Recently, historic St. Rose of Lima, our parish apostolate in Quincy, Illinois, welcomed a visit by District Superior Fr. Eric Flood, FSSP. While there, Fr. Flood celebrated a Solemn High Mass where First Holy Communion was received by five children of the parish.  Fr. Flood was assisted by Fr. Arnaud Devillers, pastor of St. Rose, and seminarian Darrell Rimbert. Enjoy pictures of the day.

Fr. Daniel Heenan, FSSP, ordained in Leesburg, Virginia, on Saturday June 14, 2014, offered his first Mass the next day at the chapel of Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. Fr. John Brancich, FSSP, was Assistant Priest, with Fr. Rhone Lillard, FSSP, assisting as Deacon, and Fr. Joshua Curtis, FSSP, assisting as Subdeacon.

Fr. Heenan is the oldest son of John and Lisa Heenan, and has two younger brothers and a younger sister. He lived in various places growing up, eventually settling in Northern Virginia when he was in high school. There he first began to think of a vocation, thanks in large part to the many excellent priests he met there. Following high school, he spent time studying Spanish in Guatemala and working at a mission in the Dominican Republic.

When he returned, he decided that he would attend St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, as a seminarian for the Diocese of Arlington. After a year and a half, he decided to leave St. Charles and enroll at Christendom College. It was during his time as a student at Christendom, particularly during the semester he spent in Rome, that he developed a love for the Traditional Latin Mass.

Fr. Heenan graduated with a degree in Philosophy and History in 2005 and took a job teaching middle school at Our Lady of Hope Catholic Church in Potomac Falls, VA. He also enrolled as a graduate student and teaching assistant in the history department at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Though he loved his job as a teacher, he could not avoid the conclusion that he had to give more thought to the idea of a priestly vocation.

In early 2007, Father decided to take a retreat at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary and give the seminary another chance. The subsequent events that took place, particularly in helping him to eradicate his debt, helped to confirm that this was indeed where God was leading him.

Fr. Heenan is tremendously grateful for the earnest and prayerful support he has received from so many of the faithful along the way. He humbly asks for your continued prayers that God may make him a holy priest.

Many thanks to Christendom College for the images.

Recently the Latin Mass Community at St. John’s , our apostolate in Little Rock, Arkansas, celebrated the patronal feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Led by Fr. Michael Magiera, FSSP, the parish offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass out of doors. Enjoy pictures of the day.

Fr. Robert Dow, FSSP, returned to his native California to offer a First Mass, on Pentecost, at the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Fr. Victor Szczurek, O. Praem., was the Assistant Priest, Fr. John Caronan, O. Praem., assisted as Deacon, and Mr. Edward Brodsky, FSSP, assisted as Subdeacon.

Fr. Dow was born in the San Francisco Bay Area in California. As a child, he wanted to become a Franciscan monk, but eventually gave up the idea as none of his schoolmates had the same interest. At the age of eight, the family moved to Orange County in Southern California, and there he was active in the parish as an altar boy. In high school he began attending the Latin Mass at Mission San Juan Capistrano. Later, he attended University of California at Davis, near Sacramento, earning a bachelor’s degree in international relations and minors in both German and Latin, with the intent to follow a diplomatic career with the Foreign Service.

It was there during his studies that he became acquainted with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, attending St. Stephen the First Martyr Church in Sacramento. During his first year of college, he began again to feel a vocation to the priesthood, and following a period of discernment, decided to enter the seminary after completing his studies. It was recommended to him that he enter the FSSP seminary in Wigratzbad, Germany, since he was already fluent in German and knew the region quite well, having spent considerable time with family in St. Gallen, Switzerland, just an hour away on the other side of the border.

After completing six years at the seminary in Wigratzbad, he returned to the United States to finish his remaining year at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Denton, Nebraska.

Fr. Zachary Akers, FSSP, recently ordained a priest by Bishop James Conley, offered his First Mass the next day, June 15, in the parish of St. John the Baptist in Front Royal, Virginia. Father’s Assistant was Fr. Josef Bisig, FSSP, Rector of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, while Fr. Matthew McNeeley, FSSP, assisted as deacon and Fr. John Brancich, FSSP, assisted as subdeacon. The Mass was offered in the presence of His Excellency, the Most Reverent James Conley.

Fr. Zachary Akers is the fourth of six children born into a very Catholic family in Woodbridge, Virginia.

He was fortunate to attend Catholic schools for all of his academic formation – St. Thomas Aquinas Regional School in Woodbridge, Seton High School in Manassas, and a Bachelor of Arts from Christendom College, in Front Royal, Virginia.

