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Father Laisney's Letters Dear Friends and benefactors, 1/ International news As you read in my last letter, Bishop Fellay has launched a Rosary Crusade to obtain the declaration of the nullity of the 1988 excommunication. This is the second request made in 2001, after the change of climate towards the Society of St Pius X, fruit of our pilgrimage to Rome in 2000. Cardinal Castrillón at that time thought the matter of the Society could be solved quickly and easily. He did not realise the opposition from some clergy, including bishops and even Cardinals, against the Traditional Mass and those who defend it. In March 2001, when Bishop Fellay’s two requests were presented to a plenaria, meeting of all the Cardinals in Rome at the request of the Pope to ask advice on important topics in the Church, we were told that concerning the lifting of the excommunication the cardinals were 50-50, i.e. about half for half against; but concerning the Mass there was an opposition of about 80% of the Cardinals. After that meeting, Cardinal Castrillón completely changed the tone of his communication with Bishop Fellay, immediately asking for compromises. This shows the wisdom of asking these two requests, which will greatly change the attitude of Catholics towards Tradition and protect us in resisting the pressures against it. Just a couple of days ago, I received notice that Bishop Fellay is asking all of us to make a special effort from August 15th, feast of the Assumption, to December 8th, feast of the Immaculate Conception and conclusion of the Marian year for the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Lourdes. This effort consists in organising a continuous Rosary 24h a day, seven days a week, “from the rising of the sun even to the setting down” (Mal 1:11) for this intention of the Rosary Crusade. Given the geographic location of our faithful around the world this should be quite feasible. By covering the hours of our New Zealand day, we cover the night hours in Europe, and they cover our night hours. You are therefore asked to commit yourself to pray the Rosary at a given slot of time, either every day, or on a weekly basis: please sign the detachable sheet and return it. That commitment does not require additional Rosaries, but to bind oneself at a fixed time. You can of course say more at any time! Make a copy of the form to remember your commitment, and send the original to the priory at Wanganui. Master-grids are being sent by Fr Couture in the whole district of Asia; each priory will fill them with the pledges of the faithful, and must return them to him by August 11th, which is quite soon, so please answer without delay. I remind you that, in order to make this Crusade of Rosary more concrete in New Zealand, I ask you to add after your daily Rosary the prayer for the Pope (taken from those prayers after the litany of the Saints). This Crusade will be concluded by the Pilgrimage of the Society of St Pius X to Lourdes, organised from all over the world. Father Couture will lead an Asian delegation, where New Zealand will be well represented. Our prayers will accompany all the pilgrims. If you would like to go and have not yet booked, it is urgent that you do so. Please pray for the second Medical Mission in General Santos, August 10 – 16, 2008, where New Zealand will be represented. 2/ Relations with Rome As you have most probably heard, Cardinal Castrillón had a meeting with Bishop Fellay, after which he gave him a rather strange ultimatum, urging him to “give a response proportionate to the offers of the Pope towards us”, etc. nothing being very precise in any way. It asked for some general acknowledgement of and respect for the authority of the Pope – which of course we already do; but it avoided touching the doctrinal level, i.e. where the difficulty really is, with the novelties introduced at and after Vatican II. Bishop Fellay responded with all the respect due to the Pope, but asking that this status quaestionis – the heart of the question – be put at that doctrinal level. He reiterated the request that the decree of excommunication be declared null, which is the object of our Rosary crusade, as described above. I explained in my previous letter the novelties in the Liturgy, especially the New Mass (but one could add Communion in the hands, etc.) Before these, there were also doctrinal novelties introduced at Vatican II itself, especially religious freedom, collegiality and ecumenism, and they have caused havoc in the Church, thousand of priests and religious leaving their vows, faithful giving up the Faith by the millions, countless faithful not following the laws of marriage, etc. One might say, “but what is the connection between these novelties and these sad facts? How can you say that they are consequences of Vatican II?” The response lies in the fact that these novelties are akin with the revolutionary motto of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity”: these words, that can have a good meaning, have been twisted to practically mean rejection of truth (liberty of conscience), rejection of authority (all are equal, no superiors) and rejection of Charity (which is the love of God first and of the neighbour for God’s sake, replaced by the love of the neighbour for man’s sake). Now, of course, Vatican II is not as radical as this, but the windows have been opened to the worldly spirit, and it came into the Church as a hurricane. The elimination of the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ replaced by secular states that do not recognise the one true religion is one of the main practical consequences of these doctrinal novelties; another important one is modern ecumenism which no longer fosters conversion (e.g. the Balamand agreement with the orthodox, considering the Uniates as an outmoded ideal). The spirit of the world, of the French Revolution, has entered into the mind of many in the Church. There is need of a return to the purity of the Faith and the full confession of Faith, without trying to marry the truth of Christ and the errors of the world. Faced
with this situation, some have been tempted by sedevacantism,
i.e. the theory that the see of Peter is vacant, and that the last
four or five Popes were not really Popes. Archbishop Lefebvre has
always rejected such idea, for the main reason of the visibility
of the Church, which cannot be without a visible head, the Pope.
