We all lead busy lives, whether we be working adults, busy moms, or, like Kornelia Fukś, a student juggling the duties of parish life, school and work. Ora et labora is the cornerstone not only of the monastic life but also of the lives of people in the world, the wisdom of St. Benedict applicable to both religious communities and our own families. Oftentimes, however, our duties can be overwhelming, we become disheartened or frustrated by all the things we have to do, and prayer takes second place in our lives. How do we keep it all in order? Kornelia, who hails from FSSP Thorold in Ontario, Canada, has some insights for us.

Who are you? Where are you from?

My name is Kornelia Fukś and I’m the oldest of four children. My parents are originally from Poland, but my siblings and I were all born in Canada, and we live in a small town in the Niagara region.

Are you a lifelong Catholic or a convert? Have you always attended the Latin Mass? How long have you been attending St. Aloysius?

I am a lifelong Catholic, but I have not always attended the Latin Mass. My family discovered Queen of Angels Oratory around seven years ago when my dad started learning Latin, and we began attending the Latin Mass regularly shortly after. As more and more people joined the parish, the oratory became too small, and the bishop allowed us to move to a larger church, St. Aloysius.

It must be amazing to be so close to Niagara Falls. St. Aloysius is only a 15 minute drive from the Falls, right?

It definitely is amazing! I’ve been to Niagara Falls many times and the beauty and grandeur impress me every time.

Are you involved in any groups or activities at your parish (altar society, choir, etc)?

A few years ago, I began taking chant classes at St. Aloysius and I now sing in the choir on most Sundays and feast days. In addition to singing the regular parts of the Mass, I sing with the choir during the beautiful ceremonies of Holy Week and sing carols before the Midnight Mass every year.

Where do you go to university?

I go to Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

What are you studying? What would you like to do when you graduate?

I am studying Applied Linguistics. I just started university this year and I don’t yet have a clear plan of what I would like to do after I graduate, but I would like to have a job involving languages.

Do you work in addition to going to school?

Yes, I work as a music teacher and teach piano and guitar to children both at a studio and at home.

As a Catholic student at a secular university, how do you bring your Faith to those around you? Do you get the chance to evangelize and share your Faith?

Topics related to the Faith come up quite often in conversations with friends, and I’ve been approached by members of various non-Catholic religious groups and clubs who are seeking new members. Most of the time, trying to persuade people that they are mistaken has little or no effect, so instead I try to ask them questions that will hopefully make them reflect on their opinions and see the flaws in their arguments. I am open to talking about and sharing my Faith, so when my friends ask about some of my beliefs, I’m always eager to explain. It’s difficult to tell how much of an effect my words and actions have, but I share my Faith when I can and pray for my classmates and friends.

Do you have any hobbies you like to pursue?

Over the past few years I developed an interest in languages and I spend a lot of my free time improving my language skills. I’m fluent in Polish and Spanish, and I’m currently working on learning Nahuatl, an indigenous language of Mexico, which is a very different but rewarding experience. I also play piano and guitar whenever I get the chance, and I enjoy making my own arrangements of songs.

What are some of the things you like to do with your friends? How important are good friendships for a young Catholic?

It can be difficult to get together during the school year since my friends and I have very different schedules, so most of the time we just meet for lunch and chat or study together, or attend some of the events held on campus. I also really enjoy attending our parish youth group, which is a great opportunity to play games and socialize with other young Catholics. Having good friendships is important because the people we associate with almost always influence us to a greater or lesser extent. Most young people want to belong to a group and have many friendships, and when they find themselves excluded from certain activities or ridiculed because of their beliefs, they are tempted to abandon their Faith. Getting together  with other young Catholics is always encouraging, and it allows us to find wholesome and enjoyable ways to spend time.

Being a working student means you have a busy life. If you find yourself getting overwhelmed with all the things you have to do, how do you maintain your peace and keep going forward? How do you, as they say, “keep calm and carry on”? What are your strategies?

Whenever I feel overwhelmed, I try to step back and remind myself that God has a special plan for me, and everything happens for a reason. God is never far away, always aware of our struggles, and He will give us the strength and graces we need to carry on if only we ask Him. It’s also important to remember that challenges and suffering are not useless, and instead of complaining about how hard life is we can always offer up our hardships to God.

What do you think about the place of prayer in the life of a young person? Sometimes prayer gets sidelined because we struggle to find the time for it. How do we make the time?

