midst the many studies, cere-monies and events that take placeat the Seminary throughout the

academic year, the ordinations to thePriesthood and Diaconate stand apart. Thatculminating ceremony after final exams inJune marks Our Lord’s and His Church’sacceptance ofthe self-offer-ing of the newpriests and dea-cons. It is theday that theyhave had intheir mind’seye for six orseven years,meanwhile tak-ing each day asit comes, praying, working, studying. Forthe rest of the seminarians, it is a reminderof the vocation that is to be theirs if, by thegrace of God, they persevere. The priest isa man who must work for the honor ofGod in accordance with His grace, inde-pendent of natural and, sometimes, super-natural consolations.

In a sense, it does not matter what theweather is like or how many people are onStockton Hill to witness the event. Theordinations will take place independent ofany such variable factors. They have theirown intrinsic importance. Yet, after spend-ing a year or two at the Seminary, everyseminarian has had the pleasure of meetingsome of the faithful who have come toOrdinations and has heard stories of sacri-fices made in order to assist at the Mass ofOrdination – or even just to remain faithfulCatholics. There is no seminarian whowalks away from these conversations with-out being uplifted and inspired to persevere.

This year, VERBUM wanted to sharesome of those stories with its readers. TwoVERBUM reporters stole away from thepreparations on the day before the ceremo-ny in order to ask some of the faithful visit-ing the Seminary why they had come.

They first spotted a rather weary-look-ing gentleman who introduced himself asMr. Herb Hanson from New Jersey. When

asked about the trip to Winona, Mr. Hansonsaid, “We drove 1,247 miles in 27 hours …straight through with 11 people and no airconditioning. I’m tired, but we reallyhaven’t had any hitches this year. Twoyears ago our van broke down, then lastyear I nearly died after being bitten by a

brown recluse spider. Butthese little things are nothingcompared to what happensup here. We pray for priestsevery day, so we want tocome here to support thevocations we’re praying for.We don’t have daily Mass inNew Jersey, so I try to getmy five boys around priestsand seminarians as much aspossible. I want to cultivate

vocations in my boys.”Mr. Hanson’s desire for vocations in

his family was common among the faithfulvisiting at Ordinations. Mrs. CathyNienaber, from Kansas City, MO, has beencoming to Ordinations for the past eightyears and says, “One of the reasons wecome to Ordinations is because we hope toinspire vocationsin our children.”As Mr. BernardJanzen of Toronto,Canada, said,“With children’sculture deteriorat-ing, this is a goodplace for tradi-tional Catholics tomeet. Tradition islike an extendedfamily. We comehere to see eachother and let ourchildren see otherchildren who aregrowing up thesame way theyare.” Mrs. MaryMachado ofDickinson, TX,summarized this thought by saying that thetrip to the Ordinations ceremony, “con-tributes to the formation of children.”

An intrepid VERBUM reporter decidedto chance stepping onto the soccer fieldamidst flying soccer balls and children inorder to see what the younger crowdthought about the formation they were

receiving by visitingWinona. As mighthave been expected,they had little to sayabout this topic, butmuch to say aboutmeeting and makingfriends. When askedabout the long ceremo-ny, none seemed tomind. Peter Janzenfrom Toronto said,“My favorite part iswhen the priests liedown on the ground and offer themselvesto God.” Maximilian Barb also said heloved the ceremonies and did not even somuch mind the two day trip from PostFalls, ID: “I ate lots of crackers on the wayand tried to sleep.”

Even though the children on the soccerfield seemed to have much more energythan their parents sitting on its periphery,these adults were still feeling lively enoughto gather together in big, friendly groupsand catch up with each other – and speakto reporters. Mr. Mike Stafford said, “It’s agood retreat just being around otherTraditional Catholics who are living nor-mal, balanced lives. It was a 20 hour drivefrom Dickinson, TX, with no air condition-ing, but it was worth it.” Mr. Steve Daileyof Kansas City, MO, also pointed out thevalue of being around so many otherTraditional Catholics: “We’ve beencoming since 1991. It’s edifying tomeet other Catholics and hear thestories of the sacrifices they’ve madeto be here. Kids get to meet otherkids. We know of marriages thathave resulted from meeting here atOrdinations. And now that my son ishere as a seminarian, I’ve got evenone more reason to come.”