A church without a Pope for forty years is simply not the Church
built by Our Lord Jesus Christ. He has expelled priests and seminarians
from the Society of St Pius X because they held these ideas, this
shows how strongly he disagreed with those who insisted on this
grave error. Bishop Tissier said: “Without a doubt we can indeed
question the legitimacy of certain bishops, and one can even have
questions concerning that of the Pope himself. But these are
but questions. We do not have the authority to decide on
these questions. The Church will herself judge. A future council
or Pope will decide on the mysterious situation of this Pope John
Paul II and his predecessor Pope Paul VI. It is not for us to judge.
We do not have the power. Not even a bishop has the power to decide
on these things. It is the Church who will have to resolve this
problem as she will without doubt do. It will without doubt not
make a decision saying ‘This Pope was not Pope.’ I do not think
so, for this has never happened in the Church, to say that this
Pope was not a Pope. But it will be declared: ‘This was a bad Pope...who
professed errors...and even heresies!’ Hence we cannot say that
the hierarchy of the Church no longer exists. It has in large part
defaulted, but we cannot say that it no longer exists. We cannot
say this.” Here Bishop Tissier touches the heart of the problem with sedevacantists: they take upon themselves an authority to judge the Pope, which they do not have. This is a grave sin of pride, and opposed to the clear teaching of the Church: “the First See [i.e. the Pope] is judged by no one.” I remember Archbishop Lefebvre telling us at the seminary: “when someone offers me some poison, I do not take it, even if the hand that offers it is gloved in white; but I do not judge the person who offers it.” It is out of fidelity to what the Church has constantly taught and passed on to us that we do not accept the novelties; it is also out of fidelity to the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ that we refuse sedevacantism that practically destroys it, rendering it invisible. In the history of the Church, this has been the typical temptation of the Cathars, which the Church always rejected, and in particular St. Dominic preached against them in the South of France. The Society of St Pius X’s position has always been, following the wonderful example of Archbishop Lefebvre, summed up in that one word: fidelity! Fidelity to the Faith of all times, fidelity to the ideal of holiness, especially for the priesthood, fidelity to the liturgy of all times, fidelity to the Church, even when we are persecuted by men of the Church who do not want of that Tradition. This needs to be said, especially after a short visit of a world-travelling sedevacantist. 3/ National news On the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, we had our Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lourdes at Paraparaumu; but this year the priest and the Archbishop did not let us offer Mass just in front of the statue as last year. This is an example of the opposition to the Mass and to Tradition. There are still some places for the Ignatian retreats to be preached by Fr. Lafitte: the women retreat will be at Forest Lake and will start on Sunday 24th August at 5:30pm and end on Friday 29th at the same time. The men retreat will be at Jerusalem and will start on Sunday 31st August at 5:30 pm and end on Friday 5th September at the same time. Bishop Tissier de Mallerais will come for the Confirmations. He will be at Wellington on Friday 26th, at Wanganui on Sunday 28th and at Auckland on Tuesday 30th September. The Confirmations will take place at Wanganui on Sunday 28th, followed by a parish pot-luck and a conference. On the feast of St. Michael, he will have a Pontifical Mass in Wanganui. Father Kurtz has been organising a skate-a-thon for fundraising for our school: on the 22nd August, last day of our second term and feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, after a morning school Mass in honour of Our Lady, the secondary girls, then the primary children then the secondary boys will skate in a rink, and you can sponsor them for a certain gift per lap: if they skate many laps they can thus participate in raising funds for our school and win some incentives. To support our school, you can fill the enclosed form, and put the name of a student you know, and/or you can challenge a teacher or even the principal! Our school depends on your generous support; as explained in my previous letter, the professional training of the religious staff (priests and sisters) is costing the school above $40’000 this year, plus the salaries (the total tuitions plus grant does not cover the salaries, not to speak of the other school expenses), plus the service the mortgage: as you can see, we survive thanks to your generosity. Donations can be made directly on our account: Westpac, Wanganui Branch, account n° 03 0791 0293304 000; account name: Society of St Pius X - general account. Please indicate your name (and envelope number) in the transfer. Yours
sincerely in Jesus and Mary, My dear Brethren, Bishop Fellay came and gave confirmations to 8 faithful in Auckland on the 1st March and 43 in Wanganui on the 4th. He also presided over the [advanced] celebration of my silver Jubilee on the third. He was accompanied by Fr. Alain Nély, the first assistant of the Society of St Pius X and our District Superior Fr Daniel Couture. Unfortunately the fourth priest promised to us last December cannot come, since he must replace a sick priest elsewhere. God willing, we may receive one brother: please pray for this. This year we have 130 students in total from Junior 1 to Form 7, which represents a sizeable increase from last year. Mr Trevor Briggs went back to his dear Australia; in his place we hired two fully qualified teachers, Mr. & Mrs. Foster who have been a great asset for the school. Above you can see the present state of our new school building: on the left, phase one, completed, fully fitted and in use. The four classrooms house our Forms 1 to 6 girls at the ground level, and the top floor is fully occupied by our Sisters. On the right, the bottom level is up, and the level of the additional two classes and refectory-kitchen for the Sisters will be up within the coming days. We applied for a bank loan several months ago to enable phase two of the construction to go ahead. It is now approved, but I want to draw on it as little as possible. To date we have managed to have only $100 drawn on it, but we have $50’000 private loans and $200’000 loaned by the district. But phase two of the construction is going to dig deep into the bank loan, thus costing us interest. We rely on your charity for the repayment: please respond generously to Fr Couture’s appeal! May God reward you a hundredfold for it now and with eternal life after. Father François Laisney
My dear Brethren, Christus natus est nobis – Christ is born for us! What a marvellous truth, what a marvellous love of God: “God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son” (Jn 3:16). “Him Who loved us so much, who would not love in return?” And His mission only started at Christmas: it is complete on the Cross, the mission to redeem fallen man from his sins, that he may be risen from sin and live unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord. The
Church continues the mission of Our Lord, applying to many souls
the fruits of His work of Redemption. But with the crisis within
the Church, many labourers either gave up or “that servant [said]
in his heart: My Lord is long a coming; and [begun] to strike the
men-servants and maid-servants, and to eat and to drink and be drunk”
(Lk 12:45). We need good labourers, holy priests, many holy priests
in the Lord’s vineyard. By the grace of God, there will be the ordination
of Rev. Mr. Michael Lavin on 27th December at Goulburn.
