The Oratory of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary is looking to purchase the property next door that has recently become available to be used as a home for the formation of Sisters who wish to consecrate their lives to the Eternal Bridegroom.

The Sisters, living a semi-contemplative life while following the Rule established by Archbishop Lefebvre, would spend their days supporting the clergy and laity with their prayers, with a particular focus on making reparation

to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts.

“The contemplative life means the keeping of charity towards God and our neighbors and fixing all our desires on our Creator.” – St. Gregory the Great

The future convent will need several repairs and upgrades. As seen in these photos, several of the logs forming the home's exterior (real logs, not log siding) need either repair or replacement. A possible option may be that this end of the home will be extended to increase the size of the future chapel. An interesting tidbit, many of the logs used in the the creation of the exterior walls were taken from the woods surrounding the home.

As can be see in the above photo, the roof also requires replacement.

Not to mention, the current boiler will too, require replacement.

The logs are affected in different areas with dry rot or carpenter ant damage,

thus the need for repair or replacement.

The large barn on the property would be divided into a workshop area

and an area for animals to help keep the convent more self-sufficient.

But it too needs some attention: some of the the lower barn boards need replacement, below, and the workshop area will need insulation to allow continued use during the colder northern New England months.

But overall, the purchase price is very reasonable and well under its formal appraised value. Of course, it goes without mentioning that there is an invaluable advantage of owning the property right next door to the Oratory!

Sisters deftly sewing vestments and working with leather as part of their activities.

The joy-filled faces of Sisters in their garden, providing much of their own food.

Teaching Sisters infusing a sense of order as well as knowledge in this photo of a girl's school from days gone by.

Sisters in some of the active orders of nuns working as nurses,

caring for some of the youngest and most vulnerable.

Sisters were often found on the battlefields of the Civil War caring for the wounded,

not without danger to themselves!

Sisters arriving in New York City after being forced to flee Mexico during the Cristero War of later 1920's between the anticlerical Masonic government and the Catholic Cristeros.

Young women entering the convent as postulants, in their bridal dresses of white, giving their lives to honor and console the Eternal Bridegroom.

Above, a room of novices attending instruction.

“Love ought to show itself in deeds more than words.”

“There are very few men who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves entirely to his hands, and let themselves be formed by His Grace.”

“What has He done for me? He has loved me and given me His whole self. What shall I do for Him? I shall love Him and give myself to Him without reserve.”

– St. Ignatius of Loyola

Sisters making their final vows, covered with a black pall funeral cloth, symbolizing their 'death' to worldly interests and the turning of their hearts utterly and completely to their Eternal Spouse.

“No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire.” – St. Ignatius of Antioch

A picture of a majestic European convent and a picture of nuns praying before the Blessed Sacrament. It is incredible to think on how much good humble nuns such as these have done for the salvation of souls down the centuries.

“Love God, serve God; everything is in that.”

“Totally love Him, who gave Himself totally for your love.”

– St. Clare of Assisi

“What a glorious kingdom of the Holy Ghost is the religious state!” writes Father Meschler, S.J. “It is like an island of peace and calm in the middle of the fleeting, changing, restless flood of this earthly life. It is like a garden planted by God and blessed with the fat of the land and the dew of heavenly consolation. It is like a lofty mountains where the last echoes of this world are still, and the first sounds of the blessed eternity are heard. What peace, what happiness, purity and holiness has it shed over the face of the earth.”

     Nor is this to be wondered at, since God is never outdone in generosity, rewarding the sacrifices made in obedience to His call with a lavish hand.

     Peter said to Him: “Behold, we have left all things, and have followed Thee: what, therefore, shall we have?” And Jesus said to them: “You shall receive a hundred-fold and possess life everlasting.”

- Taken from Vocations by Fr. William Doyle

Though the particular apostolates of nuns can vary, nevertheless, adoration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, particularly in the Blessed Sacrament,

is always the center of their lives.

The Sisters of Wentworth will also devote many prayers of consolation and reparation to Our Lady, who has appeared so often in tears and in sadness over the sins of men and the punishments hanging over this world.

The Sisters in Wentworth will have a habit similar to this one though not precisely the same.

Archbishop Lefebvre greets his sister, Mother Marie Christiane, one of several of his sisters who became nuns. Mother Marie Christiane played a significant role in the establishment of the Carmelite convent in the United States. She founded the American Carmel in Phoenixville, PA, in 1985. She passed away in 1997.

Also pictured, Archbishop Lefebvre and Bishop de Castro Mayer, both great defenders of traditional consecrated life!

Above, a painting of St. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart.

She, along with St. Joseph, will be the patron Saint of the new convent in Wentworth.

