J.M.J. Dear friends and benefactors of Holy Cross Seminary, I would like first of all to give you some news of what has been an eventful month here at the Seminary, with many graces and spiritual joys. The first celebration of importance was the weekend organized for the Seminary's patronal feast day, that of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Saturday September 14. Many friends and benefactors of the Seminary from as far away as Melbourne, Albury, Sydney and Singleton came for the celebrations and ceremonies. The District Superior, Father Edward Black, presided over the First Vespers of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross on Friday night and celebrated the Solemn High Mass on Saturday morning. This Mass was preceded by a procession around the entire Seminary complex with the relic of the true Cross, singing the Litany of the Saints. Seminarians, priests and faithful prayed for the love of the mystery of the Cross, that is so essential to the Catholic life and to restoring all things in Christ. After the Mass, the faithful gathered in the Seminary Refectory to share a meal with the priests, seminarians and brothers. That afternoon I gave a conference on the mystery of the Cross and the Second Vatican Council, entitled "The Anti-Cross Council". Solemn Second Vespers followed, along with overnight exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Many of the faithful took hours and assisted in watching with Our Lord throughout the long night. The next day, Sunday September 15, was the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. A crowd of 120 faithful were present, that old timers affirmed was the largest crowd seen at a Seminary function. The Seminarians had been preparing for this occasion for several days. Brother Xavier constructed a litter to carry the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the first procession in honor of Our Lady recorded at the Seminary. Seminarian Albert Ghela put together a magnificent floral decoration. I had the privilege of celebrating the Mass and saying a few words on the necessity not just of devotion to Our Lady but of consecration to her, without which we cannot truly appreciate her role as Co-Redemptrix at the foot of the cross. The procession left the chapel, singing the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and continuing with a variety of English hymns in Our Lady's honor. After circling the Seminary, it came to its ending at a grotto set up in Our Lady's honor in a transformed outdoor squash court, offering some protection from the wind. There the priests, seminarians, brothers and faithful prayed to the Mother of Sorrows, and made the consecration of the Seminary, of themselves and of their families to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, all convinced that such a generous offering would bring an abundance of graces.
Father
Scott and the sacred ministers kneel at the feet of Our Lady
However, this was not the end of the day. The Seminary and the faithful then held a joint outdoor barbecue, enjoying the sunny day that God had sent. This gave the faithful, coming from long distances, the opportunity to meet one another and the seminarians. Many of them were large families with small children, and so as soon as lunch was over a variety of games were organized for the children. Then came the serious part. In 2001, the first time that such a family day had been celebrated at the Seminary for the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, there had been a soccer game of the laymen against the "cassocks", that is priests, seminarians and brothers. The cassocks had lost, and this time they were determined to defend their honor. They had the advantage of having played together a few times since, and having two great soccer playing priests on their side, Fathers Bourmaud and Ortiz. And so we vanquished by 5 goals to 2. The day then ended in the chanting of Vespers, all thanking God for the grace of an enjoyable and profoundly supernatural weekend, and hoping to see one another again next year. The next event was the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, Sunday September 29. This day is the annual feast day of the Brothers of the Society and the day on which they make and renew their vows. It was on this day that Brother Bernadine renewed the vows that he made for the first time last March when he finished his novitiate. Brother Bernadine is an especially valued member of the community - for he is the cook, and a great one too. He is also the Retreat Secretary. The following week we had two retreats here at the same time, the five Sisters from Rockdale on a retreat preached by Father Loschi, and 34 fervent women who followed the Exercises of St. Ignatius with great profit. It is a great joy to share the Seminary with souls who love and appreciate the silence, calm and solitude so propitious towards the interior life, and especially to see so many frequent retreatants, who come back every year for their annual retreat. Please keep up your daily decade of the Rosary for vocations. I have had several requests over the past few weeks and hope to have an increased enrollment for next year. However, every vocation is a miracle in itself, as is the perseverance of the young men that God calls out of the world, and they must be earned by our fidelity to prayer. Thus do all the members of the mystical body depend upon one another. We, the clergy, depend upon your prayers, just as you depend upon your priests for the Masses and sacraments that nourish your spiritual lives. Plans are still going ahead to open the Seminary at the beginning of February. Those who pass the exams will be guaranteed the intellectual preparation to enter the Major Seminary, if that be the will of God, as well as the recognition to enter any tertiary institution world-wide. This majestic old building is, as those of you who have visited know well, a high maintenance building. It is manifestly obvious that our one full time maintenance man, Mr. Steve Ashelford, cannot possibly take care of these buildings, nor do the many improvements that we would like to see done. He is presently working on remodeling the classrooms for the Seminarians, while a volunteer is occupied with a complete remodeling of the cottage that one of their teachers will occupy. However, we have many other projects sitting more or less indefinitely on hold. Some of you have been here on working bees before, and have learned to love this spiritual center for Tradition in Australia. I would like to invite you to come back, pay a visit, spend one or several days of your time here, and of your charity chose one of the hundreds of tasks to be done. We cannot afford to pay for labor, but we will supply the materials, good food, calm and recollection, and the reward for your