Best day ever at Holy Souls Hermitage: Mass for Benefactors and… Jesus

Finally! The altar is set up in Holy Souls Hermitage. The first Mass in the actual hermitage was offered today, 1 January, 2012. This was was offered for all the benefactors, living and, in case anybody has died ever so recently, deceased. Here’s a bit of the list of the Masses from over on the Holy Mass page:

Friday, 2 December, 2011 through Saturday, 31 December, 2011, a set of Gregorian Masses in the Extraordinary Form are offered for the repose of the soul of P.B., the great apostle of the South, so dedicated to the sanctification of priests and bishops in the purgatory of this life and the next, at the request of C.W.

[[The second Mass on December 25 is for the repose of the souls of my parents, George and Ann Byers. The third Mass is, of course, offered for the Holy Father and his intentions.]]

[[Sunday, 1 January, 2012, Holy Mass in the Extraordinary Form is offered in thanksgiving for the intentions of the wonderful benefactors of Holy Souls Hermitage!]]

Monday, 2 January, 2012 through Tuesday, 10 January 2012, Holy Mass is offered in the Extraordinary Form for Father xxx and the entire Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri, as the best way to start 2012 afresh, at the request of C.W.

Wednesday, 11 January, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Bishop R.M., very much alive, and other intentions, as requested by E.D.

Thusday, 12 January, 2012, Holy Mass is offered for Father Henry Donzila (R.I.P.) as requested by D. & S. & M. V.   ///////////

A certain benefactor from Down Under provided a contribution to the hermitage, no strings attached. Hmmm… I know! That can be applied for some Masses. Why not thirty Masses for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, gloriously reigning, and another thirty Masses for priests and bishops in China, who are always on the run from their horrifically oppressive government, if they are not already in re-education camps, labor camps, prisons or torture centers. With that latter intention, I’d like to include all those priests and bishops of the “Open”, that is, “Patriotic”, that is, government Church, those priests and bishops, then, who sycophantically suck up to the government, traitors of the priests and bishops loyal to Rome, traitors of our Lord Jesus, traitors of those they “serve”, traitors of themselves. I’ve spoken with many, face to face, over the years, in various countries. The reason for their inclusion is that they might convert and be enthusiastic friends of Goodness and Kindness Incarnate, Mary’s Son, Jesus. It will take me a while to put up all those Masses, but you know the intentions.

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Wow… So, the Altar is up and Jesus is truly present in the Tabernacle, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. What a gift. Yikes! I was thinking about this while treking up some things for the chapel earlier today. It struck me very strongly — the truth of it – that the Discalced Carmelite cloistered nuns are very much given over to being intimate, enthusiastic friends of Jesus’ Virgin Mother. This agility of soul to which they are called is awesome; it enables them to be prompt in their intercession for the whole Church as a part of the Holy Family, and even for this or that specific priest. Mother Prioress, E. de la T., has offered all her prayers and sacrifices for life for my sanctification, starting many years ago. I’ll have a lot to answer for that. Yikes again!  However, not so much in contrast to this friendship with Jesus’ Mother, but, just a bit differently, it struck me at the same time that what I’m doing here on Holy Souls Mountain, a priest for priests and bishops — however insanely unworthy I am to do this — … it struck me that I will have have to have that same kind of prompt spirit of intercession as the O.C.D.s, but this because of being just such an intimate, enthusiastic friend of Mary’s Son. I’m just so nowhere near that. At all. Not at all. At all at all. Nope. However, it seems this is what our Lord wants of me. I mean, hear I am, right? That’s the way it struck me today, as if my guardian angel were instructing me (and I think he was). Jesus will have to provide the grace. I have nothing. And, even worse, on my own, I’m freakishly the opposite of whatever He wants of me. So, it’s His work, not mine. I can only hope I will be faithful in His grace.

Sorry to burden you readers with all this, but, this was a major milestone in my life this very day. Our Lord is just that good and just that kind.

The hermitage floor plan is laid out so that the chapel lies in the center, on the Eastern side, with the rest of the hermitage encircling the chapel on the Northern, Western and Southern sides. The dedicated chapel is in the midst. Jesus is in the midst. Jesus reigns supreme in the hermitage, on this mountain. He is God. It gives me great joy in knowing that, although I’m such an absolute nothing, Jesus rejoices to be here, of all places…

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Here, Holy Souls Hermitage, is still nothing to speak about, as if it were some nice place. To show you what I mean, here’s a picture of the door this evening, looking due West, of course:

That’s the door, a sheet of plastic, that you’re looking through. Although this is a bit rough, I don’t believe that it is an insult to our Lord. I hope, at least, that the altar and tabernacle are entirely appropriate, liturgically, canonically, ecclesiastically, but the rest of the hermitage, well, it might remind our Lord of some of His own dwellings while in exile in Egypt. He knows well that many of His priests — who are entirely loyal to Him — are living in much worse conditions. The cold weather will push me to have actual doors and walls in the weeks to come, but, I’m not much worried about it. What are His other priests going through? So, no complaints at all. None. How could I? Jesus is here, and you’re reading the thoughts of one very, very, very happy priest.