Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine, La Crosse, Wisconsin

History was made on Saturday, December 10, 2016 when, for the first time ever, a Tridentine Pontifical High Mass was offered at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Raymond Cardinal Burke was the celebrant and, among other beautiful observations, His Eminence spoke of the glories of the Traditional Latin Mass. The Cardinal also expressed his desire to begin offering the old Mass more frequently.

Many thanks to an old friend of The Remnant who this afternoon reminded me that today is the birthday of the late, great Father H. Marchosky. My correspondent writes, "It's peculiar, reflecting on these stalwart people from the past, how in my 60's, I often feel like an orphan. May God bless and keep these warriors; these saints.  And may He have mercy on us."

I couldn't agree more. I miss them, and, as predicted when they left us, no one has truly filled the shoes of these valiant pioneers of the Catholic counterrevolution. "Smells and bells" traddies, they were not! And they were traditionalist long before it was "cool".  Many of them lost everything (apart from the faith) in defense of Tradition, and Father Marchosky was no exception. He traded prestige and a life of luxury as a highly respected professor of theology for his refusal to offer the New Mass.

Father's story is included in the Angelus Press book, "Priest, Where Is Thy Mass? Mass, Where Is Thy Priest? Seventeen Independent Priests Tell Why They Celebrate the Latin Mass"

Please pray for our old friend, the man who introduced Michael Davies to the Remnant way back in 1971, never once offered the New Mass (though he managed to remain under his bishop throughout his priestly life), and for many of us was the one priestly link to the Church in eclipse, long before there was an Indult when, for all intents and purposes, the Old Mass was dead and buried. They never gave up hope and, inspired by their example, neither did we.

I wrote this when Father died, nine years ago this week:

Father H. Marchosky, RIP

At three o'clock this morning, December 11, within the Octave of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a great, Catholic priest died peacefully. Father Harry Marchosky had been ill for some time, and so had been in the good care of James and Patricia Haddock in Veneta, Oregon for the past five years. He died at home, just moments after having completed fifteen decades of the rosary with his friends. A priest for 55 years, he was 84.

The holy priest's last words on this earth were: "I love Our Lady so much.  I want to go home." 

Longtime readers of The Remnant will surely recall the singular contribution to the cause of Tradition made by Father Marchosky.  A Thomistic philosopher as well as an accomplished linguist, this convert from Judaism (and one of the founders of Thomas Aquinas College in California) never once offered the New Mass and yet remained in good standing with his bishop to the very end. The office of the Archbishop of Quebec (Father's bishop) warmly acknowledged Father's passing by telephone on the morning of his death, in fact.

Father Marchosky was fiercely loyal to Tradition, which meant he was fiercely loyal to the Church and to his vow of obedience.  He carefully maintained what he called "loyal resistance" where his superiors were concerned, noting that they could order him to stop offering the Mass (and he would obey) but they could not force him to offer the New Mass. For over four decades, then, Father had been in a good position to offer example and advice to countless seminarians and young priests who learned to be loyal defenders of Tradition at the feet of Father Marchosky.  In the last ten years of his life, he helped out wherever he could at the St. Society of St. Pius X's center in Veneta where he was cared for with great charity and love.

Over his career, Fr. Marchosky had worked closely with men such as Dr. Eric de Savanthem, Dr. John Senior, Hamish Fraser, Walter Matt and, of course, Michael Davies. It was Father Marchosky, in fact, who "discovered" a very young Mr. Davies on a trip to London in 1970, and subsequently encouraged him to form an alliance with The Remnant, which is how American Catholics came to know the great Mr. Davies.

Father was a chaplain for the U.S. Chapter on the Pilgrimage to Chartres many times, he was part of the great “March on Rome” in 1972, and  met with Archbishop Lefebvre several times, including here in St. Paul when the Archbishop visited The Remnant in 1976.

The model of priestly virtue and commitment to his holy calling, Father Marchosky was responsible for many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of converts to traditional Catholicism.   He was there from the very beginning, and one of the first priests in the world to become known as a "traditional" Catholic.