Prayer is an essential part of the spiritual life of any Catholic, and it is especially important for young people who face many temptations and challenges every day. Saying “I’ll pray when I have some time today” usually results in prayer being forgotten, and we often try to convince ourselves that there really hadn’t been any good moments for prayer that day. The best way to find time for prayer is to dedicate a specific time during the day to God and make prayer a part of our schedule. This way we won’t plan anything else for that time, and we’ll be unlikely to forget about prayer. Of course, this does not mean that we should forget about God for the whole rest of the day. We can always ask God to give us strength before we begin a new task, or recite a decade of the rosary while waiting at the bus stop. Any time is a good time to speak to God, even if only very briefly, and even the busiest people can find plenty of opportunities to pray and be close to God throughout the entire day.

On Saturday, October 14, 2017, North American Martyrs hosted its annual Oktoberfest, one of the main social gatherings of the year for the Seattle apostolate. Homemade beer is the order of the day, with participants every year making a home concoction and competing for the best brew. Memorable beers this year included “She’s My Honey”, a honey-ale made by Mrs. Carin Wilson from honey made by her own bees, and “Breakfast of the Gentiles”, a maple-bacon beer made by Mr. and Mrs. John Kennedy that was served with a tiny helping of waffle and bacon. Those two brews took the People’s Choice Award and second prize, respectively, with first prize going to a stellar IPA. The Double-Head Scottish Ale was also part of the action, brewed by none other than North American Martyrs pastor Fr. Joseph Heffernan!

But beer was not the only thing that you really needed to taste at Oktoberfest. Good German victuals were provided, including bratwurst and sauerkraut, and a staggering number of pies adorned a table along one wall, contestants in a pie contest that was a new addition to this year’s ‘fest. Competitors there included a blueberry cheesecake, a plethora of apple creations and a dark cocoa pie (Editor’s Note: we would like to know how to get the job of pie-taster). It must have been quite a task to pick the winner, but the title of top pie was awarded to the Apple Sherry Pie baked by Miss Abby Rookstool.

And then there were the cordials. Once upon a time the Oktoberfest was not held where it was held this year, in the parish hall of St. Alphonsus, the church where FSSP Seattle holds most of its Masses. Formerly Oktoberfest took place in the parish hall of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Mountlake Terrace, and a particular parishioner of St. Pius has a skilled and experienced hand at making homemade cordials. He brought these vodka-based treats to the FSSP festival held at his parish, and did the same this year even though the event was further south at St. Alphonsus, which is situated in Ballard, a neighborhood in the northern half of Seattle – that is, the half of Seattle north of where the Seattle Sound cuts the Emerald City in two. Twenty something years of experience go into the making of these cordials, and you could certainly tell if you decided to sample one of the many flavors on display on Saturday. You could try the Pumpkin Cordial (Editor’s Note: That one was good.), or maybe the Pear and Red Apple Cordials made from fresh fruit from the brewer’s trees.

But wait, there’s more! This Oktoberfest saw one more new competition in addition to the pies. The root beer contest was a hit, and was a brewing contest in which the youth could participate. The winner was the young Mr. Iain Wilson, whose Hootbeer, complete with an owl logo, took first prize. It was his mom who made the People’s Choice Award beer – brewing skills must run in the family!

The atmosphere of the day was one of joy and festivity, and a fantastic live polka band provided authentic music to complement the occasion. This is certainly an event that the whole parish looks forward to every year. This Oktoberfest must have been especially marked and circled on everyone’s calendars, as last year’s was cancelled due to weather. If you ever feel inclined to visit our apostolate in the great Pacific Northwest, might we suggest a trip in Oktober?

On October 13th, 2017, hundreds of people converged on Mater Dei Parish in Irving, Texas, to attend a Sung Mass and candlelit procession in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fátima.

The evening began with Mass at 6pm, the procession beginning at 7:30. The statue of Our Lady of Fátima, lit up brightly in the dark evening, was borne a mile and a half to Trinity View Park, with 700-800 attendees singing hymns and praying all 15 decades of the Rosary on the way. Two large speakers projected the voice of the decade-leader to the participants, and people who lived along the route of the procession came out of their houses to see what was happening. Mater Dei pastor Fr. Thomas Longua gave a talk at the park, and upon the return of the faithful to the church, any who desired it were enrolled in the Brown Scapular, with about 50 new members receiving the Scapular. 300 petitions filled a petition basket that had been set up for prayer requests to Our Lady. The evening concluded with a convivial reception in the parish hall, where it was standing-room only in a space with a 250-300 person capacity. The entire event wrapped up around midnight.

