Editorial Editor Beverly De Soto Webmaster Jim Bryant Writers Donna Sue Berry Harry Stevens Beverly De Soto Wilson Gavin Dan Flaherty
REGINA MAGAZINE is published 12 times a year at www.reginamag.com REGINA draws together extraordinary Catholic writers, photographers, videographers and artist with a vibrant faith. We’re interested in everything under the Catholic sun – from work and family to religious and eternal life. We seek the Good, the Beautiful and the True – in our Tradition and with our God-given Reason. We believe in one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. We are joyfully loyal to the Magisterium. We proudly celebrate our literary and artisitc heritage and seek to live and teach the authentic Faith. We are grateful for this treasure laid up for us for two thousand years by the Church – in her liturgy, her clergy, her great gift of Christendom and the Catholic culture that we are the primary bearers of. REGINA MAGAZINE is under the patronage of Our Lady, Mary Most Holy. We pray that she lays our humble work at the feet of her Son, and that His Will be done.
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Dublin Beauty
Youth, Beauty, Passion & the Mass of Ages
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Authentic - The Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa
Doing Whatever God Has In Mind
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Report From Norcia
Militant Catholic Film-Maker
A Tale of the Bishop and the Emigrant
The Priest Who Saved My Soul
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Latin Mass
Chaplaincy In recent years, Saint Kevin’s in Portobello has been the home of the Latin Mass Chaplaincy for the Dublin Archdiocese. This 19th century Gothic gem is glowing with color and statuary. People are traveling to be part of the parish. The trendy neighborhood has been treated to the sights and sounds of orthodox Catholic worship for the first time in decades. But what do the people think? REGINA Magazine interviewed parishioners to find out.
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Holy
Communion
I was first introduced to the Latin Mass as a student. I realized straightaway, although not in so many words, that this ancient form of the Roman Rite made visible and communicated in a very powerful way, through its liturgy, chant, vestments and incense, the Mystery of the Incarnation, of God-with-us. At the same time, I discovered that the TLM shaped our response to this once-enacted, oft re-presented Mystery: the worship of God really, truly and substantially present on our altars. This by means of orientation, silence, kneeling and the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue. Adula, 50
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Catholic Life I was immensely grateful to God and the Chaplain, Fr. Gerard Deighan, that for his funeral my Dad had the Traditional Latin Requiem Mass with Gregorian Chant. Subsequently, the same blessing was shared by my Mum and my Godmother. St. Kevin’s gave stability to our community, allowing us to put down roots and live a normal Catholic life. Apart from attending Holy Mass and various devotions such as First Fridays, I am involved in St Kevin’s Schola Cantorum and I help with the flower arranging. There are a number of social activities, such as tea in the parish hall, organised by a different family each month. Recently there was a walking pilgrimage to the ancient monastery of St Kevin in Glendalough. Adula, 50
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Dublin Archdiocese Our Latin Mass community had a nomadic existence for many years, wandering from church-to-church - like the Children of Israel in the desert. When His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI promulgated his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum (July 2007), there was great joy, vastly enhanced by the generous decision of His Grace, Dr. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, to establish a Latin Mass Chaplaincy for the Dublin Archdiocese at St Kevin’s in fashionable Portobello. I think that wandering in the desert for TLM community led to a very re-active Faith, since it survived in a largely misunderstanding environment. Perhaps we tended to be on the defensive, always ready to justify our love for the ancient Roman Rite and its disciplines. Adula, 50
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True Shepherds I loved it. I felt like I was attending Mass as it was intended to be. Mass is clearly presented as a sacrifice and a return to Calvary and inspires the truth of the Catholic faith. Furthermore, the priests at St. Kevin’s are true shepherds, consistently delivering sermons that challenge and inspire. Brian, 30
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Sunday
Morning
I have been attending St Kevin’s since 2009. I am about a fifteen minute drive from St Kevin’s on a Sunday morning. I discovered St Kevin’s when some friends from the prolife movement told me about the Latin Mass and invited me to attend with them. Brian, 30
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Dignified
Spirit
Before discovering St Kevin’s, my experience of Mass had been largely disappointing. The banal and superficial guitar music with the priest turning his back to God, was perhaps fine when I was five or ten years old, but it frustrated and undermined a mature, masculine and dignified spirit of prayer and reverence. Brian, 30
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Gothic
Monument
The Mass at St Kevin’s is magnificent. The church itself is a Pugin gothic monument to the great Irish saint and the Gregorian Chant raises the soul to God. I do all I can to bring friends to this glorious Mass. Brian, 30
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Catholic
Identity My prior experience was the Novus Ordo in my local parishes of Rathgar and Terenure, and with the Carmelite Order where I was at school. The Holy Sacrifice of Mass in the EF has considerably deepened my faith, and strengthened my Catholic identity. Ivan, 45
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Utmost
Devotion
This most beautiful mass, being our highest form of prayer, is carried out with such respect and reverence that it draws you in. How many graces this Mass must attain for us. Jesus deserves our utmost devotion and honour so why accept or give him anything less than our best. Claire, 40
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Practicing
Catholic
I am married and have five children ages 9, 7, 5, 3, and an 8 month old. I was brought up a practising Catholic with Mass on Sunday, the Rosary before bed and a very good foundation. This was thanks to my devout Mother, who grew up in a time when the catechism was well learned and put into practice. I suppose I honestly thought I was doing the best that I could. Looking back I wasn’t. I was what you might call now “lukewarm”. I just went along with my eyes closed and didn’t put much thought into many things. I left the thinking to other people Claire, 40
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Real
Presence
It is compulsory to kneel and receive Holy Communion on the tongue and not in the hand. What a beautiful expression of humility and belief. The Protestants didn’t believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, originally in the 16th century they introduced taking Communion in their hand as a sign of their belief. Some Catholic clergy in Holland brought it in after Vatican II. I do believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, so for me it is important not only to show my respect to Jesus but to proclaim this truth, and with the support of these priests making it the norm I can do this with ease. Claire, 40
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Traditional
Latin
The reason I initially choose St Kevin’s was because they celebrate the Traditional Latin mass; a very good priest friend of mine stirred me in this direction. The Traditional Mass at St Kevin’s had an immediate effect and attraction. I began to love the Mass and started to feel positively different. I wanted my family to experience this as well. Claire, 40
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Perfect Setting The beauty of the Mass itself is complemented by the surroundings. The high altar is adorned with heavenly angels and saints and the exquisite stained glass windows bring you into the mysteries of Our Lord and Our Lady’s lives here on earth. The perfect setting where you can sit and contemplate how each of these events played out. I have listened to many a great Sermon. They teach truths that many may fear tackling because of the kind of society we live in today where “wrong is right and right is wrong”, what diabolical disorientation we have to live through. We must love the truth and defend it. I see these Priests as true shepherds who really care and protect us. In our time when dogmas are undermined and trampled underfoot we need heroic priests to voice with us, Traditional Catholic beliefs. By safeguarding our Catholic Tradition and truths, they are the stars that will lead us to heaven. I want this for my children, doesn’t every mother? Claire, 40
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It’s like a film depicting a medieval scene, but it happened, for real, just last week. As the earth shakes around them, Benedictine monks intone the Latin Prayers in Time of Earthquake, in the Crypt of their Basilica which in the ancient home of St Benedict (480-547 AD) himself. REGINA sat down with Father Benedict Nivakoff, OSB, to get the latest news from the Monks of Norcia in the aftermath of the recent quakes there.
Report
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From
Norcia
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REGINA / Where were the monks when the first
quake struck? Fr. Benedict / The monks were making their way
towards the monastery Church when the first quake struck at 3:35. It was the feast of St. Bartholomew, so we were beginning Matins fifteen minutes earlier than normal at 3:45 a.m., as we usually do for Sundays and feast days. That means that the monks were awake and either getting ready in their cells or already on their way to the Church when, bam! The first quake hit.