He will come back to To
foster the sanctification of our Priests and Sisters, Father Couture,
our District Rev.
Father Benoît Wailliez came in mid-December from Our
postulant, Miss Donna Powers, will take the veil and enter the noviciate
on 29th December. She came from Next
year Bishop Fellay will come and visit Last
December 7th we had the prize giving ceremony and
the graduation of five girls. Three of them had done all
their schooling in St. Anthony’s – St. Dominic’s schools. It was
the very first year this happened: they started in 1994 in year
1 and completed their year 13 in 2006. This is a very rewarding
time for all those who helped for the school, for the priests, the
sisters, the teachers, the parents and all the benefactors: “by
their fruit you shall know them.” Education is a long labour, so
important and delicate; it requires first of all the grace of God,
hence the Mass, the sacraments especially frequent confession and
communion; “without Me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5); hence also
the importance of proper Christian doctrine, which has the prime
place in our schools: education is a mission that Our Lord Jesus
Christ Himself gave to His Church, saying “teach ye all nations”
(Mt 28:19). Education also requires human educators who cooperate
with God: parents cooperate with God by praying for their children
and teaching their children to pray, by giving their children the
good example and requiring them to follow that example, by supporting
the teachers. Teachers also must be role-models for the students,
and not just a source of knowledge; otherwise their influence on
the malleable soul of the children will not draw them to God. Hence
the need to have teachers faithful to the Tradition of the Church.
Teachers must also be competent, since “no one can give what he
does not possess.” For this purpose, we are getting two more qualified
teachers next year, Mr. & Mrs. Foster, a couple from This is our philosophy of education. As you can see, we ought to pray for our priests, sisters, teachers and parents, so that all cooperate with the grace of God and together they may bring forth good fruit, “30, 60 and 100 fold” (Mark 4:20) in the next generation. Though our school is not perfect and we are working each year for its betterment, it does provide the sound Catholic education that you expect from it, and for which many of you rightly decided to move to Wanganui. This has been a good move and is still a good move, which we do encourage. Local schools often can do much harm to the children, and home education is far from easy and often the children miss some important element of a well-rounded Catholic education. Sometime we get also some perks: this year one of our students won the Post-Office Christmas Stamp competition. There were ten winners out of more than 17000 entries! You have seen the Christmas stamp with Our Lady and the Child Jesus. She also made a Christmas card in the same style: it is this Christmas drawing that adorns the cover of this letter. To
accommodate our growing school, our new building’s
phase one is almost completed: the classrooms are ready for next
year, four new classrooms with two resource rooms and toilets and
covered walkway. Above these classrooms, the Convent part is being
completed: there will be room for ten cells; but for the time being
the last two have been kept together to be the convent chapel, the
next cell will be the sacristy. Then there is the enclosure, with
six cells and one larger cell, which will be used for everything
else (kitchen, dining room, community room) until the completion
of the second phase. Yet their new accommodation will be larger
than their previous house. We are not in debt with the bank, not
yet, but in order to complete the second phase we will be in debt.
As it is, we have a convent with bedrooms but no community rooms:
the Sisters really need your help to have more cells
(to be able to accommodate more vocations) and to have the required
community room, chapter room, refectory, kitchen and laundry, plus
two more classrooms: this will be the phase two of our building.