Father is grateful to God for the grace of a priestly vocation, which was certainly fostered by loving and pious parents, very supportive siblings, good priestly examples, and a very active involvement in parish life as an altar server and member of the parish choir. This love for liturgy and sacred music continued throughout college years and afterwards, thereby also preparing a firm groundwork for his future priestly ministry.

Father’s recreational interests are playing a variety of sports and several instruments. He is very appreciative for all of his family, friends, and professors who have been generous and very influential in forming him, and asks that all please continue to pray for him.

For the External Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the parishioners of St. John’s Latin Mass Community, our apostolate in Little Rock, Arkansas, honored Our Lord in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar with the Mass and a solemn Eucharistic procession of three altars of Benediction. Led by Fr. Michael Magiera, FSSP, enjoy the celebration of this most important feast of Our Eucharistic Lord.

Fr. Joshua Curtis, FSSP, was recently ordained a priest by Bishop Athanasius Schneider and offered his First Mass the next day in the cathedral of his ordination: Saint Cecilia’s in Omaha, Nebraska. Father was assisted by Fr. Karl Marsolle, FSSP, while Fr. Anthony Uy, FSSP, assisted as deacon and Fr. Brian Thompson, FSSP, assisted as subdeacon.

Both of Joshua’s parents – John and Jodi Curtis – were from Houston, Texas, but as his father was employed by Bell Laboratories, Joshua was born in the Chicago area. He was raised Protestant by his parents, until the death of his mother in 1998. About a year later his father converted to Catholicism and married a Catholic woman, Mary.

In the spring of 2004, Joshua was received into the Church. In the fall of that same year, his father passed away after fighting for eighteen months with a malignant brain tumor. Joshua’s father left behind a wonderful wife, three daughters, along with Joshua. It was of the greatest consolation to Joshua that his father was able to be present at the Easter Vigil to see him Confirmed and receive his First Holy Communion.

After his conversion, Joshua worked for another two and a half years before he was accepted by the Diocese of Peoria as a pre-theologian seminarian. The Bishop sent him to the Pontifical College Josephinum, where he was introduced to the Traditional Latin Mass. Having been struck by its reverence and its beauty, he was convinced that, Deo volente, he wanted to offer this sublime form of worship to God every day for the rest of his life. He thereafter applied to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter and was received for studies at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in the fall of 2008.

After six years as a seminarian with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, Father was ordained to the priesthood on May 31, 2014. Please pray for him!

The Funeral Mass for Fr. Kenneth Walker took place Friday, June 20, at Sacred Heart Church in Paxico, Kansas. The Solemn Mass was celebrated by Fr. John Berg, Superior General of the Fraternity, with Fr. Eric Flood, North American District Superior of the Fraternity as deacon, and Fr. Brian McDonnell, classmate of Fr. Walker, as subdeacon. Fr. Justin Nolan was the Master of Ceremonies and Frs. Gregory Bartholomew and Karl Marsolle, classmates of Fr. Walker, served as Acolytes.

The Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmstead, Bishop of Phoenix and the Most Reverend Bishop Bruskewitz, Bishop Emeritus of Lincoln, were in attendance, along with over forty priests and seminarians, and several hundred faithful, including Fr. Walker’s parents and many members of his family. Fr. Berg, in preaching at the Mass, extolled both clergy and laity to pray together in their grief for the repose of the soul of Fr. Walker, and to let his priestly life and untimely death be an encouragement to all to embrace our duties and strive unto our final end.

The Mass concluded with the blessing and absolution of the body, followed immediately by the funeral procession to Mount Calvary cemetery in St. Mary’s, Kansas, where Fr. Walker was laid to rest with all the fitting and reverent ceremonies of Holy Mother Church.

We ask your prayers for the eternal rest of Fr. Walker and the consolation of his family, his confreres in the Fraternity, his parishioners, and all those touched by his life and his priestly ministry.

Requiem Aeternam dona ei, Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat ei.
Requiescat in pace.

Related: Father Berg’s Letter on the Death of Fr. Walker with Fr. Walker’s Biography

Dear Friends of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter,

In the midst of mourning for our dear confrere, Fr. Kenneth Walker, one great consolation has been the outpouring of prayers and condolences expressed by so many bishops, religious communities, fellow priests and faithful. Many of you have informed us of the hundreds of Masses which have already been offered for the repose of his soul and for the health of Fr. Joseph Terra. By the grace of God and thanks to your prayers, Fr. Terra’s life is out of danger and we expect him to make a full recovery.

