Dependence on Mary

https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/total-dependence-our-lord-our-lady-51942

St. Louis de Montfort takes a close look at the hidden life of Our Lord. What does he see? God Almighty imprisoning Himself in the womb of Mary for 9 months, then living as a little babe relying on her for his nourishment and bodily care. She changes his clothing, bathes Him, carries Him from place to place. We would expect it surely to stop there. We would expect Him to quickly cut the strings binding Him to His mundane family life, so that He could go out into the world and assert His almighty power. Surely, He must hasten to begin His work to convert the world to Himself.

But no, this is not His choice. Instead, He spends 30 years, yes, 3 decades, next to Our Lady in Nazareth, obeying her will, being submissive to her in all things. These are the facts, as told to us in the Gospel.

St. Louis recognizes these facts on the one hand and on the other that there was no mistake. There are no mistakes in the life of Our Lord. Everything that He does is most exactly according to the plan of the Father and the most perfect thing that could be done. Here we have a mystery that the human mind cannot reconcile: on the one hand, the fact that Our Lord’s life was perfect in every respect, and on the other that He spent 30 years subject to Our Lady. How is it that this was the very best plan?

[Our Lord] did not disdain to shut Himself up in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, as a captive and as a loving slave, and later to be subject and obedience to her for thirty years. It is here that the human mind loses itself, when it seriously reflects on the conduct of the Incarnate Wisdom who willed to give Himself to men—not directly, though He might have done so, but through the Blessed Virgin. (True Devotion to Mary, §139)

St. Louis indicates that Our Lord also chose to be dependent upon Our Lady in the working of His miracles, saying the following:

If we examine closely our Blessed Lord’s life, we shall see that it was His will to begin His miracles by Mary. He sanctified St. John in the womb of his mother, St. Elizabeth, but it was by Mary’s word. No sooner had she spoken than John was sanctified; and this was His first miracle of grace. At the marriage of Cana He changed the water into wine, but it was at Mary’s humble prayer; and this was His first miracle of nature. He began and continued His miracles by Mary, and He will continue them to the end of ages by Mary. (True Devotion to Mary, §19

Gabon’s Fathers in the Faith

Marcel Lefebvre was sent on a mission to Gabon from 1932 to 1945.

https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/gabon-celebrates-its-fathers-faith-51589

The bishops of the country, the representatives of the Episcopal Conferences of Central Africa, and the president of the Pontifical Missionary Works, who came from Rome for the occasion, gathered together in Libreville to celebrate the jubilee year marking 175 years of the evangelization of Gabon which ended on September 29, 2019.

“Celebrating the 175 years of Holy Ghost Fathers missionaries coming to this land is important not only to the Church in Gabon but also to the sister Churches. Indeed, from Gabon, the Fathers of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit—better known as Spiritans—have gone to spread the Gospel in neighboring lands such as those of the current Congo Brazzaville, where they arrived 30 years later,” Bishop Francisco Escalante Molina, Apostolic Nuncio to Gabon and Congo Brazzaville, told Fides.The first Catholic missionaries who arrived in Gabon in 1844 were all French. When they left Bordeaux on September 13, 1843, they were ten: Bessieux, Regnier, Maurice, Audebert, Roussel, Bouchet, Paul Laval, and three young men, André, Jean, and Grégoire. On their arrival in Gabon on September 28, 1844, they were only two: Jean Remi Bessieux and the young Gregory Sey.The ordeal of a long journey had decimated the troop: before reaching the coast of Gabon the missionaries had stopped at Gorée in Senegal, Cape Palms in Liberia, Grand Bassam and Assinie, and Côte d’Ivoire.

Soon, the Spiritans settled, built churches, catechized the natives and took care to convert the local rulers first. Starting in 1844 the sovereigns Denis and Quaben, who had very good relations with Bishop Bessieux, asked for baptism.

Then, a sign of a flourishing Christianity, seminaries were built and that soon opened, to welcome the first Gabonese vocations.

