Tuesday 14^th September

Holy Mass (Sung) will be offered at the earlier time of 5pm in St John’s church.

The signatory Institutes want, above all, to reiterate their love for the Church and their fidelity to the Holy Father. This filial love is tinged with great suffering today. We feel suspected, marginalized, banished. However, we do not recognize ourselves in the description given in the accompanying letter of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes, of July 16, 2021.

“If we say we have no sin …” (I John 1, 8)

We do not see ourselves as the “true Church” in any way. On the contrary, we see in the Catholic Church our Mother in whom we find salvation and faith. We are loyally subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Pontiff and that of the diocesan bishops, as demonstrated by the good relations in the dioceses (and the functions of Presbyteral Councillor, Archivist, Chancellor, or Official which have been entrusted to our members), and the result of canonical or apostolic visits of recent years. We reaffirm our adherence to the magisterium (including that of Vatican II and what follows), according to the Catholic doctrine of the assent due to it (cf. in particular Lumen Gentium, n ° 25, and Catechism of the Catholic Church , n ° 891 and 892), as evidenced by the numerous studies and doctoral theses carried out by several of us over the past 33 years.

Have any mistakes been made? We are ready, as every Christian is, to ask forgiveness if some excess of language or mistrust of authority may have crept into any of our members. We are ready to convert if party spirit or pride has polluted our hearts.

“Fulfill your vows unto the Most High” (Psalm 49:14)

We beg for a humane, personal, trusting dialogue, far from ideologies or the coldness of administrative decrees. We would like to be able to meet a person who will be for us the face of the Motherhood of the Church. We would like to be able to tell him about the suffering, the tragedies, the sadness of so many lay faithful around the world, but also of priests, men and women religious who gave their lives trusting on the word of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

They were promised that “all measures would be taken to guarantee the identity of their Institutes in the full communion of the Catholic Church”[1]. The first Institutes accepted with gratitude the canonical recognition offered by the Holy See in full attachment to the traditional pedagogies of the faith, particularly in the liturgical field (based on the Memorandum of Understanding of May 5, 1988, between Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Lefebvre). This solemn commitment was expressed in the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei of July 2, 1988; then in a diversified manner for each Institute, in their decrees of erection and in their constitutions definitively approved. The men and women religious and priests involved in our Institutes have made vows or made commitments according to this specification.

It is in this way that, trusting in the word of the Supreme Pontiff, they gave their lives to Christ to serve the Church. These priests and men and women religious served the Church with dedication and abnegation. Can we deprive them today of what they are committed to? Can we deprive them of what the Church had promised them through the mouth of the Popes?

“Have patience with me!” (Mt 18:29)

Pope Francis, “encourage[s] the Church’s pastors to listen to them with sensitivity and serenity, with a sincere desire to understand their plight and their point of view, in order to help them live better lives and to recognize their proper place in the Church.”(Amoris Laetitia, 312). We are eager to entrust the tragedies we are living to a father’s heart. We need listening and goodwill, not condemnation without prior dialogue.

The harsh judgment creates a feeling of injustice and produces resentment. Patience softens hearts. We need time.

Today we hear of disciplinary apostolic visits to our Institutes. We ask for fraternal meetings where we can explain who we are and the reasons for our attachment to certain liturgical forms. Above all, we want a truly human and merciful dialogue: “Have patience with me!”

“Circumdata varietate” (Ps 44:10)

On August 13, the Holy Father affirmed that in liturgical matters, “unity is not uniformity but the multifaceted harmony created by the Holy Spirit”[2]. We are eager to make our modest contribution to this harmonious and diverse unity, aware that, as Sacrosanctum Concilium teaches, “the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows” (SC, n ° 10).

With confidence, we turn first to the bishops of France so that a true dialogue be opened and that a mediator be appointed who will be for us the human face of this dialogue. We must, “avoid judgements which do not take into account the complexity of various situations … It is a matter of reaching out to everyone, of needing to help each person find his or her proper way of participating in the ecclesial community and thus to experience being touched by an ‘unmerited, unconditional and gratuitous’ mercy.” (Amoris Laetitia, n ° 296-297).

Done at Courtalain (France), August 31, 2021.

Fr. Andrzej Komorowski, Superior-General of the Fraternity of Saint Peter

Msgr. Gilles Wach, Prior General of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest

Fr. Luis Gabriel Barrero Zabaleta, Superior-General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd

Fr. Louis-Marie de Blignières, Superior-General of the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer

Fr. Gerald Goesche, General Provost of the Institute of Saint Philip Neri

Fr. Antonius Maria Mamsery, Superior-General of the Missionaries of the Holy Cross

Dom Louis-Marie de Geyer d’Orth, Father Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Magdalen of Le Barroux

Fr.  Emmanuel-Marie Le Fébure du Bus,  Father Abbot of the Canons of the Abbey of Lagrasse

Dom Marc Guillot, Father Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Mary of  la Garde

Mother Placide Devillers, Mother Abbess of the Abbey of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Le Barroux

Mother Faustine Bouchard, Prioress of the Canonesses of Azille

Mother Madeleine-Marie, Superior of the Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus Sovereign Priest

_____________

[1] Informative Note of June 16, 1988, in Documentation Catholique, n° 1966, p. 739. 

