News from Sister Maria Onufria, OSBM - Vespers Street, Lviv, Ukraine.

Blessed Nicholas Charnetsky
Bishop and Martyr

In 1957 having served eleven years
in the Soviet GULAG system
Blessed Nicholas Charnetsky,
in danger of death,
was returned to Lviv
to avoid his dying in the GULAG
and the consequent criticism
that would come from his death there.

He found a room in the home of a Greek Catholic married priest.
He ordained priests there in secret for three years
before his holy death on 2 April 1959.

We were blessed by heaven to buy that house.
It serves as a convent for
a small group of Greek Catholic nuns.

Last Summer the roof was repaired
and additional accommodation was made in the attic.

Sister Onufria, the superior of the convent
was closely involved with the work.

Sister Maria Onufria helping at the concrete mixer.

The city government approved the additional height to the building
to gain on accommodation.

For some weeks the roof was plastic.
The goal was to have tiles on before the winter.
This has been achieved.

Before the tiles the roof was tin.
During the course of the years
the old roof was full of rust and holes.

Now with tiles on the house,
we will hear no more about
Sister Onufria standing up on the steep roof
with tins of green paint and her paint brush in hand!

It is a great improvement.
Congratulations Sisters!

View across the neighbour's property to the convent.
Its address is:
7 Vechirnia,
which translates as:
7 Vespers Street.

Blessed Nicholas Charnetsky,
pray for them!

A Magnificent Storm

Sunday 27th November the occasion of a magnificent storm, with the wind turbines on mainland Orkney reportedly recording gusts of up to 130mph!

These photos as well as the video at the bottom of the post were taken looking down the main street of Whitehall village, Stronsay, with the harbour on the right.

Note the seaweed in the road, as well as in the video below, which was taken just outside our chapel.

The Lamps thereof are Fire and Flame.

Highlights
from the
Silver Jubilee of
Religious Profession
of
Sister Maria Auxiliadora
da Divina Providência, O.SS.R.
Redemptoristine Nuns
in the
Apostolic Administration
St. Jean Marie Vianney
Campos, Brazil.

Sister at the Choir enclosure.

She renews her religious vows before
The Apostolic Admistrator,
His Lordship Bishop Rifan.

She receives afresh the Religious Profession ring.

Put me as a seal upon thy heart..
for love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell,
the lamps thereof are fire and flames ...

She receives the silver jubilee crown of roses.

The lamps thereof are fire and flame...

Many waters cannot quench charity,
neither can the floods drown it:
if a man should give all the substance of his house for love,
he shall despise it as nothing.
(Canticles 6:8)

Sister received the Papal Blessing.

Ad multos annos Sister!
Pray for us.

Erecting the Stations in our Old Mass Chapel, Stronsay

Yesterday during the storm
we erected the
Stations of the Cross
in Our Lady's Chapel
Stronsay.

Br. Nicodemus Mary
measuring the cord out for hanging each Station.

They are beautiful old Stations.
The last three, closest to the altar,
are markedly darker than the others
reflecting sorrow and the darkness that covered the earth.

Br. Magdala Maria and Br Yousef Marie
erecting the Tenth Station to its place.

Domum tuam decet sanctitudo Domine in longitudine dierum.
Holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, unto length of days.
Psalms 92:5

Domine dilexi decorem domus tuae et locum habitationis gloriae tuae.
I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house;
and the place where thy glory dwelleth.
Psalms 25:8

Papa Stronsay Calendar 2012

Our calendar for 2012 is now available from the Papa Stronsay Shop.
Please click here to order.

God defined it. It can't be redefined by any power on earth.

There is a government proposal to "redefine" marriage.

All Catholics and all who love God
living in Scotland
have to oppose this.

If you have not done so yet
please click on the image
and fill in the form.

This is the only valid definition of Marriage:
The conjugal union of man and woman,
contracted between two qualified persons,
which obliges them to live together throughout life.

Marriage was instituted by God.

We read in Genesis that
God created them male and female,
and blessed them, saying:
"Increase and multiply";
and also:
"It is not good for man to be alone:
let us make him a help like unto himself.'

Adam said:
"This is now bone of my bones,
and flesh of my flesh:
she shall be called woman,
because she was taken out of man:
wherefore a man shall leave father and mother,
and shall cleave to his wife;
and they shall be two in one flesh."

These words, according to the authority of our Lord Himself,
as we read in St. Matthew,
prove the divine institution of Matrimony.

Not only did God institute marriage;
He also rendered it perpetual and indissoluble.'
What God hath joined together, says our Lord,
let not man separate.

