Cardinal Zen with Very Rev. Fr. John Berg
during the Pontifical Mass , 29 III 2008
The following is an article taken from the May issue of the German newsletter of the FSSP, Informationsblatt der Priesterbruderschaft St. Petrus’
Dear Friends of the Fraternity of St. Peter,
One of the great blessings for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is that it has enjoyed a very international and universal character from the very time of its foundation. From the first years there were priests and seminarians from Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain, Canada, and the United States. Less than ten years after its foundation there were already two international seminaries, the Mother House in Wigratzbad and the Seminary of Our Lady of Guadalupe in North America. Today it counts among its members priests from South and North America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
This international character is an aid to all of us as priests to keep in mind always the universal Church, to never forget that the work and needs of the Church are never solely in the place where we are assigned, but throughout the world; that within the Mystical Body here below there may always be places in which the ‘harvest is plenty’, while in others there is great suffering.
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Cardinal Zen with Very Rev. Fr. John Berg |
For a number of years the Fraternity of St. Peter has had particular ties with the ‘Latin Mass Community of Hong Kong’. As Superior General I was fortunate enough to be invited by the Community, and the Cardinal Zen Ze-kiun to Hong Kong to give a conference on the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite and serve as the assistant priest at the Pontifical Mass celebrated by the Cardinal on the Octave of Easter. My stay there was also an opportunity to speak with the Cardinal as well as the apostolic delegate of the Holy See to Hong Kong, and the Bishop of Macau. These two cities have always served as a sort of bridge to mainland China for European Missionaries, and this continues to be the case today as they enjoy a special status free of some of the controls of the Chinese state government.
The visit was an opportunity to hear of the heroic work being done by the bishops and priests recognized by the Holy See who work in Mainland China. The suffering of the Church in China must be a very important reminder to us of how precious our faith is. The Church and its teachings are certainly persecuted in different parts of the world in different ways. In the West today the law continually tends to push an agenda which runs contrary to the truth of the Gospel and Catholic morality, but this still pales in comparison to the suffering which is undergone for the sake of the faith by many bishops and priests in China. Currently there are bishops who have been imprisoned for the sake of their fidelity to the faith and in particular to the Holy Father for up to twelve years and counting.
Points which we take for granted at times in professing or chanting the Credo are paid for with a heavy price in China. It should be a reminder to us that the martyrs for the faith are not just a thing of the past, and perhaps more importantly, that at times it is only when these things are denied to us that we begin to recognize their value. Our access to the teachings of the Church, public worship, and in particular the Sacraments is for many of us not sufficiently appreciated. Their very accessibility seems to lead us to undervalue them. There is a saying posted in many sacristies which was first made by St. John Bosco to his confreres: “Priest of God, offer this Mass as if it were your first Mass, as if it were your last Mass, as if it were your only Mass.” Seeing the suffering of the Church in China should make us realize how precious our Holy Communion on Sunday is, and even encourage a greater assistance at Mass during the week as well. Perhaps it is the same gentle reminder to us as our Lord’s to the Samaritan woman at the well in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of St. John “if you but knew the gift of God.”
Along with the accounts of the great suffering of the bishops, priests and faithful there were also reasons for hope. Cardinal Zen has been an outspoken and intrepid defender of the rights of the Catholic Church in China. He was of course chosen by the Holy Father to write the meditations for the Stations of the Cross this year on Good Friday in order to bring the suffering and injustice done to the Church to the forefront of the attention of world. There are also institutes such as the Holy Spirit Institute in Hong Kong which are constantly looking for means to publish texts and send missionaries into the Mainland to preach the doctrine of the Church to those who so badly thirst for it.
All of these were a vivid reminder that the Church in China must be in the forefront of our prayers. What an incredibly large percentage of the souls in the world are there, waiting the truth of the Gospels, the teaching of the Church! This duty to pray is even greater this year as our Holy Father Benedict XVI has asked all Catholics to unite in prayer for the Church in China. In his letter on the Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China of May 27, 2007 he asked us to pray in particular for the intercession of our Lady during the month of May 2008, and most especially to Our Lady under her title as Help of Christians who is venerated with great devotion at the Marian Shrine of Sheshan in Shanghai, and whose feast is kept on May 24.
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Very Rev. Fr. John Berg with Cardinal Zen |
When I promised the Cardinal Zen that as the Fraternity of St. Peter we wished to encourage all of our priests, seminarians and faithful of our apostolates to join in these prayers encouraged by the Holy Father he suggested that we offer a novena beginning on May 16 to Our Lady Help of Christians using the hymn and oration from that feast. The Cardinal explained that this hymn is one which they often sang during his formation from the time that he was a novice with the Salesians, and then he promptly sang the text in its Gregorian chant melody by heart.
The intentions for the novena are of course the ones given by our Holy Father at the end of his letter: “On that same day, the Catholics of the whole world... will demonstrate their fraternal solidarity and solicitude for [the faithful in China], asking the Lord of history for the gift of perseverance in witness, in the certainty that your sufferings of the past and present for the Holy Name of Jesus and your intrepid loyalty to his Vicar on earth will be rewarded, even if at times everything can seem a failure.”
This month of May is of course dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God. At our seminary in Wigratzbad we carry out the traditional prayers, hymns and sermons in honor of Our Lady which are a part of ‘Maiandacht.’ This year I would ask you to join us in the particular intention of praying for the intercession of Our Lady Help of Christians for the Church in China by reciting the hymn and oration given below each day during the novena. Though there are certainly many worthy intentions throughout the world for which we need to beg the intercession of Our Lady, let us not forget those members of the Mystical Body in China whose sufferings at the hands of persecution are even greater than our own.
Very Rev. Fr. John Berg, General Superior FSSP
Oft when the flock of Christ were driven,
By bloody sword and cruel foe;
The tender Virgin came from heaven,
With loving aid to heal their woe.
So was it in the days of old,
As many a temple lifted high;
Proclaims; and gifts of richest gold,
With grateful blessings testify.
New thanks for help today we bring,
To Mary, Queen, with gladsome voice;
In strains of holy joy we sing,
And all the bounds of earth rejoice.
O happy hour! O glorious day!
Behold the Master on the throne!
The years of fear are passed away,
The Chair of Faith receives its own.
Let gentle youths and virgins chaste,
Uplift to heaven rejoicing lays;
While priests and people proudly haste,
To join in songs of thanks and praise.
Sweet Virgin, hear us in our need,
Mother of Christ, thy gifts increase;
Help thou our Guide, his flocks to lead,
To pastures of eternal peace.
O Triune God, let all our days,
Be glorified with love of Thee;
While songs of faith and heavenly praise,
Resound through all eternity. Amen.
V. Deem me worthy to praise Thee, o sacred Virgin, (alleluja).
R. Give me strength against Thy enemies, (alleluja).
Almighty and merciful God, who for the defense of the Christian people didst wondrously establish a perpetual help in the most Blessed Virgin: grant in Thy mercy, that we, protected by such a defense as we strive in this life, may be able to obtain vicoty over our malign enemy in death. Through Our Lord…