This procession is a prime example of the amazing things that are happening at this apostolate. To learn more about the procession and everything else going on, we checked in with Mr. Adrian Montes, the Parish Life Coordinator at Mater Dei.

Mr. Montes explained to us the incredible amount of preparation and manpower that went into the procession. 5 months and 100 volunteers were involved, with various parish groups contributing in some way. From the 20 men who rotated carrying the bier that held the statue of Our Lady, to the volunteers in passenger vans who provided shuttle services to and from the park for those who could not make the walk, the generosity of those involved was tremendous. 25 men with walkie-talkies provided a safety shield for the procession, and many other volunteers offered their time and resources in accomplishing a variety of other duties. “The spirit of this whole procession was awesome,” Mr. Montes said.

The event drew Catholics from other churches, including some Ordinariate and Byzantine Catholics. And some Protestants even came! “We all have one Mother, and we are all her children,” Mr. Montes said.

There is a lot on the horizon for this north Texas parish. You may have read our post here about the capital campaign that Mater Dei recently launched, the 1100 Sunday Mass attendees necessitating the building of a bigger space. There are already many groups active in the parish, and Mr. Montes told us more about some of the big plans that are in motion.

But we aren’t going to tell you about them here. There’s just too much to put in one post. Stay tuned for Big Procession, Big Plans: Part II in which we’ll continue our conversation with Mr. Montes and tell you more about all the exciting things going on at our Dallas apostolate.

St. Francis de Sales, the parish church wherein Regina Pacis Chaplaincy, the FSSP presence in Lexington, Kentucky, holds the majority of its Masses, is undergoing some exciting new renovations. The parish dates from 1793 and the current church from 1820 – the second-oldest Catholic church in Kentucky. The first priest ordained in the United States, Fr. Stephen Theodore Badin, served as pastor here until 1795. To learn more about the parish, we caught up with Fr. Mark Fischer, chaplain of Regina Pacis, who told us about the fascinating history of St. Francis de Sales and the exciting plans for the church’s restoration.

The church is primarily used by Regina Pacis, which holds Mass there every day. The parish itself has one weekly Mass there, a Saturday evening vigil that is attended by a group quite devoted to the old church. The parish is a mission of St. John’s parish in Georgetown, though this was not always the case; St. John’s used to be a mission of St. Francis, but due to demographic shifts the arrangement was reversed in 1932. St. Francis is a country parish, and used to own 200 acres of land that helped support the parish in the days when bartering was a more common currency than cash. Up until a few years ago, tenant farmers grew tobacco here. The land was eventually sold, except for 11 acres, and the money used for renovations and the church cemetery.

There is certainly some remarkable history attached to this cemetery. As well as being a resting place for a soldier who fought in the Revolutionary War and one of the parish priests, the cemetery also has some Civil War tales to tell. Kentucky was a swing state in the War, and buried in the cemetery are people of both Northern and Southern allegiance. These allegiances ran so strong that some had themselves buried facing north, others facing south!

In addition to the history of the church, we learned more about the restoration work that has begun. The plan is to make the structure sound for the next 100 years, no small task considering 197 years of water, termites and collateral damage from past work done on the church have accumulated to make the workload quite formidable. If there are sufficient funds, restoring the original Tudor arch ceiling plan, removing some of the paint over the natural walnut wood, and refinishing the pews are also on the docket. However, structural soundness is the main goal. You can see how beautiful the church once was, and the original shape of the ceiling and the look of the altar and woodwork, in the old 1892 photo of St. Francis in the first paragraph above.

If you would like to aid the restoration of the church, you can send donations to the attention of Fr. Fischer at:
Regina Pacis Rectory at St. Francis de Sales
St. Francis de Sales Restoration
4088 Frankfort Pike
Georgetown, KY 40324

Please make checks out to St. Francis de Sales and put “St. Francis de Sales Restoration” in the memo line.

Regina Pacis is doing a fantastic play-by-play of the renovations on its Facebook page, so be sure to like their page to follow all the action!