(From the Catechism of the Council of Trent)

Happy Anniversary - Feliz Aniversário

Today
Sunday, 20th November, 2011, we wish our
Sister Maria Auxiliadora da Divina Providência, O.SS.R.
Sister Maria Help of Christians of Divine Providence,
a very happy and blessed
Silver Jubilee of Religious Profession.

Hoje
Domingo, 20 de Novembro, 2011, desejamos a nossa
Irmã Maria Auxiliadora da Divina Providência, O.SS.R.
um feliz e abençoado
Jubileu de Prata da Profissão Religiosa.

Please join us in remembering our faithful
Redemptoristine Jubilarian
of the traditional Monastery of the Holy Face
and the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary
in São Fidelis, Brazil,
in your prayers,
Holy Masses and Communions.

Vivat in Aeternum, in Aeternum Vivat!

Resignation in expiation for our sins and for the Holy Souls

Who are the dead that suffer in the expiatory flames?
Are they great criminals, public and scandalous sinners,
who have died under the anathema of the Church
and of their fellow citizens?

No;
they are souls sanctified by grace,
who have to expiate only light faults,
slight acts of unfaithfulness,
or even only the temporal punishment
of faults already forgiven.


Among them are some
who acquired on earth eminent virtue,
who consequently, are more humble,
more chaste, more obedient,
more charitable,
and especially more patient than we.

They suffer, without complaint
and even with much love,
intolerable pains which surpass all we can imagine
or endure in this life.

A fire, like that of hell,
burns them without ceasing, without mercy,
and a pain far greater still,
that of loss,
completes their torments.

And we who have so much and,
perhaps, so greviously sinned,
we complain of the slightest suffering!

Are we ignorant of the law
that obliges us to expiate our sins,
in this life or in the next?

And is it not better to pay our debts now to our Lord's mercy,
which forgives so easily,
than to fall later under the blows of His justice,
which requires full payment to the last farthing? (Mat. 5:26)

Moreover, by bearing on earth afflictions and trials,
we embellish more and more our eternal crown,
whilst in purgatory we shall have to pay,
without increase of merit, the whole of our debt to God.

Can we hesitate between those two alternatives,
either to have our purgatory in this life
by suffering patiently and meritoriously,
or
to await the torments of next life,
when we shall have to satisfy rigorously
and unprofitably for heaven,
the divine justice in full?

Prayer and Resolutions

O Lord, it is evidently more advantageous for me
to deny myself and suffer now for Thee,
than to defer it till later.

Wherefore I embrace from this day forward
all the trials it will please Thee to send me;
bitterness, disgust, annoyances, infirmities,
pains, humiliations and contradiction.

I am therefore resolved,

first,
when tempted to impatience,
to think of purgatory and the souls
so lovingly suffering therein;

and

secondly,
often to offer Thee my sufferings in union with Thine,
as an expiation for my sins,
and for the relief of the faithful departed,
who are still indebted to Thy justice.

[From this morning's Meditation book.]

The new UK SSPX: Bequest SiSi! Request NoNo!

In August 2007 we were informed by letter
that we had been nominated to receive
half of the residue of the estate of
the late Mrs. Margaret Patricia Kingon-Rouse, R.I.P.


(Click on documents to read them)

There were legal complications involved with the property which formed the estate.
The last time we had information about the Will was last August.

In the latest issue of the SSPX Newsletter
(November, 2011),
the District Superior,
Rev. Paul Morgan wrote:

"Similarly, we are indebted to the late Mrs Patricia Kingon-Rouse of Herne Bay whose bequeathed property now allows the Fathers to have a base for their apostolate there. May she rest in peace."

I understood from this announcement that the legal complications had been overcome.
Therefore I telephoned the new London Executor and asked about the present status of the Will.

I was told that the Will
did not legally bind the SSPX
to honour Mrs. Kingon-Rouse's request
and that it was decided that
although I was named in the Will
the SSPX had decided that Papa Stronsay
would not receive the half share of the remainder of the estate
as had been requested by the deceased.

Here is the entire clause of the Will:

7. SUBJECT TO the payment of my debts funeral and testamentary expenses and the aforementioned legacies I give all the remainder of my estate not otherwise effectively disposed of by this Will or any codicil hereto to the Society of St. Pius X in Great Britain and request that one half of such residue of my estate be used for the benefit of the London Branch of the Society operating from St. George's House 125 Arthur Road London SW19 7DR who service Saints John Fisher & Thomas More Church Herne and for the remaining half share to be utilised for the benefit of Father Michael Mary and the community of Redemptorists at Golgotha Monastery Island Papa Stronsay Orkney Isles KW17 2AR. And I further request that Father Michael Mary put aside the sum of TWO THOUSAND POUNDS (£2, 000.00) for mass offerings to be used for the repose of the soul of myself and my family by birth or marriage and for the benefit of every holy soul in purgatory AND I declare that the receipt of the Treasurer or other competent officer for the time being of the Society of St. Pius X in Great Britain appearing to my Executor shall be a sufficient receipt to my Executor in respect of this residuary bequest

In March 2010 we received the £2, 000 for Masses.


