Issue 28 - Advent 2023

Mary, The Cause of Our Joy!

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July Mission Circuit in Western Canada

Three generations in this family picture from the Canadian North! The sweet little girls are lovingly hugging their brand new little kittens.

Miss Emily, center, stands with her sisters in front of her two painting that were entered into the Calgary Stampede Youth Poster Competition. Below, closeups of the two paintings of a Indian Horse Race and Rodeo Rider.

Matthew measures out the supple leather for a cover for Father Hewko's Missal and Breviary. Emily creates the binding and detail work. The entire project only took them three hours. The younger siblings watch closely to supervise the work!

Michael made his famous cinnamon rolls for a special treat after Holy Mass!

Some families took Father Hewko to visit the St. Charles Mission in Dunvegan, Alberta. This log church was completed in 1885. Dunvegan was one of Alberta's earliest fur trade posts and missionary centers. The Mission is currently in the care of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. One of the Oblate brothers hand painted the chapel as it is now.

The Boys Precious Blood Pilgrimage 2023

First Stop - Florida!

The 2023 Pilgrimage was dedicated to the Most Precious Blood! This year's boys camp took them throughout the Southeast of the United States, beginning in St. Augustine, Florida.

The boys visit the site of the Spanish first landing in Florida and also the site of the First Thanksgiving in the New World in 1565: "On September 8, 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and 800 Spanish settlers founded the city of St. Augustine in Spanish La Florida. As soon as they were ashore, the landing party celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving. Afterward, Menéndez laid out a meal to which he invited as guests the native Seloy tribe who occupied the site. The celebrant of the Mass was St. Augustine’s first pastor, Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, and the feast day in the church calendar was that of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. What exactly the Seloy natives thought of those strange liturgical proceedings we do not know, except that, in his personal chronicle, Father Lopez wrote that 'the Indians imitated all they saw done.' "This was the first [...] Thanksgiving in the first permanent European settlement in North America. It took place just 300 yards north of the Castillo de San Marcos (below), at what is now the Mission of Nombre de Dios. This event is commemorated today by a 250 foot cross which stands on the original landing site." - Source

A sculpture of Fr. Francisco Lopez with the Indians to whom he preached the True Faith.

The boys in front of a sculpture of Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés!

The boys pray the Rosary on their knees in front of the Our Lady of La Leche chapel. A little history of the site: The admiral Spaniard Don Pedro Menendez de Avilez, general captain of the fleet to the Indies and pioneer of Florida, disembarked in this place and claimed it for Spain and for the Church. In his diary, Father Francisco Lopez de Mendoza Grajales, chaplain priest of the expedition, wrote: 'On September 8 (1565), the General disembarked displaying many flags, with the sound of trumpets and greeted the artillery. Since I had disembarked the previous night, I took the cross and I went to receive him, singing the Te Deum. The General, followed by all who accompanied him, marched up to the cross, knelt before it and kissed it. A great number of natives (Indians) observed what was taking place and then imitated what they saw.' Menendez then named the place “Name of God” and charged Father Lopez the mission. Lopez then became the first priest of St. Augustine in the United States. Here the first Mass was celebrated. From here the missionaries evangelized the Indians and with time established almost 200 missions. To the north it extended to the bay of Chesapeake, to the south to Miami, and to the west to Pensacola. This last mission began as a petition of the Indians who sent a delegation who walked to St. Augustine to ask that missionaries be sent. In 1620 the chapel to Our Lady of  De La Leche was built, the first chapel in the United States dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Till now Our Lady of the Milk and Good Delivery is venerated here. A beautiful statue of the Virgin, tenderly nursing, is conserved in the chapel. The original statue was lost but was replaced several times. However the mothers have not ceased to come and ask for the intercession for a good delivery. In our times, marked by the horror of abortion, this sanctuary is also a place of pilgrimage to ask the Mother of God for an end to abortion. - Source

The boys had the opportunity to practice clay pigeon shooting at a local gun range under close adult supervision. There are a few potential sharpshooters among the boys!