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REGINA / Wow, what did that feel like? Fr. Benedict / We felt one giant quake initially; later
we knew that it was a 6.2 magnitude. To one of the monks on the third floor in a corridor very close to the Basilica, it felt like the whole building was being violently shaken and about to crumble.
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REGINA / In the hours following? Fr. Benedict / Immediately after the first quake hit
the monks made their way to the central town square, the Piazza di San Benedetto. We remained there for a few hours with several hundred others, leading them in the rosary, trusting in God but hesitant to go back into our homes as the aftershocks continued, some of them reaching up to 5.0 magnitude.
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REGINA / So, the monks and the townspeople stayed
outside in the dark for three hours? Fr. Benedict / Yes. Around 7 a.m. we monks along
with our guests congregated in the porter’s office adjacent to our gift shop, a relatively safe place from which we could easily escape back into the piazza if need be. A few of the monks went into the monastery to prepare breakfast and brought it all down for monks and guests alike to share.
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REGINA / How did this affect your rigorous
prayer schedule? Fr. Benedict / We then prayed Lauds in the Crypt and
an hour or so later we also prayed Prime. From Prime onward we were able to keep our regular prayer schedule in the crypt, with the sung Conventual Mass at 10:00 as usual. We were particularly moved by the prayers offered in the Missal for use in time of earthquake, which we prayed in addition to the Mass of St. Bartholomew. REGINA / Prayers in time of earthquake! So what prac-
tical steps did you take? Fr. Benedict / After the Conventual Mass, a few of
the monks prepared pranzo (lunch) while the rest of the monks set up temporary cells for monks whose cells were too dangerous to be in.
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REGINA / And the damage to the Basilica and the
monastery itself? Fr. Benedict / We saw the damage to the basilica
almost instantly. There was rubble all over the floor near the St. Benedict and St. Scholastica side altars. The whole church was covered in dust. Rubble was also in the nave and cracks could be seen not only on the walls but also in the dome. We didn’t see the effects in the monastery well until the sun rose and one could better see the damage. Many deep cracks were seen all over the monastery buildings attached to the basilica, especially in the library, scriptorium and kitchen, but the worst damage was in the novitiate.
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REGINA / We’ve heard that many of the monks have
gone to Rome, and that others are sleeping in tents outside the city walls for safety. Fr. Benedict / By 4:00 p.m. on the day of the quake,
an official inspection declared that the buildings were unsafe, at which point the whole community packed up their bags and headed for Sant’Anselmo in Rome.
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Two of the monks, Fr. Benedict and Fr. Martin, remained in Norcia living in tents at our property outside the walls in order to follow up on the continuing inspections and to let everyone know when it was safe to return.
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Little by little monks have been returning to Norcia to help prepare temporary living quarters and it is hoped that the whole community will be back in Norcia by August 30.
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REGINA / Are the buildings closed? Fr. Benedict / For the moment the Basilica is closed as
well as most parts of the monastery. We hope to be able to open the gift shop as soon as the aftershocks cease.
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REGINA / What effect will this have on your nascent
beer brewing business? Fr. Benedict / Thanks be to God there was little equip-
ment damage in the brewery and bottling room, which means that the earthquake did not harm the beer in the fermentors or in the warming room. But the building in which these are both housed has been severely damaged so in the coming months we will have to evaluate whether a better location, temporary or permanent, is necessary to keep production up. Since we plan brewing and shipments months in advance with large margins of error, there is a good stock now in the United States which should last until we can start production again hopefully in 2 months time. Purchasing our beer in the USA is a great way to help us rebuild.
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REGINA / What are the conditions like in
Norcia now? Fr. Benedict / Most of the buildings in Norcia were
built according to earthquake safe standards after an earthquake in 1970 almost leveled the town, so thanks be to God most homes were not too badly damaged this time around. That said, and despite the fact that no buildings crumbled entirely, many buildings suffered deep structural damage and have become uninhabitable. The damage will take a long time to accurately assess, to repair, and for confidence in the safety of the buildings in town to be restored. The taller buildings, like our monastery and Church and other Churches, were the most adversely affected. So many people have left, rightly concerned for their safety, leaving Norcia as a kind of ghost town, something unfortunate for a city that was just the day previous to the earthquake bustling with tourists and visitors from all over the world.
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REGINA / Is the government responding? The diocese? Fr. Benedict / Both government and local diocese have
become involved in assessing damages and charting a plan for reconstruction/renovation of Norcia in general and the monastery in particular.
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REGINA / What are the monks’ feelings about
next steps? Fr. Benedict / The monks are naturally a bit anxious
about what the immediate future has in store for them. We sure want to be back in our home and especially in our Church! But on the whole there is a great freedom that comes from the monastic life, a freedom that allows us to trust in God and see this time not only as an adventure but as an opportunity to grow in sanctity through prayer and abandonment to divine providence and to make the community stronger through fraternal charity and the work of mutual service. The monks have a joy that comes from this freedom, and this has been very apparent.
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REGINA / What can people do in the short term
to help? Fr. Benedict / Anyone who wants to help us in this
trying time can first and foremost pray for us. We need the strength and support that comes from your prayers as we in turn pray for the whole Church.
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REGINA / And in terms of practical help? Fr. Benedict / People can also support us by buying
our CD and of, course, buying our beer. Signups to our Brewmonks’ Club, which is a monthly subscription to our beer, would be especially appreciated. Please see our website for instructions on how to make a donation. We thank you with deep gratitude in advance!!
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REGINA / What will donations be used for? Fr. Benedict / Financial contributions will also be
much appreciated to cover the immediate expenses of providing temporary shelter, food and other necessities for the monks in the next few months, as well as to begin the great work of restoring the monastery Church and buildings.
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Youth, Beauty, Passion & the Mass of Ages by Wilson Gavin Photos by Constance Cdej and Beverly Stevens
M
y first taste of the Traditional Latin Mass occurred on the 14th of September, 2014, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Mass was said by a very famous priest, who has now entered into his eternal rest. The place? St Joseph’s parish, Kangaroo Point, Australia.
amen”, and placed the Lord of Hosts on my tongue, I felt something which could only be described as the veil being rent.
To sum up a rather overwhelming experience, I wept. The glory of the chant, the quiet figure in magnificent vestments leaning over the altar, the smell of incense wafting gently up to Heaven -- all of it touched my soul like nothing else I had ever experienced.
Young Catholics & the Latin Mass The first thing I noticed at St Joseph’s was the profusion of young adults and families, a very different demographic to my usual parish.
I did not know the responses, and I stumbled badly with the movements, but when Father whispered “Corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternum,
From that moment on, I was in love.
In truth, the young Catholics I know are not churchgoers, nor devotees of the Latin Mass. It goes against the traditional (if you’ll forgive the pun) grain of thought; why would a young person not only attend Mass in an incomprehensible language,
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The Latin Mass, with its otherworldly beauty, is an escape. In a world that is deliberately trying to destroy the past and any memory of it, the Mass of the Ages anchors us to history. said according to medieval rites, but love it fiercely? For me, it was a tremendous surprise to discover that it is the young who are the foremost partisans and defenders of the Latin Mass. They are also the people who keep it alive, through their offerings, service in ministries like the choir and altar service, vocations, and mere presence. This truly comes as a shock to some people; they cannot comprehend the appeal. Some of the teachers at my Catholic school, particularly the older ones, were aghast at my attendance there. They quoted every misconception about it known to man; it is uninclusive, it fosters clericalism, it is discouraged by the Church, it doesn’t allow the active participation of the laity. I find that last point particularly laughable; I have never
attended a religious service, of any sect, that inspires more fervour and spiritual engagement among the faithful than the Latin Mass. In every generation, there is a search for the divine, but in a world which purges it from life completely that search becomes an imperative for anyone who wishes to preserve their sanity. The banality of the modern world saps the soul of all vigour. Decades of the chatterati assaulting the senses with evil has left people numb. We live in a world saturated with colour and sound. But this is not the delicate tincture of a lapis lazuli, or the sound of a Mozart. The tone of this world is screeching, and the colour is florid. The Latin Mass, with its otherworldly beauty, is an escape. In a world that is deliberately trying to destroy the past and any memory of it, the Mass of the Ages anchors us to history. I have always loved history personally, and I find it disheartening when people display their basic historical illiteracy; I compare with sadness the modern world to the so-called “dark ages�. But so long as the Mass is there, it is possible to live in the midst of history itself. The trappings themselves are medieval; the candles, the vestments, saints, the language.
