2006
The children of Veritas Academy dressed up for
All Saints' Day.
Here
is our humble Catholic School.
Against all odds and all laws and all "customs", we
are slowly trying to form integrally Catholic children.
Of the 28 children, 20 are from the orphanage.
Please pray for us! Thank you for your support.
In
Maria,
Fr Summers
Indian
Tragedy
|
|
|
|
| Regnavit
a ligno Deus
HOLY CROSS SEMINARY
FATHERS OF THE SOCIETY OF SAINT PIUS X |
J.M.J.
May
22, 2006
Holy Saturday
Dear friends
and benefactors of Holy Cross Seminary,
The past
few weeks have been a busy time for the Seminary’s maintenance
and construction crews, with up to eight men working here at one
time. After a delay, the radiators and copper piping have been
installed to conduct heat to the classrooms. A breezeway has been
constructed joining up the St. Joseph House to the classroom wing,
and a bungalow at the back of a workshop has been remodeled as
a self-contained apartment for one of our workers. The work on
the remodeling of the teachers’ cottage continues.
SACRISTY FURNISHINGS
However,
the great find of this Paschaltide was the purchase of three four
metre long vestment chests and two very large (2 m. high) hanging
closets, as well as a complete new set of pews for the nave of
the chapel, four new long tables for the refectory, and a large
number of beds, mattresses, desks, chairs and bookshelves. They
were acquired just after Easter from a former seminary in Sydney
that is about to be demolished, and brought down by Brother Joseph
in three completely full truckloads.
We are grateful
for the volunteer workers, whose help enabled all these items
to be installed immediately. Two of the very large vestment cabinets
were installed in the vesting sacristy and one in the storage
sacristy, with one hanging closet in each sacristy. We were desperately
in need of the storage space, which space is essential to maintaining
the cleanliness and good condition of the vestments that enhance
the beauty of the liturgical ceremonies. However, these unexpected
(but so providential) expenses, combined with all the other maintenance
projects and the purchase of a 30 year old but very functional
tractor, have left the Seminary very short of funds at the present
time. We are indebted to our small number of regular benefactors
but remind our friends that the small tuition payment that we
request (that many of our seminarians cannot pay), barely covers
food and incidentals, and does not suffice to cover the running
expenses of the Seminary.
DEPARTURES
I had not
mentioned in this newsletter the departure of three of our four
Indian seminarians at the end of last school year, just three
weeks after having sacrilegiously renewed their engagements in
the Society of Saint Pius X for one year, and just a few days
after having received Minor Orders under false pretenses. I call
it sacrilegious, since they admitted afterwards having secretly
planned for many months to rejoin their Novus Ordo diocese,
that is they planned all along to break their promises solemnly
made before the Blessed Sacrament and in the presence of the whole
community, and they falsely requested in writing the reception
of Minor Orders as a step towards the priesthood in the Society
of Saint Pius X with which they had evidently no intention of
continuing. It is difficult to understand the deviousness underlying
this secrecy, since they would have been most welcome to leave
at any time. One cannot help but think that this was to keep both
options open, in case they were not received back by the diocese
of Bombay, as they were.
The reason
that I bring it up now is not just that their departure was a
sword of betrayal rending the heart of our little community, united
in mutual confidence and trust, but because it has now become
a public issue, and so much so that it has even been praised by
none other than Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos himself, President of
the Ecclesia Dei Pontifical Commission, and supposed intermediary
for the Society of Saint Pius X with Pope Benedict XVI.
How, you
might think, could a Cardinal of the Church praise such deviousness?
Could they have become a pawn in the politics of the modernists?
This is what Cardinal Castrillon had to say in a letter to Cardinal
Ivan Dias, Archbishop of Bombay, dated February 24, 2006:
“I wish
to acknowledge with gratitude your kind letter to me of 5 February,
2006 regarding the return to your flock of three seminarians
who had left your Archdiocesan Major Seminary in 2002 to enter
to the seminary of the Society of St. Pius X in Goulburn, Australia.