The Sisters have given their lives for the glorification of God
and for education of your children, for the Catholic future of On
a broader subject, you certainly have heard that Pope Benedict XVI
has been preparing a Motu Proprio restoring
full rights to the Traditional First of all, the Traditional Mass possesses full right for the very fact that it is Traditional, i.e. from the fact that it is that form of Liturgy which the Church has passed on from general to generation from time immemorial: it is an immemorial custom. Now given the promises of Our Lord Jesus Christ to His Church, His Bride, that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against her, nothing can be positively taught or practised by the Church for time immemorial without being somehow protected and guaranteed by this assistance promised to her. Hence the Council of Trent taught: “since it is fitting that holy things be administered in a holy manner, and this sacrifice is of all things the most holy, the Catholic Church, that it might be worthily and reverently offered and received, instituted the sacred canon many centuries ago, so free from all error that it contains nothing in it which does not especially diffuse a certain sanctity and piety and raise up to God the minds of those who offer it. For this consists both of the words of God, and of the traditions of the Apostles, and also of pious instructions of the holy Pontiffs. And since such is the nature of man that he cannot easily without external means be raised to meditation on divine things, on that account holy mother Church has instituted certain rites, namely, that certain things be pronounced in a subdued tone in the Mass, and others in a louder tone; she has likewise made use of ceremonies such as mystical blessings, lights, incense, vestments, and many other things of this kind in accordance with apostolic teaching and tradition, whereby both the majesty of so great a sacrifice might be commended, and the minds of the faithful excited by these visible signs of religion and piety to the contemplation of the most sublime matters which lie hidden in this sacrifice.” The same Council defined ex cathedra that: “if anyone says that the Canon of the Mass contains errors, and should therefore be abrogated: let him be anathema! If anyone says that the rite of the Roman Church, according to which a part of the canon and the words of consecration are pronounced in a low tone, is to be condemned, or that the Mass ought to be celebrated in the vernacular only… let him be anathema!” In other words, the very fact to criticise the Traditional Mass on these points is tantamount to heresy. Moreover the Traditional Mass possesses full rights because of its infallible approval by Pope Saint Pius V in his bull Quo Primum: Saint Pius V did not make up a new Mass, but rather restored the ancient Roman rite, clearing away recent innovations more or less inspired by the Renaissance and/or by the Protestant spirit. And since the worldly spirit of the Renaissance had been around for more than 100 before St. Pius V, he decreed that only Missals that were older than 200 years could be retained. In this bull, he gave an Indult in perpetuity for any priest to offer this Traditional Mass without any penalty whatsoever. Lastly the Traditional Mass possesses full rights because it is the Mass of the Saints: its core comes from the early Church when there were so many holy bishops and Saints, nay its heart comes from the Apostle Peter himself; many prayers have been added in ancient times including Middle Ages by holy bishops; an example of this is St. Pius V himself: the recitation of the psalm Iudica me at the beginning was a local custom in many dioceses on the way to the altar, and St. Pius V – the last canonised Pope before St. Pius X – so approved it that he made it mandatory for all. That which the Saints have done, that which has nourished them to such holiness – think of Padre Pio! – that certainly so comes from God that it cannot be reproved nor forbidden! So the measures taken in the 1970s against the priests to make them abandon this holy liturgy were devoid of any real value in the sight of God; they were truly unjust. And blessed were these priests and faithful who suffered unjustly for their fidelity to the Mass of the Saints! This Mass breathes the spirit of Faith and devotion of the Church; it fosters it and nourishes the souls; it is a marvellous channel of abundant graces, leading the faithful towards God and giving them the gifts of God, the supreme gift, Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself! The New Mass on the contrary breathes a spirit of compromise with the world; it let the worldly spirit (and music, etc.) enter the sanctuary, often scandalising the faithful, hindering devotion. “By their fruit you shall know them.” The fruits of the changes have been a general withering of the Faith, here and there kept up by the personal devotion of a few good priests, but in general how many have abandoned the practice? How many have fallen into sinful habits (contraception, never going to confession, etc.)? Schools are no longer staffed by priests and religious. Seminaries, noviciates of monasteries and convents are far below what is necessary to keep the same numbers of the clergy and religious. Many dioceses are instituting lay-liturgies for lack of priests, and the faithful are often deceived to think that these are Masses, when in truth they are not Masses at all, there being no sacrifice. Thus
after more than thirty years of persecution against the Traditional
Liturgy, seeing the contrast of the fruits of the two Masses, by
the grace of God more and more people are looking favourably towards
a return to the Traditional Liturgy. In We must take a great lesson from this crisis: it is not sufficient to possess the age-old spiritual treasures of the Church such as the Traditional Liturgy of the Mass and catechism, it is necessary to love them! It is necessary to live accordingly! It is necessary to pass them on to the next generation: this is the greatest treasure parents can bequest their children. “If you would know the gift of God!” If only we would appreciate at their true value these everlasting gifts! Otherwise, we would deserve to lose them again. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, in whose arms the Shepherds and later the Wise Men found the Child Jesus at Christmas, draw our intelligence and our heart to Him, in Whom alone we can find rest and everlasting joy! Father François Laisney
My dear Brethren, In
my last letter, I let you know of the departure of Fr. Augustine
Cummins for his eternal reward on 8th March; this time,
I have to let you know about the departure of another excellent
priest, pioneer of the traditional resistance in the English speaking
world, Fr. Carl Pulvermacher. Though he never came
to General chapter Last month, the Society of St. Pius X had its General Chapter. This was a very important event that happens only once every twelve years. Archbishop Lefebvre took from the Holy Ghost Fathers this rule, that this election would be only once every twelve years: this gives great stability to the Society, and reinforces the sense of responsibility in the superior, who has the time to see the favourable or less favourable consequences of his own decisions. In modern politics, the term of the rulers is usually much shorter, which leads to the fact that many rulers leave to their successors the burden of the consequences of their own decisions; often they put the country in bad debts, and demagogy rules. It must not be so in religious orders. Who took part in the Chapter? The former Superior General, his two assistants, the secretary and bursar general, the other SSPX bishops, the superiors of seminaries, district and autonomous houses: that made thirty members, with high responsibilities with the Society. And Archbishop Lefebvre added “the senior members of the Society up to the number of forty members.” In the Holy Ghost Fathers, all the members elected these additional members, according to a certain quota. But in the Society of St. Pius X he did not want such elections, which were occasions of efforts to influence others to obtain votes; he wanted the senior members (those who had been in the Society the longest, de facto those ordained up to 1977) to add factors of stability and experience to the Chapter. The
first purpose of the General Chapter is the election of the Superior
General and his two assistants for twelve years. They prepared themselves
with a retreat. Then on the first day they proceeded with this election.
