Cornerstone & bells blessed at new Virginia seminary

On April 20th, in Buckingham County, Virginia, over 300 faithful as well as numerous priests and seminarians attended a defining step in the construction of the future St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary.

With the Blue Ridge Mountains as the backdrop and a blue sky overhead, Bishop Bernard Fellay presided over the various ceremonies: the blessing of the cornerstone and cloister bells, then a Pontifical Mass, followed by a conference concerning the new project and current affairs in the SSPX.

After a catered lunch provided for the attendees, Mr. Philippe Paccard gave a presentation on the bells which his company crafted for the new seminary building. The day’s events concluded with guided tours through the construction site, giving all those present a tangible look at its progress.

read more at newseminaryproject.org >

Photos courtesy of Tim Bryan, Alexander Wiseman and Fr. Jurgen Wegner.

The seminary's cornerstone

A model of how the new seminary will appear


Construction of the seminary's foundations have progressed rapidly!

The seminary's bells (next to the cornerstone erected
on the easel situated to the left) decorated and ready to be blessed

Procession to bless the cornerstone and bells

The bronze bells are blessed first with holy water then incense
And (as seen below on the left) finally anointed with sacred chrism

The bells were then ceremoniously rung for the first time as sacramentals

Procession for the Pontifical Solemn Mass

Bishop Fellay greets some of the younger attendees

Seminary rector (middle), Fr. Yves Le Roux, gives Bishop Fellay the tour

Inspecting the construction site

Fr. Arnaud Rostand,
USA District Superior


Bishop Fellay gives a conference about the new seminary project and the SSPX's current situation


Mr. Paccard, owner of the bell foundry, gives a presentation showing how the bronze bells were cast