Letter from Broadstairs July 2026

LETTER FROM BROADSTAIRS July 2026

Nova et Vetera

Rome and Ecône Further to the Ecône episcopal consecrations of 1st July 2026 and the ensuing ‘sanctions’ declared by Modern Rome, several brief observations may be appropriate:

• Archbishop Lefebvre said after the consecrations of 1988 that if he were to consecrate again he would not ask permission from Rome because the
  Church authorities have gone too far in their departure from Catholic Teaching…
• The Society’s imploring Leo XIV to grant permission for these most recent consecrations displays a very different appreciation of the depth of the
  crisis in the Church…
• The Superior General’s Letter to the Pope of 3rd July 2026 declares its unwavering determination to be at the service of the Sovereign Pontiff, as if he were truly Catholic…

Broadstairs initiative Meanwhile, in Broadstairs we have just installed a modest library, having acquired a decent collection of books from one of the deceased faithful. This is providential given that several young men are now requesting to follow a year of clerical studies here in Regina Martyrum House. So we shall begin an experimental first year based upon the original programme for the Year of Spirituality as drawn up by Archbishop Lefebvre. The core subjects will be Ascetic and Mystical theology, Acts of the Magisterium, Liturgy and Latin and Sacred Scripture.

Prayers are requested for this modest but important initiative.

Father Faber and Hell Amongst the spiritual authors in our library, Fr Frederick Faber (1814-1863), composer of the hymn Faith of Our Fathers, is himself ranked highly. His nine books include Spiritual Conferences, Growth in Holiness, The Creator and the Creature, and Lives of Modern Saints.

In his work All for Jesus Fr Faber discusses whether it is better to pray for the conversion of sinners or to pray for the souls in Purgatory. As a prelude to the debate he dwells upon the salutary thought of Hell: ‘There is one place where God’s glory seems frustrated, one place from which there arises neither plaint of prayer, nor joy of praise, nor blessing of thanks, nor aspiration of desire. It is the house of those who have had their trial and lost their cause, and with it have lost God forever.’ ‘Yet it is of faith that God’s harvest of glory out of the unutterable gloom isimmense, for the lost soul is as much an unwilling worship of His justice as the converted soul is a willing worship of His love.’ ‘Neither is that horrible place without a most blessed result on the salvation of many souls, through the holy and salutary fear which it breeds in them and the loose and low notions of God which it corrects in the unthinking.’ ‘Verily it is well for our own sakes to think sometimes of that horrid place! As truly as fair France lies across the Channel, [and seen on a good day from Broadstairs], as truly as the sun is is shining on the white walls and handsome bridges and bright gardens and many-storied palaces of its beautiful capital, as truly as that thousands of men and women are living real lives and fulfilling various destinies, so truly is there such a place as Hell, all alive this hour with the multitudinous life of countless agonies and innumerable gradations of despair.’ ‘It is not impossible that we may go there too. It is not impossible that we have sent some there already.’ ‘But what if more than all this be true? What if there was once a day when we should have gone thither had we died?’ ‘And how long should we persevere in serving God if we were certified there was no Hell? Should we have left our sins if it had not been for Hell?’ ‘Let no one ever turn away from the sight of Hell, lest little by little and by very little, a good opinion of himself should grow up within his soul and send him to that drear banishment at last. Indeed it is good, it is very good, to think of Hell, and of that kind wonder that we are not already there this hour.’ ‘Enough for us that there is such a place, and that at this hour it is full of souls, and that more and more are ever streaming into it, and there is not one of us who is not running a risk or of whom it is not possible that that place may be his heritage and portion forever. They who serve Jesus out of love do not on that account forget these things. Nay, they remember them the more, because they love so much.’

O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of Hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those who have most need of Thy mercy.