Long before the founding of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, Bishop Marcel Lefebvre, then a Spiritan missionary, was sent to Gabon to train the future indigenous clergy in the 1930s. Among his pupils, three became bishops.

Half a century later, in 1986, Catholic Tradition established itself in Libreville with the founding of the Saint-Pie X Mission, which continues to spread the faith as it comes from the Apostles.

BREAKING: Idols throw into the Tiber River

“But the things which the heathens sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God. And I would not that you should be made partakers with devils.”  ~1 Cor. 10:20

“Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn their groves with fire, and break their idols in pieces: destroy their names out of those places!”  ~Deuteronomy 12:3

I saw this this morning & just had to share it.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-controversial-amazon-synod-statue-siezed-and-thrown-into-the-tiber-river-full-video

In this dramatic video, titled “the journey of the Pachamamas,” at least two persons enter Santa Maria in Traspontina Church near St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (apparently in the early morning hours), remove several replicas of the controversial carved statue of an unclothed female statue from the side altars where they had been displayed, proceed to the Castel Sant’Angelo and greet St. Michael the Archangel, before chucking the statutes into the Tiber River.

Pope St. Pius X & Our Lady

In the mystery of the Incarnation, Mary becomes Mother of all men, because by giving life to the Head of the Mystical Body of Christ, she gives it at the same time to all his members.

In his encyclical Ad diem illum (02/02/1904) Saint Pius X states: “For is not Mary the Mother of Christ? Then she is our Mother also”. From her divine motherhood flows her spiritual motherhood for all men.

He proves this by referring to Mary’s role in the mystery of the Incarnation:“We must in truth hold that Christ, the Word made Flesh, is also the Savior of mankind. He had a physical body like that of any other man: and again as Savior of the human family, he had a spiritual and mystical body, the society, namely, of those who believe in Christ. ‘We are many, but one sole body in Christ’ (Rom. 12, 5). Now the Blessed Virgin did not conceive the Eternal Son of God merely in order that He might be made man taking His human nature from her, but also in order that by means of the nature assumed from her He might be the Redeemer of men. For which reason the Angel said to the Shepherds: ‘Today there is born to you a Savior who is Christ the Lord’ (Luke 2, 11).

Wherefore in the same holy bosom of his most chaste Mother Christ took to Himself flesh, and united to Himself the spiritual body formed by those who were to believe in Him. Hence Mary, carrying the Savior within her, may be said to have also carried all those whose life was contained in the life of the Savior.”

Therefore, Mary already carried us in her womb as the future brothers of her Son. Undoubtedly, she did not know us then by individual knowledge, but she wanted us as Jesus wanted us to be, and she loved us with the special love with which her Son loved us.

And the Holy Pope concludes: “Therefore all we who are united to Christ, and as the Apostle says ‘are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones’ (Ephes. 5, 30), have issued from the womb of Mary like a body united to its head. Hence, though in a spiritual and mystical fashion, we are all children of Mary, and she is Mother of us all. ‘Mother, spiritually indeed, but truly Mother of the members of Christ, who are we’ (S. Aug. L. de S. Virginitate, c. 6)”.

If any motherhood consists essentially in giving and nurturing life, could a true human motherhood be conceived without a special love towards the child? Could it be conceived especially in the Heart of the most perfect mother? Since Mary’s love for us is incomparable, let us be worthy children of such a mother and love her in return with constant and faithful love.

Jubilee of St. Pius X Seminary

https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/fribourg-jubilee-st-pius-x-seminary-51398

On October 13, 1969, the great adventure of Écône began in Fribourg, Switzerland. At the St. John Bosco school on Marly Road, nine seminarians who entered put themselves under the direction of Archbishop Lefebvre to prepare for the priesthood.

It was to the commemoration of this historic event in the Church, on October 5, 2019, that the seminary was invited.

The starting point of this pilgrimage was the Notre-Dame de Bourguillon, Guardian of the Faith, to which sanctuary the Archbishop and his followers often came to pray. Some even received holy orders there.To everyone’s great joy, a pioneer of the fight, Bishop Tissier de Mallerais was present.

