Number XXXVII October—March 2014 LET US ALSO GO, THAT WE MAY DIE WITH HIM John 11:16 APOSTLE Newsletter of Asian District of the Society of Saint Pius X, St. Pius X Priory, 286 Upper Thomson Road, Singapore 574402  Editorial: Battle for the Church by Rev. Fr. Daniel Couture  La Méthode Bernadette A Catechism For Our Times  St. Bernard Novitiate in Tacloban Brothers To The Rescue, Tacloban, Philippines  Rosa Mystica ACIM Medical Mission Tacloban, Philippines  Our Lady of Victories Priory & School Manila, Philippines.  St. Bernard Noviciate Iloilo, Philippines  Priory of the Most Holy Trinity & Veritas Academy, India  Consoling Sisters Girls’ Orphanage & Old Age Home, India  Dominican Sisters of Tynong, Australia Vocations for Asia  Mass Centres & Mass Times The District of Asia A princess of Tacloban, Philippines, clothed with the scapular, the royal garment of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Editorial The Battle For The Church  Rev. Fr. Daniel Couture besieged by the children of Tacloban as they seek a blessing. 800th ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY 1214—2014 Dear Friends and Benefactors, later called the Dominicans, and he was you have always been the instrument of immediately faced with the Albigensian our salvation.” This year marks the 800th anniver- heresy which was spreading especially sary of the heavenly gift of the Holy Ro- Our Lady continued: “I want you to through the South of France where sary to St. Dominic and through him to know that in this kind of warfare the St. Dominic was. Our Lady appeared to the whole Church. Why does the Blessed ‘battering ram’ has always been the An- him after he had been praying seriously Mother insist so much on the daily reci- gelic Psalter which is the corner stone of and doing severe penance for many days tation of this prayer? There is admirable the New Testament. So, if you want to in order to know how to fight the here- divine wisdom in it. It is truly a hidden reach these hardened souls and win them tics. She said to him: treasure. Let us first recall the exact to God, preach my Psalter!” words of Our Lady in answering “Dear Dominic, do you know what Our Lady gave a means “to reform St. Dominic’s prayer (words found in weapon the Most Holy Trinity wants to the world”. Indeed, the heretics at the the 2nd Rose of St. Louis de Montfort’s use to reform the world?” time of St. Dominic were not only deny- Secret of the Rosary), and then make ing the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, some applications. St. Dominic replied: “O my Lady, but were attacking the family and the The year was 1214; St. Dominic had you know it much better than I do, be- civil institutions of the state, thus under- already founded the Order of Preachers, cause, next to your Son, Jesus Christ, mining the spiritual and temporal orders - 2 - Editorial  The Battle For The Church of Christendom - this was in 1214 A.D. Conception, her Co-Redemption, her of the majority or of the minority, but in France. This expression, “reform the role as Mediatrix of all graces, her glory truly of an inalienable right of every hu- world,” is not different from that of in Heaven. The Rosary has been used to man person.” (Encyclical Redemptoris St. Paul “to restore all things in Christ”. save the family, attacked from all sides, Missio, 7th Dec. 1990, n. 39) Such ex- whether by divorce, abortion, contra- pressions explicitly express the rejection It is not, therefore, surprising to find ception, sex education, or by what is of the social kingship of Christ How that popes and kings have requested cru- now called “the theory of gender”. This much is the Rosary needed here too! sades of rosaries against all kinds of latest insanity is presently raging in the plagues threatening both Church and Pope Francis has announced the can- entire western world and is aggressively State—threatening ultimately the salva- onization of Popes John XXIII and John promoted in the schools. This crazy tion of innumerable souls. Paul II for 27th April. God forbid that theory states that we are not born men such an event take place—it would be in St. Dominic did indeed listen to his or women, we become men or women fact the canonization of the errors of Queen, and thousands of heretics were by our choice or by our environment and Vatican II, nothing less. It would also converted. education! reduce to nothing all these words of Our The first Dominican Pope, St. Pius V, “[We must] reach these hardened Lady about reforming the