounced "MICKel-mus" is one of the 4 English Quarter Days

Today is also one of the 4 English "Quarter Days," days which fall around the Equinoxes or Solstices and mark the beginnings of new natural seasons ( i.e., Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall) and which were used in medieval times to mark "quarters" for legal purposes, such as settling debts.  Debt collection was forbidden certain times of the year such as during the Octave of Christmas.

The other days like this are Lady Day (the Feast of the Annunciation) on March 25, the Feast of St. John on June 24, and Christmas on December 25.
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Saturday, September 27, 2014
Rosary Novena for the Defense of the Family

The following is taken from the recent SSPX Newsletter.  Let us join our prayers for this intention:


Approaching rapidly is the October 2014 Extraordinary Meeting of the Synod of Bishops: “Pastoral Challenges to the Family in the Context of Evangelization”. This Synod will be held from October 5-19 and potentially has the grave danger of undermining the Church's doctrinal and moral teachings on marriage and family issues.

To counteract this danger, the USA District Superior, Fr. Jurgen Wegner, is asking everyone to join in a rosary novena for the defense of the family:
I request that all pastors dedicate at least three sermons in October and November to the fundamental truths about marriage. I request also that you invite all the faithful to join us in a novena of rosaries from September 29th to October 7th. We will offer our rosaries for the defense of the family. Please encourage everyone to pray the 15 decades of the rosary."
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Friday, September 26, 2014
Bishop Morlino vs. Holy Wisdom Monastery

While this story is slightly dated, it’s worth repeating here for those who are in or around the Madison Area.  The “Holy Wisdom monastery" has rightfully been made off limits to all priests of the Diocese.  This place, as the following article indicates, is ripe with the fruits of discord and heresy.  

If you notice in the comments to the article on the website of The Wisconsin State Journal that many people are condemning Bishop Morlino for his actions.  Some are pledging support for the heretics, some of whom still falsely call themselves “Catholic.”  This is a good reminder that the enemies of Christ are always at work to sow discord (e.g. Luke 16:8)

Bishop Robert Morlino is continuing to put more distance between the Madison Catholic Diocese and Holy Wisdom Monastery, a former Catholic monastery on the outskirts of Madison that is now a non-Catholic ecumenical retreat center. 
In the latest development, Morlino is now prohibiting priests in the diocese from “attendance or participation at all events held at Holy Wisdom Monastery and all events sponsored or co-sponsored by Holy Wisdom Monastery or the Benedictine Women of Madison,” according to a March 7 letter to priests leaked to the State Journal. 
... 
In 2000, the monastic Catholic sisters at the site welcomed a Protestant woman to live with them, a move that led them to seek independence from the Catholic Church. The Vatican approved their request in 2006. The monastery is now managed by the Benedictine Women of Madison, an ecumenical community led by Sister Mary David Walgenbach, who is Catholic. 
Morlino’s action highlights a longstanding beef some Catholics, especially those who are more tradition-minded, have with the monastery. The monastery’s worship services, they say, retain so many elements of a Mass that unsuspecting Catholics could be duped into thinking the services are valid representations of Catholic teaching. This is especially worrisome, they say, because the worship services diverge from church doctrine in profound ways, such as allowing women to preach and embracing the relationships of gay couples. 
“Holy Wisdom Monastery is perhaps best known among local Catholics for substantive rejection of the Catholic faith, so I would think priests or sisters should know they are not sending a good message if they attend events there,” said Elizabeth Durack of Madison, who attends the Cathedral Parish in Downtown Madison and has been vocal in encouraging “faithful Catholics” not to attend activities at the monastery. 
... 
Morlino, in his letter to priests, said it was his duty “to protect the integrity and unity of the faith.” There “is a grave potential for scandal and confusion among the faithful, owing to Holy Wisdom Monastery’s status as a former Catholic monastery,” he wrote. 
Read more: The Wisconsin State Journal 
Please remember to support Traditional Catholic charities (check out the Top 10 Charities for Traditional Catholics).  We must all work diligently in order to safeguard the Faith that is under attack from outside and inside the Holy Church.

