A glimmer arrives at a good time, and from a young Jesuit!

ignatius-loyola-claudio-coello_smSometimes it happens on rough days that a glimmer peaks through.

I received a handwritten letter via snail mail (address on sidebar) from a young Jesuit… I know, I know….

Here is some of it:

Thank you for your vocation, your bold witness to the truth and beauty of the Church’s teaching, and your blog.  I’ve been in [JESUIT SCHOOL] for my theological studies for the past three years and found your blog encouraging and grounding to say the least.

Please pray for me and the twelve other men being ordained with me. For the greater part we are a solid JPII/Benedict group and I have a lot of hope for the good things we might do to do right by our Founder’s great vision.

That’s what I’m talking about!

There are a lot of younger Jesuits who want the real deal.  They need support.

Papa Ganganelli!  Pray for them!

Dear readers, pray for them.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in HONORED GUESTS, Mail from priests and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

23 Comments

  1. padredana says:

    Someone ought to compose a prayer for the intercession of Papa Ganganelli. I for one would make use of it.

  2. Mike says:

    Someone ought to compose a prayer for the intercession of Papa Ganganelli.

    Maybe someone already has! The revival of the Company after generations of Teilhardism would be little short of miraculous. If attributable to Clement XIV it would, I should think, be powerful evidence in favor of his beatification.

  3. padredana says: Someone ought to compose a prayer

    How about this?

    12_05_08_Clement_XVIAlthough you, Pope Clement, Papa Ganganelli, have not been formally enrolled in the Album of Saints, with confidence in the mercy of God I raise my prayers to you, and to all the Holy Popes, to intercede at the thrones of Holy Mary, Queen of the Clergy, and of her Divine Son, Christ the High Priest, and, from them, beg that abundant graces be poured down upon the men who are called to be special sons of the Society of Jesus dedicated to the service of Holy Mother the Catholic Church with particular obedience to the See of Peter unto the greater glory of God. Pope Clement, because in your earthly life for pastoral solicitude of the Church you once suppressed the same Society of Jesus, I ask particularly for your prompt aid, along with the help of all the other saintly men called to serve Holy Church as the Vicar of Christ together with the Society’s Founder, Saint Ignatius and his holy companions. With confidence in your undoubted solicitude for the Church Militant, I petition your help for these soldiers of Christ never to shame the honor of Jesus, whose Holy Name they bear.  Ask Our Mother and Her Son to help them to be attentive, reverent and singularly devout. Beg Our Lady and Our Lord to help them to be always more, to seek the magis. Beseech them to extend to these mortal men the wherewithal to resist the old enemies, the world, the flesh and the Devil. Petition for them, for their sake and for ours, the graces always to be obedient and faithful even unto giving up their own will just as if they were dead should it not conform to the Church’s true Magisterium and Tradition. I thank you and I ask all these things with confidence in the Name of Jesus Christ Our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

  4. Marion Ancilla Mariae says:

    This is a superb prayer, Father Z.
    Please, when you have time, would you consider permitting those of us who wish to do so, to print this prayer out, with attribution to you, of course, and to distribute it informally by office photocopies, to companions in Rosary groups, Lay Fraternities, etc. ?

    Not to put you on the spot, please just think it over.

    It’s such a good prayer. It says it all. Thank you.

    [I don’t see why someone could not use this prayer privately. However, it shouldn’t be for public recitation without it being checked and approved by the local bishop.]

  5. Clinton R. says:

    May it be so, by the Grace of God and the intercession of St. Ignatius of Loyola,
    that young men in the Jesuit seminary will lead a restoration of the charism
    of the Society of Jesus. It would be a true gift to the Church for the Jesuits
    to once again be a source of sound doctrine and teaching, rather than be
    the epitome of the “spirit” of the Second Vatican Council.

  6. Cicero_NOLA says:

    Thank you for this beautiful prayer, Father.

