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2007 Liturgical Calendar
The 2007 Liturgical Calendar features 14 months
(includes December 2006 and January 2008) to showcase
one each of the 14 Stations of the Cross from Society of St.
Pius X chapels from around the United States. Each Station
is identified with the name of the church from which it came.
But the most compelling reason to have a 14-month
calendar is to make the secular calendar dove-tail with the
Church’s liturgical year. Secularly speaking, the first of the year
is January 1. In the liturgical year, the first of the year is the
first Sunday in Advent, which, this year, is December 3,
2006. So start the year(s) off right with the only liturgical
calendar that starts at the beginning of the liturgical year!
The Stations of the Cross, the Way of the Cross (Via
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particular incidents in the Passion of Christ. The object of the
Via Crucis is to help the faithful make a pilgrimage in spirit to
the chief scenes of Christ’s sufferings and death, the origin of
which may be traced to the Holy Land where tradition says the
Virgin Mary used to visit the sites of her Son’s Passion. No other
devotion sponsored by the Catholic Church enables Catholics
to so literally obey Christ’s injunction to take up their cross and
follow Him.
This year’s calendar features plenty of room for your notes
and appointment reminders. It is large-holed for easy hanging!
All the feast days of the year according to the 1962 Roman
Missal are listed with class and liturgical color marked along
with reminders of days of fast and abstinence. It also includes the

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ON OUR COVER: This icon was produced by the Archdiocese of Pittsburgh, Byzantine
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which, among other things, recalls the priestly nature of Our Lord, which began in time at
the Incarnation and is signified in this icon by the altar cloths(?) held by Our Lady and the
maniple(?) in her cincture.

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CELIBACY

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F r .

J a m e s

D o r a n

3
The celibacy of the priest and the virginity of the Mother of God are two doctrines which are
clearly unpopular, if not outright attacked, at the present day. Even within the Church, celibacy has
often been refused or ignored by many during its history because of the difficulty to remain faithful
in such a state, but this was due rather to human weakness and not to an outright attack on the
doctrine. The doctrine has been denounced because it was too hard to observe, not because it was
refused as such. The case is similar for the doctrine concerning the Blessed Virgin. An early,1 and
famous, denunciation of the perpetual virginity of St. Mary was done by Helvidius. His doctrine was
intimately connected with his ridicule of the religious state and its vow of chastity.
It can be said that the perpetual virginity of the Mother of God and the celibacy of the Christian
priesthood are bulwarks and contexts for the central mysteries of the Faith. For a pagan world these
doctrines are simply ridiculous; and as the Faith is weakened among Catholics themselves, these
teachings become less understood and subsequently are denounced as outdated, unnecessary, and
superfluous. But are they?
By her virginity, Mary of Nazareth had been disposed to become the Mother of God. Her chastity
was directly related to the Incarnation. Virginity has since become the outstanding mark of Mary of
Nazareth. Her virginity is intimately associated with the presence of the Word Incarnate in the world.
It can even be said that her virginity was the occasion of this Presence. “Her virginity consists in the
total gift of her person which introduces her into a spousal relationship with God.”2 Our Lady is both
Spouse and Mother of the Divine Word. We can speak of the bridal motherhood of God.3

1
2
3

This was at the end of the fourth century during the pontificate of St. Damasus.
Avital Wohlmann, as quoted in Mary in the Mystery of the Covenant, by Ignace de la Potterie, S.J. (New York: Alba House, 1992), p.xviii.
Cf. Mathias Scheeben, Mariology (New York: B. Herder Book Co., 1946).

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THE ANGELUS • December 2006


It was for the redemption of the world that the
Incarnation took place, and it is thus that we can say
that the virginity of the Mother of God is intimately
connected with the redemptive sacrifice of the
Christ. For the same reason we see the insistence of
the Church, from the beginning, on the consecrated
celibacy of her priesthood. Priestly celibacy is also
intimately connected with making Christ present in
the world; whereas this presence was brought about
through the Incarnation in the case of the Blessed
Virgin Mary, it is through the Sacrifice of the Mass
that this is accomplished in the priesthood. In the
Eucharist Christ is present Body, Blood, Soul, and
Divinity–really, truly, and substantially. Furthermore,
the man himself is also consecrated in persona Christi
by the Sacrament of Holy Orders. In fact it is this
persona which allows the Sacrifice to be confected
and made present. Therefore, Christ is made present
in the world both in the Sacraments and in the
consecrated individual priest.
The Blessed Virgin is wed to the Divine Logos
in her virginity, and the priest is wed to the Body of
the Word Incarnate, the Church, in his consecrated
celibacy. For this reason Mary of Nazareth remained
ever a virgin after the birth of Christ, and so it is that
a man once consecrated remained continent, even if
he had been married before that date, and remained
celibate ever after.
Both the Virginity of Mary and the consecrated
celibacy of the priesthood center on the Sacrifice
of the Cross. It can be said that the celibacy of the
Christian priesthood is for this reason profoundly
Marian. She is an exemplar of the singular
devotedness required in the priest. She is the
example of the perfect detachment and purity which
must be present in the man who makes Christ present
among those of his generation.
We shall first examine briefly what virginity is,
then the virginal aspect of St. Mary’s participation
in the redemption. Thirdly, we shall touch upon the
doctrine and history of the consecrated celibacy of
the priesthood. And finally, we shall draw a short
and practical conclusion based on the doctrine of the
Holy Eucharist.

motive is either religious or apostolic it is then
superior; it is ennobled by the superior virtues of
charity or religion.4 Therefore physical integrity
in itself has no value. It is neutral. The virtues
involved give it a superior value. For this reason
consecrated virginity and consecrated celibacy are
superior to marriage. Though marriage is a state
sanctified by the Sacrament of Matrimony, the virtue
of religion or apostolic charity makes consecrated
celibacy superior. The contrary opinion has been
anathematized by the Council of Trent.5
Religious virginity denotes a signal victory over
the lower appetites and is an emancipation from
worldly and earthly cares. This virginity gives a man
the liberty to devote himself to the service of God. It
also makes him both free and loyal to follow Christ
wherever He may go. Virginity permits unbridled,
free, and complete devotedness to God.
Consecrated virginity allows a man to emulate
the purity of the angels who serve before the throne
of God eternally. Virginity possesses a special likeness
to the Virginal Lamb of God, and for this reason it is
taught that virginity, religiously and faithfully kept,
merits a special configuration to Christ in Heaven;
it is one of the three aureolae8 possessed by certain
saints in the Beatific Vision.9

The Virginity of the New Eve
It is Catholic dogma that the Blessed Virgin Mary
was a virgin before, during, and after the birth of
Christ.10 For our purposes we shall limit ourselves to
examining three primary texts: The Protoevangelium
of Genesis 3:15, Isaiah :14, and the Annunciation as
recorded by St. Luke in 1:2-38. These highlight the
redemptive conflict, the virginal deliverance, and the
virginal fulfillment respectively.
Genesis 3:15: I will put enmities between thee and the
woman, and thy seed and her seed: she (he) shall crush thy
head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

Cf. Mt. 19:11,12 and I Cor. 7:25-40.
Sess. 29, Canon 10.
6
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 15 (New York: The Encyclopedia Press,
Inc, 1913), s.v. “Virginity.”
7
Apoc. 14:4
8
There are halos, or robes of glory, which surround certain select souls in
heaven. This added glory highlights special aspects of sanctity in these
individuals: martyrdom, virginity, or teaching.
9
Suppl. Q. 96.
10
Lateran I, 649 AD. St. Martin I: “If anyone does not, in accord with the holy
Fathers, acknowledge the holy, ever virgin and immaculate Mary as really
and truly the Mother of God, inasmuch as she, in the fullness of time, and
without seed, conceived by the Holy Ghost of God the Word Himself, who
before all time was born of God the Father, and without loss of integrity
brought Him forth, and after His birth preserved her virginity inviolate; let
him be anathema.” As quoted in Fundamentals of Mariology by Juniper
B. Carol, O.F.M. (New York, Benziger Brothers, Inc., 1956), p.143. Paul
IV’s Cum Quorundan, August 7, 1555. And of course, the Nicæan and
the Apostles’ Creeds: “who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the
Virgin Mary.”
4
5

Virginity
Virginity is the reverence for bodily integrity
which suggests a virtuous motive. It possesses two
elements: a) material–the absence in the past and
present of all complete and voluntary delectation,
whether from lust or the lawful use of marriage;
and b) formal–the firm resolution to abstain forever
from sexual pleasure. It must be said that virginity
is not a special virtue. It is formally only the intent
to preserve perfect chastity. The value of virginity is
the practice of the virtue of chastity. When chastity’s
THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org


This text forms part of the story of the Fall in
the Garden of Eden; it has been referred to as the
protoevangelium: it contains, in embryonic form, the
announcement of the work of redemption. The words
are addressed to Satan. In the form of a serpent he
had seduced Eve to the first act of rebellion against
God, and she subsequently misled her husband. This
act of pride and revolt we have since called “Original
Sin,” or the “Fall” from the state of Original Justice in
which mankind had been created.
The prophecy promises a future conflict between
Satan and “the woman.” Catholic tradition has seen
in one form or another “the woman” as the Blessed
Virgin Mary.11 Many hold that “the woman” is
literally Eve, and Mary is the typical sense. Other
exegetes and theologians hold that “the woman” is
literally, and exclusively, Mary. Still others hold that
“the woman” stands for both Eve and Mary; for Eve
in the imperfect literal sense; for Mary in a perfect
or fuller sense.12 Whatever the case may be, it is
clear that “the woman” and her “seed” are directly
involved in the hostility toward, and crushing of,
Satan and his “seed.”
The original text itself is debated by exegetes as
to whether “she” or “he” shall crush the head of the
serpent. The Vulgate uses the feminine form.13 This
has led the Latin Church to portray the Immaculate
Conception in iconographic form of the Blessed
Virgin standing on the head of a serpent with an
apple in its mouth. This image is both a reference to
this prophecy and a play on the Latin word malum,
which can mean both evil and apple. The image is
thus read as Mary, conceived without sin, who by
this fact confronts and crushes Satan with malum
shoved back into the same mouth which had seduced
mankind so long ago. Most exegetes, however, seem
to be of the opinion that the pronoun actually refers
to the “seed” and not to the woman. Therefore the
prophecy would indicate that it is the posterity of the
woman who will crush the head of the serpent.14
It is clear that both the woman and her posterity
are intimately connected in crushing evil, in any
case. The serpent will in turn wound the heel of the
offspring of the woman, but this injury will not be
fatal. The final victory lies thus with the woman and
her seed. The promise is made to the human race
collectively and not to Adam and Eve individually.15

This is the meaning behind the mysterious use of the term “Woman” by
Our Lord when referring to His Mother both at Cana and at Calvary. It is
reference to her position as the New Eve, or the Woman, of the prophecies. By beginning His ministry at Cana, and by His Redemptive Death on
Calvary, her relation to Him was forever, and profoundly, changed.
12
Carol, Fundamentals of Mariology, pp.28-29.
13
That this is the actual wording of St. Jerome himself, or a gloss, is itself
debated.
14
Dom Bernard Orchard, ed., A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture
(London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1951), pp.186, 144c.
15
Ibid., pp.187, 145d. Adam and Eve are the human race at this moment in
time.
11

The last consideration is the term used: “her
seed.” This is a unique reference in the Old
Testament. Many times offspring are referred to by
the term “seed,” but it is always the seed of a man.
This reference to the “seed” of a woman seems to be
unique. It clearly refers to offspring, and yet offspring
which is directly from a woman–“her seed.” The
woman will produce offspring alone. This clearly
indicates, if not directly foretelling, that “the woman”
will produce her offspring alone, without a man, and
therefore virginally.
Isaiah :14: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you
a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
his name shall be called Emmanuel.

This text is well known as a quotation at
Christmas time, and it must be applied to the Christ:
it is interpreted thus by the Evangelist.1 This is
one of the clearest texts concerning the prophesied
Virgin Birth. In this instance the historical context is
important to the interpretation of the prophecy. For
our purposes we shall emphasize its “Davidic” aspect.
The prophecy concerns the survival of the
House of David for the sake of the coming Messiah,
not for any political success in a given war. The
House of David was meant to be a source of light
for the people and to come to completion with
the arrival of the Messiah.1 Therefore, the text is
not only important for its clarity concerning the
virginal conception of “a Son,” but this virginity has
also to do with the Messianic Presence. Virginity
is thus intimately involved with the fulfillment of
the messianic promises made to David. The Virgin
becomes the sign of the preservation of the House of
David for the sake of its messianic value.
These words were spoken by the prophet Isaiah
around the year 32 BC to Achaz, King of Judah. The
ancient kingdom of David had long ago divided into
Israel in the north and Judah to the south. The line of
David continued in Jerusalem, while other dynasties
occupied the throne in the north. In this year Judah
was being attacked by an alliance from the north:
Israel and Syria. This prophecy has little to do with
Achaz or his personal welfare–he was in fact an evil
king; but it does have to do with the salvation of
Jerusalem and the Davidic line of kings, and hence
the future Messiah, “the Son of David.” The king
of Israel was at this time also evil and an usurper:
neither legitimate in Israel, nor as a descendent of
David. Both leaders were therefore morally corrupt.
This verse must be read in the context of
the whole chapter, and in conjunction with the
prophecies in 9:1-18 and 11:1-5.19 The chapter
begins by telling us that Syria and Israel could
Mt. 1:23.
IV Kings 8:19.
These verses describe the “Child born to us, and the son given to us.”
19
These verses describe both the origin and the strength of the “flower” which
comes from out of the “root of Jesse.”
16
17
18

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THE ANGELUS • December 2006


not prevail against Judah. Verse 2 already sets the
chapter’s context referring to “the house of David.”
This prophecy does not concern firstly the political
successes of Achaz, but his dynasty’s survival.
When Isaiah is sent to speak to Achaz he is
told to take his son, Shear-Yasub.20 The child’s name
itself is part of the prophecy. It means “a remnant
shall return.” The presence of this child is therefore
already a prophecy itself to the coming deportation
and exile into Babylon. The child’s presence already
indicates to us that what is to be spoken by Isaiah
clearly will have to do with the future.
The prophecy has two parts: the sign of
deliverance, vv.14-15, and the promise of deliverance
fulfilled before the manifestation of the sign.21
Isaiah first tells Achaz that Israel and Syria will be
unsuccessful in their campaign against Jerusalem.22
At this point God tells Achaz to ask for a “sign,”
whatever it may be. This Achaz, from a feigned
humility, refuses to do.23 We can only wonder if he
refuses because he is incredulous, or simply tired of
having the prophet “interfere” in his affairs. In any
case, Isaiah speaks to him directly but he addresses
him in the plural:24 again, this is a prophecy, not for
Achaz alone, but for the House of David. Verse 14 is
that which we quoted at the beginning of this section.
God Himself will thus give a sign, with or without the
Davidic king’s request.
There has been much written about the “virgin”
who is to bear this foretold child. The Hebrew term
is ‘almāh.25 This is the term used for an unmarried
woman, who, being unmarried, it is to be presumed
that she was still a virgin. This reasoning though,
has been contested by some who insist that it simply
means “a young woman,” as if there would be
anything significative that such a one should conceive.
In any case, the term is never used for a married
woman, and is often translated by “virgin” in the
Septuagint.2 In the biblical passages where this term
is used virginity in the strict sense is usually implied.2
However, it is true that the term used is not
the technical word for “virgin” which is beţûlāh.
Historically it can be argued that virgin was certainly
the understanding by the Jews before Christ. The
Greek authoritative translation, the Septuagint, dating
from centuries before Christ translated this term
by παρθένοσ, a word which clearly indicates virgin
as we use the term today. Whatever may be the
original meaning of almah, it had been interpreted
and translated by Greek-speaking Jews as virgin, an
Is. 7:3.
A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, pp.546, 426a.
22
Is. 7:4-9.
23
Is. 7:12.
24
Is. 7:13.
25
A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, pp.546, 426b.
26
Ibid. The Septuagint, LXX, is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Canon
of Scriptures which was done at Alexandria in around 250 BC.
27
Fundamentals of Mariology, p.34. Gen. 24:43; Ex. 2:8; Canticle 1:2, 6; Ps.
68:26; and Proverbs 30:18-19.
20
21

THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

interpretation which was not contested by the Jews
of those centuries. It can also be noted here that the
Hebrew text does not say that a virgin shall conceive,
but more exactly and literally the virgin conceives (is
pregnant) and bears a son.28 She retains her virginity
while conceiving and bearing her offspring.29
A further singularity of this birth is that it
will be the woman who names the child. This is
a confirmation of the presumption that the text
indicates a virginal conception. The name of
course is highly symbolic: Emmanuel, “God-withus.” It indicates God’s omnipotent and subsequent
deliverance.30 Therefore virginity will be the sign of
the ultimate security of the House of David and the
deliverance of the people to come.
St. Luke 1:2-38: (2)…and the virgin’s name was Mary.
(28) And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full
of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among
women….(30) And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary,
for thou hast found grace with God. (31) Behold thou
shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son;
and thou shalt call his name Jesus….(34) And Mary said
to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not
man? (35)…the power of the most High shall overshadow
thee….(3) Because no word shall be impossible with God.
(38) And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord;
be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel
departed from her.

This episode is of course the fulfillment
of the prophecies. The conflict foretold in the
protoevangelium is to be accomplished by the
dominion of this Child, and the House of David
is stabilized forever.31 God’s promises have been
fulfilled.
The Annunciation is the moment when God
enters the world Personally. Mary of Nazareth holds
both a spousal and a maternal relation to the Divine
Word. It is her virginity which allows for both. In her
response to the message of the angel she is perfectly
and stainlessly faithful. Her supreme docility and
reception of the Word puts her in a spousal relation
to the Divine Logos. Thus she is the New Eve.
Her Divine Maternity of course brings it about
that she also possesses a maternal relation to the
Divine Word in His Incarnation. By her fiat she
enters into the Hypostatic Order by sharing in the
Unique Filiation of the Divine Son. She does not
generate the Son in His Person; but the Son born to
her is God. Thus she is the Theotokos, the Mother of
God.
It is her personal virginity which is the juncture
of this new state of virginal-maternity and spousalvirginity. Her personal virginity, as stated in Isaiah,
was to be the sign for the coming Child, Emmanuel,
Who would bring deliverance. I speak of her personal
“Behold, the virgin conceiving and bearing a son.”
Fundamentals of Mariology, pp.34, 149.
30
A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture, pp.546, 426b.
31
St. Luke 1:32-33.
28
29

7
virginity because this is the identification given by the
angel.
When the angel greets the Blessed Virgin Mary
he salutes her as κέχαριτωμένη (kécharitôménê).
This term is fascinating as it is addressed to her as
a personal name. In the Hail Mary we are so used
to the term “Mary” as part of the salutation that we
forget that it is not actually in the sacred text; rather
this other term is used in its place. This single word
is what is translated by the phrase, “full of grace.” Let
us examine its meaning.
Kέχαριτωμένη (kécharitôménê) indicates
Mary’s perfected holiness. It is a form (past perfect
participial) of the
very rare Greek verb
charitoun. It is present
only twice in the New
Testament: here, and in
Ephesians 1:.32 Both
times that it is used the
causative form of the
verb is employed: it
signifies an action which
effects something in the
object. This verb then
indicates that an effect
is made in the person or
the thing affected. The
radical of this verb is of
course charis (grace).
The verb thus expresses
that a change is brought
about by grace.
In Ephesians 1: it is
the Christian population
which has been touched
and changed by grace.
In St. Luke 28 the
term is unique in all of
Scripture; it is used as
her proper name. Its
form is the perfect passive participle of the verb. This
indicates that transformation has already taken place
in Mary. Before the moment of the Annunciation she
has already been transformed by grace. She is thus
personally “the-one-who-has-received-and-alreadybeen-transformed-by-grace.”
The Blessed Virgin Mary had been transformed
by grace because she had been sanctified by grace.
She had been purified in advance of even the
Incarnation. It is God Who had prepared Mary for the
Incarnation by inspiring in her the desire of virginity
(v. 34). This desire of Our Lady was then for her a
result of her personal transforming grace. For this

reason St. Bernard has spoken of the “grace of her
virginity.”
As this woman is saluted in such a manner we
can conclude that it is her sanctified and transformed
virginity which disposes her to her vocation of
maternal-spouse of God.33 Her virginity opens her
wholly and unconditionally toward God. It permits
the most complete, loving, and mutual surrender
between her and the Divine Word, Who in turn
gives Himself in the Redemptive Incarnation.34 It is
thus that she has come to be known simply as “The
Virgin.” It is her personal identification.