On October 8th, 2017, the annual Catholic Business Expo was held at Mater Dei Parish, the FSSP’s apostolate in Irving, near Dallas, Texas. The Expo is an opportunity for Catholic business owners to connect with parishioners who are looking for particular goods and services and would like to support their fellow parishioners. This year, the Expo took place in conjunction with the annual parish picnic, which meant increased attendance and even better networking opportunities for the already successful Expo.

The event is the brainchild of Dallas realtor and Mater Dei parishioner David Ross, a native Texan whose family has been in the real estate business since the 1960s. Back when professional athletics did not pay what it does now, Mr. Ross’s father counted among his summer hires members of the Dallas Cowboys. For Mr. Ross, real estate is not a just an income, but a calling and a mission. “In my business, I’m dealing with the home. It’s sacred, it’s set aside, it’s special. It’s a great thing to do.” Certainly, other Catholic business owners hold a similar view of their own businesses, and the Expo gives them the opportunity to share their gifts with parishioners who are looking to support Catholic businesses.

We talked more with Mr. Ross about the inspiration behind the Expo, why it is important, and the astounding diversity of businesses that are to be found among the parishioners of the Dallas apostolate.

The original idea was for parishioners to be able to support each other. Mr. Ross found that parishioners have a strong desire to support the businesses of their fellow-Catholics and fellow-parishioners, and he saw that it was important that those parishioners who are seeking services connect with those who are providing them. Thus, the Mater Dei Business Expo was born.

“When I heard a new parishioner say, ‘I didn’t know there was a real estate agent in the parish or we would have hired you to represent us,’ that hurts to hear,” Mr. Ross said. “Does that happen to all the other business people? It’s a way for parishioners to know that someone sitting next to them might provide a service, so that we can get business from each other and give business to each other.”

Mr. Ross also initiated the Mater Dei Parishioner Business Directory, a regularly-updated online resource of parish businesses. The directory, which can be found here, includes a description of the business and contact information, and is separated into such categories as, for example, Arts & Photography, Health & Wellness and Real Estate. Having such a resource available ensures that parishioners who are looking for a photographer, or a chiropractor, or a real estate agent have the chance to do business with their fellow-parishioners.

The variety of businesses run by Mater Dei parishioners is remarkable, the participants in the Expo representing an extraordinary range of different industries. Just a few of the 22 participants in the 2017 Expo were a caterer of Polish victuals, an audio/visual producer, a provider of assistance for seniors, an Urban Farmer consultant, a doctor, an internet marketing specialist, a fence builder, and an expert on all things Italian who was purveying espresso and roasted coffee beans.

The Expo was set up in the parish hall, to give those coming from Mass and participating in the parish picnic a chance to stop by and talk to the business owners. Each owner had a space and a table, where they provided brochures or samples of their work and chatted with their fellow-parishioners. The hall was certainly an impressive sight, set up with the carefully constructed displays of the many and varied participants.

“It’s a way for parishioners, whether new or old, to do business with each other, should they want to, and this helps them make that possible,” Mr. Ross said.

On Sunday, September 17, 2017, the parish of St. Benedict in Chesapeake, Virginia, celebrated its quarter-century anniversary. The parish began as a mission Chapel of the church of St. Gregory the Great in Virginia Beach, the Chapel being established under the auspices of the Most Reverend Walter F. Sullivan, then Bishop of Richmond. The Fraternity was invited by Bishop Sullivan’s successor, Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo, to staff St. Benedict’s Chapel after the retirement of Fr. Damian Abbaticchio, OSB, who had served the Chapel since 1992. A new church was then raised from the ground up, one of the first since the 1960s to be designed and used exclusively for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass. Bishop DiLorenzo dedicated the church on March 5, 2011, and less than a year later, it was canonically erected as a parish.

Joining the parish for their celebrations were three former parishioners: Fr. Philip Johnson of the Diocese of Raleigh, Fr. David Franco, FSSP and Fr. Robert Schmid, Jr., also of the Diocese of Raleigh. Fr. Johnson was the celebrant of the 10AM Solemn High Mass that Sunday, assisted by Fr. Franco and Fr. Schmid. You may remember the remarkable story of Fr. Johnson, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer as a Naval officer in 2008 at the age of 24. People with his condition usually live only about 18 months, but it has been nine years, and Fr. Johnson was ordained to the holy priesthood in January 2017. As a seminarian, he issued a well-known response to Brittany Maynard, who was in the news at the time for her plan to take her own life due to her struggle with a similar type of brain cancer to Fr. Johnson’s. That response, which argues strongly against suicide and proclaims the meaning and value of suffering when it is united to the Cross of Christ, can be read here.

