Rector's letters

January 2006 - Let Us Not Forget Benjamin!

January 01, 2006
Released from our sins by sacramental absolution and ready for new combats, we leave the confessional in peace. But, alas, very soon we fall again into our habitual faults. The devil, always lying in wait, tries to discourage us, so that we give up the practice of confession under the fallacious pretext that it is useless – aren't our relapses the evident proof ? However, we cannot doubt either the efficacy of the sacrament or our upright intention when, filled with contusion for having dared to oppose the Divine Majesty, we accused ourselves before the tribunal of God without making excuses, determined not to offend Him again in the future.

December 2005 - Progress - A Mirage

December 01, 2005
As another year comes to an end, we reflect upon the passage of time, the succession of events, the multiplicity of changes in our lives and our world. Year follows year, historical cycle follows historical cycle, but one reality always endures: the total opposition between the Christian spirit and the spirit of the world. Affirmed by Christ Himself, stressed by Saint Paul and taught by Saint Augustine, this opposition is not lessened by time. On the contrary, time accelerates and accentuates it.

November 2005 - Credidimus Caritati

November 01, 2005
Credidimus Caritati – We have believed in Love. The episcopal motto chosen by Archbishop Lefebvre describes him perfectly. He was, indeed, a man of profound faith, a lively faith that established him in God, in that center of love that is the Holy Trinity. Credidimus Caritati, we have believed in the love of God for us and our whole life carries its seal. We believe that the love of God nailed Our Lord Jesus Christ upon the infamous gibbet of the Cross, so that His death could repair the divine honor, ridiculed by the sins of men. We believe that the Divine Love used this instrument of torture to conquer and reign. Finally, we believe that the love of God expects that we seek to establish the reign of Christ in individuals, families and societies, by tirelessly preaching Jesus and Jesus crucified.

October 2005 - The Lieutenant of Christ

October 01, 2005
The City of Man, carefully built by the devil, does not offer to the soul any opportunity to recuperate its forces, nor to look forward with anticipation or enthusiasm. On the contrary, the visibly triumphant hedonism of our days anesthetizes the soul with its deadly poisons, taking away the visible traces of the divine Presence. But this Presence remains a reality that cannot be erased by all the sniggering demons of Hell, as it is based on the promise of Our Lord Jesus Christ: "I will be with you. I will not leave you orphaned."

September 2005 - From Rumors to Tumors

September 01, 2005
Tribulation always takes us by surprise and hurts us, whatever it may be – the brutal loss of a loved one, an accident, a contradiction, an error, the consequences of our own sins... Then we fail to control the violent emotions that agitate us. Blinded by grief, we are distraught, and, adding to our confusion, an interior voice repeats a nagging "why?" Shut up in our deep affliction, shaken by the roaring flood of our emotions and subject to the tyrannical power of our own imagination, we are impotent to answer that painful question.

August 2005 - Summer News

August 01, 2005
The month of August is traditionally a quiet one at the Seminary with only the week long retreat preached to priests changing somewhat the peaceful passing of the days. Vacation time allows us the opportunity of sharing with you some news concerning the Seminary. In July two Ignatian retreats were preached at the Seminary. Two priest Seminary staff members took one each, aided by a deacon.

June 2005 - "O Lord, Grant Us..."

July 01, 2005
"Leave a parish without priests, and in thirty years time men will adore the beasts." The degrading spectacle that our world offers us daily confirms the truth of these words of the Saint Curé of Ars. It would be dangerous, though, to assume that the disastrous absence of priests affects only others, and not us. Memory brings to mind the lyrics of a French song that, already twenty years ago, remarked on this tragic loss and its frightening consequences: "Where is the cassock by which the man of God was respectfully recognized as he passed by?" The priest has disappeared, and with him a living testimony of the existence of God. Nothing is left to remind men of sacred realities. The lives of many pass away in increasing coarseness, and the adoration of God has yielded its place to the adoration of Man and his unassailable "Rights." Modern man is not content with adoring beasts, as the pagans did, but has reduced himself to their level.

June 2005 - "To Be Sure of God as of a Family...

June 01, 2005
When we are lost, we do not hesitate to ask directions from a complete stranger and then follow them exactly. This trust, which we automatically give to someone who may well be an inveterate liar or a downright scoundrel, we usually deny God. This distrust of God is an effect of our pride which drives us to want to know, to rule, to foresee – in a word, to control. Although we are obliged to submit to the innumerable vagaries of our existence, it is still hard for us to adore God in humility and blindness, in ignorance and submission, dependent on multiple events over which we have no power.

May 2005 - Neither in Illusion, nor Close-minded

May 01, 2005
The death of John Paul II has been the occasion for the media's presentation of an accurate picture of the long years of his Pontificate. They have done this with great rejoicing. We share their analysis, but we are saddened by it. Prompted by his false liberal vision of man as an absolute, John Paul II considered himself the servant of man, with Christ as the most beautiful exemplar of humanity. In the service of mankind, and trying to reconcile it with itself, he also became the champion of ecumenism. It is true that this premise of man as an absolute has permitted the Pope to keep firmly attached to the moral principles. On this point, our sentiments are radically different from those of the press because it has, in general, complained about this firmness. But this shadow has been very slight and it has not been an impediment to the world-wide media triumph that was his funeral. Although we have rejoiced to see the reaction of Christian people justly saddened by the loss of the Holy Father, we cannot but regret that this filial reaction has been transformed into a sentimental manifestation of devotion towards a charismatic man.

April 2005 - What Kind of Schools for our Children

April 01, 2005
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.

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