Issue 20 - August to October 2021
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Mary, The Cause of Our Joy! |
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Ignatian Retreats - Summer 2021 |
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The Powerful Ignatian Retreats
During these few “Days of Grace,” each retreatant exercises his intellect, memory and will, by meditating upon their purpose and goal of life (which is to glorify God and save their soul), and upon the mysteries of the life, death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
While practicing these exercises, the retreatant will quickly be convinced that he must first conquer himself so that Christ may live in him, according to the words of St. Paul: “With Christ I am nailed to the Cross” and “I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me” (Gal. 2 19-20).
An Ignatian Retreat consists of a series of spiritual conferences, structured meditations and an opportunity to make a general confession. Silence is kept throughout the retreat, though the retreatants have the opportunity to speak with a priest for spiritual advice.
So effective are retreats for the development and enrichment of the spiritual life, that it is strongly recommended that Catholics attend a retreat at least once a year.
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Women's Ignatian Retreat 2021 |
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Men's Ignatian Retreat 2021 |
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Fr. Rafael Arizaga, assisting Fr. Hewko with preaching the Retreats, offers Holy Mass. |
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A young barber can't help his puzzled expression as he is asked for the first time in his professional career to refresh a Benedictine tonsure!
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Fr. Hewko and Fr. Rafael have only the highest praise for the wonderful souls who donated their time and labors to make sure all the retreatants and the priests were well fed with delicious meals, three times a day, for two weeks straight! |
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The Retreats took place again this year at the Red Rock Ranch in Kansas. The location received rave reviews last year and luckily was available again this year.
Pictured here at the entrance to the Ranch are four of the good cooks.
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A Fourth of July break in between Retreats - Fireworks! |
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Postcards of the Resistance
'Front Lines'
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A lovely family welcomes baby number six into their loving home in the Seattle area. The purifying waters of Baptism give little William Joseph official angelic status! |
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All the things one sees traveling by air to Mission Chapels!
Here is an an eagle-eye view of Mt. Rainier in Washington state! Mt. Rainier is an active volcano, ascending over 14,000 feet. It is the also the most glaciated peak in the lower 48, spawning five different rivers.
May God be praised in His glorious Creation!
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An Adult Baptism and First Communion in Detroit |
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Congratulations and blessings to Robby, who was baptized and received his First Holy Communion in September.
On the left, Robby is pictured with his godparents after his Baptism!
On the right, Robby is holding a candle after his First Communion
and enrollment in Our Lady's Brown Scapular!
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The Christus Imperat Pilgrimage Adventure 2021
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The Adventure begins in Massachusetts
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The boys begin their Adventure in Boston, Massachusetts at what was originally known as the Mission Church.
"The Redemptorists built a modest wooden church on the location in 1870. This was to serve as a "mission house", a home base for priests traveling to distant parts of Massachusetts, Canada, and elsewhere. The church was dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. The first mass was said on January 29, 1871.
The current church broke ground in 1874. The Mission Church was constructed in Romanesque style, of Roxbury puddingstone, quarried from what is now Puddingstone Park, just down the block.
The church was elevated to basilica status in 1954 by Pope Pius XII."
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A replica icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help was installed over the main altar of the original church on May 28, 1871. Not long after, cures were reported, attributed to the intercession of Our Lady. In November 1874, the weekly practice of bestowing a blessing on the sick was formally established. When the new church was built, the picture was relocated to the new Chapel of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. As reputed cures continued, crutches, braces, and other devices were left as votives at the shrine.
An account of the sick flocking to the shrine was published in the New York Herald in March 1901, under the headline "A Lourdes in the Land of Puritans". During World War I, the Roxbury shrine became popular with family members praying for the safe return of soldiers. Between 1878 and 1884 over 300 cures were documented.
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The boys of the Christus Imperat are pictured below in front of the icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, framed by the many no-longer-needed crutches from all those cured through Her intercession!
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Our Lady of Good Voyage - Glouchester, MA |
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This is Our Lady of Good Voyage Church, first built in Glouchester, Massachusetts in 1892 by the Portuguese Catholics in that area.
