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ORCM NEWS
Orthodox Roman Catholic Movement, Inc.
Post Office Box 542
Stratford, Connecticut 06497
(203) 375-9240
" … hold fast to the traditions which you have received." II Thessalonians, 2:15
Editor: Fr. Francis E. Fenton, STL
I Newsletter #15 September 7, 1975
ORCM MASS IN ORLANDO, FLORIDA . . . . . Our Lady of the Rosary, Red
Carpet Inn, S. R. 436 at I-41
Orlando, Florida. Sunday Mass at 10:00 a.m. For more information
call: (305) 299-0068.
OBLATES OF SAINT JUDE. . . If for no other reason than lack of
space, it is our general policy not to
provide information in this newsletter concerning other traditional
groups. However, a general policy allows occasional exceptions and we
are making such an exception here.
Oblates of Saint Jude
Holy Family Monastery
Cross Keys Road
Berlin, New Jersey
(17 miles f r om Philadelphia)
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered every Sunday at 11:00 a.m.,
and every Wednesday, First Friday and First Saturday at 8 : 00 p.m.
Father John J. Doyle is the priest at Holy Family Monastery . The mon-
astery is under the direction of Brother Joseph . Three other reli-
gious brothers also form part of the present community there .
ORCM PRIEST- MEMBERS . Monsignor Paul F . Marceau Florida;
Father Robert F . McKenna, O. P.
Connecticut! Father Francis E. Fenton – Connecticut; Father Charles P.
Donahue California; Father Leo M. Carley Connecticut; Father
Daniel E. Jones – Colorado.
ORCM LECTURE TOURS TO DATE . . Including the schedule of speeches
on the following page, our ORCM
lecture will have been delivered 33 times in twelve states around the
country. With some 500-600 copies of the cassette tape of the talk
also in circulation, it appears that our ORCM story has gotten a quite
satisfactory hearing to date by way of this particular speech.
Published every 50 days and offered free. Individuals wishing to be on our mailing list for this newsletter must request it personally.
ORCM MASSES AND/OR LECTURES
Sunday, September 7 , 1975 Sunday, September 21 , 1975
Route 1 , Box 195 Wheeling, West Virginia
(O ld Church Point Highway) Mass and Lecture
Opelousas , Louisiana (Details not available in time
Mass at 10 : 3 0 a.m. for inclusion in this newsle tter.)
Phone Contact: (318) 942-9053 Phone Contact: (304) 277-2928
Wednesday , September 17, 1975 Sunday , September 28 , 1975
Infant Saviour Church Hall Landwehr Hall
Pine Bush, New York 8th and Scott
Lecture at 8 : 00 p . rn . Covington , Kentucky
Phone Contact: (914) 944 – 2391 Mass at 10 : 30 a . m.
Phone Contact : (606) 331 – 1873
Sunday , October 12 , 1975
Wallingford , Connecticut
Mass and Lecture
(Details not avai l able in time
for inclusion in this newsletter.)
Phone Contact : (203) 265-1015
WORD STILL AWAITED . . . . . A few months ago three of our former
ORCM seminarians app lied for admission to
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre ' s International Seminary of Saint Pius X in
Switzerland . In our ORCM News #12 of April 10 , 1975 , we expressed our
hope and prayer that they would be accepted there to continue their
studies for the priesthood . In that newsletter we also assured you
that, if and when they were accepted, we would inform you of this "as
soon as possible in a subsequent newsletter . " Lest you think we might
have forgotten , we have not. As of this writing (August 18, 1975),
word has not yet bee n rec eived .
ORC.M MAILOUT TO PRIESTS . . . . . On May 1 , 1975 , by way of an experi-·
ment to recruit priests for our
ORCM, we mailed a copy of our brochure , "Holding Fast" , together with
a covering letter , to 1,636 pri~sts in the Archdiocese of New York and
the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey. It is now some 3~ months since
that mailout was done and so ample time has passed for an evaluation
of its results. To put it bluntly, it was a near -total failure .
. . Of the more than 1, 600 priests contacted , on ly nine responded . Of
the nine respons es , four were sympat hetic. Of those four, just one
warranted a continuation of correspondence and I am not inclined to
think that even that one is likely to seek admission to our ranks with
any undue haste . . . . . The failure of this mailout , needless to
say, does not dim our spirits in the slightest . At least these 1,636
priests are now aware of our existence and the stand we take and per-
haps, at some future date, one or another of them may have second
thoughts on the subject . If so, we will always be willing to meet and
talk with them. What the result of this mailout does prove quite con-
clu s ively is that this is not an effective way of tr ying to recruit
priests for our ORCM. No one would contest that statement, I guess .