Ecclesiastical Ministry
Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Marie André

Do we care if this book originally appeared in 1863? People are
still people; priests are still priests. The principles concerning both are
timeless. Here’s a book praised by Archbishop Lefebvre, who during
his life often referred to its author as an extraordinary example of the
Catholic priesthood in practice.
Fr. Emmanuel’s work on the priestly ministry has long captivated
the attention of Catholic priests resolved to understand the profoundly
supernatural nature of their priesthood, determined to see it as a
continuation of the great mystery of the Incarnation, overwhelmed by the
sense of what it is to be an instrument of Holy Mother Church. Father’s
clear understanding of the danger of naturalism, and the supernaturally
empty and “lifeless” ministry which is its consequence, and his analysis
of the evils of liberalism, were a century ahead of his time. This great little
manual will help priests to live their priesthood united to the Sovereign High
Priest Whom they represent. How the priest’s “death to the world” is not a
passing act, but a continuing holocaust. As long as there are priests, the
Blood which baptizes the world will not cease to flow and the Living Source
of charity will be in good hands...better hands if this book were followed.
Intended for priests, but excellent for lay people as well, who will benefit by
knowing the true purpose of those with whom they are called to cooperate
in the apostolate.

44pp, color softcover, STK# 6724✱ $4.95

The Celibacy of the
Redemptive Priesthood
By his celibacy the priest is fittingly disposed to
act in persona Christi. His chastity is directly related to
the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
The Church has always had great reverence
for consecrated celibacy, consecrated that is for the
Kingdom of Heaven.35 The chastity of the priest,
however, is different from that of the laity. While
both have been honored since the earliest days of
the Church, celibacy has always been the ideal of
the priest. It has never been the ideal of the layman.
Mary in the Mystery of the Covenant, pp.17-19. I am greatly indebted to
this philological explanation of such profound depth for this section of the
paper.
34
Scheeben, Mariology, p.xxx, xxxi.
35
Mt. 19.
33

32

Eph. 1:6: “Unto the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he hath graced
us in his beloved son” (Challoner translation). This could also be translated:
“He hath transformed us by grace in his beloved son.”

www.angeluspress.org

THE ANGELUS • December 2006


Consecrated celibacy is based on Matthew 19 and is
further taught to avail the following: 1) detachment
from the things of this world; 2) the freedom to
follow Our Lord; 3) anticipation of the imminent Day
of Judgment; and 4) an example of the eschatological
life.3
The chastity of the priest on the other hand
is Marian. It includes the reason found in Our
Lord’s teaching in the Gospel, but it is furthermore
messianic. While the religious celibacy of the
counsels is directly eschatological,3 the celibacy of
the priest is directly, and firstly, ordered to making
Christ present in the world. Only secondarily is it an
eschatological sign.
The Church in the earliest centuries did not
refuse to ordain married men, but they were to
abstain from conjugal relations once they had been
ordained.38 They remained married, but now wed to
the Church, they no longer continued in a conjugal
life with their wives. In some instances the women
themselves entered the consecrated life of celibacy
and in others they continued to live with their
husbands, but in a celibate relation. Ordination was
therefore only possible with the permission of the
wife.
This practice was held to date back to the
Apostles. One of our first references to it is from June
1, 390, at a regional council in Carthage. There are
other later references but this one shall do for our
purposes.39
The council speaks about an even earlier meeting
where the rule of continence and chastity had been
discussed. It gives now the reason for the insistence
on continence. It is because of their consecration
that the ministers are under the obligation to observe
chastity. It is because they are in the service of the
divine Sacraments that they must observe perfect
continence. Their chastity is given as the foundation
for their prayers to be heard at the altar of God.
Those who serve the altar are to keep perfect purity.
This is the life that all will live in heaven: neither married nor given in
marriage, but centered wholly on God. The Sacrament of Matrimony is
for this world, “until death do us part.”
37
I Cor. 7:29.
38
This law obliged bishops, priests, and deacons.
39
Epigonius, Bishop of the Royal Region of Bulla, says: “The rule of continence and chastity had been discussed in a previous council. Let it be
taught with more emphasis what are the three ranks that, by virtue of their
consecration, are under the same obligation of chastity, i.e., the bishop, the
priest, and the deacon, and let them be instructed to keep their purity.”
Bishop Genethlius says: “As was previously said, it is fitting that the holy
bishops and priests of God as well as the Levites, i.e., those who are in the
service of the divine sacraments, observe perfect continence (continentes
esse in omnibus), so that they may obtain in all simplicity what they are
asking from God; what the apostles taught and what antiquity itself
observed, let us also endeavor to keep.” The bishops declared unanimously:
“It pleases us all that bishop, priest, and deacon, guardians of purity, abstain
from [conjugal intercourse] with their wives, so that those who serve at
the altar may keep a perfect chastity.” As quoted in The Apostolic Origins
of Priestly Celibacy, by Christian Cochini, S.J. (San Francisco: Ignatius
Press, 1990), p.5. Emphasis mine.
36

THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

It is clear from the text that priestly celibacy is due to
the holiness of the Sacred Mysteries. Marriage is not
condemned, but it is seen as preventing the proper
carrying out of the priestly intercessory office.40
The intervention of Bishop Genethlius ends
beautifully:
What the apostles taught and what antiquity itself
observed, let us also endeavor to keep.–Ut quod apostoli
docuerunt et ipsa servavit antiquitas, nos quoque custodiamus.

The Virginity of the Mother of God is presented
as one of the key prophecies of the Messiah. Isaiah
:14 entails the preservation of the House of David,
the messianic branch, and presents the “virgin” as
conceiving and naming Emmanuel. This virginity is
both a preparation and the occasion of the presence
of “God with us.” The Catholic priesthood is likewise
messianic. It makes Christ present, “God with us,”
both personally through the Sacrament of Holy
Orders41 and substantially through the confection of
the Sacraments, especially that of the Holy Eucharist.

The Eucharistic, Marian,
Celibate Catholic Priesthood
Lastly, it can be noted that when listing the kings
of Judah in the books of Kings, the mothers of these
kings are also listed;42 this is not done with the kings
of Israel. The line of David has a special relation with
the mothers. We have looked closely at the special
and unique name of the last of the mothers in the line
of David. Can we not say that this itself is a prophetic
action intended ultimately to highlight the position
of Mary of Nazareth: true mother of the true Son of
David? The Messiah is intimately connected with the
Woman through whom He entered the world. He is
made present through her. The presence of Christ
continues to be manifested through His Priesthood.
This priesthood is therefore intimately connected
with the office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which it
resembles in this.
The forms of chastity in the Church are different.
All are held to practice virtue, but not all are required
to keep the fullness of it in a celibate life. The Blessed
Virgin Mary is the exemplar for all. Her chastity is
perfect, untarnished, and virginal. This virginity is
directly related to the Messianic promises. The vows
which consecrate the religious life are derived from
the teachings of Our Lord. This celibacy is grounded
on His counsels. But the celibacy of the priest is not
the same as that of the religious state, it is higher.
The priest’s chastity is directly related to the
Sacred Mysteries, especially the Eucharist, of
Ibid., p.5.
The man consecrated by the Sacrament of Holy Orders is an iconic representation of the Word Incarnate.
42
III Kings 14:21, 15:2, 22:42; IV Kings 8:26, etc.
40
41


which he is guardian and dispenser. As with the
Blessed Virgin Mary, this chastity is centered on the
Presence of Christ; for her the Incarnation, for him
the Sacraments. For this reason the state of chastity
of the priest is higher, and more exigent, than that
of the consecrated religious. The religious makes
his vows in order to follow personally the counsels
of Christ. The apostolic benefit is secondary. The
religious seeks first his perfection and then that
of his neighbor. The priest, however, is celibate
because he is consecrated to the Divine Mysteries.
This consecration is for the life of the Church and is
necessarily apostolic. His celibacy is for others. The
priest must seek firstly to present Christ to the world
for the sanctification of his neighbor. His personal
perfection is an effect of his priestly consecration and
fidelity in the apostolate. It is not the first reason for
one to become a priest. A man becomes a religious
for himself. A man becomes a priest for others. Thus
it is that the bishop, who possesses the fullness of the
priesthood, is no longer considered bound firstly by
his vows but by his episcopal state.
The priesthood excels the state of perfection
of the vows. Outwardly they may have many
similarities, but essentially they are quite different.
They are two different states of life and two different
vocations. The religious state is hidden by definition,
though it may be public by its apostolate. The
priesthood is public by definition, though a priest
may be hidden by his apostolate. The priesthood is in
the world for its sanctification. This is its resemblance
to the Blessed Mother of God: a married woman
living in the world, though obviously “not of it.”
She was virgin for the Incarnation, not because this
was a sanctifying state. Her sanctity moved her to
virginity, virginity prepared her for the Incarnation.
Her celibacy was for the world’s redemption. The
priesthood’s celibacy is also for the world. Both make
Christ present in the world.
St. Paul even gives his celibate state as an
example to be imitated, and then he speaks of
consecrated virginity. He does not make reference
first to the religious vows and the state of perfection
as the model, but to his apostolate as an example.43
The Christian priesthood is thus celibate and Marian;
it is Christic in its reality and purpose.
Both the Virginity of Mary and the consecrated
celibacy of the priesthood center on the Sacrifice
of the Cross. It can be said that the celibacy of the
Christian priesthood is for this reason also profoundly
Marian. She is an exemplar of the singular
devotedness required in the priest. She is also the
43

example of the perfect detachment and purity which
must be present in the man who makes Christ present
among those of his generation. For these reasons the
Orthodox are wrong when they oppose obligatory
priestly celibacy as confusing two states in life: the
monastic and the ecclesiastical. It is not a confusion
of states, a type of overlapping; the celibacy of the
one is essentially different from that of the other. But
even among the Orthodox, the faithful will seek out
a celibate when they desire spiritual direction. It is a
logical sentiment.
During the crisis now afflicting the Church
of God, celibacy is attacked. Certainly there is in
this an attack against the virtue of chastity, but its
main cause is an ignorance and lack of faith in the
Eucharist. Because people do not know or understand
the sublimity of the Christian Mysteries they cannot
fathom why the ministers of these same Mysteries
must be separated from the world of family and
relations. No one need be celibate to preside over an
assembly. Therefore, it can be said that the reform of
the Liturgy has been a major cause of this hostility,
at least indirectly. Only when the sense of the sacred
is restored will we see an appreciation of priestly
celibacy return. To the degree that the Sacraments,
and especially the Eucharist, are properly respected,
treasured, and taught to the faithful, the greater will
be the appreciation of the celibacy of the priesthood.
It can be stated, furthermore, that insofar as
the Sacrificial Presence of Christ in the Eucharist is
acknowledged and honored–the purpose and goal of
the redemptive Incarnation–so will the Virginity of
Mary and the celibacy of the priesthood be honored.
This highlights the importance of teaching clearly
the primacy of the Sacrificial aspect of the Eucharist.
There can often be an excessive emphasis placed on
the Presence while the Sacrifice is eclipsed. After all,
Our Lord is substantially present in order to make
present His Sacrifice. He does not re-present His
Sacrifice in order to be substantially present.
Thus we can conclude, the crisis in the celibacy
of the priesthood and the languishing state of
devotion to the Blessed Virgin are not the first
problems to be resolved; they are symptomatic of the
loss of faith in the Holy Eucharist. To the degree that
devotion to the Divine Sacrifice is restored so too will
be restored the devotion to the Virgin Mother of God
and the celibate state of the Catholic priesthood.
Fr. James Doran was ordained for the Society of Saint Pius X in 1988 and is
currently the prior of St. Francis de Sales Priory in Geneva, Switzerland. He is
the former vice-rector of St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary (Winona, Minnesota)
and editor emeritus of Angelus Press.

I Cor. 7:7-8. In this chapter St. Paul first sets forth the truth that celibacy
can free us for more spiritual pursuits (5) and, with God’s grace, this is a
sufficient reason to pursue it. This is not a requirement but a suggestion.
(6) In the following verses St. Paul reminds those who are married of the
fidelity required of them (9-17, 25-40). It is in these later lines that St. Paul
reminds his readers of the eschatological value of consecrated virginity
(29-31).
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THE ANGELUS • December 2006

10

The Kingdom o
f
and St

Dominican Fr.
Albert, O.P., p
articipated in
pilgrimage to
the annual tra
the Polish nati
ditional
onal shrine of
Czestochowa.
Our Lady of
About 100 trad
itional Catholi
to cover the 18
cs
5-mile distanc
e to Czestocho set out from Warsaw
destination, a
wa in ten days
Ma
. At the
St. Maximilian ss in honor of the Immacula
ta, the holy He
Kolbe, was cele
ro
Fr. Albert conc
brated. In Par
t Two of the ar ine of
ludes his thoug
ticle,
hts about him
and his love of
Our Lady.
Maximilian Kolbe’s ideal established, he is now
ready to pass to action. He is ordained priest the
18th of April, 1918, and the day after celebrates his
first Mass at the Church Sant’Andrea delle Frate in
Rome on the altar where the Blessed Virgin appeared
to Ratisbonne. He goes back to Poland in July 1919,
and in October he recruits already for the Militia
Immaculatae six seminarians and their superior in the
community of the Order at Cracov. On this occasion
he writes in his journal:
Little Mother, I have no idea where this enterprise will
lead, but deign to make use of me and of all of us as You
wish for the greatest glory of God. I belong to You, my
dear Immaculate Mother. You know how wretched I am,
walking on the edge of the precipice, full of self-love.1 If
Your immaculate hands cease to hold me, I will fall first of
all into the most grievous sins, and afterwards into the depths
of hell. But if You don’t abandon me and if You lead me,
unworthy as I am, I will certainly not fall and I will become
a great saint.2

He obtains the blessing of his Provincial for his
Militia and also the approbation and the help of the
Cardinal Primate of Cracov. He immediately founds
some Marian circles for the university students and for
the soldiers in their barracks. In January of 1920 some
conferences are held for the clergy and an inaugural
meeting of the MI for the faithful in general.
However, this increasing activity suddenly comes
to a stop when Fr. Kolbe is sent to a sanatorium outside
of the city calle Zakopane for treatment of pulmonary
tuberculosis, a disease that he will have for the rest of
his life. He had already had to stop giving courses at
his friary because, a witness tells us, “he had to speak
so softly in his classes because of his ailing lungs that
he couldn’t be understood by the students.”3
He accepts with a perfect docility when his
superiors send him to the sanatorium and forbid him
to do anything with regard to his Militia. He writes to

THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

his brother, Br. Alphonsus (who was also a Franciscan
Conventual priest):
As far as the (Militia) goes, we are in the hands of the
Immaculate, so we must do everything that She desires,
and this is made known to us through obedience....Let us
be careful not to do anything more in the MI than what
obedience permits, because otherwise we shall not be acting
as Her instruments.4
May the Immaculate do as She wishes and everything
She wishes, because I am Her property and at Her entire
disposition.5

Nonetheless, he is far from being idle; he works
efficaciously at the salvation of the souls of the other
patients, as we see in another letter he writes to his
brother:
We can thank the Immaculate because the greatest
adversary at Zakopane has gone to confession. Also I
baptized a Jewish university student who was in danger
of death: this provoked the indignation of his mother and
brothers afterwards, but post factum! Please ask the Heart of
Jesus, through the Immaculate, to grant the conversion of all
the students here. I have learned by personal experience that
it is prayer alone that can obtain conversions.

One of the episodes where he learned this is
reported by a fellow religious at the Process of
Beatification:
When Fr. Kolbe was at Zakopane he became acquainted
with a certain intellectual. Every time he met him he said to
him: “Sir, go to confession.”
But the man always responded, “No way, Reverend
Father. I respect you, but I won’t go to confession; later,
maybe.”
Several weeks later this man, before leaving, came to say
goodbye to Fr. Kolbe. The last words of Fr. Maximilian were
“Sir, go to confession.”
“Excuse me, Reverend Father, I have no time, I have to
go to the station, I’m in a hurry.”
“Accept then at least this miraculous medal.”
Out of politeness he accepted the little medal and left
immediately for the station. Meanwhile Fr. Maximilian

of Christ Throu
gh Mar y
St. Maximilian
K
o
l
b
e
T
PAR
11

O
W
T

F r .

A l b e r

t ,

O . P.

fell to his knees and implored the Immaculate to convert
this obstinate sinner. Wonder of wonders! After a moment,
someone knocks at the door; this same man, who was in
such a hurry to catch his train, enters. While he is still on the
threshold he exclaims: “Father, please hear my confession.”

All this activity arouses the opposition of
the atheistic authorities, but with the help of the
Immaculate, victory is obtained. He writes to his
brother:
Once the doctor in charge invited me into his office
and, in accordance with the Director, requested that I no
longer frequent the convalescent house Bratnia Pomoc. The
Immaculate gave me a little energy, and I objected, saying
that I too am a guest like the others, and that I am free to enter
the building during the visiting hours, and that no exceptions
can be made.8

The baptism of the Jew cited earlier even merits him
the title of missionary, which he proudly displays to a
confrere in Rome in the following letter:
In the same place I had the joy to baptize a Jew. This incited
the hatred of almost all the academics, and when one of them
asked the doctor in charge to call for a (priest...), when she
saw that it was me, she told him that he could call the other
priests but not this one because he is a...missionary. What a
beautiful crime indeed! What happiness to be able to die for
such a fault.9

When he gets back from the sanatorium, Fr. Kolbe
resumes his activity with still more fervor. The MI
grows very rapidly and soon a review is founded for its
members called The Knight of the Immaculate. In its first
issue he explains its purpose:
This review will do all it can to stigmatize lies, to bring
the truth to light, and to show the true way to happiness....
Everyone looks for happiness and hopes to attain it, but
few actually find it because they seek it where it is not it be
found.10

This is an idea he often comes back to and where
we can see the source of his incredible apostolic zeal.
He writes:
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THE ANGELUS • December 2006

12
Here in the world we see so many souls who are
unhappy, wandering, who don’t even know the purpose
of their life, who love various fallen goods instead of the
unique good which is God!11
So many souls...err far from God, the source of happiness.
That is our torment.12

And this zeal was as broad as it was intense: the
saint wished literally to convert to the Immaculate
all of humanity, and saw in this conversion the only
means to make peace reign on earth. He writes:
The Immaculate, Queen of heaven, must be recognized,
and as quickly as possible, as Queen of all men and of each
soul in particular, whether in Poland or beyond its borders,
in the two hemispheres of the globe. On this, we dare to
affirm, depends the peace and happiness of individuals,
families, nations, and of all humanity.13

We see clearly stated here the ideal that animates
us in this pilgrimage: the world must turn to Christ to
find the peace it has lost in turning away from Him,
but to find Him again it will have to pass through
Mary. It is God’s will that Christ reign in the world (as
St. Paul says: “oportet Illum regnare–He must reign”),
but it is also His will that this reign come about by the
recognition of the sovereignty of Mary.
We see here also, obviously, the profound
harmony between St. Maximilian Kolbe and the
message of Our Lady of Fatima: the world must
publicly recognize the authority of our Lady and obey
her if it wishes to avoid catastrophe. Fr. Kolbe never
knew of the apparitions of Fatima, which became
widely known outside of Portugal only after the
consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary in 1942 by Pius XII in (partial) obedience to
Her wishes. But, as you may have noticed when we
spoke of the beginnings of the MI, this movement
was founded only three days after the final apparition
of Our Lady of Fatima on October 13, 191. The
coincidence of the two events is certainly not mere
chance.
His review The Knight of the Immaculate has an
astonishing success. After only a few years it already
has a press run of 100,000 copies. In order to amplify
still more this apostolate, in 192 the saint founds a
new friary which will be totally consecrated to Mary
under the name Niepokalanow, the City (or more
exactly, the “property”) of the Immaculate.
There follows a veritable explosion of vocations.
His biographer writes:
When Br. Maximilian was ordained priest and came
back to Poland, the Franciscan Province of this country
numbered altogether, counting priests and lay brothers,
hardly more than 100 religious. In the space of a few
years, Niepokalanow became the most numerous religious
community in the world. In 1933 there were 13 priests, 18
professed clerics, 52 lay brothers, 122 seminarians and 82
future lay brothers, all together 2 religious.14

The reaction of the saint was to give all the glory
to the Immaculate:
You will see at the Last Judgment how many things I
ruined...and with what a “broom” the Immaculate was
THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

capable of painting beautiful pictures. She truly chooses
those who are good for nothing.15

But he adds, typically:
The Immaculate is capable of doing much more than
She has done up till now, yes, even much more than we
can imagine. On the condition that we become more each
day her thing and Her property, She will accomplish much
greater miracles.1

The life at Niepokalanow is far from being
tranquil; on the contrary, its impetuous rhythm is
frankly disconcerting. The saint admits it, saying:
Our community has a style of life that is a little bit heroic,
as is necessary if Niepokalanow wants to truly attain the
end which it has fixed itself; namely, not only to defend
the faith and contribute to the salvation of souls, but, by a
bold attack, in a perfect forgetfulness of self, to conquer for
the Immaculate one soul after another, one bastion after
another, to raise its flag on the publishing houses of dailies,
and periodicals, etc., etc.1

This rhythm did in fact disconcert certain people
at the beginning, as witnesses one of the first priests:
When I was sent to stay at Niepokalanow, I was incapable
of eating or sleeping for several days, so afraid I was that
this enterprise shake to pieces by the very ardor of its
pace. However, as time went by, I became so accustomed
to the unusual way of doing things of Fr. Maximilian
that I followed this impetuous rhythm, like the others.
Fr Maximilian, harassed by apparently insurmountable
difficulties, used to exclaim several times: “Oh! What will
I do?” The moment after he would regain control and
smile, saying : “Finally, what is there to worry about? Let
the Virgin Mary take care of it. As for me, I will get down
to work.”18

In a letter at this period Fr. Kolbe explains his
way of thinking on this point:
When I had too many problems and difficulties in the
publishing work, more than once the thought came to me:
“Stop being foolish! Why do you torment yourself in this
way? Is it yours, perhaps, this publishing house? But if
everything depends on the Immaculate, confide to Her the
worries. She will resolve every problem Herself in the best
of ways. Let yourself be guided by Her.” And I regained
peace and interior serenity.19

But it is not this intense exterior activity that is
the essential thing at Niepokalanow. The saint tells his
brothers:
The new buildings are not, in themselves, a sign of
progress. Even if we receive brand new machines of the
latest technology, true progress does not consist in that.
Even if The Knight were to multiply its subscriptions
by two or three times, that would not prove either that
Niepokalanow was progressing, because everything that is
exterior is very often deceptive.
In what then consists the progress of Niepokalanow?
What does it depend on? Niepokalanow isn’t only the work
we do in the cloister or outside, it is above all our souls.
Everything else, even our science, is merely exterior. The
true progress of Niepokalanow is found in the sanctification
of our souls. Each time that our souls become established
in a greater conformity to the will of the Immaculate,
we will make a step forward in the development of
Niepokalanow.

