Today we celebrate the feast of the Purification of Our Lady, or Candlemas, on which we commemorate the obedience of Our Lady to the customs of the Mosaic Law 40 days after Our Lord’s Nativity. We also commemorate the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple and His meeting with Simeon, who proclaims Him to be “the light of revelation to the Gentiles.” The liturgy of this day includes the tradition of blessing and distributing candles, which are lighted and carried in procession before the Mass.

Suscépimus, Deus, misericórdiam tuam in médio templi tui: secúndum nomen tuum, Deus, ita et laus tua in fines terræ.

We have received Thy mercy, O God, in the midst of Thy temple: according to Thy name, O God, so also is Thy praise unto the ends of the earth.

Psalm 47:10-11, from the Gradual for today

Our seminarians took third place at the 18th Annual Father Pat O’Malley Invitational Basketball Tournament at Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois! Seminaries across the country send teams to compete in the annual tournament, which was held this past weekend, January 26th-28th.

Congratulations, Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary!

Did you see the statistics from the past year? Here are some highlights, and they are as encouraging as ever. As the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, we have been blessed with continuing growth, an abundance of vocations, and a young average age (38). Numbers include the FSSP worldwide.

For full statistics, including country breakdown and Confraternity numbers, click here.

Membership

Total Members: 437

Priests: 287
– 272 incardinated
– 8 incorporated ad annum
– 5 associated
– 2 postulants

Deacons: 21

Non-deacon seminarians (including postulants): 129

Average age of members: 38

Deceased members: 8

Number of members (as of January 1 each year): 

Locations

Dioceses served: 129

Mass centers: 239 locations

Personal parishes: 40

Number of houses: 125

Number of erected houses: 85

The Agnus Dei from Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Missa O magnum mysterium, sung at Christmas Midnight Mass by the Mary Immaculate Choir of St. Stephen of Hungary Parish, the FSSP’s apostolate in Allentown, Pennsylvania. You need to hear this.

Choir directed by Eric McWhirter. Photo by parishioner Mary Schwartz.

Have you heard about our new apostolate in Fresno, California? Holy Cross Chaplaincy began in September of last year, and joins the three apostolates that already reside in the Golden State. The four apostolates form a “golden” line that roughly follows I-5 from Sacramento to San Diego, Holy Cross being the second stop if you’re traveling from north to south. The Chaplaincy, which is under the care of chaplain Fr. José Zepeda, FSSP, and is based at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Fresno, welcomed our North American District Superior, Fr. Gerard Saguto, for a Solemn High Mass on Sunday, January 14th, 2018.

Today is the annual Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children, a day on which the U.S. Bishops have instructed us to pray for the protection of the unborn and to do penance in reparation for acts of abortion.

According to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, no. 373:

In all the Dioceses of the United States of America, January 22 (or January 23, when January 22 falls on a Sunday) shall be observed as a particular day of prayer for the full restoration of the legal guarantee of the right to life and of penance for violations to the dignity of the human person committed through acts of abortion.

Let us join with the Bishops in prayer and penance, imploring God’s mercy upon our nation and the world for this terrible crime, and invoking Our Lady’s aid in bringing an end to abortion and the culture of death and restoring a culture of life.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn, pray for us!

As many of you know, Fr. Goodwin, FSSP, suffered a stroke in October of 2016. He is currently convalescing, and Christ the King Parish, our apostolate in Sarasota, Florida, is gathering a spiritual bouquet to present to Father for the intention of his continued health and recovery. Please consider contributing a Mass, a rosary or another devotion to the bouquet – if all of us from across the various apostolates in the District contribute even a little, there is no telling what an array of spiritual flowers we could assemble.

Please email your contribution to office@christthekingsarasota.org by this Wednesday, January 24th. Please include the apostolate or city where you are from (if you would like – not mandatory).

Thank you, and may God reward you!

Today the annual March for Life takes place in Washington, D.C. Thousands of marchers every year gather at the nation’s capital to witness to the sanctity of human life and to protest the heinous practice of abortion. The march is always held near the dark anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States on January 22, 1973. This year marks 45 years since the decision.