At seven years old, the present Editor of The Remnant served his first traditional Mass—one offered by the late, great Father Marchosky.  It was an experience never to be forgotten because it was the first of many and served as unforgettable introduction to the “catacomb movement” that was traditional Catholicism in the early 1970s. Twenty-two years later, Fr. Marchosky would offer the Nuptial Mass when my wife and I were married.  Were it not for this most courageous, holy, funny, brilliant and erudite priest—master of six languages, gourmet cook, theologian, expert on the writings of St. John of the Cross and Cardinal Newman, seminary professor, philosopher (who had much of the Summa literally committed to memory) and fan of Maria Callas's music and, believe it or not, Jack Benny's early work—many of us would likely not be traditional Catholics today.

Much more will be written about the life of this heroic alter Christus who gave up everything--career, power, prestige, a comfortable living--for Tradition and for his convictions, but for now I would ask Catholics to remember this great champion of the Catholic cause in your prayers, and, if you're able,  have a Mass offered for the repose of his soul.  After all Father Marchosky did for the traditional Mass movement over the past forty years, both here in the States and in Europe, it is only fitting that as many Masses as possible should be offered for his soul as quickly as possible.

The Church has lost one of her most able defenders, and we have lost a friend who can never be replaced but who will always be remembered. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and all the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen

Pray for us, Father. God bless you.

To read more about the history of The Remnant and other pioneers of the Catholic counterrevolution, check out our HISTORY SECTION

This just in from MaltaToday.com:

Gay conversion therapy is one step closer to being outlawed, after a Bill to criminalise the practice passed through committee stage tonight.            

The Bill, which enjoys the unanimous support of all MPs, will see people who attempt to change, repress or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation receive a fine ranging between €1,000 and €5,000 or a jail term of five months.            

The penance will be harsher for professionals – with fines envisaged between €2,000 and €10,000 or imprisonment of up to a year. It will now only need to be formally approved in the third reading before passing into law. READ ARTICLE HERE

"If Pope Francis would ditch his habit of insulting faithful millennials, Hahn writes, he might begin to see more of them in the pews."

In a December 5, 2016 article by, Nicholas G. Hahn III , The Detroit News sounds positively Remnant-esque:

Millennials are leaving religion in droves, recent surveys find. Churches are roiled, but it appears Pope Francis isn’t worried he may accelerate the exodus.

The “Who am I to judge?” pope recently told an interviewer that he has a hard time understanding why so many young Catholics worship in Latin on Sundays. “Why so much rigidity,” Francis asked. “This rigidity always hides something, insecurity or even something else.”

That represents an ugly departure from his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who allowed for wider use of the pre-Vatican II Mass in 2007. “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too,” the pope emeritus wrote, “and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.”

Then only a little over 200 Latin Masses were celebrated in the United States. That number has since more than doubled. The Massgoers aren’t a bunch of old anoraks, either. It’s millennials and hipsters who tend to prefer the smells and bells. READ ARTICLE HERE

REMNANT COMMENT: Mr. Hahn concludes with, “But if Francis would ditch his habit of insulting faithful millennials, he might begin to see more of them in the pews.” And that pretty much nails it. If Pope Francis the Humble would stop insulting, not just millennials, but everyone with whom he disagrees—and that seems to constitute most of the practicing Catholic world—maybe he wouldn’t be sliding quite so dramatically in the popularity department.

As it is, Francis remains popular only with the same 'basket of deplorables' that thought Hillary Clinton was great—the UN, Nancy Pelosi-type ‘Catholics’, CNN and the rest of the Far-Left.

But Hillary Clinton’s ‘wild popularity’ in the real world was mostly illusory, a media creation, just as Pope Francis’s popularity is turning out to be. People have had enough, as today’s story in The Detroit News illustrates yet again.

So now maybe we can all start praying for Pope Francis as we should have been doing all along, rather than trying to make him into something he's not—a great pope. In fact, he's the worst pope in history and desperately needs the prayers of his subjects who are growing increasingly alarmed by his pontificate.