The Problem With The SFO/ September Circular Letter

To Love Jesus And To Make Him Loved

Fraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Circular For the Month of September
Year of Our Lord 2008
-Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows-
September 15, 2008

Dearest Brethren in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Lord give you peace.

What a gift it is to see the fruits of Tradition growing in the vast wasteland of the Post-Conciliar revolution. The hand of Almighty God is evident as we can plainly see the Third Order of St. Francis of Assisi growing here in Toronto and it is consoling to see also the devotion and dedication of its members!

It seems a pertinent time, dear brethren, as this battle for the true Faith and all that relates to it continues, to focus a bit on the essential diseases which have infected the Church and Her Orders, especially the Third Order as it relates to us directly. Deo gratias, we have in our disposal some of the writings of Rev. Fr. Eugene Villeurbanne O.F.M. Cap. the founder of our Traditional Capuchins in Morgon France regarding the T.O.S.F. We will see what this great priest has to say on the terrible destruction of the Third Order in the VII Church. It seems good that you are familiar with what has happened at least in brief.

In 1978 with the approval of Pope Paul VI the Third Order of St. Francis was changed to the Secular Franciscan Order. With the change of the Rule, came a new spirit and a new set of Constitutions. Fr. Eugene relates that: It is no longer necessary for the soul entering the SFO to be exactly faithful to the Catholic Faith. There are no longer any promises to observe the Commandments of God and the precepts of the Church. Banquets, theatres, dancing, luxurious clothing and spectacles of the like are no longer forbidden to the Tertiary. Nothing is said in relation to frugality in meals, and there is no longer a requirement to say prayers before and after meals. It is ignored that fasting and abstinence is necessary and monthly confession is no more a requisite. Prayer is just a suggestion and daily Mass is only recommended. For those of the Order who are sick, it is no longer requisite for a member of the Order to visit and assist them. (1)

Stripped of its efficacy therefore is the Third Order of St. Francis! Contemplate dear Brethren, how it can be possible for a soul in the world to fight the Devil and his Angels of darkness with no weapons at all at their disposal. This SFO has snatched the spiritual weapons of prayer and penance from the souls who thus enter it. If they do not strive to live according to the traditional Rule and spirit, this new SFO leaves them alone in a terrible battle without any weapon. Poor souls!

However, the problem runs deeper still. These are changes in the Rule, however the problems, just like those in the Church after the Vatican Council II, are also on a doctrinal level.

The Rule and Constitutions of the SFO contain religious language, but they take the soul who enters into them far from the ideal of the Seraphic Patriarch. Rev. Fr. Eugene explains: The new Rule pushes exterior artificial activism, and forbids the soul to receive supernatural graces. It is a dimunition of Catholic fervor, it makes religion an instrument of freedom and liberation. This is a de-sacrilization of the T.O.S.F. and they want to change not only the T.O.S.F, but want all the organizations to be one movement in the Church. The SFO has the appearance of Franciscanism but this orientation is not Franciscan.(2) These words are crushing and deal a death blow to the Secular Franciscan Order from one who was deeply involved with Franciscan Order prior to Vatican II. They show a new Rule, with a new spirit, for a new religion.

Deeper still is the problem of the SFO dear Brothers and Sisters. Where does this new orientation lead? Fr. Eugene explains: that the new Rule of the SFO, is a mix of modernism and progressivism, and is a provider of COMMUNISM. (Emphasis mine) This Rule leads to communism said the Rev. Fr. Eugene Villeurbanne and is a service to man! This good Father, being a true shepherd warns those who think of entering the SFO that they must refuse to enter!

To save you some of the heart ache of going through all of the Rule and Constitutions of the SFO, we leave you with a small morsel of the contents therein. Below are some quotations from the Rule and Constitutions of the SFO:

“Mindful that they are bearers of peace which must be built up unceasingly, they should seek out ways of unity and fraternal harmony through dialogue”.