I am particularly appreciative of the memoranda by these seminarians
which you have enclosed and I rejoice with you that they have
responded to the grace to return to the fullness of the Catholic
faith and life in India. I am very pleased to know that they
have found in Your Eminence a paternal welcome back to the
bosom of the Catholic Church and I pray that their experience
will make them value even more the importance of being in full
communion with the Successor of Peter. The testimony of these
seminarians gives reason for great concern about the separatist
mentality which surrounded them in the seminary in Goulburn
and which they finally had the grace to reject. I sincerely
hope that it will be possible to save their vocations…”
The accusations
made by the Cardinal are the gravest possible. He who last September
publicly stated that the Society “did not formally constitute
a schism” and on November 13 last “they are inside the
Church….because communion exists”, apparently in an effort
to appeal to traditional Catholics, is now accusing us of nothing
less than schism in order to appeal to modernist Catholics.
FULLNESS OF CATHOLIC FAITH AND LIFE
What is the
“fullness of the Catholic Faith and life” that is supposedly lacking
in this Seminary. What could it be if not the intense spiritual,
disciplined life of a Seminary whose rule was praised by Rome
(February 18, 1971), or perhaps the daily and even twice daily
attendance at the Mass of all time, or perhaps the thrice-daily
common prayer of the Divine Office, or perhaps the strict common
life, the Gregorian Chant and solemn ceremonies, the constantly
ongoing series of Benedictions, Processions, Ways of the Cross,
Rosaries and devotions that punctuate Seminary life? What could
it be if not the study of the philosophy and theology of St. Thomas
Aquinas, so often commanded by the Church (e.g. Leo XIII, St.
Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XII) and yet of which these young Indian
seminarians in 5 – 8 years each of Seminary life before coming
to Holy Cross had learnt nothing?
Or could
this “fullness of the Catholic Faith and life” possibly be the
following description of the Bombay Novus Ordo Seminary
made by one of three after leaving in 2002… and to which he has
now returned:
“The theology
in the Bombay Seminary is far from being the supernatural science
as has been well defined by the Angelic Doctor. It is completely
naturalised and horizontalized, to began and end in ‘this-worldly’
experience of ‘this-life’ (with eternal life forgotten, if not
erased). And therefore the modernists talk of ‘doing theology’
and as a natural consequence of such a ‘doing’, seminarians
are sent to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) to get ‘in
touch with reality’, to mingle with those non-Catholic atheistic,
sometimes perverse social workers who themselves have loose
morals and broken, disintegrated family life. The seminarians
are then fed with the Marxist agenda of ‘classless society’
with rebellion against legislative authority in the Church as
well as in the State, sowing in them the seeds of the ‘revolution’
against God’s natural order. Peace and serenity of recollected
religious life is now replaced with agitation and dissipation
of mundane concerns of the world in the disguise of striving
for social justice and ecumenism, supposedly to create ‘communal
harmony’ – another proof of the depravity of the modernist mind.
I shall provide a few samples of modernists academics that demonstrate
clearly the complete loss of faith and movement towards the
Great Apostasy…” (Mr. D’Souza).
Or could
it be, to quote another of the three, describing the “moderator
groups” that exist in the Bombay seminary:
“Each week
the mass was said by the priest in his room. As a priest of
inculturation, he said it by squatting on the floor. A lot of
novelties were introduced at this mass, which included substituting
the prayers from the missal by spontaneous prayers, a group
sharing on a topic after the gospel, passing of the paten and
the chalice for the receiving of communion under both species
individually by each member and a replacement of the proper
mass vestments by a shawl.” (Mr. Rodrigues)
Make your choice. There seems to be no doubt as to where the
“fullness of Catholic Faith and life” lies, and yet Holy Cross
Seminary is condemned out of hand, precisely for living up to
its mission as received from the Church. Cardinal Castrillon’s
letter further accuses Holy Cross Seminary of not being in “the
bosom of the Catholic Church”, of not “being in full communion
with the Successor of Peter”, on account of its “separatist
mentality”. These false accusations derive from the statements
of these seminarians of a “practical sedevacantism” and of a
“critical reaction towards the Papacy”. The further accusation
of a “separatist mentality” stems from the Rector’s decision
not to allow the Seminary to public participate in a Eucharistic
adoration in a local Novus Ordo church.
SEPARATIST MENTALITY?
Yet these
seminarians all know full well that there is no practical sedevacantism
here, and that Pope Benedict XVI is prayed for publicly and by
name at every Mass, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, Rogation
days and whenever the liturgy calls for it. They also know very
well that the Society lays no claim to ordinary jurisdiction,
which can only come from the Sovereign Pontiff, who has by divine
institution the fullness of the power of government over the universal
Church. Accusations of not being in full communion are consequently
based in part on the imaginary “excommunication” of Archbishop
Lefebvre and in part on our 35 year old refusal to accept the
modernist spirit of the post-conciliar Popes.
