Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP looks back at the petition in favour of the traditional Latin Mass by scores of British men and women of the world of culture and the arts, some non Catholic and some non Christian. Pope Paul VI was convinced to grant permission for the traditional Latin missal to be used further in England, and asked Mgr Bugnini to express his permission to Cardinal Heenan of Westminster.
Your Young, Loyal, and Traditional Catholics
The bureau of the Juventutem federation issued a communiqué following Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes. Juventutem has worked for 17 years to make use of the Roman traditions of the Church for the sanctification of young people, with the blessing of the Holy See and the active support of many cardinals and bishops.
Chant for the Nativity
Chant expert Deacon Gwilym Evans, FSSP, on pastoral placement in England, presents the CD on Christmas chant made with his confreres at the international seminary of St Peter in Wigratzbad, Bavaria. For six consecutive weeks, Sancta Nox: Christmas Matins from Bavaria, on the De Montfort Music label, has been Number 1 on the US Billboard charts for classical music.
The God Rush
Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP shares his happy surprise at the number of young people in the UK who became nuns, friars or seminarians over the past couple of years. Could there have been a worse moment than the Covid outburst? And yet, a dozen of them heard God’s call and are now answering it. A new spring?
Year of St Joseph: A Carpenter’s Son & A Carpenter Today?
Young and mature people alike in our modern world are trapped into virtual reality. In these two articles Richard Kornicki presents woodwork as a welcome antidote for all, even if only by way of meditation in this Year of St Joseph. The profession chosen by Jesus Christ (first article) can safely be embraced by modern apprentices (second article).
Click on the Cover below to open the magazine.
Dowry is the quarterly magazine of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter in the UK & Ireland. Since its inception in 2008, the magazine has published dozens of articles on topics as diverse as theology, family life, education, the sacraments, Church Magisterium, art, politics, literature, cinema, spirituality, liturgy and more.
We welcome submissions of articles, poetry, pictures and drawings if deemed compatible with our traditional Catholic scope. Any submission must be by email to malleray@fssp.org with (small) attachments in digital format. We cannot guarantee to answer, let alone publish, each and all submission. Thank you for your interest. Contact us to be sent bulk quantities of Dowry for dispatching among your friends and acquaintances, especially if you are part of a parish, or a community or some other institution.
Dowry belongs to FSSP England, a registered charity no.1129964 (Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri Ltd).
Pray for our Second Year seminarian David, from Warrington, who will receive First Tonsure and the cassock on 23rd October, together with 32 more fellow seminarians (16 in Bavaria and 17 in Nebraska).
Please also pray for our 49 First Year seminarians who started formation last month, including Federico from Wales.
Watch our short video Called to become a priest…
Re-read earlier articles and homilies on Vocations:
Reflections on the relevance of religious life for young adults in Covid 2020s. Why not a few young people are attracted to it? How do they discern? Are they not afraid? Where is safe to apply? What if they fail or if their community is suppressed? And what about marriage? What if I still don’t know what to choose (the “Don’t-leave-me-behind-Syndrome”)?
SCHEDULE Sat. 13th Nov 2021, St Mary Magdalen Church, 96 North Side Wandsworth Common, London SW18 2QU (10 mins walk from Clapham Junction or 2 mins by bus) · 11am-12noon Conference 1 (40 mins + Q&As) · 12noon-1pm Holy Mass (Mass of St Didacus, Confessor). · 1pm-2pm Shared Lunch · 2pm-3pm Conference 2 (40 mins + Q&As) · 3pm-4pm Eucharistic Adoration: Exposition of the Bl. Sacrament and silent adoration (while confessions are heard), Benediction · 4pm Tea and departure.
Pizza and drinks will be provided for lunch. Suggested participation £10/person
At St Mary’s Priory, Smith Street, Warrington WA1 2NS, England: Starts 5:00pm; ends 2:00pm
Is God calling ME? Matrimony, celibacy, monastery, seminary, Fraternity?
If you are a single Catholic man between 18 and 29 years of age, come and discern with us at St Mary’s Priory & Church. Shrine Rector Fr de Malleray, FSSP will lead the Weekend, assisted by Frs Ian Verrier, FSSP and Alex Stewart, FSSP. There will be talks, prayers (Divine Office in our beautiful church), Holy Mass and informal chatting with fellow guests. Possibility of private meetings with a priest, and of confession.Feel welcome confidentially to call, email or write for any questions. Location: St Mary’s Priory. FREE for unwaged and students. Others: £60 per person in total.
