Fr. Jean-Nepomucene
T.O.P.
D. Grof
The
Dominican Fathers devote themselves to various activities within their apostolate.
They preach and celebrate Holy Mass wherever they are invited; at their abbey
in Avrillé they run a school for boys; they act as teachers at the seminary of the
Priestly Society of the Apostles of
Jesus and Mary lead
by Bishop Faure. In addition to all of this they also manage and administer the
Third Order of Saint Dominic, especially in France, but also elsewhere in the
world.
As
part of their concern for the Third Order, two fathers from the Avrillé convent
– Fathers Maria-Laurentius and Hyacint-Maria – travelled to Czechia and Poland.
And so we had the opportunity to welcome them from Sept. 1st until
Sept. 3rd, 2018, between us and to refresh ourselves with the
treasures of the Catholic Faith and the sacraments in the traditional Dominican
rite.
The
Fathers decided to organize a one-day recollection on the topic of the glorious
mysteries of the Sacred Rosary. Given the smaller number of local tertiaries, a
wider affiliated public was also invited. The whole event took place in the
Church of the Finding of the Holy Cross and of St. Helena in Stodůlky, Prague,
and the first day was attended by almost 30 participants. It is necessary to emphasize
the resolve of some faithful who came from more distant places, such as
southern Moravia and nearby Slovakia, only to receive the sacraments and hear the
preaching of the Dominican fathers. During the day, the Fathers made four
lectures on the Resurrection of the Lord, the Ascension of the Lord, the Pentecost,
and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, where they always first reminded of the
sequence of events, and then showed the lessons that this mystery gives to us faithful.
Fr. Hyacint-Maria, OP
On
Saturday evening, Father Maria-Laurentius celebrated the Holy Mass in the
traditional Dominican rite, during which he gave an incentive sermon about
Saint Joseph in Czech – the Fathers had had their sermons translated into Czech
beforehand so that the Holy Mass was not interrupted by a simultaneous interpreting.
Immediately
after the Holy Mass, the Fathers exposed the Blessed Sacrament to adoration by
the faithful, and the day of the spiritual retreat culminated with the Holy
blessing.
On
the second day the participants of the event partially changed but again there
were just over 30 faithful. Father Hyacint-Maria celebrated the sung morning
Holy Mass of the 15th Sunday after the Pentecost, and gave a very
incentive sermon on what the death teaches us. After the Holy Mass, there was
an hour-long lecture on Saint Vincent Ferrer as well.
Fr.
Maria-Laurentius, OP
On
Sunday evening and on Monday morning (after the early private Holy Masses), the
Fathers visited the sacred places of Prague – they prayed at the Infant Jesus
of Prague, visited the Church of St. Giles, St. Vitus and other important churches
and places of pilgrimage in Prague, some of which are historically connected
directly with their order.
Church of St. Giles
Fathers
have shown a special passion for our country and a great concern for its
faithful. They were also keenly interested in the situation of Tradition and
especially of the Catholic movement of "Resistance" in our country
and of all the faithful individually as well as together. In order to
illustrate this fact, it is sufficient to say that both of them have already started
with the learning of the Czech language to be able to serve the faithful even
more efficiently during another visit, if God wills
On
Tuesday morning, the Fathers continued on their way to Poland. May God pay them
back for their dedicated service. May God also pay back to all those who helped
with the organization of the visit – to all who secured the possibility of
using the chapel, who lent the sacred vessels including the monstrance, and
helped to obtain comfortable and dignified accommodation for the reverend Fathers,
and also helped with prayers, financially or else.
