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CANONICAL ERECTION
OF A BENEDICTINE PRIORY |
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You are a monk, you must remain a
monk! |
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This was the
advice given by Archbishop Lefebvre to the young Fr. Cyprian who,
having left his Monastery of Sainte Madeleine du Barroux because
of the Faith questioned the prelate about his future. Two years
earlier, at the end of the ordinations ceremony in Econe, he had
promised his fidelity, his hands in those of the Archbishop. It is
this same fidelity that led him to found, on the other side of the
world, a Benedictine monastery, on a mountain as it ought to be,
in the wooded solitude of New Mexico. We must attempt the
impossible!, was the testament received from the founder of
the Society of St. Pius X two months before his death. And the
impossible became a reality: the foundation of the Monastery of
Our Lady of Guadalupe.1 |
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Herculean
Labors
It took twenty
years of efforts, sacrifices and prayers to make it to this
Saturday, October 24, when the foundation was made a conventual
priory: a decisive step in the establishment of a Benedictine
monastery, school for the service of the Lord.2
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This foundation is at the same time a final point and a
beginning, would comment Bishop de Galarreta before some 300
friends of the monastery assembled under the large tent set up for
the occasion. It is the fruit of much work, and of many
sufferings and prayers, and it is a commitment to a greater fervor
and fidelity. Indeed, who can measure the sum of work of
which the monastery, with its chapel, its library, its cloister,
cells and refectory, is today the splendid accomplishment. The
immense reservoir of water in the wells is without a doubt one of
the most spectacular, and merits a whole page all to itself. From
the discovery of a simple ditch presented as a well when the
property was bought, to the 2600 feet drilling not to mention the
two years of going back and forth to and from the city, regularly,
rain or shine, to fill up the water tank. |
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Yet more
mysterious and extraordinary is the transformation of the
interior edifices, not only of the monks and numerous
postulants, but also of the countless visitors and oblates who
have passed through over the past two decades. If sufferings endured are the King's secret, St.
Paul himself authorizes us to list them as so many proofs of God's
greatness. |
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False brothers and
critics, temptations and discouragements, deceptions and
abandonments, accidents and illnesses have not been wanting! And
even death herself, who came to take away the novice master, Fr.
John of the Cross, during the chanting of the Magnificat, the evening of June 29, 2002. |
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If the grain of
wheat...dies, it will bear much fruit
Eight solemnly
professed monks are necessary to be able to make a foundation a
priory. With the third priestly ordination last June, as well as
four clerics studying at the Society's seminary in Winona, this
very young3 and fervent community numbers just under 30
monks.
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Stability, object
of a special vow for the Benedictine is now acquired for the
entire monastery. It is a work of the Church, recognized as such
and publicly offered by her to her children as a privileged way of
attaining God. This foundation, having for a long time given
testimony of fidelity to the true Faith and the Holy Roman Church,
as well as to the spirit of the Benedictine family..., we...decree
that this monastery be established as a Priory of the Order of St.
Benedict.4 |
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It is with these words that Bishop de
Galarreta began the ceremony, by the power that the Holy
Church gives in the case of necessity, insofar as we are able,
with the intention of thus helping to procure the supreme good of
the Church and the salvation of souls.5 |
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Then the bishop proceeded with the institution of the conventual
priory for three years, after which an election will take
place, according to the Law.6 Remember
always the souls whom you have received under your charge and for
whom you will have to answer!7 the bishop
admonished the future prior kneeling before him. Then he asked
him to promise his submission to the Rule of St. Benedict and
that he would faithfully keep the monastic discipline in this
Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe of America. |
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The nominated prior, after
having confessed the Faith and taken the oath formulated by St.
Pius X, was then constituted prior and given in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost to the
community, who received him with a fervent Amen. Then,
confessing his unworthiness and his weakness, he confided himself
to the prayers of his brother monks and to the intercession of
Almighty God, and of the Most Holy Virgin and of St. Benedict. |
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Then, as a sign of
the authority conferred upon him, the bishop gave him the keys and
the seal of the monastery. A written document was signed on the
altar. Confirm, O my God, what thou hast accomplished by thy
hands, from thy holy temple in Jerusalem8 sang the
community. Oh God, who alone hast realized great wonders, pour
down upon thy servant Fr. Prior and on the community confided to
his care the spirit of thy saving grace, and grant to him always
the heavenly dew of thy blessing, that he may please thee in all
truth.9 Then the bishop, with miter and crosier,
installed him in his place in the choir, and to the chanting of
the Te Deum, the brothers, one after another, came to give
homage to the beloved Father.
The Three-cord
Rope
Does Not Break
The Pontifical
Mass prolonged the thanksgiving on this feast of Our Lady of Good
Hope, our only hope in this crisis of the Church, as
Bishop de Galarreta declared. He also pointed out to the community
the condition for remaining faithful in this torment, interpreting
these words of Sacred Scripture the three-cord rope does not
break. These three cords whose union alone guarantees the
solidity of resistance are for you today, he said, your
Benedictine rule, the Priestly Society of St. Pius X, and the
Catholic bishop that we are.
Indeed, the decree specified,
since it is morally impossible to have recourse to the competent
authority and since we are acting in an auxiliary way because of
the crisis in the Church and the state of necessity....10
It is this union that the many faithful who are Third Order
members and Oblates wish to share, understanding how vital it is
to cling to this rope divinely woven by Providence. It is this
same union that explained the presence, on this beautiful day, of
the superiors of the districts of Mexico and of the United States,
Frs. Trejo and Rostand, of the priors of Phoenix and of El Paso,
Frs. Burfitt and Diaz, and of the assistant director of the
seminary of Winona, Fr. Asher.
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Finally, as a new
fruit of this Benedictine restoration in Tradition, the next day,
a new monk was made a cleric of the Church. Br. Justin received
the tonsure from the bishop. He will next year join his brothers
at the seminary... and by then, God willing, two new priests will
have been ordained ad titulum paupertatis for the
Monastery of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Deo Gratias! |
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Footnotes
1
Fr. Matthew was sent from this foundation in 2000 to join Fr.
Angel () and found the monastery of Bellaigue.
2 Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue.
3 The average is 25!
4 Decree of Institution, October
23, 2010.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ritus de Canonica Erectione
Monasterii.
8 Antiphon Confirma hoc;
Ritus de Canonica Erectione Monasterii.
9 Ritus de Canonica Erectione
Monasterii.
10 Decree of Institution, October
23, 2010. |
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