Great pictures about our ministry here https://www.flickr.com/photos/138056205@N08/albums
VOCATION NEWS: 11 FSSP UK PRIESTS IN 19 YEARS
We have currently six young men from the UK & Ireland in formation at our two international seminaries. Three of our deacons from England were ordained priests at St Mary’s Warrington by Archbishop McMahon, OP of Liverpool. Those were the first EF priestly ordinations by a diocesan bishop in England in fifty years.Please pray for them (www.fssp.org/en/help-us/confraternity-of-saint-peter/) and for many more to enter the lists!We give thanks for 11 of priests ordained over the past 19 years: Fr Konrad Loewenstein in 2002; Fr Brendan Gerard in 2006; Frs Matthew Goddard and William Barker in 2009; Fr Simon Harkins in 2010; Fr Matthew McCarthy in 2011; Fr Ian Verrier in 2015; Fr James Mawdsley in 2016; Frs Alex Stewart and Krzysztof Sanetra in 2017; Fr Seth Phipps in 2018; Deacon Gwilym Evans in 2022 (planned).
Forthcoming Assisted Dying Bill – Bishop John Sherrington, Lead Bishop for Life Issues for the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has written an open letter inviting
Catholics to pray for the defeat of the Assisted Dying Bill to be debated in
the House of Lords in October.
It encourages
them to write to peers at the House of
Lords stating the reasons why they oppose this legislation and
particularly explain from personal experience the reasons why this change in
the law should be opposed. It urges discussion and communication about this
important matter.
Bishop John’s Letter
In the next
weeks, we face an unprecedented attack on the sanctity of life with Baroness
Meacher’s ‘Assisted Dying Bill 2021’ is due its 2nd Reading in the House of Lords
with full debate on Friday, 22 October.
The term ‘Assisted Dying’ is euphemistic, the truth is that this bill seeks to introduce Assisted Suicide. If legalised, this Bill would allow a terminally ill adult with less than 6 months to live to be assisted in committing suicide. Catholic teaching opposes assisting suicide, since life is a gift to be cared for and preserved until its natural death. The Church is clear that we cannot directly choose to take the life of another, even if they request it. The solidarity of praying and caring for the most vulnerable at this fragile time of their lives is a profoundly Christian act which imitates Our Lady’s prayer at the cross and Christ’s service to the weakest.
Those in
favour of the bill are making good use of language to confuse the issue and
call it a compassionate and caring approach to redefine the question and
obscure the actual reality and consequences of such legislation. As Pope
Francis has said, “Physician-assisted suicide is part of a ‘throwaway culture’
that offers a ‘false compassion’ and treats a human person as a problem… True
compassion does not marginalise anyone, nor does it humiliate and exclude –
much less considers the disappearance of a person as a good thing.” He
criticised “those who hide behind an alleged compassion to justify and approve
the death of a patient.”
Dangers of the introduction of Assisted Suicide
Importantly,
at this stage we need to argue the dangers of the introduction of Assisted
Suicide, which include the safety of people who are vulnerable due to external
pressures, and the later liberalisation of the law which is evidenced by other
countries which have introduced Assisted Suicide. Many voices from the world of
disability-rights and other allies are also very fearful and fighting this
bill. Whilst there are clear arguments to support Catholic teachings, it is
important to remember that this position is not only a matter of faith but also
human reason.
Later this
month, the BMA will be debating whether to change their stance to support or
neutrality on this matter. I hope that healthcare professionals will enter this
debate and highlight the dangers of this Bill to change and skew the meaning of
medicine.
Take action
There are
three important actions in the next weeks: praying, writing and sharing.
First, I ask
you to pray that the Bill will be defeated.
Second, I ask
you to write to the Peers from
your personal experience and share stories which will argue the reasons for
opposing the Bill as well as narrate the importance of precious time during the
final stages of life.
The testimony
of healthcare and legal professionals will also be important. This needs to be
done before the Second Reading on 22 October.
Third, I ask
you to engage and share stories and reasons against the Bill on social media.
Briefing
papers will be available on the bishops’ conference website to assist you as
this work develops.
Be assured of
my prayers,
+John
Bishop John Sherrington Lead Bishop for Life Issues Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
The Summer 2021 edition of our quarterly magazine Dowry is its fiftieth issue since its beginning in Advent 2008.
To mark the occasion with something a bit different, we are glad to offer you a pamphlet under a smaller ‘book’ format instead of our usual A4 size magazine. Click here to open the document.
The printed version should reach our subscribers within a fortnight.
A small part of this booklet is available to watch as video here. We assure you of our prayer as we entrust ourselves and our ministry to yours.
The signatory Institutes want, above all, to reiterate their love for the Church and their fidelity to the Holy Father. This filial love is tinged with great suffering today. We feel suspected, marginalized, banished. However, we do not recognize ourselves in the description given in the accompanying letter of the Motu Proprio Traditionis custodes, of July 16, 2021.