[2] Video Message of Pope Francis to the participants of the Congress on Religious Life. dell’America Latina e dei Caraibi, convocato dalla CELA, 13-15 agosto 2021.[Source, in French: Notre-Dame de Chrétienté/ Paris-Chartres Pilgrimage. Emphases added by Rorate]

[Source: Rorate Caeli]

Dear members of the Confraternity,

The Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes and its accompanying letter from Pope Francis have shocked us all. We have not yet been informed of any definitive decisions regarding the future of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and its apostolates. Even though the first reactions of various bishops have been rather reassuring and have not involved any significant restrictions, nevertheless, in the coming weeks various bishops’ conferences will discuss the matter on the occasion of this motu proprio and possibly take decisions that will be groundbreaking for us. The Roman Congregation for Religious Orders, which in the future will be responsible for us instead of the “Ecclesia Dei” Commission, will also begin its work in a few weeks and will also make the first decisions concerning the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

For these decisions, which are important for us and which bishops and cardinals will make in the near future, I would like to ask you, as the closest confidants of our Fraternity, most sincerely for your prayers. Through our prayers, let us consciously place the future of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her intercession and maternal protection will lead the Fraternity into the future in a way that is in accordance with the Divine Will. For this purpose, I would like to create the so-called “Living Rosary”. For this purpose we have created a simple homepage, which you can find at www.fssp.de/rosarium and register there.

In the columns of the table you will find numbers 1 to 30, which stand for the 30 days of the coming month of September. Each day is divided into sections of 20 minutes from 0:00 to 24:00 (Central European Time), in which two people can sign in with a simple click. With the first click, the corresponding field turns yellow and the number 1 appears. Once a yellow field is clicked, another person can click on it again, then the field turns green and the number 2 appears. The goal is for each field to appear green, that is, for at least two people to pray the rosary during the corresponding period. If you make a mistake and you would like to pray the Rosary at another time, you can click on the box another time and your entry will be deleted.

With your help, the Rosary will be prayed without interruption during the month of September. Since there are about 8000 members in the Confraternity of St. Peter worldwide, not all of them can register in this table. But even if all the fields of the table are already set to green, I would like to ask all the other members of the Confraternity who could not register to participate by praying at least one rosary. The times of the table rows are given according to Central European Time (Berlin), i.e. each member should calculate the time difference himself according to his place of residence. I would ask that the American members predominantly adopt the European night hours. Not all members of the Confraternity have internet access or can be reached by e-mail. If you know of any such members, I would ask that you pass this prayer request on to them. It would be beautiful if we could succeed in continuously assailing Heaven with about 8000 rosaries prayed during the month of September.

Each rosary should be prayed with the following intention: We pray for our Holy Father and for all the bishops, as well as all those in authority in the Church who will have to make significant decisions regarding the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in the near future. We pray for all the priests and seminarians of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, that they may continue to carry out their ministry in the Church with fidelity, reverence and obedience, giving guidance to the faithful through a clear ecclesial and humble attitude. We pray for all the faithful in our apostolates and for all the people attached to the traditional Mass, that they will not lose heart, but will be able to accept this time of trial and, with the help of God’s grace, come out of it stronger.

United in prayers,

Father Stefan Reiner
Chaplain General of the Confraternity of St. Peter

For more on the Confraternity, see: https://fssp.com/confraternity-of-saint-peter/

August 27, 2021

Mass this Saturday, 21 August, will be at the earlier time of 9:30AM to facilitate a funeral in the Parish. 

following the publication of the Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes

Fribourg, July 20, 2021

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, whose goal is the sanctification of priests through the faithful observance of the liturgical traditions prior to the reform implemented after the Second Vatican Council (cf. Constitutions n. 8), has received Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio Traditionis Custodes with surprise.

Founded and canonically approved according to the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei Adflicta of Pope St. John Paul II of July 2, 1988, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter has always professed its adherence to the entire Magisterium of the Church and its fidelity to the Roman Pontiff and the successors of the Apostles, exercising its ministry under the responsibility of the diocesan bishops. Referring in its Constitutions to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, the Fraternity has always sought to be in accord with what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI called in 2005: “the hermeneutic of reform in the continuity of the Church” (Address to the Roman Curia, December 22, 2005).

Today, therefore, the Fraternity of St. Peter is deeply saddened by the reasons given for limiting the use of the Missal of Pope St. John XXIII, which is at the center of its charism. The Fraternity in no way recognizes itself in the criticisms made. It is surprising that no mention is made of the many fruits visible in the apostolates attached to the missal of St. John XXIII and the joy of the faithful in being able to benefit from this liturgical form. Many people have discovered or returned to the Faith thanks to this liturgy. How can we fail to notice, moreover, that the communities of the faithful attached to it are often young and flourishing, and that many Christian households, priests or religious vocations have come from it?

In the current context, we wish to reaffirm our unwavering fidelity to the successor of Peter on the one hand, and on the other, our desire to remain faithful to our Constitutions and charism, continuing to serve the faithful as we have done since our foundation. We hope to be able to count on the understanding of the bishops, whose authority we have always respected, and with whom we have always collaborated loyally.

Confident in the intercession of Our Lady and our Patron, Saint Peter, we hope to live this trial in faith and fidelity.

[source: fssp.org]

Tuesday 29th June
9am Barntown: Low Mass
7:30pm Waterford: Sung Mass
The car park behind St John’s church will be open for this Mass and for all holiday / feast day Masses in addition to Sundays. The entrance is next to 38 John Street.

A Sung Mass will be offered in St John’s church, Waterford, for the feast of the Sacred Heart on Friday 11th June at 7:30pm.

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