St. Michael the Archangel, our apostolate in Scranton, once again enjoyed the presence of the Most Reverend James C. Timlin, Bishop Emeritus of Scranton, on Saturday, May 9th, in order to administer Confirmation to the youth of the parish.  His Excellency was assisted by Fr. Jose Zepeda, FSSP, pastor of St. Michael’s, and Fr. Michael Stinson, FSSP, assistant pastor.

After opening prayers, His Excellency quizzed the confirmandi briefly, and then gave an exhortation on the significance of God’s use of oil in the Sacraments, and the need for the confirmandi to always have recourse to the Sacraments in order to resist the dangers of the world today and choose the good in all their actions.  After the confirmations, the confirmandi were visited by Fr. Eric Flood, FSSP, District Superior for North America, and confirmandi and families had refreshments in the parish hall.

Congratulations to the ten confirmandi for all the graces received in Confirmation.

Enjoy pictures of the day.

In a fitting tribute to Our Lady, All Saints, our parish apostolate in Minneapolis, dedicated this year’s Mother’s Day to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The morning began with the praying of the Holy Rosary, followed by a procession, which culminated in the crowning of her statue in the garden outside the parish. Then, the priests and parishioners returned to the church for a High Mass celebrating the fifth Sunday of Easter.

Fr. Peter Bauknecht, FSSP, pastor, led parishioners in procession, assisted by Fr. Simon Harkins, FSSP. Enjoy beautiful images of the day, photos courtesy of Tracy Dunne.

DC Pilgrimage

The DC Pilgrimage will be held once again, with newly ordained Fr. David Franco, FSSP, being chaplain for the pilgrims, accompanied by seminarians from Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Shortly after his ordination on May 30th in Lincoln, Fr. Franco will travel to Maryland with Our Lady of Guadalupe seminarians in order to hold the 2015 DC Pilgrimage. The pilgrimage occurs from Thursday, June 4th through Saturday, June 6th. Once pilgrims reach the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, the Te Deum will be sung at 3 pm, followed by a solemn high Mass at 5:30 pm.

You can view the full schedule, register, locations, and find lists of what to bring at www.FSSPDCPilgrimage.com.

2015 Retreat Schedule

Father James Buckley, FSSP, fresh off his Golden Jubilee for his 50th anniversary as a priest, will be holding men’s and women’s retreats again this summer.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary
Denton, Nebraska
3 Day Men’s Retreat: June 11 – 14, 2015

Cost is $195.00 and includes private room and meals. Retreat begins with dinner on Thursday and ends with brunch on Sunday. Appropriate dress requested. For information email: business@fsspolgs.org.

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St. Benedict Abbey, Still River, MA
3-Day Women’s Retreat: July 17 – 19, 2015
3-Day Men’s Retreat: July 24 – 26, 2015

Cost: $299.00 includes all materials, meals, private room and board. Arrival time is Thursday evening before the retreat begins. For information email: Janthonybuxton@yahoo.com.

One of our newest apostolates is in El Paso, Texas, where Frs. John Shannon, FSSP, and Fr. Kevin O’Neill, FSSP, currently shepherd the community at Immaculate Conception Parish. This beautiful church was, for several years, the Proto-Cathedral of the Diocese and the historical importance of the church was recently acknowledged by a newly erected historical sign. The apostolate was privileged to celebrate Holy Week with Solemn ceremonies, marking the first time that many in El Paso had experienced these liturgical treasures of the Church. Enjoy images of Holy Week and images of Immaculate Conception parish — a beautiful home for the Fraternity.

The Priestly Fraternity’s first North American apostolate began in the 1990s in Dallas.

That community, now residing at Mater Dei parish, dedicates themselves in a special way to the Mother of God for the month of May. Recently the parish had a First Saturday Mass and Procession, which concluded with the crowning of Our Lady.

Fr. Terrence Gordon, FSSP, assistant pastor, offered the Mass and led the procession and crowning of Our Lady.

The First Saturday of May began with honoring Our Lady at St. Michael the Archangel, in Scranton. Fr. Michael Stinson, FSSP, assistant pastor of St. Michael’s, led in honoring Our Lady with the May Crowning followed by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

The practice of consecrating the month of May to Our Lady spread throughout Italy in the early 18th century, but devotions in her honor in May have origins as far back as the 14th century. With Our Lady’s appearance at Fatima, 1917, the devotion of the First Saturday’s took on an even more important meaning.