Like every other person that theVERBUM interviewed, Mr. Daileybrought up the primary reason whyall the faithful make the trip toWinona: “It’s the most beautifulthing on earth to see the Ordinationceremony. Words are inadequate todescribe it.” Mr. and Mrs. DavidPerry from Cincinnati, OH, said,“We came over from the NovusOrdo. After we witnessed the Ordinationsceremony for the first time, we realizedthis is the Faith. If you don’t have this, you

don’t have life.” Mrs.Cathy Senior ofRidgefield, CT, spokeof her gratitude fornew priests: “It’sbeautiful to see thatGod still has mercy onus. Without the sacra-ments, we can’t saveour souls.” Mr. andMrs. Thomas Lake ofFort Worth, TX, Fr.Asher’s own chapel,said, “When we drive

through the Seminary gates, we’re in acompletely different world. The graces thatare here are nowhere else to be found.”Mr. Lake had been in the hospital earlier inthe week, but said, “We had to see Fr.Asher’s ordination. I told the doctors, ‘Iam getting out of here today. I’ve got aplane to catch.’”

Their own spirits uplifted by the edi-fying words and example of theseCatholics and of so many others whosewords lack of space prevented fromappearing here, the seminarians returnedinto the Seminary to finish preparing forthe ceremony. Tomorrow, God would giveTradition one more priest and four moredeacons. It was little in the eyes of theworld, but large in the minds of God’s ser-vants. The dedication and sacrifice of thefaithful to be present was proof of it.

Ordination InvitationWhy Faithful Come to Winona for Ordinations

JULY, 2005

Winona, Minnesota, U.S.A.www.stas.org

ISSUE No. 97

Saint Thomas Aquinas SeminaryStockton Hill

The Perry family drove all the wayfrom Cincinnati, OH, arriving the

day prior to Ordinations.

A cheerful staff of volunteer ladies donatedtheir time to serve the hungry crowds at the

buffet tables after the completion of thefour-hour Ordinations ceremony.

Mrs. Mary Machadotells why she comesto Ordinations whileher sons fortify thetent for the night’s

forecasted rainstorm.

An energetic crowd of budding soccerprofessionals hurriedly gather aroundthe VERBUM interviewers, hoping to

get their faces on the front cover ofthe next issue. They got their wish.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lake, coordinatorsof the Society’s chapel in Ft. Worth, TX

here is nothing more reasonable thanto see the hand of God in all theevents of our daily lives. Although it

requires faith and confidence to recognize HisWill, veiled as it is amidst the activities of ourworld, one can always be certain that noprayer on earth ever goes unanswered –though the answer may reveal itself in waysnever imagined.

Growing up in Ft. Worth, Texas, theyoungest of seven children, Rev. Fr. ThomasAsher knew what he wanted out of life fromhis earliest childhood years: to be a militarypilot and serve his country. Throughout hisyouth, this dream never wavered. During highschool, he prayed his rosary every morning,asking God to make him a good soldier.

Determined to make his prayer a reality,Father plotted his course. Working part-timeto pay his way through college at theUniversity of Texas, he obtained hisBachelor’s degree in History in 1993. Withthis pre-requisite out of the way, Fatherimmediately registered to take the ASVAB –the Armed Services Vocational AptitudeBattery. Qualifying in the top one percentile,the recruiter assured him that he would haveno difficulty being selected for flight school.All that remained between Father and the ful-fillment of his lifelong goal was a physical.Father relates what happened next.

“After a six hour physical, right at theend, the doctor said, ‘Your heart sounds funny… we better run an EKG.’ After the test, he

said bluntly, ‘Oh, you’ve got atrial fibrillation– an irregular heartbeat. We don’t want you.’ Iwas stunned. I asked, ‘What if I just wanted tobe an ordinaryfoot-soldier?’‘We don’t wantyou at all.Sorry.’ I felt likeI had suddenlyrun into a brickwall. All theyears of carefulplanning that Ihad spent plot-ting the courseof my life weremade irrelevantin a few seconds.My whole worldwas blown outfrom under me.”

