But first! ...We celebrate the Baptism of little Cecilia, baptized in Philadelphia

in November of 2023! This was her proud parents' third little one.

June Baptism in Minnesota!

Sweet Giovanni Marcel was baptized with his proud parents and godparents happily looking on.

Please remember in your prayers the soul of Megan Roberts, who passed away earlier this year, leaving behind seven young ones and a grieving husband.

Fr. Ruiz offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass during the

Women's Retreat in July in Kansas.

Above, the wonderful Kitchen Helpers at the Retreats! Agi, Paula, and Steve oversaw the running of the kitchen with much help from the younger ones!

Below, the boys were an incredible help during the retreats with

altar serving, bell ringing, and readings during the meals.

The joy-filled faces of the women at the close of the retreat with Frs. Ruiz and Hewko!

Several good souls from Wisconsin and Minnesota helping during the Men's Retreat.

The Fathers were very grateful for all those who donated their time to help!

Mr. and Mrs. Brown, married approximately fifty years, have graciously hosted the Ignatian Retreats at their Red Rock Ranch in Kansas the last several years. They have said that they have never had a group such as ours! Please pray for their conversion!

Fr. Ruiz offers Benediction at the end of each Retreat, bringing down the Blessing of Christ Himself on the Retreatants and all present!

Above, the weekend of July 19-21st, the Oratory hosted the Young Adult Gathering, pictured here on a hike in the Lake Winnipesaukee region. The Gathering started each day with Holy Mass, followed by breakfast, conferences, and then an all-day outing!

Below, the young ladies helped Agi, who hosted them at her home just under an hour away, prepare meals for everyone at the Oratory before the day's adventures began!

Lakeside adventures in Laconia, NH!

Brothers Perrin and Gavril were among several men who stayed on after the Young Adult Gathering to help renovate the future sacristy!

Perrin painting the side porch outside the chapel!

James and Nate reinforce the floor system under the future sacristy!

Aidan painting the Oratory's solid wood front porch.

Anthony and Jane were married in Langley, British Columbia in late July.

Anthony is the editor of the recently started Catholic Trumpet website,

not to mention a champion Canadian hockey player.

Tiny Jacinto was baptized in the Sacramento, California area in late July,

surrounded by his loving and joyful family!

The boys of the Ipsa Conteret Pilgrimage traveled throughout the Northwest US this year. Here they are, above and below, pictured with the impressive Rocky Mountains

of Montana in the background.

The Pilgrimage on a 12 mile hike through the Montana mountains to Grinnell Glacier, whose turquoise waters are pictured in the background.

The boys standing in front of the tomb of Fr. Anthony Ravalli, with the St. Joseph and Mary Mountains in the background, named by Fr. De Smet.

The following narrative comes from the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame website, briefly describing the life and works of Fr. Ravalli:

Father Antonio “Anthony” Ravalli, S.J. (1812-1884)

Antonio Ravalli’s journey began in the medieval city of Ferrara, Italy, on May 16, 1812, and ended in 1884, at St. Mary’s Mission, in Stevensville, Montana Territory - before statehood.

At age 15, Antonio joined the Society of Jesus, was trained in literature, philosophy, chemistry, natural science, mathematics, and theology. He studied medicine at the Jesuit Roman College. Rome, and its art and architecture, left a lasting impression on Father Ravalli, and the remote mission churches, which he designed and helped build, show distinctive characteristics of Italian, and Renaissance Art.

Antonio Ravalli was ordained to the priesthood in 1843, and quickly volunteered, when asked, by Father Pierre Jean DeSmet, to come to North America and minister to the Indians in the Rocky Mountain region.

On August 5, 1844, 32-year-old Father Ravalli arrived in Vancouver, Washington, with supplies of medicines, including smallpox vaccine, surgical, and medical instruments, carpenter tools, and two millstones. He spent the winter of 1844-45 among the Kalispell Indians, near Cusick, Washington, and that spring, helped the Colville Indians construct St. Paul’s Chapel, near Colville, Washington.

Late in 1845, Father Ravalli was assigned to serve the Salish Indians at St. Mary’s of the Rockies, established by Father DeSmet in 1841. Father Ravalli established the first grist and saw mills in Montana for this mission. He had great ingenuity and mechanical skills, and created the saw blade by flattening out an iron rim from a wagon wheel, then cutting teeth in it with a cold chisel, and using a file to sharpen the teeth. Both the sawmill and flourmill were run by hydropower, out of Mill Creek.

Father Ravalli also assumed the job of physician, to the Indian people, and vaccinated many of them against smallpox. He saved many lives. He instructed women in obstetrics and the value of cleanliness for preventing disease. He studied Indian herbal medicines and distilled alcohol from camas roots to use as a base for his own medicines.

