Dates: September 17th – 21th, 2012  (Monday – Friday)

Cost: $400

Program

Each workshop comprises a five-day residential course at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary including both classroom sessions and practical hands-on instruction. All instruction, training materials, meals, and room & board at the seminary are provided.

Low Mass Workshop:

• A comprehensive introduction to the Extraordinary Form of the Mass and its liturgical principles
• An overview of the 1962 Roman Missal and liturgical calendar
• A complete explanation and demonstration, with practical hands-on instruction, in the ceremony of Low Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal
• Tips and strategies for gaining proficiency in Latin
• An introduction to Sung Mass and Gregorian Chant

Registration

To register, please go to the MASS TRAINING SIGN UP page and follow the steps listed. Please note that we need all the documentation listed before we can secure your reservation. Please register in advance as spaces are limited and will be allocated on a “first come, first serve” basis.

Financial Assistance Available

For priests who require financial assistance, Una Voce America has set up a financial aid plan. For details please contact Una Voce America, c/o Mr. Jason King, PO Box 1146, Bellevue, WA 98009 or e-mail INFO@UNAVOCE.ORG

From Mr. Daniel Heenan (an FSSP seminarian):

From June 18-28th the Saint Francis Xavier Mission Trip of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter journeyed to the remote town of Banica in the Dominican Republic for a ten-day mission trip. Banica is situated along the Haitian border, about a five-hour drive from the capital, Santo Domingo. Many people in this region live in abject poverty. Though the parish was established in the early 16th century by Spanish missionaries, for most of its history it has not had a resident priest. Approximately 20 years ago, the diocese of Arlington, VA began sending priests to care for the Catholic population of about 8,000 souls in the parish of San Francisco in Banica and in the neighboring parish of San Jose.

Like other groups that make similar trips, the Saint Francis Xavier Mission Trip sought to serve Christ in the poor, and, through this encounter, sanctify those who participated in the trip. To this end, the group built two outhouses in the small town of Cercadillo, which is situated about 15 miles outside of Banica but takes close to an hour to reach by truck due to the poor condition of the roads. This simple amenity represents a tremendous asset to these people who have no running water and no electricity. The young people also built a simple fence around the village’s cemetery to add to its dignity and to keep out the animals.

The goals of this trip, however, were not limited to the corporal works of mercy. Along with dirtying their hands with difficult manual labor under the intense summer sun, the FSSP also provided training in the Traditional Latin Mass to the pastor of the mission, Fr. Keith O’Hare, of the diocese of Arlington, VA. Seminarians likewise provided training in serving the Traditional Mass to the altar boys of the parish. During the group’s stay, three sung Masses and one Solemn High Mass were offered in Banica (certainly the first Solemn Mass in a long time and perhaps even the first ever considering the scarcity of clergy in the region) and a second Solemn High Mass was offered at the end of the trip in the church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in the historic colonial zone of Santo Domingo.

Just as the evidence of the impact of the work in the village of Cercadillo could be seen in the new structures that were built and the friendships made with the local residents, so too were the spiritual results evident as curious residents found their way to the back of the church during the group’s Masses and holy hours and followed the group’s example in receiving at the altar rail, going to confession, and even wearing chapel veils, as the altar boys gained a new appreciation for the richness of the church’s tradition, and as Fr. O’Hare began making plans to regularly celebrate the extraordinary form.