Dismayedby this unexpect-ed turn of events,Father workedhard to re-focushis life. Afterworking for fiveyears running flight simulators at the AirCombat School in Arlington, TX, Father left topursue a new career at a flight dispatch centerin Salt Lake City. The year before this move,while he was still in Texas, he had been intro-duced to his first Traditional Latin Mass.

“From the moment I started going tothe Traditional Mass, I immediatelybegan to ask myself if perhaps I had avocation.” At the suggestion of aSociety priest, Fr. Asher took aweek’s vacation and flew out to LosGatos, California, for an Ignatianretreat – five days of silence, prayerand recollection. By the end of theweek, Father left the retreat house,determined to put in his two-weeksnotice and enter the Seminary. On hisreturn, Father was greeted with shock-ing news: he was out of a job. Thecompany he was working for hadgone bankrupt. Fr. Asher remarks witha smile, “I guess God didn’t want meto change my mind.”

Father arrived at the Seminary in 1999, readyto serve God, but never imagining that he wouldactually stay. “I figured six weeks tops and they’dtell me, ‘You don’t have a vocation. You can gonow.’” Yet his entrance through the doors was thefirst step toward what would become an exhaustivepriestly formation. Six years later, Father affirmsthat his lifelong prayer has been answered after all,but in a way he had never imagined. On June 25,2005, God deigned to make Fr. Asher the soldierhe so ardently prayed to be – a soldier in the armyof God’s priests.

Although Father is eager to embark into thetrenches of the modern world, he says that he willmiss the Seminary, not only for the “full flower-ing of the liturgy” which it allows, but becausethe strict regularity of the schedule brings with ita peace and calm not found amidst the noise ofthe world.

For those considering a vocation, Fr. Asherinsisted that “God does not come to us in a bolt of

lightning, butslowly, as ifteaching a child.”He reminds youngpeople that “weare in a war – awar for souls. Andwe need men tostep up and fill thebreech. If you

Rev. Fr. Thomas Asher

Moments before being madea priest by the Bishop’s

imposition of hands,Fr. Asher listens to anadmonition from theChurch’s Pontifical.

(above) BishopAlfonso de Galaretta

emphasized in hisordination sermonthe importance of

the Society’smission: passing

on the true Catholicpriesthood of OurLord Jesus Christ.

With two newly ordained deacons at his left andhis spiritual director, Rev. Fr. Thierry Gaudray,

at his right, Rev. Fr. Asher celebrates a FirstMass in the ordinations tent.

or Rev. Mr. Raymond Taouk, com-pletion of Seminary studies coincidedwith ordination to the diaconate on

June 25th in Winona. A native of Sydney,Australia, Rev. Mr. Taouk spent the first threeyears of his seminary formation at theSociety’s Holy Cross Seminary in Goulburn, athree hour drive from his home town. In 2002,he made the transfer to St. Thomas AquinasSeminary on the other side of the globe, sinceat that time Holy Cross did not offer a full six-year program of studies. He is scheduled to beordained a priest at the Society’s Australianseminary in late December of this year alongwith three other deacons.

Born of Lebanese parents, the secondyoungest of five boys, Rev. Mr. Taouk wasraised in the Church’s Maronite rite, whoseliturgical and doctrinal innovations over thepast few decades resemble those of the Romanrite. In an effort to manifest and bolster hisfaith, Rev. Mr. Taouk used to gather weeklywith conservative high school friends for

recitation of the holy Rosary and studyof Sacred Scripture. It was during hisschool years that he began to study theSociety of St. Pius X, which he pre-sumed to be outside of the Church asmany misguided people were saying.Rev. Mr. Taouk’s orthodoxy inspired inhim a great loathing for the sin ofschism, and he wished to know moreabout the Society’s history and juridi-cal position in order to combat it. Theattempt to build a case against theSociety happily backfired, turning thecritic into a fervent supporter, and notlong after studying the matter heattended one of the Society’s Ignatianretreats. One year later he enrolled atHoly Cross Seminary. For some time,he had suspected that he might have avocation to the priesthood but was not

eager to enter the heterodox institutions spon-sored by the dioceses and religious institutes.The SSPX provided the solution for which hewas searching.