By now you have read on various news outlets and websites about the virtues of Fr. Walker as a priest and how badly he will be missed by his confreres and parishioners. In an age where we seem so centered upon ‘clerical stars’ and are constantly searching for the ‘newest approach to evangelization’, the life of our confrere gave witness to one of the greatest priestly virtues, a quiet and consistent strength, which is a mark of the Good Shepherd who watches vigilantly over his flock in season and out of season.

He has been described by the parishioners he served in the same manner that he would be by his confreres; he was earnest: he was persevering; he was ready first to serve; nothing ever seemed to inconvenience him. Our Lord’s description of Nathaniel perhaps fits him best: he was a man without guile. He will perhaps be remembered as an example to us as confreres more for what he did not say; one would be hard pressed to find anyone who ever heard him complain or speak badly about anyone. As a former professor of Fr. Walker in the seminary, and as superior, I also knew him as one who took correction well; never pridefully objected; and sincerely sought to improve in all areas of formation both as a seminarian and a later as a priest.

In such tragic circumstances I realize that it can be easy to fall into hyperbole, but there was an innocence to Fr. Walker which is rarely found in this valley of tears.

His life and his priestly work here below have been cut tragically short – just two short years serving in the vineyard of Our Lord. But we are grateful for the time he had to serve in the Fraternity and that he was given the vocation that he sought. His reason for becoming a priest was already beautifully formulated in his application to the seminary:

“God, in His infinite love, desires all men to be saved and so achieve their true end. Along with the Church, then, I am deeply grieved by these errors concerning the nature and dignity of man accepted by so many people in the world, which deviate them from their supernatural end. In full view of the situation in the world, then, the only vocation that I could be satisfied with, as a work, would be one that would be dedicated to bringing people to salvation in whatever way God wills for me to do so.”

As confreres we know that Fr. Walker would not want us to waste our time in anger over what has happened; over the gross injustice which has been done. As great as this is a tragedy for us, so too it will bear great graces for our Fraternity: O altitudo divitiarum sapientiæ, et scientiæ Dei: quam incomprehensibilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viæ ejus! [1] The first grace will be as an encouragement to each of us to take nothing for granted in the call of Our Lord to the Sacred Priesthood. We are His instruments to serve, and must do so always more faithfully in accordance with His will and that of the Church for His greater glory. For the moment let us waste no time, and simply concentrate our efforts in praying for the repose of the soul of Fr. Walker.

We thank the many parishes which have organized Holy Hours and will hold Masses of Requiem on Monday; again, we are humbled by your charity. Fr. Eric Flood, District Superior of North America, will offer a Requiem in Phoenix on Monday in the presence of Bishop Thomas Olmsted, and I will offer one here at the Basilica of Notre-Dame in Fribourg on the same day. The funeral arrangements are on hold until the body of Fr. Walker can be transferred to Kansas. The Fraternity will of course publish these details when they are in place.

Veni Sancte Spiritus, Consolator optime;
In fletu solatium, reple cordis intima tuorum fidelium!

Mater Misericordiae, Ora pro nobis

Requiem Aeternam dona ei, Domine. Et lux perpetua luceat ei.
Requiescat in pace.

Ember Saturday of Pentecost, June 14, 2014

Very Rev. John Berg
Superior General FSSP

Biography of Fr. Kenneth Walker

Rev. Kenneth Walker, FSSP, was born September 13, 1985, in Poughkeepsie, NY. He was baptized on October 13 of the same year at St. Mary’s Church in Wappingers Falls, NY. During his high school years, his family discovered and began attending the Traditional Latin Mass. He was strongly influenced by both the Mass and the devotion of his family, and began considering a vocation to the priesthood. After high school, he attended Our Lady Seat of Wisdom, Barry’s Bay, ON, pursuing a classical formation in liberal arts from the fall of 2003 until April 2005. After the influence of his parents, Fr. Walker always credited the College as being essential to his formation in the faith prior to entering the seminary.

By this time, he was dedicated to the idea of becoming a priest, and attended a vocations retreat with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. His motivation to become a priest is beautifully summarized in his own words, taken from his application to the seminary:

“God, in His infinite love, desires all men to be saved and so achieve their true end. Along with the Church, then, I am deeply grieved by these errors concerning the nature and dignity of man accepted by so many people in the world, which deviate them from their supernatural end. In full view of the situation in the world, then, the only vocation that I could be satisfied with, as a work, would be one that would be dedicated to bringing people to salvation in whatever way God wills for me to do so. This work is best carried out by the priesthood, which was instituted by Christ specifically for the care of souls; for by means of the Sacraments and the teaching of the Faith to the people, the people receive both the truths of the Faith and the sanctifying grace needed for the spiritual life.”

