Author Topic: Br Marcel - Dr White 50th Birthday Card (Read 6114 times)

Matthew · « **on:** February 18, 2025, 08:25:56 PM »

This is a classic -- even better if you know some of the priests pictured. I have a couple other cards I'll be uploading to a different thread.
https://www.cathinfo.com/sspx-resistance-news/br-marcel-cards-artwork/

Even if you don't know anybody -- at least look at the 4th picture. It really hits hard now.

This also hits home for me personally, since "getting a 50th birthday card" will be me in less than 2 years.

AMDGJMJ · « **Reply #1 on:** February 19, 2025, 05:29:00 AM »

These are amazing! Thank you for sharing!

Matthew · « **Reply #2 on:** February 19, 2025, 10:34:46 AM »

There are so many details Br. Marcel put in, that only seminarians would get.

For example, in the 3rd image, Fr. Goettler is pushing books from the left -- classes he taught at the Seminary -- and Fr. Gaudray is pushing a couple books from the right -- the classes HE taught. And incidentally, those drawings look EXACTLY like those 2 priests.

Ladislaus · « **Reply #3 on:** February 19, 2025, 12:01:14 PM »

Quote from: Matthew on February 19, 2025, 10:34:46 AM

There are so many details Br. Marcel put in, that only seminarians would get.

For example, in the 3rd image, Fr. Goettler is pushing books from the left -- classes he taught at the Seminary -- and Fr. Gaudray is pushing a couple books from the right -- the classes HE taught. And incidentally, those drawings look EXACTLY like those 2 priests.

Yeah, this is great stuff. Thanks for posting these. Brother Marcel had amazing artistic ability, as you mentioned, well beyond this art form ... where I think he could produce frame-quality religious art and church-quality statuary.

In the Fr. Goettler one there's a little extra joke there, if my eyes don't deceive me ... with "Apologetics A" and "Apologetics B". Father G used to deliver his class lecture in the form of outline, where he's say. "Big A, 1, Little A ... Big A, 1, Little B" etc. One of the most memorable things I recall from the class was when he introduced us to the notion of "primitive revelation", probably the second-most impactful thing I learned (in general) after Bishop Williamson's explanation of the trend toward subjectivity since the "Renaissance". It was a paradigm-altering realization, where with the evolution mindset we've always just assumed and presumed constant "progress of man", which when worked backwards suggests that the ancient peoples were idiots who communicated in grunts and groans barely beyond the level of apes. I realized then that it was actually the other way around. Perhaps, then, then next most impactful subject in general after those two was the Logic class ... though I had already taken very decent logic classes at Loyola University (one of the few classes that was good, since it's hard to butcher logic, fallacies, etc.)

Twice dyed · « **Reply #4 on:** February 19, 2025, 12:18:53 PM »

Engaging cartoons/ cards.Love them. Who remembers the name of that homeless man that +W looked after. In the 50 th card, bottom left, with a huge helmet/ tiara?? He was a bit in Ridgefield, then Winona. I forget his name...to say that he was "a character", would be an understatement.

How about Mrs.John**n, who wore pants, and bossed all the seminarians, in 1988? Poor +W., he would preach everywhere against women wearing pants, but in Winona, SHE, not H.E., mostly wore the pants!!!

Matthew · « **Reply #5 on:** February 19, 2025, 12:39:10 PM »

Quote from: Twice dyed on February 19, 2025, 12:18:53 PM

Engaging cartoons/ cards.Love them. Who remembers the name of that homeless man that +W looked after. In the 50 th card, bottom left, with a huge helmet/ tiara?? He was a bit in Ridgefield, then Winona. I forget his name...to say that he was "a character", would be an understatement.

I never met the man in question, but I heard stories about him. The Brothers were the "lore masters" since they persisted, while seminarians only had 6-7 years at the seminary max, and then they left to become priests (if they didn't leave earlier!)