Yes, we are
obliged to have a critical reaction towards such Popes, and to
separate ourselves from those of their guidelines that undermine
and destroy the “fullness of Catholic Faith and life”, such as
the post-conciliar liturgy and ecumenism. Yes, we are bound to
separate ourselves from the Novus Ordo Missae, which is
insulting to God Our Lord and undermines the Faith. Yes, we owe
it to God to be logical with ourselves, and we must refuse the
fruits of this Mass – namely Holy Communion from hosts consecrated
at such Masses and public participation in the adoration of these
hosts. Indeed, if we were to do these things, we would thereby
participate in a protestantizing, modernist worship and show our
approval of it. If this is what is meant by having a “separatist
spirit”, then we make no apologies for it. We want to be separate
from the Novus Ordo and to have no part in it. It is the
whole reason for our combat. However, this does not in the least
mean that we deny the validity of such Masses, or that we judge
the intentions of those who perform or participate in such ceremonies,
or that we fall into a critical bitterness. Having understood
by a special grace of God what is required to maintain and live
the Faith, we have the obligation to state so, loud and clear,
without ambiguity of any kind. This precludes even a distant participation
in the New Mass.
Cardinal
Castrillon Hoyos has clearly not understood the principles, and
is fact committed to undermining them. Hence his blistering attack
on the Seminary. It is difficult to understand how he can be an
effective intermediary with the Pope, given that he believes that
all these compromises are necessary “to save their vocations”,
whereas in fact these principles are the guarantee of perseverance
in our holy vocation as Catholic priests.
INDOCTRINATION?
Allow
me to quote also from the public statement of Cardinal Ivan Dias,
Archbishop of Bombay, dated March 25, 2006. He has this to say
of the three seminarians:
“They
were sent to a seminary in Goulburn (Australia), where they
were systematically indoctrinated against the Second Vatican
Council, the ‘modernist’ Popes John XXIII and his successors,
including Pope Benedict XVI (Pope John Paul II being accused
of ‘silent apostasy’), the New Mass introduced by Pope Paul
VI, the Divine Mercy devotion, the Catholic Church’s ecumenical
and interreligious dialogue etc...They were further told that
the Holy See is vacant…”
The most
preposterous aspect of this mixture of truth and falsehood was
the use of the emotive term “systematically indoctrinated”. These
young men would not have been accepted in the Seminary if they
had not already shared our convictions, as they most assuredly
did, and as the following passages demonstrate amply. One of the
three wrote this in his Seminary application:
“To
my sadness, I found, once again by God’s grace that the mission
of the Novus Ordo Church was for the glory of ‘man’. Divine
Providence, once again through our Blessed Mother, led me to
the Sacred Tradition of the True Priesthood”. (Mr. D’Souza)
The
same seminarian had this to say, describing his meeting with Cardinal
Dias on December 7, 2001, and is included in his testimony of
why he had turned to Tradition and left the post-conciliar Seminary:
“His Eminence,
the Cardinal, welcomed me warmly and then disclosed to me his
plan. He intended to give me a Jesuit priest as a counselor
to clash down all my funny ideas (of faith) and during this
period of one or two years, I would have to work and ‘rub shoulders
with Hindus, Moslems, and all types of people of various religions
and then realize that they too possess the truth’. In this way
I would be purified of all old and outdated ideas of faith,
and accept Vatican II with all its ecumenical orientations.
He demanded complete obedience to his authority. He himself
would then come to my parish and lay his hands on me and so
that ‘I would climb up the ladder’.- This phrase demonstrates
the Masonic technique of luring souls to the vanity of this
world. Here is was as though I came face to face with
the devil who was saying to me “I will give you all this, if
you bow down and worship me.” I went back home with
a heavy heart, only trusting in God’s providence….The next day…a
friend…introduced me to the Society of St. Pius X. Thanks be
to God, for at last after a long journey through heresy and
so many traps of the devil, He led me to the Truth.” (underlining
& bold in original text).
