Former SSPX member Father Anthony Cekada will once again join Restoration Radio and talk about this surprising twist in the ongoing Vatican/SSPX negotiation saga.

• Date: Monday, May 14, 2012
• Time: 8:00 PM EDT, 7:00 CDT, 00:00 GMT
• Link: Restoration Radio: SSPX-Rome: Part II

The show will run approximately one hour and we will start taking calls at the halfway mark. The show will be hosted by Stephen Heiner of True Restoration.

Save these dates for the St. Gertrude the Great Girls’ Camp!
Girls ages 5 – 16+ are welcome to join us on July 11th, 12th and 13th for three days of fun and spiritual activities. We will be joined by three Sisters of St. Thomas Aquinas for days filled with camp favorites such as archery, scrapbooking and of course, the popular Ice Cream Social. We’ll also have our second “annual” canoe trip (age appropriate), overnight camping and bonfire again. New activities for this summer include origami, cake decorating, making a personalized Rosary and some surprises! Come join the fun! The cost of this camp is funded by the generous donations of our sponsors.

Also, Save the Date for Boys’ Camp!
July 24-26

Our school children sing at their spring spaghetti dinner fundraiser.

Bishop’s Corner
Happy Mothers Day! It is is our wonderful tradition at St. Gertrude the Great to honor each year our own mother, and the Blessed Mother of us all, as well, by the beautiful May Crowning led by this year’s First Communicants.

Traditionally, the young lady who crowns Our Lady received the highest mark from Fr. Cekada in the Catechism test, but of late this privileged child has had to be a bit of a rock climber as well. (Multitasking is good!) You see, ever since Phil and Gino built the beautiful Lourdes Grotto (lovingly dedicated in memory of Bernie and Rita Brueggemann, their family, and Bavarian, the family business) we have been processing there on Mothers Day, and crowning Our Lady of Lourdes. The scriptural “cleft in the rock” which holds Our Lady, however, is rather difficult to access, and our skilled Master of Ceremonies, Richard Vande Ryt, has had to safely guide the young lady on the ledge to Our Lady, and back again. This procedure has not been without much interesting and profitable spiritual symbolism, to say nothing of a certain amount of inherent drama, which kept everyone’s attention. Nevertheless, I thought that this year we should direct our attention to another, of late neglected, Marian Shrine on our grounds.

Just a few years ago, Angie Poeppelman had the happy inspiration of planting a Mary Garden in front of the school as part of that year’s Girls’ Camp. She and some of the other ladies also collected money for the beautiful statue of Our Lady which graces it. Some of those ladies are gone now, but Our Lady’s still here, and I know she will bring them back in God’s good time, along with their families.

Meanwhile, I want to thank Eldon and Dale for restoring the garden and for preparing it with Spring plants for today’s ceremony. Thanks, too, to the Misses Patton and all who helped make for a successful Bake Sale last Sunday for this year’s Girls’ Camp. As usual, Fr. McGuire and the fathers tend to be more St. Joseph-like in their quiet ways, but something will be forthcoming one of these days about the Boys’ Camp in July.

Speaking of silent ways, I must conclude with a most edifying cat story. Sometimes of a morning, Caravaggio will join me for a bit of spiritual reading or meditation. Last Wednesday, however, he was the very soul of fraternal charity, at once discreet and considerate. As I sat in my chair reading, the cat came to me quietly and gave me a meaningful look before going to the door. It was unusually early for him to leave of his volition, as he usually tries to get in a cat nap before resuming his feline duties outdoors. Nevertheless, I left St. Gregory Nazianzen to see about Caravaggio. When I opened the door, behold! his brother Puccini, who had been silently waiting, stole in. Feline discretion! Pets, like children and spouses, do require a certain amount of mind reading, but all for a good cause.

I wonder if anyone will come to the second procession this Mothers Day, the Fatima Rosary for peace this evening. Only at St. Gertrude would we dare to ask twice, but the Caravaggio story inspires our confidence, and love always finds a way.

Happy Mothers Day!
–Bishop Dolan

Also, Save the Date for Boys’ Camp!
July 24-26

Our school children sing at their spring spaghetti dinner fundraiser.

Bishop’s Corner
Perfect Spring mornings greet us each day, perfect for these sweet days of May. If later the summer heat and humidity rise, then the peace and strength of morning prayer with Mary becomes all the more important. Did you remember your Regina Caeli this morning, as well as to offer your day to Jesus through Mary? Start everything with a Sign of the Cross, and then your three Hail Marys, and the rest. Your day may even keep its fresh springlike sweetness regardless of the weather.