By 1848, Blackfeet warriors were regularly raiding the Salish encampments and St. Mary’s of the Rockies. The priests fearing for their lives closed the mission in 1850. Father Ravalli was reassigned to the Coeur d’Alene Indians. At Cataldo, Idaho, he designed and supervised the building of Sacred Heart Church.

In 1863, Father Ravalli returned to Montana. He and Brother Claessens, with the aid of Indian labor, built St. Michael’s Church, at Hell Gate, (near Missoula). It was the first church built for Montana’s white settlers. In 1864, he served the Blackfeet Indians at St. Peter’s Mission, east of the mountains. During the devastating winter of 1865-66, Father Ravalli ministered to both tribes, as well as miners from the Sun River area who needed treatment for frozen limbs. His medical skills in amputating these frozen limbs, and the medical aftercare, saved many lives while his own health deteriorated from the fatigue and trials he experienced at St. Peter’s.

Father Ravalli planned, designed and decorated the St. Mary’s Mission, in present day Stevensville, which was completed in 1866. His cabin was built next door to the chapel in 1869. The chapel was enlarged in 1879, to twice its original size. St. Mary’s Chapel stands today, as a legacy to Father Ravalli’s design and artistic skills. He completed the interior decorative scroll and painted the Stations of the Cross. He used a hand lathe to shape the candlesticks, table and chair legs. He carved the Blessed Mother from a cottonwood log - she still rests above the tabernacle. He also carved the eight-foot filigreed cross which stands on the roof’s red dome.

To the north of the chapel, Father Ravalli’s log cabin still sits with its “ride up” window, a testament to his pharmacy skills. People could receive medicines from him, on the go, from the window. He also used his living room as a hospital for the truly infirm.

In his limited spare time, Father Ravalli made furniture and functional decorative items for friends and other churches in the area.

In 1879, Father Ravalli suffered a stroke that paralyzed one side of his body.

He continued to make sick calls from a cot fitted into a wagon and driven by a kind friend. He was compelled to serve, whenever called upon, for as long as he was able.

When Father Ravalli died in his cabin at the mission, on October 2, 1884, people across the state of Montana mourned his passing. He was a priest, physician, surgeon, pharmacist, artist, architect, sculptor, carpenter, farmer, and mechanic. He never refused a call for spiritual or medical help, no matter the distance or weather conditions, riding his horse when he was able, or atop his cot, when he had to. It is no wonder the flags flew at half-mast and businesses closed when he passed on.

Father Ravalli’s only request was to be buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery among the Indians, with whom he had lived and labored, for so many years.

In 1893, the third Montana Legislative Assembly honored Father Ravalli. The newly formed county in the Bitterroot Valley was named Ravalli County.

This picture speaks for itself!

The boys at the entrance of Yellowstone!

Morning Mass, riverside, in Yellowstone National Park.

Tom again helps toward the completion of the Sacristy by applying his expert carpentry skills, with Nate assisting.

Gavril finishes work on the exterior siding, while Gabriel applies the final touches of paint to the interior of the Sacristy.

Below, foam insulation is applied the the underside of the Sacristy to ward off the northern New England winter cold and wind.

Meanwhile, Cameron traveled from Florida for his Baptism at the Oratory. (We will see him again soon a bit later in this newsletter!)

May the blessings and joys of Baptism remain with him all his days!

Autumn comes to the Oratory!

The beautiful 'burning' bushes are aflame with their classic autumn red leaves, while a flag with the Most Sacred Heart graces the front entrance.



Below, Autumn dresses the trees surrounding the rear of the Oratory with reds and golds!

Above, little Thomas Hilary Augustine was baptized in North Bay,

surrounded by his joyous family.



Below, a small contingent of the St. Catharines chapel outside with Father..

Cameron, who was baptized a few months earlier at the Oratory, was married in September in his home state of Florida to his lovely bride, Isabella. Isabella's father gifted the newly married couple a 1964 vintage car for a wedding gift!

In Tannersville, Pennsylvania, sweet Marcella Valentina

received her First Holy Communion!

May the peace of Christ fill her heart always!

A visit to York Cathedral at dusk.

Peter asked to have his 'parachutist' coin blessed. These are issued by the UK military for excellence in the parachutist training program, similar to the US paratrooper.

The site of the martyrdom of the four martyrs of Durham.

The Durham Martyrs of 1594

  In the year 1594 four men in the country of Durham gave their lives for the Church, and they were beatified with other English martyrs in 1929. The first, on February 4, was a layman, Blessed John Speed (alias Spence), who was hanged in the city of Durham for "being aiding and assisting to priests, who he used to serve in guiding and conducting from one Catholic house to another. He died with constancy, despising the proffers that were made to him to bring him to conform".

