Fr. Cyprian’s Benedictine Monastery: heretical
and cult-like
What are your thoughts on the Benedictine
monastery of Fr. Cyprian in NM?
MHFM: Thank you for your
question. The monastery is basically a
SSPX monastery. Many of the brothers
study at the SSPX’s seminary in Winona, MN. They accept Benedict XVI as the Pope, and
they hold that Bishop Lefebvre (who believed that souls could be saved in any
religion) was a pillar of orthodoxy.
Bishop Marcel Lefebvre, Against the Heresies, p. 216: “Evidently, certain
distinctions must be made. Souls can
be saved in a religion other than the Catholic religion (Protestantism, Islam,
Buddhism, etc.), but not by this religion.”
Their positions
are unfortunately not of the true Faith, and the founder of their monastery,
Fr. Cyprian, is a heretic. Here is what
he wrote in his Autumn, 2005 newsletter:
Fr. Cyprian, newsletter, Autumn,
2005: “We celebrate the 100th
anniversary of the birth of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on November 29th
and thank God for giving us this great saint as our infallible guide,
especially in the firm establishment of this monastery.”
Fr. Cyprian says
that Bishop Lefebvre (a completely independent Bishop) was his “infallible guide”! This is cult-like. Not even a Pope is infallible in all he does,
but only when he invokes his Magisterial authority. But Fr. Cyprian says that Bishop Lefebvre was
an “infallible” guide! This is purely
heretical and arguably idolatrous.
Do they have many
externals at their monastery? Absolutely. Do they
give the appearance of
tremendous devotion to God and the monastic vocation? Yes.
Since so many “traditionalists” care only about externals, and don’t
really value the Faith, as soon as they
get a brochure from a group such as this – replete with pictures of the monks
engaged in holy activities – most of them are swept away. They immediately conclude that they must be
of God. Who cares what positions they
hold on such “unimportant things” as whether Benedict XVI is the Pope or
whether non-Catholics can be saved? Who
cares: “look at that neat monastic setup,
that orderly schedule, and those fine Benedictine
habits!” Bad willed people, who
don’t really care about the Faith of Jesus Christ, are swept away by
externals. That’s one reason why the
SSPX has amassed such a following. It’s
how the homosexual cult, the Society of St. John, was able to gain so much support
in such a short period of time: they appeared quite dedicated in their nice-looking
cassocks and beautiful-sounding Latin chanting, yet underneath it all was a
pack of unspeakable perverts. Now, of
course we’re not asserting that all who externally appear dedicated and
traditional are fraudulent. Rather,
we’re asserting that if an individual appears externally dedicated to the true
Faith but continues obstinately in positions not in line with it then he or she
is definitely fraudulent and insincere, now matter how dedicated he or she may
appear.
As we’ve tried to
point out repeatedly, and as is exemplified so clearly in the case of the
Society of St. John, appearances/externals are one thing and can be deceiving –
sincerity, true interior devotion and having the true Faith internally inhering
in one’s soul is another.
St. Alphonsus (+ c.
1760): “In the estimation of men, the
value of an act increases in proportion to the time spent in its performance;
but before God the value of an act
increases in proportion to the purity of intention with which it is performed. For, as the scripture says, men look only to
the external acts, while God regards the heart…” (The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, p. 597)
A while back we
posted a link about a convent of Novus Ordo nuns who
pray that Jews remain Jews. (http://www.beliefnet.com/story/16/story_1675_1.html)
Since they don’t want Jews to believe in Christ and the Catholic Faith,
but rather to remain Jews, these nuns are obviously apostates, on the road to
damnation and don’t have any Faith in Christ.
However, these nuns spend much of
their day in silence and their convent is unheated. They surely consider themselves dedicated
Catholics and perhaps extraordinary ascetics, yet they are complete rejecters
of God and headed for hell. This shows
us that without the true Faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6), no
matter how many other acts of religion, devotion and supererogation one thinks
one performs.
Some of the most
pernicious heretics in Church history deceived their victims by their externals
and apparent ascetism. Arius, for instance, was able to convince
many in this way. This is a key
point. One can busy himself many
activities, including religious ones; but if the intention is not pure (i.e.
for God and the salvation of souls), and the whole Catholic Faith is not present,
it’s worth nothing. One can even
spend many hours a day in prayer and religious work, but if, for instance, the
person thinks that John Paul II was a Catholic after seeing his apostasy then
his devotion is in vain; for he doesn’t truly believe in God. In that case, it’s just a bunch of phoniness
that makes a person feel elite and superior.
No matter how
much time and effort a man puts out, if he doesn’t hate evil, his effort
is worth nothing. If he cannot tell
people the full truth, no matter how much time he spends publishing, speaking,
traveling or working for matters Catholic, it’s all worth nothing. If he refuses to believe what God has
revealed because he just cannot accept it – for instance, that all who die as
non-Catholics are not saved – his effort is worth nothing. That’s precisely what we are taught in the
story of God’s rejection of Saul.
1 Kings 15:22-23: “And
Samuel said: Doth the Lord desire
holocausts and victims [i.e. sacrifices], and not rather that the voice of
the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices:
and to hearken rather than to offer the fat of rams. Because
it is like the sin of witchcraft to rebel: and like the crime of idolatry, to
refuse to obey. Forasmuch as thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord hath
also rejected thee from being king.”
This passage of scripture does not concern obedience to a reputed
authority in the Church; it concerns obedience to the Word of God – Faith in
His revealed word. And the chilling
admonition above in 1 Kings 15 was made by the prophet Samuel to King Saul, who
had offered sacrifice in direct violation of God’s word. Saul
had attempted to please God with his sacrifice, while he was simultaneously
contravening God’s spoken word. King
Saul’s sacrifice, therefore, was completely rejected by God and Saul himself
was cast off by the Lord.
What about the other monks under Fr. Cyprian? Are they heretics, too? It really depends upon whether or not they
have the same sentiments as Fr. Cyprian.
If they believe that Bishop Lefebvre, a completely independent Bishop,
is an “infallible” guide… if they believe that Lefebvre was right to teach that
souls can be saved in other religions after this is pointed out to them… if
they agree that it’s okay to reject the “canonizations” of the man they deem to
be Pope, as the SSPX does… if they believe that John Paul II was a Catholic after they have been informed of his
apostasy… then they are heretics just like Fr. Cyprian. I fear that many of them would obstinately
defend these things, especially Lefebvre’s heretical
teaching on salvation, even after it (and its clear contradiction of Catholic
dogma) was pointed out to them.
A horrible sign
was the fact that when the snake-worshipping, voodoo-blessing, Koran-kissing
apostate John Paul II died the “monks” of NM under Fr. Cyprian celebrated a
requiem Mass for him. They celebrated a
requiem for this man who rejected as meaningless Jesus Christ and the entire monastic
life. By such an action, they are
indicating that one can reject as meaningless the entire monastic life and
Jesus Christ Himself, as John Paul II did, and still make it to heaven. If they had any devotion to Christ they would
have a major problem celebrating a requiem Mass for the apostate John Paul
II. Those who were aware of John Paul II’s activities, and still didn’t have a problem with the
requiem Mass, are phonies.
Even those who
may not agree with Fr. Cyprian’s positions, which is probably few, are in the
grave peril of imbibing the schismatic and heretical positions of the SSPX as
long as they are surrounded by heretics in the monastery. This is obviously why no Catholic could
support or enter this monastery, which doesn’t espouse positions in line with
the true Catholic Faith. Unfortunately,
it espouses those which are heretical (souls can be saved in other religions),
schismatic (one can reject the hierarchy one recognizes as the Catholic
hierarchy) and hostile to true Faith in God (the independent Bishop Lefebvre
was “infallible”).
www.mostholyfamilymonastery.com