Showing posts with label Angelus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Angelus. Show all posts

Friday, January 17, 2020

The Man Who Gave Us the Angelus Missal

Edit: a translation we completed, later revised by the author and his assistant. Special thinks to him for allowing us this honor. We’ll try to translated all of his contributions. They’re truly excellent and humorous too.

Fr. Sylvester Juergens (1894–1969):
The Priest Who Led Believers into the Temple of the Roman Liturgy

By Clemens Victor Oldendorf

2019 was a year in which many golden anniversaries or fiftieth anniversaries lined up for the Catholic Church, bearing on extolling the liturgical reform of Paul VI or defending the preservation of the liturgical tradition.

On April 3, 1969 Paul VI promulgated his Novus Ordo Missae, which came into force in most countries on November 30, the first Sunday of Advent in 1969. June 5, in that year the feast of Corpus Christi, was the date of the Short Critical Investigation of this new Ordo, addressed with a cover letter by the Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci to Paul VI on September 25, 1969. On October 13, 1969, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre opened his theological study-centre for priestly formation in Friborg, Switzerland, which was, so to speak, the seed from which the tender plant of the Society of St. Pius X was to spring forth.

On this last anniversary, the American Angelus Press has voted in favor of the publication of the eighth edition of their excellent Latin-English Roman Catholic Daily Missal, as a jubilee issue not of liturgical reform, but of the first, specifically datable beginnings of the Society of Saint Pius X.

But if you now know about this Daily Missal, you would actually call it Angelus Missal, based on the Ideal Missal of 1962, which is the work of Father Sylvester P. Juergens SM (1894–1969), who from 1946 to 1956 was the Marianist Superior General, so there is a reason to take a look at this American book and the life of the priest who developed it. November 21, 2019, marked the fiftieth anniversary of Father Juergens’ passing into eternity. He was spared by a week from witnessing the compulsory introduction of the Novus Ordo Missae.

A Venerable Marian Festival

November 21st is the Feast of the Presentation, known in the Eastern Church since the 8th century and commemorated in the Roman Church since 1472. It is based on the apocryphal legend that the little girl Miriam was brought to the Jerusalem temple at the age of three by her holy parents Joachim and Anna, presented to God and then educated there. The Oration transmits this representation of Mary in the Jewish temple in a petition to the Temple of Heaven. Just as it pleased God that Mary was presented in the temple, so may he be pleased that those who celebrate this feast, at the Intercession of Mary, will someday be found worthy of being presented in the temple of His glory. As the missal compiled by this priest of a prominent Marian-inspired religious order led not a few of the faithful to be introduced to the temple of the Roman liturgy, his day of death had a great fittingness to it.

Origin and family background

Dubuque is a city of approximately 60,000 inhabitants in the state of Iowa, in the Midwestern United States. It was founded in 1833 and established in 1837 under their current name, as a city by rights. This goes back to the first non-Indian settler in the area, the French Canadian Julien Dubuque (1762-1810), who settled there in 1785 as a fur trader. To this day, the best hotel in the place bears his name: Julien Dubuque Hotel. Coinciding with the elevation to the city, the Roman Catholic diocese of Dubuque was founded, which since 1883, has possessed the rank of archdiocese. The Catholic faithful were mainly German or immigrants from Ireland.

In 1849, forty immigrant families of German Catholics received permission to form their own parish, which in 1867 would consecrate their newly-built Saint Mary’s church. It is quite possible that the late Father Juergens’ grandfather belonged to the circle of these forty families, because Sylvester attended elementary school and high school, which are maintained by this parish, and when his mother died in 1943, her Requiem was held in the parish church of Saint Mary’s.

The ancestors, parents and siblings

Juergens’ paternal grandparents are William Juergens (c. 1825-1902) and Maria Falle (1834-1907). Of both, only Prussia is given as the birthplace; it is not clear when exactly they came to the United States. On March 10, 1860, the first son John Nicholas Juergens (1860-1932) was born in Dubuque. He has three brothers and three sisters. His youngest brother Peter was born in 1877 and is therefore an uncle and probably Sylvester’s godfather. On October 30, 1890, John Nicholas Juergens married Maria Brede (1873-1943) from nearby Sageville, who was born there on September 1, 1873. The marriage produced a total of eleven children. Sylvester P. Juergens is the firstborn male on March 27, 1894. He had an older sister, born in 1892, and three younger sisters and six brothers, of whom the latecomer, Joseph, was born in 1920.