world and used the Rosary in the crusade against souls and win them to God,” said Our winning souls to God. the Muslim Turks who were dangerously Lady. The Rosary is not just a prayer like For all these reasons, in the District threatening to invade Europe. And the other devotions; it is concerned with of Asia, we have dedicated this year, Rosary won again. It was 7th October, bringing souls into the fold of the only 2014, to the Holy Rosary. And at the 1571. Less than one hundred years later, true Church to “win them to God” same time, our Superior General, Bishop Louis XIII of France, also heeded Our means to convert them to the true Bernard Fellay, has called for another Lady in a war against the Protestants, Church, which is exactly what the Ro- Rosary Crusade that goes from 1st Janu- and, in thanksgiving for the victory, he sary has done throughout all its history. ary, to 5th June 2014. Let us therefore built the famous church of Our Lady of It is, therefore, a remedy against the false use this “battering ram” to reform the Victories, in Paris. The feast of Our Lady ecumenism promoted by Vatican II and world, to win hardened souls to God, of Victories is on 7th October! And the particularly in the “spirit of Assisi”, i.e., and to storm Heaven in order that the list of the victories of the Rosary is long the various inter-religious meetings such announced “canonizations” do not take and continues until our own days. There as that of Assisi in 1986. place. have been a number of national victories The Rosary is a means “to reform the against the ills of communism in the last God bless you all. world”, thus it is a major “battering ram” 100 years (Hungary, Brazil, Austria, against the secularization of states pro- Philippines and others) thanks to the moted by the perverse religious liberty, Holy Rosary. However, communism as a and officially preached by Pope John whole has not yet been defeated. Paul II. He dared to say: “The state can- Whether it is against the Albigen- not claim a direct or indirect compe- sians, the Protestants, the Muslims or the tence on the religious convictions of peo- Fr. D. Couture communists, “in this kind of warfare, our ple. It cannot arrogate to itself the right ‘battering ram’”, the Rosary, must al- to impose or forbid the public profession ways be used. and practice of the religion of a person or a community” (8th Dec. 1987, for The Holy Rosary is an eminently World Day of Peace). And again, “We Catholic prayer. In it we find our must wish that true religious liberty be Creed, and all the great mysteries from granted to all and in all places, and the the Incarnation until “life everlasting.” Church works towards that, especially in We proclaim by it the unique preroga- countries with a majority of Catholics, tives of the Immaculate Virgin, always where she has a great influence. How- “strong as an army in battle array”: her ever, it is not a question of the religion Rev. Fr. Daniel Couture distributes rosaries divine Motherhood, her Immaculate during the Rosa Mystica Mission at Tacloban, Philippines. - 3 - La Méthode Bernadette A CATHECHISM METHOD FOR OUR TIMES Conception And Apogee the evils of his time—modernism and atheistic material- ism—in the years after the First World War, he devised a The Méthode Bernadette was the masterpiece of l’abbé catechism based upon silhouette images which were both Bogard, the Curé de Thaon-Les-Vosges, in eastern France, innocent and yet dramatic, conceived for children and yet and his artist, Sister Marie de Jésus of the Bernadette Sis- captivating for adults, simple in composition and yet over- ters which he founded. With a profound understanding of flowing with information about Catholic doctrine, Bible history, the life of Jesus and history of the Church. The images by themselves are a monument to art, but, sup- ported by a clearly enunciated, sensorial and mnemonic pedagogy which was effective in building a memorable synthesis of the faith in the minds of children of all ages and of all conditions, the Méthode Bernadette changed the sleepy parish of Thaon-Les-Vosages into a centre for print- ing and distribution of its catechism. The catechism course was eventually translated into 12 languages and shipped to 58 countries around the world. For 30 years, from 1934 to 1964 it formed millions of souls from French Indo-China to Quebec... - 4 - La Méthode Bernadette Passion ...and then came the Second Vatican Council. Shortly after the death of the then Canon Bogard in 1965; Sister Marie