SSPX Australia District Newsletter – October 2009

My dear Brethren,

The visit of Bishop Fellay which took place a few weeks ago was, as always, a great success.  It was a great pleasure to have our Superior General amongst us.  At each of the places he visited he gave a conference which was most informative in regard to the recent events since the lifting of the “excommunications” some months ago and the current situation with regard to the Vatican.

The highlight of the visit was the tenth anniversary of St. Philomena’s School at Park Ridge on Saturday 8th August.  This was a delightful occasion with Pontifical High Mass celebrated in the school grounds followed by a concert performed by the school children and an excellent lunch.  Various celebrities were present including the Mayor of Logan and a former Speaker of the Queensland Parliament.  This was also an occasion to unveil plans for the complete replacement of the present school buildings by others of a more substantial and permanent character which are to be executed in a Spanish colonial style which will be highly attractive in the woodland setting of the property. Sadly, in the course of the Bishop’s visit to Brisbane we learned that Father Lafitte was to be transferred to France.  This has already happened and at the present time only Fathers MacDonald and Arthur are together administering the school and serving the several chapels which are served from Brisbane.  However, Bishop Fellay has assured us that another priest will be sent to Queensland at the end of the year after the forthcoming ordinations at Goulburn in December.

For some time it has been the wish of Bishop Fellay that the priests of the Society should not live alone for any length of time.  Accordingly, Father MacDonald has now moved his residence from Oxley to Park Ridge in order to share the religious community life with Father Arthur.  When the new priest arrives all three will be living at St. Philomena’s.

Another notable event which took place during Bishop Fellay’s visit was the very impressive confirmation ceremony at Corpus Christi church at Tynong when 120 persons were confirmed before the solemn Pontifical Mass which took place on Sunday 9th August.  The following day the Bishop blessed the new state-of-the-art science building at St. Thomas Aquinas College and was able to see the great progress which has been made there in the two short years since his last visit.

As you are all aware Corpus Christi church at Tynong was originally an enormous shed used for agricultural exhibitions.  The interior has now been transformed into a splendid church somewhat resembling a Roman basilica.  I am now delighted to announce that work has begun on the exterior.  The huge façade will be completely remodeled in the classical style and the final result should be very impressive indeed and worthy of the largest Traditional Catholic church in the southern hemisphere!  Inevitably, considerable costs will be incurred and all contributions towards the realisation of this great work will be gratefully accepted.

At long last work on our church and presbytery in Adelaide has been completed.  Four years ago the Society possessed quite charming old buildings in a prime location in the centre of town.  The small but tasteful stone Gothic church was, however, attached to a very run down and dilapidated hall and the presbytery across the street was ruinous.  Efforts to restore these buildings were exceedingly slow and painful and I was extremely grateful to be able to enlist the help of Mr. Des Doyle, a septuagenarian builder well past retirement age, to assist us to restore the house which had been so neglected that it required to be partially demolished and rebuilt.  With remarkable zeal and energy Mr. Doyle, together with his devoted wife Maureen, began working from morning till night every day, engaging professional labour when necessary and with occasional help from other parishioners.

The completion of the house about two years ago however, did not exhaust their generosity for in spite of their great age and the enormous efforts put into the restoration of what became a very pleasant residence for the priests, they then set to work on the decaying buildings attached to the church and so week after week, month after month they would be found, oftentimes quite alone, on this huge building site with Des at his workbench and Maureen, brush in hand, keeping things in order.  Everything was renewed, the very large hall, the kitchen, the lavatory facilities, the roofs, windows and stonework repaired.  It would have been a mammoth task for persons half their age and in all my years as a priest I have rarely met such generous devotion.  Now the task is complete and I am eternally grateful to them.  Sadly, Maureen died just a couple of months before the work was completed.  We owe her an enormous debt of gratitude.  Please pray for the repose of her soul.

This month of October is, of course, dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary and I beg you, please, not to forget the Rosary Crusade launched by Bishop Fellay some months ago.  In order to offer the twelve million rosaries requested we must set ourselves to the task and persevere in it.  Please also be careful to note accurately the number of rosaries recited so that we may take a count of them when the crusade ends on the feast of the Annunciation, 25th March next year.

October also culminates in the great feast of Christ the King and once again this year a public procession of the Blessed Sacrament will take place on that day following Solemn High Mass in the Rockdale Town Hall and ending with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at the church.  This event has now been held for 25 years and I beg all who are able once again this year, to make every effort to be present to honour Christ our King in the Blessed Sacrament.  This year Father Shane Johnson, the District Assistant, will celebrate the Mass and lead the procession.

Soon November, the month of the Holy Souls will be upon us.  As in previous years, an envelope is enclosed with this letter on which you may list the names of your friends and relatives before it is placed on the altar where they will be remembered at Masses during this month.

With every good wish and blessing,

Yours sincerely in Christ,

Father Edward Black
District Superior