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When hearing the Mass, it’s easy to forget the lightbulbs buzzing overhead, or the cars speeding past outside. When you sit in the silence to contemplate Christ’s sacrifice, you realise why it is called the Mass of the Saints; almost every saint who lived before 1960 was baptised, ordained, and buried according to these ancient rites. But so long as the Mass is there, it is possible to live in the midst of history itself. The trappings themselves are medieval; the candles, the vestments, saints, the language. When hearing the Mass, it’s easy to forget the lightbulbs buzzing overhead, or the cars speeding past outside. When you sit in the silence to contemplate Christ’s sacrifice, you realise why it is called the Mass of the Saints; almost every saint who lived before 1960 was baptised, ordained, and buried according to these ancient rites. But its timelessness isn’t found in the exteriors, or in the mere accidents of history; it comes in the knowledge that the men who say this Mass descend in an unbroken line from the Apostles, back to Christ Himself. And whilst in Heaven the Eternal Sacrifice is offered in a language we cannot comprehend, it is impossible to doubt that the Sacred reveals itself to us on earth when the priest says the words of consecration. Every Mass said is a miracle, but to me the Latin Mass is the only thing that allows us to have some small glimpse at the truly terrible wonder hidden by the accidents of bread and wine. Another beauty of the Mass is the chance to encounter those who share
And while it is an escape from the modern world and all its terrors, the Latin Mass in no way allows us to be free of our responsibilities. your values. Surrounded by clicking rosaries, novenas, and mantillas, it is very hard to feel bashful about your faith. For the young in particular, it is a gift to be able to go to a place where you can meet those of your own age who share your values, where loyalty to the Church and the Magisterium are taken as a given. For a faithful Catholic doubting their faith -- as I was when I first attended the Latin Mass -- this Mass and those who attend can show you that you are not alone, that you are not insane. Stop pandering to young people And while it is an escape from the modern world and all its terrors, the Latin Mass in no way allows us to be free of our responsibilities. It is a direct challenge to a generation accustomed to a prize for every child, creating a standard for those who have never had to match anything like it. Youth, Beauty, Passion & the Mass of Ages / Regina Magazine
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Young people are sick and tired of being pandered to, of having their every whim offered up to them, and of institutions changing their core character to accommodate them. I enjoy being given a firm moral code to abide by, and being reprimanded when I fall short of it. I enjoy having a place of sanity to retreat to when the world goes mad. I enjoy the comfortable knowledge of going to Mass in the same pew, every morning, and knowing that while the world shifts and changes, the Cross stands still. Most importantly, the Latin Mass shows the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in all His glory. He is present on every altar in the world, and worshipped as such. But for Him to be surrounded by gold and incense and crystal, the trappings of Imperial glory, makes His Presence overwhelming. In a world that has abandoned the divine, the Latin Mass restores flavour to the salt, and lifts the basket from the lamp. That is something to treasure.
WILSON GAVIN is an eighteen year old Australian currently living in Mongolia, where he works as a teacher. After falling away from the Faith at an early age, he returned through the Traditional Latin Mass and the ministry of the Carmelites. He is presently discerning a vocation to the priesthood.
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A child of the Sixties, she hiked the Way of St James alone.
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Catholic Film Militant
H
e’s a coal miner’s son from the far west of England. Today, he’s making compelling docu-dramas which compete with the best in the business – on both sides of the Atlantic – for America’s EWTN Network. Come along with REGINA as we explore the wonderful world of award-winning film-maker Stefano Mazzeo. REGINA / Please tell us about your youth. Stefano Mazzeo / My father is an Italian who came to
England in the early 50s to work in the Cornish tin mines; he met my mum, a local girl from St Just. When I was a young boy my father made sure I was raised as a Catholic and sent me to the local Catholic convent in Penzance as a day boy. After I left secondary education I worked for the Cornishman in Penzance as an apprentice, but art was always my first love so I ended up at Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design studying Technical Graphics. Much later I studied
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Theology at Plater College in Oxford. My degree is in Media Studies through the Open University in England. REGINA / How did you get into media? Stefano Mazzeo / After art college I worked in various
studios in England. During this time I became fascinated and a little concerned by the growing decadence portrayed in the media I would always measure any media content against the gospel. I could see that secular film makers and TV producers were using the arts, music, drama, documentaries, even news and current affairs programmes as multi level platforms to turn our understanding of society and morality completely on its head. This was social engineering on a scale that would make any atheistic totalitarian state proud. REGINA / Wow, so what did you do about that?
-Maker Stefano Mazzeo / I felt that watching secular TV was in-
compatible with being a Christian and gave up the television, formed an apostolate called CUT (Catholics Unplug your Television) with an Irish friend and a prayer crusade in which every member chose a saint as a “battle buddy” who we could would invoke against any nefarious media event, and to bring our intentions before the Holy Trinity. We also adopt celebrities and pray for them. REGINA / And how did you meet EWTN? Stefano Mazzeo / At about the same time as I formed CUT
I met a delegation from EWTN and St Clare Media - EWTN at the 2006 Faith of Our Fathers conference in London. We got talking and they were interested in my ideas, basically I wanted to employ the secular media’s techniques but to give a true picture about the Catholic Church and its history. They suggested I put forward a proposal for a documentary. This became “Wales, the Golden Thread of Faith.”
REGINA / What projects have you done for EWTN? Stefano Mazzeo / I have now made four films for EWTN
and I am working on my fifth, “The Message of Fatima”. The first was called Wales, the Golden Thread of Faith on the history of the Catholic Church in Wales. I wanted to explore early Celtic Christianity with is strong loyalty to Rome in the face of pagan invasions from Northern Europe. I went through the ages of Welsh history, which was strongly Catholic until the persecutions of the Reformation; even then there was a strong Catholic recusant presence in Wales. REGINA / You are from Cornwall, which is near
Wales, right?
Stefano Mazzeo / Yes, I also managed to weave in a little
about the Cornish cousins of the Welsh who actually rebelled because the Mass had been changed and then translated from
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Our latest docudrama “The Inquisition” will be broadcast in October. the Latin which they could understand into English, which they could not. (The Cornish had their own language.) They rebelled in 1549 but lost the fight and there then followed the ethnic cleansing of Cornish and Devonshire Catholics. In Wales there were many Martyrs. I wrote a play about St Richard Gwynn in the hope that it would be included in the middle of the series but in the end we found we had to axe it due to costs. REGINA / How did the Wales project turn out? Stefano Mazzeo / The Wales docudrama proved to be a
success and EWTN asked to me to write and produce a series on the Crusades. Again I would use the docudrama format to tell this complex story, and to do it justice I felt we needed good visuals. I wanted to explore the various characters of the Crusades so we staged various little drama sequences, for example St Francis meeting sultan Al Kamil. REGINA / Yes, it’s an astonishing historical fact that Francis
did meet the Sultan!