Bishop Fellay was re-elected; Fathers Niklaus Pfluger and Alain-Marc
Nély were elected respectively first and second Assistant. These
are the only elected offices. The The secondary purpose of the General Chapter is to examine the fidelity of the Society of St. Pius X to its Statutes and make sure it remains faithful to their spirit. “Let there be no updating or innovations,” warned Archbishop Lefebvre. The end of the Society of St. Pius X is the sanctification of the priests, and all the works connected with it. So the seminaries have the most important place in our Society. Good Catholic schools are most necessary to prepare good young men to answer the call of the Lord of the harvest. The statutes say: “schools, truly free and unfettered, able to bestow on youth a thoroughly Christian education, shall be fostered and, if need be, founded by the members of the Society. From these will come vocations and Christian homes.” So Father Couture presented to the Chapter the needs of our schools and several suggestions for improvements, in the direction of ever better Catholic education. Knowing the situation in other schools, we can thank God that here our school truly has this Catholic character; it does provide for this most important aspect of education, viz. its Catholic dimension, thanks in a great part to the presence of our Sisters and to our entirely traditional staff. The re-election of Bishop Fellay showed a stability and guarantee of continuing in the line that Archbishop Lefebvre had given to the Society of St. Pius X: fidelity to the Faith of all times and fidelity to the Church (which of course are inseparable). Father Peter Scott wrote to me that “the General Chapter was very successful, and there was great unity amongst the Fathers, which was very reassuring.” One
consequence for us in Priests
and Sisters in We
are receiving a new priest after the feast of the Assumption, Father
Aaron Robert Jackson, an American ordained at Ecône on 29th
June 2005. Father was assigned to Our Sisters have had the joy of welcoming a new postulant, one of our teachers, at the end of June. They are now six in their one house, the other house being used for school classrooms until the move to the new building, scheduled for September. Please pray for the sanctification of your Priests and of your Sisters and for vocations for both. You need their example; you need their work for yourselves and your children. On 22nd July, our Sisters celebrated the 800th anniversary of the foundation of the Dominican Sisters by St. Dominic at Prouille, near Fanjeaux in the South of France on that very day, after having received a vision of light indicating the foundation to be made. The parish in Wanganui organised a reparation for the blasphemies of the Da Vinci Code, reciting the fifteen decades of the Rosary each evening when the film was shown at the local cinema. All these prayers will certainly not be without fruit. The two Ignatian Retreats will take place in ten days: there is a good number of retreatants for both. Father Cranshaw and I will preach them. We will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the SSPX in Wanganui on the feast of St. Pius X, 3rd September 2006. Already twenty years! If one compares with the situation then, one can see how much has already been accomplished by the grace of God. The blessings of the past give confidence to receive continued blessings in the future. Deo gratias! Our schools The ERO visit went well. It was the occasion for me to get better acquainted with some of the paperwork required from a principal. This visit was not only the occasion to bring up-to-date this paperwork, but mostly to establish within our school a “Teachers Appraisal and Development Committee”, composed of our four fully registered teachers under my direction. Having several younger teachers, who are learning their vocation, such a committee is very useful. It will also be an occasion to develop our knowledge of the Catholic philosophy of education. On the one hand, all our teachers must eventually have a full registration, and on the other hand the philosophy of education underlying modern universities is far from the Catholic philosophy. It is therefore very important to provide “in house” the proper philosophy to our teachers. For the faithful who might be interested in moving to Wanganui near the church and the school, I noticed recently two quotes from the Regional Commissioner: “Level of unemployment in the region are at the lowest for nearly two decades. Current skill and labour shortages provide an ideal environment for people to get work.” “We maintain that employment remains the most efficient welfare policy ever invented.” Book Drive: For our school, we would be very grateful if you could give some good old books as reading material for our children’s library (primary and secondary). Any good sound Catholic reading would be welcome, both for small children and up to teenagers. One of the children of our school won the NZ Post Christmas stamp competition: she designed a beautiful image of Our Lady with the Child Jesus, with NZ flowers. You will be able to put