generosity would be, as you know well, out of this world. Please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Ashelford or myself if you are able to pay us such a constructive visit. I have been asked if the Seminary has a direct deposit possibility for donations. It does indeed. It is called Continuous Support Fund - St. Anthony's Bread, and anybody who so desires can make a direct deposit into it under the above name or that of Holy Cross Seminary. It is at Westpac, Goulburn branch, and the BSB and Account Number are as follows: 732-721 57-3646. Holy Cross Seminary's customer number is 06527863 and the number to call for inquiries is 132 032. It is a good option for the person who may desire to donate anonymously. However, if you want us to know about your donation and to send some kind of acknowledgment, you will have to mail it directly to the Seminary. Remember that donations to Holy Cross Seminary building fund are tax-deductible, and those who make such a donation will receive a receipt for tax purposes. However, the donations must be specifically identified as for the building fund. With all the projects going on, they are a great help. I remind you that in a few weeks time, this Advent, it is going to be 33 years since the introduction of the Novus Ordo Missae, which is the entire time of Our Lord's life on this earth. It is crucially important for us to refuse to become accustomed to this evil. It would be very easy to become indifferent to it simply because it has continued on for so long. However, we cannot love the true Mass if we do not detest the perversion of the New Mass, and if we do not do all in our power to dissuade others from having their Faith destroyed by assisting at it. I say that it is a perversion because it deliberately frustrates the purpose of the Mass, which is to be an unbloody renewal of the sacrifice of Calvary, a true act of propitiation for sins, by which alone we sinners can be reunited to God. Furthermore, the list of doctrinal realities that have either been entirely eliminated from the prayers of the New Mass, or at least deliberately pushed into the background, is a shocking betrayal of the Faith that the Mass ought to express. They include: hell, judgment, the wrath of God, the wickedness of sin, the greatest evil, the temporal and eternal punishment owed for sins, detachment from this world, purgatory, prayer for the poor souls, the Church militant, Christ's Kingship on earth, the triumph of the Catholic Faith, the merits of the saints, the conversion of non-Catholics. Note that these are the very same divinely revealed truths that are deliberated omitted from sermons, and that they are the dogmas that relate most closely to the mystery of the Cross, which is what the Mass is really all about. In their place comes human dignity, the rights of man, human progress, acceptance of even the most erroneous religious opinions, religious liberty, dialogue and ecumenism. Surely it is not too strong to say that this is a perversion of what the Mass is, and a very grave evil indeed. Also crucial for an understanding of the new liturgy is the whole question of the new theology of the Paschal Mystery. It is at the basis of the reforms of the New Mass. This paschal mystery theory is that of a redemption without the cross, without reparation for sin. For sin, they say, does not incur a debt owed to divine justice, and nothing needs to be done to repay the outrage to the divine Majesty that sin brought about. Consequently, it considers that Christ's vicarious satisfaction, that is his making up for our sins and on our behalf, was not essential to the Redemption. For them the Redemption is but the ultimate manifestation of the eternal love of the Father. It is for this reason that every reference to propitiation, that is to the satisfaction owed to God to repay the punishments due for our sins, has been removed from the new reformed rite of Mass. The Vatican II belief that believers of all religions can be saved, since Christ enters into union with every man in virtue of the Incarnation, is the direct corollary. We must consequently be adamant in our position: the New Mass is not Catholic. This is not to say that it is either valid or invalid. It is to state that it directly undermines the Catholic Faith and fails abysmally to do what a Catholic Mass must necessarily do: satisfy for our sins, that we might be able to worthily adore, thank and pray to the Most Holy Trinity. Let us have nothing more to do with the New Mass, and let not convenience, family, personal feelings or any other such irrelevant excuse (that is, in comparison with the things of God) motivate us to assist or participate in it. Let our courage in standing up against all the human authorities in the Church be a profession of our Faith. Let us not be dissuaded in any way by considerations of human respect, or the number of prelates or even Popes (three) who have, alas, celebrated the New Mass. For us, it is not a question of pride or self-righteousness. It is precisely the contrary. It is the awareness of our sinful state, of the misery of our souls, and the weakness of our Faith, our absolute need of God's grace, that will inspire us to stand firm and uncompromising on this point, unlike those who attend the Indult Mass, who by the very fact practically accept that the New Mass is Catholic. You will find included with this mailing, a card on which you can inscribe the names of your dear friends and relatives who passed on. We would like to include all these souls, many of whom may be suffering in Purgatory, in our prayers for our departed friends and benefactors. If you return the card with the names of the faithful departed written on it, we will place the card on the Seminary's main altar for the entire month of November, which means for at least two Masses every day. We will also bring them out for the monthly Requiem Mass for our friends and benefactors celebrated at the Seminary. Those of you who are electronically connected (for what that is worth) may be interested in checking out the Seminary's new website at www.HolyCrossSeminary.com. The response to Father Bourmaud's tape apostolate has been encouraging. He duplicates the audio cassettes as they are ordered. If you have misplaced the flyer that Father Daniels sent out or would like another one indicating what tapes are available, please do not hesitate to let us know, and we will mail one out to you. Alternatively, if you so desire, you can check out the dates of upcoming retreats, or the availability and prices of audio cassettes on the new web site.
Yours faithfully in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Father Peter
R. Scott
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Holy
Cross Seminary, Goulburn, Australia
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