  Blessed John Boste was born at Dufton in Westmorland about the year 1544 and educated at Queen's College, Oxford, of which he became fellow. He was received into the Church in 1576 and four years later went to Rheims, where he was ordained priest in the following year and returned to England. He laboured with such energy and success in the North that he became one of the most sought-after of priests, whether by his friends of his enemies. He was betrayed by one Francis Ecclesfield. To forward his purpose by inspiring confidence in Mr Boste, this Ecclesfield had sacrilegiously received the sacraments from his hands; he then informed Sir William Bowes, and the priest was taken in his hiding-place at Waterhouse, the residence of Mr. William Claxton, near Durham.

  He was taken up to London, where he was so terribly racked in the Tower to induce him to betray his friends that he was permanently crippled. He was sent back to Durham for trial at the July assizes. With him was arraigned Blessed George Swallowell, a converted Protestant minister; he was wavering in his resolution, but the sight of Mr. Boste's "resolute, bold, joyful and pleasant" bearing encouraged him to stand firm and make in open court a declaration of his faith, whereupon the priest equally publicly absolved him. The man suffered a few days later at Darlington. Mr. Boste was condemned for his priesthood, and on July 24, 1594, was put to death at Dryburn, outside Durham. An eye-witness (the Ven. Christopher Robinson, afterwards martyred) states that he recited the Angelus as he mounted the ladder, and that he was cut down so soon ("after a space of a Paternoster") that he revived while being carried for dismemberment, which was begun while he was yet living. Another witness states that he prayed, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus forgive thee!" for his executioner even as his heart was being torn from his body.

  Two days after the passion of John Boste there was hanged, drawn, and quartered for his priesthood at Gateshead Blessed John Ingram, who had been condemned at Durham at the same time as Boste and Swallowell. He was born at Stoke Edith, in Herefordshire, and educated at New College, Oxford. After his conversion he went to the English College at Rheims and afterwards to Rome, where he was ordained in 1589 and three years later was sent on the Scottish mission. At the end of 1593 he was arrested on Tyneside and sent to London, where he was tortured under the eye of Topcliffe but, in his own words, "I take God to witness that I have neither named house, man, woman, or child, in time of or before my torments".

A sick call in Wales, for Andrew, with his wife Samara, Gabriel, Gavril, and Peter in attendance.

The editor of The Recusant with Gabriel at the home of Mrs. Barry, lovingly known to those who know her as the Apostle of St. Cuthbert Mayne, in her home in Portsmouth. Fr. Mayne was the first of the English martyrs under the English Reformation.

A talk sponsored by the LFSPN was given by a guest speaker

on the topic of the Kabballah.

A room on the second floor of the Windsor Castle Tavern was rented on for the talk.

UK PRAYS!

Every Sunday afternoon several good souls gather in front of Westminster Cathedral to pray the Rosary for the salvation of their country.

A visit to Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica, originally built over 350 years ago in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, QC, Canada

This stunning Basilica was built alongside the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, approximately 20 miles east of Quebec City. The Shrine to St. Anne is one of the six national shrines of Canada.

A little history: On March 8, 1658, settler Étienne de Lessard donated two frontal acres from the west end of his property to the Catholic Church, so that a chapel could be built. This chapel eventually became the site of the modern-day basilica. The chapel was built to provide a place of worship for the new settlers in the area  and to house a miraculous statue of St. Anne. The first reported miracle at the site happened during the shrine's construction.

A man named Louis Guimont was hired to help build the shrine even though he suffered from rheumatism. After placing three stones upon the shrine's foundation, Guimont was cured of all his ailments. This was followed by other testimonies of healed people, and the shrine soon grew in popularity. Many pilgrims came to the shrine hoping to receive a miracle while others, like Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII and Queen of France, supported the shrine from a distance. Because of the popularity of the shrine, the building was enlarged several times to accommodate all the pilgrims. In the late nineteenth century, a basilica was constructed around the shrine. In 1876, the first basilica opened for worship.

The crutches are a donated by all those who have been cured

 through St. Anne's intercession.

A visit to the Notre Dame Basilica in Ottawa, gracefully and exquisitely adorned with beautiful statues and artwork from the great days of the Faith.

The site was originally home to the small wooden St. Jacques Church, built in 1832. The main structure was completed in 1846. In 1879, Pope Leo XIII designated the cathedral as a minor basilica. The Notre Dame Basilica is the oldest and largest church in Ottawa 

A visit to St. Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal. Not only is the Oratory the highest building in Montreal, it is a National Historic Site of Canada and is Canada's largest church, with one of the largest church domes in the world.

It was founded in 1904 by Saint André Bessette in honour of his patron saint, Saint Joseph. The Oratory is the product of numerous architects and thousands of workers in a process spanning six decades. With its monumental scale, Renaissance Revival facade and contrasting Art Deco interior, the Oratory is recognizable not just in Montreal but around the world. - Source

Br. André on the far right, with priests of the Congregation of the Holy Cross.