EXPLANATION
It seems
to me that any objective person can see that these are not men
who have been indoctrinated or forced in any way to adopt traditional
positions. The very fact that they chose to abandon Holy Cross
Seminary is proof enough of this. It is not the Society of Saint
Pius X that has changed - but these three seminarians – and I
fear greatly lest they discover that Cardinal Dias has not changed
either. This leaves the curious question of how three young men,
who were fully aware of the evil and destruction being wrought
in the post-conciliar church, and who had the advantage of nearly
four years formation in a traditional pre-Seminary and Seminary,
four years daily attendance at the true Mass, four years intense
prayer life, including a 30 day Ignatian retreat, four years study
of traditional spirituality and philosophy, would return to the
humanist, indifferentist, inculturationist confusion of the post-conciliar
church.
The only
answer is a spiritual one. The devil attacks the priest and the
priest-to-be on every side, fully aware that if he can destroy
any one of us, he can cause many hundreds and thousands of souls
to be lost. In the midst of the abundance of spiritual treasures
of a traditional Seminary, it is very easy to start taking graces
for granted. Presumption sets in, then the critical spirit, then
a naturalistic attitude, and finally the vanity of this world,
the devil saying: “I will give you all this, if you bow down and
worship me”. Such departures are, alas, not uncommon in the Society.
You cannot
begin to understand how entirely dependent we are on your prayers
and sacrifices. The Seminary is not just a training ground; it
is a spiritual battlefield, and every soul must be fought for
and won. Nor is this battle a one time event, but rather a constantly
recurring struggle. The fight is against indifference, lukewarmness,
intellectual pride, self-centeredness, abandonment of the spirit
of mortification. God has sent us some very good and extraordinary
men, but we need to always be on the lookout, for the devil, like
a lion seeking whom he may devour, is already to catch us out
on a curved ball. In our inadequacy, we commend ourselves to your
prayers, and beg that you would think of offering up at least
a decade of the Rosary every day for the perseverance of priests
and seminarians, and for vocations, as well as reciting these
prayers requested by our Superior General: O Lord, grant us
priests; O Lord, grant us holy priests; O Lord grant us many holy
priests; O Lord grant us many holy religious vocations; St. Pius
X, pray for us.
Yours faithfully
in the Immaculate Heart of our Heavenly Queen,
Father Peter
R. Scott
April
16, 2006
Four
girls and four boys at the orphanage receive the sacrament of
Baptism.
The orphan children wait outside the church for
their baptism
on Easter Sunday.
Entering the church with Fr. Couture
The children with their godparents and Fr. Couture
new children of God!
April 11, 2006
Dear
Friends in Christ,
Wish you all a holy and blessed Easter. We all at the orphanage
are doing fine. This Easter eight of our children will be receiving
Baptism and two first Communion. It is going to be a wonderful
Easter for us all. Please remember all these children in your
prayers.
Dominic
Savio
From
this time I will try to write a little bit about each child who
is with us. About how they came to us and when, about their previous
families etc.. I will start with Dominic Savio who may be around
11 years old. His previous name was Mohan. He came to us along
with his brother Gopi in Dec 2002. Their dad died when they were
very young and then their mom became very sick and they came to
the Government Hospital in my home town Tirupati. After a few
days in the hospital she died and they were left orphans. They
had some relatives in their town which is around 200 kms from
Tirupati. They went to them but they did not want them, so they
went back to the hospital in Tirupati because the nurses in the
hospital were sympathetic to them and were taking good care of
them. They admitted the little one (Mohan) in the hospital so
that he will get some free food and the nurses gave them some
used clothes. They were in the hospital for nearly 4 months. The
pediatrician in the hospital was my brothers' class mate, so when
my brother came home for holidays he went to visit his friend
and came to know about these boys and sent them to me in Kadapa.
Since the older boy, Gopi, was in his early teens and didn't know
how to read or write I sent him to the Salesians (Don Bosco fathers)
in Hyderabad and since then he was with them learning tailoring
and basic reading and writing skills. He visits his brother once
in a year. His brother Mohan who was baptized as Dominic Savio
in November is with us. He is fun loving, intelligent and has
very good memory power. He started learning Tamil two months back
and he is already studying the 3rd grade Tamil text. Here are
some of his photos.
with his brother
singing
serving Mass
cleaning
Because of the vast empty land around us, we have lot of visitors.