The 22nd itself, this coming Monday, is the annual Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children, a day on which the U.S. Bishops have instructed us to pray for the protection of the unborn and to do penance in reparation for acts of abortion. Let us join with the Bishops on Monday, and let us pray this day and always for an end to abortion, and that life may be cherished, loved and protected, at all its stages, from conception until natural death.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn, pray for us!

On Sunday, February 11, 2018 at 10:15 a.m., His Excellency Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of Astana, Kazakhstan, will celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass at St. Stephen of Hungary Parish, our apostolate in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Bishop Schneider will also give a talk during the potluck and coffee hour which will be held in the church hall following Mass.

Mark your calendars, and join the event at FSSP Allentown’s Facebook page here!

Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves therein.
Psalm 69:34

On October 8th, 2017, a remarkable sight was seen on the sandy shores of Virginia Beach.

A great crowd was walking down the boardwalk of the beach, the line of people creating a mighty river that stretched far down the shore. At their head an icon of St. Michael was carried aloft, followed by the main banner and the processional crucifix. Then came a stately row of flags representing the United States, the Vatican, POWs/MIAs and the State of Virginia. The men in colorful capes who bore the flags also carried their own flag, which, of course, was that of the Knights of Columbus.

Beyond them came the clerics in attendance, and then four scarlet-caped Knights carrying a gold-fringed canopy. Under the canopy was Our Eucharistic Lord, enthroned in a magnificent monstrance held by the hands of a priest in a white cope with IHS emblazoned on the back. And then followed another row of Knights, and with them the vast crowd of faithful who had come to walk with Our Lord in the annual Eucharistic Procession on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk.

The event, which is a coordinated effort of several parishes, began at Star of the Sea Catholic Church, where the faithful first gathered and Our Lord was enthroned in the monstrance before the procession exited the church, crossed over Pacific and Atlantic Avenues and turned north onto the broad boardwalk that parallels the beach. One can only imagine how the waves of the neighboring sea sang along with the hymns the people sang, and how the incense offered to Our Eucharistic Lord mingled with the salty maritime air. He Who made the mighty oceans was receiving the praises of His own creation, and He passed by under the appearance of that most humble creation, a little piece of bread.

The procession then entered a park where an altar of repose had been arranged. Our Lord was placed upon the altar, and there was a period of silent adoration and a short sermon on the Eucharist followed by Benediction. Then all returned to Star of the Sea, following the same route they had come.

This is the sixth year for the procession, although there have only been five that have taken place, last year’s being cancelled due to Hurricane Matthew. The inaugural event took place on October 13, 2012, the 95th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, and this year’s was held near the 100th anniversary. The procession is the fruit of an idea planted nearly forty years ago when founder Michael Cistola was still a student at Star of the Sea school. The school was staffed by IHM sisters, and one of them expressed her dream of a procession on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk honoring Our Eucharistic Lord.

The sister’s idea stayed with Mr. Cistola, and the time came for its materialization in 2012. In response to the HHS mandate which was being put forward at the time, His Excellency the Most Reverend Francis DiLorenzo, the late Bishop of Richmond, published bulletin inserts discussing the U.S. Bishops’ united opposition to the mandate and the Bishops’ call to all Catholics to urgent action and prayer against the unjust law. Mr. Cistola, a parishioner at St. Benedict’s, the FSSP’s parish in Chesapeake, saw the procession as a response to this call, and subsequently asked and obtained the Bishop’s permission to hold the procession. Fr. Neal Nichols, pastor of St. Benedict’s, coordinated the liturgical aspects of the procession and has done so every year since, meeting at Star of the Sea with the planning committee several times a year and involving as many clergy as possible. St. Benedict’s always has a grand representation at the procession and among the volunteers who organize the event.

If you are in the Virginia Beach area in October, do consider joining the Eucharistic Procession on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk. An idea sown in the mind of a child by a devoted IHM sister so many years ago has blossomed into a thing of celestial beauty, that, Deo volente, will grace the shores of Virginia Beach for years and years to come.