de Jésus was compelled to modify her images to re- flect the doctrinal changes inspired by the Council (e.g. removing all depictions of Satan); and then, two years later, the local bishop commanded that the Bernadette Sis- ters stop their apostolic work altogether. Sister Marie de Jésus died with a heavy heart in 1969 and, with her, died a truly great work of Christian education.... Resurrection ... or so it seemed. The Méthode Bernadette lingered- on in a few bookshops of the rebellious “traditionalists,” and time-served copies are still to be seen at their cate- chism classes, but, as the missions of the Society of St. Pius X develop throughout the world, the need for a coherent, compelling, comprehensive and easy to imple- ment catechism course is leading to a more comprehensive renaissance in French, English and, hopefully one day, in Tamil. In short, La Méthode Bernadette is being brought to life again; its silhouettes are making the faith black-and- white for a new generation of children—enabling them to see clearly in a world of grey. May this work be blessed as before and bring an even greater eternal glory to God, to Canon Bogard and to his able artist, Sister Marie de Jésus. Ω Note •A moving history of the Méthode Bernadette by Laurent Bruel (in French) was published by Editions Matière in 2008 with the title, La Méthode Bernadette. - 5 - Saint Bernard Novitiate in Tacloban  Philippines where they were praying, only a little water entered …. Yet the doors were of simple wood and the ground level of their homes were lower than the out- side. Certainly the angels worked over- time! Some four weeks after the Typhoon, our superior ordered us to go to Taclo- ban to prepare the work of a large scale medical mission and re-building mission. What we saw in Tacloban City upon arrival was worse than words can de- “..and then once you’ve finished the high altar, you know, like the one at St. John Lateran in scribe. We have never seen the likes nor Rome, we need to think about the pillars in the nave..” explains Fr. Daniels do we hope ever to see it again. The to an attentive Mr. Bernard Fachon of France. wind had raised the sea by 20 to 30 feet, which then swooped into the city. Big ships were thrown on the hapless homes, Report From Father Daniels city of Tacloban in Leyte and its vicinity. crushing, crashing and splintering them We have faithful there and a small The Novitiate in Iloilo was safe even as if they were in a giant mince machine. chapel. When finally we came into con- though it was in the line of the ty- Poor houses, concrete houses, big facto- tact with them, great was our relief that phoon—the angels lifted the maelstrom ries; all suffered the same lot. Concrete, none of our faithful had died, even at the right moment and it passed high steel and wood lay scattered as if some though all around them literally thou- overhead. The Brothers related how the big bomb had blasted them to shreds. sands lost their lives. Our faithful related clouds on high went mad but the Noviti- The smell was quite overpowering even to us how they persevered in the rosary ate experienced only a very strong wind. four weeks later. Most of the dead had for five hours. Outside their homes, the Not so much luck, however, for the already been buried when we arrived but waters rose 3 to 4 feet, but there, inside there was an immense lamentation of so many who had lost their dear ones and had not found their bodies. Even now, as we write you this letter, many bodies have not yet been found—probably car- ried out to sea. The trash was heaped high as moun- tains everywhere. Electricity was gone; many slept under the open sky. Filthy water was everywhere and clean drink- ing water was hard to find. So it was another four weeks later, at the end of January, that we began a medical mission and the rebuilding mis- sion. We had some 115 volunteers from the four corners of the world and, in one week, our medical crew was able to see some 3,500 patients. “Say, Fr. Tim, why are people looking at us funny?” asks Fr. Ghela as they walk down the street in The Novitiate, Brothers and postu- typhoon ravaged Tacloban. - 6 - Saint Bernard Novitiate in Tacloban  Philippines lants were in charge of the rebuilding. A number of generous Australian men came to help, but, with limited access to building materials, it at first continued with difficulty. In most cases we were obliged to give the poor people a cash hand-out and ask them to rebuild their own houses with it. We did undertake to