At the end of August, the Canons and affiliate priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest gathered at the Motherhouse and International Seminary of St. Philip Neri for the annual general Chapter. As secular Canons, the priests of the Institute attend this yearly meeting in order to maintain the all-important link between the Motherhouse and the Houses of the Institute throughout the world. 

Fostering a strong unity of mind and purpose, this annual Chapter emphasizes for the members of the Institute the fundamental importance of the unity of grace and nature inherent in the Divine Liturgy and in the Holy Priesthood by centering the priestly interior life on the Holy Eucharist and the Sacred Heart. The Chapter is above all the opportunity for the Canons to pray the Liturgy together as a spiritual family.

The Chapter began with the Veni Creator Spiritus chant invoking the Holy Ghost and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament. In addition to the celebration of private Low Mass, the Canons assisted at Solemn High Mass each day and chanted daily Vespers and Compline. 

Each priestly member of the Institute reaffirmed his commitment to live the Constitutions of the Institute, which define the spiritual identity which is proper to it as a community. The Canons are to chant several canonical Hours together each day along with the clerical oblate brothers and to conform to the spirit and teaching of their holy patrons, St. Francis de Sales, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Benedict. 

The Chapter meeting this year was graced with the presence of the Most Reverend Luciano Giovannetti, Bishop Emeritus of Fiesole, a neighboring Diocese. His Excellency offered Pontifical Mass on the Feast of the Decollation of St. John the Baptist. In his sermon Bishop Giovannetti emphasized that the priest must become a living testimony to the Faith in our times as St. John the Baptist was for his.

Another distinguished visitor, Very Reverend Father Luc-Thomas Somme, OP, Rector of the Catholic Institute of Toulouse, France, offered two insightful theological reflections on the subjects of Sacrifice and of the Priesthood in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, patron saint of the Institute.   

Led by the Prior General of the Institute, Monsignor Gilles Wach, the consecration of the Institute to the Sacred, Royal, and Priestly Heart of Jesus was renewed in the Chapel of the Sisters Adorers convent, located a few miles from the seminary, in the presence of all the Canons and of the Sisters Adorers.  

On Friday, August 30, the Chapter concluded with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and the chant of the Te Deum in thanksgiving for so many graces received during these days of prayer, meetings, and fraternity. 

The Chapter is also a spiritual family reunion which offers the occasion for the members of the worldwide Institute to maintain friendships with one another, as they revisit the seminary in which they all received their priestly formation. 

Please remember the 70 Canons of the Institute, as well as the priests who are affiliate members, in your daily prayers as they labor to bring the Reign of Christ the King to our world of today!