FSSP Warrington Featured on National Catholic Register Blog

A blogger for the National Catholic Register recently took a trip to St. Mary’s Shrine, our apostolate in Warrington, near Liverpool, England. Read the article he wrote about his visit here!

St. Mary’s Shrine is where two of our North American District seminarians were ordained over the summer. You can read our post about that here.

Sing Joyfully to God, All the Earth

Vidérunt omnes fines terræ salutáre Dei nostri: jubiláte Deo omnis terra.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God: sing joyfully to God, all the earth.

from the Gradual of the Third Mass of Christmas (Psalm 97:3)

 

Christmas Across the District & Beyond

The Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord at Midnight, Dawn and during the Daytime, from the West Coast to the East, across time zones, international borders and the Atlantic Ocean.

 

FSSP Fresno

California

Holy Cross Chaplaincy at St. Anthony of Padua Church
Third Mass During the Daytime

 

FSSP Vancouver

British Columbia, Canada

Holy Family Parish
Midnight Mass

 

FSSP Calgary

Alberta, Canada

St. Anthony Parish
Midnight Mass

 

FSSP Cœur d’Alene

Idaho

St. Joan of Arc Parish
Midnight Mass

 

FSSP Minneapolis

Minnesota

Church of All Saints
Christmas Matins and Midnight Mass

 

FSSP Quincy

Illinois

Historic St. Rose of Lima Church
Midnight Mass and Second Mass at Dawn

 

FSSP Rockdale

Illinois

St. Joseph Church
Third Mass During the Daytime

 

FSSP South Bend

Indiana

St. Stanislaus Parish
Midnight Mass

 

FSSP Baltimore

Maryland

The National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Liguori
Midnight Mass

 

FSSP Little Rock

Arkansas

St. John the Baptist Church
Midnight Mass

 

FSSP Dallas

Texas

Mater Dei Parish
Third Mass During the Daytime

 

FSSP Fort Worth

Texas

St. Benedict Parish
Midnight Mass

 

FSSP Mexico

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Nuestra Señora del Pilar
Midnight Mass

 

FSSP Rome

Lazio, Italy

Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini
Midnight Mass

Our thanks to Jacob Stein and Selina Fang for their photos from Rome.

Traditional Latin Mass Celebrated at Dallas Cathedral

On Saturday, December 30th, 2017, a traditional Latin Mass was offered at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe, the cathedral of the Diocese of Dallas, Texas. The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Thomas Longua, pastor of Mater Dei, the FSSP’s Dallas apostolate. What a blessing for this Mass to take place at the Cathedral, a Victorian Gothic edifice that was dedicated in 1902 by Bishop Edward Dunne and stands in the arts district of the booming metropolis of over 1 million residents.

Mater Dei expresses its thanks to Bishop Edward Burns, Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly and Fr. Stephen Bierschenk, Rector of the Cathedral, for graciously allowing this Mass to take place.

Octave-Day of the Nativity

Happy Octave-Day of the Nativity! On this day we particularly commemorate the Holy Name of Jesus, given to Our Lord at the Circumcision eight days after His birth. We will celebrate the feast of the Holy Name tomorrow on January 2nd. The latter feast is normally kept on the Sunday after the Octave-Day, except when this Sunday falls on January 1st, 6th or, as is the case this year, the 7th; on those occasions the feast of the Holy Name is kept on January 2.

Puer natus est nobis, et fílius datus est nobis: cujus impérium super húmerum ejus: et vocábitur nomen ejus, magni consílii ángelus.

A Child is born to us, and a Son is given to us, Whose government is upon His shoulders: and His name shall be called the Angel of great counsel.

–  from the Introit for today (Isaiah 9:6)

The image above is from the Christmas Mass During the Daytime at our apostolate in Rockdale, Illinois.

Incredible Video from St. Francis Xavier Mission Trips

We shared with you over the summer the adventures of two St. Francis Xavier mission trips to Piura, Peru. A montage of video from both trips has been released, including interviews with the missionaries, the Peruvians they assisted and the priests who were involved with the trips. It is amazing. We dare you not to be inspired by the joy and love for God shown by those who are so poor and who live under such harsh conditions, and the gratitude that the missionaries themselves felt for this opportunity to give their time in service to others.

One Peruvian said: “After all that happened we are alive, so what we have to do is to thank God for everything.”

Registration for the 2018 St. Francis Xavier Mission Trips is now open. Available trips include a trip to Mexico for families and individuals aged 16+, and trips to Peru and the Dominican Republic for youth 16-21. Please visit the St. Francis Xavier website to learn more and sign up!

If you cannot go on a mission trip but would like to donate, you can do so online here. May God reward you for your generosity!

A few statistics from the Peru trips (totals from both trips):

46 kids aged 16-21, accompanied by 3 priests, 3 seminarians, 3 adult chaperones on each trip. Fr. Eggleston, all 3 seminarians, and 3 of those kids stayed in Peru for a whole month, working both missions.
22 bamboo houses constructed particularly for those families who were affected by the floods.
1 classroom building, similar to the houses, but slightly larger. The missionaries were told that this would be used primarily for catechism, as it was attached to the back of a village church.
16 food deliveries, each of which entailed bringing non-perishable food items (large sacks of rice, pasta, etc.) to families in need. Each delivery served about 5-6 families, so at least 80 families were assisted.
16 house blessings, for which the priests would take a missionary or two to assist as the priest would bless houses in the villages. Each of the 16 ventures included over a dozen houses.
15 Communion calls, each of which included about 10 different houses.
7 clothing deliveries, which entailed bringing 6-7 large bags of clothing to churches in the villages. The mothers were invited to select about 10 items for their families, the lines for these deliveries normally stretching out of sight.
7 stove deliveries, which entailed delivering gas stoves and propane tanks to those in need. Each delivery helped about 5-6 families.
3 trips to teach English to students at a local school.