Every morning from 4Am we can hear the birds singing and are some
times visited by our friends of the air Eagles, Cranes, King fishers
etc., My immediate neighbors are squirrels who live on the roof
of our dining room and try to push all their garbage in to our
room! And of course I should not forget the slimy creepy snakes
which live along with us on our land! So far we have killed 7,
most of them are baby ones though. Two days back we saw the mommy
or is it the daddy? ( I am just curious, does both male and female
exist in the snakes or just one sex?) Our snake killing expert
Swarupa was not at home then, so the lucky one got away.
Well, all of us at Nav Jeevan wish you all a blessed and holy
Easter. We remember you all in our prayers every day. Please keep
praying for us also.
In
Christ,
Swarna
February 26, 2006
Dear
Friends in Christ,
Hope you are doing fine in this New Year. We are all doing fine
by the grace of God. It is one month since our move to Tirunelvelli.
It is so peaceful and quiet here and so it is giving us more time
to meditate on the things of God, and with the Spiritual conferences
once every week and regular sacraments we are all striving to
raise our hearts to God and to do His will.
We left Kadapa on the 18th morning in January on our 20 hour ride
to this new place with 8 elderly and 20 children. Fr.Couture also
accompanied us. We had mass just before we left Kadapa and the
children started the rosary as soon as they got into the train.
So our trip started well and we had no problems on our journey.
Fr.Couture even took catechism class for the children on the train!
We did have some fun moments with the old ladies who were traveling
for the first time in a train and that too for 20 hours!
We
reached Tirunelveli at 4AM on the 19th January. That evening we
had the blessing of our house and the first mass in our chapel
and then consecration of all of us to Mother Mary. That night
we had big fireworks celebration. That night we had a good sleep
as we all were dead tired.
The
children are learning Tamil now. I don't know when I will start
learning Tamil formally. Now I am going around for shopping and
other things and managing by using little Tamil, Telugu, Hindi
and English all mixed up! Only three of our children are joined
in a regular school outside as they were studying in English medium
school in Kadapa. The other children are being tutored at home.
We are teaching them Tamil and English and hope to join them in
a regular school next academic year (June).
Two
days back we took our children on a picnic to Tuticorin. It is
a town around 60kms from Tirunelveli. The children had nice time
playing at the beach. They also had a chance to see the port and
had a tour of the inside of a Ship which was loading up and getting
ready to go to Singapore. We also went to Our Lady of Snows Church
and the Cathedral. For the first time the children were able to
see big Churches with high steeples. They were really happy to
see such beautiful big Churches.
We
are very happy at our new place with all the sacraments available
to us. The children also have improved a lot with regular confession
and daily Communion. I hope and pray that we may get many vocations
from these kids.
Our
New address is:
Swarna Vongala
Nav Jeevan
No.10 Bungalow
High Grounds
Tirunelveli, T.N. ý 627 011
India.
In Christ,
Swarna
Orphanage
comes to Tradition!
A young Indian lady (with 2 Master's degrees in computer engeneering)
left her good job in the USA to return to her Indian State of
Andhra Pradesh (in the center in India) to start an orphanage
and old people's home, back in 2001. After 4 years she had 51
orphans and 30 old people. Then, in 2004, she discovered Tradition,
while, at the same time, aspiring to the religious life. Waiting
for the signs of Providence to decide on some serious matters
for her future and the future of her work, she obtained them last
July and thus, decided to move near our priory in order to continue
the work, get nearer to the sacraments and have the minimum requirements
for some Traditional Sisters to come and spend 1-2 months with
them in the near future. The move took place last Jan. 18-19 with
20 of the children and 11 of the old people.
The two ladies running the Orphanage assisted by a French
lady
She wrote a letter to her (mainly American) benefactors, explaining
this decision to move, which actually took place after having
bought a piece of land in her area and just before she began the
construction of a new orphanage. Result: the parish in Iowa which
was supporting her for the last 4 years with their $1000 monthly
decided to stop all support.
Dec.
8, 2005
Dear
Swarna,
(...)
We will be informing our congregation that because of the change
in direction of your ministry, our parish will not be able to
continue our support of your ministry. The reissued check from
July is in the mail and our November check will be in the mail
tomorrow. We will need your new address as we would like to
share that with the congregation in case some parishioners would
like to include you in their charity on their own. Our final
check will be in early January as we finalize our December budget.
The pastor,
Fr. M.S.
Now
she is completely in the hands of the priests, friends and benefactors
of the SSPX. She is now renting this new building, while looking
for a property she could eventually purchase -- if possible at
walking distance from our priory -- and then she will build according
to her needs.