After the renewal of the consecration of the Fraternity to the Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart of Mary, the procession moved and descended the steep path that leads to the Lower Town.

Bishop Morerod was so kind as to place the Augustinian Church of Saint Maurice at our disposal for Mass at the faldstool, with Bishop Tissier celebrating.

To welcome the procession, whose singing they heard in the distance, the porters set the church bells in motion, and to the sound of this beautiful carillon, a crowd of more than 500 faithful entered the church. The Swiss clergy was massively present, and the choir was no less full than the nave.

Then, radiant, the veteran of the first hour ascended to the altar for this anniversary mass, which on this first Saturday of the month was the votive Mass of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In addition, from the choir loft of this baroque church, some baroque pieces, answered the seminary scola, giving a very solemn air to the ceremony.

In his own words, the Bishop broadly painted the providential opening of this seminary: depicting the manner in which God pushed his servant Marcel Lefebvre to take over the direction of this nucleus, he who was thinking of retirement, and did not think it was his duty to embark on such a “risky adventure.”

After the magnificent Mass, which came to a close with the singing of the Te Deum, aperitifs were served on the square.

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During the meal that followed, Fr. Pellouchoud traced the history of the foundation, and presented the protagonists of this group. Then Bishop Tissier recounted his memoirs, the recollection of the events that led him to Archbishop Lefebvre, and his first year in the seminary in Fribourg. He exhorted us to take the example of the Archbishop’s obedience to follow—and not lead—Providence. Fr. Bouchacourt, second assistant to the Superior General, concluded by insisting on the importance of holding high and firmly the torch that Archbishop Lefebvre has passed on us, and that is incumbent upon us to transmit.

With these good words, the seminary left to visit Fribourg, guided by the Fr. Mörgeli. The Bishop deigned to join the visit. The tour included St. Michael’s College, founded by St. Peter Canisius, the Catholic University of George Python and, icing on the cake, St. Nicholas Cathedral.

Deo gratias! Ad multos annos!

Organized with undeniable brilliance and great generosity by the prior of Enney, under the responsibility of Fr. Schreiber, District Superior of Switzerland, this familial pilgrimage owes its success to the innumerable considerations of Divine Providence, to the benevolence in all charity of the local authorities, as well as the encouraging presence of the many clergy and faithful from afar who came to support us.

The seminary expresses its fullest gratitude to all those who contributed to the beauty of this event, and assures them of their prayers.

Catholic Doctrine: The Sense of the Church (3)

https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/catholic-doctrine-sense-church-3-50874

The Supernatural Mission of the Church

Until the end of time, the Church works to give new children to God and to edify the Body of Christ until its completion. United to the successors of the Apostles so as to continue the mission of Christ, her priests are privileged instruments spreading the Light and Life of Christ to souls.

It is through the Church that fallen nature is able to return to its Creator. It is she who returns people to God, uproots sin from them, and sanctifies them.

Her beneficent actions also extend to the things that she consecrates to divine worship, or orders to the wise use of man. To recapitulate in Christ all of creation redeemed by His Blood, the priests of the Church are the chosen instruments, called and consecrated, to plant and water, to offer and bless—oporet sacerdotem offere et benedicere.

And so, the holy Church in which we believe is an essentially supernatural society, visible, holy, and universal, that Jesus Christ instituted during His life on this earth.

Apart from her founder, it is the Holy Ghost, source and donor of this sanctity, from whom she receives her own holiness. The Church continues the work of Christ on earth so that the fruits of the Redemption accomplished on the Cross may be applied to men until the end of time.

Through the paroxysms and sometimes heartbreaking crises, the bloody persecutions, to the seemingly irrevocable schisms of Arianism in the 4th century to today’s modernism, God does not abandon His Church and asks each generation to militate in favor of her, to carry on the good fight for the faith, each one according to his grace of state and his place, far from any seditious spirit and any shameful compromise.

From: Le Sens de l’Eglise (The Sense of the Church) by Fr. Gaston Courtois, Fleuris, Paris, 1950