Stefano Mazzeo / Most people today seem to think that St
Francis was sympathetic to the Muslims but this is nonsense. What actually happened was St Francis tried to convert the Sultan to Christianity. St Francis believed this would be the only way to stop the battle.
REGINA / Speaking of historical controversies, is it true you’re
taking on the Inquisition?
Stefano Mazzeo / Yes. Our latest docudrama “The Inqui-
sition” will be broadcast in October. It is perhaps our most ambitious yet. Here I should give special thanks to Triptych Productions, and the Crusade re-enactment group. REGINA / And what should we expect to see? Stefano Mazzeo / It is going to be surprising to many that
the Inquisition actually saved lives. In fact like the Crusades the myths of the Inquisition was largely created by Northern Protestant countries as a stick to beat the Catholic Church with in order to cement nationalism and the so-called Reformation. It is known in Spain as the ‘Black Legend’. REGINA / You filmed this on location? And you interviewed
some interesting people on this, too.
Stefano Mazzeo / Yes, we filmed Spain’s Semana Santa
(‘Holy Week’) penitential processions. We were very pleased to have leading historians involved such as Professors Madden
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and Smith of St Louis University, and Professor Phillips of Royal Holloway in London. Cardinal Raymond Burke gave us an interesting interview as well. REGINA / Tell us about the in search of Christendom series.
What inspired it?
Stefano Mazzeo / Films for Christendom was a natural
progression. My filmmaking philosophy is to produce films that make orthodox and traditional Catholics understand their faith and the history of the Church, as is EWTN’s own ethos. So often our history is being told by un-sympatric secular filmmakers who more often than not, are very economical with the truth. There is very little to be ashamed about in Church history and much to be proud of. The Crusades for example saved Christendom at a time when two thirds had been overrun by Islam. As Professor Madden of St Louis University said their way of converting Christians “...was all by the sword”. REGINA / You began, however, with a modern-day miracle,
the yearly pilgrimage to Chartres.
Stefano Mazzeo / “In Search of Christendom - The Chartres
Pilgrimage” shows the joy of Traditional Catholic youth have for orthodox Catholic values. Not for them the liberal values of aging hippies. It was interesting to use time lapse photogra-
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My filmmaking philosophy is to produce films that make orthodox and traditional Catholics understand their faith and the history of the Church, as is EWTN’s own ethos. phy of my usual cameraman Michal Benko to show the frantic secular material world and compare this with the joy of young Catholic pilgrims. EWTN have shown this documentary many times during the last year. REGINA / You have been filming in Portugal? Stefano Mazzeo / At the moment we are working on a
docudrama to celebrate the centenary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, The Message of Fatima. We are working with a local folk group in Fatima called Casa do Povo and also Triptych Productions in England again. This is a different type of film than the others we have made, its more theological
and mystical, of course we are talking about historical events, but it does not engage in apologetics in the same way as the other films, more of an exploration of Our Lady’s message to mankind. REGINA / Who is your target audience? Stefano Mazzeo / First of all the target audience is the loyal
supporters of EWTN. Second would be any lukewarm Catholics who come upon our work who may have had their faith broken by the misrepresentation in the Secular Media, I want to say through these films that they have got it wrong. Thirdly would be anyone of any faith and none who would like to discover a little about Catholic history and culture. REGINA / You’re winning awards. Stefano Mazzeo / I believe that music themes make up
about 25% of the docudrama’s impact. The Crusades was a co-production with Lux Communication of Slovakia (who supplied the production team of Michal Benko and Marek Polacek), Buckfast Abbey England and St Clare Media - EWTN, an EWTN affiliate station in England. We were very pleased to win Grand Prix of the Niepokalanow International Film festival in Poland. I was honoured to receive the Maximillion Kolby award as the filmmaker. I don’t go looking for awards but if it draws attention to our ministry and enables us to do more work and bring the truth to a greater audience then so be it.
REGINA / This is all rather un-politically correct, isn’t it? Stefano Mazzeo / It stands to reason that Catholic history
should be good as the Church was founded by Jesus Himself, so my job as a Catholic film maker is really quite straight forward, to tell the truth. I think what surprised TV Lux, the Catholic TV station of Slovakia and co-producers on some of our films was my complete and unashamed dedication to the Catholic Church. They called me a “militant Catholic” which made me smile; in England I’ve been called an “Arch-Conservative”. While I do not reject those titles I simply like to think of myself as a loyal Catholic. You ask me what inspired the Christendom Project? Well I suppose it was the nonsense of the secular media when addressing Catholic history, this may sound grand but I like to think it is an antidote to the poison and misrepresentation by the Main Stream Media. When people truly explore the faith and Catholic history its really very exciting and heroic, forget football, pop music, secular films and TV, the Catholic faith is really quite wonderful and all embracing. There is only really one battle going on, one war, and it’s between Satan, his demons and Catholic Church. Everything else that has ever happened on earth has either been in preparation for this battle or as a result of it. REGINA / What do you hope to accomplish?
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Stefano Mazzeo / In some small way I hope that these films
will start set the record straight on the perceived difficult aspects of Catholic history. I hope we can present our faith, culture and history in an inspiring way. Really it’s quite easy as the Church, the saints, the Fathers, the apostles, Our Lady and of course Christ Himself have already written the script, all I need to do is follow faithfully. After all if the Catholic Church was founded by Jesus, then we can’t go wrong. REGINA / What do you mean? Stefano Mazzeo / Just look at what has been achieved by
Christendom -- the greatest music, finest art, the most magnificent buildings. The greatest advancements in medical care, food production, law and order etc. All this was founded on structures of the Church and the Mass. Perhaps we could go one step further here and suggest the greatest advancements in science came out of the Western world which itself developed out of Christendom. This does not mean the Western man is better than anyone else, far from it, it’s just because they were Christians and no other reason. Out of the West also came electricity, aircraft, motor cars, computers, television, radio etc. However, it’s possible that all these inventions without the moderating influence of the Church will lead to its downfall. So what EWTN hope to accomplish with this series is that
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the Church gets some credit for laying the foundations for the modern world and hopefully people after seeing our films will do their own research, and be a little more open minded towards the benign influence of the Catholic Church throughout history. Then next year I will return to the Black Legends with a four part docudrama on the Reformation! So with the Crusades and the Inquisition, the Reformation series will complete what I hope will be a Black Legend busting trilogy. REGINA / And next? Stefano Mazzeo / I am very fortunate in my executive
producers, Doug Keck and John Elson at EWTN and Andy Pollok at St Clare Media - EWTN in England who pretty well let me get on with it. John Elson keeps an eye on me of course as I am spending hard-earned EWTN’s supporters’ money. Our aim is to compete with secular channels like the BBC and the History Channel but on a fraction of the budget.
Then next year I will return to the Black Legends with a four part docudrama on the Reformation!
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THE INQ
UISI
TION THE INQUISITION
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Stefano Mazzeo’s series will be premiered by EWTN in October of 2016 and is a four episode docudrama. It was filmed across Europe in 2015 and was completed in early 2016.
