October
7, 2008
Dear
Friends and Benefactors,
What
great joy we ought to have to celebrate the anniversary of the
Victories of the Blessed Virgin Mary! The victories of the Immaculata
give great honour to God and shower abundant blessings upon mankind,
for her victories either draw men nearer to or help them return
to the King of kings, Our Lord and Saviour! This is the victory
of our Lady over the devil and the enemies of God.
Our
duty to join the ongoing battle against the enemies of God and
His children is best accomplished when we take up the banner of
the Blessed and Victorious Virgin Mary, our greatest Protectress!
Hence, seminary training, under the auspices of the Blessed Virgin
Mary, will best prepare men to lead the faithful of Christ in
the spiritual combat, as did our Divine Lord after His early years
spent in the peace, calm and recollection of the home of Mary,
Mother of priests. These necessary qualities of the seminary atmosphere
help to forge the seminarian in the discipline and mould of Christ,
in order to prepare a young man to enter the battle of living
and leading the Christian life without losing the peaceful union
with Christ and virile fortitude.
The
Church Militant does not train for a warfare of physical weapons
and human tactics. Catholic warfare is one of the spirit, as Leo
XIII explains in Supremi Apostolatus Officio, on devotion
of the Rosary, September 1, 1883,: “You have before your eyes…
the trials to which the Church is daily exposed; Christian piety,
public morality, nay, even faith itself, the supreme good and
beginning of all the other virtues, all are daily menaced with
the greatest perils.”
We
face these same threats today with the rampant evils unceasingly
luring men away from fidelity to Our Lord and King. Attacks abound
from secular agencies upon the rudiments of ordered Christian
family life. Although we must oppose the enemies of God in all
realms, they will be fruitless without equal or greater effort
in the spiritual realm.
The
victory of Lepanto in 1571, for instance, was not achieved merely
by having the “greatest naval forces under the command of a brilliantly
trained Catholic Admiral of the Christian Fleet.” It was a victory
of the Holy Rosary! This did not mean that the sailors simply
knelt on deck and prayed. Indeed, they and the whole of Christendom
prayed, but the men of the Christian fleet also did their duties
of state – they fought intensely and valiantly. In addition to
their military duty, prayer was absolutely necessary. Leo XIII
speaks of this prayer, which assures victory:
“We
constantly seek for help from Heaven – the sole means of effecting
anything – that our labours and our care may obtain their wished
for object. We deem that there could be no surer and more efficacious
means to this end than by religion and piety to obtain the favour
of the great Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, and the guardian
of our peace…”
The
Blessed Mother of God has always been to the children of God their
consolation and strength in facing the sorrows and difficulties
of spiritual combat. It is she who wondrously draws the fatigued
wayfarer nearer and nearer to the Kingdom of Our Lord, where peace
and life are full and secure for ever.
Leo
XIII continues: “It has always been the habit of Catholics
in danger and in troublous times to fly for refuge to Mary,
and to seek for peace in her maternal goodness. …this devotion,
like a most powerful warlike weapon, would be the means of putting
the enemy to flight, and of confounding their audacity and mad
impiety. …Many wanderers also [return] to the way of salvation,
and the wrath of the impious [is] restrained by the arms of those
Catholics who [have] determined to repel their violence.”
Under
the world’s continual threats against Christian life, we must
cry to Our Heavenly Mother, hope with confidence in her Maternal
intercession, and with careful effort do our best. This is not
an excuse to spiritual passivism, or Quietism, “I’ll pray and
let God do ‘everything.’” On the contrary, the Christian warrior
will necessarily be called to engage the world, but in a supernatural
manner. He must live for the peace of heaven while he fights for
God here on earth. Our Lady will come to his aid in the perils
of battle. Hence, we happily celebrate the feast of Our Lady’s
victories over the enemies of Christian life. So today , we have
confidence that she will assist us in conquering our enemies and
that she will direct us to becoming truly and eternally the children
of God.
“We,
who seek a remedy for similar evils, do not doubt therefore that
the prayer introduced by that most blessed man [St. Dominic] with
so much advantage to the Catholic world, will have the greatest
effect in removing the calamities of our times also. …We earnestly
exhort all Christians to give themselves to the recital of the
pious devotion of the Rosary publicly, or privately in their own
house and family, and that unceasingly…” (Leo XIII, Supremi
Apostolatus Officio)
Desiring
victory as the enemies have breached the very walls of Holy Mother
Church, the Society of St. Pius X is promoting a campaign to encourage
greater zeal in the daily recital of the Holy Rosary. The enemy
has swarmed in, wreaking havoc and destruction among the children
of God meant to be kept safe behind the fortified walls until
they would be readied for the battle without. The battle is upon
us. Prepared or not, now we must fight. The Holy Rosary
is our victory. God has chosen that we be led into the battle
by Our Lord, and in turn, by His priests.