I thought that we, Catholics and clergy,
held last requests as sacred prescriptions.

All that is legal is not moral.

If last requests are not honoured by
traditional priests
by whom will they be honoured?

As for the bequest's request
graciously made for us by our friend
Mrs. Kingon-Rouse, R.I.P. -
we are in no position to renounce it
but we accept that it has been taken from us:
we resign ourselves to this injustice.

In all things may God's Will be done
and may it teach us the lessons necessary for salvation:

For the desire of money is the root of all evils;
which some coveting have erred from the faith,
and have entangled themselves in many sorrows.
[1 Timothy 6:10]

Through His Prince, Christ the King reigns over Liechtenstein

Feast of Christ the King, 2011

On this Feast
we congratulate and celebrate
a Christian Prince
standing firmly beneath the banner
of Christ the King:

His Serene Highness,
Hereditary Prince Aloïs Philipp Maria
who defended and maintains the
Kingship of Christ over his
Principality of Liechtenstein.

On 18 September by a referendum,
Liechtenstien refused the legalisation of abortion.

The Hereditary Prince,
HSH Prince Aloïs had announced that
whatever the result of the referendum
he would never give his royal assent to such a law
and would use his right of veto.

The courageous Prince Aloïs

Prince Alois said,
“Until now we have been proud to support
people with disabilities in our country.
The proposal would discriminate against such people
and allow them to be eliminated in the womb.”

By Liechtenstein law, abortions are generally not allowed,
even when the abortion is performed outside the country.
Furthermore, government departments and offices
are obliged to report any abortions
of which they have knowledge.
Only when the life of the mother is endangered
and no other option remains,
is a termination of a pregnancy allowed.

(Clarification:
Abortion to protect the mother's life is wrong.
Thus the Liechtenstein law
does not reflect a perfect morality
but maintains an international standard
better by far than most,
if not all, the other countries of the world.
The prince inherited a state with its already codified laws.
His courage is shown in not permitting the laws of his state
to follow those of other countries.)

The vote was 52.3% against the proposed law
of allowing abortions within the first 12 weeks
and when any child had a disability such as Down Syndrome.

Liechtenstein is facing immense pressure
from the rest of Europe to allow abortions.

The Principality lies between Switzerland and Austria,
and has a population of 36,000.


A Christian Prince
receiving Holy Communion

Prince Aloïs, married to Princess Sophie, is 43 years of age.

The Hereditary Prince and Princess

They have four children:
Prince Joseph Wenzel Maximilian Maria,
born in London; (16 years)
Princess Marie-Caroline Elisabeth Immaculata; (15 years)
Prince Georg Antonius Constantin Maria (12 years)
and their youngest son,
Prince Nikolaus Sebastian Alexander Maria (11 years).

- Three Generations of Princes and Princesses -
Grandparents, Parents and two royal children together

Sharing 26,000 words of gratitude to God and spiritual joy.

Photos on the occasion
of
the clerical tonsure of Br. Martin Mary, F.SS.R.
with the seminarians
of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary
Nebraska, USA.

A picture paints a thousand words.

Thus do we then present 26,000 words of
gratitude to God
and spiritual joy
upon the clerical tonsure of our confrère.

In this ceremony
Br. Martin Mary, F.SS.R. took a first step
for our whole community.

Papa Stronsay rejoices.

Special thanks to:

His Lordship Bishop Hugh Gilbert, O.S.B.
Bishop of Aberdeen.

His Lordship Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz,
Bishop of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Very Reverend Father John Berg,
Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

Very Reverend Father Josef Bisig,
Rector of the Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe,
Lincoln, Nebraska.

Procession to the Seminary Chapel.

Candidates for the Tonsure.

Celebrant His Lordship Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz,
Bishop of Lincoln,
Nebraska.

To the right of the Bishop in cope is the
Very Reverend Fr. Josef Bisig,
Rector of the Seminary.

Br. Martin Mary stands in his religious habit
the other candidates hold the cassocks they will receive.

Having put on their the cassocks the seminarians return to the chapel.

The moment of Tonsure has arrived.

The hair is cut in on the four side of the head:
the points of the Cross.

The reception of the Surplice.

The incensing of the Gospel.

The newly tonsured offers the Pontiff a lighted candle.

The Offertory of the Mass.