We prayed through the night for First Friday, after the example of the Saint of persevering prayer, Monica. Gather your family together for evening prayer in May. Say Our Lady’s Litany together. It only takes a few minutes. Her name and praise will dissipate the storm clouds which may gather at day’s end.

On Holy Cross Day, Thursday, we sang a solemn Mass and we blessed the Palm Crosses, which are used devoutly against bad weather. Fr. McKenna commented that we could have used them earlier in the week, and this is true. The Kinnetts’ old house was hit by lightning last Tuesday night, but mostly spared. We were awakened by a midnight storm, so loud I thought it was hail. I was so sleepy I could only just manage invoking an angel or two to see to things, and they did, as I fell back asleep. The only damage was a big puddle of water by Dr. Jesus, a mysterious leak we have never been able to trace and fix. Maybe the angels will see to it.…

I want to thank our school, its staff and students, as well as our resident Italian chef, Dominic O’Donnell and family, for a perfect Spring Sunday last week. We wanted to thank you for your support of our fine little school all year long, as well as to show you some of its sweet fruits. They are a talented bunch, aren’t they? Every piece sung or poem declaimed was a delight, and such charming little touches, as well!

Who would not be touched and moved by the innocence of little children, all the sweeter in contrast with all of the ugliness and bitterness of this wicked world of ours? It is good to celebrate the good. May more souls be won away from the dark side by the dear voices of innocence and love.

These same voices are raised to God daily in song at the Sacrifice of the Mass, at the heart of the school day. We know how this stirs up the devil’s furious hatred and infernal persecution, but who knows the blessings won for us and for the Poor Souls, by the innocent chorus of Christ’s lambs, gathered about the Holy Altar? Come and pray with them some day, won’t you? Satan can bear Sundays, even perfect Gertrudian Sundays, because he knows that Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and the rest are his, as even their names indicate, hearkening back to the old heathen demons the pagans worshiped as gods. Prove him wrong some workday, won’t you?

Fr. McKenna is in his final month with us, but has returned home to Boston for First Holy Communions at Sacred Heart Church. Fr. McGuire reports a good number of lambs to be fed for the first time by the Lamb of God, both at St. Hugh and in the missions. Let us pray for these children never to lose their Lord and their God, Who comes soon to feed them with Himself.

This is the last of our quiet Paschal weeks at church. Next week begins with two processions, morning and night, for the Blessed Mother’s May Crowning, and Our Lady of Fatima’s crown of roses–the Holy Rosary for peace. The processions continue with the Lesser Litanies, which lead into the Holy Day of Ascension, in turn sparking the fire of the Holy Ghost for the Pentecost Novena and Confirmations. May will end in a busy blaze of red, Pentecostal flame.

May the Holy Ghost produce His fruits in your soul, starting each morning and lasting all week until Sunday sees you on your knees at church again.

Come, Holy Ghost!
–Bishop Dolan

Bishop’s Corner

I am writing this on the feast of the Mother of Good Counsel, who graciously shared that day’s honors with her Son’s first Evangelist, St. Mark. The Divine Child she holds and the Man-God held out by the first Gospel, both present to us the startling reality of the Sacred Humanity: God became a Man. The bald and realistic Baby of the Mother of Good Counsel picture; the Man who sleeps on a pillow, sighs deeply, looks about angrily in St. Mark’s Gospel: behold the evidence of the Incarnation. Mohammedans and Monophysites (Egyptian Copts and Armenians) deny it, and Our Lord withdraws His Mother and Saint from their lands. How blessed are we! May our confident devotions ever foster our faith, the one, holy, Catholic and Roman Faith. Leave us not, O Lord!

The Easter era of devotions and holy observances has begun. Let us look lively! These are the days of grace. Last week’s two double days open now into May, with the Apostles and the Holy Cross, the Sacred Heart and St. Monica, the Immaculate Heart and St. Pius V. Take your pick! Pick a handful of these beautiful flowers from God’s garden and lay them shyly, sincerely, at Mary’s feet.

The children crowded around the lambs last Sunday. They were a big hit, and I thank Paul and Marlys Arlinghaus for bringing them. A bunny made its way into the menagerie as well, and was well received. I fed one of the lambs with a bottle (they are just being weaned now) but the other lamb wanted in as well, and it ended up rather a food fight, with milk all over their wool. Children will be children!

We are looking forward to the school children today, and their Spring Entertainment. I hope you’ll come, and have some spaghetti with us to support our fine school!