A trip such as this certainly leaves participants with a renewed fervor for their faith, wonderful new friendships, and a countless store of anecdotes. One such story that beautifully encapsulates the blending of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy occurred during the final day working in Cercadillo. While digging post holes for the cemetery fence, a man came up and asked to speak to a priest. A man on the other side of the village, he related, was dying and wanted help from the Church. What he was requesting at first, however, was help finishing the latrine that the dying man had begun. He saw that the group of Americans had been building outhouses for other villagers and, since the man had taken ill and was unable to finish the one he had begun, his family was hoping they could receive similar assistance. Hearing that the man was dying, the priest was alerted and he and one of the seminarians immediately went to see him. This man who had sought material help was about to receive something much greater, for this man had been away from the Church for years and on account of that had not even thought it possible to request the sacraments. The dying man’s daughter, who had just arrived from the capital the previous day, greeted the Americans with tears in her eyes. She explained how she had prayed and wept through the night beseeching God to look after her father who had been away from the sacraments for some time. She extolled the mercy of God for the fact that that very day a priest had ridden into this remote village – something that is not an ordinary occurrence. When the visit was concluded, the two clerics returned to the rest of the group to find the fence nearly completed. Father was then able to consecrate the cemetery, hallowing the ground in which the body of that newly sanctified man would perhaps soon be interred.

If you would like more information about the Saint Francis Xavier Mission Trip or would like to contribute to future projects, please contact SFXMission@gmail.com.

The North American District of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) would like to congratulate Fr. John Berg on his re-election as the Superior General for a second term from 2012-2018. We look forward to his continued leadership over the course of his second six year term.

The General Chapter of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is gathering from July 3 to July 18, 2012 at the International Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Denton, Nebraska. The election, at which the 33 capitulants were present, took place on July 9, 2012.

The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei was immediately informed and sent a congratulatory message.

Father John Berg is an American priest born in 1970, where he studied philosophy at St. Thomas Aquinas College in California and theology at the International Seminary of St. Peter in Wigratzbad, Bavaria, Germany. Fr. Berg holds a licentiate from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. Ordained a priest in 1997, Fr. Berg taught as a professor at the International Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Nebraska from 1999 to 2000. Afterwards he exercised his ministry from 2000 to 2005 at the FSSP parish in Sacramento, California, before being appointed again as professor at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. In 2006, the FSSP General Chapter elected him Superior General for a first term of office.

UPDATE (July 13, 2012) – Election of Assistants and Counselors

The election of the Assistants and Counselors took place on July 11, 2012.

Assistants to Fr. Berg elected are Fr. Patrick du Faÿ de Choisinet for another term, and Fr. José Calvin Torralbo and Fr. Andrzej Komorowski, who replace Fr. Almir De Andrade and Fr. Charles Van Vliet.

Counselors elected are Fr. Josef Bisig for another term, and Fr. John Brancich, who replaces Fr. Alban Cras.

UPDATE (July 17, 2012) – Appointment of North American District Superior

On Saturday, July 14, 2012, Superior General Fr. John Berg reappointed Fr. Eric Flood as the District Superior of North America for a three year term.  We look forward to Father Flood’s continued pastoral care and planning over the course of the next three years.

UPDATE (July 18, 2012) – End of the 2012 Chapter: Communiqué of the Superior General

The final session of the fifth General Chapter of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter took place on July 17, 2012. The Capitulants carried out their work, united together through charity, with a great zeal and dedication. They were able to approve a number of texts and directories which will be of long lasting service to the sanctification of its members. More importantly, the days of discussion were a testimony to the fundamental attachment of its members to the direction given to the Fraternity at the moment of its foundation.

Today, on this 24th anniversary of the foundation of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, Fr. Walthard Zimmer, youngest among the founders of the FSSP, preached at the votive Mass of Ss. Peter and Paul to close the General Chapter. He pointed out how the prayer for this week reminds us of the debt of gratitude we have to the hand of Providence throughout these 24 years: Deus, cuius providentia in sui dispositione non fállitur: te súpplices exorámus; ut nóxia cunta submoveas, et ómnia nobis profutúra concédas. (God, whose providence in its plan is not circumvented, humbly we implore You, that you clear away every fault and grant us all benefits.)

May God’s Providence continue to guide us in these next six years!