Here is a brief biography of this young and holy nun:

Anna Maria Redi

St. Teresa Margaret was born on July 15th 1747 and baptised Anna Maria on the day after her birth, the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. She was the second of fourteen children born to Camilla and Ignatius Redi in Arezzo, Italy. The family lived in a beautiful villa, adorned with religious frecos and surrounded by delightful gardens and orchards…

From an early age little Anna Maria gave herself completely to God, no doubt influenced by the religious atmosphere which pervaded her home. Her father recognised that God was calling her in a special way and took it on himself to guide her. It was he who taught her devotion to the Sacred Heart. She later said that her father had done so much good to her soul she could claim him as a father twice over.

When she was nine Anna Maria was sent to the Benedictine School of St. Apollonia in Florence. The sisters, recognising her prayerful spirit, allowed her to receive her First Communion a month after her tenth birthday, which was a year earlier than usual.

One day when Anna Maria was nearing the time to leave school, a past pupil, Cecilia Albergotti, called for a farewell visit as she was about to enter the Carmel in Florence. As she returned to her room after this visit, Anna Maria heard the words, ‘I am Teresa of Jesus and I want you among my daughters’. Somewhat bewildered she went to the Chapel to pray for guidance and almost immediately she received confirmation of the authenticity of her experience. She resolved to leave school and enter Carmel as soon as it could be arranged.

After a few months with her family she too applied to enter the Carmel at Florence. She was accepted and entered on September 1st 1764. On March 11th the next year she was Clothed in the Carmelite habit and given the name Sr. Teresa Margaret of the Sacred Heart. She had great devotion to the Sacred Heart, and had intense experiences of the love of God. The phrase ‘God is Love’ delighted her.

When commenting on the words from St. John’s Gospel. ‘‘No one can come to the Father except through Me’, she said, ‘This our God and our loving Father is All. He is the beginning of everything, and this love is God Himself. The mirror we have to consult to arrive at divine union is the Sacred Heart of Jesus crucified.’

She longed to be ‘Hidden with Christ in God’ which she sometimes expressed as a desire to hide herself in the Sacred Heart as in a desert.

As she entered more deeply into prayer Sr. Teresa Margaret also grew in charity. While she was still a novice she was given permission to care for one of the older nuns. At the end of 1766, about six months after Sr. Teresa Margaret’s Profession, this nun died. For a short time there was no longer need of an extra infirmarian but as the winter progressed the community suffered from a severe epidemic of influenza. Again Sr. Teresa Margaret offered to help care for the sick and she was left in the office of infirmarian until her death. She was ideally suited for this office, with her calm, cheerful disposition and ease of communicating with the sick, even those who were deaf or confused. She seemed to have endless stamina and always showed great kindness to her sisters, even though she sometimes found it difficult.

Her sudden death at the age of twenty-two came as a great shock to her community. On March 6th she was late into the refectory for her evening meal, having been delayed by her infirmary duties; so she was eating alone, when she was seized by a sudden pain. A doctor was called but it appeared to be only colic. Everyone expected that she would be better the next day, but the spasms became worse and she died in the evening of March 7th 1770.

It seems likely that she died of a strangulated hernia and her body was so discoloured the nuns were anxious about leaving her coffin open in the choir, but as the procession made its way to the chapel, her natural colour returned and within two days her body appeared as if she was sleeping.

Her incorrupt body still rests in the Carmelite Church.

Pope Pius XI canonised St. Teresa Margaret on March 19th 1934.

The Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Québec City, one of the oldest pilgrimage sties in North America, due to the many miracles and cures wrough tafter honoring St. Anne here. Within the larger Shrine, some of the pivotal roles the nuns played in the settling of Canada are depicted below, where a picture is worth a thousand words:

A sculpture and pencil drawing of the St. Marguerite Bourgeoys from her Shrine in Canada. It is located at the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel in Montreal, Quebec. This site is significant as it is the oldest historic place in Montreal that has maintained its original function as a destination for pilgrims. The chapel was built in 1771 over the ruins of an earlier chapel, was originally constructed in 1655 by St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, who brought a statue of Our Lady of Good Help to the site,

hence the name of the chapel.

The Sisters who will reside in the Wentworth, NH convent will have the opportunity to visit all the great basilicas, shrines, and chapels in Montreal and Quebec,

only a few short hours drive to the north!

May these holy, venerable, and saintly nuns be an inspiration!

Several painting of teaching Sisters in England in the 19th century.