13
That is why, even if it should happen that all activity
should cease, and even if all the members of the MI
should abandon us, and we ourselves were to be dispersed
like leaves in autumn, but in our souls the ideal of the MI
would be more deeply rooted, then we could boldly say
that that is the moment of the greatest development of
Niepokalanow.20

why God has given us the heavenly Mother to whom He
has confided the entire order of His mercy,25 as if He wanted
to protect us from His justice. One must never say, then,
now that it is no longer possible to obtain the grace of God
because our conscience is in sin and there is no way to raise
ourselves up. It suffices simply to approach the Immaculate.
May he who falls turn to Her with confidence.2

You see how closely St. Maximilian, in his
understanding of the kingdom of God to be
established in the world, followed the teaching of our
Lord, Who said to the Pharisees, who were expecting
a Messiah who would come with great glory and set
up a worldly kingdom: “The kingdom of God cometh
not with observation: Neither shall they say: Behold
here, or behold there. For lo, the kingdom is God
is within you.”21 We mustn’t be too troubled, then,
when we see the terrible state the Church is in, as if
God must have abandoned her. If His kingdom were
a matter of exteriors, there would certainly be reason
to wonder how His promises to the Church are being
fulfilled now, because exteriorly, she is in shambles,
with no apparent hope of recovery. But if, with St.
Maximilian, we look at things interiorly, we realize
that what God is permitting to happen is simply
a means by which He wants to renew the Church
interiorly. On condition, obviously, that we are willing
to be renewed interiorly: the whole question is there.
Fr. Kolbe helps his brothers achieve this interior
progress by explaining to them the consecration
to Mary very often22–one could almost say that he
practically speaks of nothing else. Far from tiring his
audience, however, he enthralled them:

The necessity of this mediation of Mary
explains the insistence of the saint on the will of the
Immaculate: “Let us be careful,” he says, “to conform
our will to Hers and to accomplish this will in the
most perfect manner. This is everything.”2 The will
of the Immaculate is objectively, materially, the
same thing as the will of God.28 But we do this thing
directly, first of all, insofar as it is the Immaculate that
wills it, not directly and immediately insofar as it is
God’s will, because in this way we give our act totally
to Her, so that She can give it, as Her own, to God.
Thus he writes: “By the Immaculate our acts of love
become spotless because they belong to Her, just as
we do.”29
And our saint lived what he taught, as we can see,
for example, in the following incident recounted in
his biography:

Saturday, in the place of morning meditation, he gave
his brothers conferences on Our Lady. When he spoke of
the Immaculate, he was never short of ideas. And he spoke
with such great emotion, in a way that was so moving, and at
the same time so profound and so logical, so easy to follow,
that he captivated the attention of everyone.
The conferences of the Servant of God, which returned
always to the theme of the Immaculate, didn’t bore us, for
he always projected a new light on truths already known,
or suggested new thoughts, new original means in order to
understand them.23

For example, commenting on the act of
consecration, he says:
If we belong to the Immaculate, then everything we have
belongs to Her also and Jesus accepts everything that comes
from us as if it came from Her, as if it belonged to Her....
That is why Satan wants absolutely to separate souls from
union with the Immaculate, because He knows that a soul
who excludes the mediation of the Immaculate offers to
Jesus gifts that are so full of imperfections that they are more
worthy of chastisement than recompense. And the worst of
it is that these gifts are poisoned with pride, because one
believes that one has no need of the Immaculate.24

And in fact, deep down, we all know that. That
is why the consecration to Mary can help us to have
confidence in spite of our sins. The saint writes:
Sometimes we have doubts: so often it happens that we
have not been faithful to grace, with the result that we are
no longer worthy of the help of God. But that is precisely

When he was at the friary at Cracov, Fr. Maximilian often
had strong fevers. One time (during one of these attacks) he
was invoking Our Lady continually saying “Mary! Mary!”
and at the same time made a sign indicating that he lacked
something he wanted. His brother, Fr. Alphonsus, who
was staying by him, finally managed to understand what
he wanted: Fr. Maximilian desired that his glasses and his
watch be placed at the feet of the little statue of Mary that
was on his night table. That might seem a strange expression
of delirium, but later he explained the motive of his request:
“The glasses are the symbol of my eyes, the watch the
symbol of my time: I have totally consecrated the one and
the other to Her.”30

On this question of time, we have this delicious
remark at the end of a short letter to his mother
which reveals the bottom of the soul of the saint: “I
stop, in order to dedicate my time to the cause of the
Immaculate in the whole world.”31
Another example: he offers to the Immaculate the
sufferings due to the climate in Japan. Thus he writes
to his brother:
If you want to sleep at night without being woken up
by the mosquitoes, you have to cover yourself up entirely,
face included; but then you can’t get to sleep because of the
heat and the perspiration; but this also is for the Immaculate
in order to conquer the greatest possible number of souls
for her.32

All of this is always based on the fundamental
truth of Mary’s mediation of all graces. The saint
writes:
As the first-born, the God-man, was not conceived but
by the explicit consent of the heavenly Virgin, thus also,
and not in any other way, it happens in the divine birth of
other human beings, who must exactly imitate in all things
their Prototype.33

Thus he says:
www.angeluspress.org

THE ANGELUS • December 2006

1
God the Father, through the Son and the Holy Ghost,
does not make supernatural life descend in the soul except
through the Mediatrix of all graces, the Immaculate, by Her
consent, by Her collaboration. She receives all the treasures
of grace as Her property and distributes them to whom She
wills and in the measure that She Herself chooses.34

The role of Mary, as we can see, is vitally
important, but at the same time it is very little known,
and even less practiced. Thus the saint writes:
Devotion to the Immaculate is a secret that many don’t
know yet, or rather they know it but they practise it only
superficially, when in reality it is, by the will of God, the
substance of all sanctity.35

This is why the saint warned his brothers against a
certain timidity that could cool their devotion for the
Immaculate under the pretext that it was exaggerated
and lessened the honor which we give to our Lord.
He writes:
I get irritated sometimes when I’m reading something
and I notice that the author underlines with an excessive
precaution that Our Lady is “after Jesus” all our hope.
Obviously this can be understood in a proper way.
Nonetheless this exaggerated worry to not omit this little
clause–which is no doubt intended as a sign of veneration
for Jesus–is rather, I think, personally, on the contrary,
offensive to Him.
Let us take an example (in our own publishing activity):
when the ordinary machines became insufficient, we added
the rotary press, and we can rightly affirm that, in order
to print The Knight on time, all our hope is placed in the
rotary press. But if each time we said that, someone were
to add, with a worried air: “(Yes, but) after the factory that
constructed it,” he would manifest the conviction that this
machine could fail and that it would be necessary to have
recourse to the factory. All of which would indicate that the
factory had not constructed the machine with the necessary
solidity, something which would certainly not be to the
honour of the factory.
How little the Immaculate is known still, in theory and even
less in practice! How many prejudices, misunderstandings
and difficulties agitate many souls! May the Immaculate
grant to Her Niepokalanows to illumine this darkness, and
dissipate these cold clouds and revivify souls and inflame
them with love for Her, without any limit, with full liberty,
without these vain fears that restrict and chill the hearts of
men! So that the King not be sought outside of His palace
but within, deeply within its interior, in its inner rooms.3

It is not that St. Maximilian thinks that he himself
understands this “secret” he speaks of. He responds to
his seminarians who had asked for his help:
I don’t know either, neither in theory, and even less in
practice, how one ought to serve the Immaculate, be Her
instrument, servant, son, slave, thing, property, and...Her
Herself. She alone must instruct each of us at every instant,
She must lead us, transform us into Herself so that it not
be any longer we who live, but She who lives in us, just as
Jesus lives in Her and the Father in the Son.3

This is why prayer is absolutely necessary in
order to know the Immaculate:
My little sons...it is not given to everyone to know the
Immaculate, but only to those who beg for such a grace on

THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

their knees....Only the Holy Ghost can make His spouse
known to whom He wishes and how He wishes.38

With regard to this idea, it is interesting to cite the
testimony of his secretary, who described as follows
Fr. Maximilian when he was writing his book on the
Immaculate.
Fr Maximilian dictated to me the text while walking back
and forth in the cell. He often interrupted himself, reflected,
or rather elevated his spirit towards the Immaculate, because
at those moments he recollected himself and appeared to fix
his gaze far off. Often he took his rosary in his right hand
and put it on his heart. From time to time we stopped in
order to recite three Ave Maria’s and a Gloria Patri, on our
knees with our heads inclined, for he said often, “We are
writing only what the Immaculate Herself wishes; therefore
we have to pray to Her for this intention.”39

And in the introduction to this book the saint
writes:

When you gird yourself in preparation to read something
on the Immaculate, don’t forget that at that moment you
are entering into contact with a living being, who loves
you, and who is pure, free from all stain....She Herself will
manifest Herself through the intermediary of the thoughts
you will read and will communicate thoughts, convictions,
and sentiments that the author himself was utterly incapable
of imagining.40

And a little farther on:
Human language must serve merely to make the soul
approach Her, because it will be She Herself Who will
manifest Herself more and more clearly to the soul....
Approaching directly to her Heart you will attain a greater
knowledge of Her and be inflamed by a greater love for Her
than all the human words together could teach you.41

Still on this subject he writes:
In order to understand more profoundly who the
Immaculate is, it is absolutely indispensable to recognize
one’s own nothingness, and resolve to offer a humble prayer
in order to obtain the grace of knowing Her and do all that
one can to experience in one’s own life Her goodness and
power. It is well worth it to try.42

Thus to a brother who asked him for a
bibliography of Mariology he sends a long list of
titles, and adds at the end:

I don’t have anything more than that to send you. At
any rate, one penetrates this question more deeply with one’s
knees than with one’s brains.43

And to another brother he writes:

It would be a very good thing to study Mariology, but
let us always remember that we will know the Immaculate
more by humble prayer and a loving experience in our
daily life than in all the learned definitions, distinctions,
and arguments (even though it is not permitted to neglect
those either).44

Also in some notes of a retreat he writes: “He who
loves will know the Immaculate much more than a
philosopher or a theologian.”45
The truth of the matter is, in fact, that it is
impossible to understand the Immaculate. He writes:

1
The cause of the Immaculate is a mystery in the proper
sense of the term, because She is the Mother of God and God
is infinite, while our intelligence is limited.4

One can always penetrate more deeply this
mystery–and there will always remain more that we
don’t understand (even in heaven). St. Maximilian
himself never ceased during his whole life to ask:
“Who are You, O Immaculate?”4 and his writings
1

Like St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, one of his favorite saints, Fr. Kolbe had to
fight against a strong tendency to self-love. One remarks often in his personal
writings references to this fault. For example:
May You be eternally blessed, Lady and Queen, my little Mother, because
You deign to think of me, so full of pride and self-love. (SK 988F, entry in his
journal on June 16, 1919)
As far as I am concerned, personally humiliations are truly very necessary.
(SK 361, letter to Fr. Czupryk, August 17, 1931).
May the Immaculate recompense you generously, Most Reverend Fr.
Provincial, for the benevolent admonition to avoid pride, because, to tell the
truth, I lack very much above all the virtue of humility, and sometimes I think
to myself how powerful the Immaculate must be. God resists the proud, and
gives His grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6), but the Immaculate, by the mercy of
God, knows how to use even the proud as Her instruments. (SK 409, letter to
Fr. Czupryk, March 28, 1932)

Thus as well, in his journal he admits having thoughts of vanity on seeing the
big rolls of paper arriving for the publication of The Knight (SK 989B, July
13), and in a letter to his community in Japan he confesses having had thoughts
of pride because of his success in writing Japanese (SK 504). It is comforting
to see that even the saints had to battle against their corrupt nature, and very
encouraging to see that, by the help of God’s grace and their own generous and
persevering cooperation with that grace, they were able to gain such a complete
victory.
2
SK 988G, Notes of journal for October 7, 1919.
3
A. Ricciardi, O.F.M. Conv., Maximilien Kolbe prêtre et martyr (Paris: Mediaspaul, 1987), p.77. With regard to his health, a doctor who examined him in
Japan testified:
His life was a continual act of heroism. I examined him medically and I
ascertained that he had a very ill lung. I prescribed absolute rest for him, but
he responded that he would continue to work as he had been doing because he
had been in this state for years. I recognized in him a will to keep going that
was truly extraordinary.

Another doctor who took care of him in Japan is more explicit:

As a doctor I was convinced that he had an absolute need of rest. When I
prescribed it to him he told me that the doctors in Europe had already declared
that his sickness was incurable, and since he wanted to do something with his
life on this earth, he couldn’t do it without making great sacrifices. His activity
seemed impossible to me with mere human resources, without a special intervention of God. Often he had a fever of 40 degrees (Ricciardi, p.185).

Ibid., p.81, SK 52, letter to Br. Alphonsus December 8, 1920.
Ibid., p.81 (with a false reference to a letter of October 11, 1920 to Br. Alphonsus).
6
Ibid., p.82, SK 54, letter to Br. Alphonsus January 12, 1921 (not 1920, as Ricciardi writes, following the obvious error in the original).
7
Ibid., p.83. One is struck here, first of all, by the power of the miraculous medal,
but as well by the astonishing efficacity of Fr. Kolbe’s prayer.
8
SK 53, letter to Br. Alphonsus, January 5, 1921.
9
SK 55, letter to Br. Jerome Biasi, January 25, 1921.
10
SK 994-995, in the first issue of The Knight, January 1922.
11
SK 1331, in the material prepared for the book he was writing on the Immaculate.
This text is a commentary on the act of consecration. The phrase quoted is with
regard to the words: “In order that in Your immaculate and most merciful hands,
etc.”
12
SK927, letter to Br. Victor Pawlowski, December 23, 1940.
13
SKI 113.
14
Ricciardi, Maximilien Kolbe, p.141.
15
SK 322, letter to Fr. Florian Koziura, February 17, 1931.
16
SK 636, letter to Br. Gabriel Sieminski, August 8, 1935.
17
SK 199, letter to Fr Czupryk, December 21, 1928.
18
Ricciardi, Maximilien Kolbe, p.130.
19
SK 140, letter to Fr. Alphonsus, November 19, 1926.
20
Ricciardi, Maximilien Kolbe, p.142.
21
Lk. 17: 20-21.
22
As he writes to his brothers at Niepokalanow from Nagasaki : “We must nourish
souls on the Immaculate, in order that as soon as possible they might become
like Her and be transformed into Her” (SK 647, letter of October 10, 1935).
23
Ricciardi, Maximilien Kolbe, p.241-43, quotes of witnesses at the process of
beatification.
4
5

contain some very profound things on the subject. But
in the end, he says, we haven’t even started:
Everything that has been said about Our Lady up to now
is nothing; everything remains yet to be said.48
Fr. Albert, O.P., is a member of the traditional Dominican monastery at Avrillé,
France, several of whose members were ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre. He is
a professor of Philosophy and Theology. Title page picture taken from the cover
of The Death Camp Proved Him Real (published by Prow, 1971).
SK 1301, notes prepared for his book.
Allusion to the first phrase in the act of consecration: “...to Whom God has
confided the entire order of His mercy.” He concludes an article he prepared
on St. Theresa of the Child Jesus (but which was never published) saying: “Let
us also (be little flowers of the Immaculate) and She will teach us an unlimited
confidence in the merciful love of God, of which She is the personification” (SK
1263). And similarly in his notes for the book he was writing “The dispensatrix
of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus... is the divine mercy personified in the
Immaculate.” (SK 1331)
26
Conference August 8, 1938.
27
SK 605, letter to Br. Ruffin Majdan, Venance Zarzeka and Efrem Szuca after
October 10, 1934.
28
As he says in another place (SK 1271, inedited notes): “The will of God and of
the Immaculate convertuntur, that is to say, coincide, are interchangeable.” In
the scholastic philosophy that he learned in Rome one speaks, for example, of
the terms being and unity as being interchangeable in this way (“Ens et unum
convertuntur”) because they signify precisely the same thing from different
points of view.
29
SK 1298, inedited notes written in 1940.
30
Ricciardi, Maximilien Kolbe, p.75.
31
SK 545, letter of October 30, 1933. His poor mother had other occasions of
mortification of this sort, as, for example, when the saint returned to Poland
from his mission in Japan for a chapter of his province in 1936, and then left
immediately after without going to Cracov to visit her. He writes her from Japan:
“Dearest Mother, I couldn’t come see you before leaving because most probably
I would have had to defer my departure, and the missions are something very
urgent.” (SK 281, letter to his mother, September 2, 1930; cf. also Ricciardi,
p.166)
32
SK 280, letter to Fr. Alphonsus, August 31, 1930.
33
SK 1295, notes prepared for his book.
34
SK 1310, notes prepared for his book.
35
SK 687, letter to Fr. M. Mirochna, November 11, 1936.
36
SK 603, letter to the community of Niepokalanow, November 10, 1934.
37
SK 556, letter to the clerics at Cracov, February 8, 1934. If this manner of speaking seems too bold to some, one can remind them that St. Louis de Montfort
says something similar in The Secret of Mary (n. 55): “This devotion faithfully
practised, produces an infinity of effects in the soul. But the principal one...is to
establish here below the life of Mary in a soul, so that it not be any longer the
soul that lives, but Mary in it; or the soul of Mary becomes its soul, if we can
put it that way.” St. Maximilian often evokes this mystery, and searches very
far to find words to express it, even going to the point where he says we must
be “transubstantiated into Her” (SK 503, letter to C. Harbin, April 11, 1933).
38
Ricciardi, pp.247-8, a quote of the saint given by a witness at the process of
beatification.
39
SK 1304, n. 1, where the editor cites the memoirs of Br. Arnold, the secretary
of Fr. Kolbe.
40
SK 1306.
41
SK 1317.
42
SK 1225, the final phrase in a radio broadcast given by the saint on national
radio from Warsaw February 2, 1938, the text of which appeared in the Echo
Niepokalanowa on February 5, 1938.
43
SK 906, letter to Br. A. Zuchowski, September 25, 1940.
44
SK 634, letter Br. S. Milolajczyk, July 28, 1935.
45
SK 983, at the beginning of his notes of a retreat made at Zakopane in October
1937.
46
SK 1286, inedited notes written in 1937.
47
For example, in SK 1305 in the notes for his book, where he poses this question
directly to the Immaculate “Who are You, O Lady? Who are You, O Immaculate?”
and also SKI 318: “Who are You, O Immaculate Conception?” These questions
are, in fact, just an imitation of the insistence of St. Bernadette at Lourdes who,
after asking three times Our Lady to reveal who she was, finally obtained the
response: “I am the Immaculate Conception” (incident cited in the notes for the
book cited, SKI 317).
48
Cited in P. Severino Ragazzini, La spiritualita mariana de S. Massimilian Maria
Kolbe dei Frati Minori Convetuali (Ravenna: Edizioni Centro Dantesco, 1982),
p.328.
24
25

1

Ten Minutes

with Fr. de Chivré:

The

Catholic
School
A school is like a church. The same liturgy
suits her, and we would not be slighting the Temple
of God were we to borrow the text from the
“Dedication of Churches” to apply it to our schools:
“Terribilis est locus iste, non est aliud nisi domus Dei et
porta caeli et ego nesciebam.–Terrible is this place; it
is the house of God and the gate of heaven, and I
knew it not.”

THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

Allow me to give a striking definition for a
Catholic school. It is a sanctuary for the mind by
which a student is prepared to combat the first of all
evils, that is, ignorance, and to learn the first of all
goods, that being truth, and to love the first of all
beings, that is, Jesus Christ.
No one ever leaves a school in the same state he
entered it. Better or worse are the only alternatives
for any graduate. The spiritual life fostered in a

17
school is intended to avert the moral disasters
threatening young minds rich in knowledge but poor
in virtue. It is intended above all to develop in a
human person those values which are indispensable
to the complete formation of man but beyond the
reach of mere intellectual pursuit. Our Catholic
schools are not born of routine or of the path of
least resistance. They are born of a boundless sense
of honor and an unshakable conviction that the
surest use of freedom consists in placing education’s
resources and initiatives in the light of God, the
source of freedom.
The ambition of a Catholic school is superior.
It intends to deliver the mind from its doubts to the
benefit of the freedom of the Faith, more strongly
preferred because better understood. It wishes to
deliver the will from its sinful inclinations to the
benefit of the freedom of virtuous decisions, without
which there is no character. The Catholic school
desires to avoid loosing upon society new recruits
predisposed to moral defeat or a life of mediocrity
by lack of faithfulness to what is most vital to the life
of the soul.
We know there are grave dangers that, sooner
or later, threaten the man deprived of the means
to answer the vital questions. Therein lies the
success of a Catholic school. We want to answer
all the important questions of life, without fear or
hesitation. We want the insights of the sciences
(natural science, mathematics, etc.), the insights of
the formation of personal character, self-knowledge
derived from examinations of conscience, and the
answers of the Faith. This bundle of our powers of
reflection and love is made harmonious, resulting
in the power to live and the joy to die. Whoever
has passed through a Catholic school is capable
of instructing his fellow man in a virtue of faith
superior to science, in a virtue of hope beyond the
reach of science, and in a virtue of charity happy to
make use of science.
We are willing to labor, to weep, to suffer, and
still to advance. We are willing to stumble, struggle
to our feet, and at last fall into our coffin: but we
want to know why.
A Catholic school is a school where problems
are not resolved by ignoring them. It stands up and
looks life in the face: its mysteries, its ugliness, its
sacrifices, its tomorrows, and its future. The answer
that it gives is not crazy, not naive, not imaginary,
but an answer received from Jesus Christ Himself
and lived out by those geniuses we call saints. For
that reason, a Catholic school is a terrible place.
It is terrible to the evil it reproves, to the error it
combats, to the sin and lies it detests. It is terrible to
the fallen dispositions it rectifies. It is terrible to the
defects of conscience it disapproves.
In a Catholic school, a student is not allowed to
accept himself the way he is. The silence of prayer

precedes the combats he must love to wage, the
religious truths prepare him for the sacrifices he
must love to offer, and if ever there should later
occur a lamentable separation between the life he
leads and the education he received, a Catholic
school becomes terrible to him by the remorse of
conscience it inspires.
“Why do you gaze upon me with that
incorruptible gaze, O school of my childhood? Why
do you trouble me with this indestructible remorse,
O school of my adolescence? Except because I
realize how terrible it is to have received the light
only to snuff it out, the truth only to betray it, and
the life of the soul only to contaminate it.”
What a grandeur is in our Catholic schools,
teaching man his true measure and inviting him to
establish his existence upon the heights of moral
nobility and intellectual certainty from where he
might govern it instead of allowing it to grovel in
the helplessness of materialism and the obscurities
of doubt. What gratitude a nation should have for
these sanctuaries of youth where the liberty we
inherit is used to prepare for society men of duty
with particular and definitive reasons for serving it
with honor.
I have no intention of making hateful
comparisons with those not given the grace of a
Catholic school. The natural virtues of honor and
duty may be found elsewhere. It is our exclusive
privilege to endure regrettable misunderstandings
and still advance toward charity alongside our
brothers without the True Faith.
Having received more than many, we must give
more than they. Far from isolating ourselves in a
pious smugness that has no place in our Faith, we
thank God for having allowed our Catholic schools
to prove themselves as much by their teachers as by
their students. The best of our Catholic schools have
given to our nations economic and social talents,
innumerable examples of devotion and service,
leaders of armies and leaders of society. They have
produced men living to serve the nation and men
dying to save it.
Too many Catholics no longer grasp, nor wish to
grasp, the importance of a Catholic school. Failure
to support these schools deprives our countries of
an immense, very specific aid. We should meditate
on the words of Pope Pius XI spoken two or three
years before his death: “If one were to ask the Pope
to choose between the building of a school or the
building of a church, the Pope would be seriously
torn for an answer. He would probably lean toward
the foundation of a middle school.”
How many among us understand the Pope’s
conviction to the point of being “seriously torn”
between a vacation at the seaside and a school to
save? Between vacant real estate and a school to
build? Between jewelry to collect and a school to
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THE ANGELUS • December 2006

1
maintain? Or between profit to be gained and a
school to rescue?
I wish that our Catholic schools would appear
to you so formidable in consequences for the
individual, for society, for the nation, for eternity,
that you would leave here “seriously torn” and
ashamed not to have considered it normal, natural,
and obligatory to do much more and much better
for their survival and their development.
With your coming to their aid, count on the
audacity of the Church to build them, to buy them,
to rebuild them, to buy them back again. Then you
will understand her prodigality in lavishing on them
the best of her intellectual and monetary resources,
her preoccupation with assuring the integrity of her
doctrine and learning, her obstinacy in demanding a
top-flight and complete education.
When a school rises from the earth, the Church
sings. When a school is filled, the Church gives
thanks. When a school is threatened, the Church
offers herself in sacrifice. When a school is closed,
the Church weeps. If, in order to console her,
the State or school district offers to impose upon
her a compromise [in the domain of curricula,
administration, faculty, or enrollment, etc.–Ed.], the
Church cries even harder. Her response is to catch
her breath, go a little farther down the road, and
build a new sanctuary of the mind just as true as
the ones before it. Being herself divine, she knows
that the wisdom of God cuts no deals with the
dirty calculations and compromises of men. If she
happens to reach out to men for their instruction,
it is not that she might dabble in their errors or
heresies. She does so only that she might summon
from the depths of their souls the very image of God
graven for eternity upon sinners and just alike. And
God is incorruptible.
The very teaching of God cannot be corrupted.
The only attitude to take toward God is to become
like Him by the teaching of the Truth, and this
attitude is of value too great to be estimated. It is
inestimable to face life as Christ did, that is, loving
without fear our duty of state. It is inestimable to
come upon a cross and know by what end to take
it up and to what resurrection it will lead. It is
inestimable to live amidst our modern uncertainties
strong with the certainties of God. It is inestimable
to know from where we have come, where we are
going, who and what we are, what we can do and
what we must do, why we weep and why we merit.
It is inestimable to go beyond ourselves and give
ourselves over to the demands of God with prayer in
order to be fully understood, with the sacraments in
order to be fully victorious, with the Faith in order
to be fully confident, with hope in order to be fully
courageous, and with charity in order to be made
fully content.
THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

I understand the stubbornness of the Church
wanting to see in her schools her own life and not
that of another. I understand her insistence in asking
us to construct these temples of truth, without which
the sanctuaries of love that are our churches will
never be filled.
I do not say to you, “Save our schools.” I
say to you, “Build others.” I know a corner of
France where the workers are building their own
Catholic schools for their children. I know a man
who prevented the closing of a Catholic school by
mobilizing the resources of a town to the tune of
six million francs [about one million US dollars in
current exchange–Ed.]. I know men among you who
are bleeding yourselves dry defending the autonomy
of your Catholic schools. I salute you, and even
more profoundly do I salute your sense of God, your
sense of life, and your sense of the integral value of
the godly man.
When a school is at stake, we should balk at
nothing. Every virtuous audacity should motivate
us, that is, the audacity of service, of sacrifice, of
charity, and the audacity of resolve. These audacities
are simply the expression of the highest form of love
of country (and to my mind its most indispensable
form). Genuine love of country is our anxiety to
maintain in the homeland the knowledge of God,
without which a society can only know the coercions
of materialism and the insufficiencies of strictly
human knowledge.
O Knowledge of God, hidden in our schools as
one might hide a living spring in order to conserve its
purity so that the river may be magnificent, remain in
our centers of learning. Remain intact as on the lips
of Christ, remain entire as in the heart of His Mother,
remain burning as in the souls of the Apostles. Remain,
for we have never had such need of Thee to instruct the
youth and speak reason in an age that has lost its reason.
Bestow on this generation a firm grasp of all Truth, of
the hopes it gives to us, of the fears it inspires in us, of
the sacrifices awaiting it, and of the tasks we will hand
on to it when its turn has come to continue the work of
Christ and we ourselves leave to read in the face of God
the recompense for our efforts. Amen.
Published in Carnets Spirituels, No.6, October 2005, pp.20-27. Sermon
delivered July 2, 1950, in Sainte-Marie du Havre Church by the Rev. Fr. de
Chivré, O.P., for the Festival of Catholic Youth of the region of Le Havre,
and which appeared in its entirety in the “Bulletin of Catholic Education,”
supplement to the Diocesan Life of November 24, 1950, No.7. Edited by Fr.
Novak for Angelus Press.
Fr. Bernard-Marie de Chivré, O.P. (say: Sheave-ray´) was ordained in 1930.
He was an ardent Thomist, student of Scripture, retreat master, and friend of
Archbishop Lefebvre. He died in 1984.

Fanjeaux, France

St. Dominique du
Cammazou, Fanjeaux

“O

Traditional
Religious
Orders

The Dominican Teaching
SiSTerS oF The holy name
oF jeSuS oF Fanjeaux

19

light of the Church, doctor of the Truth,
preacher of grace...” Eight hundred years ago
St. Dominic laid the foundation for an order
that would fight heresy by solid doctrine and
profound love of God. The south of France was
ravaged by heresy, its uneducated inhabitants being
easily duped by the false reasoning of the Cathars,
or Albigensians, intelligent and eloquent heretics
whose error quickly spread through the Catholic
world. St. Dominic established himself in Fanjeaux,
the citadel of these false preachers. Thanks to
St. Dominic and his group of devoted Friars, the
Cathars turned from their errors, and the Catholic
world knew a period of peace.

20

Beginnings
Six centuries later, it was the French Revolution
that attacked Catholic France. In the wake of this
new disaster, four young ladies, with the help
of a priest, became the first teaching religious
of the Congregation of the Holy Name of Jesus
of Toulouse in 1800. By 1885 their number had
reached nearly 80 Sisters, and they had established
several schools in the south of France where they
educated girls. Still, the times were less than ideal
for new religious orders in this changed France.
The Sisters found the Dominican spirit much like
their own, and in an effort to ensure the stability
of the Congregation, they made the decision to
affiliate themselves with the Domincan Order. They
were given the habit, and they began writing new,
Dominican Constitions, which were approved by
Rome in 1903. They would henceforth be known as
the Dominican Teaching Sisters of the Holy Name of
Jesus of Toulouse.

Taking the Habit

The Congregation
in the 20th Century
In the beginning of the 20th century, now
under the anticlerical Third Republic, the Church
in France continued to suffer. Civil persecution,
seizure of Church property, laws forbidding
the religious to wear the habit, and suppression
of teaching congregations left the Sisters in an
impossible situation. Faced with the ultimatum to
give up teaching or to give up the habit, they sought
the counsel of Pope St. Pius X. His reply: “The
souls of the children of France are well worth all
the heroic sacrifices made on their behalf.” Dressed
in simple black, the Sisters courageously remained
with their childen, waiting for the end of the State’s
anti-Catholic onslaught.
In the early 1950’s, two elite souls acting with
great foresight providentially assured the survival
of their Congregation. The Mother General and a
Dominican Father reformulated their Constitutions;
consequently, the Sisters were preserved from
subsequent pressure to “update” them.
After the Second Vatican Council, another
courageous Mother General saw the modernist
changes beginning to threaten the thriving
Congregation, and she prevented them as much as
she was able from taking root in her communities.
However, opposition from the other superiors
of the Congregation and opposition from Rome
led her to make a definitive decision. In 1975, in
defense of the true Faith, she and several Mothers
and Sisters left their religious family with one
postulant, three books, and no money.
Today there are over 150 Sisters in the
Congregation of the Dominican Teaching Sisters of
THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

the Holy Name of Jesus of Fanjeaux, established in the
very place where St. Dominic’s apostolate began. Here
his spirit lives and his preaching continues in the form of
education which comprises their vocation. In Fanjeaux
at the motherhouse the entire Congregation celebrates
the feastday of St. Dominic, August 4th, with the
ceremonies of the taking of the habit and the profession
of vows, during a solemn High Mass.

t

21

St. Macaire, near Bordeaux,
France (1982)
St. Thomas Aquinas,
Romagne, France (1983)

The Novices
Our Lady of the Annunciation,
Cressia, France (1985)

Saint Manvieu,
Normandy,
France (1990)

St. Dominic’s,
Post Falls, USA (1991)
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THE ANGELUS • December 2006

22

Staff meeting

The Domin ican Vocation
“What do you ask?”
For the young lady about to ask for
the habit, this question represents the
culmination of a year-long reflection. She
has spent this year as a postulant (postulare,
to ask), living among the other Sisters in
order to get an authentic picture of their
life. She has begun her studies and learned
the ways of the house. She has worked
with the more experienced Sisters in the
classroom, where they guided and directed
her in teaching and where she, in turn, will
illumine the minds and souls of girls, who
are at the heart of her vocation.
“The habit that you are going to put on...
represents your desire to renounce marriage and
to belong entirely to Jesus Christ in the religious
family of St. Dominic for the evangelical work
of teaching and education. In your manner of
wearing it, you must bear witness to the poverty,
purity, humility, and charity of the Gospel.”
In this simple admonition, the priest
brings before the eyes of the postulant all
she is about to take upon herself as she “puts
on the new man.” With a clarity and strength
only she can possess, the Church expresses
the source, the means, and the end of the
Dominican Order and the Congregation.
If the habit represents renouncement,
penance, retreat from the world, it
represents even more the charity that incites
such a sacrifice and the great union that
this charity seeks. For the renouncement of
marriage, far from being an end in itself,
farther still from renouncing to belong to
another, is the guarding of one’s heart for
Our Lord alone. Union with God in perfect
charity for His glory–the first end of her
vocation. She leaves the world to join the
family of St. Dominic, and enters into a
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T
th
tradition of saints and masters of the spiritual life. Following the
firm and sure steps of St. Thomas Aquinas, she makes doctrine
the backbone of her spiritual life, for one can love only what
one knows. The Dominican strives, therefore, to know God
in order to love Him more, to contemplate His perfections, to
anchor her interior life in faith, to avoid the darkness of errors
and illusions. She leaves the world, the desire of a family of her
own, the liberty to do as she pleases, to free her heart as much
as possible that she may give it wholly and without reserve to
God. In the novitiate she will receive more attentive direction,
and will begin to understand more fully what it means to
be a religious, a Dominican, a true educator; how to live the
evangelical counsels; why the education of young girls is so
important. Here her formation seriously begins, and she will
come to know more profoundly her place in the religious life
and in the Church.
Although the taking of the habit manifests the
renouncement of the world, it does not at all imply a
renouncement of those living in the world. As the second
great commandment follows closely upon the first, true union

C

23
with God can only result in a deeper union with the desire of
His heart: the salvation of souls. The contemplative, through
prayer and penance, beseeches God to illumine and sanctify
souls. The Teaching Dominican, by a life of both contemplation
and action, bestows the light of truth directly on souls, after the
great Dominican maxim, “Contemplari et aliis tradere contemplata—
to contemplate and to hand on to others the fruit of one’s
contemplation.” In her life the two are never separate, for she is
never a religious without being a teacher, nor a teacher without
being a religious. Her life is centered upon the Mass, the Divine
Office, prayer, and study; yet her time and services revolve
around the life of the school. She sanctifies herself that she may
sanctify others. She gives up physical motherhood to become a
mother of souls. Her great concern is how to establish Christ’s
reign in souls and how to bring those souls to God. Though it
may seem her life is divided in two, the Dominican integrally
links contemplation and action, serving Christ present upon
the altar and present in souls; never leaving aside her title of
spouse of Christ, never ceasing to bring the mercy of truth to her
students.

The Teaching Sister’s Formation

The youth of
the Community

“Father of heaven, may Thy Son Jesus Christ our Savior and our
Spouse deign to make of us all one Host with Him.”
The young Sister making her first profession of vows has
just finished her novitiate, but her formation is still in progress.
Here is where her life as a religious truly begins. She is about to
profess obedience to Our Lord, Our Lady, St. Dominic and the
superiors of the Congregation for one year. After having made
this profession, she will be assigned to one of the schools of the
Congregation, where she will put into practice the principles she
has acquired during the last three years. She will continue to be
formed, to be educated in the spirit of St. Dominic and in the
tradition of the Church.

Compline outside with 150 sisters

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THE ANGELUS • December 2006

24

Going on a pilgrimage

The Editor’s Sister

Solemn Holy Communion
Hers is a vocation of teaching and of education.
Everything she gives flows from true culture and faith;
culture and faith that she acquires and deepens, according
to her capacities, throughout her Dominican life. More
than a mere conglomeration of facts, a varnish which gives
the appearance of refinement, true knowledge enables
the soul to assimilate the principles of truth, beauty, and
morality, bestowing light and order upon the realities of life.
She understands that the faces before her do not represent
mere intellects to be filled, but rather hearts and souls to be
formed–hearts and souls eager to receive this knowledge.
Because her own life is fortified by doctrine and right
philosophy, the Dominican is able to give her students the
means with which to order their lives. Knowing that the
young girls of today are the women of tomorrow, she arms
them against the errors of a world that no longer knows
Christian society, that no longer recognizes the beauty of
woman’s God-given place in society.

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School play

25

Daily
ScheDule
(During the School year)*
6:00 AM Rise
6:55 AM Angelus; Lauds; Mass; Thanksgiving; Breakfast
8:20 AM Classes
10:30 AM Liturgy (novitiate)
11:25 AM Housecleaning
12:25 PM Angelus, Lunch, Recreation
1:30 PM Rosary
1:55 PM Classes
3:55 PM Doctrine, Chant or Constitutions class (novitiate)
5:10 PM Vespers
7:00 PM Matins; Angelus; Dinner; Recreation
8:40 PM Compline
10:30 PM Lights out
* The Sisters also have mental prayer and religious study in their schedules,
although they are free to choose the time that suits them best.

The education of girls contributes to the integral
formation of the Christian woman by the ensemble of
teaching and the life of the school, through prayer and
the liturgy, completed by a strong family life at home.
The subjects studied in class are chosen and ordered to
this formation, all taught in the light of the Faith. In the
principal place, therefore, is Catholic Doctrine, where
the love of Holy Scripture is fostered, the girls’ faith is

deepened, and their prayer life is nourished. It
is this knowledge that will illuminate all other
knowledge. The study of Philosophy then probes
the essential questions of human nature and life
encountered in the works of great thinkers, in
order to resolve them in this supernatural light.
They study literature, both Christian and
profane, not only to be able to recognize true
literary art and to increase their ability to express
themselves accurately and personally, but also to
come to a more thorough knowledge of man and,
ultimately, to learn to live.
The Sister who teaches Greek and Roman
classics presents a majesty of thought and language
destined by Providence to become an instrument
of the Church. The grandeur, beauty, and natural
truth found in these civilizations serve as a base for
a culture illumined and completed by grace after
the coming of Our Lord. From the writings of St.
Thomas based upon those of Aristotle to the use
of Latin in the Church’s liturgy, ancient thought is
the cornerstone of civilization.
As the ancient languages open to the girls
the universality of ancient thought, the living
languages open to them the literary traditions of
different cultures, which give new perspectives to
the riches of humanity.
The girls study History not as a string of
unrelated events nor as a past disconnected
from the present, but as a continual relationship
between cause and effect, between man’s fidelities
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THE ANGELUS • December 2006

26
and infidelities to grace. By looking at the events
of the past, they acquire a sense of natural law, just
politics, and love of country, and they see the great
heights and depths of which man is capable.
Science looks at God’s creation–nature and
the forces of nature–in the light of faith. The
study of Mathematics
encourages abstract
thought and logical
reasoning, which
the girls will apply
concretely in other
domains.
The Sisters also
prepare women who
are attentive and
ordered, with an eye
for what is beautiful
and useful, by exposing
them to Music,
Drawing, Physical
Education, and Sewing,
using their natural
creativity and gifts.
As there is a
diversity of subjects
and levels, the Sisters
bring a diversity of
gifts and capabilities
to the classroom.
But the Dominican
does not come readymade. Through study,
through her various experiences with the children,
through the advice and examples of the other
Sisters, she acquires skills that are enriching both
for her and for her students, and may even discover
talents that she never knew she possessed. Most
importantly, these talents and skills are founded on
her love of education, her desire to learn, and her
desire to impart that desire to the girls.

in the footsteps of St. Dominic, of whom it was said,
“He always spoke to God or about God.” As St.
Dominic preached the reign of God in villages and
universities, she will work with all her strength to
establish His reign of light and love in the souls of
children.

