Fr. Francis Geremia’s Letter 2010

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,
(signature)
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,
(signature)
Fr. Francis Geremia, cs