These two statues of Our Lady, gracing both the exterior and interior of the Church, show Her holding a ship.
First the Portuguese, then many different nationalities of sailors came here in either petition or thanksgiving for a safe voyage across the Atlantic!
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A Little Early American History |
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The boys, in their Christus Imperat t-shirts, in front of the statue of the Minute Man, in Concord, Massachusetts. The American Revolution officially began here in April 1775.
Inscribed on the front facing is the first stanza of the poem “The Concord Hymn” by Ralph Waldo Emerson:
BY THE RUDE BRIDGE THAT
ARCHED THE FLOOD,
THEIR FLAG TO APRIL’S
BREEZE UNFURLED,
HERE ONCE THE EMBATTLED
FARMERS STOOD,
AND FIRED THE SHOT HEARD
ROUND THE WORLD.
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A Visit to Little Rose Ferron - Rhode Island |
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The boys visited the museum and gravesite of Little Rose Ferron (1902-1936), a stigmatist whose life closely mirrored Our Lord's! She was born in a stable in Quebec, her family moving eventually to Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Rose Ferron was one of the most completely stigmatized persons on record. Whereas perhaps only thirty or so have borne the five wounds and the crowning of thorns, Rose had all of these, as well as the shoulder wound and the bleeding from the eyes. She died at the age of thirty-three. |
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St. William's Church - New York |
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The boys spent several days in the Raquette Lake area of New York hiking, swimming, and more.
Father Hewko was able to say Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Heart (August 22nd) at nearby St. William's Church on Long Point of Raquette Lake.
This Catholic Church, built in 1890, is a rectangular, one-story Shingle Style church with a steeply pitched roof.
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Pictured here is one of the four stained glass windows framing the altar of St. William's, this one of the Immaculate Heart.
How touching it must have been to see this image gracing the altar on the Feast of Our Lady's most Immaculate Heart, where once again the true Mass is being offered.
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Shrine of the North American Martyrs
Auriesville, New York
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The Christus Imperat Pilgrimage Adventure drew to a close in Auriesville, NY at the Shrine of the North American Martyrs.
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Below is the impressive statue of St. Isaac Jogues on the grounds, who was martyred in this former Mohawk Village of Ossernenon, in 1646. |
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The Baptisms of the two young ones, holding candles, are pictured below with Father Hewko in London. This family owns a Polish restaurant near the Taylor home.
May God abundantly bless these two young ones and their family!
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A thatched-roof barn temporarily serving as a chapel in Orford, England.
You can see the chairs assembled in the open doorways,
getting ready for Fr. Hewko to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
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This picture is in the home of one of the faithful in Kilkenny, Ireland who used to teach for the SSPX in South Africa.
This young boy was one of the students of that South African SSPX school man years back. He is dressed as St. Michael the Archangel for All Saint's Day.
Sadly, this young boy was killed in an auto accident only a few days after this picture was taken.
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St. Edmund's Seminary - Grounded in Holiness |
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St. Edmund's was founded by Cardinal William Allen in 1568. It was originally located in Douai, France as a seminary to train priests. These brave priests would then travel back to England to minster to the Catholic faithful, particularly during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, infamous for her persecution of Catholics.
During the French Revolution, the College transferred to England and found its present home on four hundred acres in Ware in 1793.
The chapel contains a relic of St. Edmund, and the museum many interesting relics of the English College, Douai, and of the penal days.
Pictured below are one of those relics of the type of shackles used to bind the hands of the Catholic priests when arrested or imprisoned in those years of the English 'Reformation.'
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On the right, a portion of a panel in the museum showing here only about one-third of the one hundred and thirty-three martyrs that have crossed this threshold as seminarians and priests before going on to shed their blood for the Faith!
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The stained glass images below are a few of such priestly martyrs,
who studied at St. Edmund's seminary.
