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 Curious Case of Steve Skojec and the Dangers of Deep Diving into the Crisis Sub-Titled: The Failings of Others

By
 + JMJ It's been a while now since Steve Skojec sold 1P5 and abandoned the Catholic Faith. I've been a 'Trad' since 1982 and in those 40+ years I seen this death-spiral before with a similar end point. It seems that anyone who jumps into the fray unprepared for the enormous task of righting wrongs will, eventually, become discouraged by not the task but the people who surround them.   I remember when Skojec complained of the treatment his family received from a traditional priest.  This seems to have been the start of the end for him. So what can we learn from the likes of Steve Skojec, Michael Voris (maybe?), Louie Verrecchio, Gerry Matatix and other celebrity Catholics? Probably quite a lot about what not to do. First, don't burn out on the crisis?  When you burn out, on work or anything else, little things assume a more greater importance than they are due.   This is one of my 'canary in the coal mine' signals that I've been stretching myself too thin
Post a Comment
Read more

What the heck is a congregation of "Pontifical Right"

By
+ JMJ In a discussion with a friend the question occurred to me that I didn't actually know was is involved in being a religious order of 'pontifical right'. I had a vague notion that this meant they reported to Rome as opposed to the local diocese. I'm also aware that, according to the accounts I have heard, the Archbishop received 'praise' and the written direction to incardinate priests directly into the SSPX.  This is interesting because it implies that the SSPX priests were no longer required to incardinate in the local diocese but in the SSPX. This is something that belongs to an order of 'pontifical right'. Anyway here's some definitions: Di diritto pontificio is the Italian term for “of pontifical right” . It is given to the ecclesiastical institutions (the religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See or approved by it with the formal decree, known by its Latin name, Decretu
Post a Comment
Read more

De Veritate - St. Thomas Aquinas - What is necessary to believe explicitly?

By
I was recently introduced to a work of St. Thomas De Veritate ( Source ) in the course of an argument concerning the minimum content of explicit faith.  When I submitted the following quote as proof: Theological faith, that is, a supernatural faith in Revelation, is necessary, and this is an effect of grace (D 1789); nemini unquam sine ilIa contigit iustificatio (D 1793). As far as the content of this faith is concerned, according to Hebr. 11, 6, at least the existence of God and retribution in the other world must be firmly held, necessitate medii (by the necessity of means) with explicit faith. In regard to the Trinity and the Incarnation, implicit faith suffices. The supernatural faith necessary for justification is attained when God grants to the unbeliever by internal inspiration or external teaching a knowledge of the truths of Revelation, and actual grace to make the supernatural act of faith. Cf. De verite 14, I I.Ott - Fundamentals of Dogma p241 In response my opponent wrot
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

Gary Campbell - Former SSPX Priest

By
 + JMJ I've come across Gary Campbell's articles on Where Peter Is and noticed that he seems to have very strong biases, assumptions and reactions to anything that runs against these. Driven by curiosity I have found a copy of his letter to Bishop Fellay explaining his reasons for leaving the SSPX only five years after his ordination in Winona. I was surprised to learn that I was present for his ordination. Given this, I was interested in reviewing his letter to Bishop Fellay. There will be two versions in this post. The unblocked and blocked letter. The unblocked is, obviously the full letter. The block, meaning unnecessary text will be blocked out, is a technique I use to remove ancillary text while focusing on key phrases. After completing my read, I believe that the root of much of what caused the issues with Fr. Campbell could be the seeds of the 'resistance' that, when the same perceptions were challenged by continued negotiations with Rome resulted in the necessa
Post a Comment
Read more