Exsultabit solitudo...

Christmas in the Wilderness of Mount Saint Joseph's Kakahu

2018

Laetabitur deserta et invia, 
et exsultabit solitudo...
The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad,
and the wilderness shall rejoice...
(Is. 35:1)

Christmas-Eve
The Oratory of Saint Joseph in the Wilderness.
The doors, wide open and waiting.

The space for His dwelling was empty ...

The new Tabernacle arrives.
It is beautiful beyond words! A work of careful devotion!
It is adorned with hand painted images of
the Loving Pelican and the Twelve Apostles.
It arrives just in time to receive Him at His birth
in Midnight Mass.

Let the Wilderness exalt!

Haec requies mea in saeculum saeculi; 
hic habitabo, quoniam elegi eam.
This is my rest for ever and ever:
here will I dwell, for I have chosen it.
(Ps 131:14)

Preparation for Midnight Mass in the Wilderness.
Brother Romuald and Father Michael Mary
await the time for Midnight Mass.
It is Silent Night.

+ He has come. He is here. +

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords in human vesture
In the Body and the Blood
He will give to all the Faithful
His own self for Heavenly food.

Sleep Holy Babe;
Thine angels watch around,
And bending low with folded wings,
Before th' incarnate King of kings,
In reverend awe profound.

Sleep Holy Babe,
Ah! Take Thy sweet repose;
Too quickly will Thy slumber break,
And Thou to lengthen'd pains awake,
That death alone shall close.

Viderunt omnes fines terrae salutare Dei nostri;
jubilate Deo, omnes terra. 
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God:
Sing joyfully to God all the earth.

(Ps. 97:3)

"For this day is born to you a Saviour in the city of..." Christchurch.

Christmas Midnight Mass

Mother of Perpetual Succour Oratory

Christchurch, N.Z.

2018

Cecilia and Jude in expectation.

More excitement.

Christmas Carols.

...Et nox in suo cursu medium inter haberet ...
...and the night was in the midst of her course, thy mighty Word O Lord
came from heaven, from Thy royal throne.

Gloria in altissimis Deo...
Glory to God in the highest...

All Year Long

The Papa Stronsay Calendar for 2019 is now available for purchase from our website here.

The Papa Stronsay Calendar enables you to easily and fruitfully follow the Church's traditional liturgical cycle.  Possibly the best Traditional Catholic wall calendar on the market, it gives you each day's feast, class and liturgical colour, the lunar calendar, traditional days of abstinence, traditional feasts which are not on the universal calendar, national public holidays for six English-speaking countries, major astronomical events, and so much more, including a whole array of beautiful images which truly make this calendar a feast for the eyes!

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Please help us bring Salvation! — Updated

The world needs priests — good and holy priests — and each of us individually need priests. When we were born, it was the priest who snatched us from the clutches of Satan, and immersed us in the life of grace, a gift infinitely superior to all the treasures of the universe. If we reject God and fall into sin, it is the priest who, with his hand raised in judgement, pronounces the words of absolution, and restores the friendship of God to us. It is the priest in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass who brings us the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ to be our food for the strengthening of our souls in the battle for our eternal salvation. The priest witnesses our marriage, if we receive this sacrament. Who else but the priest will be at our bedside as we prepare to quit this vale of tears, offering us words of encouragement and consolation, forgiving us our sins, giving us the Viaticum, and providing us with the final helps that our holy mother the Church has for us before we depart, worn-out with the labors of life, to stand before the judgement seat of God?

And how is it that this world has not already been destroyed by God, as in the time of Noe, for the many crimes which men daily commit against Him? Is it not because of the Sacrifice of Propitiation, offered daily upon so many altars throughout the world, crying out to Him: “Mercy! Mercy for this, Thy ungrateful world!” The many graces which we have received, not the least of which being that we have been blessed with the Catholic Faith, whilst so many around us have it not; can we not trace this, and the many other favors we have received, to the altars of so many Churches, where a priest stands between us and God, renewing once again the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross and begging graces for the world? How very much we need our priests; how few of them there are: The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few. (Matt. 9:37)

The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer have as one of their principal works, the preaching of parish Missions. Parish Missions are a time of immense grace for the faithful during which faith and fervor are immeasurably strengthened, sins — often of many years — are forgiven, and the life of a parish is invigorated. But for this work our most small and most unworthy Congregation needs priests.

We currently have three students studying at the seminary of the Fraternity of Saint Peter in Nebraska, USA: Br Martin Mary, Br Seelos Maria and Br Peter Mary. Please God, Brs Martin Mary and Peter Mary will be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in 2020. The cost of educating each student is approximately US $20,000 per year. We are now in very great need of your help if we are to continue to be able to educate our Brothers and have them ordained so that they may be of service to you and the rest of God’s Church in the future. We very earnestly beg you to help in this holy endeavor for the glory of God, and for the bringing of Salvation to people throughout the world. God will not be blind to your generosity, and neither will we. Once Brs Martin Mary, Seelos Maria and Peter Mary reach the altar, they will not neglect to remember at every holy Mass all those who contribute to the cost of their priestly formation. The financial burden of the education of priests is substantial, and we cannot continue to bear it without your generous help. If you are able, please consider contributing to our seminary fund by clicking below: