Firstly, let me invite you to persevere in prayer for the intentions of Holy Mother Church. This is a time for prayer and sacrifice, for daily fidelity to grace. By praying for the repose of the soul of Pope John Paul II, we discharge our duties towards him, far from the polemics that, in this moment, could only be sterile. This is the appropriate time for following the repeated and pressing exhortations of Our Lady regarding our double duty of being souls of prayer and penance. Let us also pray for the Cardinals entering into the Conclave, so that they may be docile to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost.
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
Firstly, let me invite you to persevere in prayer for the intentions of Holy Mother Church. This is a time for prayer and sacrifice, for daily fidelity to grace. By praying for the repose of the soul of Pope John Paul II, we discharge our duties towards him, far from the polemics that, in this moment, could only be sterile. This is the appropriate time for following the repeated and pressing exhortations of Our Lady regarding our double duty of being souls of prayer and penance. Let us also pray for the Cardinals entering into the Conclave, so that they may be docile to the inspirations of the Holy Ghost.
In a future letter, we will corm back to these events to draw from them salutary lessons. For the time being, however, let us be vigilant and pray, as we are in great need.
Now, let us consider the subject matter of this present letter. Revolution has triumphed. Today the Christian reasons as a pagan – the thought of eternity does not guide his acts, and his decisions are the fruit of human cunning. Hope has given way to the faint glimmer of earthly profits.
Nowhere can this victory of error be better seen than in the education of our children. Is there for parents any greater good than these young souls that God has entrusted to their paternal tenderness? But, trembling, we are forced to acknowledge that even parents in whom we would have expected good Catholic sense to prevail have embraced the spirit of this world – that same spirit that Our Lord has taught us to fear because "it leads to the fires of hell."
We cannot keep silent about this dreadful situation – to do so would be to compromise with this revolutionary spirit. It is our duty to condemn the Liberalism that pervades the formation of our children.
Parents, your children do not belong to you. They have been entrusted to you by God, to be raised to be His worshippers "in spirit and truth." You must form them in the principles of truth and beauty, imbuing their young souls with the example of your Christian life.
What use are those parents who never pray together in the family, who find burdensome their dedication to their children, under the pretext that the sacrifices required are far too heavy? What use are those parents who are concerned with how they are going to dress their children, while neglecting to nourish their souls with prayer and the teaching of the catechism? What use are those parents who let their children go around with bad companions with the excuse that, as they are small, they will not be affected? What use are those parents who buy their children hideous, satanic toys, or who give them electronic games that excite them and make them either hysterical or at least unable to concentrate upon their formation? What use are those parents who abandon the souls of their children to the dangers of godless schools? No, we cannot keep silent, and we must say it aloud, with all the strength of our priestly soul. We must stop this massacre.
Our youth is the apple of our eye; we are responsible for it before God. It is even the first of our responsibilities. Our eternal salvation is at stake. Let us not be mistaken: as parents, education is our vocation. We will not be faithful to it unless we respect its well-established principles.
Sadly, there are few of us who have taken the time to learn this "art of arts," although we have used all the means at our disposal for things of far lesser importance. We would never think to start a venture without knowing at least the rudiments of the business or without having studied the market beforehand – but we do not make a similar effort when it comes to what regards the soul...
Of course, on reading this letter, some will think that we are pleading our own case, or seeking only to show off our own schools or to advertise them. But that is not our purpose. We are stunned by the casualness with which many parents allow their children to receive an instruction directly opposed to that of Christ. Who is not with Christ, acts against Him - even if such a person considers himself neutral.
Let us quote some passages from the instruction of the Holy Office, addressed on November 24, 1875, to the American Bishops, and explicitly approved by Pius IX. We hope that the authorized voice of the Church will warn parents today and convince them to make the necessary sacrifices so that the education of their children will be undertaken in the light of the Cross bloodied by the Most Precious Blood shed for us. Let us not be, "on account of a disordered love for our children, the cause of their eternal perdition, bringing thus, together with the ruin of our children, our own." (St. Leonard of Porto Maurizio).
"In the schools which elude the Church's authority, the professors are chosen from all sects without distinction, while on the other hand no measures are taken to impede such pernicious influence as they might exercise on youth, so that they are able to disseminate error and vice amongst the young.
The fact that in these schools, or at least in the majority of them, the adolescents of both sexes are grouped together in the same classrooms to attend lesson, and boys and girls must sit together on the same benches, exposes them to corruption to a certain extent. The result of all this is that youth is unfortunately in danger of losing its faith, while its good morals are threatened.
If this danger, which borders on perversion, is not averted, these schools cannot be attended with peace of mind. The divine and natural laws themselves proclaim it. This was clearly defined by the Holy Father when on July 14, 1864, he wrote to the Archbishop of Fribourg: 'In all places, in every country where this pernicious plan to deprive the Church of its authority over schools is formulated, and worse still, put into effect, with the result that the young will be exposed to the danger of losing their faith, it is the duty of the Church to make every effort not only to take steps to obtain the essential instruction and religious training for youth, but even more so to warn the faithful and to make it clear to them that they cannot frequent such schools which are set up against the Catholic Church.'
These words, founded on the natural and divine law, state definitely a general principle, have a universal bearing and apply to all countries where this injurious method of instructing youth will unfortunately be introduced. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary that all bishops should make every effort to see to it that the flock entrusted to them may avoid every contact with the public schools. To obtain this desired end, what is generally considered most necessary is that, in all places, Catholics should have their own schools and that these should not be inferior to the public ones. Every effort must, therefore, be made to set up Catholic schools where they do not yet exist and to in-crease the number of and improve the organization of those that already exist so that instruction and training on the same level as that of the public schools may be ensured. So that this plan, that is so sacred and necessary, may be put into effect, the bishops think it suitable and useful to appeal to the members of religious congregations of men and women; and so that the means for such a vast plan may come from the faithful more spontaneously and abundantly, when the occasion presents itself, it is absolutely necessary that they be reminded by pastoral letters, at meetings or in private, that they would be falling short of their duty to a serious extent if they were not to guarantee that these schools could rely on all their care and resources.
(...) the necessary Christian education of their children is often neglected by those parents who allow their children to frequent schools where it is impossible to avoid the loss of souls or who, notwithstanding the existence of a well-organized neighboring Catholic school or the possibility of having their children educated elsewhere in a Catholic school, entrust them to public schools without sufficient reason and without having taken the necessary precautions to avoid the danger of perversion, it is a well-known fact that, according to Catholic moral teaching, such parents, should they persist in their attitude, cannot receive absolution in the sacrament of penance."
Let us receive with docility this clear teaching of the Church. Let us follow it, so that our children will receive a totally Catholic formation, the only one that will prepare them for the combats that they will have to face for the honor of God.
In Christo Sacerdote et Maria,
Fr. Yves le Roux
NEWS FROM THE SEMINARY
There are certain Masses throughout the Church's liturgical year that have come to be known by the opening word of their Introit, and this is the case with the Mass of Saturday before Passion Sunday. Every year at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, the bestowal of Minor Orders and the Subdiaconate takes place on this "Sitientes Saturday," 15 days before Easter, which fell on March 12th this year. On that day, His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society, was present to celebrate the Pontifical Mass of Ordination. Four seminarians became Subdeacons, while two received the Orders of Exorcist and Acolyte, and six the Orders of Porter and Lector.
The Ordinations weekend also provided the Superior General occasion to make his yearly canonical visit, required both by Canon Law and our Society's statutes. His Excellency also had individual interviews with all priests, brothers, and seminarians living in the house.