Page 2
EDITORIAL
by Fr . Francis E. Fenton STL
I
The ®rtqn~ox Inman Qlatqolir ilourmrnt
U ni ty an d Stre ngth Through Organizat i on
]\s of this writing (August , 1975) , the Or thodox Roman Ca tho l ic Moveme nt
(ORCM) is a pproximat e l y 2~ years o l d . While our p rogress over t hat
period of t i me c ou l d hard l y be des cribed a s f an tas tic or wor ld- s hak i ng ,
it has been an ove r a ll ste a dy a nd , c onseque ntly , sa t i sfactory and en-
couragi n g progress .
1lllfe presen tly h ave six pries t s a n d two n un s who ar e me mb e rs of our ORCM.
Six o t her priests are working wi t h us and three o r four more seem t o be
good prospects at the moment . We now have eight permanen t ORCM chapels
and/or ORCM-sponsored Masses in six s t ates (Connecticu t, New York , New
Jersey , Florida , Colorado and California) . If all goes we l l , we will
also have a chapel and full time priest in a seventh state in the not-
too-distant future. In addition , our ORCM priests are bringing the
True Mass and the Sacraments with increasing frequency to – other tradi-
tional Catholic groups across the co~ntry who have no traditional
priest in their area and who , in some places , seldom even see one (in
recent weeks our priests have been to Michigan , Oklahoma , Louisiana ,
Florida, Kentucky and Ohio) . ·
fi o be sure, we do have some pains and prob l ems (r ather miraculous if we
didn ' t) , and I would be somewhat less tha n hones t with t he readers of
this newsletter were I to imply o therwise . Al l in all though, the
pains we have had thus far have b ee n qui t e bearab l e a nd t he problems
not overwhelming either in numbe r o r kind . Th a t we are criticized and
attacked from time to time is , in i t se l f , no surp ri se . What was for
some period a surprise to me and a cause of t e mpor ar y d is i llusionment
was the fact that most of t he cri t i ci sm we r e c e i ved came , n ot from the
Establishment Catholic Church or from anti-Catho li c or secul ar sources ,
but from other tradit iona l individua l s o r groups .· How d oes t hat saying
go: ''I can cope with my e nemies b u t t he Lo r d prese r ve me from my
friends"? Believe me , there ' s more than a gra i n of t ru t h in it. With
traditional Roman Catholics being the minority they are and with the
tremendous work they have to do , all the dis~ension and hassling and
in-fighting that goes on among them is, tL say the least, most regret-
table and, in my opinion, does considerable harm to the traditionalist
cause. Assuredly, the sight of so many of its proponents continually
fighting one another is not likely to enhance the image of Catholic
traditionalism nor is it conducive to the gaining of much needed re-
cruits to the traditionalist ranks.
cont'd
September 7, 1975 Page 3
lfl'or our part, we have consistently followed a policy , and wi ll conti-
nue to do so, of abstention from involveme nt in the various debates in
which so many of the traditionalists engage themse lves. Even when the
ORCM is the target o f a particular criticism or attack, our policy h as
bee n to ignore it, unl ess, of course, the cause of truth or j ustice im-
poses upon us an obligation to r espon d . The purpose of the ORCM is to
preserve and to promote our God- given faith by provid ing the True Mass ,
the Sacrame nts, sound Catholic doctr ine , etc . f or as many traditional
Roma n Catholics as we can. This is our a po sto l a te and it is a full
time one . Cons e que ntly , we h ave n e ither t he time n o r t he i nclination
to involv e ours e lves in po l emics – p o l emics , we might add, perh aps t he
most noticeab l e r esult of which is a further splitting of the already
quite fragmented tradi tiona li st ranks . We do not wish to contribute to
this sorry spectacle. On the contrary, it has always been, and re~
mains, our hope and praye r that, as our story becomes ever more widely
known and as our record of accomplishment becomes ever more a reality ,
our ORCM will prove to b e a sound rallying point for genuine a nd last-
ing unity among trad itional Roman Catholics .