It sounded like this man was a bit mental as well, going by the stories. I remember he actually died during my time at the seminary, he was in some non-Catholic setting like a group home, a Jєωιѕн something or other, I can't remember. I don't remember if the news came by word of mouth and/or it was in the Winona newspaper. It wasn't exactly a feel-good, storybook ending.

I was told the Bp. W kept him around as a constant reminder of how messed up the Modern World is, and the collateral damage it causes. Perhaps also to "test" the seminarians' virtue, to see if they have the minimal patience to deal with crazy people, the poor, etc. Because a priest will have to deal with that!

Imagine a bad seminarian/priest, only seeking the priesthood for the leisure/luxury/power/respect/comforts. Imagine how dealing with a homeless man would drive him insane. The bishop was quite wise!

I've dealt with a lot of similar things, and I'm just a chapel coordinator. I remember years back a man showed up in a Franciscan habit. He had hitchhiked to get here. I think he was seeking a "valid" priest or something -- apparently in his life quest, he had yet to find one. He left the way he came, on foot. I kept the whole interaction civil; we parted "on good terms". But he was a weirdo to be sure. This was in the earliest days of the Resistance, probably during 2013.

Ladislaus · « **Reply #6 on:** February 19, 2025, 12:44:56 PM »

I knew him quite well ... but his name escapes me at the moment. I liked the guy, but for some reason many seminarians did not, and I couldn't figure out why ... other than a general detestation of the homeless that many "conservative" types seem to have. He did in fact work around the grounds and helped out cheerfully.

So I recall the one chef they hired, and this man was a culinary genius. I told him all the time how great his food was, and he would always ask me what I wanted and would comply because he appreciated the compliments. He could take the food bank garbage and turn it into gourmet meals somehow. Unfortunately, he was let go because some seminarians accused him of stealing from their rooms, and it turned out he had been busted before, evidently having an issue with kleptomania. After we heard the news, several of us petitioned that we would offer to stage some money near the kitchen (out of our own pockets) just to satisfy his urges, just so we could keep him there.

Ladislaus · « **Reply #7 on:** February 19, 2025, 12:45:43 PM »

Quote from: Twice dyed on February 19, 2025, 12:18:53 PM

How about Mrs.John**n, who wore pants, and bossed all the seminarians, in 1988? Poor +W., he would preach everywhere against women wearing pants, but in Winona, SHE, not H.E., mostly wore the pants!!!

Yeah, not sure why they put up with her, other than that she was a good organizer.

Ladislaus · « **Reply #8 on:** February 19, 2025, 12:53:02 PM »

Quote from: Matthew on February 19, 2025, 12:39:10 PM

I was told the Bp. W kept him around as a constant reminder of how messed up the Modern World is, and the collateral damage it causes. Perhaps also to "test" the seminarians' virtue, to see if they have the minimal patience to deal with crazy people, the poor, etc. Because a priest will have to deal with that!

Imagine a bad seminarian/priest, only seeking the priesthood for the leisure/luxury/power/respect/comforts. Imagine how dealing with a homeless man would drive him insane. The bishop was quite wise!

That part I did not know, and it does show Bishop Williamson's wisdom, because I can tell you right now that many of the seminarians during my time there would have failed the test. It's actually an ingenious method to discern true vocations, those who are in it because they have a genuine love for souls vs. those who just want to have people walking around bowing their heads to them in reverence while calling them Father, when otherwise they would have had a hard time being promoted to shift leader at a McDonald's.

Nevertheless, it may also have been just cover for Bishop Williamson, because people don't realize how much genuine natural compassion he did have, where he did in fact very much care for the poor man. It's also why he probably took in that one priest in England who had been accused of various predatory crimes, because he genuinely had compassion for the sinner. That one article on OnePeterFive pointed out how, while he was a lion from the pulpit, he was a lamb in the confesssional. But if you didn't know His Excellency except from his fiery sermons and talks, you might be afraid to go to Confession to him. I was rather intimidated myself the one and only time I ever went to him (generally the rector was not supposed to deal with seminarian internal forum), but the experience was altogether different than I had expected, in a good way.