“If we say we have no sin …” (I John 1, 8)
We do not see ourselves as the “true Church” in any way. On the contrary, we see in the Catholic Church our Mother in whom we find salvation and faith. We are loyally subject to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Pontiff and that of the diocesan bishops, as demonstrated by the good relations in the dioceses (and the functions of Presbyteral Councillor, Archivist, Chancellor, or Official which have been entrusted to our members), and the result of canonical or apostolic visits of recent years. We reaffirm our adherence to the magisterium (including that of Vatican II and what follows), according to the Catholic doctrine of the assent due to it (cf. in particular Lumen Gentium, n ° 25, and Catechism of the Catholic Church , n ° 891 and 892), as evidenced by the numerous studies and doctoral theses carried out by several of us over the past 33 years.
Have any mistakes been made? We are ready, as every Christian is, to ask forgiveness if some excess of language or mistrust of authority may have crept into any of our members. We are ready to convert if party spirit or pride has polluted our hearts.
“Fulfill your vows unto the Most High” (Psalm 49:14)
We beg for a humane, personal, trusting dialogue, far from ideologies or the coldness of administrative decrees. We would like to be able to meet a person who will be for us the face of the Motherhood of the Church. We would like to be able to tell him about the suffering, the tragedies, the sadness of so many lay faithful around the world, but also of priests, men and women religious who gave their lives trusting on the word of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
They were promised that “all measures would be taken to guarantee the identity of their Institutes in the full communion of the Catholic Church”[1]. The first Institutes accepted with gratitude the canonical recognition offered by the Holy See in full attachment to the traditional pedagogies of the faith, particularly in the liturgical field (based on the Memorandum of Understanding of May 5, 1988, between Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Lefebvre). This solemn commitment was expressed in the Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei of July 2, 1988; then in a diversified manner for each Institute, in their decrees of erection and in their constitutions definitively approved. The men and women religious and priests involved in our Institutes have made vows or made commitments according to this specification.
It is in this way that, trusting in the word of the Supreme Pontiff, they gave their lives to Christ to serve the Church. These priests and men and women religious served the Church with dedication and abnegation. Can we deprive them today of what they are committed to? Can we deprive them of what the Church had promised them through the mouth of the Popes?
“Have patience with me!” (Mt 18:29)
Pope Francis, “encourage[s] the Church’s pastors to listen to them with sensitivity and serenity, with a sincere desire to understand their plight and their point of view, in order to help them live better lives and to recognize their proper place in the Church.”(Amoris Laetitia, 312). We are eager to entrust the tragedies we are living to a father’s heart. We need listening and goodwill, not condemnation without prior dialogue.
The harsh judgment creates a feeling of injustice and produces resentment. Patience softens hearts. We need time.
Today we hear of disciplinary apostolic visits to our Institutes. We ask for fraternal meetings where we can explain who we are and the reasons for our attachment to certain liturgical forms. Above all, we want a truly human and merciful dialogue: “Have patience with me!”
“Circumdata varietate” (Ps 44:10)
On August 13, the Holy Father affirmed that in liturgical matters, “unity is not uniformity but the multifaceted harmony created by the Holy Spirit”[2]. We are eager to make our modest contribution to this harmonious and diverse unity, aware that, as Sacrosanctum Concilium teaches, “the liturgy is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows” (SC, n ° 10).
With confidence, we turn first to the bishops of France so that a true dialogue be opened and that a mediator be appointed who will be for us the human face of this dialogue. We must, “avoid judgements which do not take into account the complexity of various situations … It is a matter of reaching out to everyone, of needing to help each person find his or her proper way of participating in the ecclesial community and thus to experience being touched by an ‘unmerited, unconditional and gratuitous’ mercy.” (Amoris Laetitia, n ° 296-297).
Done at Courtalain (France), August 31, 2021.
Fr. Andrzej Komorowski, Superior-General of the Fraternity of Saint Peter
Msgr. Gilles Wach, Prior General of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest
Fr. Luis Gabriel Barrero Zabaleta, Superior-General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd
Fr. Louis-Marie de Blignières, Superior-General of the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer
Fr. Gerald Goesche, General Provost of the Institute of Saint Philip Neri
Fr. Antonius Maria Mamsery, Superior-General of the Missionaries of the Holy Cross
Dom Louis-Marie de Geyer d’Orth, Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Magdalen of Le Barroux
Fr. Emmanuel-Marie Le Fébure du Bus, Abbot of the Canons of the Abbey of Lagrasse
Dom Marc Guillot, Abbot of the Abbey of Saint Mary of la Garde
Mother Placide Devillers, Abbess of the Abbey of Our Lady of the Annunciation of Le Barroux
Mother Faustine Bouchard, Prioress of the Canonesses of Azille
Mother Madeleine-Marie, Superior of the Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus Sovereign Priest