The three years spent in Winona to com-plete his formation have allowed Rev. Mr.Taouk to learn much about American historyand America’s influence on the rest of theworld. Of particular significance was the East

Coast Trip made by seminarians in the summerof 2003. He is also greatly looking forward tothe Seminary’s European trip this summer.Visiting, inperson, sitesof historicalimportancecomplementsthe learningone must nor-mally gainfrom a library,and suchopportunitiesare naturallyrarer forAmerican(andAustralian)seminariansthan for thosein Europe.After thesummer’s tripto Rome andFatima withthe upper-yearseminarians,he will returnto his nativeAustralia tobegin work-ing in a prioryduring thefew monthspreceding hisordination tothe priesthood.

Rev. Mr. Taouk is thankful for the gen-erosity and good will he has encountered inAmerica. In return, many of the faithful whohave come to know him appreciate his knowl-edge of the Faith and zeal in explaining anddefending it – seminarians certainly know andrespect these qualities in him.

Rev. Mr. Taouk is also grateful for all theprayers of the faithful whose intercession is socrucial in assuring vocations. With specialthanks for the protection of St. Anthony, Rev.Mr. Taouk bids Winona farewell, and we wishfor him an abundance of divine grace in hisfuture priestly apostolate.

think you might have a vocation, if you have the apti-tude, come and try it. It’s the only way to know forsure. Don’t be fooled by thinking that you should waitfor a voice from Heaven inviting you to the Seminary.”

When asked why there are so few vocationsamidst the growing number of Traditional Catholicfamilies, Fr. Asher replied, “Many families go to theTraditional Mass, but that’s where it stops. Little dis-tinguishes the Catholic home from the next-doorneighbor’s non-Catholic home. The television, themusic, the movies, the dress – it’s all the same. Ourfamilies need to realize that the spirit of the worlddestroys the most vital element of the priestly vocation– the spirit of sacrifice.”

The priests and seminarians will miss Fr. Asherfor his tenacity in getting jobs done and his commonsense. But all are confident that this newest soldier forthe Faith will be a worthy reinforce-ment to the army of priests fightingthe spiritual war waged between theangelic powers of light and darkness.

Rev. Mr. Raymond Taouk

(left) Rev. Mr. DominicMay exercises the officeof the diaconate for the

first time by singingthe Gospel of theOrdination Mass.

(below) The new priest’s handsare anointed with the Oil of

Catechumens and (right) boundwith the manutergium.

The four subdeacons kneelwith candles while the Bishop

inquires of the faithfulpresent if they know of anycircumstances that would

impede these men from beingordained to the diaconate.

his past Easter break, then deaconRev. Mr. Thomas Asher andBrother Marcel had the chance to

be guided by Seminary professor Rev. Fr.Juan Carlos Iscara in a short study trip toGreece and Rome. Their stop in Greece pro-vided ample artistic inspiration – especiallyfor Br. Marcel, the Seminary’s resident artistand sculptor, whose own works not onlydecorate the Seminary, but can also be foundin many Society chapels in the U.S. andCanada. He remarked that the Greek art andarchitecture provided a “chance to studyfirsthand the style that forms the foundationof the great Catholic works of art that onecan see in Rome.” For his part, Rev. Mr.Asher especially appreciated the opportunity

to stand in the Areopagus,where St. Paul preached(Acts, XVII, 19-34) and totravel the same roads thatthe Apostle traveled toCorinth – “the general lay-out of these places is stillvery much the same.”

Shortly before their depar-ture for Rome, the travelersheard that Pope John Paul IIhad died. After reciting theprayers for the dead, theybegan to realize the historicalimportance of the events theywere about to witness – alongwith several million other fel-low-travelers converging on the EternalCity.

The highlight of the Rome visit cameon Tuesday, April 5th, when, after a longwait, Rev. Mr. Asher and Br. Marcel foundthemselves in front row spots for thePope’s funeral procession. Both remarkedthat the procession itself was dignified andreverent with the prayers for the deadchanted in Latin. They were, however, sad-dened by the general demeanor of thecrowds present. Rev. Mr. Asher commentedthat when the Pope’s body was brieflyexposed to the crowd at the top of the stepsof St. Peter’s, “people started cheering likeit was a rock concert. There were a fewpeople in the crowd praying the Rosary orthe prayers for the dead, but for the mostpart, people were acting like they were at afestival.” Br. Marcel said that he thoughtthat the “procession was as splendid as theNovus Ordo could make it, considering allthe beautiful liturgical customs that havebeen discarded. But the faithful present justdid not understand what they were seeingand hearing, nor how to respond.”