these stamps on your letters later in the year. The school will print some Christmas cards with a similar design by this winner (the original design being copyrighted by the NZ Post). Our new building Last letter was written on the day of the blessing of the new building’s grounds. This morning we had the solemn blessing of a school. We were able to bless the four new classrooms, not yet completed but not far from completion. We have already obtained permission to build phase two. We had enough money to pay for the first phase, but not for the second. And we have had to postpone to future years the third one. The first phase included the four new classrooms, with nuns’ cells on the second floor; this first phase was really necessary for the school, since this year we have three classrooms in make-shift rooms. The second phase includes two additional classrooms, together with cells over them, and a side building with common rooms for our Dominican Sisters. A convent without common rooms is not a convent, as a family house with only bedrooms but without common family rooms would not be a family house. This section will allow for a chapter room, refectory, kitchen, community room, study room, laundry and some additional cells (labelled “infirmary”, or “noviciate” according to need). And we have had to postpone the building of additional rooms, the library and the nuns’ chapel (the third phase) to future years. We need your help As said above, we do not have enough money to finish the second phase: we really need additional donations and most probably we will have to borrow. In order to obtain from the bank the desired loan, please fill the enclosed pledge form. You can also help us with private loans: if you have some money placed in the bank, it most likely gives you an interest rate less than what it would charge us for our loan. If you would loan us this money, we could give you the same interest instead of giving it to the bank, and this would spare us the higher interest rates of the bank. Of course, if you would forego the interest, it would help us even more. We will give to each person who loans us some money a proper acknowledgement of this loan, and will discuss repayment plans according to your needs and our possibilities. “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and give him of the first of all thy fruits;” (Prov. 3:9). Did you notice that, while the Lord asked for the tithes (10%), He promised to reward a hundredfold? Good investment, isn’t it? God is never outdone in generosity. The Million Rosaries spiritual bouquet to be given to the Holy Father is an occasion to strengthen in each of your families the importance of family prayer: how many families have kept the Faith because of family prayer! Do not allow anything to take precedence over family prayer (and certainly not the T.V.). God deserves the first place in our lives, in our families, in our society. It is important that not only the mother, but also the father gives the example of praying together with the whole family. Have a set regular time for it (for instance just after supper, which ought to be all together, and not each one at his own time). To help avoiding routine, a short reading of a small passage of the Gospel at the beginning of the Rosary can help. Yours sincerely in Jesus and Mary, Father
François Laisney 10th March 2006 My dear Brethren, Since my last letter, in November, much has happened here. Our district superior, Father Couture, has visited us for the end of the school year; he has both edified us and encouraged all of us. The children of the primary school have started to support his Indian missions by their little sacrifices. Father Cranshaw successfully organised two camps for our youth in January. And most importantly we have started our new school year and our new building. But even before addressing this very important subject, I must give you more important news. Father
Augustine Cummins, the pioneer priest who started practically every
Mass centre in New Zealand back in the 70s, passed away on 8th
March around 2:00 a.m. Scotland time, having almost reached his
61st anniversary of priesthood, and in the 98th
year of his life. Father Cummins started visiting Last
December 22nd, a Dominican feast of Our Lady, our postulant
took the Dominican habit and received the name of Sister Marie-Thérèse,
after a beautiful retreat preached by Father Albert, OP., from the
traditional Dominican foundation of Avrillé in Our
building project was delayed because the Council required the merging
of the titles, so that the church parking be on the same property
as the school. We received the building permit on February 22nd.
Then we needed a surveyor because there were no pegs marking the
property limits on the ground. All in all, we had this morning the
blessing of the grounds and the breaking of the ground. This building
will have in a first phase four classrooms, which are urgently needed.
Then in a second phase, which we hope to start straight after the
first one, there will be two additional classes, and on top, as
a second floor, there will be the cells of the Dominican convent.