@,ince the question sometime s aris es as t o t he need of a n ationa l organ-
i zation o f traditiona l Roman Catho li cs , perhaps a listing of the prin-
cipa l rea sons, all qu ite element ary , would be in order here:
( 1) Far more can be accomplished towards the goa l of pre serv-
ing and propagating our divine fa ith in the se chaotic times i f –
traditional Catholics are we ll organiz ed than could otherwis e
be accomplished. A national organization offe rs a means of
unity, which unity, in turn, provides a basis of strength and
is a builder of morale. ·
(2) Through a national organization a sound monetary founda-
tion can be constructed, and financial assistance made availa-
ble to its affiliates when needed. Only a few we e ks ago, for
example, our national ORCM, thanks to the regular (and irregu-
lar!) contributions of our members and supp orte rs around the
country, was in a position to loan, and did loan i nteres t-
free, the sum of $15,000.00 to Fathe r Charles Donahue and his
ORCM parishioners in Arcadi~, California to assist them in the
purchase of a permanent chapel and adjoining prope rty there.
(That purchas e , incidentally, has since b een ma de) .
(3) A national organization cah provide replaceme nt s for its
priest-membe rs if and when they ar e temporarily or permanentl y
unab le t o continue the ir pri estly work in a particular area .
This , of course , presumes that the organization has a suffi –
ciency of p r iest-members . Admittedly, our ORCM has not quite
reached that plateau of growth as yet!
1.l;aving built a solid foundation, the ORCM is today a firmly established
traditionalist Roman Catholic movement on the American scene and _as-
suredly we are here to stay. We are fully resolved to "hold fast" to
the course we have · chosen and nothing, please God, will deter us from
that course.
Page -4
ORCM Feature
by Fr. Robert F. McKenna , 0 . P.
Jriuatr i!trur latinnn
{iJraditional Catholics are the audience for many reports of private r ev-
e la tions. I n recent years especially there has been a plethora o f such
r eport s , emanating from different countries, inc l uding our own . Usua l-
ly .it is the Blessed Virgin, though at times Our Lor d Hims elf, who is
said to have appeared to some devout mys t ic or e ven to some children,
warning me n of divine c has t isement unless the y do penance for their
sins. The mes s a ges some times concer n e v il s in the ·church itself. Such
is t he number of these al leged appari t i ons tha t there are not wa nting
publications exclusive ly devot ed to reporti ng them . What is one to
make of these revelations, and what should be the attitude o f a good
Catholic whe n confronted with the m?
lJiirst of all, we must not con fuse these private r eve lations with public
revelation ~ that contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition and pro-
posed by the Church to all me n as the o bject of divine fait h. The
truths and mys teries in this revelation make up the body o f Catholic
faith – the deposit o f faith, as it is call ed , which is indispensable
for salvaiion. This public r eve lation is something complete, · having
ended with the death of the last Apostle.
{iJhe private revelations, on the other h and, of which we speak, add
nothing to the deposit of fait h, and consequently they are not matter
for the theological virtue of Faith. Eve n whe n genuine and approved by
the Church, private revelations, whatever their nature , merit no mor e
than human faith . Indeed, should they contain anything doctrinally new
or opposed to Catholic te a ching , t he y are undo u bted ly fa ls e , even apart
from the credibility o f those re c e i v ing the m.
111lfith the distincti on b e tween public and priv a t e revelation in mind,
then , we may say o f p rivate revela t ion s tha t the t r uth and authenticity
o f each cas e mus t be judged on its own merit s. Where t h e Church itself
has a pproved them , as those of La Salette , Lourdes and Fa tima , there
s hould be no d ifficulty in accepting them . But usually the jud gme nt of
Rome is lacking and, in today's circumstances, any official approval of
a private revelation is hardly to be expected. In practice, the opin-
ion of a competent and trustworthy traditional priest would best be
sought.
cont'd
Page 5
iljeft to himse l f , however , one s hould avoid t he extremes of u n iversa l
skepticism and rash credu l ity , weighing the evidence for each case .
