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Letter from the District Superior

Dear Faithful:

We are very happy to offer you the first issue of the Communicantes following its merger with the Catholic Guardian. The Catholic Guardian which up to now has been published in our priory in Calgary, took over the readership in the West when we ceased publishing the Communicantes in English.

Consequently, the name "The Catholic Guardian" will no longer appear although the publisher will continue to be responsible for the printing and shipping of the magazine. We have kept the name Communicantes for our district magazine due to the seniority of this publication which was initiated at the time of the founding of the Society in Canada.

The combining of our two district magazines will not only allow us the benefit of a greater number of writers, but we will also be able to take advantage of the structure that is in place at Calgary for the printing, the mailing list and the shipping. This fusion will allow us, when looking to upgrade the quality of the magazine, to diminish those costs which exceed our budget.

That is why, I would like to thank my colleagues very much for their much appreciated cooperation that has allowed us to take this new step in the life of the Communicantes in the District.

Father De Vriendt will assume the responsibility of Editor and Father Belisle will assist him in this task. I particularly wish to congratulate Father Belisle and his team for the wonderful work that they have accomplished over these past years in publishing the Guardian, and I would like to extend heartfelt thanks to them for their having offered, from now on, their expertise and talents towards the publishing of the Communicantes.

Two New Churches for the Society of Saint Pius X in Canada:

We have been particularly blessed by Divine Providence over these past months, and I am very happy to be able to announce to you the purchases in British Columbia and in Ontario of two new churches for the Society.

In British Columbia, it is our untiring Father Greuter who has just purchased a new church in Oliver, south of Vernon, in order to serve that splendid area of Beautiful B.C.

View of the new church in Oliver, British Columbia, recently purchased by Father Greuter

Father Greuter decided to place this church under the patronage of Saint Joseph and we rejoice, assured that the Protector of the Universal Church will protect and bless the expansion of this new ministry of the Tradition within our district.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to Father Greuter along with all our congratulations for his zeal and dedication in order to assure all on his own, his age notwithstanding, such a beautiful ministry of his in British Columbia.

In Ontario, our faithful in the western area of London united in making the purchase of a very picturesque and appealing little church in Wyoming.

New church of the ,Society purchased (thanks to our faithful) in Wyoming, Ontario, east of London and close to Sarnia. The white house in the back is part of the property.

This town was once the site of the first gas field . in North America. Graced with an inviting parish hall and four classrooms, and close to a lovely park for the youth, this church could be, not a lucrative gas well, but a welcoming potential of grace for the region and upon the souls who are already thinking of relocating to take advantage of the active ministry now offered there.

We have dedicated this church to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, because we trust that Our Lord will keep His promises regarding the blessings and graces that He wants to grant to those who have a greater devotion to Him and His Sacred Heart.

We thank very much indeed all our dear faithful of Wyoming who managed to provide the sixty thousand dollars that were needed to pay for the church, thus avoiding having to borrow any money from the bank.

We want, as well, to express our sincere gratitude to Father Fullerton, our colleague of the Priory of Armada in Michigan, who gave so generously to us all these beautiful statues with which to decorate our church, along with the organ and the pews.

Visit of His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay

We had the privilege of welcoming Bishop Fellay to Quebec and to Ontario at the beginning of the year. His Excellency led a recollection at the Priory of Saint Plus X in Shawinigan for the priests of the district as well as for the community of the Holy Family School. Also, in each of the chapels that he was able to visit he presented a very interesting conference on the situation of the Church upon the eve of the millennium. Most instructive and most revealing, this conference which describes the disasters caused by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the Church, will be a very useful means of apostolate to our faithful to aid them in convincing and opening the eyes of those who still believe in the so called Springtime of the Church! This conference gives, `a posteriors' an additional confirmation of the reason for, and the necessity of, the episcopal consecrations by Archbishop Lefebvre.

His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay is seen here with 8 priests, 1 deacon. 3 brothers and 3 oblate sisters in the retreat house in Shawinigan, on December 28, 1998, following a recollection preached by His Excellency to the priests and religious of the Canadian District.

May our faithful obtain this text and the tape of this conference and share them with their immediate associates and family members all around them!

Missions of Lent

Our faithful in Toronto and St. Catharines had the privilege this year to enjoy the Mission of Lent preached by Father Greater. The subsequent commentaries were unanimous: "What a preacher!", we heard from everybody.