Following the General Chapter and the first meetings of the newly elected General Council, the elections and a number of nominations can be announced:

The General Chapter has elected the following:

• Fr. John Berg, Superior General for six years
• Fr. José Calvin Torralbo, Fr. Patrick du Faÿ de Choisinet and Fr. Andrzej Komorowski as Assistants for six years
• Fr. John Brancich and Fr. Josef Bisig as Counselors for six years

The Superior General has nominated the following with the approval of his General Council:

• Fr. Patrick du Faÿ de Choisinet as Rector of the International Seminary of St. Peter in Wigratzbad for two years
• Fr. Josef Bisig as Rector of the International Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Denton, USA) for three years
• Fr. Vincent Ribeton as District Superior of France for three years
• Fr. Axel Maussen as Superior of the Germanophone District for three years
• Fr. Eric Flood as Superior of the North American District for three years
• Fr. Arnaud Evrat as General Secretary for three years

The Church of St. Rose of Lima, a historic landmark in Quincy, IL, re-opened and became the home of the Fraternity of Saint Peter in the fall of 2008. Before the church was re-opened, 3 marble altars, a matching altar rail, and a pulpit were installed. On June 10, 2012 the Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield IL, His Excellency Thomas J. Paprocki, consecrated and dedicated these altars before celebrating a Pontifical Mass. Earlier in the month, St. Rose of Lima proudly celebrated the Centennial of the Dedication of the church on Sunday, June 2.

During the Mass, Bishop Paprocki conferred the sacrament of Confirmation on two members of the community, and then offered an outdoor procession of the Blessed Sacrament after Mass to celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Congratulations to Fr. Arnaud Devillers F.S.S.P., pastor of St. Rose and former Fraternity District Superior.  We wish to thank both Bishop Thomas Paprocki and his predecessor, Bishop Emeritus George Lucas, for their wonderful support of the Fraternity of St. Peter and the Latin Mass in the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois.

In Sæcula Sæculórum is a new collection of Gregorian chant and polyphony recorded by the seminarians at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska.

Selections are drawn from the entire liturgical year, and display the sacred glory and beauty of sacred music. Existing for almost 1,500 years, Gregorian chant emerged under Pope Saint Gregory the Great, for whom the style of music is named. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI calls Gregorian chant a “supreme model of sacred music.”

Each morning our seminarians place themselves in the Presence of God asking Him for assistance (Track 1, Deus in adiutórium) and the day ends with a hymn of Mary, the Mother of God, praising her and begging for her maternal protection (Track 22, Salve Regína). Throughout the day, the seminary community sings several times, using the ancient Latin chants for the Divine Office and for Holy Mass. Whether in the classroom or in the chapel, Gregorian chant plays an essential role in the traditional formation of future priests at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary.  In Saecula Saeculorum is currently available in the seminary’s Amazon bookstore, on iTunes, or purchase In Sæcula Sæculórum  from Fraternity Publications.

Morning

1. Deus in adiutórium (0:54) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/01-deus-in-adiutorium.mp3|titles=01 Deus in adiutorium]

Advent

2. Roráte cæli (3:57) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/02-rorate-caeli.mp3|titles=02 Rorate Caeli]

3. Ave María (2:17) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/03-ave-maria.mp3|titles=03 Ave Maria]

Christmas

4. Dóminus dixit ad me (2:24) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/04-dominus-dixit-ad-me.mp3|titles=04 Dominus Dixit Ad Me]

5. Puer natus est (3:34) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/05-puer-natus-est.mp3|titles=05 Puer Natus Est]

6. Tribus miráculis (1:31)  [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/06-tribus-miraculis.mp3|titles=06 Tribus Miraculis]

Lent

7. Média vita (3:09) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/07-media-vita.mp3|titles=07-Media vita]

8. Parce Dómine (2:48) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/08-parce-domine.mp3|titles=08 Parce Domine]

9. Christus factus est (2:44) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/09-christus-factus-est.mp3|titles=09 Christus factus est]

10. Crux fidélis (3:07) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/10-crux-fidelis.mp3|titles=10 Crux fidelis]

Eastertide

11. Regína cæli (0:44) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/11-regina-caeli.mp3|titles=11 Regina Caeli]

12. Víctimæ Pascháli (1:53) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/12-victimae-paschali.mp3|titles=12 Victimae Paschali]