More Information (URL: http://christendomblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/the-inquisition-brand-new-mini-series.html)
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ABLE ALTAR
apprentice.com
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Authentic
The Marian Sisters A
ll the research points in one direction: today’s young people are searching for authenticity. Perhaps this is why a new, little-known California community of Sisters are fielding dozens of inquiries a year? The Marian Sisters were canonically founded by Bishop Robert Vasa in 2012 in the diocese of Santa Rosa, with just two members. They now have twelve and the average age of their new members is 24. And interest is growing; these days they receive about nine inquiries a month from young women. Their community is unique in its Marian Spirit, lived sincerely according to the Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary taught by their patron, St. Louis Marie de Montfort. They also are one of the only contemplative active communities that
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have a peaceful relationship with both forms of the Roman Rite - both the extraordinary and ordinary forms. They are traditionally minded and still present to their brothers and sisters who have not been nurtured in the traditions of the Catholic Faith. They have a contemplative spirit nurtured during the early years of formation, the basis for their active works of communicating the Faith. The Sisters strive to support priests by a spiritual maternity of prayer, sacrifice and practical support. They pray and work for souls, communicating the beauty, goodness and truth of their precious Faith through witness, catechesis and reverent liturgical practices. All these elements seem to attract those seeking to consecrate themselves to Christ while serving in His vineyards. In fact,
of
Santa Rosa the Sister’ greatest need is adequate housing for the growing number of young women seeking to discern their vocations with them. Recently, REGINA Magazine visited the Sisters and listened to what three of their young novices had to say. REGINA / How did you know that you had a vocation? Sr. Caritas Marie / I didn’t. Looking back now, I see very
clear indications of a religious vocation, and a religious vocation to a Marian community with a charism embracing the fullness of the liturgical life and having an evangelistic mission, but never once was I certain of being called to religious life. From my childhood, I was taught to seek God’s will. I strove to develop a prayer life, and sought the advice of people wiser and holier than myself. It was through the conviction that
others held that I might have a religious vocation that I came to see that it was possible and even probable. Eventually, there came a point where I knew that I would never know unless I acted. I began to act on faith, faith that if I wasn’t called, the community and the Church would recognize it and then help me to see that I wasn’t called, and that if I was called, the community and the Church would recognize a genuine call and help me to respond to it. It was only through living the life that I came to see that He had indeed called me to this state of life. Sr Margaret Mary / There were many indicators in my life
that suggested that I might have a religious vocation: comments from others, including my pastor and my Godmother, and a growing desire to do God’s Will. However, the final
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After visiting the Sisters for the first time, I saw that what I seen on the website was truly lived. answer came one day as I was praying, and God gave me the grace of receiving an interior knowledge that I was called to be His bride. It was not a voice out of the sky or anything tangible, but an undeserved grace that cannot be explained other than His infinite goodness to me. Sr Marie Vianney / I had never really thought about having
a religious vocation until one day when the new priest at my parish asked me – out of the blue – if I had ever considered the religious life. I was shocked and called my mom to share this crazy experience with her. Only, she told me that she had always thought that was a possibility! With these two people, completely separate from each other and whom I trusted, saying that they saw something in me, I felt I should at least pray more seriously about it. That prayer led to more and before I knew it, I was consumed with the thought of religious life – and I had never even seen a nun in a habit! However, one day while praying before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament I heard the words in my heart, “Be not afraid”. It’s not that I then knew for sure that I had a vocation, but I knew he was calling me to take a step forward. So I did. And I contin-
ued taking steps – visiting different communities, getting a spiritual director, striving for a better prayer life… I also had many doubts along the way. Really, me??? However, doors kept opening and whenever I looked back on my journey it was so clear that God was guiding each step. REGINA / What drew you to the Sisters? Sr Marie Vianney / In the beginning, what first drew me to
the Sisters was the beauty of their website. Both visually and in content, the website kept attracting me. I would visit it often. After visiting the Sisters for the first time, I saw that what I seen on the website was truly lived – and even more than I could have imagined! I experienced with the Sisters a deep love for our Faith – for Jesus, the Church, the Sacred Liturgy, the traditions... They lived their consecrated lives so authentically and lovingly. I wouldn’t have been able to verbalize it at the time, but it was truly the charism that was speaking to me – to magnify Jesus by communicating the beauty, goodness, and truth of the Catholic faith. This is what God was calling me to be and I saw it in the Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa. Sr. Margaret Mary / Our Lady led me here. Because I am a
native of Santa Rosa, I had the privilege of working with the Sisters and sharing in a little bit of their life before I entered. Through the lives of the Sisters, Mary showed me the beauty of the Total Marian Consecration and of authentic religious life. Their love of the liturgy in both forms of the Roman Rite and all things beautifully Catholic greatly attracted me as well.
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Sr. Caritas Marie / The authenticity of their witness as
Spouses of Christ combined with their evident love of the Church and her sacred liturgy unconsciously attracted me to the community. REGINA / What were your first impressions? Sr. Marie Vianney / My first impression on arriving at the
airport for my first visit was “home”. I saw Mother Teresa Christe and Sister Mary Rose (I had met Mother once before, but not Sister) and I was overwhelmed with the sense of being home. That sense continued throughout the visit. Sr. Margaret Mary / I first saw the Sisters a few days after
they arrived in Santa Rosa at a daily Mass one morning. Very curious as to who they were, my family met them and happily learned that they were going to start a community in our diocese. There had not been a visible presence of authentic religious life in this diocese for many years, so I had not really been with Sisters in my life. I was impacted by their reverence at Mass and love for Our Lord in the Eucharist, and as I got to know them, their Mary-like life and presence. Sr. Caritas Marie / I knew that these were women who were
genuinely living consecrated life. When I was first introduced to the community, I was not discerning religious life but I was attracted by the authenticity of the witness of the sisters and by their joyful acceptance of the crosses of daily life. The
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I was impacted by their reverence at Mass and love for Our Lord in the Eucharist, and as I got to know them, their Mary-like life and presence. community was very new when I met the sisters, but because each sister was intent on living the charism, they prayed and worked together as if they had been doing so for years. REGINA / How did your family react? Sr Marie Vianney / My family was (and is!) extremely
supportive of my vocation. My parents were particularly helpful and supportive. Even though I am the only girl in the family they were happy and proud to give their daughter to God. Even my some of my extended family who do not really understand the religious life were happy for me because I was following what God was asking me to do. Sr. Caritas Marie / Positively and with great love. From the time my brothers and I were small, my parents taught us to seek God’s will faithfully. They made it clear that nothing was more important that knowing God’s will and doing it, even if
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Sisters can be VERY funny! God invented humor, and it is a necessary ingredient in convent life!
Sr. Margaret Mary / Because I had the grace of being with
the Sisters before actually entering, I wasn’t surprised at much that I found upon entering. I was delighted to find out how much good, holy fun we can have, and the very unique sense of humor of each sister. Sisters can be VERY funny! God invented humor, and it is a necessary ingredient in convent life! Sr Marie Vianney / That God would not only allow, but de-
there was sacrifice involved. A great deal of sacrifice is asked of the family of a consecrated person. It has not been easy for my close-knit family to be separated, but God’s grace makes all things possible and sanctifying. In fact, the very sacrifices demanded can elevate the natural love shared by a family to a supernatural love focused on Christ and the salvation of souls.
sire for me to be a Sister in this community. I certainly do not deserve nor did I merit this vocation in any way, but in His Wisdom He sees fit to have this poor one as one of His brides.
Sr. Margaret Mary / My immediate family was not very
Sr Marie Vianney / One of my favorite memories is when I
surprised at my vocation because they had seen the way God was leading me, and very happy that I was to be here in this diocese. There is sorrow at any parting between those one dearly loves, but there is also a joy that can only come from making the sacrifice to do God’s Will in everything He asks, even the hardest things. REGINA / What are the most surprising things about your
experience of your vocation to these sisters?
Sr. Caritas Marie / Most surprising? Probably how normal
convent life is, if normal is recognized to be a Christocentric living of the Church’s liturgical life.
REGINA / Can you tell us about your life so far in
the convent?
was clothed as a novice. It was on an early autumn morning and it was dark outside. We had practiced the ceremony the day before, but nothing is like the real thing. I still recall very vividly kneeling at the back of the chapel facing the altar, asking for entrance into the novitiate, and then having my hair cut. That part was particularly memorable because I didn’t think it would affect me so much. I thought the symbolism was beautiful, of course, but I never cared too much about my hair and didn’t mind losing it. However, when those first snips began, I looked up at the tabernacle and I began to cry. It wasn’t just about cutting my hair, nor was it a mere symbol. I was giving everything to Christ at that moment. ... continued page 116 The Marian Sisters of Santa Rosa / Regina Magazine
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I think as the world becomes more and more materialistic and relativistic, young Catholics will continue to appreciate the consecrated life more because it is completely centered on God.
