July 3, 2010
First Saturday
Dear Friends of the MMP,
I was very surprised when Fr. Gobbi called me from Brazil earlier this year and
told me that Fr. Roux had resigned as National Director for the United States.
It is a great loss for the MMP, and we pray that he will get some much needed
rest. Fr. Roux has asked me to greet all of you and to express his gratitude and
appreciation for all of your support over the years. On behalf of Fr. Gobbi, the
staff in St. Francis, and all of the MMP members, I thank him for his many years
of devoted service.
Below is the English translation of the announcement that Fr. Gobbi made during
the international clergy cenacle retreat:
Collevalenza - June 29, 2010
Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
To all the members of the Marian Movement of Priests in the United States of
America:
Dear brothers and sisters,
I have accepted the resignation of Fr. Albert Roux as National Director of the
Marian Movement of Priests in the United States, effective February 8, 2010. As
founder and sole person in charge of the Marian Movement of Priests throughout
the world, I have made the following decisions:
- I, Fr. Stefano Gobbi, will myself assume the directorship of the Marian
Movement of Priests in the United States.
- I have decided that the National Headquarters of the Marian Movement of
Priests for the United States will remain in Saint Francis, Maine, where it has
been since the beginning.
- I confirm Tammy Ouellette as National Secretary of the MMP for the United
States, who for many years has carried out this work very well.
- I appoint as my personal representative the Rev. Father Francis Geremia,
National Director of the MMP in Canada, to whom I give the full authority to
represent me as National Director also for the United States, with all of the
rights and duties inherent to this new appointment.
I invite all of you to a humble and docile acceptance of my meditated decisions,
and I bless you in the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Your little brother,
Don Stefano Gobbi
* * *
Since 1977 I have known that the Blessed Mother truly speaks to us through Fr.
Gobbi. This is why, in obedience, I now accept to take over the beautiful and
well-organized work that Fr. Roux has done for our Heavenly Mother and for the
MMP in the USA during the past 35 years. The groundwork that he has laid, and
the assistance of the office staff in St. Francis, will make my role much
easier.
I was in residence at the National Headquarters in St. Francis from January 1995
to January 1998, and spent those three years traveling to conduct cenacles
throughout the United States and Canada. I am sure that I met many of you. I
still remember the enthusiasm that you had on the occasion of
our cenacles. The Blessed Mother must have been very happy. Thank you.
The MMP is still strong everywhere in the world. The messages of the Blessed
Mother have been translated in all languages – even in Russian, Arabic and
Chinese. At the retreat in Collevalenza, Italy, each year we have over 300
Priests and about 25 Bishops coming from close to 50 countries. Fr. Gobbi wants
many priests from the United States to attend next year’s retreat (June 2011);
therefore, we are prepared to sponsor the airfare for any who will need
financial assistance.
Fr. Gobbi is eighty years old and is still traveling. The Blessed Mother
performed a great miracle through him in 2008. He conducted cenacles for the
whole month of October in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda
while traveling with the pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Those countries
were at war for fifteen years. From the first cenacle, he promised that if they
consecrated their countries to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, there would be
peace. Because of this promise that was broadcast on the national news, more
than three million people came to the different cenacles that were conducted in
open fields. Even some members of Parliament participated at the cenacles. Two
months later, all three countries signed a peace agreement.
I have been four times to mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. In China
I met 360 seminarians in several major seminaries, and about 165 Priests and 7
underground Bishops. I was able to conduct cenacles in every place that I went,
and I found the book of the messages well known everywhere. They were very happy
to hear that Fr. Gobbi sent me to them. I met true martyrs of the faith who were
sustained by the messages of our Heavenly Mother. I cannot give you more
details, because Christians are still persecuted there.
Please read the messages of Our Mother. In all these years, through the cenacles
and by reading her messages, I have always felt her presence in my priestly
life. She led me by the hand through many difficult times. In fact, it is
because of her that I kept all my fervor as a priest.
I urge all of you to help the work of the Blessed Mother by multiplying your
cenacles. We live in very difficult times, and her messages will help you to
feel the real presence of a loving and caring mother who knows every detail of
your life. About the Marian Movement of Priests, she said:
“It is my great work of love because, by means of it, I offer to all the help
which the Heavenly Mother gives you to surmount the unspeakable sufferings of
these last times. The help which I offer you, with my Marian Movement of
Priests, is my Immaculate Heart. My Immaculate Heart is the precious garden
which encloses within it all the love which your Heavenly Mother has for her
children. You must all enter into my Immaculate Heart, so that you may feel the
force and the tenderness of my maternal love. Through your consecration to my
Immaculate Heart, you enter into the safe refuge, which the Heavenly Mother has
built for you in the painful hours of the great tribulation.” (#562 c-d).
Presently I am the pastor of a parish in Montreal. Although I need to be there
until my Scalabrinian superiors release me from this work, I will remain in
close contact with the headquarters and visit St. Francis on a regular basis.
For several years, even Fr. Roux guided the MMP from Lewiston, Maine. Nowadays
it is easy to communicate via email. If you need to discuss personal or
important matters with me, I ask that you send me your questions and concerns by
regular mail. You can obtain my mailing address from Tammy. In your letter,
please provide a telephone number and email address.
Next year, I hope to be able to conduct some regional cenacles in the U.S. As an
American citizen, it is easy for me to cross the border. Please contact the
Headquarters if you are interested in hosting one of these cenacles. The current
cenacle schedules will be made available on our website. Later we plan to post
the texts of the conferences that Fr. Gobbi asked me to give to the priests at
the retreats in Collevalenza.
We will continue mailing Fr. Gobbi’s letter in March. Because of the cost of
printing and postage, we can send only one letter per year unless there is an
urgent need. We thank all of you for your necessary financial support throughout
all these years. Our Blessed Mother will reward you!
The 2010 Cenacle-Retreat in Niagara Falls will be led by myself, Fr. Charles
Becker, and Fr. Andy Goodwin. It is for both priests and laity from the United
States and Canada. Please make your reservation!
Place: Mt. Carmel Spiritual Center, 7021 Stanley Ave., Niagara Falls, ON Canada
L2G 7B7
Date: Monday, Dec. 6 (begins with supper) – Friday, Dec. 10 (ends after
breakfast)
Price: $400.00 CAD – includes 4 nights lodging and 11 meals.
Registration deadline: Nov. 25, 2010
Contact for reservations: Suzanne Keays Tel. 905-735-4164
This work of the Blessed Mother depends on your prayers and on the sufferings
that we offer for her intentions. I humbly ask for your prayers as I undertake
this new mission.
Most sincerely in Jesus and Mary,
Fr. Francis Geremia, cs
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