13. Hæc dies (1:38) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/13-haec-dies.mp3|titles=13 Haec Dies]

14. Ascéndit Deus (1:40) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/14-ascendit-deus.mp3|titles=14 Ascendit Deus]

15. O Rex glóriæ (1:08) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/15-o-rex-gloriae.mp3|titles=15 O Rex Gloriae]

16. Spíritus Dómini (3:53) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/16-spiritus-domini.mp3|titles=16 Spiritus Domini]

17. Allelúia: Veni Sancte Spíritus (2:55) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/17-alleluia-veni-sancte-spiritus.mp3|titles=17 Alleluia Veni Sancte Spiritus]

18. Te lucis ante términum (1:28) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/18-te-lucis-ante-terminum.mp3|titles=18 Te lucis ante terminum]

Throughout the Year

19. Allelúia: Assúmpta est (2:31) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/19-alleluia-assumpta-est.mp3|titles=19 Alleluia Assumpta Est]

20. Refúlsit sol (0:46) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/20-refulsit-sol.mp3|titles=20 Refulsit Sol]

21. Orémus pro Pontífice (1:44) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/21-oremus-pro-pontifice.mp3|titles=21 Oremus Pro Pontifice]

22. Salve Regína (4:06) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/22-salve-regina.mp3|titles=22 Salve Regina]

Polyphony

23. Alma Redemptóris Mater (Palestrina) (2:56) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/23-alma-redemptoris-mater-palestrina.mp3|titles=23 Alma Redemptoris Mater (Palestrina)]

24. Iesu Rex Admirábilis (Palestrina) (2:06) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/24-iesu-rex-admirabilis-palestrina.mp3|titles=24 Iesu Rex Admirabilis (Palestrina)]

25. Adorámus Te (Palestrina) (2:22) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/25-adoramus-te-palestrina.mp3|titles=25 Adoramus Te (Palestrina)]

26. Ave María (Arcadelt) (2:30) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/26-ave-maria-arcadelt.mp3|titles=26 Ave Maria (Jacob Arcadelt)]

27. Laudáte nomen Dómini (Tye) (1:38) [audio:https://fssp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/27-laudate-nomen-domini-christopher-tye.mp3|titles=27 Laudate Nomen Domini (Christopher Tye)]

Total Disc Time: 62:23

Saint Benedict’s Chapel, the Fraternity parish in Chesapeake Virginia, offered adoration and thanksgiving to our Lord in a solemn Corpus Christi Procession between three altars. The Feast of Corpus Christi was celebrated by St. Benedict’s assistant pastor, Fr. Peter Byrne FSSP.

The final closing of St. Gregory’s Academy occurred on May 26, 2012.

St. Gregory’s Academy was a boarding school for young men grades 9-12, located in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania, and operated by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

After nearly twenty years, the Fraternity decided to close the school in order to better focus on our dual mission of forming priests at our seminary in Nebraska and offering the Traditional Latin Mass and Sacraments for the Faithful at our many apostolates.

TRANSCRIPT REQUESTS

Transcripts will be issued only to:

• Educational institutions which request it (colleges, schools). These transcripts will be sent directly to the educational institution.
• Parents or former students who have reached the age of 18 and who have requested a copy of the transcript in writing and have signed the letter. For these requests, the FSSP will send one copy to the individual.

All other requests for transcripts will not be given until further notice or unless determined as an exception to the above.

Requests may be mailed to:

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
Attn. St. Gregory’s Academy Records
119 Griffin Road
Elmhurst Twp, PA  18444

As a reminder, Fr. James Buckley, FSSP, Retreat Master, will be giving a three day retreat based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola at:

St. Benedict Abbey Still River (Harvard), Massachusetts

3-Day Women’s Retreat: July 27-29, 2012 (Fri-Sun)
3-Day Men’s Retreat: August 10-12, 2012 (Fri-Sun)

Cost is $230.00

Includes meals, room and board, and (now mandatory) liability insurance. Arrival time is the Thursday evening before the retreat begins.