Any one wishing to help this new orphanage can send donations
to SSPX ASIA
God bless.
Fr D Couture
The
new Nav Jeevan Orphanage near the SSPX Priory
The
St Pius X Hostel Boys, with Fr. Summers,
preparing the building for the orphanage and old people
Catechism
during the train journey
The
Prior, Fr. Summers, with one of the orphans
and the lady in charge, Swarna Vongala
After
the Blessing, the first Mass by the District Superior,
which will be folowed by the consecration of the institution to
the BVM
20
orphans and 11 old people in their new home
after a 20 hour train ride to move nearer the sacraments
2005
Group
picture of the clergy in the mission of the Society of St. Pius
X in Palayamkottai, India.
On the right, the three priests resident in India: Fathers Summers,
Chazal and Jackson.
On the left, seminarian Joseph Steinmetz and visiting District
bursar, Father Joseph Lester
(with black sash, coming from Singapore...)
September 29th:
2003
The Feast day of St. Thomas The Apostle was a day of special
celebration in India. After years of labor, we have finally been
able to dedicate our new priory and Hostel in Palayamkottai. The
Providential designs of God sent His Excellency Tissier de Mallerais
to India to preach the annual retreat to the priests, and without
any human intention, the dedication date fell on the feast day
of our patron Apostle. The building itself is magnificent: four
Ionic columns enclose a noble front porch; the interior of the
building is much like a cloister, with a garden open to the sky.
The resemblance to the House on Pennsylvania Ave. is wholly intentional.
There is ample room for priests, brothers, and familiares, as
well as space for office work, publications, and receiving visitors.
It is set on an open ground of 2 acres, near the center of Palayamkottai,
adjacent to Senthil Nagar, the foremost Catholic colony in the
town. The extra land will provide room for future growth, which
immediately includes a church and enlarged Boys Hostel.
For the days celebrations, a huge thatched basilica was raised,
and the interior decorated lavishly. The ceiling was covered with
sequined drapes, and at the end there was erected a large stage
and altar. The Hostel boys worked late into the night preparing
everything, and rehearsing their rubrics. The crowds began arriving
by bus, foot, and van at 9 AM, and by ten o'clkock the grownd
was teeming with about 400 people, among them being confirmands,
in their white dress. Faithful followers of Tradition came from
distant cities: Madras, Trichy, Bombay, Bangalore…and most
of our parishioners from South India made sure to come. Six Indian
priests, who are now come to Tradition, also looked on: Fr. Matthias,
Fr. Sebastian, Fr. Pancras, Fr. Xavier Ignatius, Fr. Albuquerque,
and Fr. Sequeira. It was a grand and joyfull reunion of friends
and family, for we Catholics do, indeed, form one family. The
unity of hearts could be seen in the friendly atmosphere Fr. Blute
had to play traffic cop to keep the confirmands in line, as they
registered and received their cards. Indians don't like lines--they
all want to cut in front.
The Bishop arrived, straight from the priests retreat, and was
thronged with people. When all was ready, the Bishop, Fr. Blute,
and Fr. Pancras vested and processed into the basilica. The Veni
Creator was intoned, and His Excellency addressed the crowd. Originally,
the number of confirmands was estimated at about twenty…but
what to our astonished eyes not twenty, but sixty young men and
girls, to become soldiers of Christ. Such a consoling sight!!
Truly, God has brought forth these fruits, without us even knowing
it! After the Confirmation ceremony was over, we had the great
blessing of celebrating a Solemn High Mass. The people were much
moved by the stately ceremonies, especially by the excellent performance
of the Hostel boys, whose gravity and solemnity provided a stark
contrast to the hoopla of the Novus Ordo.
After Mass, the altar was screened off, and we invited several
prominent Catholics to speak for the occasion. The Bishop spoke
of how important it is to protect the young from corrupting influences,
and he commended the work of our Boys Hostel. Fr. Blute expressed
his great joy and satisfaction at seeing the army of soldiers
of Christ, like the dry bones of Jeremias, to spring from the
ground, fully armed. Also addressing the crowd were Benny Joseph,
head of the Dept. of Economics at Christ College, and a long-time
supporter of the Latin Mass, and Mr. G. Selvaraj, a local school
Correspondent and an active collaborator in our work. Then, the
new building was blessed by the Bishop, and the Managing Trustee
Mr. Innocent Regis cut the ribbon to inaugurate the new priory
and Hostel.