Night fishing! The boys were able to go out for some night fishing while in Florida. On one of the two expeditions they caught a nurse shark. The boys looked on as the shark was filleted and readied for cooking. Mrs. Dillon, who hosted the boys, cooked up the shark meat like chicken nuggets and everyone loved it! Mrs. Dillon's cooking was very popular with all the boys! 'Legendary' the boys were quoted as saying of her cooking!

The boys visited the Mission San Luis in Tallahassee, which showcases Apalachee-Spanish Living History Museum site. An artist's rendition of the first Mission Church at San Luis based on the historical records.

"In 1539–40, the de Soto expedition recorded it as Anhaica Apalache 'where the lord of all that land and province lived.' ... In 1656, Mission San Luis became the capital of the western Spanish missions and the Apalachee nation in La Florida from 1656 to 1704. Mission San Luis was one of early Florida's largest colonial outposts." - Source To the right, the boys pose under a large painting of St. Anthony of Padua found in the Mission San Luis.

Dinosaur Adventures in Alabama!

The boys had a chance to meet the famed Kent Hovind, who has publicly debated evolutionists and demonstrated the errors of their position. He taught math and science for many years. He founded Dinosaur Adventure Land in Repton, Alabama as a platform to show the truth of Bible teaching regarding science and the age of the earth. During their visit, the boys enjoyed the park and had ample opportunity to speak and question Mr. Horvind. They are pictured with him here in front of the real-life size Goliath according to the Bible measurements of height and size!

A Tour of Louisiana

The boys toured the swamps of one of the famous Louisiana bayous in fan boat. Below, Mario and Joseph catch one of the many baby alligators living in the swampy waters.

Their guide through the swamps discovered that alligators love large marshmallows and showed the boys how to lure the smaller gators with the sweet treats!

Father took the boys on a tour of the National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos in New Orleans. Fr. Seelos was known as the heroic and miraculous religious, the “Cheerful Ascetic” Redemptorist Father (1819-1867) through whose intercession many miracles have been performed.

The boys in front of the magnificent altar piece depicting the Coronation of Our Lady as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

The boys take a moment to say a prayer to Fr. Seelos in front of the large reliquary that houses his remains.

This young man is Mark Hanson, holding a crucifix that contains a relic of Fr. Seelos. An incredible story about Mark: When he was an infant, Mark was very ill and near dying. His parents prayed fervently for Fr. Seelos' intercession and their prayers were answered and Mark recovered and has continued to not only recover but to thrive all these 16 years! Mark is physically very active and an impressive runner! While visiting the Shrine, Mark had the opportunity to meet the priest there in charge of advancing the canonization of Fr. Seelos. The priest was very anxious to record the circumstances of Mark's illness and recovery during his infancy and was ultimately able to contact Mark's parents to elicit more specific details.

The boys also visited the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. It is the oldest cathedral in continuous use in the United States (alongside the Royal Presidio Chapel in Monterey, California), dedicated to King St. Louis IX of France. In the above picture, a sculpture of Andrew Jackson graces the front of the Cathedral in memory of the occasion of General Jackson asked the Ursuline nuns for their prayers for the upcoming Battle of New Orleans. "After the victory over British troops on January 8, 1815, General Jackson requested a thanksgiving service, an “external manifestation” of thanks to “the Ruler of all events.” Abbe Dubourg offered a solemn high Mass at St. Louis Cathedral on January 23, 1815. General Jackson and members of his troops attended the Mass and a solemn “Te Deum” of Thanksgiving was sung. On January 8, 1840, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson returned to New Orleans and attended a service at St. Louis Cathedral. " - Source

A visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor, where the beautiful statue of Our Lady graces the Altar Piece. A little history: "French Ursulines arrived in New Orleans in 1727 and established the oldest school for girls currently operating in what is now the United States. During a period of crisis after a large group of nuns left New Orleans for Cuba in 1803, Mother St. Andre Madier, one of the seven nuns who remained, appealed to her cousin, an Ursuline in France whom the reign of terror had forced to leave her monastery at Pont-Saint-Espirt. She was Mother St. Michel Gensoul, a remarkable woman of great talent and interior piety, who, during the exile in Montpellier, opened a boarding school for girls there. Fearing for the flourishing school, Bishop Fournier refused to request her leave, saying that only the Pope, then a prisoner of Napoleon, could give such a permission. One day while praying before a statue of the Blessed Mother, she was inspired to say, "O most holy Virgin Mary, if you obtain a prompt and favorable answer to my letter, I promise to have you honored in New Orleans under the title of Our Lady of Prompt Succor." Since the end of December 1810, when Mother St. Michel, her companions and the statue arrived in New Orleans, devotion to Our Lady of Prompt Succor has grown in New Orleans and Louisiana, and has spread through the United States and even beyond. In the late 19th century, Pope Leo XIII granted the solemn crowning of the statue, an honor carried out splendidly by Archbishop Janssens on November 10, 1895. In 1912 this devotion was officially approved by Rome." A "well-known intervention of Our Lady of Prompt Succor concerns the Battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815. General Andrew Jackson arrived to defend New Orleans on January 23, 1814. He urged the residents and the Sisters to evacuate for fear that the recent burning and pillaging of Washington D.C. by the British Army would also take place in New Orleans, a key port of entry to the mighty Mississippi River. When the Sisters refused to leave, citing the needs of those whom they served, the General asked them to pray, at which time they began all-night vigils of prayer. During the night of January 7, Andrew Jackson and his relatively small, little-prepared and ill-equipped band of soldiers organized their defenses against the large, very well equipped British Army which would attack the city before dawn. At the same time, many citizens not directly involved in the army joined the Ursuline Sisters in their all-night vigil in their chapel on Chartres Street, imploring Our Lady of Prompt Succor to give the victory to Jackson for the United States, saving the city of New Orleans from British control. During the night, the Ursuline Superior, Mother Ste. Marie Olivier de Vezin, promised Our Lady that if Jackson and his men were victorious, a Mass of thanksgiving would be sung every year in memory of her saving help to the city on that day. As dawn was breaking, Bishop DuBourg began a Mass for the same intention. At the very moment of Communion a courier rushed into the chapel announcing that Jackson and his men had won the battle, and the chapel rang out with the joyous singing of the Te Deum. Following the battle, General Jackson wrote a letter to Bishop DuBourg calling for a gathering of all citizens to give thanks for “the great assistance we have received from the Ruler of all events.” - Source

A visit to the New Orleans Confederate War Museum, which houses the second largest collection of Civil War memorabilia in the US. Here are the boys, in front of a painting of General Nathan Forest.

Amongst the collection are an autographed picture of Pope Pius IX and a crown of thorns sent to Jefferson Davis from he Pope while Davis was in prison. "After the end of the war, Jefferson Davis was imprisoned in April 1865. Pope Pius IX, upon hearing of Davis’ mistreatment in prison, sent him two photographs of himself, one of which contained the Bible verse Matthew 11:28: “Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest, sayeth the Lord.” The second photo was another portrait of Pope Pius IX with Psalm 94: “To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart.”

"While Davis was in prison, a Rosary and Brown Scapular was sent to him by The Sisters of Charity of Savannah, Georgia. Additionally, these nuns offered further support for the Davis family. An account from Mrs. Davis states: “No institution of my own church offered to teach my children. One day three Sisters of Charity came to see me and brought me five gold dollars, all the money they had. They almost forced me to take the money, but I did not. They then offered to take my children to their school in the neighborhood of Savannah, where the air was cool, and they could be comfortably cared for during the summer months.” “In the New Orleans Confederate Civil War Museum there is a crown of thorns, weaved for Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, by Blessed Pope Pius IX. At the behest of an Irish priest, who had befriended Davis and who often visited him during his two-year imprisonment after the war, the Pope sent the veteran general and statesman this sign of compassion. Pius was himself a “prisoner of the Vatican” after the fall of the Papal States under the forces of the freemason Garibaldi. The thorns in this crown are two inches long. "Davis was so moved by this gift, that after he was released from prison, and after Pope Pius IX was deposed in 1870 and stripped of the Papal States, Davis suggested to his wife that she weave a crown of thorns. Recalling his own experience of being deposed, imprisoned, and reduced to poverty, it’s hard to imagine Davis would not more deeply empathize with Pius IX, and even more importantly, with Our Lord. Davis then hung the crown of thorns above the picture that Pope Pius IX had given him, essentially linking the suffering and persecution of himself and Pius IX with that of Christ, Our King crowned-with-thorns-in-this-vale-of-tears." - Source