At the same, time, though, as I said, it's an ingenious test, brilliant on the part of His Excellency.

OABrownson1876 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 19, 2025, 01:14:18 PM »

Quote from: Twice dyed on February 19, 2025, 12:18:53 PM

Engaging cartoons/ cards.Love them. Who remembers the name of that homeless man that +W looked after. In the 50 th card, bottom left, with a huge helmet/ tiara?? He was a bit in Ridgefield, then Winona. I forget his name...to say that he was "a character", would be an understatement.

How about Mrs.John**n, who wore pants, and bossed all the seminarians, in 1988? Poor +W., he would preach everywhere against women wearing pants, but in Winona, SHE, not H.E., mostly wore the pants!!!

If I recall the homeless man was named J.P. His claim to fame, one year he accidentally walked in the bathroom and Archbishop Lefebvre was taking a dump. J.P. never brushed his teeth and would eat like a horse. I am just curious if Bp. Williamson knew J.P. from his Ridgefield, Connecticut, days.

I remember the cook, Scott (always had a plethora of beer cans in the back of his white Toyota truck), told me that when he was in culinary arts school there was a woman using an industrial mixer. Her hair was down in a pony tail one day, and is got caught up in the mixer; she snapped her neck instantly.

Matthew · « **Reply #10 on:** February 19, 2025, 01:26:28 PM »

Quote from: Ladislaus on February 19, 2025, 12:44:56 PM

I knew him quite well ... but his name escapes me at the moment. I liked the guy, but for some reason many seminarians did not, and I couldn't figure out why ... other than a general detestation of the homeless that many "conservative" types seem to have. He did in fact work around the grounds and helped out cheerfully.

So I recall the one chef they hired, and this man was a culinary genius. I told him all the time how great his food was, and he would always ask me what I wanted and would comply because he appreciated the compliments. He could take the food bank garbage and turn it into gourmet meals somehow. Unfortunately, he was let go because some seminarians accused him of stealing from their rooms, and it turned out he had been busted before, evidently having an issue with kleptomania. After we heard the news, several of us petitioned that we would offer to stage some money near the kitchen (out of our own pockets) just to satisfy his urges, just so we could keep him there.

We must be talking about different cooks here. Scott, a Lutheran and a culinary master, used to run a tight ship in the Seminary kitchen when I was there 2000 - 2003. He was a hunter and would kill a deer, dress it on the counter in the seminary kitchen, and serve it up in gourmet fashion. I was in admiration of his down to earth skills. Everyone looked forward to his meals. His days off (Tuesday and Friday) the kitchen was staffed by Br. Gerard. God bless him, but he wasn't 1/10th the cook Scott was. He would mostly reheat stuff and make very basic fare. When it was time for liver, etc. he was the one who cooked and served it up.

I'm pretty sure he was there for years after I left, too. I certainly didn't hear the slightest rumor, during my 3 1/2 years, of any theft coming from him.

Imagine walking through the seminary kitchen and seeing a dead deer spread across the counter (the one near the window, near the metal shelving where the pots were kept). As you left the back room dining area, with the pantry on your left, you enter the Seminary kitchen. There is only one counter on your left. That's where I remember the deer carcass.

I also remember during hunting season, when he had wrapped up his work for the day (on Sunday) and he was heading home, he would drive by the seminarians outside (in the midst of Sunday afternoon recreation) and he'd blow this turkey call he had. Like I said, he was an avid hunter. He would have loved the joke, "What did Indians call vegetarians? Bad hunters."

Matthew · « **Reply #11 on:** February 19, 2025, 01:33:35 PM »

Quote from: Ladislaus on February 19, 2025, 12:45:43 PM

Yeah, not sure why they put up with her, other than that she was a good organizer.

I'm glad Mrs. Mehren was there during my stay. She was also a good organizer, but properly feminine and matronly. She was a plump middle-aged Germanic woman, a perfect mother figure for the Seminary. Come to think of it, she had the office and organizational skills typical for women of Germanic descent. I know several such women today; they make excellent secretaries, organizers, assistants. Again Bp Williamson knew what he was doing. He would never have hired anyone any kind of young or attractive to be in the office of an all-male religious house like a seminary.