Alumni

A Life in Christ
“Come, spouse of Christ, and receive the crown which
the Lord has prepared for you from all eternity.”
After five years of temporary vows, the Sister
now promises obedience usque ad mortem, until
death, and receives a gold ring symbolizing her
complete union with Our Lord. In submission to
Him and His cross, she prostrates herself in the form
of a cross, presenting herself with Him as a sacrifice
to God. Her vows recall the last counsel that St.
Dominic, on his deathbed, gave to his brothers:
“Practice charity, preserve humility, embrace
voluntary poverty”–words St. Dominic lived every
day of his life. She has achieved the plenitude of the
religious life. Although her formation as a Sister is
complete, her journey toward perfection continues

Armed with nothing but faith in Christ and
in the Tradition of the Church, St. Dominic left
his native Spain to come to the aid of the poor,
bringing them the light of truth. Dispersed in
six houses in France and one, soon to be two, in
the United States,1 the Sisters, who hail from ten
countries, bring an abundance of cultural riches and
experiences. Different though they may be from
one another, they share the zeal of St. Dominic to
labor tirelessly for the good of souls. This common
desire allows them to follow the immortal counsel
of St. Augustine and “inhabit the House of God in
union and in peace, having but one heart and one
soul in God.” In imitation of St. Dominic’s sacrifice,
the Dominican gives all that she is and all that she
possesses to pass the Truth to others, that what he
began may continue, that the flame of charity may
always enlighten the world.
Interested young ladies may contact:
Mère Générale
St-Dominique du Cammazou
11270 Fanjeaux
FRANCE
1

Cf. “The Dominican School of St. Anne of Kernabat,”
The Angelus, August 2004.

27

A

Quick

Catechism

on

Islam
B r o .

G a b r i e l - m a r i e

Every catechism has a goal, and the
goal of this catechism is to inform today’s
Catholic about the Muslims. What with
all the news we hear about wars and
upset in the Middle East and the growing
population of Muslims in Europe,
especially in Britain and France, and with
what we’ve learned in the history books
about the Crusades and the Turks and
the Battle of Lepanto, it is of great benefit
today for Catholics to be acquainted
with what Islam is and what Muslims
believe so that we know a bit about what
is coming our direction in the future. As
with most catechisms, we will proceed in
question and answer form.

What is Islam?
Islam is the religion instigated by
Muhammed. Instigated is a better word than
established,
established because he had to conquer the
whole Arabian peninsula in order to give
his new religion a political foundation.
Muhammed’s first followers were nothing

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THE ANGELUS • December 2006

2
more than a band of murderous marauders who
justified their brigandry with religious fanaticism.1
Muslims have special prescriptions for prayer and
behavior, and their religion is fundamentally committed
to dominating the world by the sword (as we elaborate
below). The word Islam actually means submission,
and a Muslim is a submitter, who submits by rendering
complete submission to the will of Allah, that is, as it is
proffered by Muhammed. In order to conceal some of
their religion’s depravity, Muslims have a little semantic
trick whereby they say that Islam means peace. You see,
the Arabic alphabet has only one real vowel (making
Islam spelled as I-s-l-m); the root for the word Islam is
s-l-m, which is the root of other words too, one of them
being salaam, that is, peace. Some Muslims will try to tell
you that the word Islam means peace, but it doesn’t, so
don’t let them fool you.

Just who is Allah?
In Arabic, Allah is the word for God. It is not a
name proper to Islam, and so Catholics who speak
Arabic pray to Allah. However, the Arabs do not
believe in the Holy Trinity, so when they speak of Allah,
it is their Islamic version of Allah. To delineate the
difference in terminology, Catholics, when making the
sign of the Cross say: “Bissem al-Áb, wal-Íbn, wal-Róhu
Cúdhus, al-Álah al-Wáhed,” that is to say, “In the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, One God.”
The Muslims, like Catholics, believe that Allah is allpowerful, all-knowing, all-just, all-merciful, and eternal;
but unlike Catholics, they reject the divinity of Jesus
Christ. In our exposition, however, for simplicity’s sake,
we will refer to the god of Islam as Allah and the real
God as God.

Is there a difference between
a Muslim and a Moslem?
There is no difference between Muslim, Moslem,
Musselman, Musulman, or Mohammedan. They are all
different names for Muslim, and one cannot be said
to be more correct than the others. The reason there
are so many versions comes from the transliteration
of the Arabic. To most Westerners like us, Arabic
looks like some unsolvable secret code, so in order
for us to say Arabic words and names, we render
1

The Koran used for this article was first translated by George Sale (1734) and
printed as a Chandos Classics edition in England in 1877. A copy of this Koran
is obtainable free from The Project Gutenberg (free download. http://gutenberg.net). There is an invaluable commentary attached to this Koran, which,
although written by an anti-papist Anglican, is most informative as to the history
of Arabs and Moslems. Note, however, that the verse numbering may vary
slightly in different versions of the Koran. See also Hilaire Belloc, The Great
Heresies, Chap.4: “The Great and Enduring Heresy of Mohammed” (1938).
An electronic version is published by Trinity Communications (Manassas,
Virginia, 1994). This text is a wonderful read. [For a study based on recent
research that challenges the legend of Mohammed and the accepted history
of Islam, cf. “Islam: Is It Genuine?” The Angelus, December 1998.–Ed.]

THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

them into the phonetics of our own language. Arabic
writing uses only a few vowels, but the vowels are
supplied in speech; such is the case in Hebrew and
Aramaic whence Arabic has evolved. So when we
write an Arabic word with English letters it comes
out in different spellings depending on the dialect of
the writer and the Arabic dialect from which he is
transliterating, such as Persian or Urdu. For example,
F-t-m is the name of Muhammed’s daughter, and we
can say it “Fatima,” or “Fatimeh.” Or we may render ms-l-m as “Muslim” or “Moslem.” m-s-l-m-n is Muslims in
plural, and here we get “musulman,” or “mussellman.”
Then there is the problem of certain Arabic letters
which have no English equivalent, such as the 
which is a throat-clearing noise, and the  which is
a heavy, airy, rolling “h” sound. These we somehow
render inaccurately as “kh” and “gh.” The problem
is compounded when we consider that only in recent
times has there been any attempt to systemize this
process of transliteration.
They say there is a difference, however, in one case
of terminology: “We are not followers of Muhammed,
rather we are followers of Allah, so call us Muslims, not
Muhammedans.” They are afraid that “Muhammedan”
makes it sound like they worship Muhammed instead of
Allah, also because the worshippers of Christ are called
Christians. So as the true Children of God using true
terminology, we ought to call Muslims Muhammedans
after the founder of their sect just as we ought to call
the Jehovah’s Witnesses Russellites after their founder,
Charles Russell.

What exactly do Muslims do?
The basic rules for Muslims are set down in
what is called the Five Pillars of Islam. These are
Shahadah, Salat, Zakat, Sawm and Hajj. They may
vary a little according to the different Muslim sects,
but these usually don’t change much as they are quite
fundamental. Sometimes a sixth Pillar is added called
Jihad, which is more or less the command for an Islamic
Holy War.
1) Shahadah: bear witness. The profession of
faith in Allah, the declaration that there is none
worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammed
is his messenger, usually according to the formula
we mentioned above. The Shahadah is the basis for
all other beliefs and practices in Islam, and alone is
necessary to be considered a Muslim.
2) Salat: Prayer. Muslims have to pray five times
a day towards the direction of Mecca (you see them in
photographs on their mats prostrating themselves with
their arms in the air). The prayers are usually said in
Arabic, and are from the Koran. If the Muslim is near a
mosque he will hear the muessin (the man who yells out
from the minaret) give the Call to Prayer (Adhan). These
five salats are prayed at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon,
sunset, and nightfall. On Fridays, the Muslim is obliged

2
to pray collectively in a Mosque. These prayers are all
preceded by ablutions (wudu). A translation of the Adhan
is:
God is most great. God is most great. God is most
great. God is most great.
I testify that there is no god except God. I testify
that there is no god except God.
I testify that Muhammed is the messenger of God. I
testify that Muhammed is the messenger of God.
Come to prayer! Come to prayer!
Come to success (in this life and the Hereafter)!
Come to success!
God is most great. God is most great.
There is no god except God.
3) Zakat: Alms–generally 2½% (1/40) of the total
income. This money is “distributed among the poor,”
and the Muslims will claim that it helps eliminate
poverty–but this is a farce as you can see from the
number of poor people compared to the number of rich
oil-pumping Arab Sheiks.
4) Sawm: Fasting. They must abstain from eating,
drinking or conjugal relations from dawn to dusk
during the month of Ramadan, although they may break
fast during the night hours. This fast commemorates
Muhammed’s receiving of the Koran from the Angel
Gabriel.
5) Hajj: Pilgrimage. Muslims must make the famous
pilgrimage to the Kabaa in Mecca, the birthplace of
Muhammed. This is done during the month of Zul
Hijjah, and is compulsory once in a lifetime for whoever
is able. During the Hajj, they must wear a white
garment called an ihram which, while the Hajj is being
made, relieves the pilgrim of all distinctions of status or
class. The Hajj lasts from between a week to a month
(spent at Mecca) as it is required to visit several holy
places. The pilgrim who has made the Hajj receives the
title of Hajji.

the Persians and Jews. Muhammed gathered about
him some questionable followers, and together they
turned commotion into religious persecution, which
forced them to flee north to the city of Medina. There
he convinced the people that he was a prophet, and
marching back into Mecca at the head of an army, he
conquered Mecca, destroyed the idols of the Kabaa,
and declared Allah the only god with himself the only
oracle of that god. He retired to Medina and died in
AD 33. Islam spread rapidly across the land until only
a hundred years later there were Muslims besieging
Catholic Rome.

Do Muslims really
want to kill everybody?
Yes. That is, those who do not convert to Islam. It
is true. It says so over and over in the Koran.2 Islam
teaches that the only way for there to be peace in the
world is for everyone to convert to Islam, and those
who won’t convert are to be killed, or at least to be
kept as a hostage so they can exact a ransom.3 If they
do tolerate within their territories people of another
religion (they would say “infidels”), it is only to tax
them. Some of the more liberal Muslims will try to
argue that this isn’t true, but that is because they are
compromised Muslims.

Are they really promised
Paradise for killing an infidel?
Yes, this is true, too. A Muslim who dies in battle is
supposed to receive Paradise as a reward.4 Here is just
one sample:

MOSLEMS
Hilaire Belloc and G. Oussani

life and teachings of Mohammed
• The
heresy and where we can agree
• What’s
What’s
in the Koran? A healthy sampling
• How close
came to dominating
•Europe & whythetheirMoslems
military threat collapsed
• Islam & women • How Moslems adapt
to & use technology • The origins & rapid
development of Islam • Why it remains
a potent religious force to this day • The
Crusades • Christianity in Arabia: once
dominant, then dominated.

How did Islam get started?
Mecca is a small city in the country of Yemen
on the western side of the Arabian Peninsula. Before
Muhammed was born the Arabs of the desert had
built there an eclectic temple called the Kabaa, which
grew up around a meteorite which they held in great
reverence. In this temple they placed all of their
varying idols. In AD 50, a while after the collapse of
the Western Roman Empire, Muhammed was born
at Mecca. Growing up he worked as a camel-driver
accompanying the merchant caravans, whence he
learned about the religions of the Jews and Christians
who inhabited the formerly Roman lands of Northern
Africa and Syria. When he turned 25 he married a rich
widow and used her money to propagate his Islam.
Islam was a concoction of Catholicism with those old
desert superstitions and the more elevated beliefs of

164pp, hardcover, STK# 7051. $18.80

Here are a few verses from the Koran illustrating the mandate to operate by
force: 2:186; 5:37-38; 9:5, 29, 38-39, 124; 47:2-8.
3
See this verse of the Koran for explicit wording: 47:2-8.
4
These verses all show the reward of killing a non-Muslim. Al Koran, 3:151152; 4:76, 97; 9:112; 24:57; 47:7-8.

2

www.angeluspress.org

THE ANGELUS • December 2006

30
Verily GOD hath purchased of the true believers their
souls, and their substance, promising them the enjoyment of
paradise; on condition that they fight for the cause of GOD:
whether they slay or be slain, the promise for the same is
assuredly due by the law, and the gospel, and the Koran.
(9:112)

Do Muslims actually
believe that Paradise is
filled with earthly pleasures?
At least that is what Muhammed wanted his
Muslims to believe. That old image of beautiful maidservants fanning the reclining warriors with palm leaves
is no exaggeration. The Koran actually spells it out in
plain words5: Paradise is supposed to be a beautifully
tended double garden filled with fruit-laden trees. There
will be a double fountain of clear, fresh water flowing
into rivers of milk and honey (literally). The privileged
Muslims, wearing fine and precious silks, will all recline
on gem-encrusted couches and be served by beautiful,
fair virgins with black eyes who will serve the Muslims
liquours and sweetmeats.

Why would anyone want
to become a Muslim?
There are a number of rather dishonest reasons for
converting to Islam. Firstly, out of fear. When Muslims
5

Concerning the description of Paradise, see Al Koran, 37:39-48; 47:16-17;
55: 46-78; 76: 11-22.

conquer new territories the inhabitants have a choice
to either convert or die. Secondly, when a person
becomes a Muslim they are automatically freed from
all their debts and contracts which they have with
non-Muslims. In the Middle Ages this was a great
temptation for the small-time farmers, the criminals,
and the serfs who sought to quickly be rid of their
responsibilities. The third reason is a more modern
reason–that of fashionability: people want to be a part
of something, and Islam doesn’t present too many
moral barriers. Besides, Islam contradicts and attacks
all forms of authority, both civil and divine, which the
people of today have come to despise. Fourthly, Islam
is full of mysticism: there are a lot of cryptic beliefs and
obtuse ways of looking at things. The religion claims to
be rooted in the deserts of Abraham’s travels so long
ago, and who knows what secrets have been passed
along?

Is their religion
really from Abraham?
No, Abraham worshipped God, not Allah.
Technically speaking, it is Arabs, not Muslims who
are descended from Abraham. Not all Arabs are
Muslims, and not all Muslims are Arabs. They have
Here is the passage from Chapter 9, verse 5: “And when the months wherein
ye are not allowed to attack them shall be past, kill the idolaters wheresoever
ye shall find them, and take them prisoners, and besiege them, and lay wait
for them in every convenient place. But if they shall repent, and observe the
appointed times of prayer, and pay the legal alms, dismiss them freely: for
GOD is gracious and merciful.” Hence, convert or die.
7
Belloc, The Great Heresies (see note above).

6

A Mini-Glossary of Islamic T
The literal Arabic translation
is given first and is followed by
the common understanding or
definition in religious terms.
Adhan: the Call to Prayer. It is given from the
mosques five times daily, at dawn, noon, midafternoon, sunset and nightfall.
Aqidah: creed. A religious belief system such as the
Five Pillars of Islam. There are several aqidahs
which are used not only to define the sect, but to
differentiate it from other sects.
Caliph: representative of Allah. Historically the successor
of Muhammed and then the general term for an
Islamic king.
Djinn: genie. A mythical creature from the pages of the
Koran. They are made of fire. The Koran says they

were in the power of David and Solomon. There
are a few also in the 1001 Nights.
Fatima: Muhammed’s youngest daughter by his first
wife. He had many wives and children, but Fatima
was his favorite.
Five Pillars: These are the five fundamental practices
of the Muslim religion.
Hadith: Stories or records of the doings of
Muhammed. These basically, are the record of
Islamic tradition.
Hajj: pilgrimage. This is the famous pilgrimage to Mecca
which Muslims are bound to make at least once in
their lifetime to visit the Kabaa. This pilgrimage is
the fifth of the Five Pillars of Islam.
Hijra: migration. A term especially referring to the
emigration of Muhammed from Mecca to Medina
whence he fled to escape religious persecution
(which he instigated). This is “day one” of the first
year (written AH for anno hegira) in the Islamic
calendar, but for the rest of the world, it is reckoned
as the year 22 AD.

31
inherited their blood from Abraham, but not their
faith–there were no Muslims before Muhammed. The
descendants of Abraham’s son Ishmael eventually lost
their first faith while wandering in the desert, whence
it degenerated into a pagan heathenism which even
Muhammed fought to abolish.

How does someone
become a Muslim?
This is very easy. All they have to do is to pray, “la
ilaha illa Llah; wa Muhámmadun rasulu’Llah,” that is to
say, “There is no god except Allah and Muhammed
is the prophet of Allah.” Praying this formula is the
official means of converting to Islam. Then there
are many prescriptions that they become obliged to
in order to be a good Muslim, as we mentioned in
connection with the Five Pillars.

What does Fatima
have to do with Muslims?
Muhammed had six children by his first wife
(the widow) and all of them died in infancy except
the youngest, a daughter named Fatima. Muhammed
loved her greatly and ranked her among the four most
perfect women ever, the others being Fatima’s mother;
Asia, the wife of the Pharaoh; and Mary, the daughter
of Imran (we would say Joachim–yes, he gave this
praise to the Blessed Virgin). And it is a strange effect
of Providence that our Lady appeared in that little,

formerly Muslim town of Portugal which bears the
same name as Muhammed’s daughter. The Archbishop
Sheen says that the town was named for a Muslim girl
who converted to Catholicism8 back when Portugal was
dominated by the Moors.

Do Muslims really
believe in Mary?
Believe it or not, the Koran actually contains the
story of the Annunciation9 complete with the message
delivered by the Angel Gabriel. The Koran says plainly
that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus,
and that he had no human father. It even says that she
was sinless. There is, in fact, a whole chapter (called
a sura) entitled “Mary.” Muslims are bound to honor
Mary10 to a great degree–they fall short, however,
because they reject the Divinity of Jesus, which
deprives her of the dignity of Mother of God. As an
example of honor Muslims have given her, there is on
record that when our Lady’s Pilgrim Statue was first
making its rounds, the Muslims of Africa and India
received her with enthusiasm.11 It is speculated that
the Muslims’ conversion will in fact come through our
Lady.

Fulton Sheen, “Mary and the Moslems,” The Angelus, December 2001.
Al Koran, 3:31-44, 19:18-30. The Koranic Annunciation is not an authentic
nor accurate account; rather, it seems to be a modification of the original.
10
Al Koran, 4:155. This passage says that if anyone believe wrongly concerning
Jesus they bring a calumny against Mary.
11
Sheen, “Mary and the Moslems.”
8
9

c Terminology
Imam: leader. Imams are the religious leaders of the
Muslim communities. They are generally held
up as model Muslims, and are often assigned the
duties of the muessin. There are two kinds, the
common Imam of the community and the Imam
who is considered by the Shi’ites as the successor
of Muhammed. There are no priests in Islam.
Injil: gospel. A term often meaning the New Testament,
which Muslims believe to be corrupted, and
that the original Injil is lost. They say that only
fragments of it remain in what is generally known
as the New Testament.
Isa: Jesus. Islam teaches that Isa was a great prophet,
but was not God and did not die on the Cross.
Islam: submission. The term Islam occurs only eight
times in the Koran, but the name seems to refer
to the whole community of submitters, or Muslims.
They are divided into two major sects, Sunni and
Shi’a, who divided over who should be the first
caliph.

Jihad: struggle. The Koran prescribes that Muslims
struggle for the Peace of Islam–by making everyone
convert or die.
Kaaba or Caaba, or Kabah, or Kaba’a: the famous
cube-shaped Sanctuary in Mecca to which Muslims
make their lifetime pilgrimage. Embedded in
the building is the Black Stone which is likely an
ancient meteorite associated with the pantheon
of ancient desert religions that existed before
Muhammed. The Koran claims that Abraham built
or rebuilt (on the site of a temple built by Adam)
this temple as the first temple of God on earth.
Koran: recitation, the bible of Islam. It is the holy
book written by Muhammed between AD 10 and
32. This book is the basis for the Islamic religion
and contains all the prescriptions for Muslim
prayer, action and thought. It is also spelled Qur’an.
Mecca: the “Holy City” of the Muslims where
Muhammed was born. This Arabian city in Yeman
is where Muslims make the Hajj pilgrimage. It is
where the Kabaa is located.

32

What is the Koran?
The Koran (sometimes rendered Al-Koran or
Qur’an) is the holy bible of Islam. Qur’an literally
means recitation. It was supposedly written by
Muhammed over the course of 22 years from 10–
32 AD. Muslims believe that the Angel Gabriel
dictated it to him and that the text is unchangeable
and flawless, the actual, literal words of Allah, and
the final revelation to mankind which abrogates
all previous religions codes. Many Muslims even
wash their hands before handling the Koran to read
it. Old Korans are burnt rather than discarded.
Muslims believe that the Koran is perfect only in the
original Arabic; translations are regarded only as
commentaries or interpretations.