New Year’s Eve in the Congregation of Marianists

At the age of thirteen, Sylvester began his postulate in the Society of Mary, founded by priest Guillaume-Joseph Chaminade (1761-1850), beatified in 2000. There is another homonymous but completely independent community that even uses the identical sacred acronym SM. Both were constantly confounded from the beginning, though one tries to facilitate the distinction by calling the second Societas Mariae, Marist. Both communities emerged under the influence of the French Revolution. The Marianists represent the pre-revolutionary generation that had to go through the revolution, the Marists stand for the next generation, which from the beginning, faces the newly created philosophical-political conditions. For both, the social upheavals have something apocalyptic in them and for that very reason they considered their time to be a specific Marian era of the Last Times.

Chaminade was one of the oath-denying French priests and was forced from 1797 for three years to go into Spanish exile to Zaragoza. He held a special devotion to Our Lady of the Pillar, whose feast is festively celebrated on October 12 by the Marianists. In Prayer at this place of pilgrimage, Chaminade received the inspiration to found his order. In spirituality, Chaminade’s focus is on the Per Filium ad Matremperspective, that is, the relationship of the favorite disciple John to Mary, in whom this is entrusted at the foot of the cross, by Jesus. The Marists emphasize the reverse of Per Mariam ad Iesum.

The actual foundation of the Marianists took place first in 1816 with the sister branch, followed in 1817 by the branch of brothers and priests. In 1817, the Marists were created, an additional source of the likelihood of confusion. It was not until the 1830s that Chaminades had a correspondence with the Marists, but a merger was never considered.

Marianist and Priestly Formation

After his novitiate in 1910 and 1911, Sylvester P. Juergens made his first vows on September 17, 1911, the feast of the Stigmatization of St. Francis of Assisi. This is followed by the scholasticate until 1913. On the feast of St. Dominic, to whom the Blessed Mother had revealed the prayer of the Rosary, on 4 August, 1916, Sylvester P. Juergens took his perpetual vows, receiving the golden ring of loyality characteristic of the Marianists, a privilege granted to the religious community in 1851 by the Holy See. Attached to this is a special fourth vow of dedication to the Blessed Mother.

He then worked as a Marianist’s brother in the teaching profession at various schools in his Congregation in the United States until 1922. After that period of time he was sent to Switzerland to prepare for ordination at the International Marianists’ Seminary in Friborg on April 2, 1927, Saturday of Sitientes before Passion Sunday, a classic ordination date, which he received in the Freiburg Cathedral of St. Nicholas. The diocesan bishop Marius Besson (1876-1945), together with Juergens, bestowed the Sacrament of Holy Orders to a total of six Marianists, two Frenchmen and three other Americans, that day.

The certificates from the years in Friborg are first class. They show that Juergens not only succeeded in philosophical and theological studies, but manifested a charming character, exemplary in natural and supernatural virtues and in piety and zeal, especially in the veneration of the Most Blessed Virgin. His intelligence and energy as well as a literary talent are emphasized. He acquired his theological doctoral degree in 1925 in Friborg with a dissertation on the psychology of faith of the individual with John Henry Newman, which appeared in 1928 as a book. After John Henry Newman was canonized on October 13, 2019, it might be appealing to re-read Sylvester P. Juergens’s PhD thesis and possibly reissue it. Juergens was particularly influenced by the rector during that time in Friborg, the Alsatian Marianist Father Emile Neubert (1878-1967), some of whose writings on Marian spirituality were translated by Juergens into English.

Sylvester Juergens’ first publication is a booklet aimed at First Communion children, Friend of Children. A First Communion Prayer-Book, published as early as 1926.

Back in the United States

Returned to the United States in late 1927 as a newly-ordained priest, Father Sylvester P. Juergens was entrusted with the formation of postulants and the building of the postulate in Maryhurst, Kirkwood, Missouri. For the use of the postulants, he wrote a Particular Examen (Examination of Conscience) and was greatly appreciated for his lectures. In 1931 he was appointed director of Chaminade College in Clayton, Missouri. In this position, he proved to be an outstanding youth pastor and held retreats with great success. This was also the beginning of his work with layman’s missals, first publishing the Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual with Vespers for Sundays and Feasts, but perhaps referring to a precursor book, as it only indicates it was revised by Father Sylvester P. Juergens, SM , STD.