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Thursday, September 25, 2014
Book Review: AA 1025: The Memoirs of an Anti-Apostle


Back in the 1960s the memoirs of a secret Communist agent were discovered by a French nurse named Marie Carre while attending to an auto accident in which the agent was killed. In his briefcase was found a set of biographical notes which she kept and read, and then decided to publish because of their extraordinary content. The end result is a little book entitled, AA 1025---The Memoirs of an Anti-Apostle, which reveals the sentiments and plans of this Communist who had deliberately entered the priesthood (along with over a thousand others) with the intention of subverting and destroying the Catholic Church from within. The following excerpt is taken from his notes:
"It was during those days that I launched on the market the program that would allow Catholics to be accepted by Protestants... I prophesied with assurance the suppression of Latin, of priestly vestments, of statues and images, of candles and prie-dieu (so that they could kneel no more). And I also started a very active campaign for the suppression of the Sign of the Cross. This Sign, and also genuflections, are all ridiculous customs. I also prophesied (and we were then in 1940) the disappearance of altars, replaced by a completely bare table, and also of all the crucifixes, in order that Christ be considered as a man, not as a God. I insisted that Mass be only a community meal, to which all would be invited, even unbelievers... I searched for the means of suppressing the Pope. I consoled myself by hoping that we would surely succeed in making him look foolish."

Over the past few days I finished this book and it is alarming what has happened in the past 50 years that the Communist, atheistic agents sought:


  • Emphasis on "the Lord's Supper" instead of "The Sacrifice"
  • The use of the Mass in vernacular
  • The abandonment of the High Altar for a bare table
  • Communion in the Hand
  • Less use of the phrase "Real Presence"
  • Communal Penance sessions
  • A New Canon that specifically included removing the reference to Christ's "Holy and Venerable hands"
  • Elimination of the talk of indulgences
  • A shift to the focus of the rights of man instead of the rights of God
  • The abandonment the original schema for Vatican II developed by Traditionalists like Archbishop Lefebvre
  • And much more
This short book is a testament that evil is real and in our midst and that the enemy can hide behind a facade of holiness, when in fact they seek to subvert the Church and create one world religion focused on man.  The best thing that we can do to resist this is to always hold true to the Traditions of our Fathers and reject all novelties.  The Communists would frequently mask their evil behind seemingly good intentions; but they knew that the consequence of their work would ultimately be detrimental to the Faith.
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Wednesday, September 24, 2014
The Martyred Bishops of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church United with Rome

https://www.amazon.com/Martyred-Bishops-Romanian-Greek-Catholic-Church/dp/0974729515/ref=as_sl_pc_ss_til?tag=acatlif-20&linkCode=w01&linkId=V5U3TQKVJ2CCL3BQ&creativeASIN=0974729515
A few years ago I received a copy of "The Martyred Bishops of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church United with Rome" by Peter-Michael Preble.  This week I was able to get around to reading the book.

It is a very quick read - only 79 total pages.  The book itself begins with presenting an overview of the persecution inflicted upon the Church by the Communists in Romania.  For those unfamiliar, the Communists had a false council called in which the Union with Rome from 1700 was allegedly broken.  In so doing, the Romanian Catholics would be forced to accept the puppet Orthodox Church that served the Communists.  But to legitimize this, the Communist regime needed a bishop of the Catholic Church to "convert."

"The Martyred Bishops of the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church United with Rome" presents the story of each of the bishops who, refusing to convert to the Orthodox-Communist sect, won the crown of martyrdom.  Some died while in prison.  Others were shot in the head.  Others died while in exile.  But all won the glorious crown of martyrdom. 

The book itself is a straight-forward and easy read.  You really feel connected with the Bishops whose zeal for the Truth and for the Catholic Church allowed them all to suffer with heroic courage.  One part that truly resonated with me was the following:
In prison the bishops, priests felt moments of indescribable joy.  They knew their heart was with God, whom they loved above all.  This grace renewed their courage and perseverance in following Christ, who "For the sake of the joy which lay before Him, endured the cross, heedless of its shame" (17)
I only wish the book ended with a history of what occurred in the years after Communism fell. Overall the book was inspiring and I am happy to recommend it.

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Monday, September 22, 2014
Massive Outpouring of Reparation for the "black mass" in Oklahoma City

It is simply outrageous that public space was used for a blasphemous mockery of the Catholic Religion. God is not mocked.  He will conquer.  The Immaculate Heart of our Lady will triumph.