Sr. Caritas Marie / Beyond the daily beauty of the life, the praying and laboring in common, there are moments that hold special significance. One of the most significant of those for me was investiture, being received as a novice. It is here that one is received by the community, receives the habit, and is given a religious name. I remember kneeing in adoration after the ceremony, newly clothed in the holy habit, praying that I may never have to lay it aside and that Our Lady would keep me faithful to my promises of poverty, chastity, and obedience all the days of my life. REGINA / Why do you think that convent life is so attractive
to many young Catholics? having my hair cut. That part was particularly memorable because I didn’t think it would affect me so much. I thought the symbolism was beautiful, of course, but I never cared too much about my hair and didn’t mind losing it. However, when those first snips began, I looked up at the tabernacle and I began to cry. It wasn’t just about cutting my hair, nor was it a mere symbol. I was giving everything to Christ at that moment. Sr. Margaret Mary / One of my favorite memories so far is
my clothing day, the Feast of the Sacred Heart. God planned from all eternity that I would receive my name, Sister Margaret Mary of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on that feast. Kneeling there in Chapel, renouncing the world, and giving myself totally to Christ was an unforgettable moment. 116
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Sr Marie Vianney / This life is so attractive to many young
Catholics because it is real – the life actually is what we claim it to be (even amidst our human shortcomings). The life is beautiful and demanding, it entails real sacrifice and I believe that people desire to give of themselves unto sacrifice because that is true love. I think as the world becomes more and more materialistic and relativistic, young Catholics will continue to appreciate the consecrated life more because it is completely centered on God. They may not all be called, but I believe they will be more open to ask if that is God’s Will for their life. Hopefully, those who are called will have the grace and fortitude to give themselves completely to the Beloved. Sr. Caritas Marie / Created in God’s image and likeness, we
are all seeking to have Him as the center of our lives.
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Sr. Margaret Mary / One of my favorite memories so far is
my clothing day, the Feast of the Sacred Heart. God planned from all eternity that I would receive my name, Sister Margaret Mary of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart on that feast. Kneeling there in Chapel, renouncing the world, and giving myself totally to Christ was an unforgettable moment. Sr. Caritas Marie / Beyond the daily beauty of the life, the
praying and laboring in common, there are moments that hold special significance. One of the most significant of those for me was investiture, being received as a novice. It is here that one is received by the community, receives the habit, and is given a religious name. I remember kneeing in adoration after the ceremony, newly clothed in the holy habit, praying that I may never have to lay it aside and that Our Lady would keep me faithful to my promises of poverty, chastity, and obedience all the days of my life. REGINA / Why do you think that convent life is so attractive
to many young Catholics?
Sr Marie Vianney / This life is so attractive to many young
Catholics because it is real – the life actually is what we claim it to be (even amidst our human shortcomings). The life is beautiful and demanding, it entails real sacrifice and I believe that people desire to give of themselves unto sacrifice because that is true love. I think as the world becomes more and more materialistic and relativistic, young Catholics will continue to appreciate the consecrated life more because it is completely centered on God. They may not all be called, but I believe they will be more open to ask if that is God’s Will for their
life. Hopefully, those who are called will have the grace and fortitude to give themselves completely to the Beloved. Sr. Caritas Marie / Created in God’s image and likeness, we
are all seeking to have Him as the center of our lives. Those fortunate young Catholics who have tasted the goodness of God want more and more for us means a total gift of self. We have received all that we have from Him, returning it to His hands is the most normal and fulfilling action that we could possibly take. Sr. Margaret Mary / Authentic religious life, lived how the
Church wants Her daughters to live, is something so real, but at the same time humanly impossible, something that can only be done by God’s grace. No one would do this for any other reason than God. It is very evident that there is more to life than this temporal world, and each person has a longing for the infinite. Religious life is a testimony to both the longing for more and the solution that will satisfy that longing; union with God, especially in prayer. On a practical level, the habit was also an attracting factor for me because it is that outward sign of a life belonging to Christ. If I’m going to give my life totally to Christ, I want the whole world to know that I am His! The habit is a public witness to the reality of God, Heaven, and the truth of the Catholic Faith. We evangelize just by walking out the door! It also shows that this is until death, a total commitment to God Who is entirely worth the gift of my entire life.
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“Studying online has been an excellent choice for me. It has to complete the set readings and activities and the opportunity to regularly meet in a virtual learning audio sessions with other students. are on track and are extremely supportive.” —Linda Perrett, Assistant Principal (Secondary) St Joseph’s School, Stanthorpe, QLD “JPII Online Courses are wellwell-supported, enabling all those undertaking the course to access the material at their level of understanding and build on it… Not only do the courses help you in building up your own knowledge, but you come away from each session with practical ideas and numerous teaching resources ready to trial in the classroom with your students.” —Luke Burton, Deputy Principal and Religious Education Leader, St Mary’s
Marriage and Family, Melbourne,
learning with an emphasis on the practical. Students attend weekly online discussions and have access to a wide range of age-appropriate resources provided electronically for classroom and catechetical use. International students welcome.
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Italian Homecoming:
A Tale of the Bishop and 126
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the Emigrant J
oe Di Nardo, 40, is an Italian immigrant to the USA. He attends the Latin Mass at Saint Mary’s parish in Norwalk, Connecticut and this summer he traveled to Esperia, the village of his birth in the mountainous south of Italy, for the festival of San Donato.
Once upon a time, San Donato – ‘Donatus’ in Latin – was the bishop of Arezzo. According to tradition, Donatus was martyred on August 7, 362 by order of the Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate, his own boyhood friend. In this REGINA interview, Joe guides us through the village feast of San Donato, and shows us a glimpse of the Faith in rural Italy today. A Tale of the Bishop and the Emigrant / Regina Magazine
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JOE DINARDO IN ESPERIA
“I was born in a neighboring town, where the hospital is. I lived about eight years of my life in Esperia.”
REGINA / What was your experience like this year? JOE DINARDO / “It was an amazing feeling being
there for the festival. To know that everyone is Catholic, and to have such a public display of the faith.”
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THE VIEW FROM ESPERIA
“I attended school there, and can speak and write in Italian. I was baptized in the church of Saint Peter, and received my first communion there. My mom’s brothers still live there, so I visit them often.”
JOE DINARDO / “The town has about eight
churches. The two major feasts are Saint Peter and Saint Donato.”
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REGINA / Does your family in Italy have any idea that
there is such a thing as a Latin Mass?
JOE DINARDO / “I have spoken to my uncle about
the Latin Mass. They really don’t understand its theology, and think it’s only really about the language, how people can understand it better in Italian.”
RELIQUARY OF SAN DONATO
“While the Faith is not doing good there either, mostly from the lack of good catechesis, people still hang on to their traditions. I would venture to say they receive watered down catechesis as with most parishes. Now, of course we can blame the disaster that came after Vatican II, but even before that people weren’t explained the faith properly. The only difference is that people tended to have more faith then.“
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REGINA / How has the Latin Mass influenced you as
a Catholic?
JOE DINARDO / “The Latin mass has taught me
how to truly worship God, the way He wants to be worshiped. The Liturgy is centered on God instead of man. It has deepened my faith. At the same it time deeply saddens me, that the mass of all ages is treated with such contempt.”