On July 30, 1936, Father Juergens took over the leadership of one of the then four American provinces of his order, based in Saint Louis, Missouri. He was then provincial for ten years, a period of immense development and expansion. As early as 1935, he published his first English translation of his teacher, Father Emile Neubert, entitled, My Ideal Jesus, Son of Mary.

As a result of his preaching and retreat activities, Fundamental Talks on Purity for the Use of Priests and Nuns appeared in 1941.

Back in Friborg—the General Chapter of 1946

In 1946 the first General Chapter of the Marianists took place after the end of World-War II, in Friborg. It is no surprise to anyone when the capitulators elect Father Sylvester P. Juergens as the new Superior General, who bears the beautiful title, Bon Père, in the Congregation, the Good Father, which is nowadays, apparently, no longer used. Juergens devoted himself to this work for the next ten years, until 1956. He continued the development work he did as a provincial in America, this time on a worldwide level. Juergens relocated the Generalate of Nivelles in Belgium to Rome, where it still is today. Switzerland, Japan, Italy, Spain and the Pacific were being established as new provinces; the two French provinces of France were united into one; missions in Chile and the Congo, first houses in Canada and Peru, were founded.

In 1849 the first Marianists came to the USA; in 1948, the Superior General called the first Marianist sisters, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, founded even before the brethren and priests, to the United States.

In 1947, the first edition of the New Marian Missal was published.

Final years and death

After completing his term as Bon Père, he returned from Rome to America in 1956 and resided at the Chaminade College Preparatory School in Saint Louis, Missouri, without, however, really retiring. Juergens remained active as a teacher, chaplain, confessor and counselor to many religous sisters and continued to translate Emile Neubert: Life in Union with Mary(1959), Our Gift from God (1962), and The Soul of Jesus(1963). 1962 also witnessed Father Juergens’ most mature layman’s book, An Ideal Missal, which is the basis and starting point of today’s Catholic Daily Missal, the Latin-English Missal of Angelus Press.

Dying from colon cancer, Father Juergens had received the Sacrament of the Extreme Unction on the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, on October 2, 1969. Since the Feast of Maternity of Mary, October 11, every two or three days the Holy Mass was said in his room in the hospital. He proclaimed to his fellow-brothers that he would spare his strength in order to be able to concentrate on the holy Masses and assist with devotion. He was filled with inner peace and longed for the death he foretold for All Saints’ Day. The chronicler of the province allowed himself the somewhat macabre remark that this was not the only unfulfilled prophecy of Father Sylvester P. Juergens. Father Juergens died on Friday, November 21, 1969, the Feast of the Presentation, at 1:25 am.

The obituaries that appeared after the death of Father Juergens are strikingly similar to those of the German Dom Anselm Schott OSB (1843-1896), in the sense that his missals, which occupied so much of his time and effort, are neither unmentioned or barely mentioned. There was a sense that in the wake of the post-Conciliar liturgical reform they were definitely outdated. Unlike many other missals for the laity, Latin remained intact until the final edition of 1967, revealing a decidedly conservative interpretation of the first steps of the liturgical reform. How, of course, Juergens himself would have viewed the Novus Ordo Missae of Paul VI remains a matter of speculation, since he was already too ill to be in a position to comment on it. The evidence suggests that enthusiasm for it would have been unlikely.

Father Juergens was laid to rest in the Maryhurst Marianist Cemetery, in Kirkwood, Missouri.

Given this story with a somewhat sad ending, it is remarkable that the Angelus Missal, based on Father Juergens’ work, is currently in its eighth edition, an anniversary edition for 2019.

In addition to Juergen’s writings and translations of Neubert, all of his missals remain available on the American book market.

When the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum appeared in 2007, Baronius Press came out with Juergen’s Daily Missal and Liturgical Manual, and the New Marian Missal is available in various unaltered reprints.