September Mission Circuit in the Canadian Northeast

Cyprian turns 13! His birthday cake is covered with animals found on their homestead and a nod to his expert milking skills. And younger brother Octavius, a fellow expert milker, is clearly in a celebratory mood!

Little one year old Anthony gets some attention from his mother for his little wounded 'wing,' which needed a wrap bandage.

Joseph, Father's driver on the Canadian circuit, visits with the family's Belgium draft horses.

The whole family are pictured with Father before the homestead gets ready for butchering season.

Young Basil makes his First Communion. May the joy of this occasion remain with him all his days!

October Mission to Chicago

Michael and Mary exchanged their wedding vows in the Chicago chapel! May their years together be blessed and filled with the happiness that only Heaven can give.

The Oratory of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary!

Thanks to the Most Blessed Virgin Mary for finding a home for Her Oratory of the Most Sorrowful Heart of Mary. The sale of the property was finalized on October 10, 2023 and the official move-in was on October 11, 2023, the Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Oratory is founded for the formation of priests and brothers of tradition. Please pray that it's fruitful for Holy Mother Church in continuing the line of Archbishop Lefebvre and adherence to traditional Catholic dogma.

The site of the Oratory started out as a log cabin in the 1770's. It's first owner was William Heath who joined the Boston Minutemen in repelling the British Red Coats in Concord, Massachusetts in 1775. Heath sold the 100+ acre property to Ebenezer Gove, who built the current home in 1781. The property remained in the Gove family as a fully functioning working farm until the 1960's, when it was broken up into smaller parcels. Hence the name of the street the Oratory is located on is Goves Lane. In the above picture, the Gove children park the sleigh in front of what was then the property's cider mill, which Father is now used as a large wood shed. Below is Charles Gove in the center of his family's reunion picture taken in 1936, surrounded by the ten children he raised in the house!

Tom and Jack help set up the altar at the Oratory for Holy Mass.

The completed Altar Introibo ad altare Dei ...

A large statue St. Francis Xavier graces the Gospel side of the chapel, pointing heavenward, reminding the Church Militant of our Eternal Home. A picture of some of the souls attending the first Sunday Mass at the Oratory.

Dr. Stan came up from Connecticut for a week to help put a fresh coat of paint on the refectory walls and the walls of the sitting room with it's original fireplace, complete with built in Dutch oven.

A few of the younger parishioners help refinish a desk for the classroom!

Jim is the owner of a local antique stove repair service who repaired and polished up the Oratory's beautiful woodcook stove in the kitchen which gives off so much warmth and cheer for it's visitors.

Thomas helps stack the several cords of firewood that were delivered and puts it into the wood shed that is situated right across the driveway from the kitchen door for the stove!

Alma shows Father her beautiful embroidery while he visited for a sick call in nearby New Hampshire town. Her son John has been busy kindly embellishing the artwork around the Oratory's altar.