Ladislaus · « **Reply #12 on:** February 19, 2025, 01:51:14 PM »

Quote from: Matthew on February 19, 2025, 01:26:28 PM

We must be talking about different cooks here. Scott, a Lutheran and a culinary master, used to run a tight ship in the Seminary kitchen when I was there 2000 - 2003. He was a hunter and would kill a deer, dress it on the counter in the seminary kitchen, and serve it up in gourmet fashion. I was in admiration of his down to earth skills. Everyone looked forward to his meals. His days off (Tuesday and Friday) the kitchen was staffed by Br. Gerard. God bless him, but he wasn't 1/10th the cook Scott was. He would mostly reheat stuff and make very basic fare. When it was time for liver, etc. he was the one who cooked and served it up.

I'm pretty sure he was there for years after I left, too. I certainly didn't hear the slightest rumor, during my 3 1/2 years, of any theft coming from him.

Imagine walking through the seminary kitchen and seeing a dead deer spread across the counter (the one near the window, near the metal shelving where the pots were kept). As you left the back room dining area, with the pantry on your left, you enter the Seminary kitchen. There is only one counter on your left. That's where I remember the deer carcass.

I also remember during hunting season, when he had wrapped up his work for the day (on Sunday) and he was heading home, he would drive by the seminarians outside (in the midst of Sunday afternoon recreation) and he'd blow this turkey call he had. Like I said, he was an avid hunter. He would have loved the joke, "What did Indians call vegetarians? Bad hunters."

So, I was there from about 1989 - 1992, and this guy was let go just a year or two after I had left there for good (I was told about it by my brother who was there another year or two after I had left).

Ladislaus · « **Reply #13 on:** February 19, 2025, 01:56:37 PM »

Quote from: OABrownson1876 on February 19, 2025, 01:14:18 PM

If I recall the homeless man was named J.P. His claim to fame, one year he accidentally walked in the bathroom and Archbishop Lefebvre was taking a dump. J.P. never brushed his teeth and would eat like a horse. I am just curious if Bp. Williamson knew J.P. from his Ridgefield, Connecticut, days.

I remember the cook, Scott (always had a plethora of beer cans in the back of his white Toyota truck), told me that when he was in culinary arts school there was a woman using an industrial mixer. Her hair was down in a pony tail one day, and is got caught up in the mixer; she snapped her neck instantly.

Ah, yes, JP. Great recall there. I do believe he had come with His Excellency from Ridgefield.

Twice dyed · « **Reply #14 on:** February 19, 2025, 02:36:51 PM »

Quote from: Matthew on February 19, 2025, 01:26:28 PM

We must be talking about different cooks here. ... He would have loved the joke, "What did Indians call vegetarians? Bad hunters."

I really liked J.P. RIP. as we were about the same age...In 1988-89 the cook's name was Greg , his last name is written on this soup can photo attached.(I would never want to break Gooogle terms LOL )

One day we were facing each other slicing apples, when one rolled away on the counter. We both went to catch it out of reflex, but unfortunately I stabbed him in the wrist with my knife. YIKES! I am so sorry. No blood, just shock. He went home for 2 days, and good ole Seminary had just received insurance coverage that very same day!, which is what I call a " mini miracle".
God is good!

How about the time the alcoholic seminarian from England was in the wine cellar sampling dah stuff when he stepped on a mouse trap, barefooted, (he didn't want to make any noise at 1:00 a.m.), but screamed in pain nevertheless. He 'whined' all right.! The Argentinian priest was himself in the kitchen just above, so that was the talk for a couple of days. This had the entire community smiling. Hilarious♡

Author Topic: Br Marcel - Dr White 50th Birthday Card (Read 6114 times)

Matthew

Br Marcel - Dr White 50th Birthday Card

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