As far as print quality and bookbinding are concerned, Angelus Press’s Catholic Daily Missal outperforms everything else. The fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Society of St. Pius X in Friborg is the occasion for the eighth edition of this Missal, in which Juergens’ Ideal Missal lives on. To celebrate this anniversary, it is also offered again in a real leather cover. The Angelus Missal is not a simple reprint. You have the introductions, for example, on the basis of the book The Mass of St. Pius V by Dominican Father Bernard-Marie de Chivre (1902-1984) and dogmatic-liturgical-ascetic statements of Nicholas Gihr (1839-1924).

Nevertheless, it remains unmistakably a work of Father Sylvester P. Juergens—not least of all because it records the Marianist form of the Mass of Our Lady of the Pillar on October 12th. The preamble mentions the special relationship of the founder of the Order, Guillaume-Joseph Chaminade, to this image of grace. This introduction should be updated at the earliest opportunity to refer to Chaminade as Blessed, a beatification that took place on September 3, 2000, which is, according to the traditional calendar of saints, the Feast of St. Pius X—another subtle connection between the Marianists and the Society of Saint Pius X; between Juergens’ Ideal Missaland the Roman Catholic Daily Missal by Angelus Press.

Thus, the eighth edition should not be regarded only as a commemoration of the anniversary of fifty years of the Society of St. Pius X in 2019, but should also keep alive the memory of a priest who died fifty years ago and without whom the Angelus Missal would not exist today.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

SSPX: Angelus Conference in October and Blessing of New Seminary in Virginia in November



[USA District SSPX] Our Lord commanded the Apostles to spread the faith and teach all nations; yet, we live in a word where the errors of atheism, agnosticism, paganism, and religious indifference are spread at an alarming rate. It's a time when, for many, the missionary spirit does not exist.

This fall Angelus Press once again brings together some of the best Catholic thinkers, speakers, and writers to consider this year’s topic: The Missions - Teaching all Nations. Come learn more about how The SSPX is working to spread the faith far and wide, while at the same time enjoying the company of other like-minded traditional Catholics. This conference is relevant for all Catholics, young and seasoned alike. 

Join us for our seventh annual Conference for Catholic Tradition – a profoundly enjoyable Catholic weekend on October 7 – 9, 2016 at the Kansas City Airport Hilton in Kansas City, Missouri.

Register before August 5th for Early Bird Savings
Complete Package - $70 Savings
Single Day - $20 Savings




Edit: there will also be an event in November for the Blessing of the New Seminary:

Inauguration ceremony

Please join us on November 4 for the blessing of the new seminary buildings. All are invited and encouraged to attend! The day will include a Pontifical Mass celebrated by Bishop Fellay, blessing of the new buildings, and guided tour of the new seminary.  
For more details, visit our event pageBlessing of a New Seminary

Banquet 

A banquet will follow the Pontifical Mass.  Please visit our event page to make reservations.  Limited seating available!
Please consult the schedule for the day's events.  
In the meantime, please visit the New Seminary Project website for continued progress updates on the preparation of the new seminary in Virginia where you can also donate towards the completion of what will become the new home of many seminarians in just a few weeks.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Pope Francis' Angelus for 26 December -- St. Stephen and the True Meaning of Christmas: Bethlehem and Golgotha

 Francis: Religious freedom is often not realized in countries as they are guaranteed on paper. Persecution and discrimination: for a testimony. On the civilian level they need to be identified and eliminated.

By Armin Schwibach Rome (kath.net / as) Angelus on the Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr. The Bible presents him as "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit" (cf. Acts 6:5), said Pope Francis in his address before praying the Angelus, who was commissioned and worked with others for the service of the widows and poor of the first community of Jerusalem. Stephen died as Jesus and asked for forgiveness for his murderers (cf. 7.55 to 60).

In the atmosphere of Christmas full of joy, it might seem that this commemoration is somehow out of place, the Pope said. In the optics of faith, however, the feast of St. Stephen is in harmony with the deep meaning of Christmas. In martyrdom, "violence is defeated by love, death by life." The Church sees in the sacrifice of the martyrs their "birth to heaven." So we are celebrating today the "Baby Shower" of Stephen, of the Nativity of Christ which springs from the depths. "Jesus turned the death of those who love him as the dawn of new life."