THE REAL BISHOP DONATUS
Orphaned during a persecution, he was educated by a Christian priest named Pymenius (Pimenio); his friend and companion in these religious studies was a boy named Julian. Julian rose to the position of subdeacon; Donatus became a lector. Saint Peter Damian would later write in his Sermones that “in the field of the Lord two sprigs, Donatus and Julian, grow together, but one will become a cedar of Paradise, the other coal for the eternal flames of Hell.”
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REGINA / Do the townspeople know the story
of Donato?
JOE DINARDO / “I think they know about him
being a bishop and martyr.”
REGINA / Donato died at the hands of a power elite
because he defended the Faith. Do you think it would influence the local people in their faith if they knew the whole story? JOE DINARDO / ““I think it would influence people’s
faith. Maybe they would realize how easily we can display our faith, and try a little more to imitate Donato’s virtues, and willingness to defend, and even die for the faith.”
REGINA / Do you think that the village society of Es-
peria is materially different from more ‘modern’ places because of fests like this?
JOE DINARDO / “I think the village society is a little
different, in that they hang on to some traditions. But at the same time they too have been infected by secularism. I firmly believe that a deeper return to tradition, spearheaded by young traditional priests, can help people return to the Faith, and understand it better.”
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The Patrolman’s Fraternity of St. Michael Do good. Avoid evil. Join today.
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NEWLY ORDAINED:
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP with his father David Mawdsley and his twin brother, Lt-Col Jeremy Mawdsley, RA, MBE
Doing Whatever
God Has In By Beverly Stevens Photos by Joseph Shaw
H
e’s an Englishman, from ‘Catholic’ Lancaster, andhe survived more than a year in solitary confinement in Burma – sentenced there for protesting the regime’s human rights violations. He’s also just been ordained a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter in Bavaria. Fr James Mawdsley, FSSP shared his thoughts at the beginning of his priestly ministry in this exclusive interview with REGINA Magazine.
recusant history there, but I have only read very fragmentary accounts. I would love to know more. REGINA / How did you discover your vocation? Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / After having realized the futil-
REGINA / Can you tell us about your growing up years?
ity of my own plans and efforts, God benignly convinced me to offer myself for the priesthood. I am sure it was His idea, not mine, so it has worked!
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / I was born in 1973. My sister,
REGINA / How did you come to learn about the
two brothers and I, raised Catholic, had a happy childhood in Mawdesley, a village in Lancashire. REGINA / Lancashire remained famously Catholic after the
Reformation. Is yours one of the recusant families of England?
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Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / Yes, there is invigorating
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Latin Mass?
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / Slowly one discovers that
the Holy Eucharist is the Life of the world, and offering the Sacrifice of the Mass works man’s Redemption, and denial of transubstantiation is the snare of Antichrists, and only worship
Mind of the Holy Trinity brings eternal peace. With these truths for context, the more I heard about the Traditional Latin Mass, the more thirsty I grew for it. Once I began attending, it captivated me entirely.
of events surrounding the foundation of the Fraternity in the 1980s, it dawned on me that the very quality on which Providence called them was in fact faithfulness—the very opposite of schism!
REGINA / And the FSSP?
REGINA / How so?
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / Searching for a place which
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / The twelve founders belonged
taught it, the first thing I learned on the Internet about the FSSP put me right off them. I fell for the calumny that being a splinter from a splinter they have schism in their DNA. REGINA / So what happened? Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / Many months later my
spiritual director instructed me to meet with Fr. Armand de Malleray, FSSP. Quickly I was impressed by his absolute loyalty to the Church and the Pope. Researching into the crucible
to that small number of priests who remained loyal to the Traditional Latin Mass and also remained loyal to the reigning Pope and all his flesh and blood successors. Also I was profoundly impressed that the first few priests of the FSSP whom I met were all men of sacrifice. No other kind of priesthood makes sense. REGINA / You have completed a long course of study at
Wigratzbad. What were your greatest challenges?
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AFTER ORDINATION:
“I was profoundly impressed that the first few priests of the FSSP whom I met were all men of sacrifice. No other kind of priesthood makes sense.” Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / One challenge is switching
from a mode of assertiveness to restraint. The world is smothered by evil and as a layman wishing to challenge that, I saw no other way than being aggressive in confronting tyranny and distastefully self-promotional in politics. However, the more I discover the traditions of the Church, the more I realize the most important answers are already here, and fruitfulness comes through bowing the neck to serve in a self-forgetful obedience. This does not leave one vulnerable to exploitation, for the hierarchy of the Church is predicated on service, as our Lord demonstrated by washing like a servant the feet of His disciples. Within the Fraternity this service by the superiors is evident. Even if one worries that worldly men govern the Church, they remain the legitimate authority. God is their Judge. Our place is obedience. REGINA / And what will you remember with joy?
GIVING FIRST BLESSINGS IN BAVARIA: “The more I discover the traditions of the Church, the more I realize the most important answers are already here, and fruitfulness comes through bowing the neck to serve in a self-forgetful obedience.”
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / Among the greatest joys in
Wigratzbad is the awesome stillness that descends upon a Pontifical High Mass when it comes to the Qui pridie in the Canon. Sometimes one senses heaven here. More regularly, Sunday Vespers is like finding the centre of the world, or the garden of Eden. I mean it is a gift of the Church, designed in the mind of the Holy Spirit before time began. Man is made to praise God, therefore Solemn Vespers makes us happy. I hope it returns throughout the Church. REGINA / FSSP priests work in parishes; what attracts you to
this kind of life?
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / The parish priest where I grew
up was unlike anyone else I have ever met, until seminary. He had a permanent, deep calm about him, which was so gentle that one scarcely even noticed it. Looking back, I think it must be the fruit of his self-denial and prayers. St James wrote: “For in many things we all offend. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man” (Jas 3:2). In this sense, Fr. Ellison seemed to me the perfect man. Thus he exemplifies an attractive ideal. Some shout about the importance of peace; meanwhile Fr. Ellison spread it.
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FIRST MASS: “Among the greatest joys in Wigratzbad is the awesome stillness that descends.”
REGINA / You were imprisoned in Burma for political activ-
ism. How did that affect you?
can business, farmers or entertainers. With God, all these can serve eternal beatitude.
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / In prison in Burma I had
REGINA / What are your thoughts about this linkage of right
plenty of time to ponder how best to fight against tyranny. Some advise that the oppressed can try to sit out tyranny, that is to wait until biology takes care of the problem through the death of the tyrant (or regime). But this is false, as dictators draw successors into their totalitarian form. Rather one must act; but the most effective ‘act’ is entative rather than operative: “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. For a priest in a parish desirous to build up the Kingdom of God, it is not necessary to break a bruised reed. We need not fight against tyrants over us, as some in the temporal sphere must do, but simply learn to love. This bears lasting fruit, and creates space for political justice and peace to follow.
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / The Traditional Mass un-
equivocally puts God first. There can be no defense of human rights without first defending God’s rights. If some think that our omnipotent Deity needs no defense, perhaps they could contemplate why St Joseph whisked Jesus into Egypt. Not that we serve God to win temporal benefits; but we learn that worshiping God in the way He prefers is our greatest freedom.
REGINA / What are you looking forward to now?
This was impossible for me to comprehend before I knew the Traditional Latin Mass. How can I possibly pay back the infinite God for all the good He has done for me? Since ordination, every day “calicem salutaris accipiam, et nomen Domini invocabo”.
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / Whatever God has in mind!
REGINA / Any last thoughts?
God is to be adored. In Warrington we have devoted faithful, friendly local clergy, a supportive archbishop and a great God. What can stop Him being loved? It begins with liturgy and it ends with liturgy. Between those two poles there is the whole world to work in, all the questions of war, hunger, social justice, the environment. People are right to care about these things. I hope we can draw more people into Solemn Sunday worship so that their cares may bear perfect fruit. Without God, we can do nothing; neither can our government; neither 140
liturgy with right morality?