One of Our Lady’s requests at Fatima was the spread of the devotion of five First Saturdays.  The faithful can offer penance and reparation by attending Mass on five consecutive First Saturdays, make a Communion of reparation in atonement for the sins of the world, go to Confession, pray five decades of the Rosary, and spend 15 minutes meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary.  In return, the faithful who offer this devotion will be assisted by signal graces for their salvation at the hour of their death. (Source)

Recent events at Our Lady of Fatima, our apostolate community in Pequannock, NJ, included both the solemnities of Holy Week and Confirmations with the Most Reverend Arthur J. Serratelli, Bishop of Paterson.

For the Easter Vigil, Assistant Administrator Fr. Karl Marsolle, FSSP, was the celebrant, assisted by Administrator Fr. Matthew McNeely, FSSP, as deacon, and Mr. Matthew Vierno, FSSP, as subdeacon.

From the General House in Fribourg comes the following announcement, dated April 26, 2015:

“Given that the terms of the three District Superiors will come to a close this coming July, Fr. John Berg, Superior General FSSP, following a vote by his General Council held in Fribourg on April 24, has nominated:

• Fr. Bernhard Gerstle as Superior of the Germanophone District beginning on July 13, 2015
  for three years.
• Fr. Benoît Paul-Joseph as Superior of the French District beginning on July 13, 2015 for three
  years.
• Fr. Gerard Saguto as Superior of the North American District beginning on July 13, 2015 for three years.

On behalf of all of the members of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the Superior General and his Council would like to express their profound gratitude to Fr. Axel Maussen, Germanophone District Superior since 2003, Fr. Vincent Ribeton, French District Superior since 2006, and Fr. Eric Flood, North American District Superior since 2008.

They would also like to assure the three future Superiors of their prayers for this duty of service to the Fraternity which they have accepted.”

[Source: General House FSSP www.fssp.org]

Priests and seminarians of the Fraternity from all around the North American District recently gathered together for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and a celebration at Our Lady of Guadalupe seminary in order to show their thanks and appreciation for Father James Buckley, FSSP, on the Golden Jubilee of his ordination as a priest.

Fr. Buckley is the longtime Spiritual Director for Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, a professor of apologetics, Catholic and English literature, homiletics, and pedagogy; a retreat master, and an expert teaching on the Catholic Faith over the past 50 years.

As a young man, Father felt drawn to the priesthood at an early age, and joined a minor seminary of the Salvatorians at the age of 13. After high school he continued on with his studies with the Salvatorians, being Ordained in 1965. Most of his priesthood was spent teaching and in parish assignments both in the United States and in Africa.

Father always had a preference for the Traditional Latin Mass, but until the late 1980s did not have a reliable path to pursue his desire to resist all the myriad of changes that had occurred in the Church.  The Fraternity emerged to offer that path, and at the invitation of Fr. Michael Irwin, FSSP, he joined the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in 1992.

Since that time, Father has enjoyed the best of both worlds, continuing to teach, while being able to practice the traditional Catholic life as a member of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary staff. Enjoy images of the day.

The priests and seminarians of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, in Denton, Nebraska, recently observed all the solemnities of Holy Week, including the service of Tenebrae.

For the Feast of Palm Sunday, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was offered by Fr. Charles Ryan, FSSP, who was assisted by Rev. Mr. Edward Brodsky, FSSP, as deacon and Rev. Mr. Ian Verrier, FSSP, as subdeacon. On Maundy Thursday Fr. Robert Ferguson, FSSP, offered the Mass, assisted by Fr. William Lawrence, FSSP, as deacon and Rev. Mr. Edward Brodsky, FSSP, as subdeacon. The Liturgy of Good Friday was offered by Fr. Joseph Lee, FSSP, assisted by Rev. Mr. Ian Verrier, FSSP, as deacon, and Fr. William Lawrence, FSSP, as subdeacon. Holy Week concluded with Fr. Benoît Guichard, FSSP, offering the Solemn Easter Vigil of Holy Saturday, assisted by Rev. Mr. Ian Verrier, FSSP, as deacon and Fr. Charles Ryan, FSSP, as subdeacon.

As part of Holy Week, the seminarians of Our Lady of Guadalupe also offered the service of Tenebrae, which is composed of the hours of Matins and Lauds. “Tenebrae,” from the Latin for shadows, is an ancient liturgical custom dating to at least the ninth century. In it the lamentations of Our Lord’s suffering and death are recounted in a series of three nocturnes, representitive of His betrayal and abandonment as He was left to the agonizing punishment of His Passion. As the service continues from Maundy Thursday to Holy Saturday, the fifteen candles are systematically extinguished to the point that a single candle remains – Christ’s candle, which is kept in reserve until the end of the service, at which it is extinguished, and all leave in darkness.