May 12, 2000

Dear Dave Imhoff & Mike Niklas,

My new e-mail address is FrVYOFM@aol.com. I hope this suffices to take me off the 'bad' list. Do I have to write some rules for being on this bad list?

In the latest FAA bulletin, mention was made of the camp prior to Camp Crownjoy was Camp VINCLERE, named after Fr. Vincent Kroger who was magister clericorum at the time for the clerical candidates to the order. It too was located in the Howell area. It was last used as 'camp' in 1952, the year our class graduated from DSC.

In regard to my "crush" on Granny in the Beverly Hillbillies, the main reason for the crush was she frequently used the word "victuals," pronounced vittles. I saw the word "victuals" as an example of an English word coming from the fourth principal part of the verb vivo, to live. Remember: vivo, vivere, vixi, victum. After all, if you eat the right victuals, you will live longer! Isn't it something that one's "sex" scandals can haunt you the rest of your life! ! !

I doubt if my current schedule and occupation will allow me to join in any FAA activities in the near future. But if any FAA members are ever in the area, be sure to stop in. Zeke (David) Ziska stopped in last year for a visit.

With fond memories,

Fr. Valentine Young, OFM 
SAINT JOHN VIANNEY LATIN MASS COMMUNITY
Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter 
PO Box 98 - 208 Sunset Lane
Maple Hill, KS 66507


Father Valentine also sent the following newsletter article and a couple of recent photos:

News from the Maple Hill, Kansas Area

by Rev. Fr. Valentine Young, OFM
Chaplain, St. John Mary Vianney Latin Mass Community

Since last writing for the Fraternity newsletter (May 1999), several developments have taken place with the St. John Mary Vianney Latin Mass Community. In October 1999, the Parish Council of St. Stanislaus Church in Rossville, Kansas, decided to let us rent the basement of their church for Our Lady of Compassion School. All agree that this is a big improvement over conducting the classes in different private homes. Numerically we are still a tiny mustard seed with twelve full-time and seven part-time students. For a variety of reasons most of our families prefer to home-school.

Judy Keyes teaches the lower grades, and Frank May teaches the upper grades. In addition to teaching religion to the upper grades, I teach Latin every day to the eighth graders as well as to the seven part-time students who take advantage of these classes. Even the students in the primary grades are being introduced to Latin by praying the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Gloria Patri, and Sign of the Cross at the beginning of each school day. Shortly after Thanksgiving, all the students began to learn how to sing Christmas carols in Latin-sixteen different songs in all! Currently they are singing many familiar folk songs in Latin, such as "Clementine," "On Top of Old Smokey," "Grandfather's Clock," and "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy."

This past year, our choir in Topeka began singing the complete Gregorian melodies for the Propers for the Sunday high Mass at St. Joseph Church in Topeka. Five young men give of their time to do this each week. I try to encourage them by telling them that the "first year is always the hardest." We also have high Masses at the church in Rossville on two Sundays each month and sometimes during the week as well. It is mainly in a sung setting that the beauty of the traditional Mass is manifest.