FSSP Minneapolis Hosts Cardinal Burke on Gaudete Sunday

by Karen Hastreiter, FSSP Minneapolis

For the apostolate in Minneapolis, this year’s observance of the third Sunday in Advent brought many reasons for rejoicing. The parish of All Saints welcomed His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke, who offered a Pontifical Mass at the Throne. Not only was this a momentous occasion for the parish to welcome a Prince of the Church, but it was also an act of generosity and sacrifice on the part of the Cardinal. He was in the upper Midwest in a non-official capacity, yet he graciously accepted the invitation from Fr. Bauknecht, pastor of All Saints, and Fr. Stewart, parochial vicar, to visit the parish.

It was a collaboration of many acts of sacrifice as the faithful took part in the preparations for the historic day: from the 14-year-old young man of the parish who built the throne to the woman who created the fabric coverings and drapes for it, from the two women who ironed the silk cappa magna (the voluminous cape worn by the cardinal) to St. Anthony who found special chairs on Craigslist for the visiting clerical dignitaries, from the photographers and ushers to the altar servers and choir members who gave their time and talents to make this day a memorable one.

There was also another significant cause for jubilation: the participation and attendance of local archdiocesan clergy and seminarians. His Excellency Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Most Rev. Andrew Cozzens, Auxiliary Bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis were both in choir. Also present in choir were the Very Rev. John Ubel, Rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul, Fr. Michael Dirocco, diocesan priest of LaCrosse, Deacon Michael Nevin from the Archdiocesan Office of Divine Worship, and more than a dozen seminarians from St. Paul Seminary representing different dioceses from across the nation.

Taking part in the solemn liturgy itself were Fr. Peter Bauknecht, FSSP, Fr. John Brancich, FSSP, pastor of FSSP Nashua, Deacon Aaron Liebert, FSSP, Fr. John Paul Erickson, Director of the Office of Divine Worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Fr. Adam Tokashiki, PES, Fr. Alex Stewart, FSSP and four seminarians from St. Paul Seminary. The lovely strains of Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli served as a musical backdrop fitting for the occasion.

Following the 2pm Mass was a wine and cheese reception for everyone at a lovely hall just one block from All Saints. His Eminence was again gracious in allowing a receiving line for all those who wished to greet him and have their photos taken with him. Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Cozzens were also in attendance and spent time visiting with everyone.

It was truly a Gaudete Sunday to be remembered.

Our thanks to Tracy Dunne and Lucas Brown for their photographs of the event.

Merry Christmas!

We wish you and your families a most blessed and joyful Christmas! May the Christ Child bless you abundantly during this holy season and throughout the New Year!

And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, Who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!”

Luke 2:8-14

…Y las Nubes LLueven el Justo

…and let the clouds rain the Just.

We received a most beautiful coda to the post we did here on the Rorate Caeli Masses across the District. Photographs from the Rorate Mass celebrated at our mission in Mexico arrived, and they are truly stunning.

To learn more about our work in Mexico and find out how you can help, please visit the mission’s website here.

Drop Down Dew, Ye Heavens

On Saturday, December 16th, parishes across the District celebrated the Rorate Caeli Mass, a candlelit, early-morning Mass in honor of Our Lady. The Mass is an Advent tradition of extraordinary beauty in the Church, the candles amid the darkness shining as reminders of the Light Who is soon to come into the world. The sacred grandeur of this Mass is a sight to behold, and we bring you here Rorate Caeli, from Tacoma to Texas, from the west of Canada to the Atlantic shore.

FSSP Tacoma

St. Joseph Parish
FSSP Tacoma welcomed North American District Superior Fr. Gerard Saguto for the Rorate Mass and an Advent recollection. Father was assisted at Mass by St. Joseph pastor Fr. Michael Stinson and parochial vicar Fr. Caleb Insco.

 

FSSP Minneapolis

Church of All Saints

 

FSSP Dallas

Mater Dei Parish

 

FSSP Baltimore

The National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Liguori

 

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary

The seminary celebrated their Rorate Mass on December 9th.

 

FSSP Calgary

St. Anthony’s Church

 

FSSP Maple Hill

St. John Vianney Chapel

 

FSSP Houston

Regina Caeli Parish
This was Regina Caeli’s first Rorate Mass.

 

FSSP Baltimore Featured in Baltimore Sun

Check it out! FSSP Baltimore, stationed at the National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Liguori, was recently featured in the Baltimore Sun! Click here to read the story!

You can light a candle at the Shrine even if you can’t be there in person. Visit St. Alphonsus’ website here and click on the “Candles” tab to make a donation for a candle to be lit for your intentions. All donations go towards the operation of the Shrine. Thank you for your generosity!