Today is the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, a first-class feast which falls on the third Friday after Pentecost. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is of very early origin in the Church, but the public devotion became more widespread due to the revelations made to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque of the Order of the Visitation in the 17th century. Our Lord appeared to her with His Heart surrounded by flames of love, and told her of the great love of His Heart for humanity and the grave sorrow brought to It by the indifference and ingratitude of men. He asked for the institution of the liturgical feast in honor of His Heart and for the devotion of receiving Communion on the First Friday of every month.

Today let us renew our own devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced by a lance and burning with love for humanity. Among the devotions we can consider taking up, if we have not done so already, are the First Friday devotion, consecration and acts of reparation to the Most Sacred Heart, and the enthronement of the Divine Heart in our homes.

A happy patronal feast day to Sacred Heart Parish, our apostolate in Fort Wayne, Indiana!

Tóllite jugum meum super vos et díscite a me, quia mitis sum et húmilis Corde, et inveniétis réquiem animábus vestris.

Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of Heart: and you shall find rest to your souls.

– Matthew 11:29, from the Alleluia for today

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, make our hearts like unto Thine!

On Thursday, May 31st and Sunday, June 3rd (external feast), FSSP parishes across the District celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi, the ceremonies of which include a majestic outdoor procession with the Blessed Sacrament enthroned in the monstrance. This procession often involves halting for Benediction at several prepared altars, or “stations”, placed at intervals on the procession route. Sometimes the path is strewn with petals, and sometimes it is decorated with astounding artwork created with flowers or, as in the case of FSSP Dayton (see below), colorfully dyed wood chips. We took a virtual tour of the ceremonies, and we share with you below the beautiful things we found. Click on a picture in the gallery to see where it is from.

On Saturday, May 26th, 2018, His Excellency the Most Reverend Alexander Sample, Archbishop of Portland, conferred the holy priesthood upon ten deacons from Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary.

The ceremony took place at 10 o’clock in the morning at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, the beautiful early summer day providing a fitting backdrop for the joy of the event. The deacons processed into the cathedral, their priestly vestments draped over their left arm, followed by the Archbishop and the other sacred ministers, who were vested in the red of the Holy Spirit for the Saturday of Pentecost. The faithful came in large numbers, filling the cathedral to witness the beautiful and solemn ceremony of ordination and to attend the Pontifical Mass that accompanied it.

An ordination is truly an extraordinary event to behold, the various stages involved in the imparting of the Sacrament offering a beautiful illustration of the transformation that is taking place. One particularly striking element is the total prostration of the ordinandi before the altar while the Litany of the Saints is sung by the whole congregation, a posture of both total reverence and prayer, which also symbolizes the complete offering that they are making of themselves to God. Another notable feature is the consecration of the hands of the ordinandi with holy oil. The oil is applied to their hands to represent the unique holiness of those hands, which will henceforth transform bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. The new priest’s hands are afterwards bound with the manutergium, a white piece of cloth that soaks up the excess oil. This, in accordance with an ancient tradition, is later given to the priest’s mother. Upon her death the mother is buried with this cloth, the tradition holding that, at her judgment, when Our Lord asks her what she has done for Him in her life on earth, she will present it to Him and say, “I have given you a priest.”

The 2018 ordinandi for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter:

Fr. Martin Adams, Hayden Lake, Idaho
Fr. Stephen Braun, Sugar Land, Texas
Fr. Michael Cunningham, Spartanburg, South Carolina
Fr. Christopher Fitzpatrick, Enumclaw, Washington
Fr. Graham Latimer, Edmond, Oklahoma
Fr. Aaron Liebert, Westby, Wisconsin
Fr. Daniel Mould, Timaru, New Zealand
Fr. Martin Rangel-Garcia, Tornillo, Texas
Fr. Andrew Rapoport, Paso Robles, California
Fr. Richard Wallace, Phoenix, Arizona

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter gives thanks to God as we rejoice in the ordination of these ten new priests and in the great things God has in store for them. Please join us in praying for them as they begin their new work, and in praying for Deacon Seth Phipps who will be ordained on June 9th in Warrington, England.

If you were not able to attend in person or watch the live webcast, video of the ordinations will be available soon. Over the next several weeks we will also be publishing the vocation stories of all eleven priests, so stay tuned!

A happy and most glorious feast of Corpus Christi, a day on which we honor and celebrate Our Lord’s immense gift to us, the Most Blessed Sacrament of His Body and Blood. This feast is celebrated on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday, and is often celebrated a second time on the following Sunday as the External Feast of Corpus Christi.

A notable part of the beautiful ceremonies of this day is the procession with the Blessed Sacrament enthroned in the monstrance. The procession features the magnificent hymn Pange lingua, which was written by the Angelic Doctor St. Thomas Aquinas and includes the familiar Tantum ergo that we sing at Benediction.