Here we see Father Grueter with Father Carl Sulzen and Father Dominique De Vriendt in the basement of our church in Toronto, after a 3 day Lenten mission preached by Father Greeter. The three following days, our untiring Father Greeter repeated the same mission to our faithful in St. Catherine.

Father Greater is not only buying churches, he is building, by his word and example, the Church in the souls to whom he is sent.

A heartfelt thank you to our dear Father Greater to whom we want to offer our best wishes for a very Happy Birthday on this coming 29" of June, and to whom we wish many happy returns and a long life amongst us all.

Visit of the Fathers Albert and Thomas, from the Dominican Convent of Avrille' in France:

The priests of the district, our religious brothers and our oblate sisters were given the grace this year, to attend their retreat as preached by the Dominican Fathers from Avrille. They came especially from France to preach the retreat during the week after Faster, then, after having preached the Sunday of Quasimodo in Saint Joseph's Church in Montreal, they flew to Phoenix in the States to preach another retreat for our American colleagues.

The Fathers made a very strong impression on all the members of the community, not only through the quality of their preaching but above all by the example of their charity emanating from their austere and prayerful way of life. We thank them with all our hearts for witnessing to us and for the gifts that they are giving to the world by means of their lives of total self sacrifice for the love of God and for the salvation of souls.

What a consolation for priests and for the faithful who don't have the good fortune to live in a cloister, to know that souls who, having fallen in love with the absolute, continue, secluded in their convent, to sacrifice themselves and to pray continually for their brethren.

Annual District Collection for Vocations:

I am happy to be able to share with you the news that the collection that was taken up by the district on the Sunday of the Good Shepherd on behalf of our seminarians brought in the sum of $8,764.77. I would like to heartily thank all of those faithful who participated so generously in this collection that had as its goal the assistance of our Canadian vocations.

You are aware that, according to the wishes of Archbishop Lefebvre, all of the members of the Society of St. Pius X recite their daily rosary for the intentions of their benefactors. As well, I can assure you that you will be especially remembered in the prayers of our seminarians who are so grateful for all that you do for them.

Along with this financial assistance, let us add prayers for vocations. I strongly invite you, Father Albert and Father Thomas, from the Dominican Convent My Dear Faithful, to add at the close of your daily at Avrille in France, came to Shawinigan to preach a five day rosary, this prayer that Bishop Fellay requested us to say within our communities: O Lord, grant us priests (2 times). O Lord, grant us holy priests (2 times). O Lord, grant us many holy priests (2 times). O Lord, grant us many holy religious vocations (2 times). Saint Pius X, pray for us.

St. Joseph Bursary Collection of $1 dollar Every Sunday:

We have organized another special collection for St. Joseph Bursary, with the intention of assisting those parents who desire to send their children to good Catholic schools. This collection has not met with the same success as did our collection for our seminarians, with only $5776.75. Last year, we were able to distribute $12.000.00 to families who, thanks to these bursaries, were able to send their children to those schools run either by the Society of St. Pius X or by the Dominican Order in Post Falls. It will be more difficult to respond to this demand in the fall of this year when school resumes unless a concerted effort is quickly made to fill this void. I don't doubt for an instant but that St. Joseph will inspire your generosity and that he will recompense your dear families by the graces that he will bestow upon you. (Your donations in care of the St. Joseph Bursary may be forwarded to St. Michael's Priory, Attention: St. Joseph Bursary, 45 Guthrie Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M8Y3L2).

For those faithful who are unable to give a specific amount, I make the recommendation to you that you participate faithfully in the drive Give One Dollar Every Sunday! You will notice (in the hands of one of the children, sometimes one of the parents), a donation box for this purpose is offered to you as you are leaving the chapel each Sunday at the end of the Mass.

This collection, although it represents practically no cost to each individual donor, will allow us, on the condition that all of our faithful participate without fail regularly, each Sunday, to respond favorably to all of those demands which are made on our resources. Just do a simple calculation to demonstrate the importance we attach to this simple collection:

If 400 people donate only $1.00 on a regular basis every Sunday, we will have $20,800.00 in the fund after one year!

Were our colleagues in every district chapel to designate one person to handle this collection for their own chapel and to simply make sure that the donation box is visible to parishioners as they walk by reminding them to make their regular Sunday contribution of only $1.00, we could make a united effort and give so much needed assistance to our parents.