    This glimmer is indeed encouraging. I believe the Jesuits plan to ordain 31 priests in these US this year, so those described in his letter represent a good portion of the total. Ad multos annos!

  7. visigrad says:

    Several years ago, I heard a holy orthodox Jesuit priest state his greatest suffering was inflicted by his fellow Jesuits. I pray he reads this blog.. There is always Hope !!

  8. Marion Ancilla Mariae says:

    Thanks for your permission, Father, subject to the approval of the local ordinary.

    I’ll check with our pastor, and take his guidance about the process.

  9. Joe in Canada says:

    Father! Not just younger ones!

  10. padredana says:

    I think the prayer is great! Maybe we should petition Pope Francis for universal approbation of the prayer and that it be enriched with indulgences! I can’t imagine he would be opposed to a prayer for his confreres in the Society of Jesus.

  11. benedetta says:

    That’s nice, Father. Generally, one rotten apple spoils the lot. But, in this case, although one good does not redeem all that is filth and corruption, one holy priest amongst prevailing deplorable is certainly a triumph of meekness. As one local wag put it to me in reply to my expressing something of this sentiment about this very idea, on Sunday morning, after church, in his muscle car with a cloud of smoke and fumes and noise polluting the climate and the environment, apparently on behalf of liberal heroes everywhere: “You’ll win”.

    et lux in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non conprehenderunt

  12. Benedict Joseph says:

    I do indeed pray for them, and thank our Lord for them.
    But this report worries me. There are nefarious superiors who would spot this with its clue and go after them. Believe me, it is not out of the question. The devotees of heterodoxy have no limits. From their perspective boundaries are made to be traversed, and singling out the orthodox for expulsion is seen as a prudent enterprise.

  13. benedetta says:

    Well regarding this ^ comment, it’s not actually a matter of, and quite a lot worse than, mere heterodoxy. If that was all it was well. It’s considerably a lot worse than that. It’s not a question of people wanting to live and let live. It’s about people fascist like trying to stamp out ordinary believers in the pews, and yes, it’s bigtime coming from within the Church. That’s not a devotee of heterodoxy. It’s a devotee of something entirely worse than that although they may attempt to window dress their actions, if publicly aired, as along those lines. And it’s all quite predictable when you take a look at things. They joined the culture of death, and they preach, death, death to anyone who might slightly differ from their views, and death to anyone in their way who even is stupid enough to agree or yes them. So, the point of care is well taken indeed. Prayers are in order, but there are additional tactics which can be employed as defense against those who utilize fascist techniques against believers. One good thing is that we know what they do. We’ve seen it up close and it’s all been documented. We know what they read, what they teach, how they pressure others, and some of the brainwashing, reason numbing forms of propaganda, as well as the contrast between the fluffy pr and the dark underbelly which they hide. “Rommel you…I read your book!”

  14. Michael says:

    St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Robert Bellarmine, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Bl. Joao Baptist Machado, Ora Pro Nobis!!!!

  15. Suburbanbanshee says:

    Don’t forget St. Peter Faber!

  16. Emilio says:

    Since orthodox Jesuits, and how precious few of them there are, is on topic here…I hope it is alright to be very specific about a wonderful Jesuit parish, an oasis in the desert called Immaculate Conception in downtown New Orleans. It was a pleasure to discover that parish while I lived there. They are very orthodox, very welcoming and very organized. And while they only celebrate the Novus Ordo, they are very reverent celebrations. My only complaint is that Mass is only versus populum there, and they have an INCREDIBLE intact high altar that is begging for ad orientem again. The pastor seems to insist on receiving orthodox associate priests, the homilies are on point, and precisely because of the state of the Society in most places, this is one jewel of a place that does honor to St. Ignatius and to the Church.

  17. JabbaPapa says:

    Our ex-PP and current Vicar General is a young(-ish) Jesuit, quite fine, and a strong supporter and provider of the Traditional Latin Mass, and a great exemplar of the sort of priest we need for a so-called “reform of the reform”, as his Novus Ordo Masses are strongly Latinate and religiously reverent. Gregorian Chant et al.