Fr. Johnson, Fr. Franco and Fr. Schmid joined the parish for a celebratory luncheon held at the Chesapeake Conference Center after Mass.

On October 1st, FSSP Dallas, the first North American FSSP apostolate, launched its capital campaign to build a new church.

Dallas is certainly an apostolate that has never stopped growing, and this is not the first time that it has outgrown its accommodations. The story begins in June of 1991 when the community’s first Sunday Masses were held at St. Jude’s Chapel in downtown Dallas. Due to scheduling issues, the community moved to the Carmelite Monastery of the Infant Jesus of Prague and St. Joseph in 1992, and soon the booming numbers of attendees made a second Mass necessary. By the time Mater Dei moved to their current church in 2009, their numbers were overflowing the Carmel. The congregation is still growing, and the parish now has four Sunday Masses and four priests.

For some facts and figures on the campaign, we talked to the pastor of Mater Dei, the indefatigable Fr. Thomas Longua, who has been at the helm of the parish since before the first move in 2009. All Masses counted, there are 1,100 faithful who attend Mater Dei on any given Sunday. The church only seats 300, so you can imagine how full these Masses are. Mater Dei plans to add another Mass in the winter, and this will bring the Sunday Mass count to five. The church sees plenty of visitors on Sundays, and its position close to DFW International Airport most likely contributes to that number.

Here’s the idea behind the campaign. Though there are other new parish buildings in addition to the church itself that are part of the whole project, the new church is the first focus of Mater Dei’s efforts. The church, which will have a seating capacity of 900, will come in at $4.5 million, and the current campaign is focusing on garnering over half of that, or one-third of the overall project cost. According to diocesan policy, once they have half the required funds for the church, they can break ground.

The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex has seen continued growth in recent years and its popularity is only increasing; there is thus every reason to believe that the FSSP’s largest apostolate will also continue to increase. The new church is a joyful necessity springing from the fact that, amidst the arid plains of North Texas, the grace of God has planted an abundant garden of souls that just won’t stop blossoming and whose bountiful harvest is far beyond what mere human effort could produce. In a word, Mater Dei’s persistent habit of outgrowing its boundaries is a problem we couldn’t be happier to have.

If you are a Mater Dei parishioner, a traveler who has had the joy of visiting this apostolate, or just a faithful soul who would like to help make this new church a reality for Mater Dei, please donate to their campaign by clicking here.

In a little less than a month, we will observe the feast of All Souls’ Day with special prayers and sacrifices for the Poor Souls in Purgatory. Every year at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary we offer a novena of Requiem Masses for the Dead, and those whom you enroll will be remembered in the Masses of this novena and in the daily prayers of the priests and seminarians in the seminary chapel and cemetery.

To participate in the novena, please fill out the form found here by October 27th and enter the names of your loved ones in the Message section at the bottom. It is a blessed gift that we can give to the Poor Souls during the month of November.

Exciting news from Jersey! On Saturday, October 14, 2017, a Solemn Pontifical Mass will be held at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, New Jersey at 9:30am. The celebrant will be the Bishop of Paterson, His Excellency the Most Reverend Arthur Serratelli.

The Mass is taking place entirely upon the initiative of Bishop Serratelli himself, who is a great supporter of the Traditional Latin Mass.

Click the image below to view and download the PDF version of the flyer. Please share the flyer with your friends and family, and, with the permission of your pastor, print it out and place it on the bulletin boards of your parishes. 

The FSSP has officially begun its administration of the National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Baltimore, Maryland. This is the first national shrine to be entrusted to the care of the FSSP.

The shrine is a jewel of the East Coast, a place of extraordinary architectural beauty built in 1845 in the southern German Neo-Gothic style. It is also a church that holds a significant place in Catholic history, it being the church where the provincial headquarters of the Redemptorist Order were located for many years and where that most illustrious Redemptorist, St. John Neumann, professed his religious vows, served as pastor and was consecrated bishop.

Sunday, August 6, marked the first Sunday of the Shrine being under the care of its new pastor, Fr. Joel Kiefer. Weekday Masses, including a special Mass in honor of the Shrine’s patron on the evening of Wednesday, August 2, were begun the week leading up to that Sunday.