Campaign: Freedom from Mortgage Debt for our District Mother House, St. Michael's Priory:

I am happy to be able to give some interim results of the Campaign $165,000.00 that was announced in the last Communicantes for the reimbursement of the debt on St. Michael's Priory in Toronto.

To date, $40,000.00 in total donations has been received, and $28,000.00 was forwarded in the form of a private loan. This makes a total amount of $68,000.00 that we are already able to pay to the bank to reduce the mortgage on the priory. These preliminary results of our campaign R.M.D.M.H. are excellent and I can only express my sincere recognition of the spirit of charity that was demonstrated by all those who participated in this campaign.

To draw a comparison between this campaign to reimburse the mortgage, and the collection for the St. Joseph Bursary, as I was saying to you, were all of the faithful to participate, each in a small way, we could pay down the mortgage in full today, we could be totally free of our debt to the bank. I do hope that those who are adding their contributions towards this campaign now will not hesitate knowing that just like the labourers in our Lord's vineyard: those who add their efforts even only in the final hour will be rewarded to the same extent as those who have labored all day! With all my heart, I extend a big and sincere thank you to everybody for all that you do to assist us.

The Perpetual Rosary Crusade in Canada:

Permit me in closing, to speak to you about the Perpetual Rosary Crusade as our final item of news from the Society of St. Plus X in Canada. This Rosary Crusade has seen a remarkable growth in numbers of participants since its inception last September. I particularly would like to thank all of my colleagues within the Society of St. Pius X in Canada for their encouragement of this Crusade within their chapels and for the growth that it has enjoyed. I fervently thank all our faithful who added their names in such large numbers in every province to assure that yet another hour will be spent by one of the faithful at Our Lady's feet in watchfulness and prayer.

We must especially congratulate the faithful of Quebec who have already taken each available hour of the Perpetual Rosary (24 hours per day) throughout the entire week confided to them, the 4th week of each month. I am sure that the other provinces will not be long in claiming each and every hour of the days of their designated week.

This enthusiastic response on the part of those faithful to Tradition, to the call made on behalf of the Rosary Crusade, is very encouraging indeed. Abundant graces are thus aspired to on the part of our families and our ministry. Now and then colleagues and parishioners have made me aware of favours received in the form of: conversions, families being reunited, work obtained for the fathers of families, health being restored, new members of the faithful attending our chapels.

What graces and what blessings have been received in our district since the Consecration to the United Hearts of Jesus and of Mary.

"My Dear Friends", as Father Barrielle used to say, "do believe in prayer!"

The Very Blessed Virgin Mary made known to St. Catherine Laboure that the rays emanating from her hands which did not reach the earth represented those graces available to man but for which men failed to ask her. Therefore, My Dear Faithful Ones, do not allow such heavenly treasures to be lost to you.

Entreat Mary to bestow upon you these graces and sign your names in the remaining spaces on the Rosary Crusade list at your chapel. I remind you now of the four intentions of our Crusade:

1. For the reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the triumph of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary.

2. For the ministry of the Society of St. Plus X in Canada.

3. For the sanctification of the members of the Society of St. Plus X and for the realization of numerous vocations to the priesthood and religious vocations within the district of Canada.

4. For the sanctification and the salvation of the members of our families.

The first of these intentions embraces all of the great needs of the Church and of the Society throughout the world and Canada (the return of the hierarchy to Tradition, the consecration of Russia and for peace in the world). The three remaining intentions directly involve our ministry and our families within the district of Canada. You will find the inscription sheet for the Rosary Crusade on the last page of your issue of the Communicantes. You may, if you wish, bring to the attention of the secretary of this crusade the graces that you have received in saying the rosary. Also, do make known to us your personal intentions to be included in the intentions offered up at the Mass that is celebrated each month for the intentions of the Rosary Crusade in Canada.

"In these last times in which we live, the Blessed Virgin has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Holy Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary." (Sister Lucy) "By the Rosary one may obtain all. It is a long chain linking heaven to earth, one of the ends is in our hands, the other is in the hands of the Blessed Virgin. For as long as the Rosary is recited, God will riot abandon the world, for this prayer has such a powerful effect on His heart."

(Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face of Jesus).

Father Jacques Emily