For information, contact Mr. James Buxton, preferably by e-mail: janthonybuxton@yahoo.com or call (978) 957-3118 and leave a message. (you will hear the phone message “You have reached Pa and Babchi.”)

Our own Father Joseph Kramer, FSSP, was interviewed by the Catholic News Service this spring, in a short but excellent interview on the draw of young people to the ancient traditions of our Catholic Faith.

Father Kramer’s central question is this:

Has one of the reasons Pope John XXIII called Vatican II — to find a new language to better engage the modern world — occurred?  Have we found this new language?

From Pope John’s opening speech:

Our task, our primary goal, is not a discussion of any particular articles of the fundamental doctrine of the Church, nor that we repeat at greater length what has been repeatedly taught by the Fathers and by ancient and modern theologians, and which we think to be well known and familiar to all. For this a Council was not necessary. But at the present time what is needed is that the entire Christian teaching with no part omitted, be accepted by all in our time with fresh zeal, with serene and tranquil minds, as it still shines forth in the Acts of the Council of Trent and First Vatican Council. It is necessary that as all sincere cultivators of the Christian, Catholic, and apostolic reality ardently desire that the same doctrine be more fully and deeply understood that consciences be more deeply imbued and formed by it; it is necessary that such certain and immutable doctrine, to which we owe the obedience of faith, be scrutinized and expounded with the method that our times require. One thing is the deposit of faith and the truths contained in our venerable doctrine, another thing is the way they are announced, with the same meaning and the same content. – Oct. 11, 1962

Fr. Kramer is pastor of the Fraternity parish in Rome. Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini, or Church of the Most Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims, is a baroque 17th-century church which sits about a mile from St. Peter’s Square.

In his interview, Fr. Kramer emphasizes the enduring appeal of traditional worship in its beauty, aesthetics and meaning, as well as being drawn into the traditional liturgy’s emphasis on the Mass as Sacrifice, which makes it “more obvious that Christ is offering His Body and pouring out His Blood for the remission of sin.”

Classical liturgical music, too, has an “uplifting, energizing effect, it really moves people to prayer,” he says. “Both Gregorian chant and polyphony highlight the texts of the liturgy. When you’re listening to them, you meditate on the words and internalize their meaning.”

The loss of traditional worship and the anticipated shock is reflected in Pope Paul’s general audience the week before the new Missal was put into use for Advent in 1969:

No longer Latin, but the spoken language will be the principal language of the Mass. The introduction of the vernacular will certainly be a great sacrifice for those who know the beauty, the power and the expressive sacrality of Latin. We are parting with the speech of the Christian centuries; we are becoming like profane intruders in the literary preserve of sacred utterance. We will lose a great part of that stupendous and incomparable artistic and spiritual thing, the Gregorian chant. We have reason indeed for regret, reason almost for bewilderment. What can we put in the place of that language of the angels? We are giving up something of priceless worth. But why? What is more precious than these loftiest of our Church’s values? The answer will seem banal, prosaic. Yet it is a good answer, because it is human, because it is apostolic. Understanding of prayer is worth more than the silken garments in which it is royally dressed. Participation by the people is worth more—particularly participation by modern people, so fond of plain language which is easily understood and converted into everyday speech. – Nov. 26, 1969

Father Kramer notes that the ethos of the Council brought an overwhelming desire of the clergy of the council generation — not so much the laity — to update the Church and reconcile the Church to the modern world. However, as that period has faded, it has given ground to a desire by the youth of the Church to regain what was lost, recapture clearer teaching and catechetics, more discipline, and find greater certitude and commitment.

A longer article on Father Kramer’s interview can be found on the CNS website.

This month of June closes with the great feast of Saints Peter and Paul on the 29th. Those who have visited Rome know firsthand the importance to the Eternal City of these two great martyrs. Because the rite we celebrate is truly Roman, this feast has also always held a particular pride of place in the liturgical calendar.