rebuild five homes, including the chapel which became a material store house, sleeping quarters and medical supply house. We hope Our Lord did not mind!? We spent two weeks working among the people, helping the medical mission and re-building homes. Since the Holy Family Chapel, Tacloban, sustained significant storm damage in the typhoon.... work had not yet been completed when we returned, we contracted some Fili- pino workers to continue and finish it. The trip to and fro was another ex- perience, with constant set-backs. The weather had not cleared entirely and so the boats were constantly being can- celled, which left us stranded a number of times. At times as these, we see human na- ture laid bare—the good side as well as the fallen. Some with the deepest grati- tude, others with an incredible greed and jealousy. Love and hatred seems to come out at war in such times of strife. In a city where filth and decay filled ...but the Brothers and the Aussies soon put things right again (“no worries mate”);... the air, we all got sick one after the other. Some ended up with three sick- nesses all at once, which left them low for a few days. Our chapel in Tacloban was always one of the small missions of our Philip- pino apostolate—about 20 to 30 souls. By the beginning of February it had risen to 105. It is another mystery of our strange human nature: to fall on our knees in difficult times and quickly for- get Calvary when we are well and com- fortable again. Ω ...in all, they rebuilt the chapel (above) and five houses of the faithful. - 7 - Rosa Mystica ACIM Medical Mission Tacloban Philippines   - 8 - Rosa Mystica ACIM Medical Mission Tacloban Philippines   There is not enough space to honour all who helped, but thanks are due especially to Dr. Dickes (above, dispensing “medicine” to the children). Email: 20th Feb 2012 ...I had the grace of baptising and confirm- ing a baby who is in danger of death — a baby that was taken care of by the mission and who is still in hospital. It is prob- able that the baby will not live much longer. Another little saint in heaven! God bless Fr. Daniels There were 115 volunteers from all four corners of the world who treated 3500 patients. - 9 - Our Lady of Victories Priory Manila Philippines   “An army of priests and religious after the Divine Model.” From left to right, Br. James Mary, Br. Hyacinth, Fr. Coenraad Daniels, Br. Pascual, Fr. Thomas Onoda, Fr. Tim Pfeiffer, Fr. Alexander Hora, Fr. Michael Fortin, Br. André Joseph, Mr. Pio Kim, Br. Isidore Mary and Br. Francis-Xavier An Elite For Christ vocation since Vatican II in the 1960’s, Has the Good God abandoned His the countless scandals of Churchmen people? No, He gave to us Archbishop Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder displayed in the media, the empty semi- Lefebvre, and He charged him with the of the Society of St. Pius X, once re- naries that were once full, the virtual special task, after his long years of dedi- marked that a true priestly vocation is a disappearance of sound doctrinal and cated service to the Church, to work to miracle in today’s world! Our Lord has moral training, a new liturgy introduced form priests loyal to our Lord and to His established the extension of His priest- that misidentifies the august Sacrifice of mission. Hence, we have the Society of hood so men thereby may be saved, the Mass as a simple gathering of the St. Pius X, in the past forty years up to therefore a crisis in the priesthood will people for a communal meal with per- the present, still forming an army of mean a crisis in the salvation of souls. haps only religious tone! And we see the priests and religious after the Divine St. John Vianney goes as far as to say that terrible effects...the civilization of na- Model, and sending them throughout the without priests, men will turn into sav- tions moves each day further away from world to give the sacraments as our Lord age animals! And who can doubt this Christian nobility towards barbarianism. instituted them, to teach His truths and awful crisis in the priesthood today. So morals in unaltered fashion, to live His many priests have abandoned their holy Saint James Church in Paete (Laguna). The original church was built in 1646. It was rebuilt in Pilgrimage to Laguna; Our Lady of Victories 1717, destroyed by an earthquake in 1888, rebuilt, destroyed by another earthquake in 1937 and annual pilgrimage on 14th December 2013. then rebuilt again. Paeta is renowned for its beautiful wood-carved statues. - 10 -