St. Mary's Editorial - The Vision of Two Columns

My Dear Faithful,

The memories of the ceremonies of Holy Week are still fresh in our minds. Their effect of rejoicing and lifting up our hearts should remain with us and preserve us in the wonderful spirit of Easter. To balance this joyous spirit of Easter, we are never far from the cross and the general difficulties of life. But these difficulties are part of God’s plan for us and He invites us to follow in the steps of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to share His sufferings and then His triumph. As with the hardships of our lives, so the Church also suffers and has always mirrored Our Lord’s sufferings throughout History. For these reasons we always need some points of reference in order to keep the course of our journey towards eternal life in Heaven. In one of his numerous visions or dreams, Saint John Bosco has given us a most important insight into pointers that will guide us to Heaven. These are the devotion to the Holy Eucharist and a love for, and devotion to Our Lady. More details about this vision may be found later in this Newsletter.

During this month, it will be our turn to have the All Day Adoration in Preston. As you know, this takes place on every day throughout the year in one of the places owned by the SSPX around the world. The perpetual adoration of the Blessed Sacrament has the important effect of keeping our attention on the point of reference which is the Holy Eucharist. I hope many of you will be able to consecrate a little of your time on Tuesday 14th May to come and adore Our Lord in the Eucharist. We should take to heart making this effort, especially when we know that in these days Our Lord receives less and less of the respect He deserves. Even His own children are not immune to this fault. This effort will also be the opportunity of remembering that the Holy Eucharist is not only inviting us to keep company with Our Lord but to unite all our difficulties with Our Lord. For, we must keep in mind that the Holy Eucharist is not only the fact that Our Lord is truly present amongst us but also the fact that His presence is the fruit of a Sacrifice. To facilitate our union with Our Lord two Masses will be said on that day between which will take place the silent adoration.

The month of May is dedicated by the Church to Our Lady. For this reason I should like to encourage you to say your Rosary with more confidence than ever, trusting in the power of intercession of the one who is our heavenly and loving mother. We should concentrate on saying it slowly with pious recollection. I am sure you all have your own prayer intentions, but, I should like to suggest that you also pray fervently for vocations. We are all so fortunate as to receive without difficulty the Sacraments. If this is to continue we do need a steady supply of priests. We need holy priests who dedicate their lives to the salvation of souls by giving themselves to the Church and persevering in this life commitment. This was the great intuition of Archbishop Lefebvre, whose aim was to restore the Catholic Church from its auto-destruction triggered by the 2nd Vatican Council. To this end he formed priests who in his seminaries would be given all the means of salvation for souls, especially the doctrine of all time and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This was ‘Operation Survival’ leading us more surely on the path to Heaven.

Of these matters you shall also find more details later in this Newsletter. Great graces are granted only at the price of some efforts, and we have a beautiful opportunity to ask for them with this Day of Adoration during this month of May.

May Our Lady of the Clergy grant us many holy priests.

Rev. Vianney Vandendaele (Prior)