Found this notice in the bulletin this morning:

(Can't get to copy/paste, so transcribing, but see attached docuмent for original)


"Traditional Masss by SSPX Priest At Cathedral Of St. Paul - Fri., Oct. 18th
On Friday, October 18th at 11:30AM, Fr. James Trummer of the SSPX priory in Long Prairie, MN
has been granted permission to offer the Tridentine Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul, MN.
The Masss will be offered at the old Sacred Heart altar at the Cathedral.  Due to logistics, Fr. Trummer
needs a count of faithful who will attend and receive Holy Communion.Please email Fr. Trummer at 
j.trummer@fsspx.email by Wednesday, October 16 if you will attend and receive Holy Communion."


Brief commentary:

20 years ago, this news would have been received with the same joy as a conquering army converting a mosque to the true faith, and many years ago we used to rejoice at entering St. Peter's and saying the true Mass (usually without permission) in this same spirit: Entering hostile territory and inserting the true Mass and the true faith in a church made for it.

The same will be said of this latest Mass announcement at the beautiful St. Paul Cathedral, of course.  But the context says quite another spirit animates these continuous diocesan-SSPX gestures (and particularly here in St. Paul).

Prior to new the new priest being assigned here in August, Fr. Daniel Dailey (previous pastor), who had been seen wandering the same cathedral more than once, had collaborated with the Archdiocese to secure the diocesan retreat house for a women's retreat this past summer, rather than hosting the retreat in Winona, as had been done so many times before (amidst simultaneous humorous announcements from SSPX.org that on the one hand it was not appropriate to disturb the brother's novitiate in Winona with a retreat (in a seminary building 75% empty), yet it apparently was not thought disruptive to have hundreds of campers stay on sight to celebrate the 70 year anniversary of the seminary building).

Add to that the talent show being hosted at the Lutheran high school, and Fr. Dailey's predecessor telling me he was dreaming of securing permission to say Mass at the Cathedral, and it seems that some repoir has been established between the Archdiocese over the years, and this latest permission the result of the branded SSPX's refusal to any longer condemn modernism and the modernists.

Of course, the faithful refuse to acknowledge the different situation (which is certainly not as Bishop Fellay says - That Rome wants Tradition to spread in the Church, and is therefore extending these privileges and permissions, but that because the SSPX has stopped its war against modernism, the conciliarists desire to encourage and reward that treachery).  And so I heard men wondering whether they would be able to get time off work to attend the Mass in the Cathedral, and exclaim, "isn't that something!?"

But in reality, it is not a conquering SSPX which enters the Cathedral as a conquering Militia Christi declaring victory for Tradition, but a defeated army telegraphing Rome that it has surrendered, and hoping to get the best deal it can and make the best of it.