Our “visiting professor” Fr. Cekada was doing his academic duties last week in the Seminary, and reports that two seminarians received their first two Minor Orders from Bishop Sanborn. Mr. Jorge Bosco is from Argentina, and you all know Mr. Bede Okechukwu. It is cheering to see these fine future priests advance nearer the altar.

Spring is for children, and also for flowers, isn’t it? Our church gardens (we have so many, and are grateful to Eldon and Dale for maintaining them so well) look beautiful now in bloom: iris and lilac, lilies of the valley, some azalea, different purple ground covers, pansies, and really Knock-Out roses, which always look their best in Spring. March’s summer weather pushed everything ahead by a couple of weeks, but I hope there will be flowers for May and Mary.

We decorated the altars last Sunday with honeysuckle, which grows with glorious abandon on our property, and gave an interesting airy look to the altar. I fear our allergy sufferers had some penance to do, though.

May…Mary’s Lent, it’s sometimes called. The sweet penance you are called to do is to honor her, and keep this month of devotions and saints with all due devotion. Have a May altar at home, renew the family Rosary, bring the kids to church. If you miss some Sundays, make them. If you’re a regular for the Lord’s Day, branch out into a weekday Mass or devotion. You will not regret it, in time or eternity.

May St. Joseph and St. Catherine lead you to Our Lady and her Son, the dear Doctor of the Sick, she who is herself the Health of the Sick. Say the Litany of Loreto every day in May.

May Mary make these days of May blessed for you!

–Bishop Dolan

Be sure to buy your copy of Fr. Cekada’s book, “Work of Human Hands”. “Work of Human Hands” is also available on Amazon.com.

Last week, Low Week was high Spring for us, cool and sunny, with birds and a bunny (I spied one as I knelt to pray the other morning), all the sweeter because it came after such a short but strong taste of Summer last month. Christ is risen! Our Fr. Valeriy in Ukraine celebrated Eastern Easter last Sunday. By then our lilies were going, but Low Week offers a nice stretch of pure Paschaltide before St. Joseph–this week–and Our Lady in May lead us into Pentecost. The Holy Oils, blessed and consecrated on Maundy Thursday, are slowly making their way throughout the world to consecrate catechumens, seal soldiers of Christ, and anoint the sick and dying. Fr. McKenna, who preached for us last Sunday, is preparing the packages, and seeing to burning last year’s oils on Our Lady’s altar.

Low Sunday was indeed low in attendance as is traditional. Our wandering sheep have moved on to other pastures, promptly getting themselves caught in some thorn patch or another. (Good Shepherd, deliver them!) The faithful flock which supports us and helps the shepherds here each week and all week long is still safely grazing at St. Gertrude. (Our Lady of the Good Shepherd sustain them, and reward their fidelity!)

Fr. Lehtoranta conducted his first Holy Week as a priest at St. Hugh in Milwaukee, and did a fine job. He visited us briefly before going to New Orleans on a little pilgrimage to Our Lady of Prompt Succour. After completing his seminary studies he will be joining us this July. Mr. Bede Okechukwu, who is scheduled to be ordained next year, will do some Summer School with Fr. Desposito to accelerate his theological studies for the holy priesthood.

Fr. Roger in France was giving a Low Week retreat, Fr. Hecquard reports. He also says that they are all too busy doing priestly work to worry about the Pius X society, which was was beginning the process of formally joining the One World Church during Low Week, as a kind of a birthday present for the old modernist Ratzinger, one of the last of the revolutionaries of Vatican II, an architect of the New Church. (This is all in spite of the fact that Archbishop Lefebvre laid out exactly why they could never make a deal with Ratzinger.)

Most of the Pius X flock is just looking anymore for convenient and respectable grazing rights, and has quite given up on the “wolves in sheep’s clothing” question. This will lead them right off the cliff, or perhaps leave them as lamb chops for somebody’s dinner. Doctrine, of course, matters, and is meant to trump convenience and appearance and respectability for Christ’s flock. St. Pius X, faithful Shepherd, pray for us all!

Our fathers are visiting these days a number of our sick and elderly whom I ask you kindly to remember in your daily prayers. Fr. Saavedra of Detroit went down to visit his own father, who is quite ill, over Easter, but is back now. He also had a nice group for the seminary to assist him for a solemn Holy Week.

Our school children were practicing Low Week for the annual Spring Entertainment on the 29th, which follows the O’Donnells’ excellent Spring Spaghetti Dinner. (Dominic is an old pro and does not require any practice.) I hope you’ll be with us!

