FSSP Finland
Pyhän Pietarin pappisveljeskunnan
Suomen apostolaatti
Isä Benjamin Durham FSSP fssp-finland@sanctis.net

Newsletter 2008/01 November 15th, 2008

Dear Faithful Reader,

This is the first e-mail newsletter that is being sent to you in order to keep
you up-to-date with the activities of the Fraternity of Saint Peter in Finland. A
further aim is to provide you with some brief meditations and notes about the
Catholic Faith, the liturgy as well as some doctrinal considerations. It is my hope
that you will be able to receive this newsletter on a monthly basis, at no cost with
a little help from modern technology.

With every blessing, I remain

Yours in Christ,

Fr. Benjamin Durham, FSSP

Latest News from the FSSP apostolate in Finland

Fr. Durham recently visited Finland from 28 October to 4 November and cel-
ebrated Masses in Helsinki and Tampere, which included a Missa Cantata for
All Saints’ as well as 3 Masses for All Souls’ Day. On the 29th, Holy Mass was
followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, to make an evening of prayer
and reparation in honour of the Blessed Sacrament. We prayed especially that
our many compatriots may come to believe in the Real Presence of Our Lord in
the Blessed Sacrament and that they may come to know his love for mankind.
On the Feast of All Saints, many faithful also had the opportunity to attend the
baptism of Maria Teresa Kyntäjä in St. Henrik’s Cathedral, Helsinki. We extend
our warmest congratulations to Juho and Dorota, and brother Luukas.

First Friday Masses

As announced at the Masses in Helsinki, a Mass will celebrated the first Fri-
day of every month for the intentions of the benefactors and supporters of our
apostolate in Finland. At present, it is not always possible to celebrate these
Masses in Finland, but you are warmly invited to unite yourself in prayer to the
celebration of Holy Mass in the traditional Roman rite which is celebrated for
your intentions as a sign of gratitude for your prayers and support.


Photos and Video footage

Photos and some brief video footage can be viewed on summorum.blogspot.
com, which is a web blog dedicated to liturgy in Finland. Some photos of this
past summer’s visit are also available on www.fssp.org, the official website of the
Fraternity of Saint Peter.

Confraternity of Saint Peter

All of the faithful are warmly invited to continue their prayer and support of
the Fraternity of Saint Peter by becoming members of the Confraternity of Saint
Peter. Membership is free and open to those who are aged 14 years or older. Mem-
bers receive a certificate of enrollment and are asked to pray one decade of the
Rosary and the short Confraternity prayer daily for the intentions of the Frater-
nity. At present, there are more than 2000 members throughout the world. The
General Chaplain of the Confraternity is Fr. Armand de Malleray, who has also
replaced Fr. Durham in England. Enrollment forms are available in PDF format
at www.fssp.org or through www.sanctis.net/fssp-finland.htm.

November: A month dedicated to the Souls of the Faithful

departed
This is the month in which we pray especially for the souls of the faithful de-
parted, who have passed away, marked with the seal of faith. It is of divine and
Catholic faith that there is a Purgatory and that the souls of the departed can
be helped by the living. Saint Paul reminds that we are united to these departed
souls in the same mystical body, which is the Church. If the souls in Purgatory
cannot help themselves to pay the debt they owe to divine justice, we who can
merit, in virtue of our baptismal state of grace, can pay this debt for them, for we
are united to them as members of the mystical body of Christ. Saint Augustine
details this point when he writes: “The funeral procession, the sepulcher and
the burial itself are a consolation for the living rather than an assistance for the
dead… If prayers are not offered for the dead, it will be of no benefit to their souls
no matter in what holy places their lifeless bodies are laid to rest. Since these
things are so, let us not consider that we care for the dead unless we make solemn
supplication for them by the sacrifice of the altar, by prayers and almsgiving.”
When we consider the Word of God, there is a passage with which most who
have looked into this subject are well acquainted. It is in the Second Book of
Machabees (Chapter 12) where we are told how Judas, the valiant commander,
made a collection and “sent 12,000 drachmas of silver to Jerusalem for sacrifice,
to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning
the resurrection…” We see that Our Saviour never once reproves this custom of
the Jews nor does he ever place it among the false traditions of the Pharisees.
Moreover, Our Blessed Saviour, on one occasion, distinguishes two kinds of sin
and calls one a sin against the Holy Ghost, saying “whosoever shall speak a word
against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that shall speak against
the Holy Ghost; it shall not be forgiven him, either in this world or in the next.”
(Matt.12:32) Why give this peculiar circumstance if no sin is ever pardoned in the
 

next world? Surely, we have a right to conclude that there is some remission of
sin there; and yet, it cannot be either in Heaven, or in the place of eternal punish-
ment. We must therefore admit some other state in which this may be.