After four more days in Rome, enjoy-ing the hospitality of the Society’s prioryin Albano, just south of the city, our travel-ers made their way back to the Seminary.

Though severely jetlagged, they were soonbusy sharing stories and experiences fromtheir journey with eager seminarians …and VERBUM reporters.

his year’s early Easter seasonmade it one of the rare years inwhich seminarians were at the

Seminary during the Major Litanies onApril 25 and the Minor Litanies (which fellon May 2nd, 3rd and 4th this year), other-wise referred to as the Rogation Days. As

the Church’s liturgy is at the heart of theSeminary’s existence, seminarians had theopportunity to celebrate the Litanies withproper solemnity in the ceremonies pre-scribed by Holy Mother Church. To theeight days of High Masses celebrated dur-ing Ascension Week were added the fourRogation Day processions illustrating theSeminary’s union with the intentions ofHoly Mother Church.

The history of the Rogation Days(from the Latin “rogare,” “to ask”) can betraced to the French region around the cityof Vienne in the second half of the fifthcentury. The people of the district, underthe instruction of St. Mamertus, bishop ofthe city, viewed their recent conquest bythe Burgundians and numerous othercalamities that they were suffering as indi-cations of God’s anger. As if in confirma-tion, their city burned to the ground in 469.St. Mamertus selected the three daysimmediately prior to the Ascension as aperiod of public reparation in order to askGod to restore His mercy.

The reparation took the form ofpenance and prayers chanted in proces-sions. These days of petition soon becamea custom in all of France, and by 511, theCouncil of Orléans hadeven drawn up fast andabstinence regulations,giving to these days anofficial stamp of liturgi-

cal recognition. They soon spread to therest of the Western Church.

The Rogation Days processions in thetime of St. Caesarius of Arles would lastup to six hours. Dom Gueranger remarks(with a healthy dose of irony) that “thefaithful of those days had not made the dis-

covery, which wasreserved for mod-ern times, that onerequisite for reli-gious processionsis that they be asshort as possible.”And it was notbecause shoes werescarce that theywalked barefoot.

As there is nostrict necessity thatthese processionsarrive at a field(contrary to a com-mon mispercep-tion), they maymost certainly bedone in a city. All

that is necessary is that the faithful “passfrom place to place” and return for Mass tothe same church from which they set out.The purpose of the Rogation Days is topublicly acknowledge our dependence

upon Almighty Godand to beseech Hismercy for our sins andthe sins of society,thus hopefully appeas-ing His anger andaverting chastisement.It is true that a second-ary purpose is to calldown His blessing onthe fruits of the land,but the reparatoryaspect is primary.Should any faithful not be able to take partin a procession for the Major and MinorLitanies, a way of joining themselves tothe liturgy of the Church would be to saythe Litany of the Saints with the intentionof making reparation for sins on theRogation Days.

So, for the first time in several years,the seminarians left the chapel at 6:30 on

four rather chilly mornings singing theLitany of the Saints in procession and stop-ping to bless some of the surroundingfields. Although St. Caesarius would prob-ably have taken offense at the brevity ofthe procession and the fact that all whotook part in it were wearing shoes, hewould perhaps have been inclined toclemency by the seminarians’ intentions of

uniting themselves to the liturgy ofall time in order to ask God’smercy for themselves and a worldthat seems intent on offending Himin every way possible.

Seminarians Celebrate the Rogation DaysSeminarians Celebrate the Rogation Days

Greece, Rome and a Papal Funeral

Setting out from the Seminary at 6:30 in the morning,seminarians chant the Litany of Saints, begging God’s

mercy and acknowledging His absolute dominion.

Seminarians line the field tobe blessed in the midst of the

Rogation Day procession.

The Litany pauses, while Rev.Fr. James Peek blesses the field,praying for an abundant harvest.

Hundreds of thousands wait in line for achance to see the Pope lying in state.

The statue of St. Peterlooks down on a noticeboard with the funeral

information.

A journalist takes down Rev. Mr. Asher’sthoughts on the Pope’s death.

One of the manyRoman bells tollsfor the death ofJohn Paul II.