Did the Pope
really kiss the Koran?
Unfortunately, it is true, he did.12 Pope John Paul
II was visiting the Catholic Patriarch of Baghdad
on May 4, 1999. After the meeting, there was a line
of people as usual who wished to exchange a few
words with the Holy Father. A Muslim in the line
presented the Pope with a gift of a Koran, which the
Pope received and kissed. Our Holy Father did this
trying to promote ecumenism in an attempt to unify
12

the religions of the world, but we know that this
ecumenism is an error of Vatican II. What are we to
think about it? We can do little but regret the scandal
and not give our hearts to such modernist ideas. It
is for us to condemn Islam without condemning the
individual professing the heresy.

What is a Shi-ite?
The answer to this question, like all the
problems of Islam, goes back to Muhammed. You
see, Muhammed died without naming his successor.
Certain Muslims thought his successor should be
elected, so they chose a leader called an Imam. Other
Muslims believed that Muhammed’s successor
should be his closest blood relative. Thus two major
Islamic sects arose over whether Muhammed’s
cousin and son-in-law Ali abu Talib was the first
representative of Allah, or Caliph. The Sunnis claim the
Caliphs, and the Shi’ites claim the Imams. Today the
difference is a divergence in ideals which sets the
Muslims continually and violently fighting amoungst
themselves. For us Catholics, it is sufficient to note
that Sunnis keep to the precepts of the Koran while
Shi’ites build also upon extra-Koranic traditions as
well.

Dr. Heinz-Lothar Barth, “The Pope and Islam,” The Angelus, October 2001.
This speaks about Pope John Paul II.

Medina: another holy city of the Muslims where
Muhammed died.
Maryam: Mary. The Koran has a whole chapter
dedicated to the Annunciation and Birth of Jesus.
Mosque: place of worship, masjid in Arabic. A Muslim
prayer hall. The first Mosque was the Kabaa,
supposedly built by Adam and rebuilt by Abraham.
The interiors of the Mosques are decorated with
designs and writings but no pictures nor images of
people; there are no altars. Muslims pray together
inside, kneeling on large carpets. This is the place
where the Zakat is collected and distributed.
Mosques are sometimes the base of terrorist
activities.
Mufti: Islamic judge. A kind of alim (pl. ulema–
see Ulema) who judges cases of difference in
interpretation of the shari’a. He is capable of
advising Muslims based on the laws of the shari’a.
Muessin: the man who calls the Muslims to adhan. He
usually stands in one of the minarets attached to a
mosque.
Muhammed: the famous instigator of Islam who
lived from
50-32.
He is the last of the Prophets
THE ANGELUS
• December
2006 www.angeluspress.org

whose teaching abrogates all the teachings before
him and is the last and final teaching which is
supposed to endure until Yaum al-Qiyama.
Nabi: prophets, especially referring to Adam, Nuh
(Noah), Ibrihim (Abraham), Isa and most especially
Muhammed. A Prophet is sent by Allah with a
special message to each nation, which is to submit
to God and give up idolatry. Muhammed, however
is called the Seal of the Prophets (Koran 1:3; 33:40)
and his is a special mission to all of mankind.
Muslim: submitter. A follower of Islam.
People of the Book: Those who have received the
Scriptures; Muhammed tolerated certain religions
if they paid tribute. These are first of all the Jews,
the Christians, and also the heretical Sabians.
Qiblah: the center of Islam to which all Muslims are
supposed to point their five daily prayers.
Qur’an: see Koran.
Salaam: peace. The usual greeting in Arabic is, asalaam alaik, that is, Peace be to thee. The response is
wa-asalaam alaikum, or and also with thee.
Sabians: host of heaven. An ancient pseudo-Christian
heresy prevalent in Arabia before Muhammed.

33

What’s in the
Dome of the Rock?
This is the site of the old Jewish Temple, and
(much to the dismay of the Jews) the Dome is on
top of the old Holy of Holies. In 12, Byzantine
Jerusalem fell to the Persians, who in turn lost it to the
Muslims under the Caliph Abd al-Malik. The Dome
of the Rock itself is actually a shrine, but there is a
mosque attached to it called al-Masjid al-Haram. The
shrine was originally built by Byzantine architects
from Constantinople; it is an octogonal structure
with arcades in each side, and the whole is covered
by a gilded dome. It is large enough to house 1500
kneeling Muslims. In the center of the place is the AsSakhrah, where the earth is cleared away to expose the
rock below. Jewish tradition records this place as the
site of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, but the Muslims
say it was Ishmael, not Isaac, who was offered. The
rock is also the supposed site of Muhammed’s “Night
Journey,” where he was carried through the heavens
by the Angel Gabriel (the entire Chapter 1 of the
Koran is dedicated to this event). In the beginning,
however, this shrine was designed by rival Muslims to
challenge the popularity of the Kaaba in Mecca and
to keep the Jews from having it as a holy place. Today
only Muslims are allowed to enter because they are
afraid that “infidel” Christians or Jews will pray inside
its sacred precincts.

What is the “Kaaba”?
This is the center-point or qiblah of Islam which is
located in Mecca. Muslims are bound to pray their
salat five times a day with their faces pointed towards
the Kaaba. The Kaaba is a cube-shaped building
(kaaba means cube) made of blue-gray Meccan granite,
about 50 feet high. The Muslims keep it covered with
a black silk curtain embroidered with the Shahadah.
There is nothing inside it, but embedded in one of
its corners is the famous Black Stone called al-Hajaru
l-Aswad: an ancient meteorite that was worshipped
by the Arabs of old. Before Islam, the Kaaba was
an ancient sanctuary where the Arabs kept their
hundreds of idols–that is until Muhammed came
in 30 and destroyed them all. The Muslim story
has it that Allah wished Adam to build a temple
in the form of the Heavenly House. In time it was
destroyed, but Abraham and Ishmael rebuilt it on the
same foundations. The Arabs preserved it, despite
their idolatrous use until Muhammed liberated it
to the glory of Allah. Beside the cube-building are
located (supposedly) the tombs of Ishmael and his
mother Hejira (Hagar). There is also a smaller domed
building containing a rock with two footprints called
Maqame Ibrahim, where Abraham is supposed to have
stood while building the Kaaba. Today pilgrims make
their Hajj (once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage) to the Kaaba
and walk around it over and over in pious devotion.
The Black Stone is polished and smooth from so
many kisses.
Brother Gabriel-Marie is a brother of the Society of Saint Pius X and is stationed
at the District Office in Kansas City, Missouri.

Sabians worshipped the angels who moved the
planets and governed the universe for God. It kept
other minor gods as well.
Salat: prayer. A generic word, but it especially refers
to the praying five times a day in the direction of
Mecca. Salat is the second of the Five Pillars of
Islam.
Sawm: fasting. Muslims must abstain from food,
drink, and conjugal relations during the month
of Ramadan in commemoration of Muhammed’s
receiving the Koran. Sawm is the fourth of the Five
Pillars of Islam.
Shahadah: bear witness. The Islamic profession
of faith: “la ilaha illa Llah; wa Muhammadun
rasulu’Llah,” that is to say, “There is no god except
God and Muhammed is the messenger of God.”
Shahadah is the first of the Five Pillars of Islam.
Shari’a: divinely legislated; sometimes it is interpreted
poetically as “well trodden path.” It is Islamic law
which Muslims hold as the Will of Allah. This is
the collection of laws by which the Muslims govern
themselves. These laws come from the Koran, the
Sunna, the community’s consensus.

Shi’ite: a member of the second largest Muslim sect,
which follows both Tradition and the Koran.
Sufi: a kind of Muslim sect which focuses more on
spirituality than on civil government.
Sunna: also Sunnah. The “acts” of the Prophet
Muhammed. The Sunna is a textual analysis based
on extractions or hadiths. It is like the Talmud,
where the Rabbis formed laws based upon the
teachings in the Old Testament.
Sunni: a member of the largest Muslim sect which
adheres more to the Koran than Tradition.
Sura: chapter, or surah. This word is used to identify a
chapter of the Koran.
Ulema: Muslim scholar trained in Islam and Islamic
law.
Wudu: ablution. Muslims are required to make a wudu
before they make salat. For this reason there are
usually fountains associated with mosques.
Yaum: day. When used as a proper name, it usually
refers to Yaum al-Qiyama which is the Day of
Judgment at the end of time.
Zakat: alms. The 1/40 of a Muslim’s income given to
the poor. Zakat iswww.angeluspress.org
the third of theTHE
Five
Pillars
of 2006
ANGELUS
• December
Islam.

3

TIUS
FROM LUTHER TO ST. IGNA
40

Solemn Abjuration of Swe
On Sunday, July 30, 2006, in St. Nicolas du Chardonnet Church, Paris, at the 10:30am High Mass,
the Swedish Lutheran pastor Sten Sandmark was received into the Catholic Church together with his
associate Joachim Svensson. Since the ecclesiastical authorities do not wish to exercise this function
due to the errors of modern ecumenism, the Society of Saint Pius X does what the Church has always
done. On this occasion, Bishop Tissier de Mallerais delivered an historic sermon.

My very dear Brethren:
Today, I will preach before the Mass since we have
this quite extraordinary event, the conversion of Pastor
Sten Sandmark and one of his associates, who want
to enter the Catholic Church. It is a great joy for the
Church on this Feast of St. Elina, a Swedish martyr of
the 12th century.
Dear Pastor, I am not going to try to retrace
the course of your conversion. I’ll simply say that it
was the grace of the Holy Ghost and the fruit of the
intercession of the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mediatrix
of all graces. To tell the truth, you were not really
a Lutheran, although you belonged to the Swedish
Lutheran Church. You did not share its doctrine, since
you held the Catholic doctrines of justification, grace,
transubstantiation, the Holy Mass, and many other
Catholic dogmas which are denied by the Protestants.
But unity was lacking to you, the unity of Christ’s true
Church.
You yourself, dear Pastor, were a priest. You were
so for 31 years, following a ceremony of ordination.
There is evidently a doubt concerning this ordination,
since it is not known whether the apostolic succession
in the Swedish Church is valid or not. For 31 years
you celebrated what you thought to be a valid Mass
in Swedish, and during these 31 years of ministry, you

wanted to pursue the mission of redeeming the souls
that Christ confided to His Church, as you put it in
your beautiful declaration, which is available to the
faithful.
You wanted to pursue the mission of the Church
by the preaching of the Gospel, according to Christ’s
word to His Apostles: “Go forth into the whole world,
preaching the Gospel to all creatures.” You wanted to
do this also by the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass, according to Jesus’ word to His Apostles:
“Every time that you do this, you do it in memory
of me,” and by the administration of the seven
sacraments, the existence of which you recognized,
sacraments instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ. But alas,
Catholic unity and the certitude of a valid priesthood
was lacking.
What is, very dear faithful, the Catholic doctrine
on the real Church of our Lord Jesus Christ? It is a
mystery of unity professed by the Apostle St. Paul,
which we profess in Apostles’ Creed, in the Creed that
we will sing in a few moments: “I believe in only one
God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.” The
central mystery of the Christian religion: only one God
in three persons, and we will also say: “I believe in
only one Lord Jesus Christ, in only one Savior, unique

dish Lutheran Pastor Sten

Redeemer of souls by His precious Blood, who died
on the Cross,” a dogma of faith that is currently denied
by some of those who have the highest positions in the
Catholic Church. “I believe also in only one baptism
in remission of sins.” And, in short, “I believe in One
Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.” It is the Mystical
Body of our Lord Christ, i.e., the Body whose members
are transplanted into Christ in order to live from the
very Life of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Chief and our
Head.
This Catholic Church was founded on Peter, the
first pope, according to the words of Jesus Christ to St.
Peter: “Blessed art thou, Simon son of Jona, because it
is not flesh and blood, but it is My Father in heaven that
has revealed this to you,” to know that I am God’s Son.
And I tell thee this in my turn, thou art Peter, and it is upon
this rock that I will build My Church; and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it....Whatever thou shalt bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on
earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Mt. 16:17-19)

It is indeed St. Peter who went to Rome, where he
established his episcopal seat, and which made the
Catholic Church the Roman Church, mother and head
of all churches of the world. It is there, in Rome, that
St. Peter sealed by his blood, by his martyrdom, his
mission of being the first pope. And it is there that he
transmitted to his successors the supreme jurisdictional
power over the whole Church, over both the sheep
and the pastors, according to Christ’s word: “Feed my
lambs, feed my sheep” ( Jn. 21:15-17).
Christ’s true Church is therefore the Roman
Church. And this Roman Catholic Church is necessary
to salvation–the third truth of faith. The first is that

41

Sandmark

the Church is One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic; the
second, that the Roman Church was founded on Peter;
and the third is that the Roman Church is necessary for
the salvation of souls, outside of which no one can work
out his salvation. This means that someone who would
know that the Catholic Church is Christ’s true Church
and who, nevertheless, would stay outside of this
Church, could not be saved according to Christ’s words:
“He who listens to you, listens to Me; he who despises
you, despises Me; and who despises Me, despises the
One that sent Me, God the Father.”
Of these truths, dear Pastor, you were convinced
and this is why you desire to rejoin Catholic unity,
because you felt truly that in the Lutheran Swedish
Church you were not at home. Indeed, since Martin
Luther rebelled in 1517 against the Church and
provoked the schism and the Protestant heresy, these
communities separated themselves from the Catholic
unity and split increasingly into a multitude of sects,
all different as to the various dogmas that they either
accept or reject, and of which not a single one can prove
itself to come from the Apostles by an uninterrupted
and legitimate episcopal succession as in the Catholic
unity, in submissiveness to Peter’s successor.
To this was added lately, in this Swedish Church
separated from Rome, the ordination of “priestesses,”
which is lamentable, as well as the nuptial blessing
granted to those called “homosexuals,” an abominable
thing in God’s eyes and which is the best proof that this
Church is not at all the true Church of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That is why you felt obliged to take the serious
resolution to convert. Ten years ago you approached
the Catholic bishop of Sweden, asking him: “Your
Excellency, I would like to become a Catholic.” And

In October 200, The Angelus covered the conversion of a Lutheran
pastor (Sten Sandmark) and his associate ( Joacim Svensson) in Sweden.
Joacim is now studying at St. Mary’s College in St. Mary’s, Kansas, the
only institute of higher learning of Catholic Tradition in America, in
preparation to enter the seminary. We asked him some questions about
his conversion and his thoughts and impressions about the Faith.

Interview
WITH JOACIM SVENSSON
S t e p h e n

THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

l . m .

H e i n e r

wN

3

Joacim, the story of a conversion in our days of crisis is
so extraordinary, I hardly know where to begin. Tell us
about your family background and religious upbringing.

I had no religion in my upbringing whatsoever. I
was confirmed in the Lutheran Church when I was 14,
and that was a path to belief in Christ.

What led you to getting “confirmed”?

I just felt it was the right thing to do–and it was
almost a calling. There were about 200 of us that were
confirmed that year. And I was the only one of 200
who remained…Lutheran.

How does Sweden fare in religious practice?

Among the 9 million Swedes,  million are
Lutherans. It was a National Church for 500 years
(from c. 1520) until 2000. In reality, about 00,000
Lutherans are practicing their faith.

Why did it stop being a national church?

There was a separation that was agreed to by both
Church and State. The Church wanted to be more
liberated because the politicians, the Social Democratic
party, ruled the Church. In 1958, the Lutheran Church
decided to have women priests. All the professors,
bishops, etc., were against it, but the politicians forced
it.

Was there a schism?

No, there wasn’t a problem; the “hard-liners”
were marginalized. In the beginning they allowed
those priests who didn’t want to work with women
priestesses to be left alone. Now, not anymore. Now
every priest has to work with a woman priestess,
and so now you have to sign a paper that you accept
working with women priests. Homosexual couples will
soon follow.

So five years ago there was resistance,
at least token, to these reforms–and now?

So why are you now in St. Mary’s?

I was put here by Fr. Schmidberger so that I could
learn English better, and so that after awhile I can join
the seminary–perhaps in one or two years from now.

Well, for the readers who can’t hear you speak, I can
testify that you’re making great progress! Can I ask you a
bit more about the former Pastor Sandmark?

Well, for starters, he is now a seminarian at
Zaitzkofen [the Society’s German seminary–Ed.].

How long will he study?

As of right now, one to two years, and then he
will be ordained. I have been told that he makes great
progress in Zaitzkofen. I am not surprised; he is a
Swede made of iron!

It must be quite a thing to go from being a pastor for 31
years to going back to the seminary.

Yes, indeed. We had a very large parish–a town of
25,000, with a parish of 12,500.

Twelve thousand! So St. Mary’s is really a
“small parish” compared to what you came from?

Yes, that’s true. Pastor Sandmark was the chief
“priest” of our parish. We had a common life
together–much like Catholic religious. We didn’t have
wives or children–our monastery was always open
to people who wanted to come. We often had people
for dinner and were often invited to dinner. We were
very “popular” because the people perceived that
they could come to us anytime and we would make
time for them. Whereas for most Lutheran pastors,
the big goal is to have a big salary, and a wife, and
lots of children–so they do not care as much about the
faithful, honestly.
We, of course, wanted to save souls, and we
wanted a more ascetic religious life.

I can’t imagine relations were
good with your fellow pastors…

Well, the bishops are all Social Democrats. If a
bishop said he didn’t want to ordain a woman, he
was removed; and they would find a priest willing to
ordain women, and so they would consecrate him.
Remember, 500 years of Church and State joined
meant that the political influence in the hierarchy was
(and is) enormous. Most of the bishops and priests
are Freemasons. In the population of the Lutheran
Church, there has been a drop of one million members
in the last 15-20 years, and there will be more and
more as time goes on.

We had some disagreements. It was very hard for
them to accept that we wanted to live a religious life,
and this was a problem because Pastor Sandmark was
a beloved pastor of many faithful–people would go to
his “mass,” but not to the others.

How have your parents reacted?

The so-called Catholic bishop in Sweden some
years back rejected Sten Sandmark’s desire to
be Catholic in favor of ecumenism. How do you
view this bishop now that you are Catholic,
and what do you think of ecumenism?

Well, that I wanted to join a monastery was quite a
thing. So they don’t care–whatever makes you happy.
It’s the typical Swedish mentality.

To clarify for our readers, when you say “mass,”
you mean of course the Lutheran service.

Yes; however, what is interesting is that it is far
more traditional than the Novus Ordo. We still have
grand altars, and communion rails...

Well, about 12 years ago, five people went to the
Catholic Bishop saying they wanted to be Catholic. He
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THE ANGELUS • December 2006

3
told us to “hold our horses,” and said that we could
be “Catholic in our hearts.” The highest Catholic
authority told us this, and hence we assumed this
was a right thing to do. So instead of founding an
Augustinian Catholic monastery, these five founded
the monastery within the Lutheran Church. Some
died, some left, so he was alone until I came almost
three years ago.
So the only “support” the bishop gave us in
becoming Catholic was sending a Christmas card
every year.

That’s very sad–to hear that some people wanted
to become Catholic but were barred by those
who should have welcomed them in. I’m sorry.

We had been studying Catholic doctrine, and
we were afraid because we thought that “outside the
Catholic Church there is no salvation”–and we did not
want to be outside! But it seems that these Catholic
bishops today think it’s not true. It’s a really strange
behavior. There are 80,000 Catholics in Sweden; most
of them are from the Eastern countries, but with a
climate like this, of course there are no conversions.

As a convert, what’s your perspective on ecumenism?

Well, there is false ecumenism and real
ecumenism; we see false ecumenism all the time. But
real ecumenism is to belong to the real Church of
Christ founded on St. Peter.
To take another view of ecumenism, while we
were Lutherans, we invited the Bishop to our house
seven times. He did come to the town once, but he
did not stop by. Instead, he went to celebrate Mass
at the parish of a priest who was the chaplain of the
Freemasonic lodge in the town. We warned him about
it, but he did not care. He was shaking hands with
them and laughing with them.
We said to him afterwards that we thought that the
Catholic Church, which has the eternal truths, cannot
deal with Freemasons. He said that the Lutheran
Church has another opinion, that is that Freemasonry
is “okay,” and so out of respect for Lutherans, we
should obey that guideline of the Catholic bishop.

That’s really unbelievable. He put up obstacles to
your conversion. What do you think are the biggest
obstacles that are put up to the convert these days?

Ecumenism, of course–that you are free to belong
to any sect. The Catholic Church has abandoned its
supremacy and its teaching “extra ecclesiam nulla salus.”
It seems as though the Church is doing everything
to keep people out of her. They allow adherence to
heresy. It used to be that they would fight against the
heresy, but now they are friends with the heresy. As
a former heretic, it seems so strange to me that the
Church wants to be friendly and go down the road
of heresy, especially with Vatican II, the ecumenical
meeting in Assisi, and the joint declaration on the
doctrine of justification with the Lutherans 1999.