    His young(-ish) Jesuit successor as PP is less admirable only in comparison, as his Latinity and the reverence are a bit lesser, but OTOH he has reinstated a degree of ad orientem and instated Communion with both Essences on the tongue without any exceptions for those seeking Communion in the hand.

    There are two types of Jesuits — those freakish quasi-Christians undermining every single aspect of the Christian Faith, and these who are focused fundamentally and beautifully on the essential Spirituality of our Catholicism.

    Despite some appearances and allegations to the contrary, the Holy Father is BTW in the second group.

  18. Benedict Joseph says:

    Difficult indeed to characterize the New Orleans province as orthodox. We have them here. I suppose it is always a matter of context. I find them more than disappointing.

  19. LarryW2LJ says:

    Seeing posts like this does my heart good. When I pray for the Pope and the Bishops and the Clergy everyday, I pray that the ones “who have gone off the rails” will be brought to their senses and come back. God, of course, answers prayers in His time; and maybe we are seeing that “His time” may mean a new generation of young priests, solid and true in the Faith. As Father says, “Brick by brick” and maybe perhaps we could add to that, “Priest by Priest”? I know we always pray for vocations and that it seems those prayers have largely gone unanswered,. as vocations were down for the longest time. Perhaps God was saving us from an abundance of bad crops and now, God willing, the time of famine might be coming to a close? So maybe instead of praying just for an increase in vocations, maybe we should add that those vocations bring us courageous young men, solid and true in the faith.

  20. hwriggles4 says:

    While I don’t travel very often to the Big Apple, Catholic friends tell me that the Jesuits who staff St. Vincent Ferrer are orthodox and give reverent Masses in the Novus Ordo. Catholic friends tell me that the location of the parish is easily accessible, being only a few blocks from a subway station, and Mass times are at regular hours that fit the schedule for most Catholics.

  21. Benedict Joseph says:

    hwriggles4: Mistakenly you attribute the service of St. Vincent’s to the Jesuits rather than the Dominicans. I’m not sure if they have the Extraordinary Form at St. Vincent’s but they very well might.
    What I am sure of is that not too many blocks away the Jesuits serve at St. Ignatius, appropriately, and will be hosting James Martin, SJ on June 13, presenting his groundbreaking work “Building Bridges” on LGBT issue.
    It is grossly apparent the Jesuits just can’t shake it, and we can’t shake them. Troubling indeed.

  22. hwriggles4 says:

    Benedict Joseph:

    When I travel, particularly to large cities, I try to find a solid parish for Sunday Mass. St. Vincent Ferrer is on my list, and Catholic friends tell me that reverent Masses are celebrated there, and younger Catholics do worship there. I was mistaken that it is staffed by Dominicans (probably the Eastern Province that due to orthodoxy has grown by leaps and bounds), not the Jesuits. There’s also a good parish in downtown Columbus, Ohio staffed by Dominicans, so if you travel there that’s one to keep in mind.

    Anyway, I have been told that many of the younger Jesuit novices and scholastics are more orthodox than the older Jesuits (with a few exceptions like Fr. Pacwa). Quite a few good Jesuits got tired of the shenanigans and were incardinated into dioceses, other good Jesuits asked for a release to the Armed Forces (and received it), while some other good Jesuits were more or less ostracized and found their own assignments.

  23. MBinSTL says:

    It would be good for this young Jesuit and his brothers to read and spread around what was for several centuries the gold standard for early Jesuit formation: Practice of Perfection and Christian Virtues, by Fr. Alphonsus Rodriguez, S.J. The translation by Fr. Rickaby, S.J. (the one linked — freely accessible electronic copy, public domain) is the best one in the English language. Sadly, this tremendous work was tossed aside by the Society in the middle of the 20th Century. It needs to make a comeback, especially within the order!

Comments are closed.