One of the paintings inside the Oratory, of the death of St. Joseph, surrounded by Our Lord and Our Lady.

A visit to the Shrine of the North American Martyrs in Auriesville, NY. Pictured here are some of the stained glass portraits of some of the martyrs.

This beautiful Pieta was donated to the Oratory and has a place of honor in the refectory where the priests and candidates take there meals.

✠

Advent 2024

Dear Friends of the Oratory of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary,

It was a busy summer, beginning with the Ignatian Retreats for the Men and Women in June. Many, many thanks to all who volunteered to help in the kitchen and all the arrangements to make it successful! Then in July, the Oratory grounds sponsored the first Young Adult’s Gathering for over twenty-five enthusiastic souls participating from all over the United States and half from Canada! It was a joyous occasion and may Our Lady spread Her mantle over all those youth, guide them to sanctity, and make them courageous in fighting for the Holy Faith in whatever vocation God wills for them.

A small contingent of volunteers stayed on to begin renovations on the Oratory building and grounds. A new addition was finished on the side of the chapel, constituting the brand new sacristy. Porches were freshly painted, 40 sheets of dry wall hauled to the third floor for two extra rooms, yet to be completed. All this, in preparation for the priestly training, which began on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, September 15.

August saw the IPSA CONTERET PILGRIMAGE 2024, which was held In Montana. The young men and assisting adults hiked over twenty miles in the steep Rocky Mountains, fiercely competed in a muddy Iron Man contest, but best of all, prayed and chanted their hearts out at the shrines of St. Mary’s, St. Ignatius, and Cotaldo Mission, where the Jesuit priests and brothers converted the Indians in the 19th Century. At St. Mary’s Mission, in Stevensville, Montana, in 1842, Our Lady appeared to an Indian girl of thirteen, to tell her the Blackrobes will soon come and teach them the way to Heaven and bring the “Great Prayer” of the Mass! Then, not long after, She appeared to an Indian boy to encourage him to learn the Catechism. The boy was troubled by the Devil, believing he could never enter Heaven because of his struggling, poor memory. But, after seeing Our Lady, he learned it with joy and ease.

In September, the two first candidates arrived to try their vocations. The Rule of the Oratory day follows the Rule for Seminaries of Abp. Marcel Lefebvre and the classes continue in a rigorous schedule of Latin grammar, Sacred Scripture, Acts of the Magisterium, Church History, Ascetical & Mystical Theology, etc. This may be one of the few existing pre-55, non-sedevacantist houses of studies in operation, but the formation must be on solid liturgical grounds, counter-Revolutionary, and consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. May She see to it, run it, protect it, motivate it, and treat it as Her own property. All of it is Hers! Blessed Mother, do

with it as you please!

There have been a few inquiries about the possibility of a convent. This is greatly needed. If God wills this and enables the purchase of a building not too far from the Oratory, the sisters’ life would follow the basic Rule of the Society of St. Pius X for Sisters, lead a semi-contemplative life of adoration and some active apostolate. How desperately needed are generous, consecrated souls for the revival of the Church!

It grieves me much that some of the missions have suffered from fewer Masses due to the priestly training at the Oratory. As of now, it is a cross we must carry until Our Sorrowful Mother finds some solution. Fr. Ruiz will be helping from Mexico, periodically, which will free one of us, at least, to cover the distant missions. This will help.

“Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send forth laborers into His harvest” (St. Matthew 9:38). Pray that some priests snap out of the Liberal trance of compromise with Modernist Rome and join in the Combat of Tradition with renewed zeal. Abp. Lefebvre was never silent against the Modernist Errors and its sterile New Mass! He warned that any “canonical solution” without Rome’s conversion to Tradition would be nothing more than a trap in order to silence the true Catholic Resistance. This is now the situation of all priests who have compromised, including the Conciliar-SSPX and almost all of the Fake Resistance. Their silence is deafening. Their silence is scandalous. Their silence is anything but golden! Instead, it is a

cause of great harm to souls who need to hear the Catholic Faith preached! And not the preaching of Liberal Catholicism either, that refrains from rebuking Error under a false pretext of “prudence” or out of human respect, but a fearless preaching of the integral Catholic Faith, as the good Popes demanded and commanded it to be preached from the clergy. “Woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel!” (I Corinthians 9:16).

We are in “Operation Survival” ten times over since 1988! How accurately Abp. Lefebvre labeled our situation in the Church! Let us put all our confidence in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, since She first performed “Operation Survival” from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. She alone maintained the Catholic Faith in those darkest hours. Will She not help us do the same in these darkest hours of the Church’s history?

Immaculate Heart of Mary, we put all our trust in Thee!

In Christ the King,

Fr. David Hewko