The Gospel for today is a passage taken from the Bread of Life discourse found in St. John, where Our Lord speaks in clear and distinct terms about the nature of the Blessed Sacrament. He identifies it as truly His own Body and Blood, of which we must partake if we are to have life within us.

In illo témpore: Dixit Jesus turbis Judæórum: Caro mea vere est cibus, et sanguis meus vere est potus. Qui mandúcat meam carnem, et bibit meum sánguinem, in me manet, et ego in illo.

At that time Jesus said to the multitudes of the Jews: My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him.

– John 6:55-56

Fr. Gerard Saguto, North American District Superior for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, is among the featured speakers at the sixth annual Sacred Liturgy Conference taking place June 27th – 30th in Salem, Oregon.

The mission of the conference is to educate the faithful about the beautiful realities of the Holy Mass, to encourage reverence and beauty in its celebration and to promote the use of sacred music. The event regularly brings together an incredible group of speakers who give thought-provoking and enriching lectures on topics related to the sacred liturgy. This year’s theme is “Transfiguration in the Eucharist” and featured speakers include, in addition to Fr. Saguto, Bishop Athanasius Schneider of Astana, Kazakhstan, Archbishop Alexander Sample of Portland, Bishop Conley of Lincoln, Fr. Cassian Folsom, OSB, of Norcia, Italy and other distinguished guests.

The schedule also includes Solemn High Mass every day of the conference, Gregorian chant workshops and workshops for priests, deacons and seminarians on how to celebrate the Latin Mass. You can view and download the full schedule here.

Don’t miss this extraordinary event. Learn more and register here!

Photos below are from past years at the Conference.

Today we observe Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember those who have given their lives in the service of our country. Let us pray this day for the repose of the souls of all our fallen servicemen and women, for the healing of the wounded, and for the safe return of those deployed in dangerous regions far from home.

Some FSSP parishes are offering Requiem Masses on this day for the souls of the fallen. We’ve listed as many as we can below. This is not an exhaustive list, so be sure to check your bulletin to see if there is one being offered near you.

FSSP San Diego, 9 a.m.
FSSP Chesapeake, 9 a.m.
FSSP Richmond, 8 a.m. (this is not a Requiem as far as we know, but is being offered for deceased veterans, POWs and MIAs)

Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine: et lux perpétua lúceat eis. In memória ætérna erit justus: ab auditióne mala non timébit.

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. The just shall be in everlasting remembrance; he shall not fear the evil hearing.

Today ten men from Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary will receive the oil of the priesthood upon their hands and the seal of the priesthood upon their souls. The Pontifical Mass and ordinations will take place at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska, with His Excellency the Most Reverend Alexander Sample of Portland presiding. If you can’t be there in person, you can watch the live webcast at LiveMass, either through the website here or the iMass app, with commentary by Fr. Robert Fromageot, FSSP. The ceremonies begin at 10 a.m. Central, 11 a.m. Eastern, 8 a.m. Pacific Time. You can view more details about the ordinations in the video below.

Please pray for these men today, and for Deacon Seth Phipps who will be ordained in England in two weeks. Our Lady, Mother of Priests, pray for us!

by Karen Hastreiter, FSSP Minneapolis

“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.

At the same time and place as their Sacred Music Symposium on the 18th – 22nd of June, FSSP L.A. is holding a special training camp for altar boys with four seminarians from the Fraternity. The camp takes place from the 18th – 21st, and includes classes for younger servers (12 and under) from 1 – 4 p.m. each day and older servers (13 and over) from 4 – 8:30 p.m. Meals are included. There is no cost, but a donation is appreciated to cover the cost of food and seminarian travel.

You can learn more and sign up here. If you are interested in the concurrent Sacred Music Symposium, there are still a few spots left for that too. Sign up here.

Please share this post and the flyer below with any families you know with sons who would like to learn to serve the Latin Mass from the seminarians of the FSSP!

A most blessed Pentecost Sunday to all! Today we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Our Lady and the Apostles gathered in the upper room after Our Lord’s Ascension, awaiting the promised coming of the Paraclete. This day marks the official birthday of the Church, whereon She was endowed with the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit, set alight with His holy fire and fully equipped to begin Her mission in the world.

Pentecost occurs fifty days after Easter, the title itself deriving from the Greek word pentekoste (“fiftieth”), which originally referred to the Jewish Festival of Weeks, or Shavuot, celebrated fifty days after Passover. The vestments of the day are red in honor of the Holy Spirit, and, like Easter, the liturgy is preceded by a Vigil, includes a Sequence and is followed by an Octave. The day is also called Whitsunday, a reference to the white garments of the neophytes baptized during the Vigil.

Paráclitus autem Spíritus Sanctus, quem mittet Pater in nómine meo, ille vos docébit ómnia, et súggeret vobis ómnia quæcúmque díxero vobis.

But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you.