In the martyrdom of Stephen, the same struggle between good and evil , between hatred and forgiveness, between gentleness and violence, which had its climax on the cross of Christ is represented. Thus the memory of the first martyr dispels the false picture of Christmas: "The fabulous and sweet image that does not exist in the Gospel." Liturgy brings out the real meaning of the Incarnation by connecting Bethlehem with Golgotha ​​and thus it recalls that the divine healing is encompassed in the fight against sin and goes through the narrow door of the Cross: "This is the way Jesus has clearly shown his disciples, how the gospel is testified today, ' And you shall be hated by all men for my name's sake: but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved."(Matt. 10:22).

Therefore Francis called for prayers especially for the persecuted Christians: "Let us be close to these brothers and sisters who have been, like Saint Stephen, unjustly accused and are the object of violence of various kinds. "The Pope was convinced that today there are more martyrs than in the first centuries of Christianity.

This takes place especially where freedom of religion is not yet guaranteed or fully realized, however, this also in countries and areas, which protects the freedom and human rights on paper, but in which the faithful and particularly the Christians encounter de facto restrictions and discrimination. Francis called the faithful in St. Peter's Square to to pray in silence for the persecuted Christians, and closed this prayer with a "Hail Mary". For the Christian, "it is no wonder, since Jesus had announced this as an opportunity to give testimony. Nevertheless, injustices must be exposed and eliminated eliminated on a civil level."

"Mary, Queen of Martyrs," the Pope concluded, "help to live Christmas with that fervor of faith, which shines in St. Stephen and all the martyrs of the Church". Link to kath.net...

Monday, March 4, 2013

The Conclave to Begin on the 11th of March -- 115 Electors as in 2005


(Vatican) The Swiss Guard was removed, the window of the papal apartment remained closed on Sunday. In St. Peter's Square in Rome no public Angelus was recited. Believers prayed yesterday the Rosary and the Angelus by themselves on the main square of  Christendom. During worship the Pope and Bishop of Rome is no longer mentioned in the Eucharistic Prayer. Since this morning, 9.30  the first General Congregation of the Sacred College has been meeting for the beginning of the interregnum.
Many cardinals have yet to meet in Rome. Once the number is correct, they will decide the start of the papal election. There are signs, however, everything indicates that the Conclave will be brought forward by a few days, and will begin on Monday, 11 March. The earliest possible start would have been 15th March at the earliest.  In a short time before his resignation, Benedict XVI. enacted a Motu Proprio to enable the cardinals, when completely assembled, to set an earlier date.
They will make use of it. The Cardinals will be celebrating Holy Mass in a week in the morning in St. Peter’s,  Pro eligendo Romano Pontifice, celebrated by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Dean of Cardinals. Afterwards, the papal electors, the College of Cardinals will issue in procession and the invocation of the Holy Spirit with the Pentecostal hymn Veni Creator Spiritus in the Sistine Chapel, where they will be enclosed until the election of a new pope and hermetically sealed from the outside world.
As with  2005, the 2013 conclave of 117 cardinals has  exactly 115 who will participate. This is the highest number of papal electors in Church history. At least 77 votes will be required for the election of the new Pope.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Vatican Insider

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Pope's Angelus Address: Comparing Judas to LCWR?

Edit: who could he be referring to in this passage?  He describes the Bread of Life narrative as many of His disciples follow him no more because they did not understand what he said accept in a "material sense",  few remain behind, for, as St. Peter affirms, "thou hast the words of eternal life".   There was another, easily comparable to certain parties within the Church today, who were less sincere than those who didn't believe and left and those who believed and stayed.  

There was one who stayed and did not believe, like the LCWR nuns.  It's difficult not to see in their refusal to be sincere "the mark of the devil":

Finally, Jesus knew that even among the twelve apostles there was one that did not believe: Judas. Judas could have left, as many of the disciples did; indeed, he would have left if he were honest. Instead he remained with Jesus. He did not remain because of faith, or because of love, but with the secret intention of taking vengeance on the Master. Why? Because Judas felt betrayed by Jesus, and decided that he in turn would betray Him. Judas was a Zealot, and wanted a triumphant Messiah, who would lead a revolt against the Romans. But Jesus had disappointed those expectations. The problem is that Judas did not go away, and his most serious fault was falsehood, which is the mark of the devil. This is why Jesus said to the Twelve: “One of you is a devil” (John 6.70). We pray to the Virgin Mary, help us to believe in Jesus, as St. Peter did, and to always be sincere with Him and with all people.

Link to the Angelus Address....