Skip to main content

Athanasius Smiled: Taking Back One of Our Places - The Remnant

Image
By
+
JMJ

This has been development for a long time and worthy of celebration!


P^3


Redication Booklet

Courtesy of the Remnant



Athanasius Smiled: Taking Back One of Our Places Featured

Written by  
St. James the GreaterSt. James the Greater
In his letter to Catholics suffering at the hands of Arian heretics, the great St. Athanasius writes: "I know moreover that not only this thing saddens you, but also the fact that while others have obtained the churches by violence, you are meanwhile cast out from your places. For they hold the places, but you the Apostolic Faith." 
Today Athanasius smiled, for in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States of America a gathering of faithful Catholics witnessed a truly remarkable event: the dedication ceremony of new Catholic Church.
Now, by “new” I don’t mean to refer to the age of the actual building, for the West End parish of St. James the Greater was established in 1853. No, by “new” I mean in the sense that this building, which fell into disuse after the Second Vatican Council and was eventually sold off to a businessman to be used for secular purposes, has as of this morning been redeemed and rededicated to the holy purposes for which Catholics from many years ago had built it in the first place. The building is being placed back in the service of the Catholic Faith and the salvation of souls.
st. jamesThe Diocese of Pittsburgh may not be happy with this development but it is not difficult to imagine heaven rejoicing on this day, along with faithfulCatholics all around the world who see this as a heaven-sent sign of things to come if we can just hold fast to the faith of our fathers during these times of upheaval in the Church. 

To fully appreciate the long journey St. James has taken in order to reestablish the mission of salvation for which the church was built, readers may wish to peruse the SSPX’s 44-page St. James Church Re-Dedication commemorative brochure, which has been compiled by the new pastor of St. James, Father Patrick Rutledge, and can be viewed here

This morning, following a procession of priests and faithful through the streets of Pittsburgh, St. James Catholic Church at 326 S. Main Street was blessed at 11:00am by Fr. Niklaus Pfluger (First Assistant to the Superior General, Bishop Bernard Fellay). A Solemn Mass (see photo) followed, making it official: the SSPX has taken back one of ours but in a spirit of humility and gratitude to God for his goodness.
This day was a long time coming
james renovate
As the recent SSPX press release put it: 

For many years the Society of St. Pius X has performed its apostolic work for the salvation of souls under the auspices of Our Lady of Fatima Church. With the re-dedication of the new church the priestly society will continue its Pittsburgh, PA apostolate under the patronage of the Apostle, St. James the Greater. The retention of the church's original titular saint also signifies that the SSPX is continuing to transmit the same Catholic Faith for which the West End parish was founded in 1853.
As of tomorrow, March 29, Sunday Mass will once again be offered at St. James Church at 9:00am with confessions starting at 8:00am and the public rosary at 8:30am. The Mass, the Rosary, the Faith celebrated from now on in the Church of St. James will be according to the traditional Catholic Roman Rite of the Church. 

Whether you support the SSPX or not, we can all agree on this much: At least the Muslims didn't get this one, and Pittsburgh Catholics have not only kept the faith but managed to recover one of the churches that had been lost to us all.

All glory, laud and honor to Thee Redeemer King!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Catholic Church and the Rule of Law- Part II: Dr. John Lamont

By
+ JMJ This is the second article from Dr. Lamont from his lecture given in May 2014. P^3 Source Part A: Society of St. Hugh of Cluny Source Part B: Society of St. Hugh of Cluny 8 May2014 The Catholic Church and the Rule of Law- Part II By John Lamont To understand how the Jesuit conception of obedience departed from earlier conceptions, it is helpful to compare it with the teaching of St. Thomas on obedience. The fundamental difference between the two is that St. Thomas considers the proper object of obedience to be the precept of the superior (2a2ae q. 104 a. 2 co., ad 3). Obedience that seeks to forestall the expressed will of the superior does not bear on what the superior wants or thinks in general, but only on what the superior intends to command. St. Ignatius’s lowest degree of obedience, which he does not consider to be virtuous, is thus what St. Thomas considers to be the only form of obedience. St. Thomas holds that St. Ignatius’s alleged higher forms of o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Morning and Evening and other sundry Prayers

By
+ JMJ Along the theme of P^3 (Prayer, Penance, Patience), and for my own reference ... here is a collection of Morning and Evening prayers from the Ideal Daily Missal along with some additional prayers. In this crisis of the Church, I do not think it is possible to do too much prayer, penance and have patience. P^3
Post a Comment
Read more

News Roundup February 17, 2024

By
 + JMJ    First wishing you a Holy Lent! As usual for this series, attached below are articles that caught my eye since the last 'Roundup'. Catholic Church In CRISIS Looking at the response to MAiD, there is a bright spot amongst all the misc issues within the Church. It is a little disheartening that only the huge issues where the world is bumping up against Church Doctrine are addressed.   The elephant in the room remains - the current and previous half dozen pontiffs have led us to this point. The academic discussion between theologians is, believe it or not, a healthy thing for the Church.  Hopefully it will gain momentum and follow the general rules academic argumentation and not devolve into name calling (as it has previously). Rome - Fiducia Supplicans The storm created by FS continues. People are starting to talk about the next conclave Hopefully this pontificate will do three things: Wake up the faithful clergy to false obedience Spawn a clarific...
Post a Comment
Read more

Rome and the SSPX - Version 2026 Part 6c: Principles and Rules for Surviving this Crisis of the Catholic Church (Principle 2)

By
 + JMJ Principle 2: Know the Faith as the Catholic Church Teaches or Taught it. A knowledge of the Faith and familiarity with the history of the Catholic Church for at least the past 200 years provides a good foundation for weathering this storm. Bias, Opinions and Misbeliefs One landmine that undermines principle #2 is the mixing of personal opinion with doctrine. These opinions, beliefs by another name, are sometimes held in a death grip. In some cases they are just prejudices against various real groups such as immigrants, Jews, communists, masons etc. In some cases it extends to conspiracy theories such as sedevacantism. These firmly held beliefs prevent people from both understanding Doctrine as Taught by the Church and making the necessary distinctions. For example, which religions offer worship to the True God? Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Jews and Muslims. Some people suck in their breath through their teeth creating an noticeable hiss at the above statement....
Post a Comment
Read more

The Episcopal Consecrations of 1988, 1991 and 2015 - Some Perspectives

By
+ JMJ In defense of the recent consecration of Fr. Faure by Bishop Williamson, some have argued that the 1991 consecration of Bishop Rangel (RIP) by the Bishops of the SSPX present an equivalent standard of action and principles.  From this they conclude that the SSPX's condemnation of Bishop Williamson's action is flawed as the principles of the 1991 consecration and that of 2015 are equivalent.
2 comments
Read more