Letter from Father Hewko

✠   Advent 2023 Dear Faithful Friends of the Cross, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.” (St. Matthew 13: 34). Here Our Lord speaks so simply that if we aren’t careful we can pass over the deeper meaning and easily miss the treasures hidden in His sacred words. Such is the beauty of God’s infinite wisdom that He often hides mountains of wealth beneath such simple parables. Who, then, is this woman kneading the dough and sprinkling it with leaven? And why three measures? As always, we turn to the Fathers of the Church, who peel off the layers of the literal meaning for us to enjoy the sweetness of the mystical meaning inside. They tell us the woman, in this case, is Mother Church who labors to form Christ in us by sprinkling the leaven of His sacred doctrine in souls by the preaching of her prelates and priests. Three measures or loaves are formed because three represents the Holy Trinity, Who is pleased to use the sacraments of Holy Mother Church to pour sanctifying grace into souls. What is sanctifying grace? It is the very indwelling of the Three Divine Persons in our souls, where God is welcomed and loved as the sweetest Guest! “And your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3). The moistened dough is the result of flour mixed with water, symbolizing the waters of Baptism.    St. Augustine takes the imagery further by adding that the dough must still be cooked in the oven so that it rises, bakes and becomes bread. This cooking is done in the oven of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Who sends the Fire of the Holy Ghost into souls at Confirmation. This Divine Fire of the Holy Ghost bakes the dough into bread, that is, it rises by the increase of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost and by the Holy Eucharist. This unity of Our Lord in the Consecrated Host and the individual soul increases the love of God and sanctifies the whole Mystical Body of Christ. By partaking of the Holy Eucharist we become so profoundly united with Christ that we truly are as one Bread with Him. “And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the Body of the Lord? For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all that partake of one Bread” (I Cor. 10:17). In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass before the Preface is chanted, the priest will invite all the faithful saying, Sursum Corda, and the faithful respond, Habemus ad Dominum! Mother Church says this to draw our hearts to look to Heaven and always focus our joys there. It is there, in the eternal Wedding Feast, that all the saints will taste and see how sweet the Lord truly is, by enjoying the fruit of the vine of which He promised His faithful friends would drink, and forever share in the unspeakable happiness by the vision of the Most Holy Trinity. Of course, this does not exclude the possibility of seeing the woman in this parable as, also, the Blessed Virgin Mary Herself. She desires all to come to the kitchen of the Catholic Church and be washed in the waters of Baptism where the Holy Trinity is given to souls. Like the woman kneading leaven in the dough, so Our Lady wants us to eagerly hear the good traditional doctrine of the Church, meditate on it and love Her Divine Son in the Holy Eucharist. And, passing through the oven of crosses in this life, be baked into a perfect bread with Her Son, to share forever the happiness of Heaven. “Yet so, if we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17). Therefore, whether the woman of this parable is seen as Mother Church or the Mother of God, the goal is always the same, which is to reach the Kingdom of Heaven! This explains why Our Lord begins the parable by saying “The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”  May our minds always be attentive to the sweet, hidden Guest of our souls! Although, while not seeing the Most Holy Trinity here below, may we come to see the Splendor of His Glory, when His presence in us by sanctifying grace, is transformed and blossoms into the Beatific Vision forever. “Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and He will dwell with them. And they shall be His people; and God Himself with them shall be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, for the former things are passed away” (Apocalypse 21:3). While the Devils are always prowling around the world seeking the ruin of souls, turning up the heat of apostasy and persecution on the Church, let us throw ourselves into the loving hands of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, that She form Christ in us, and us in Christ! In Christ the King, Fr. David Hewko

Contacts and Resources

Rev. Fr. David Hewko can be reached at 315-391-7575 or fr.d.hewko@gmail.com Correspondence mailing address and Mass Requests and Stipends: Rev. Fr. David Hewko, Oratory of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary, 66 Goves Lane, Wentworth, NH 03282 Donations: Checks can be made out to: Sorrowful Heart of Mary Inc., 66 Goves Lane, Wentworth, NH 03282 or electronic donations can be made via PayPal. To subscribe to Fr. Hewko's newsletters, the Sorrowful Heart of Mary Newsletter, and the Mary, the Cause of Our Joy! Newsletter, contact: sorrowfulheartofmary@gmail.com. Sermons, Catechism, Conferences, and Mass Schedules can be found primarily on SSPX-MC website, as well as the St. Mary's Kansas Resistance website, and The Catacombs website. The Recusant website contains many erudite articles on the new direction of the SSPX of the last ten years.