Pentecost XIX
Daily Sermons
October 10 – Fr. Lehtoranta – St. Francis Borgia, Follower of Jesus
October 14 – Fr. Lehtoranta – Two Great Penitents
October 15 – Fr. Nkamuke – St. Teresa of Avila
October 16 – Fr. Lehtoranta – St. Hedwig of Poland
October 17 – Fr. McGuire – St. Margaret Mary
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✠ The Bishop’s Corner ✠
Last week Fr. McKenna and I traveled over 2,000 miles to bring the Mass and the Holy Ghost to Catholics in Rochester, Minnesota, and Grand Forks, North Dakota. It was quite the trip, but Fr. McKenna makes it every three weeks. Our Lord favored us with almost perfect Fall weather, sunny and cool, which was the idea of scheduling it in October. Soon the snows will come, and the North Dakota thermometer plummet to -50. Meanwhile in River City, you seem to have had lots of rain, but little sun.
Twenty-three new soldiers of Christ were confirmed on this trip, and it is encouraging to see the Faith being passed on to the next generation. When I was the age of an average McFather, I traveled this way for a number of years. Back in those years of the late 70s and early 80s, we had rather a monopoly on the “Latin Mass.” Anyone who missed he old Mass, or didn’t like the new and all of the changes, was a likely candidate for our Masses, even if a little wobbly on the Conciliar Church, false apparitions, or the pope. We could draw 200 souls to a rented hall on a weekday evening at times. The Mass was pretty much gone, and we alone provided it. While this is still true in many places, many of the stalwart old-time Catholics of the past are gone as well. “Demand is down,” as they say. Beginning in 1982, the enemy has provided limited “legal Latin Masses,” a clever bait to get Catholics to swallow the hook of the new Vatican II religion. Since then as well, our groups have divided and subdivided, and Vatican II “traditionalists” of varying stripes have multiplied. It is quite a different world, but there are still zealous Catholic families who reject the new religion and are grateful for the visits and guidance of a Catholic priest. This is how St. Gertrude the Great began, with the LaJoye family in Milford, Ohio, in 1978.
May God bless the work of our young priests in the missions, and our own work here at “the motherhouse” of St. Gertrude the Great! Fr. Cekada was working last week on his latest “Work of Human Hands” video. The first edition of his book is now just about sold out, and he will have to work on funding for a second edition. In the meantime, he’s working on training future priests at the seminary this week. Fr. Nkamuke, whose talk at the Rosary Confraternity breakfast really was most interesting, is working on preparing for his return to Nigeria. As much as can be gathered and shipped (shipping is very expensive, though) to furnish the altars at his three chapels takes the priority in his planning.
Fr. Larrabee took a little break from his labors in Southern California to pay us a welcome visit last week, along with his father. It was good to see him again, and catch up on his news. Our closing Fatima Rosary procession for peace, on the evening of the 13th, drew more than 55 souls, on a cool but dry evening, to pray and process publicly one final time for 2014 with flickering candles aglow in one hand, beads in the other, and Our Lady’s beautiful illuminated image borne once again along Union Centre Boulevard.
The great work that occupies all of us Gertrudians, each in his own way, is our annual Forty Hours Devotion, which opens with a Solemn High Mass Friday evening (stay for the chili supper afterwards!) and continues through All Night Adoration, and the day on Saturday (adorers needed, especially from 3:00 to 5:00 PM). The Adoration resumes at 6:30 Sunday morning and continues all day until the closing ceremonies at 6:45 PM. We especially need adorers Sunday afternoon, and faithful for the two processions. Rosarians, this is a cherished tradition for the Confraternity. Come and process together in a body (there is strength in numbers) wearing your medal. Parents, it is a special privilege for the little ones to walk before the Blessed Sacrament, casting rose petals before Our Lord.
The façade of the Conciliar Church is cracking in Rome, showing the new religion, which originally drove us from our parishes, in all of its ugliness. Let us worship Our Lord in “the beauty of holiness” these days, praying for the conversion of the modernists, making reparation for their sins, and giving a good example of what true Catholicism is all about.
May God bless our church, our faithful and clergy, and bless us with a truly devout Forty Hours!
– Bishop Dolan