Script ure admonishes us not to "despise prophecy , " while cautioning us
also to "test every spirit to see if it be of God ." There is no doubt
that God can and does grant private revelations to certain privileged
souls , though the devil for his part , as Scripture says , can clothe
himself "as an angel of light" to deceive the unwary . A particular
r evelation made to a credible witness , containing nothing suspicious or
contrary to Catholic teaching , and in nowise seeming to "play " into the
devil ' s hand , may well merit a provisional human faith, while reasona –
ble doubt on any one of these points requires a suspended judgment .
i ut , while free to "judge for himself" the evidence for a private reve..-
lation when confronted with it , no good Catholic should deliberately
"go look ing " for them . To do so is to expose oneself needlessly to de-
lusions and l eads to re ligious fanaticism . God in His mercy does not
refuse extraordi nary means to warn the lax and the wicked , but the good
and devout faithful have no need of the sensationa l and are expected to
be content wi t h the ordinary path of faith – divine faith – in the
teachings of the Church . Let us remember Christ ' s words : "Unless you
see signs and wonders , you do not believe . "
* * * * * * * *
In relation to the above article, the following is added by the ORCM
News editor:
" . an individual is free to reject any private revelation of modern
times; but he is equally as free to accept any or all such private rev-·
elations as he desires – always, of course, with the knowledge that
their interpretation is according to official Church teaching . Conse-
quently, nobody is bound, as a matter of dogma, to believe that Our
Lady appeared at Fatima, or Lourdes, or La Salette, or any of the other
places where she has been reported to have appeared at various times .
"Nevertheless , when one considers the intensive ecclesiastical investi-
g a tion s to which these apparitions were subjected , and when one consi –
ders the u nreserved judgment by proper ecclesiastical authorities t hat
e a ch of these apparitions is valid . then rash indeed would be the
i n d i vidua l who would question them . . . Certainly the weight of evi-
dence , from the Church's viewpoint , is so overwhelming in favor of
the s e app a r i tions that it would be impruden t , to say the least , for any
good Cathol i c to be skeptical of what the Church has so f r eely certi –
fied ." (The above two paragraphs are taken from pages 18-19 of the
Image Books Edition of the book, A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN , edited
by John J. Delaney and published in September, 1961, with the
Imprimatur of Francis Cardinal Spellman .)
Only three of the numerous reported apparitions of Our Lady in the 20th
century have received "the unreserved judgment by proper ecclesiastical
authorities that each of these apparitions is valid": Fatima, Portugal
(1917), Beauraing, Belgium (1932-1933) and Banneux, Belgium (1933).
Page 6
A COMMENTARY
Whi I e There Is Yet Time
~ ome fif ty years ago one of the Communist gods, V. I . Lenin, is quoted
as having made the fo llowing statement : "First,· eastern Europe will
be taken ; next , the masses of Asia ; and then we will encircle that
last bastion of capitalism, the United States of America . We will not
have to attack . It will fall like overripe fruit into our hands."
How can any sincere, informed American today seriously doubt the accu-
racy of that p r edic tion? Yes, barring a miracle, what has happened to
once free peoples in country after country throughout the world, and
what is happening now in Southeast Asia , will , as surely as night fol –
lows day , be the fate of this nation of ours a few years hence unless
there is soon a massive awakening of the American people to the grim
truth that their leaders are betraying them into the hands of the most
satanic enemy o~ God and freedom that the world has ever known . Trea –
son on the part of "our" leaders is staring the American people in the
face . If they cannot recognize it now and if they will not take every
moral means at their disposal , while there is yet time, to dispel the
traitors who a re leading them to destruction , then they are indeed be-
yond hope and deserve the dire fate that awaits them.
] n the past few months alone , millions of our fellow men have been
forced into the Communist orbit , there to experience that ineffable
"pe ace" which Communism has in store for them , the peace , that is , of
the police state a nd the concentration camp and the graveyard . Let us
pray fervently for them each day and for the other captive nations of
the world , and l et us pray too that these latest conquests of the dia-
bo lic al evil which is Communism may alert the American people at l ong
last to the extreme gravity of the wor ld situation and to the disloy-
alty and perfidy of those in high places here in our own country. If
and when true history is again written, it will record, to our na-
tion ' s everlasting shame , the w~nton abandonment by the United States
government of the peop l e of Solltheast Asia .
1J s Portugal next in line for b etraya l to Communism by the governments
of the free world? Or could it be that , t h rough Our Lady of Fatima,
Portugal will survive a ll betrayal by its "friends" and will , in it s
h eroic resistance to Communi sm, prove to be an inspiration to the
world and the beginning of the end for the forces of anti-Chri s t
everywhere?