Lex orandi, lex credendi

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem expresses himself in writing: “Then (in the liturgy
of the Church) we pray for the holy Fathers and the Bishops that are dead; and,
in short, for all those who are departed this life in our communion; believing that
the souls of those, for whom the prayers are offered, receive very great relief while
this holy and tremendous victim lies upon the altar.” One needs hardly observe
that there is not a single liturgy existing, whether one considers the most ancient
period of the Church, or the most distant part of the world, in which this doctrine
is not laid down. In all the oriental liturgies, we find parts appointed, in which
the Priest or Bishop is ordered to pray for the souls of the faithful departed; and
tables were formerly kept in the churches, called Diptychs, on which the names
of the deceased were enrolled, that they might be remembered in the sacrifice of
the Mass, and the prayers of the faithful.
Catholic practice is reminiscent of the unfailing lamp which the piety of the
ancients is said to have hung before the sepulchres of their dead. It prolongs the
tenderest affections beyond the gloom of the grave, and it infuses the inspiring
hope, that the assistance which we on earth can afford our suffering brethren,
will be amply repaid when they have reached their place of rest, and make of
them friends, who when we in our turns fail, shall receive us into everlasting
mansions.

A Reflection on Saint Gertrude the Great (16th November)

The Roman Breviary tells us that Saint Gertrude was born in the town of
Eisleben, in Upper Saxony; which is also reputed to have been the native town
of Martin Luther. Both of these children born in Eisleben will grow up to have a
profound impact on the Church and in radically different ways.
Throughout the course of her life, Gertrude struggled just as we struggle in
this life in order that she might overcome her imperfections in order to grow in
her love of God, in the hope of being united with Him forever in life everlasting.
Gertrude, in her early years, was a scholar; and from her pen, one finds many
beautiful lines which tell us of her visions, her love for God, and her incessant
prayers for the Holy Souls in Purgatory and sinners in this world. Indeed, we can
rightly state that she was a grammarian who had become a theologian, writing
rather moving tales in Latin of her Beloved: Our Divine Lord and His Sacred
Heart.
An example of Gertrude’s charity and solicitude comes to us in the form of a
prayer that was given to her by Our Divine Lord, for the poor souls and for living
sinners: “Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son,
Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy
Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church,
those in my own home and within my family. Amen.” The charity that St Ger-
trude had for the poor souls as well as sinners in this world stemmed from her


deep love of God Himself. She saw the Sacred Heart of Our Lord, this Heart that
has been scorned and was pierced as Our Lord hanged on the Cross. It was out of
love for us that Jesus gave His life for us and chose to die a suffering death on the
Cross, that we may be redeemed by the Sacrifice of His Body and Blood.
Martin Luther was no less a scholar than St. Gertrude: he was, in fact, a
scholar of classical languages and knew Latin and Greek remarkably well. His
commentaries on the letters of Saint Paul gave him chairs in some of the fore-
most German universities of his time. One dark night, a terrifying storm was
unleashed and, suddenly and without any notice, the skies unleashed a dazzling
bolt of lightning that struck our young scholar’s dearest friend. Taking refuge,
the young Martin Luther prayed in fear and despair to St Anne and vowed in his
soft Saxon speech: Lässt Du mich leben, so will ich ein Mönch werden – Saint
Anne, Help! Let me live and so shall I become a monk.
Luther struggled in life with his many failings and imperfections, as we all
do; and he failed to see that God wants us to be perfect but we are weak and so
He makes us perfect with the help of His grace. With God’s grace, we believe and
we believe in Him Whom we love. However, in Luther’s understanding, Grace
does not exist. We are not truly transformed and penetrated by God’s love, but we
remain wretched and weak in the trust that God will save us. For Luther, Purga-
tory has no place or existence and so it is without sense to pray for the souls of
the faithful departed. We are incapable of doing good works for alone our trust in
God will save us and, in this life, we are soon consumed by the flames of internal
torment which force us to live, not in a spirit of love, but to fear and despair.
There is a radical difference between our two children of Eisleben, born in
the same country in similar circumstances and yet separated by their choice of
a life built on charity, the supernatural love of God which inflames the heart of
the soul. God is love and He calls us to share in His Divine love. Saint Gertrude
and Martin Luther both had a choice, and we too have that same choice given
to us through Christ: to live for God’s love in this world and to love Him in Life
everlasting. God so loves us that He gives us this choice. Everyone of us is called
to grow in a deeper love of Him who created all things in order that we may live
each new day confidently praying according to the Faith of the Apostles: He who
we have not seen, we love: in whom also now, though we see him not, we believe;
and believing shall rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorified. ■