Tag Archives: Priestly fraternity of St. Peter

Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter Take on New Apostolate

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, a clerical society of apostolic life of pontifical right (a community of Roman Catholic priests who do not take religious vows, but who work together for a common mission in the world) has been invited to take on a new apostolate in Archdiocese of Baltimore.

St. Alphonsus Church

They have been entrusted with St. Alphonsus Church, their first entree in the Baltimore/Washington, DC, area. And what an historic church it is! St. John Neumann served as pastor from 1848-1849, and Bl. Francis Seelos, C.Ss.R., was pastor from 1854-1857. It is also the National Shrine of St. Alphonsus Ligouri.

The particular charism and mission of the Fraternity is to offer the Sacred Liturgy, including the Holy Mass and the Divine Office, as well as the sacraments, in all of their traditional solemnity, according to the Latin liturgical books of 1962.

The Fraternity is excited to be in this new mission field “for the promotion of our liturgical heritage for the glory of God and the sanctification of souls.”

 

 

Son of Poland’s Prime Prime Minister Ordained FSSP Priest!

On May 29th, the Prime Minister of Poland, Beata Szydlo, and her husband, Edward, had the unique privilege of attending the first Mass of her newly ordained son, Fr. Tymoteusz Szydlo, at their home parish of Our Lady of Częstochowa in Przecieszyn in southern Poland. Father Szydlo is a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an order founded in 1988 and known for celebrating Mass in the Extraordinary Form. “Human words are unable to express the gratitude I owe You, my God,” Father said. “Therefore, I humbly ask You to keep me in Your holy service.”

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter was founded at the Abbey of Hauterive in Switzerland by a dozen priests and a score of seminarians. Their mission is the formation and sanctification of their priests, using the traditional liturgy of the Roman Rite to worship Our Lord and to serve the Church across the world. Shortly after their foundation, they moved to Germany, which is now the location of their European seminary. They also have a house of formation in Denton, Nebraska. Currently, there are 270 priests and 132 seminarians in the Fraternity serving in 124 dioceses including 34 in the United States.

“This is not an easy road,” the Prime Minister said. “especially these days I think young people like them have an extremely important mission to fulfill. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for … all of my son’s fellow seminarians and for my son. I hope they will persevere and do a lot of good for everyone, for all of us. They are wonderful young people.”

Visit the FSSP website for more information.

Using the ancient liturgy as our well-spring, we form our priests in the traditions of the Church to serve at the altar and in the parish so that the fullness of Christ might enter the emptiness of the world.

The Only Vocation I Could Be Satisfied With

fr walkerOn the night of June 11, 2014, Fr. Kenneth Walker, FSSP, age 28, was shot to death in an apparent robbery attempt in his own rectory at Mater Misericordiae Mission in Phoenix, Arizona. The pastor, Fr.  Joseph Terra, FSSP, was severely beaten but thanks be to God, survived the attack.

According to the Vicar General of the Phoenix diocese, Fr. Terra was able to administer the Last Rites to Father Walker. Father Walker’s sister Sasha said that her family is able to smile through their tears because “he had Last Rites, and it gives us so much peace knowing that he was able to have those special graces.”

Who was Father Walker? He was ordained just 2 years ago by His Excellency Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz. Parishoners described Father Walker as a “sweet, gentle man,” “a young bright face almost angelic disposition” with “complete faithfulness to the Church.” The two priests at the Mission were often seen sitting on either side of the altar chanting Latin prayers. They prayed outside abortion clinics every week.

Both Fr. Walker and Fr. Terra were “incredibly devout and focused on their mission as priests of the Church.”

Fr. Walker was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, one of 11 children.His family’s life changed when they came across a book entitled, The Incredible Catholic Mass, which introduced them for the first time to the Latin Mass. On his own initiative, Father taught himself Latin and became an altar server at an FSSP apostolate in Scranton, PA. He attended Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy in Ontario and then entered the FSSP seminary.

The Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, Very Rev. John Berg, said:

“In an age where we seem so centered upon ‘clerical stars’ and are constantly searching for the ‘newest approach to evangelization,’ the life of our confrere gave witness to one of the greatest priestly virtues, a quiet and consistent strength, which is a mark of the Good Shepherd who watches vigilantly over His flock in season and out of season.”

We should appropriately end with Father Walker’s own words, written on his FSSP application:

God, in His infinite love, desires all men to be saved and so achieve their true end. Along with the Church, then, I am deeply grieved by these errors concerning the nature and dignity of man accepted by so many people in the world, which deviate them from their supernatural end. In full view of the situation in the world, then, the only vocation that I could be satisfied with, as a work, would be one that would be dedicated to bringing people to salvation in whatever way God wills for me to do so.

Mater Misericordiae, Ora pro nobis

Requiescat in Pace, dear Father.

 

 

Twenty-Five years of Faithful Service

On July 18, 2013, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) celebrated its 25th anniversary. Founded in 1988 by former members of the Society of St. Pius X, it has enjoyed spectacular growth, with 240 priests and 140 seminarians worldwide.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre formed the Society of St. Pius X in response to the liturgical abuses that developed after Vatican II. But when he consecrated four bishops against the wishes of Pope John Paul II, Fr. Josef Bisig and 11 other priests along with many seminarians left the organization on order to be obedient to the Holy Father. Founding an order that retains the traditional Latin liturgy was done with humility and fealty to the Church.

With the support of the then-Cardinal Ratzinger, Bishop Joseph Stimpfle of Augsburg, Germany gave the Fraternity a home in Wigratzbad, a Marian shrine in Bavaria, that is now the Fraternity’s European seminary. Fr. Bissig was the first Superior General, a position he held until 2000.The FSSP’s mission is twofold: “formation and sanctification of priests in the cadre of the traditional liturgy of the Roman rite, and secondly, the pastoral deployment of the priests in the service of the Church.”

The fraternity’s missionary work is worldwide with more than 50 locations in North America alone. To find a parish near you, click here! Their US seminary is in Denton, Nebraska where their Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe was consecrated in 2010.

For more information, see the National Catholic Register’s article.

Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

Pope Benedict XVI & Fr. John Berg, Superior General

It has been awhile since I looked at the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter’s website so I was happy to see that they have the largest class of tonsurandi in their history. The term tonsurandi was new to me so I was glad that they provided an explanation. The Rite of Tonsure is administered early in the second year of formation, and is the point at which a seminarian is invested with the cassock and surplice.

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, an IRL Affiliate, was founded in 1988 in Switzerland, though they established their Motherhouse in Wigratzbad, Germany, shortly thereafter. They were blessed in 1990 to have a visit from the then-Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, who celebrated mass in the Traditional rite and has been a good friend to them from their beginnings. I’m sure they will miss his paternal support.

In a statement released after the announcement of Pope Benedict’s abdication the Fraternity said: “We offer our sincere gratitude to the Holy Father for his tireless efforts to guide the barque of St. Peter along the path set out for Her by God. We thank him, in particular, for his kindness and paternal solicitude, especially on behalf of the faithful attached to the Extraordinary Form of the Latin Rite, which he universally restored to its honored place in the Church by his Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum in 2007.”

The Fraternity seminary in the Unites States, one of two that they operate, is located in Denton, Nebraska, which when it opened in 2000 welcomed 50 seminarians! They have many parishes throughout North America and Europe and Australia as well as missions in Nigeria and Brazil. Today, they have an astounding 397 members (11/2012) according to their website.