Last of all, the little lambs who will be fed for the first time with Our Lord’s Precious Body and Blood on Corpus Christi came Low Saturday for their First Communion testing with Fr. Cekada. (Traditionally, the highest scoring girl crowns Our Lady on Mother’s Day, while the boy carries the crown.) After the testing comes a little spiritual talk with the children in preparation for their First Confession. Last of all, the little ones complete their day with a visit to Fr. Cekada’s celebrated candy box.

May these days of Easter be sweet for us, full of peace as we graze contentedly in Christ’s pastures, His one and unchanging Church. Come Wednesday, the Solemnity of St. Joseph and the Greater Litanies, to process and pray with us for all of our pressing needs, for Holy Church, for shepherds and sheep, and for the wanderers too.

God bless you!
–Bishop Dolan

What will SSPX head Bp. Bernard Fellay do?

A former SSPX priest, Fr. Anthony Cekada, will join Restoration Radio to talk about this event and similar situations in SSPX in 1983, 1988, 2000, and 2007.

• Date: Sunday, April 15, 2012
• Time: 2:30 PM EST, 1:30 PM CST, 19:30 GMT
• Link: Restoration Radio

The show will run approximately one hour and we will start taking calls at the halfway mark.

Bishop’s Corner
Everyone here rested a little for Easter Week, and I hope you did, too. By Easter Sunday we were all properly tired, I think, but still soldiered on for the great, high feast of feasts, the Resurrection, this year with one more Pontifical High Mass. I wish again to thank all who helped in so many ways to make for such a splendid, yet smooth and very spiritual Holy Week.

We had good attendance throughout, especially for the Maundy Thursday Mass and Maundy. It was wonderful to see so many little ones with us to assist at the Foot Washing service in the afternoon. The children got a bird’s eye view. Good Friday is always well attended, and the Mass of the Presanctified went beautifully under the competent direction of John Vande Ryt, an annual tradition. His police skills come in handy in the sanctuary!

Tenebrae attendance seemed to be a little bit lighter this year, but especially beautifully sung by the choir, and exquisite solos by Fr. Nicholas Desposito and our own Charles Simpson for the Lamentations. The setting sun perfectly illuminated the final Stations of the Cross on the eastern wall, just as the choir was singing the moving “O vos omnes” (“All ye that pass by the way”), a plaint from the lips of our Lady of Sorrows.

On Saturday, young Thomas Simpson had a gadget for striking the spark for the new fire from stone, which he used to start the holy fire. Later on in the long morning service (a true vigil of four and a half hours) his brother Joseph was surprised at the Baptismal font when I splashed water on him, but the rubrics direct the celebrant to cast it to the four points of the compass, and our very competent candle-bearer was standing due east.

Marge and Jim Soli prepared a fine feast for after the Vespers which closed the Easter Vigil, and Lent of 2012. You all must have been hungry after so much praying, because the platters were practically licked clean!

It was nice to see the church full again at all of the Masses on Easter, and that mainly with family members, young and old, of the regular Sunday faithful. A few welcome old friends came for good measure, adding to our Easter joy. The perfect weather, sunny yet cool, did as well, and made so much easier the work we had to do those days of Holy Week and Easter.

On Easter Wednesday the Pattons invited me to accompany them to the Mt. Eden Art Museum. It was an enjoyable outing, as I was wanting to see the new and improved version, with the idea of taking our students sometime. The “good stuff ” is mostly in one section, and can be seen and savored fairly expeditiously. The entire museum is a daunting task!

The religious art reminds us, as does Holy Week, and indeed our church of St. Gertrude the Great, of an age in which God came first, and we found our life’s meaning, our highest achievements, the solace in our sorrow, as well as recreation and play, all in the field of the Faith, all with the saints, all for God’s glory. How cold and ultimately meaningless the other eras in a museum, or a life, seem; away from the Faith, and God’s glory first. The challenge of a Christian is to live by the Church’s calendar, and to consecrate everything to God’s glory, seeing and serving Him in the smallest details of life. He alone gives meaning to life, Our Risen Lord. How mean, how meaningless, is the post-Christian era which claims our interest, and yet offers nothing of substance…I think of the museum with a Campbell’s Soup portrait on par with a Murillo or Tiepolo!

But Christ is Risen! He conquers, and yet also it is He who quietly colors in the corners of our life. To Him be all our efforts, for Him be all the glory!

–Bishop Dolan