Regina Magazine / Doing Whatever God Has In Mind
Fr. James Mawdsley, FSSP / Finally, as Pope Pius XII con-
secrated Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and as Pope St John Paul II consecrated the world to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, then I hope to see the day when a pope together with the college of bishops will consecrate the world with a special mention of Russia to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, as requested at Fatima.
ORDINATIONS IN BAVARIA:
“It begins with liturgy and it ends with liturgy. Between those two poles there is the whole world to work in, all the questions of war, hunger, social justice, the environment. People are right to care about these things. I hope we can draw more people into Solemn Sunday worship so that their cares may bear perfect fruit. Without God, we can do nothing.�
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The Priest
who
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Saved My Soul By Dan Flaherty
I
t was the early summer of 2000. I was sitting in a pew inside Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, an 1897 architectural gem perched on Polish Hill in Pittsburgh.
It would be fair to classify me as something of a lost soul. Immaculate Heart of Mary is a magnificent old church, its architecture preserved from the ravages of modernism, its green dome towers above the city. The dome drew me every morning on my way to the Allegheny River to work the fruit stands. I’d felt a steady interior nudge to come up here and seek help for what ailed me. The church doesn’t have air conditioning and summers in Pittsburgh are steamy, at least to a native Wisconsinite like myself. As I sat in the church on a Saturday afternoon waiting for confessions to start, a priest walked out, dressed in full cassock. He stepped into the confessional; I followed him and a threshold was crossed. Out of Isolation
You see, at that point in time I was isolated. I had climbed out of an alcoholism driven by suicidal desires, and various other sins common to our day. I’d fought through an extensive social circle in which all religions were regarded as the same, something that had left me in a state of confusion and often with headaches. The battles included a pair of ugly verbal confrontations, one with my dad and another with a family friend; the memory can still shake me up to this day. Though nominally Catholic, I had no idea what faith was really about. I’m not being flippant when I say that I considered being Irish Catholic—something of which I was, and am, very
proud—to be more about watching Notre Dame football and liking Irish music. The doctrinal underpinnings of the Faith might have been something I knew nothing about, but I did know one thing—I was looking for the “old Church”. The kind of Church that I’d heard about in stories from Irish Catholic relatives. The kind of Church that I’d read about in Pat Buchanan’s Right From The Beginning, and Doris Kearns’ Goodwin’s Wait Till Next Year. The kind of Church that I’d seen in movies like Bing Crosby’s classic duo of Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary. I wanted it enough that I’d packed up everything and relocated from Milwaukee to Pittsburgh to find a place to start anew. Something away from the community and circles I was in, in a city where a friend had moved four years earlier. I called him up to say I’d be there on the next train the following morning. And in a day, I’d stuffed my clothes into a laundry basket and headed east. I found a job wrapping produce on the Allegheny River to pay the bills. On the train there, I’d vacillated between anxiety -- wondering how this would all come together -- and rising confidence. I was starting over. A Man Named Joseph Swierczynski
On that day, I had no idea that it was the 35th anniversary of the day a man named Joseph Swierczynski had been ordained to the priesthood. In an age where liberalism ran wild, Father Joe stayed quietly traditional. He was devoted to the rosary, admired John Paul II, had May Crownings, conducted a Mass with the deepest reverence—the paten still went underneath the Host at Immaculate Heart, even if communicants chose to receive in the hand.
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Perhaps most important, he didn’t succumb to anger or bitterness. He couldn’t have been blamed if he had. He’d been a beloved pastor on Pittsburgh’s South Side for nearly twenty years and the transfer to Immaculate Heart put him in a position to have to be the bad guy and close the parish school. He was blamed by many in the community, though he would later say that he cried the day he shut it down. Church attendance, like so many places—especially in ethnic communities—had dwindled to next to nothing. The community might not have appreciated what they had, but I was about to be the beneficiary. Father Joe was the man in the cassock who I approached in the confessional that day in the summer of 2000. I was flailing. The past fourteen months in Pittsburgh had been great fun, but I had no foundation. I was trying to re-create the 1940’s in my life, somehow, doing everything from watching The Bells of St. Mary as often as possible, to getting rid of my TV for a while. At one point I even tried doing my laundry by hand. (That lasted about a month.) Mostly, there was a lot of fantasizing. Not Alone In Longing for The Past
And I was unsettled. Apparently, I wasn’t alone in my longing for the past; I seemed to be surrounded by activists from independent chapels, radicals from the indult Latin Mass community and even sedevacantists. The common theme was the promise of the culture I longed for, coming back. In some circles they called it ‘The Restoration.’ In others it was called ‘Our Lady’s Triumph’. And it was always supposed to be preceded by some awful event, variously termed ‘The Chastisement’ or ‘The Cleansing’. I took all of this seriously enough to start detaching myself from everything and dropping out of the world. In retrospect, the fact that the leaders of these movements were all living reasonably comfortable lives through their sales of books, magazines and newsletters should have been a red flag. At the grass roots, the individuals in question were personable enough, but conversations always had to go the state of the Church and usually in a very deep, philosophical vein. On one particularly memorable occasion, one guy asked me to join him on a Sunday afternoon for a “dialogue with the sedevecantist community.” Sorry, I wanted to go watch the Steelers game. This was my life as I prepared for a sacramental encounter with Jesus in the confessional through Father Joe. What happened next is something that even today can fill my mind, heart and soul with thousands of different reflections, but at its root is this—somehow, what I found there was what I was looking for. Gentle and Traditional
Father’s gentle and traditional approach stood in high contrast to everything modern I knew before this and all the
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extreme Catholic utopian nuttiness that I’d spent several years being immersed in. His quiet, in-the-trenches pastoral work wasn’t anything that got him attention and he didn’t have books or tapes to sell, but it worked. He invited me to lead the rosary prior to the 11 AM Mass each Sunday and having a commitment to a healthy place was the right medicine. I spent the next five years immersing myself in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Bible and the Divine Mercy diary. I read papal encyclicals and consciously avoided doing so from a mindset that would lead me to memorizing soundbites and engaging in arguments. I gave up trying to win arguments and gave up being a wanna-be polemicist along with a 1940’s wanna-be. I wanted to let these writings simply form how I viewed the world, even if I didn’t always have the words for it. That’s not to say it was always perfect—I remember reading John Paul II”s Fides Et Ratio (Faith & Reason) at the same time I was watching a Red Sox-Yankees game in July 2004. At roughly the point I was reading how reason is what set man above the animals, a brawl on the field broke out and I dropped the encyclical on the floor and began instantly lusting for blood. (What can I say, I’m a work in progress.) Somewhere along the line, my longing to live in the 1940’s began to fade. I found I liked living in 21st century America. It became easier to relax—though as Father Joe would tell me, I’d never be mistaken for low-key. The reduction in anxiety was a needed blessing for me, as I would find out several years later when my anxiety became a clinical diagnosis. I was able to build enough of a foundation to survive some extremely trying years ahead, ones that included a regrettable decision to leave Pittsburgh. A 50th Anniversary
Even though I was apart from Father Joe, he was still there by phone and I was able to make it back and visit on a few occasions. The most special was being there in May 2014 for the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. It will be sixteen years this summer since I first crossed that threshold into Immaculate Heart of Mary Church for my encounter with Father Joe. On May 12 this year, he passed away; he was 78. Where would I be today if he had not been there, doing his job in the confessional that fateful Saturday afternoon in the summer of 2000? Would I have fallen back into the sins of the past? Would I have fallen into the clutches of a cult? Or would God have simply found someone else to help me? Father Joe’s priesthood symbolized many things. His was an authentic voice for tradition. He was a loyal Polish son of the Church. He was devoted to the Mother of Christ. But to me he’ll always simply be the man who saved my soul.
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