The act of reparation hosted by the local Archbishop for the public satanic "black mass" was well attended in Oklahoma City. At 3:00 PM thousands of Catholics gathered at St. Francis Church for a holy hour, which included a procession and Benediction. About 1,200 people prayed at the Civic Center from 4:45 to 7:00 PM, as the "black mass" was perpetrated against God. At the end of the final rosary, a rainbow appeared over the skyline of Oklahoma City, it was a heavenly reminder of Our Lady's victory over Satan referenced in Genesis. "She shall crush his head." 


Taken from the SSPX Website:
Catholics of Tradition responded with extraordinary generosity to the calling of a crusade of reparation against the Satanic Black Mass in Oklahoma City. With only 9 days for notice and planning, 6 priests, 7 seminarians, a group of Franciscan sisters and almost 1,000 lay faithful from across the country converged on Oklahoma City on September 21.

A Solemn Mass was offered by Fr. Daniel Themann in a ballroom filled past capacity and with hundreds of faithful pouring out into the hotel foyer watching the Mass on live video feed. In his sermon, Fr. Themann reminded the faithful that a good soldier is motivated not by the hatred of that which is in front of him but by the love of that which is behind him. Condemning the Satanic blasphemy permitted by civil authorities to occur in the Civic Center, he also reminded the faithful of how each of us has also offended God. He echoed Fr. Wegner’s call for reparation.

Following Mass, the crowds moved through the hotel in profound silence to march to the gates of the Civic Center. Despite a predicted 80% chance of torrential rain, a blazing sun beat down on the procession as it wended its way through the city with the fifteen decades of the rosary and the Christus Vincit reverberating across town. The Knights and Honor Guard from St. Mary’s, Kansas led the column and a choir from La Salette Boys Academy from Olivet, Illinois sang the Mass and acted as gracious ushers.

Humanly-speaking such a result from Fr. Wegner’s call to arms would have been impossible in so short a time. Faithful came in a spirit of reparation from Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, and Pennsylvania with some chapels organizing chartered buses to make the trip.

Following the Mass and Rosary procession of reparation, the U.S. District provided lunch to the participants in the Sheraton Hotel where the Mass had been sung and in a local restaurant as the crowd exceeded the capacity of the hotel. The response of Tradition demonstrates how God can use even the most base and repulsive evil act to manifest His greatness. The clergy and faithful of the U.S. District joyfully served as His instrument in manifesting His omnipotence over the tiny forces of evil pathetically attempting to mock His power.

 For those unfamiliar with this whole issue, Fox News provides some details:
Protesters far outnumbered attendees of a Satanic 'black mass' held in Oklahoma City Sunday.

The Oklahoman newspaper reported that between 40 and 50 people attended the ritual, which was held in a small theater in the basement of the Oklahoma City Civic Center. The ceremony was led by Adam Daniels, a self-proclaimed Satanist, who had said that his group would tone down the ritual's more decadent elements to comply with state law.

Daniels told the Tulsa World prior to the ceremony that he would include a ritual denouncing Jesus Christ and stomp and spit on a wafer representing the Communion host. He added that private rituals conducted by his group featured sex, urine, and nudity.

Meanwhile, about 1,200 Roman Catholics crowded into St. Francis of Assisi Church to hear a holy hour prayer service led by Archbishop Paul S. Coakely. Those who couldn't get into the sanctuary filled an adjacent gym and cafeteria area, while approximately 400 others gathered outside to hear the service piped through speakers.

Coakley told attendees in his homily that Oklahoma City had been targeted by "dark forces," but noted that as Christians "we know that Christ conquered Satan. The war has been won, Christ has conquered, though skirmishes will continue until Christ comes to reign forever."

The service was followed by a procession to the Civic Center, where protesters from around the region had gathered to demonstrate against the Satanic ritual. Security had been stepped up for the event and Oklahoma City Police told KOKH-TV that someone had called in a bomb threat during the service. The Oklahoman reported that one woman was arrested after she knelt in front of one of the entrances to the Civic Center and refused to leave.  [May she be praised for her actions to defend our Lord.  She is the modern day Veronica from the Via Dolorosa]

Despite the outrage over the service, city officials said they would not block the ritual from going forward because the Civic Center is a public building.
Image Sources: SSPX Website
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