]\ famous Communist spokesman declared many years ago: "One day
Communism and Christianity will have to stand face to face i n single
combat." The time may now be drawing close when the chal l enge will
also confront us of putting our lives on the li ne for Christ and for
our divine faith. God grant us the wisdom and the grace to prepare
ourselves well for that day, that we may be ready to meet that chal-
lenge in a manner befitting soldiers of Christ and members of His
Mystical Body!
Page 7
ORCM TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS SCHEDULE
C A LIFORNIA CONNECTICUT
ARCADIA WALNUT CREEK MONTEREY MONROE
( Los Angeles area) (Oakland area) (Seven miles from Bridgeport on
Route 25)
Our Lady of the Angels Chapel Our Lady of the Rosarv Our Lady of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel
1100 W. Duarte Road Veteran Memorial Hall 1 5 Pepper Street
(Corner Temple City Blvd.) 1 250 Locust Street
(415) 798-2253 (408) ·372-3452 (203) 268-4936
(213) 447-1752
SUNDAY MASSES: SUNDAY MASS: SUNDAY MASS: UNDAY MASSES:
:Jo
8:30 & 10:30 a.m. 11 :30 a.m. 9:;:00 & 11 :00 a.m.
Full schedule of weekday 12:00 Noon Full schedule of weekday
devotions. devotions.
COLORADO FLORIDA NEW JERSEY NEW YORK
DENVER FORT LAUDERDALE HASBROUCK HEIGHTS BREWSTER
Our Lady of Victory Chapel Our Lady of Peace Our Lady of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary Chapel
1312 Uinta Howard Johnson's I nt'I Motor Lodge The Sheraton Heights Hotel Route 124
1400 N. Federal Hwy. ( US 1) 650 Terrace Avenue
(303) 377-0884 (across from airport) (intersection of Interstate 80
Dania ( Ft. Lauderdale) and Highway 17)
(305) 791-3329 (201) 529-3138 (914) 279-3241
SUNDAY MASSES:
1st & 4th Sundays: 9 & 11 a.m. SUNDAY MASS: SUNDAY MASS: SUNDAY MASS:
2nd, 3rd & 5th Sundays: 5:30 pm 12:00 Noon 9:00 a.m. 12 Noon
CASSETTE TAPE
The "ORTHODOX ROMAN CATHOLIC MOVEMENT, An Answer to the Crisis ''HO L DI N G FAST"'
in the Church"
By Fr . Francis E. Fenton $4.00 each Our ORCM brochure has proven one of our most
effective means for the presentation of the ORCM
BUMPER STICKERS story to preserve the traditional Roman Catholic
Standard size – red and blue lettering on white background – reads: religion.
"ORTHODOX ROMAN CATHOLIC MOVEMENT-
5 Copies: $ 1.00
Save the Traditional Mass"
100 Copies: $ 15.00
35 cents each – Minimum Order: 3/$1.00 1,000 Copies: $125.00
BLESSED BE GOD
Beautiful traditional prayer book; 748 pages; contains the Ordinary of the tradi- "IN DEFENSE OF THE FAITH"
tional Mass in Latin and English. "Imprimatur" o,f Francis Cardinal Spellman. The finest work available on the "New Mass". A
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Introduces strong arguments for returning to the
,. Traditional Latin Mass. Contains a wealth of infor-
mation and a treasury of inspiration . Will convince
TH E ESSENTIAL CATHOLIC CATECHISM
any skeptic.
Compact, traditional catechism limited to the "essentials" of our Faith. Based on
Price rate includes postage. 1 copy – $2.50; 5 –
the Catechism of the Council of Trent.
$2.20 ea.; 1 O – $2 .05 ea.; 25 – $1.90 ea.; 100 – $1.70 ea.
50 cents each – Minimum Order: 2/$1.00
Ord er From:
CT C BOO KS
Post Office Box 215, East Meadow, N.Y. 11554
– – – – – – — – – – – – – – –
– ORDER BLANK –
Oty. Amt.
HOLDING FAST $
CASSETTE TAPE SHIP TO:
ESSENTIAL CA TECH ISM
name
BLESSED BE GOD
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CURRENT NEWSLETTER
Total Enclosed $ city state zip
» Extra copies of this newsletter available. $1. 00 for each 10 copies ordered. «
All pri ces quoted include postage. Payment must accompany order. Mail to: ORCM, Inc. – P.O. Box 542 – Stratford, Conn. 06497