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A picture of a group of seminarians in the early 20th century, when the true Faith was still being taught. |
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The Interior of St. Edmund's |
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Carving of a priest saying Mass at one of the side altars. |
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Intricate flooring at St. Edmund's |
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A beautiful statue of Our Lady gracing the Church. |
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The entrance wall of the Church. |
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The tomb of a bishop,
a former student of the Seminary.
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Rood before the Main Altar.
The Catholic Encyclopedia notes that more generally it means a large crucifix, with statues of Our Lady and St. John, usually placed over the entrance to the choir in medieval churches. These roods were frequently very large, so as to be seen from all parts of the church.
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The beautifully carved Main altar. How many priestly martyrs would have offered the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass here before being sent out on their missions, saying Masses in homes and barns, not unlike our times.
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One of the Side Altars at St. Edmund's, once again with studding detail from floor to roof. |
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Another Side Altar with a beautiful triptych with Our Lady in the center
and St. George on the left,
the patron saint of England.
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The Exterior of St. Edmund's Church |
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The inscription beneath this Crucifix reads:
"Behold the Cross of the Lord that drives away the enemies of the Lion of the Tribe of Juda has conquered"
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A Visit to Peterborough Cathedral |
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A couple take Fr. Hewko on a guided tour of the stunning Peterborough Cathedral near their home after he blessed the fruits of their labors,
their quintessential English garden.
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A Brief History of the Cathedral
Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – whose statues look down from the three high gables of the famous West Front. Although it was founded in the Anglo-Saxon period, its architecture is mainly Norman, following a rebuilding in the 12th century.
The original church, known as "Medeshamstede", was founded in about 655 AD, as one of the first centres of Christianity in central England. The monastic settlement with which the church was associated lasted at least until 870, when it was destroyed by Vikings. In an alcove of the New Building, an extension of the eastern end, lies an ancient stone carving: the Hedda Stone. This medieval carving of 12 monks, six on each side, commemorates the destruction of the Monastery and the death of the Abbot and Monks when the area was sacked by the Vikings in 864.
A Benedictine Abbey was created and endowed in 966 from what remained of the earlier church, with "a basilica [church] there furbished with suitable structures of halls, and enriched with surrounding lands" and more extensive buildings which saw the aisle built out to the west with a second tower added. The original central tower was, however, retained. It was dedicated to St Peter and surrounded by a palisade, called a burgh, hence the town surrounding the abbey was eventually named Peter-burgh.
The existing mid-12th-century records of Hugh Candidus, a monk, list the Abbey's reliquaries as including two pieces of swaddling clothes which wrapped the baby Jesus, pieces of Jesus' manger, a part of the five loaves which fed the 5,000, a piece of the raiment of Mary the mother of Jesus, a piece of Aaron's rod, and relics of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – to whom the church is dedicated. Various contact relics of Thomas Becket were brought from Canterbury in a special reliquary by its Prior Benedict (who had witnessed Becket's assassination) when he was "promoted" to Abbot of Peterborough.
These items underpinned the importance of what is today Peterborough Cathedral. At the zenith of its wealth just before the Reformation it had the sixth-largest monastic income in England, and had 120 monks, an almoner, an infirmarian, a sacristan and a cellarer.
In 1541, following Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries, the relics were lost. The church survived by being selected as the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Peterborough. Henry's former wife, Catherine of Aragon, had been buried there in 1536. Her grave can still be seen and is still honoured by visitors who decorate it with flowers and pomegranates (her symbol). It carries the legend "Katharine Queen of England", a title she was denied at the time of her death.
In 1587, the body of Mary, Queen of Scots was initially buried here after her execution at nearby Fotheringhay Castle, but it was later removed to Westminster Abbey on the orders of her son, King James I of England.
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Close-ups of the front façade and spires.
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Entrance to the Monastery's Refectory |
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The Cathedral's Breathtaking Interior |
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The tomb of the Catholic Queen Katherine of Aragon,
the first and legitimate wife of King Henry VIII.
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An effigy of the traitorous Abbot John Chambers.