What compounds this is our attitude in Sweden.
We are very secularized and westernized–we want
the newest car, television, movie, etc. There are some
movements in Sweden that want spirituality, that want
to go back to their “roots,” but all over Sweden it is
very bad and anti-Christian.
There was an exhibition not too long ago,
which the Lutheran Church was paying for, called
“Ecce Homo.” It was composed of portraits of Christ
as naked–terrible, blaspheming pictures. This was
terrible, and at least the Catholic bishop spoke up
against it, and the Pope took back his invitation to the
Swedish Lutheran “Archbishop” to come to Rome that
year. Yet this is what Lutheranism does. It is trying
to attack Christianity even in its roots of respect for
Christ.

Are there any articles of Faith you found
particularly difficult to understand?

Not at all. We always had table readings or
lectures about Catholic teachings and dogma. I “ate it
up,” as you might say. I had no hesitation whatsoever.
We have seen the heresy and worked with the heresy,
so for us the Catholic Faith is eminently logical and
full of sense. We really love and are attached to the
Catholic doctrine and dogmas.

Were there any that struck you as particularly beautiful?

Mary was really the most important thing in our
life, especially her Immaculate Conception and her
Assumption. She was our guidance. We really loved
her; it was something we tried to introduce into
the parish. We bought statues of Mary, and it was
acceptable to some parishioners. It was a chance to
proclaim the truths we knew. But I have to tell you
that the reason we survived in the Lutheran Church all
these years was the daily rosary. Without it, we would
not have been able to persevere to our conversion.

How do you view Confession now, especially coming
from a sect that was born (among other reasons)
from a fear and misunderstanding of it?

We had “confession,” but later on we discovered
that it was not valid. Luther had confession, the
Lutheran “orthodox” took it away. Very old German
parishes that are Lutheran still have confession;
there were confessions for the first 100 years of the
Protestant Revolt.
We certainly had good intentions in administering
it, but it is very jarring to discover, as Pastor Sandmark
did after 31 years, that he was never a priest.

Both former Pastor Sandmark in his last sermon to your
parish [See The Angelus, October 2006, p.44] and Bishop
Tissier de Mallerais in his sermon receiving you into the
Church mentioned priestesses and blessings of
homosexual unions. Can you give us a little bit of
background to the progression of this in Europe?

To be honest, it has just come to a head in the last
five years. Ten years ago, even if you mentioned the

37
question, people would shake their heads no. But now
we have to be “kind and nice” to everybody, and the
highest Lutheran Church council in Sweden, which is
made up of a majority of Social Democrats, voted yes.

What is the Faith like in Europe?
How does it compare with America?

To believe in God is very natural in America. In
Europe, you cannot say that. The definition of God
in Europe is that maybe he is a woman, maybe he
is whatever–whatever you might want him to be.
But in America, it is natural to have a “faith” here;
we believe in a God. If you said “Jesus Christ is my
personal Lord and Savior” in Europe you would be
considered crazy.
What is worse, again, is that the Lutheran Church
is abandoning Christ. They thought they were
following Christ by leaving the Catholic Church in
151, but now they are abandoning Christ more than
ever.
So I don’t like Lutherans, you might say. I was
in Wittenburg. You can still see the gate above which
Luther nailed his 95 Theses; there is a crucifix there,
and they took out Our Lady and St. John, and there
you find Luther and Melancthon instead. That should
tell you a lot about the Lutheran mentality.

What is your take on the Muslims?

Well, of course, Europe was founded by
monasteries, not mosques, that’s first of all. Now they
are sneaking into society, building mosques all over
Europe. They are infiltrating schools and our society.
It’s terrible, I think. The most terrible thing is that the
Conciliar Church is accepting all of this. They have
totally forgotten about Lepanto…

Or John Sobieski, or Charles Martel…

Yes. Indeed, the crime rate has gone up
dramatically when we started accepting Muslims in
Europe. In Paris there is an area called Montmartre…

Where Sacré-Coeur is?

Yes. They say that when you go to Montmartre
you are “leaving Europe.”

Because of the Muslim population?

Yes. It is terrible, really. Europe was founded
by monasteries, not mosques or synagogues. And
now we see the Pope has to keep excusing himself
just for quoting the old emperor. So instead of this
conversation of conversion which is necessary
for your soul–perhaps being out amongst them,
discussing the Faith–instead, we want to have this nice
get-together and drink champagne and eat cheese and
laugh and joke. I think it is terrible.
The Conciliar Church is refusing to tell the truth
about the Faith. It does not dare to talk about the
truth.

So here you are now as a college student,
after having lived as an Augustinian monk
for two and a half years. What are your plans?

First, I have to say it was a great shock for me
to leave a monastery and cross the Atlantic and end
up in America. I must say that I am not used to the
American lifestyle; it is something I also have to learn
from my visit here.
We (Pastor Sandmark and myself) currently plan
to be SSPX priests.

And as for the Augustinian order? Does Pastor
Sandmark wear his habit or a cassock at Zaitzkofen?

No, a cassock. As I said, he will be an SSPX priest
first. Whether we will reconstitute the Augustinians
in Sweden is an open question (but I personally do
not think so), but I certainly hope to continue my
apostolate there eventually.
St. Dominic was my confirmation saint because I
want to fight against heresy–because we lived in it for
so long. So it is our (seminarian Sandmark’s and my)
vocation to fight against heresy and save souls.

Yes, and he had a special devotion to Our Lady,
as you mentioned earlier was so important to you.

Ah, yes, the love for Our Lady. There is not love
anywhere in the Lutheran Church for Mary, a mother
who takes care of her children. We have turned to her
many times. Look, the history of our monastery is not
isolated. To go back for a moment: do you know of
Taizé?

Yes.

Taizé was like us, in a way. Some of them wanted
to be Catholic, but they were told not to be, and so
they made this weird, strange “protestant monastery.”
There are nine monasteries of the Lutheran Church
in Sweden that wanted to become Catholic but were
refused. There were more convents and monasteries
in the Lutheran Church than the Catholic Church. It’s
crazy, right is wrong and wrong is right…

Well, it sounds like Sweden needs you…

Yes, hopefully I will have a chance to do go back.
Two hundred years ago we sent missionaries to Africa,
now Africa is sending “missionaries.”

“Muslimmaries”?

Yes. They are sending them to Europe. And we
must rechristianize Europe. Monasteries, not mosques.

Joacim, it has been a distinct pleasure.
Mine as well.

Conducted by Stephen L.M. Heiner, in St. Mary’s, Kansas, October, 2006.
Stephen L.M. Heiner runs a tutoring and test prep company in Overland Park,
Kansas. He spends his weekends in St. Mary’s, Kansas, where he goes to the
Latin Mass and writes freelance articles in print and on the Internet.

www.angeluspress.org

THE ANGELUS • December 2006

3

B
c
M
(
b

Christendom
NEWS
Angelus Press Edition

A Day in the Life of
Bishop Fellay at Menzingen
F r .

An average day in the life of Bishop Fellay varies
according to the seasons of the year. His schedule
is such that he spends only a portion of the year at
the General House. Visits to colleagues throughout
the world, ordinations on almost all the continents,
attention given to the churches of the Society and other
organs of Tradition keep him quite often away from the
quiet of Menzingen’s green pastures. The home base of
the Superior General is in fact located in an idyllic oasis
of silent prairies, which, nonetheless, are not far from
the great international byways.
As desired by our wise and venerable founder
Archbishop Lefebvre, the day’s prayers begin early in
the morning. At :00am Bishop Fellay enters the chapel
where the community of five priests, one Brother, and
twelve Oblate Sisters unites for Prime at :30, followed
by meditation and then Holy Mass at :15. Once
prayers of thanksgiving have been offered, breakfast is
taken at 8:10. In an atmosphere most cordial, Bishop
Fellay is happy to share news regarding world events or
happenings within the Society.
Mornings are given to work in progress. Sometimes
there do come surprises, as this year when Mother
Nature went overboard with her white winter coat that
left almost two feet of snow in our courtyard. Work for
THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

P h i l i p p e

L o v e y

a bishop? One need only think of Archbishop Lefebvre,
who, in his dignity as archbishop, did not hesitate to
wash the dishes. And then, clearing the paths with a
snowblower in order to indicate the walkway–it’s all in
a day’s work for a Superior General.
Mornings are principally given to the mail. I say
principally because telephone calls come in from
around the world. Whatever certain people may say
about our planet as a global village, the sun continues
to rise on Menzingen as it sets on Australia. Bishop
Fellay thus spends long moments speaking with fellow
priests in order to give advice, encourage, obtain
information, sometimes even to reprimand. Fathers are
not always fortunate enough to be in agreement with
everyone; and as with families, the growing Society
encounters ever-new causes for joy but also problems
that do not necessarily diminish.
At 12:10 the bell sounds for Sext. Five minutes later
the office begins, and the psalmody of the breviary
draws the community into the great intercessory prayer
of the Church.
Lunch is taken in the priests’ dining room,
separated from that of the Oblate Sisters. Three days
per week recordings of conferences by Archbishop
Lefebvre or someone else feed the soul in tandem with

Bishop Fellay enjoys the
community hike, and chats to
Menzingen’s Oblate Sisters
(below), who prepare a
barbecue on a recent feastday.

f
n

y

The recent visit of an
Italian professor was the
occasion to play checkers.

3
the body. Light banter and a family atmosphere easily
return to the community once the Tu autem is spoken.
After the meal an obligatory walk leads Bishop
Fellay and the priests through the calm and ever green
countryside of Menzingen. There is no protocol for
the walks–the conversation alternates between serious
subjects and hearty laughter. Sometimes these strolls get
a bit hectic in wintertime when our dear Oblates are
more than happy to pummel the clerics with snowballs.
The priests respond in kind, with the bishop on the
front line. As a good son of the Valais, Bishop Fellay has
excellent aim, but he always gives the ball a lot of loft,
and the friendly hostilities melt as quickly as snow in the
sunshine.
Though Bishop Fellay sometimes manages to
escape, he normally spends the afternoon in his office.
If we have mainly spoken of winter, the seasons when
postings are decided are rather hot periods. A change of
assignment always affects a fellow priest, a priestly soul.
Weighing before God the difficulties of some members,
the problems of others, the needs of a certain district, the
consequences for other houses—it is a delicate task that
the superior knows cannot satisfy everyone. If changes
bring joy to some, discontentment is also inevitable.
Time, counsel, and reflection are required. For all that,
one must spend time alone.
It goes without saying that during such periods,
superiors come frequently to visit Bishop Fellay in order
to discuss the future of their districts. Normally, such
visits take place in the afternoon following a convivial
lunch. When the work becomes overwhelming, it is not
uncommon for Bishop Fellay to stick his head in the
doorway to say hello or ask his priests and Oblates how
things are going; and the hive continues buzzing…
Then at :15 everyone assembles to pray the rosary,
placing at the feet of the Immaculate Heart the intentions
of the Society and our benefactors. On Sundays
and greater feasts the community gathers at 5:30 to
sing Vespers and pray the rosary before the Blessed
Sacrament exposed. On such days the faithful more than
once have had the unexpected pleasure of seeing Bishop
Fellay take a seat at the organ in order to add solemnity
to the chant, for he is a practicing musician.
The evening meal is always taken in community at
:10, followed by a period of recreation when the work
is not too pressing. Then Compline brings the day to an
end, putting all “in manus tuas, Domine.” Once the chant
has ended, Bishop Fellay approaches the altar to give the
entire community his blessing.
Though grand silence has now descended upon the
house (even if phone calls continue to come in, since it is
morning for certain colleagues...), the day continues for
Bishop Fellay in study and prayer until 11:00.
From Christendom, No.6 . Christendom is a publication of DICI, the press bureau of
the Society of Saint Pius X (www.dici.org). Fr. Philippe Lovey, a native of Switzerland,
was ordained for the SSPX in 1989. His first post was as principal of the Society’s
school in the Valais, then he was named District Superior of Switzerland, professor at a school in Germany, and secretary to Bishop Fellay. He has recently been
assigned as prior of a new priory at Chatel, in the Canton of Fribourg.
www.angeluspress.org

THE ANGELUS • December 2006

0

F r .

G e r a r d

B e c k

PENANCE FOR

ADVENT
The Advent season represents the time preceding
Christ’s coming, Christ’s coming both historically–the
thousands of years which preceded His coming to this
earth as a man, as the God-Man–and also His coming
into our hearts; a time when we are to be preparing
for Our Lord and the grace of Christmas, which is the
special presence of Our Lord by grace in our souls. It
is also a time of preparation for His second coming.
In each instance, Advent is a time of preparation.
Throughout the Advent season, holy Mother
Church constantly echos and re-echos the words of
St. John the Baptist: “Do penance, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand; make ready the way of the
Lord” (Mt. 3:2-3). This is done by purple vestments,
the sobriety of the liturgy—no flowers and organ,
for example—and by the texts of the liturgy itself. It
is a call to penance from holy Mother Church. It is
something we should be accustomed to for Advent.
If we weren’t Catholics, perhaps we would be
surprised; but we should be used to it. Nevertheless,
we might well ask ourselves why holy Mother
Church emphasizes penance in a time we might
think is particularly joyous. There is a certain joy, for
sure. But at the same time, the Church emphasizes
penance. Our Lord Himself goes so far as to say,
“Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish”
(Lk. 13:3). Why is it that holy Mother Church does
this particularly in times of preparation: Advent, Lent,
the vigils of great feasts?
The answer is at least twofold. The first one is
very obvious: to sanctify our souls. We do penance
to make up for our faults, frailties, and falls in the
past. We do penance to make up for the sins of those
around us. This is what Our Lady talked about at
Fatima when she told the children to do penance.
“My Son is much offended.” But we also do penance
THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

for another, less obvious, reason: We are stained and
wounded by original sin. Adam fell and passed on the
sin that he first committed to his children. Although
that sin has been wiped away by our baptism—there’s
no fault—there yet remains a fallen nature. Our nature
is disposed to look for the easy way out and to think
of ourselves rather than God.
Original sin is the cause of this self-love, the
“me first” mentality. At a very basic level, this is the
cause of all sin. Any sin involves a certain amount of
selfishness. We can see the effect of original sin even
in a very small child. Take a two-year-old child, for
instance; certainly there is no malice in a two-yearold, but we can see already the selfishness and the
“me first” mentality. Even at two, they want the world
to revolve around themselves. They demand to be
gratified immediately or else a tantrum ensues. The
role of the parents is to nip this attitude in the bud
as much as possible. Yet something of this mentality
and weakness will remain. Our fallen nature, which
constantly wants its own way and thinks of itself, will
stay.
We must fight against it. Even in fighting against
it, it will still stay. St. Francis de Sales says, “Self-love
can be mortified, but it never dies.” It’s similar to
weeds in a garden. Often the weeds are big and the
roots are deep. You reach down as far as you can
to reach the root but the weed snaps instead. The
root remains. Two days later, the weed re-appears.
Original sin is like this in a way. We work hard to
mortify ourselves, we snap the weed, but we can
never get the root. This is because the wound of
original sin stays. The weeds will always come back
up, which is why we must constantly continue the
weeding process and fight against self-love, which,
if we let it go, will choke out the love of God. In a

T

1
garden, the weeds will choke out good plants if the
weeds are ignored.
Because of original sin, we all have weeds, but
we also have the good plant, which is the love of
and faith in Almighty God which was planted at
our baptism. When we were baptized, we received
the seed of our faith and our love of God, the
supernatural virtues. Those virtues started to grow as
we grew and matured. But the weeds of self-love are
always working hard to shut out and choke the love of
Almighty God.
Our Christian life is a combat between self-love
on one hand and the love of God on the other hand.
Our goal always is to make more room in our heart
for Our Lord Jesus Christ and the life of grace. Love
is something intangible; there is no fixed amount.
It can grow to infinity. For the sake of the analogy,
however, think of the heart as something with a fixed
volume. Think of the love of self and the love of God
both seeking to expand. The love of self is constantly
seeking to grow, and as it grows it will push out the
love of God, for there is no room for both of them. If
the love of God grows, the love of self must decrease
in its turn. One will push out the other. To become a
saint is to grow in the love of God until the love of self
is completely pushed out.
Of course, to lose our soul, to commit a mortal
sin, is the other extreme. A mortal sin pushes out the
love of God. Only self-love remains at that point.
How can we fight this combat between self-love and
love of God? The answer is acts of penance, to go
against ourselves out of love for Almighty God, out
of a desire to love Almighty God more. Holy Mother
Church realizes these things.
We must recognize, however, that penance is only
a means. It’s absolutely necessary, but it’s not the
goal. Our goal is the love of God and the life of grace;
penance is a means to that goal. Sanctity, then, does
not consist in extreme mortification; it consists in the
love of Almighty God. We might look at a particular
saint and say, “Look at all the things he did! Look at
the tremendous penances!” But this is not what made
him a saint. What made him a saint was that which
motivated him to do those heroic acts for the love of
God.
But for us to insist on heroic acts of penance to
become a saint can be dangerous. Any penance must
conform to our duty of state. For instance, should a
mother of a family decide to eat only one meal a day
in order to do penance? Half-way through the day,
she may be so exhausted that she has to lie down and
take a nap because she didn’t eat. Maybe she can’t
take care of the kids because she didn’t eat, or her
nerves are so frayed that she’s constantly snapping
at the children. This kind of penance is not fitting
for this duty of state. The devil has won a victory in
such cases. This woman may think she is working for
sanctity, but in fact she is neglecting that which will

give her sanctity for something that has nothing to do
with sanctity except as a means.
Penance has no value in itself. It is not sanctity.
God doesn’t have need of our fasting. He doesn’t
have need of our sweets or of anything we might offer
to Him. He wants the love and faith that are behind
those offerings. That’s what makes the difference to
God. It’s similar to a small child who offers a lollipop
to his mother; the mother might not want it, but she
sees the love which is behind such a gesture. But it’s
not the lollipop that makes the difference. So it is with
Almighty God.
What we’re looking for then, as we choose our
penances, is the spirit of penance. This is what counts;
in other words, the love of God, the desire to love
God and looking for opportunities to prove our love
for Almighty God. We shouldn’t approach Advent
thinking, “I have to do something for Advent, so I
won’t eat dessert after dinner.” It’s not as simple as
doing things out of habit; by doing that, we don’t
demonstrate any real love for God. What we want
is the spirit behind it. That spirit means looking for
opportunities to give something to Our Lord. It must
go beyond a mere penance we choose, whether it’s
giving up sweets or television or reading the sports
section. It goes far beyond that; the spirit of penance
must seep into our whole life during the time of
Advent. It is the spirit which is behind penance that
counts with Almighty God.
Understanding, then, what penance is and what
it is for, we can now profitably discuss penance
in practice. What are we going to do? The first
question is: “What am I going to do to make it a good
Advent?” We have to realize that penance falls into
two general categories. First is self-imposed penance,
things chosen by ourselves, like giving up sweets. The
other category are things we do not choose, things
that the good God chooses for us–for example, an
illness. In such a case, God has chosen something
which is a penance; we don’t choose it for ourselves.
When we hear the word “penance,” we usually
think of the first category, the self-imposed penances.
Unfortunately, because we lack the spirit of penance,
we tend to limit our penance not only to things
imposed on ourselves, but to things which are rather
superficial. In fact, most people tend to limit them to
acts of temperance; for instance, not eating sweets,
skipping breakfast, giving up coffee, alcohol, smoking,
etc. All of these are examples of temperance. Most of
us go no further than that.
We forget that, with regards to penance, there
are countless fields and areas to choose from. For
example, we can choose the control of the senses. We
can practice custody of the eyes and try to control
what we look at in public and what we read in the
papers and magazines. Or we can practice the control
of our tongues, trying to say only charitable things. To
be specific, we could give up saying anything while
we are impatient, frustrated, or angry. Or we could
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THE ANGELUS • December 2006