✠

Summer 2025

Dear Faithful Fighting in the Trenches,

“Woe to the world should it lack monasteries and convents! Men do not comprehend their importance, for if they understood, they would do all in their power to multiply them, because in them can be found the remedy for all the physical and moral evils…No one on the face of the earth is aware from where comes the salvation of souls, the conversion of great sinners, the end of great scourges, the fertility of the land, the end of pestilence and wars, and the harmony between nations. All this is due to the prayers that rise up from monasteries and convents!”(Words of Our Lady to Mother Mariana de Jesus, Quito, Ecuador (1563 - 1635)

One of the catastrophic effects of the Second Vatican Council was the aggiornamento, the so-called “updating,” of the Religious Orders. In the name of aggiornamento the entire rules, statutes, and constitutions of religious houses were changed, bringing in the spirit of the world and the abandonment of the former habits, penances, and prayers of the Religious Orders founded by saints and approved for centuries by Mother Church. It truly was the crowbar Satan cunningly swung to break the backbone of the Catholic Church!

This was the reason why Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre resigned from the position of Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers in 1968, the largest missionary order in the Church! He refused to lend a hand to the dismantling and destruction of his congregation.

Shortly after Vatican II, the changes to the Mass began in stages, first introducing English prayers, omissions of the Signs of the Cross and genuflections, then erupting in the contemptible New Mass of Pope Paul VI in 1969. Abp. Lefebvre soon detected the anti-Catholic spirit of this novelty and told Modernist Rome that he can never accept the New Mass nor possibly form priests with it. How right he was! Soon he would label it the “Messe batarde,” the Mass “that represents a different faith; no longer the Catholic Faith,” that Mass that “poisons and corrupts the Faith,” which, furthermore, “cannot fulfill the Sunday obligation.”

With the recent pontificate of Pope Francis, which unleashed every effort to eradicate the last-standing-traditional-bent religious orders, the modernization of nearly all religious orders, congregations, and pious unions in the world have been accomplished! They have been compromised and contaminated with the smoke of Satan, coming from Vatican II! Even the beloved Society of St. Pius X, a pious union of priests founded by the Archbishop himself, has compromised the Faith at the Doctrinal level, as proven by the treasonous public documents of the Doctrinal Declaration of April 15, 2012, the General Chapter Statement of July, 2012, and the accompanying Six Conditions for the Agreement with Rome.

Faced with this universal collapse of the Faith, the conclusion for us Catholics is obvious. We must not give up, nor must we abandon the fight for Tradition by a false obedience to Modernist Rome, but, on the contrary, we must offer a vigorous, unwavering resistance to Modernism and stay attached to Catholic Tradition! The blueprints of reconstruction have already long been established by Mother Church, as Pope St. Pius X declared in Our Apostolic Mandate, and the guiding directives and example given by Abp. Lefebvre clearly marks the path to follow! This program is:

Firstly, the Catholic priesthood with a solid counter-Revolutionary formation rooted in the great anti-Liberal Popes and authors such as: Cardinal Pie of Poitiers, Bp. Emile Freppel, St. Pius X, Fr. Denis Fahey, Bp. De Castro Meyer, Louis Veuillot, and Abp. Lefebvre.

Secondly, the defense of the integral Tridentine Mass and traditional sacraments.

Thirdly, the revival of the monastic and religious orders.

Fourthly, the revival of solid traditional Catholic education at every level! All of it aimed at the proclamation of the Social Reign of Christ the King over all nations.

Fifthly, the Catholic parishes and smaller missions, with large families gathered around good schools and the True Mass at their very heart.

It is true, the SSPX had accomplished most of this “Traditional Restoration Program” and it was successful in many parts of the world. But as the fish rots first in the head, so with the compromise at the Doctrinal level in 2012, the SSPX is destined to go the route of all traditional communities who had compromised the Faith, which is a gradual slide to Modernism. Just for example, look at the towering fortress of defense of Catholic Tradition that Bp. De Castro Meyer had established in Campos, Brazil. Now, since their Agreement with Rome in 2003, they are saying the New Mass with altar girls and Communion, in the hand! One cannot compromise the Holy Faith and get away with it! Impossible!

So our humble beginnings at the Oratory of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary have seen the first year of priestly formation with more arrivals for the Fall of 2025. It all belongs to Her and may She see it fructify under Her care and vigilance!

But now, the opportunity has arisen of an adjacent property with the perfect landscape and buildings for an initial Convent for sisters consecrated to Our Lord Jesus Christ. May St. Joseph be pleased to see to it and the success of the fundraiser to obtain the property for $300,000.00, with $180,000.00 in addition, to pay for the necessary repairs. They are: a new roof, new boiler, entire log-replacements for the log cabin house, an extension for the sister’s chapel, barn repairs, and insulation, etc.

Our Divine Lord cannot NOT want beloved brides who seek Him with all their hearts and marry Him by the consecrated life! Our apostolate of the priests need them. This anti-Catholic world needs them! The Church devastated by Vatican II needs them! YOU need them!

“As dust is scattered when blown by the wind, so our adversary the Devil, is put to flight in confusion and terror by the voices of those who chant [the psalms] with humble devotion.” (St. John Chrysostom, Comm. in Ps. 145)

In Christ the King,

Fr. David Hewko