"In March, 1528, Abbot Kirton yielded to the strong pressure brought on him to resign. He wrote to Wolsey to that effect, saying that if the election were left to the convent they would undoubtedly choose brother Francis, who was a good religious man, and of gentle birth. The imperious Wolsey had, however, succeeded in enforcing his will on the convent, who granted him the right of nominating the next abbot; whereupon he withdrew from the promises made by his agents, and immediately nominated John Browne (alias Chambers) as superior of the monastery. The royal assent to this decision was given on 23 March, 1528.
In 1530 was one of the English prelate signatories that wrote to Pope Clement VII in support of Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. In 1534 he, along with 41 other monks, repudiated papal authority and acknowledged Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England, and in 1536 he was in attendance when Catherine of Aragon was buried in the abbey church.
When the abbey was dissolved in 1539 he was granted a pension of £266 a year, and then in 1541 the former abbey was converted to a cathedral with John Chamber's as the first [Anglican] bishop."
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✠
August - October 2021
Dear Faithful Persevering in the Battle for the Holy Faith!
In this valley of tears, we raise our eyes to that Mother of Mercy, to Mary, the Cause of our joy! She holds for us the crown of Heaven and the wreath of roses waiting for Her devotees!
How is She the Cause of our joy? Because:
- Through Her God willed to become Man, thereby working the Redemption which opened the gates of Heaven.
- Through Her all graces come! The Sacred Heart of Jesus, struck open on the Cross, gushes forth fountains of grace, but they are all channeled to souls through Her, the Mediatrix of all graces!
- Through Her Immaculate Heart God wants to bring about the overthrow of the satanic globalists and the Reign of the Sacred Heart of Christ the King.
These are the true and lasting joys that come through the Virgin Mary, founded on the supernatural realities and raised far above the fleeting pleasures of this world. Our Lady’s graces draw us to Heaven. It is there, our hearts should be fixed so we can say with St. Augustine: “Lord, our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee!”
Our Lady is that shining vessel of election that brought us God in the Flesh, pours out His graces on the whole world and will issue in the Reign of Her Divine Son, Her promised Victory. “In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph!” (Fatima)
As the powers of darkness seem to gain the upper hand throughout the world and the spread of atheistic Communism brings its icy enslavement through lockdowns and senseless mandates, let us fight with Her Rosary, stand armed with Her Scapular, full of confidence in Her powerful intercession!
We must reject this new idol, this new COVID religion. We must reject its mock-sacrifice through tortured and dismembered infants on the altars of Planned Parenthood. We must reject its mock-Holy-Communion, mandating the cells of aborted babies, along with a whole slew of poisons, into the bloodstream of all men. We must reject the preaching of this new Gospel from its priests, dressed in white doctor’s smocks. We must reject the mock-Scapular of the absolutely useless and positively harmful face-coverings! Make no mistake, it is a new religion! “But though we, or an angel from Heaven, preach a gospel to you besides that which we have preached to you, let him be anathema!” (Galatians II:8)
Through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus will emerge triumphant once again! It will rise over the smoking ashes of another passing world empire, to issue in the Age of Mary, the sixth age of the Church.
Let us prepare for this. God wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary honored and loved! By fulfilling all She asked at Fatima, Lourdes, Quito and LaSallette we do our part to lay the pavement for Her Triumph!
“Who is She that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?” (Canticles VI:9) ...Who is She? Who is this vessel of election so loved by God? It is Mary, the Cause of our joy!
In Christ the King,
Fr. David Hewko
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- Correspondence mailing address and Mass Requests and Stipends: Rev. Fr. David Hewko, 16 Dogwood Road South, Hubbardston, MA 01452
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Donations: Checks can be made out to Sorrowful Heart of Mary Inc., P.O. Box 366017, Atlanta, GA 30336 or electronic donations can be made via PayPal.
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To subscribe to Fr. Hewko's newsletters, the Sorrowful Heart of Mary Newsletter, and the Mary, the Cause of Our Joy! Newsletter, contact: sorrowfulheartofmary@gmail.com.
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