2
work on controlling our imagination, especially if we
are apt to daydream. We could do a decade of the
Rosary or a particular work we don’t like each time
we catch ourselves daydreaming. Another example
would be working against our passions: anger, hatred,
etc. Choose one of them, mortify it and don’t let it
control you. For example, if you are frustrated with
someone, don’t let the passion of anger dominate you,
and offer up for your penance the mortification of that
passion. Refuse to let yourself dwell on it. Every time
that person crosses your mind, offer a Hail Mary for
that person. Bodily discipline is another possibility for
penance: how we sit, how we stand, etc.
All of these are different fields of penance, and
the key for us is to pick a penance which corresponds
to our weaknesses. For instance, if you’re disposed to
gossiping, don’t make telephone calls unless necessary
and set a time-limit for when people call you—maybe
ten minutes. It’s a good practical penance that works
on a weakness. Or maybe you’re the father of a family
who watches TV all the time, neglecting your wife
and children. There’s a weakness. What can you do?
Disconnect the TV for Advent. Maybe you waste
time at work and don’t put in a good day’s labor. As
a penance, focus on getting your job done as well and
as quickly as possible. Maybe you don’t go to bed
on time. And if you don’t go to bed on time, maybe
you don’t get up on time and neglect your morning
prayers. As a penance for Advent, then, go to bed
at a fixed hour. There is a penance you can pick for
any weakness. These are ways to truly go against
ourselves. This is the way we truly root out that selflove and make room in our heart for a greater love of
Almighty God.
These self-imposed penances, things that we
choose for ourselves, are very excellent and very
necessary, but they are not the essential. If you think
about it, there is self-love even in choosing what we
want to do for penance. Sometimes it’s very easy to
see. “Okay, it’s Advent, I’ll give up snacks; after all,
I am a little bit overweight.” “I’ll give up smoking;
I’ve always wanted to show them I can quit when I
want.” There is self-love in these kinds of penance.
Sometimes it’s a self-love that is so subtle; it is
relatively easy to do even very difficult things so long
as we choose it ourselves. If somebody else chooses
the same thing for us, it is suddenly not so easy. I
remember being at the seminary during Advent
one year. The rector chose a penance for the whole
community: “For breakfast in the morning, there
will be no jam.” You would be surprised how many
seminarians had a hard time accepting it. It was very
difficult for them to give up jam; they would rather
choose their own penance, thank you very much. It
was more difficult because they didn’t choose it.
The kind of penances which are not chosen by
ourselves, the penances chosen by Almighty God,
are the most precious, the ones that serve God more,
and the ones that root out self-love most effectively.
To accept generously all that our daily life brings us
THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

is not easy. After all, God knows better than we do
the penances which are necessary for us. If He picks
a particular penance, whether it is a husband or wife
who frustrates us, or an illness, or whatever it might
be, it is that which we need to really work against our
weaknesses and to root out self-love. And if He picked
it, we know that there is no self-love involved at all.
Very often, these kinds of penances come in the
field of our duty of state. If you’re a priest, what is the
most effective penance? It will be something that will
help you become a better priest. If you’re a father of
a family, what is the best penance for Advent? It will
be something that will help you be a better father and
husband. If you’re the mother of a family, it will help
you be a better mother and wife. If you’re a child, it
will help you be a better student and child.
Daily life is where we are going to find the fertile
field where we can really choose something to help us
be a better Catholic and root out self-love. Our Lord
has already chosen. You don’t need to look very hard,
especially if you’re married. How true it is; those of
you who are married need look no further than your
spouse and children for Advent. You don’t need to
give up sweets. You may; it might be good for you to
do it, but that’s not where you need to start. Look at
your family. Right there is where you need to work.
There is much here for us to reflect on. If we truly
wanted to have a good Advent, if we truly wanted to
prepare and make room in our hearts for the special
presence of Our Lord at Christmas time, it comes
with the Advent liturgy. The key is generosity. The
saints say that in the measure that we give ourselves
to Almighty God, in the same measure He will give
Himself to us. We need to be generous.
First, we must make resolutions. Advent tends to
sneak up on us. All of a sudden, it’s the First Sunday
in Advent and we haven’t even thought about it.
Perhaps we never seriously think about it, so we never
make firm and solid resolutions, and two days later,
they’re forgotten. Three weeks later, we look back
and say “It wasn’t a very good Advent.”
We need to reflect and then solidify concrete,
practical, simple resolutions which are going to help
us work on our self-love. Don’t let Advent arrive
before doing this. If you reflect, think, and choose,
keeping in mind some of the principles in this article,
you will have a good Advent. Of course, you will
need to constantly renew those resolutions. At least
you will be off to a good start.
Let us, then, be generous and truly prepare
for Advent so that we can receive the mystical
and mysterious birth of Our Lord in our souls on
Christmas Day.
Fr. Beck was ordained for the SSPX at Ecône in 1996. He has been assigned
to the US District headquarters since his ordination, while serving parishes
in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and Minnesota. He is currently in
charge of the SSPX’s education program in the US. The sermon was preached
on November 28, 1999, at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Transcribed and edited by Angelus Press.

F R .

p e t e r

Are we to consider all the provisions
of the 1917 Code of Canon Law
to have been abrogated?

This question can only be answered with the
necessary nuances in two stages. The first and most
important response is on the level of the principles of
law, without which we cannot determine the value of
the letter of the law.

Principles
The first principle to be recognized is the
universally accepted theological principle that a law
is by definition an ordering of reason to the common
good. Consequently a human law (e.g. an ecclesiastical
law) that is manifestly unjust because it is opposed
either to the common or to the divine law, (that is, to
the natural law or to divine revelation), is not a law at
all, being incapable of attaining the end of the law, “the
salvation of souls, which in the Church is always the highest
law” (1983 Code, Canon 152).
The second principle is that the 1983 Code, like
all collections of law that preceded it, is a collection
of different laws, originating at different times and in
different circumstances, although all promulgated at
the same time. Consequently, it is perfectly possible
to accept one law as just, and reject another as
manifestly unjust, and still to respect the legislator who
promulgated such a confusing mixture of good and evil.
A third principle is the clear statement made
by Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic Constitution
introducing the 1983 Code, Sacrae Disciplinae Leges, that
the “fundamental reason for the novelties” found in this
Code is the new Ecclesiology of Vatican II. This new
ecclesiology, or new understanding of the Church, with
its collegiality, religious liberty, ecumenism, and denial
of the necessity of belonging to the Catholic Church,
outside of which there is no salvation, is manifestly
opposed to the divine revelation found in the Gospel
and repeatedly taught by the Church’s Magisterium. We
cannot, therefore, accept the new Code as a whole as a
law of the Church, on account of the danger to the Faith
that this would mean, on account of the revolutionary
end for which it was instituted, and on account of the
liberal spirit that permeates it.

Canons Opposed to the Faith
There are consequently some canons that all
traditional Catholics clearly see must be refused, such
as Canon 844 that promotes sacramental hospitality
with non-Catholics. Such a law destroys the Faith in
the Catholic Church as the one true Church, and is no
law at all, being directly opposed to the common good

R .

3

s c o t t

and salvation of souls. Another example of a canon
that is opposed to the Church’s Faith is Canon 1055,
§1, that redefines the two ends of marriage, in direct
contradiction to the constant teaching of the Church,
for example in Casti Connubii of Pope Pius XI. The
consequences are tremendous, particularly in the whole
question of declarations of nullity of marriage.

Canons Opposed to Tradition
There are other canons that are not directly
opposed to a teaching of the Church but are entirely
unacceptable because they undermine, destroy, or
contradict an age-old tradition of the Church, protecting
the sacredness of its sacraments and teaching. The
typical example of this is the passage into the Code of
Paul VI’s 192 abolition by omission of the tonsure and
all the minor orders, and even the subdiaconate (Canon
2), the tonsure having existed for 11 centuries, and
the minor orders for at least 1 centuries. Canon 5 of
both the 1983 and 191 Codes admits the possibility
of maintaining centennial and immemorial customs
that are not against the law. This is one such case,
necessary for the existence of the traditional rite, even
in communities that are approved by Rome, but for
whose tonsure and minor orders there is no canonical
provision.

Questions of Purely Positive Law
Finally, there are other canons that depend purely
and simply upon the will of the Sovereign Pontiff, the
Church’s supreme legislator, such as the granting of
indulgences, or censures or obligations under pain of
mortal sin. In such cases, we are obliged to accept the
much reduced protection for the Church, her faith, and
her moral life that the 1983 Code provides.
One typical example of this is the law that frees
Catholics who have formally apostatized from the
Church from the obligation of observing the canonical
form of marriage (Canon 111). This canon is also a
tragic betrayal of the Faith. It means that a Catholic
can be recognized to have left the Church, that one
who is a Catholic is not necessarily always a Catholic;
namely, that one has a right to apostatize, which the
Church recognizes, permitting a Catholic in such a
state to marry validly outside the Church. This causes
great confusion, for when such persons return to the
Church, usually after the failure of their non-Catholic
marriage, they are no longer free to marry in the
Church on account of the sins committed in apostasy.
However, since the Pope does not bind such persons
to the canonical form of marriage, neither can we,
and consequently we have to accept this canon, as
unfortunate as it might be.
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THE ANGELUS • December 2006


The same applies for censures, such as the
excommunication against Freemasons contained in
the 191 Code (Canon 2335), but no longer contained,
alas, in the 1983 Code (Canon 134). Those who
joined the Freemasonic sect after 1983 cannot, then,
be considered as automatically excommunicated.

Conclusion
The great difficulty, then, in assessing the 1983
Code will be to consider each canon separately, as
to its justice and conformity with the teaching and
Tradition of the Church. Those canons that are not
just nor in conformity with the Church’s teachings
or Tradition are not to be observed, unless they
are questions that depend upon the sole will of the
legislator.
Note especially that it is the 191 Code alone
that gives us the mind of the Church and that can
be safely followed in questions of morality and the
spiritual life. Note, also, the real danger of wouldbe canon lawyers quoting canons out of context,
without understanding the fundamental principles
of law and the principles of interpretation. A purely
exterior legalism is the consequence, not so different
from the attitude of the Pharisees towards Our Lord,
refusing to see in Him the Messias because he fulfilled
the fundamental reason for the law rather than the
external observances that preoccupied them. Such
an empty legalism despises the role of Theology and
Tradition in interpreting the law.

Q

Can traditional priests absolve from
censures in the internal forum?

Censures are canonical punishments that are
imposed upon Catholics who have committed
grave crimes against God or the Church. There are
much fewer censures in the 1983 Code than in the
191 Code. However, some still remain, such as
the automatic excommunication for any Catholic
who would perform or in any way cooperate in an
abortion (Canon 1398). Normally such a censure,
which prevents a Catholic from receiving any of the
sacraments, is to be remitted by the Ordinary of the
diocese. However, both Codes foresee the possibility
of remission in the confessional, either with delegation
from the Ordinary, or in the usual situation in which
it is spiritually urgent to receive the absolution from
the censure so that the sacraments can be received
(Canon 2254 of the 191 Code and Canon 135 of the
1983 Code).
There are some minor differences between
the two Codes on secondary questions. One such
difference, which concerns the priests of the Society,

A

THE ANGELUS • December 2006 www.angeluspress.org

is the 1983 Code’s omission of the possibility of
remission of censures by the confessor in the internal
forum in the exceptional case of moral impossibility
of recourse to the proper superior, as provided for by
anon 2254, §3 of the 191 Code. Canon 135 of the
1983 Code is otherwise very similar, permitting priests
to absolve from censures in the internal forum, but
simply does not speak of the exceptional case of moral
impossibility of recourse. Our priests are certainly
in this case, given that the bishops and the Sacred
Penitentiary regularly refuse to grant the jurisdiction
to absolve in such cases. However, it is perfectly
understandable that the law could not foresee the
case of our priests having to absolve with supplied
jurisdiction. Nor need it for that matter, for nobody
can be bound to have recourse when it is impossible,
nor does the Church refuse the sacraments in such
cases. To the contrary, it always grants the priest the
right to absolve from sins, as, for example, in case of
danger of death (Canon 882 of the 191 Code and
Canon 9 of the 1983 Code).
The laws concerning correct interpretation are
to be followed in such cases, as described in Canons
1 and 19 of the 1983 Code. The interpretation is to
be made according to laws in similar circumstances
(i.e. the absolution from sins by a priest without
jurisdiction in case of danger of death), the general
principles of law, and the common practice of the
Roman Curia. This interpretation is precisely what is
contained explicitly in the 191 Code. This particular
precision is not opposed to the new law, but is simply
not mentioned in it.
In such cases the 191 Code helps us to interpret
the 1983 Code. The 1983 Code, Canon , §2 points
out that canons that refer to the old law (this is
the case) are to be judged according to canonical
Tradition, and that customs that are not against the
law are to be maintained (Canon 5, §2). Also, Canon
20 of the 1983 Code states that a later law only
abrogates an earlier law if it explicitly states so, or if
it is directly contrary to it, or if it regulates the whole
matter treated by the law. This is not the case with
the moral impossibility of recourse, for it is simply
not treated. Consequently, this particular detail is not
abrogated.
The 191 Code is more explicit when it states
the canonical principle that in case of doubt the
prescriptions of the old law are to be retained (Canon
, §4). Consequently in such cases there is really
no opposition between the Codes, but it is simply
an application of the more general principles of
interpretation and supplied jurisdiction admitted by
both Codes.
Fr. Peter Scott was ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988. After assignments as seminary professor and the U.S. District Superior, he is currently the
rector of Holy Cross Seminary in Goulburn, Australia.

GARCIA MORENO
Fr. Augustine Berthe

Can governments publicly profess the Catholic faith in modern times? Catholic
governments were formerly commonplace during the Middle Ages when Christendom
extended throughout Europe. But now such a possibility is scorned as being out of date and
impractical. Instead the Freemasonic axiom of separation of Church and State has become
universally accepted, despite the fact that this notion has been repeatedly condemned
by the Catholic Church. In this book, the reader will see that it is possible to vanquish the
Revolution and wrest nations from its mortal embrace: Garcia Moreno, held the Revolution
“God does not die.” “Here the
at his feet, for 15 years. What is needed today is a Christian Hercules, a Garcia Moreno,
equipped with the armor of Christ, that is, the social truths of which the Church alone is the President of the Republic Gabriel
Garcia Moreno was assassinated.”
keeper. The true, the only Liberator is Jesus Christ, because He is the truth, and the truth
alone can deliver the nations. Veritas liberabit vos–The Truth shall make you free. Alone
among all the heads of state, in the wake of the French Revolution and the collapse of societies it brought about, Garcia Moreno
restored Christian government in Ecuador and merited the glorious name of Regenerator of the Fatherland; alone, despite
calumniators and assassins, he gave the world a unique example of unshakable fortitude in the accomplishment of duty; alone,
surrounded by tyrants who fought over the nations only to empty their purses, their minds and their hearts, he heaped immense
and imperishable benefits upon his nation in the material, intellectual, moral and religious orders; alone, finally, a heroic martyr
for Catholic civilization, he gave his blood for the noble cause he had defended. Thus he stands before us as the great political
401pp, softcover,
man of the 19th century, the type, so rarely seen, of the savior of nations. This is THE definitive biography of Garcia Moreno
66
photos
and drawings,
written by French priest Fr. Augustine Berthe in 1877 and translated into English by Lady Elizabeth Herbert of Lea in 1889 (a
STK# 3097. $17.99
fascinating person in her own right: wife of the British Minister of War and Anglican convert to Catholicism).

N EW I NG
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The Intimate Life of St. Therese
Fr. Albert Dolan, O.Carm.

This unique book deals with the spiritual journey of St. Therese, either as she saw herself, or as she was known by her parents,
four sisters, fellow religious and childhood friends. Fr. Dolan traveled, in 1924, to France, where St. Thérèse was born, to her family
home, and to the Carmel at Lisieux. He went to Rome, and spoke to Pope Pius XI of his apostolate to make the “Little Way” better
known in America. At the Carmelite convent he was blessed with interviews with St. Thérèse’s three sisters (who were nuns there),
and one of her teachers. At Caen, he visited her fourth sister, a Visitation nun. One third of this book is dedicated to these precious
recollections gathered from her siblings, and another part is devoted to the her saintly mother, Zelie.
Fr. Dolan founded the “Little Flower” Society in 1923, established the shrine of the Society of the Little Flower. For many years he
went about the US and Canada lecturing on St. Thérèse and establishing more shrines in her honor. In all, Fr. Dolan wrote 53 books.
Many of these were written to promote St. Thérèse’s practical spiritual doctrine, also known as the “little way.”

N EWI NG
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389pp, softcover, 37 illustrations, STK# 4053 $29.95

Baptism
Compiled by Angelus Press

There are three types of Baptism. No, I am not talking about water, blood and desire.
Nor am I speaking of immersion, infusion and aspersion. For a normal infant baptism
(infusion with water, technically speaking), I have witnessed, “chaotic baptism,” “clueless
baptism” and “orderly and intelligent baptism.” What, you may ask, am I talking about?
In “chaotic baptism,” there are generally a bunch of people and the priest shows up with
two or three rituals–all of which are shared, tugged at or fought over by the attendees. At
a “clueless baptism,” there may be a few rituals present, perhaps some St. Andrew Daily
Missals (with its incomplete Rite of Baptism) and those who are not fortunate enough
to have one of the above stand silently and make as much sense of things as possible.
Lastly, “orderly and intelligent baptism.” There is one essential ingredient, and that is that
everyone in attendance have a copy of the Rite of Baptism in English and Latin. There
are two sources for this. Ideally, one would flip to the Rite of Baptism in Angelus Press’s
1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal. Ahh–perfect. The whole rite to follow. You can even
share with a neighbor...but hopefully not three or four!
Not everyone has the Roman Catholic Daily Missal and so we have produced
BAPTISm, which contains the entire Rite of Baptism. Ideally, the church should make
them available for use at baptisms, but otherwise, bring your own. Everything you
need (and not just for observers, but also parents and godparents) is there. They are
inexpensive enough that everyone can have one and fully concentrate on the rich
ceremonial the Church provides for creating new members of the Mystical Body of
Christ. Simply, I don’t think I have ever been to a baptism where I would not have
bought one of these books for everyone present, just so people could pray along
with the Church in these beautiful prayers. EVERY CHURCH AND CHAPEL
SHOULD HAVE THESE AVAILABLE TO THE FAITHFUL.

•

Chapters include: On Holy Baptism by Fr. Franz Schmidberger
Church Teaching About Baptism The Ceremonies of Baptism
The Serious Obligations of Godparents The Churching of Women
Blessing of a Woman after Childbirth and of Her Child Consecration
of a Child to the Immaculate Heart of Mary The Rite for the Baptism
of Adults The Reception of Converts.

•
•
•

•

•

78pp, softover, STK# 8209 $4.95

•
•

•

25 pack, STK# 8210 $64.95

N EWI NG
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Is It a Saint’s Name?

From ancient times, the Church has required
baptismal names which have a Christian significance.
Most are saints’ names, but others are variants on
titles and feasts of the Blessed Virgin, for example.
The great number of martyrs, confessors, and
holy persons presents a bewildering selection to any
new parent. This little booklet helps you sort through
these choices by presenting over 3,000 names for
boys and girls including the saint whose name the
variant (if applicable) is derived from and the feast
day of the saint–so you know when to celebrate your
child’s “name day,” a Catholic custom that previously
was more important than one’s birthday! Includes an
extensive list of Patron Saints.
47pp, softcover, STK# 8217 $3.00

Christmas Cards
Keep Christ (and Mass) in “ChristMass” this year with these two beautiful designs
from the murals of Dom Bonaventure Ostendorp, OSB and Dom Raphael Pfisterer,
OSB. The text inside the card is taken from the Postcommunion of the Third Mass
of Christmas Day and reads “Grant, we beseech Thee almighty God, that as the
Savior of the world born on this day, is the Author of our heavenly birth, so He may
also be to us the Giver of immortality. Amen.” Both designs come in packs of 10 or
25. Envelopes included.

Nativity, 10 cards aNd eNvelopes, boxed, stK# 8060 $7.95
Nativity, 25 cards aNd eNvelopes, boxed, stK# 8060X $14.95
three Wise MeN, 10 cards aNd eNvelopes, boxed, stK# 8061 $7.95
three Wise MeN, 25 cards aNd eNvelopes, boxed, stK# 8061X $14.95

Know

is a det Your Ma
ail
s
step-by ed, fully illustr s
of the T -step explana ated
rad
tion
now rEitional Latin Ma
ss
Pr
THE FIr InTED For
In FuLL sT TIME
CoLor
!

Know Your Mass
Fr. Demetrius Manousos

Originally published by the Catechetical Guild in 1954 (Imprimatur Francis Cardinal Spellman),
this is a “comic” book unlike any other. Know Your Mass is a detailed, fully illustrated step-by-step
explanation of the Traditional Latin Mass now rEPrInTED For THE FIrsT TIME In FuLL
CoLor! The book presents the theology of the Mass in a manner easily understood by children
and yet incredibly interesting and informative for adults as well. This should come as no surprise
to those who have read The Seven Sacraments, another Angelus Press Fr. Manousos reprint. He
has the amazing ability to take solid theology and present it to children...without dumbing it down.
He was truly a gifted writer. This makes Know Your Mass an excellent catechetical tool for all ages.
All parts of the Holy Sacrifice are covered, from the preparation for Mass, the altar, sacred vessels
and vestments, liturgical actions, the sanctuary, and some liturgical history as well, to helpful
suggestions for children to get the most–or should we say give the most–at Mass. Ideal, NO,
PERFECT, as a First Holy Communion gift. Great for converts as well. Anyone who delves into
this book cannot come away ignorant of the true significance of the liturgical representation of Our
Lord’s Sacrifice on Calvary that is the Holy Mass. Highly recommended.

96pp, softcover, color throughout, stK# 1022 $14.95

www.angeluspress.org l 1-8 00-9 6 6-73 37
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