The congregation which gathered for the 11:30 Mass was able to greet their new pastor at a celebratory meet-and-greet held in the rectory afterwards. The smorgasbord of coffee, pastries and hors d’oeuvres was completed by a cake emblazoned with an FSSP shield and the words “Habemus Pastorem” – that is, “We have a pastor.” The crowd listened eagerly in the little hall as Fr. Kiefer gave a detailed speech in which he spoke of the coming days and the plans he has in mind for the Shrine of St. Alphonsus and answered questions from the parishioners. The gathering eventually moved outside into the beautiful summer sunshine that looked down on a charming grassy courtyard where children played and cake was served. Fr. Kiefer continued to speak with his new parishioners until late in the afternoon.

To learn more about St. Alphonsus and the days leading up to the FSSP’s arrival in Baltimore, we talked to Mr. John Walter, Master of Ceremonies and senior server at St. Alphonsus, a young parishioner whose family has attended St. Alphonsus for 24 years and who has been serving for 22 of them. Mr. Walter contributed both facts on the history of the parish and his own thoughts on recent events.

The Latin Mass, Mr. Walter explains, began in 1991 at St. Alphonsus and was offered twice a month until it became a weekly Mass. Around that same time members of the community started the Gregorian Society of Baltimore in order to promote and preserve the Traditional Latin Mass in the Baltimore area. Several priests said the Mass over the years until Monsignor Arthur Bastress became pastor in 1998. After Monsignor’s arrival, Fr. Casmir Peterson and Monsignor were the priests who most often said the Latin Mass.

“Monsignor Bastress was a great pastor,” says Mr. Walter, “since he would have Mass for us every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation. He took care of the Latin Mass community and the parish itself.” Monsignor accomplished needed restoration work at the historical shrine, repairing the roof, windows and steeple and replacing the finials on the top of the church.

“Growing up attending St. Alphonsus makes the church feel like home,” Mr. Walter continues. “And serving for Monsignor during his time at St. Alphonsus made his retirement sorrowful. The community is grateful for everything that he has done for the parish. Without him and the work he accomplished during his time as pastor, St. Alphonsus would have been closed.”

Two former attendees of St. Alphonsus are now priests with the FSSP. Mr. Walter told us more about the connection that the community at St. Alphonsus has with the Fraternity.

“The arrival of the FSSP still feels like a dream, but a dream that has come true,” he says. “For about the last twenty years and counting various members of the Gregorian Society have been friends with the FSSP. We have had the pleasure of befriending multiple Fraternity priests when our members attended the Fraternity ordinations over the decades, and we also have taken up collections at Mass in order to sponsor some of the priests back when they were in the seminary.

“It has always been our dream to become our own traditional parish, and after getting to know the FSSP, that dream continued. After decades of petitioning, letter writing, promoting the Latin Mass around the City, and praying for the dream to come true, it is wonderful that the Diocese has finally allowed the FSSP to come to St. Alphonsus.”

Mr. Walter is looking forward to what the coming days will bring. “Having the Fraternity is beyond glorious, especially when imagining just how much the parish can grow, not just in size but the growth in spiritual life as well,” he says. His words are certainly confirmed by the plans that Fr. Kiefer explained to the parishioners on Sunday. In time parish life will be established in all its facets, including a full Sunday schedule of Masses, feast day celebrations, regular parish social events and groups for men, women, boys, girls and young adults. The Shrine is to become not only a flourishing parish but a center of tradition in the Baltimore/DC area, the East Coast at large and the entire United States. Retreats, conferences and other events are to be regular occurrences here.

“A new chapter has started at St. Alphonsus, and Mass there will be more glorious than ever, especially Midnight Mass at Christmas,” says Mr. Walter. “The dream has come true and we are thankful to Bishop Lori for allowing the FSSP to come, and to Monsignor James Hannon, who is the Director of Clergy Personnel for the Diocese of Baltimore, for hearing our voice over the past few months after Monsignor Bastress’ retirement.” 

This historic shrine has paint peeling from the walls in places, and more restoration work is needed in order to return it to its former splendor. But it appears as though the renewal of the shrine has already begun in earnest. The Shrine of St. Alphonsus, a landmark in the city of Baltimore for such a length of years, is poised for an extraordinary springtime, and it will be a wonder to see it blossom.