FSSP Minneapolis Hosts Catholic Watchmen Event

by Karen Hastreiter, FSSP Minneapolis

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“My hope is that someday every parish will have small men’s groups where men find support and encouragement to be authentic disciples, and therefore can become the fathers and leaders of the faith in their families that God intended them to be.”

The above quote is from the Most Reverend Andrew Cozzens, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He is describing an initiative, started in 2016 and backed by him, called the Catholic Watchmen, which aims to strengthen the spiritual lives of the men of the diocese. The group has regular meetings in various parishes around the Archdiocese and also sponsors special events and conferences for men. On Tuesday, May 8th, the Church of All Saints, the FSSP apostolate in Minneapolis, hosted a Catholic Watchmen event, a Marian procession, with the Most Reverend Bernard Hebda, Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, as the special guest and speaker.

His Excellency started the evening hearing confessions along with Fr. Alex Stewart, assistant pastor of All Saints. At 7 p.m., Archbishop Hebda, All Saints pastor Fr. Peter Bauknecht, Fr. Stewart and Fr. Spencer Howe, pastor of neighboring parish Holy Cross, processed into the church with a full team of All Saints’ altar servers. The men’s schola from the parish chanted the Litany of Loreto, and everyone then processed outside through the residential neighborhood, singing Marian hymns. Upon returning to the church, the Archbishop exposed the Blessed Sacrament and concluded with a Marian Consecration prayer of St. Maximilian Kolbe.

The evening ended with a dinner served by the St. Joseph Guild, All Saints’ group for men, and a talk by His Excellency on Our Lady under her title Mediatrix of All Graces. He strongly encouraged the men to have a relationship with and devotion to the Blessed Mother. He reminded them of the importance of setting the example for their children, particularly their sons. He shared his own father’s example in taking him to their parish every Monday when he was a youth to attend the Novena of the Miraculous Medal. That fostering of a devotion to Our Lady has stayed with him all his life, especially through his priesthood. He quoted Scriptures and the Church Fathers in showing that the Blessed Mother is truly our Mother, as well as the Mother of Our Savior, and that we owe her love and devotion. The evening concluded with a brief Q & A and some fellowship.

Our thanks to Mrs. Tracy Dunne for her photographs of the event.