Fr. Walker was accepted to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, the Fraternity of St. Peter’s International House of Formation for English speakers in Nebraska, in the fall of 2005, and began the normal course of studies and formation. His dedication to fulfilling the ideals with which he approached the priesthood was evident in his time in seminary. He performed very well academically, always receiving high marks in his courses. He immersed himself in the fullness of the program of formation, from the life of prayer and liturgy to recreation with other seminarians – especially in his love of playing soccer, a popular sport at the seminary.

After completing the First Year of Spirituality, he was first incorporated into the FSSP, received the cassock, and received Tonsure from Bishop Alvaro Corrada, SJ, on October 6, 2006. After five more years of prayer, work, and study, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz ordained him to the subdiaconate on January 29, 2011. He was permanently incorporated into the FSSP on March 18, and on the next day, March 19, 2011 – the feast of St. Joseph – he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen.

As a deacon, he traveled to our Fraternity’s other seminary in Wigratzbad, Germany for several months in order to complete further studies and gain the perspective of the Fraternity’s international presence. He also assisted for a number of months at the Mater Misericordiae Mission of the FSSP in Phoenix, AZ. Interestingly, he performed his first Baptism on October 13, 2011 – the anniversary of his own Baptism. Returning to Nebraska in May of 2012, he made a retreat in preparation for his priestly ordination, the culmination of his seven years of studies and prayer life.

On May 19, 2012, Kenneth Walker was ordained to the Holy Priesthood of Christ our Savior in Lincoln, Nebraska by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz. He offered his first Mass at the Chapel of Sts. Peter and Paul at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, and was assisted by Fr. John Berg, Superior General of the FSSP. He received his first priestly assignment that summer, returning to Mater Misericordiae in Phoenix as an assistant priest under Fr. Joseph Terra, FSSP.

His priestly life and ministry at Mater Misericordiae was a continuation and affirmation of the ideals that led him to the priesthood. He dedicated himself to his priestly mission, offering Holy Mass in the Traditional Latin Rite daily and hearing confessions regularly. He was remembered for visiting parishioners often as both priest and friend. Desiring to spread devotion to Our Lady, he made a practice of personally bringing a replica of the “Pilgrim Virgin” statue of Our Lady of Fatima to the homes of parishioners. He also assisted in starting a Knights of Columbus council to aid and encourage the men of the parish in their prayer life and the works that they performed for the community. His works of charity among the homeless population in the area were well known by both attendees of the mission and the neighborhood community.

On June 11, 2014 – Ember Wednesday of Pentecost – Father Kenneth Walker was tragically and fatally shot in an incident at Mater Misericordiae Mission. Fr. Joseph Terra, critically injured in the same assault, was able to give Fr. Walker absolution and the Last Rites before being rushed himself to the hospital.

The members of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter join together in prayer and remembrance of the life and priesthood of Fr. Walker with his entire family, the members of the Mater Misericordiae Mission, and all those whose lives were touched by his. The great outpouring of prayers and Mass intentions gives us great hope and consolation that he may rest eternally in the Beatific Vision, one with the Divinity whom on earth he held in his consecrated hands.

We ask for your prayers for the repose of the soul of Fr. Kenneth Walker and that God in his Love and Mercy might grant great consolation to his family and his parishioners in this terrible tragedy.

Oremus:
O God, Who didst give to thy servant, Kenneth, by his sacerdotal office, a share in the priesthood of the Apostles, grant, we implore, that he may also be one of their company forever in Heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Requiem Aeternam dona ei, Domine.
Et lux perpetua luceat ei.
Requiescat in pace.

—-

[1]: How deep are the riches of God’s wisdom, of his knowledge; how inscrutable are his judgements, how undiscoverable his ways! – Rom. 11:33; chapter of Sunday First Vespers.

On Saturday, June 14, 2014, two deacons of the Fraternity of St. Peter were ordained priests by the Most Reverend James Conley, at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church in Leesburg, Virginia.

Our gratitude and thanks to His Excellency for ordaining these men to the Holy Priesthood, our congratulations to our new priests and their families, and thanks to all our benefactors and friends who have supported these men and the seminary during the course of their studies with prayers and other assistance.

As each new priest has asked, and we always recommend, please in your kindness continue to pray for them and all of the priests of the Fraternity.

The newly ordained priests are:

• Father Zackery Akers
• Father Daniel Heenan

Many thanks for the lovely images of our 2014 Leesburg ordinations, courtesy of Craig Spiering Photography. Please look for additional coverage of ordinations in an upcoming edition of the monthly newsletter.  Sign up Today