There
are few brave and well equipped leaders to hold together the overwhelmed
Christians engaged in the battle – and few the courageous followers
to heed the commands of these “field commissioned officers” of
Christ’s Church to hold the breach and engage the enemy.
Although
the impeccable Citadel of God’s Holy Church stands impervious
to the heavy attack, the members of the Church Militant often
begin to weaken in their courage and confidence and resolve. A
sad example of this is the all too common slackening of discipline
in the Christian home. Parents have weakened in their resolve
to resist compromise with the world. The enemy enters with deceptive
allurements and enticing distractions, which suffocates the love
of God. Honourable supernatural charity is replaced with shameful
self-love. The result is devastating – not only is family life
reduced to little more than a convenient place to eat and sleep,
but the whole of society becomes a group of egocentric individuals
vying for primacy. Spoiled self love begets death – generous self
sacrifice gives birth to life.
Parents,
fight for your children’s lives, by fighting for the integrity
of Christian life! Parents must take the authoritative lead in
their families. Likewise, all are in need of priests, who lead
in holiness and doctrine in the ferocious spiritual and moral
battle at hand. The crisis we face today is one of a loss of authority
founded in fidelity to God. Christ is the exemplar – we need men
to follow in his footsteps. But where shall they come from? From
your homes, my dear friends! Your homes must be ones in
which respect for authority is fostered, immorality is prohibited
and the prayer life of Christ is vibrant.
Let
the Holy Rosary weld together your families in remaining faithful
to Our Lord and Our Lady. Families bound together with the Holy
Rosary will bring forth men sure, strong and willing to engage
in the demanding training of the holy Priesthood and the religious
life. These shall be the “captains” formed in the image of Christ,
our Master and King – from the homes of your families, to the
home of Mary where new Christs will once again be raised, then
to the battle field of life to lead the Christian faithful to
victory. Christ leads the ways, we must follow.
Pray,
my dear friends, pray for many, holy priests! Your prayers are
most urgently needed.
Here
in Holy Cross Seminary, we recently celebrated with joy the renewal
of vows in religion by Bro. John and the beginning of Bro. Francis’s
novitiate.We also welcome a new postulant from Sri Lanka and soon
an additional Brother from the Philippines, bringing our community
of Religious Brothers to six. May God grant us many men who will
give themselves in Religion to assist the priests in the spiritual
warfare. We also welcome Fr. Johannes Grün to Holy Cross Seminary.
Father recently arrived, bringing his many years of experience
in the apostolate, and quickly began teaching and training our
future priests. Deo gratias!
You
will find a form enclosed in this month's Newsletter for you to
return to the Seminary if you wish to include the names of the
faithfully departed in our daily Masses throughout the month of
November.
Dear
friends, pray that we remain faithful to the duty of living Christ
and that all in Holy Cross Seminary seek manly fortitude in the
Holy Rosary and true devotion to Mary. In this way men be fortified
in their training to remain loyal to Christ our King and so honour
our Queen. May we stand fast under the standard of our Lady –
prepared to fight with the courage of Our Lord. To the King,
men, to the King!
In
Christ the King,
Rev.
Fr. Vicente A. Griego
Rector,
Holy Cross Seminary
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Help Holy Cross Seminary:
We need
your help to purchase linen for new Altar and Mass linens.
We are also in need of replacing many worn sets of sacred
vestments for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Thank you
for your generous help. |
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Upcoming Events at Holy Cross Seminary:
Our
sincere apologies for any inconveniences that may have resulted
due to the errors in last month’s Southern Sentinel “Upcoming
Events.” Here follows correct and updated announcements.
- Ordinations to the Priesthood and the Deaconate and the Clerical
Tonsure: Saturday, December 27, 2008
- Men’s Five Day Ignatian Retreat: Monday, December 29, 2008
to Saturday, January 3, 2009
- Women’s Five Day Ignatian Retreat: Monday, January 5, 2009
to Saturday, January 10, 2009
- Men’s Five Day Marian Retreat: Monday, January 12, 2008 to
Saturday, January 17, 2009
- Please note that the Women’s Five Day Ignatian Retreat scheduled
for January 26 to 31, 2009, will not be offered.
- Crusade Boys Camp: Saturday, January 3, 2009 to Saturday,
January 10, 2009 in Brisbane area. Please contact Fr.
Bourmaud for details.
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