Sacrifice: the heart of the priesthood

On Friday we offered a brief news and photo gallery about the 4 new priests ordained for the SSPX at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Winona, MN.

The following day—Saturday—the seminary witnessed the First Masses offered by the newly-ordained priests. Below we have a photo gallery of the first Solemn Mass offered by Fr. Michael Brown under the outdoor tent with the seminary rector, Fr. Yves Le Roux, as the Assistant Priest in cope.

Indeed the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is at the heart of the priesthood, the formation and sanctification of which is the SSPX's mission. So it is only natural that the priestly society—led by its founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre—has remained steadfast in its fidelity to the Mass of All Time, while necessarily rejecting the New Mass because it weakens the notion of sacrifice and leads to an identity crisis of the priesthood.

On the crucial topic of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, here are three recommendations available on our website:

• True Holy Sacrifice and Priesthood of Christ
• The theology and spirituality of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
• The True Mass can renew the earth

We cannot stress enough that contemplation on the spiritual and doctrinal issues of the Mass cannot be separated from a consideration of the Priesthood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, not only at the altar, but also away from it. To this end we have these three items to suggest:

• Priestly Holiness
• Todo Nada; Fr. Henry La Praz: Priest and Victim (story of an SSPX priest who died in 1992)
• The Priesthood (May-June 2015 issue of The Angelus)