“With Him they can accept the will of the Father even under the most difficult circumstances and live the Franciscan spirit of peace, rejecting every doctrine contrary to human dignity”.

“Secular Franciscans are called to make their own contribution, inspired by the person and message of Francis of Assisi, towards a civilization in which the dignity of the human person, shared responsibility, and love may be living realities.”(3) (Emphasis mine)

We must renew our resolutions and be absolutely convinced that the crisis in the Church with its ravaging spirit, which has reached even the Third Order of St. Francis, continues. What has changed dear Brothers and Sisters? Do we see those in Rome abandoning the errors of Vatican II? Do we see the return of the philosophy of Aristotle and the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas in this New Church? No, no, no. What is witnessed is, as Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais has said, a Council which “cannot be read as a Catholic work. It is based on the philosophy of Immanuel Kant.”(4) Kant’s philosophy dear brethren, is simply crazy. Kant’s philosophy would dissolve Truth, dissolve objective Truth and thus end religion. In the world of Kant, all is subjective, and therefore religion and God are what you make them. It is crazy, as Kant would have us believe that there is in every object something which cannot be known. Therefore, there is no room for unchangeable, immovable Catholic Dogma in the philosophy of Kant.

But, some may object that due to the Motu Proprio of Pope Benedict XVI all is well, and the time has come for us to return to the parishes in our diocese. No, no, no. Bishop Richard Williamson explains that our current Pope, who is Pope, nonetheless, has been affected by an idealist German philosophy, and especially that of Hegel and his thesis-antithesis-synthesis. He explains this in an interview in 2006:
“Benedict XVI believes that Catholic “truth” can evolve. For instance, very serious statements of Catholic truth that cannot change, like the Syllabus or Pascendi, he calls merely “substantial anchorages” in Church doctrine, meaning that the Church could anchor there, and usefully anchored there for a while, but in modern times the Church needs new “substantial anchorages” in doctrine. He cannot see that this anti-modern Catholic doctrine of his predecessors is of such a nature that it cannot change, and not even as Pope can he change it. His poor mind, however gifted, is sick with that modern – especially German – philosophy which unhooks the mind from its object, like cutting off lungs from oxygen.”(5)

It is, therefore Brothers and Sisters of Penance, crucial for the state of the Church and the World, for us to oppose this new orientation in the Church though it drags on. It is crucial for us to take up the traditional observance of the Rule of our Third Order. We must obey the Queen of Heaven the divine Mary, and do penance, make sacrifices, love Jesus, make Him loved and save souls! This is the Crusade we must undertake even until death if necessary for the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and our Mother’s Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. We must strive to be informed To remain Catholic without compromise, we must stay on the side of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary, Her Heart which was filled with the Light of God, full of Wisdom and Truth. We must continue to be united to the Sorrowful Heart if we wish to keep from being infected, and severed from objective reality. We will always be united to Truth if we stay in the arms of the Blessed Virgin Mary and may She keep us from all error and everything which may offend Her Divine Son.

Always your little servant in the Merciful Love of the good God,

Fra Pio-Francis T.O.S.F.


Circular Approved By The Rev. Fr. Freddy Mery S.S.P.X.

(1),(2) Paraphrasing from the Third Order Manual, Letter from Fr. Eugene. Translated by Rev. Fr. Mery SSPX to Br. Pio-Francis T.O.S.F. These are all notes taken from this interview and are taken from the french of Fr. Eugene Villeurbanne O.F.M. Cap.
(3)http://thetraditionalthirdorderofstfrancis.blogspot.com/2007/11/look-at-sfo-and-commentary-by_30.html
(4)http://truerestoration.blogspot.com/2006/04/interview-with-bishop-bernard-tissier.html
(5)http://truerestoration.blogspot.com/2006/10/interview-with-bishop-richard-n.html

Et resedit qui erat mortuus, et coepit loqui. Et dedit illum matri suae. Luke Chp. 7. V.15.Gloria Tibi Domine.