The convent itself will be on the side of the school, extending
down on the north side. This is the only traditional Dominican noviciate
in an English speaking country. We currently have Sisters from For the sake of both the Sisters, and the children, we come to you and ask for your generosity during this holy time of Lent; on the first Sunday the Church teaches us to pray: “O God, who dost purify Thy Church with the annual observance of Lent, grant unto thy household that what it strives to obtain from Thee by abstinence it may secure with good works.” “Whatsoever you do to the least of Mine, to Me you do it.” Our district superior, Father Couture, when he learnt that we had just started to dig the ground for this new building, offered a very nice contribution of €5,000. May his good example be followed! This
year, we have implemented several improvements in our school: we
have separated boys and girls in forms 1 and 2, by attaching them
to the secondary school and no longer to the primary school. This
separation has proven to be very beneficial. This has further allowed
us to revise the history program, giving them an complete overview
of history from form 1 to form 4, before the exam years, so that
they can know more about the times of Christendom. This has also
allowed us to integrate the study of science in these two forms
within the framework of the We will receive the inspection of ERO from March 20th to 24th. They will be able to see the growth in size and the continued search for excellence in education in fidelity to the traditional Catholic character of our school. This
year we are organising an important pilgrimage to Our Lady of Lourdes’s
shrine on the hill at Paraparaumu on 13th May. We hope to make this
an annual event. Feel free to invite any friend. We will walk from
Pekapeka beach, 5km north of Waikanae, to the Shrine on the walk-path
near the coast, praying the Rosary, singing hymns and giving a public
witness to our Faith. The rendez-vous is fixed at 8:30 a.m., starting
at 9:00 a.m.; the Mass at the Shrine at 4:00 p.m. and departure
around 5:30 p.m. Bring a lunch pack. If you need any transportation
and help, please do not hesitate to contact Fr. Cranshaw at the
priory. For those unable to walk the entire 19kms, a shuttle service
will be available to put you up and drop you off at different stopping
points on the way or you can join in the last portion, from the
beach to the Shrine, on the nice avenue having the statue of Our
Lady straight in front of us, or even join us at the arrival. This
is particularly good for all younger faithful. In Father
Schmidberger, first assistant and former superior general of the
Society of St. Pius X, is coming to visit us from May 3rd
to May 7th. This short time only allows him to visit
Wanganui and Bishop
Williamson was saying recently that many today have lost “the dogma
of Faith.” This is an expression of Our Lady at Fatima, who promised
that it would not be lost in In defending the Catholic Tradition and especially the Mass, it is not a matter of personal preferences that we defend, but the Catholic Faith itself, and its most solemn expression. If we do not want the novelties, it is because we do not want to water down our Faith, we do not want to reduce it to a mere opinion, thereby losing it. Now the novelties, especially ecumenism and religious freedom, do tend to diminish the Faith, they do tend to reduce it to the level of an opinion. Hence our rejection of such novelties. The Traditional Mass is not the “classical rite”, as if it were a matter of taste like classical music. No it is the Mass as handed down by the Tradition, i.e. by the Popes and bishops, as it was loved by the Saints, as it was lived by all the good faithful through the centuries. It is a treasure that we ought to keep faithfully, to love, to live by it and to pass it on untarnished to the next generations. It is “the most beautiful thing this side of Heaven.” And it is the most solemn expression of that Catholic Faith that is necessary for salvation, not a watered-down faith that is optional and thus no longer really Catholic. There is today in the Church a certain return to the awareness of the importance of Tradition, but there is still a long way to go until they clearly affirm “the dogma of Faith.” We ought to pray much for the Church and do our best, not only to keep the Faith, but to love it and live it. If we do not love it and live it, we deserve to lose it, as has happened to so many. For
this, I strongly encourage all of you to note and book for the coming
Ignatian retreats, which were postponed from last January. The women’s
retreats will be from Monday 14th to Saturday 19th
and the men’s retreats will be from Monday 21st to Saturday
26th of August 2006 at To
help all the faithful of Wanganui to better meditate on the Passion
of Our Lord during Lent, we have exposed the two negatives of the
Holy Shroud in our church all through Lent until Holy Thursday,
and then I will bring it to Yours sincerely in Jesus and Mary, Father François Laisney
In the month of the Holy Rosary, three major events for our parish in Wanganui have given great joy to all of us. First there was Our Lady’s victory over abortion on October 7th, obtaining a vote of 9 against the introduction of abortion “services” at Wanganui Hospital versus 2 for it. This was a marvellous answer to the prayers and efforts, which I described in my last letter. The very postponing of the decision from 23rd September to 7th October was a good sign of Divine Providence. Learning it, we decided to storm Heaven with a final novena to Our Lady and St. Michael and we recited Our Lady’s litanies and the chaplet of St. Michael from St. Michael’s feast to the very morning of Our Lady’s feast. On that day, after the Mass and last novena prayers, twenty of us went to the hospital for the Board’s meeting, and silently sat in the back of the room, quietly praying their Rosary. As the Scripture says, “the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever He will, He shall turn it” (Prov. 21:1). So also is the heart of the Board members! What we did appear so little in from of the Goliath of the establishment, but it was the “pebble” in David’s sling, which was directed by Our Lady. October 7th was formerly known as the feast of “Our Lady of Victories”, later renamed “Our Lady of the Rosary”. This is further an encouragement to have confidence in the power of prayer, especially through the intercession of Our Lady. The holy Curé of Ars used to say: “I know someone more powerful than God: the man who prays!” Sometimes God answers promptly, other times He answers in His own time, but never He leaves good prayers without reward. Some special thanks go to the Raaymakers for their tireless efforts, and to John-Paul and Rebecca Borberg for their leadership of the youth, and to all who joined in the prayers. The second event was the veneration of the relics