It is, of course, also the principle feast of our Fraternity of St. Peter, and we have considered ourselves fortunate to have such a great intercessor and example in the Prince of the Apostles. The choice of taking on the title of St. Peter for our institute was really a rather audacious one. Just as no Pope has dared to take the name Peter II for two millennia, so too, no institute or religious order has taken the title of the one chosen to be the first Vicar of Christ. But given the circumstances of our inception, our founders were encouraged to choose as our patron the one upon whom Christ chose to build His Church.

In our coat of arms (as found at the top of this page), upon the blue field which invokes the Blessed Virgin Mary are placed two symbols of St. Peter. The most recognizable are the keys which we are accustomed to seeing in the hands of almost every depiction of the Prince of the Apostles.

For our Fraternity they represent our particular attachment to the See of Peter, upon whom rests the authority to bind and to loosen: “And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven” (Mt. 16:19).

An important aspect of our work is the formation of men for the priesthood who are prepared to combat error with truth. To do so requires a well-formed intellect to recognize what is dangerous to souls striving to walk along the straight and narrow path towards heaven. For example, if you come from a cold climate, you know that it is not wise to say that it is the springtime when it is really the winter. A mother who would say this to her children would put them at risk, as they would go out without being properly dressed for the elements.

Oftentimes, the battle against error accompanies suffering with the Church as she suffers.

The second symbol on our coat of arms is the three tears which represent the triple confession of contrition of Simon Peter when our Lord asks him if he loves Him, following his denial of Christ (Jn. 21:15-17). These three tears are principally intended to remind our members of the deep love of St. Peter for Christ; and that, despite his weaknesses, he had the charity and humility to carry out the difficult task entrusted to him by our Lord to “confirm thy brethren” (Lk. 22:32).

These tears are also meant to signify the fact that the Fraternity was born at a moment of difficulties and sorrows within the Church: “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Going they went and wept, casting their seeds. But coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves” (Ps. 126:1-5).

But they could just as well be tears for the state of the world in which we live, where man’s positive law seems to move daily further and further away from God’s Natural Law. The present Administration’s so-called “HHS Mandate” is perhaps the most frightening example yet in that not only are the most heinous crimes allowed in the name of “choice” by the state, but now it wishes to force everyone to participate in these acts in some manner.

In the face of such “mandates” from the state—which would have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago—it would be easy for our hope to be shaken. Yet it is, of course, only a step in the long slippery slope of secularization in the Western world. The poet T.S. Eliot describes the perseverance necessary in such a state: “The World is trying to experiment with attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide” (Thoughts After Lambeth, 1931).

Here, too, St. Peter provides for us a great model of the perseverance and the courage of the Church: His epistles are an exhortation to his flock to concentrate upon faith and charity in the face of a world hostile to the message and moral teaching of Christianity.

The people’s faith was to be the anchor of their daily lives in the midst of tribulations: “Wherein you shall greatly rejoice, if for now you must be for a little time made sorrowful in divers temptations. That the trial of your faith (much more precious than gold which is tried by the fire) may be found unto praise and glory…” (I Pet. 1:6,7).

Their charity was to be seen in all aspects of their lives in offering up wrongs done to them in imitation of our Lord: “For this is thankworthy: if for conscience towards God, a man endure sorrows, suffering wrongfully” (I Pet. 2:19). Charity was further to be lived out by showing a worthy example in society to those who did not believe: “Having your conversation good among the Gentiles: that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by the good works which they shall behold in you, glorify God in the day of visitation” (I Pet. 2:12).

But our patron St. Peter did not stop simply with words and exhortations. He also set an example—which would serve so many of his successors as the Vicar of Christ—as to how to live this out unto martyrdom. May St. Peter, our great patron, intercede for each of us to have the courage and perseverance of the early Christian martyrs in the face of this world in which we live!

Yours in Christ,

Fr. John Berg, FSSP
General Superior of The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter