THE GUILD OF ST. PETER AD VINCULA

A MESSAGE FOR THE 7TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

On Thursday of this week, we celebrate the Feast of St. Peter ad Vincula, or as it is more commonly called in this country, St. Peter-in-Chains.  It’s a strange name that refers to an event in the life of the chief of the apostles and first pope, St. Peter, when the evil King Herod imprisoned Peter with a view to executing him on the upcoming holiday.  But an angel appeared to St. Peter as he waited for death in his dungeon cell.  The angel broke St. Peter’s chains asunder and led him past the guards, out of the prison and back on to the streets of the city, a free man once more.

The idea of St. Peter being chained up in a dark prison cell is a grim foreshadowing of our Church today.  The Church, founded on the rock of Peter, is now itself in chains, locked in the vice of modernism.  The new conciliar Church is our prison, and the supposed successors of St. Peter have become the prison guards of the true Church instead of her defenders and our leaders.  We must rely once again on the intervention of God and his angels to lead us out of that prison which is the Conciliar Church, so that we can once again be free to worship and believe according to the way our Saviour taught us.

For these reasons, we chose the title of St. Peter ad Vincula for our society of priests and faithful.  For our motto we took the words Tibi Claves—“Thine are the keys”, words spoken by our Lord to St. Peter: “I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”  We can use those same keys today to unlock the shackles of so many Catholics, unchaining them from their mistaken loyalty to a corrupted institution, and freeing them to be true Catholics once again.

Those of you who would like more information about our Guild of St. Peter ad Vincula are invited to our website at gspav.org. Here you will learn what we stand for, why we place so much emphasis on the liturgy, what we hope to do in the future, and how we pray daily for the restoration of our Church.  For “not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”  It is the objective of the Guild to make God’s will our own, not merely sitting back and wishing for better things to come, but actively working towards such a future.

If we produce “evil fruit” then you may judge the Guild as a “corrupt tree”.  But if our fruit is good, know that “a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit.” Make your judgment, and join us, if you will, in our battle against the false prophets.