After so much food for the soul and mind, you can believe, everyone
was very hungry. For this purpose, a festive meal was prepared
and served to all… chicken biriyani, vengayam, mango jam,
and more! Everyone went home confident that the work of Tradition
was soon to take off in a big way, and that God's blessing was
upon us
photos
2000
August 4: Three ladies from Bombay managed to get all
their papers to join us in Rome and thus to represent India.
June 17: In the last month, we received two astonishing
donations of new books: one bookstore in Texas donated 8 crates
of their overstock, and another generous soul donated $1000 worth
of Tan books for building up our priory library. May God bless
them for all the good which will come from those books. We also
received permission to build a community hall (chapel) in Christurajapuram
and we are well on the way to receive Government recognition for
our Primary school. With the help of Children in Need, in Essen,
Germany, we were able to construct a new classroom, and staff
rooms for the teachers in our school of Christurajapuram.
We also were able to buy lots of furnishings necessary
for the school. Enrollment has held steady at 70. Great thanks
to C.I.N.
Fr. Blute completed one year of teaching in Magdalene
Matriculation. He has also signed on to teach Creative Writing
in English for one more year.
May 31: In the last two months, we celebrated
3 weddings in Nagerkoil, in a place called Christu Nagar, where
the sheep are left without a shepherd; In March, and May there
were two conversions from Hinduism to the Catholic Faith--after
sufficient instruction.
May 30: Day of recollection for the Boys
of St Pius X Hostel.
May 20: After literally years of efforts,
Fr Blute was finally able to procede to the inauguration of the
St. Pius X Boys hostel, located at a walking distance from the
Palayamkottai priory.
May 3: Fr George Maurel left India temporarily
to fill in a vacant post in Sri Lanka.
April 16, Palm Sunday: Many of our faithful
participated in a Palm Sunday procession of some 300 people in
Tuticorin. It was followed by a very nice 6 hour recollection
by Fr. Pancras Raja.
April 7: Fr. Edwin returned from a 6 week tour of Europe,
during which he spread to dozens of Mass centers and thousands
of Traditional Catholics the good news of our Mission in India.
For the first time, an Indian priest made presentations in England,
a nation to which Mother India is historically linked.
Jan-Mar: The school in Christurajapuram got a big new
classroom, a staff room, and increased rations at the noon day
meal. The schoolyard is now dominated by a statue of St. Pius
X, thanks to a faithful of Germany. The school in Christurajapuram
also received government recognition, after a year of preparation.
The Society received a plot of land as a gift in the subdivision
of St. Alphonsa. Fr. Blute completed one year of teaching English
successfully.
The mission was pleased, thrilled, and consoled
with the 1-year visit of Mr. Isaac Moats, seminarian from the
SSPX seminary of Winona, USA. Mr. Moats wanted to experience one
of the Society’s most difficult missions before proceeding any
further.
Another visitor, Gabriel Swatzell, 20 years old
from Spokane, WA, USA has arrived. He helps keep the house clean.
The prior has held a monthly day of recollection every month for
the priests. Outside priests are now beginning to frequent it.
A grand Solemn High Mass was celebrated in Trichy for the wedding
of Mary Jude and her newly baptized husband Marcel. Fr. Pancras
Raja assisted as Deacon.
Fr. Edwin has been assisting at the hearing of
confessions in the shrine of Kadal Matha, Our Lady of the Sea,
and Our Lady of Fatima Church, Vallioor, at the request of the
parish priest.
1999
December 8: Many of our priests renewed their membership,
their oblation within the ranks of the Society of St. Pius X.
May we all persevere unto the end…
November 25: In Bombay, while Fr. Maurel was recovering
from his Indian 'welcome' (only a gentle bug…) the Redemptorist
Fathers flew East to Europe and Fr Couture flew West back to base
in the early hours of the day (1.30am,2.30am… )
November 23-24: While the two Redemptorists visited the
shrine of St. Francis Xavier in Goa, the District Superior stayed
in the South to discuss apostolic and administrative matters.
November 19: Fr. George Maurel left Singapore for Bombay
and Palayamkottai to begin his new Indian apostolate.
November 15-20: Second priestly Retreat by the Redemptorist
Fathers for 5 priests.