of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. When we heard of the tour of these relics and of their stop over in Wanganui, I went to the local parish priest and asked whether he would allow us to have some time for our parish to venerate St. Thérèse. He kindly offered two hours for us. Fr. Bergez prepared very well the meditations and the singing. We processed in, the children having lilies to offer to St. Thérèse, we incensed her relics and we prayed devoutly. She most certainly has obtained and will continue to obtain many graces to our whole community. The very moment after her veneration, we were welcome to a cup of tea offered by the Maoris in the church hall, and invited them in return on All Souls day at St. Anthony’s for a solemn high Mass, with traditional Maori Catholic songs and a hangi afterwards. This was the occasion for them to find back the Mass of their youth; it was a day of graces for all. Some said: “Father, I do not say good-bye; I’ll be back!” The third event was the tour of exposition of the full-size replica of the Holy Shroud. It went quite well, with many graces everywhere. There were up to 270 people at the Wanganui Function centre (about half of our faithful and half visitors), and about 90 people in Christchurch, the Rose Historic Chapel being really full, with several people standing in the side aisles. There were quite a few letters to the editor in Wanganui following the exposition, which were an occasion to answer and perhaps reach out to some soul of good will. Let us pray for lasting fruits from these occasions of graces. In order to draw such lasting fruits, we are going to establish a Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, with a view to increase adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in Wanganui. Up to now, we had one holy hour per week; it will be replaced by a whole day of adoration per week, and perhaps in the future by more. Adoration of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is a beginning of the heavenly Life, the only difference being that it is now under the veil of Faith, and then it will be face to face. But it is the same Lord, who is the beatitude of the Saints, who fills with His grace and love the soul of those who come to Him in the Blessed Sacrament. Yesterday we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of Archbishop Lefebvre, with a solemn high Mass in honour of Christ the High Priest, followed by a pot-luck dinner and some personal souvenirs of him. Having known him for fifteen years from 1976 to 1991, and having travelled for a full month with him for the confirmations in USA in 1985, I had the grace of knowing him quite well. The first thing that struck me was his meekness and humility. He was a true man of Faith, whose whole life was built on this immovable rock. He kept the Faith, he lived it, he defended it, he taught it, and he passed it on to the next generation. He had requested that these words of St. Paul be engraved on his tomb: “I have delivered that which I have received.” In the enclosed letter Bishop Fellay gives us a beautiful text of the Archbishop. Father Couture, our district superior, is coming next week, for the feast of the Immaculate Conception, which will also be the prize-giving day of St. Dominic’s College. He will officially establish the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament. He will renew the consecration of the District to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, using the prayer used by Fr. Schmidberger on 8th December 1984 for the consecration of the Society of St. Pius X to the Immaculate Heart. We are quite blessed to have him with us for this occasion. Father Baudot, the bursar general, is also paying us a visit next week, to inspect our finances and see the prospects for New Caledonia. Then Father Albert, O.P., is coming to preach the annual retreat of our Sisters and to prepare our postulant to her taking the veil on 22nd December. He will be here until after Christmas. Then we will have two Eucharistic Crusade camps, one for boys from January 2nd to 6th, and one for girls from January 9th to 13th. Father Cranshaw will be chaplain for both. These camps are particularly good for families that live far from the priory, and whose children are often isolated, without many friends who share the same Catholic Faith and love of Tradition. Then we have two Ignatian retreats, one for men from Monday 16th to Saturday 21st January preached by Fr. Bergez and myself, and one for women from Monday 23rd to Saturday 28th January preached by Fr. Bergez and Fr. Cranshaw. These are important opportunities to heal souls from the wounds of sins and build up strong convictions and virtues; these are times of graces and of advancement in the spiritual life. You are all warmly encouraged to come. Then the new school year will start again. We need more classrooms, and thus our building program will start sometimes in January. May I appeal to your generosity to help us build these classrooms for our growing school? A true Catholic education is of paramount importance for the future of the Church and of our country. It is not easy, and this my first year as a priest in a school, has been quite difficult; I have learnt a lot, and came short in many ways of what I should have done. By the grace of God next year should be better. Our Dominican Sisters and our experienced teachers are an invaluable help for our school. Please do help us, according to the blessings you have received from God. We do advise families with school age children to come to Wanganui for their children’s sake. This time
of Advent is a preparation to celebrate the wonderful Birth of our
Divine Saviour into this world at Christmas. He became man to save
men; He became a little Child to save children. He became not only
a model for all to imitate, but also the very cause of our salvation
by His merits and His inner action within our soul. The whole Christian
life consists in a complete gift of self to Him, so that He may
become all in us, and that we be able to say with St. Paul: “I
live, now not I: but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2:20). How
to achieve this? St. Bernard gives a very simple answer: [the good
use of freedom is] “always to say Yes to God;” in other
words, to imitate our Blessed Mother, in her “Fiat.”
The problem with us is often that we put a limit to this “yes”;
our surrender to Our Lord is not complete; we are not willing to
renounce ourselves. Yet the “fiat” of Mary was continued
all throughout her life, and led her to say with her Son during
His Passion: “not my will, but Thine be done” even as
far as the Crucifixion. So let this time of Christmas be truly a
time of grace, not worldliness, a time when we make the Child Jesus
truly the King of our life, of our families, of our whole parish,
of our whole country.
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