Are the Servi Jesu et Mariae traditionalists?

This question has been put more than once. It must be admitted that many 'traditionalists' don't consider the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus and Mary, the Servi Jesu et Mariae, to be a traditionalist Congregation. Since they celebrate the Sacraments using the régime of 1969 as well as that of 1962, there is some room for doubt whether they fall into the pidgeon-hole of traditionalism.

The effect of Summorum Pontificum upon the question is also debatable. Is traditionalism now a broader sub-set of the Church since the Holy Father has called for a mutual enrichment between the Missals:

"For that matter, the two Forms of the usage of the Roman Rite can be mutually enriching: new Saints and some of the new Prefaces can and should be inserted in the old Missal. The "Ecclesia Dei" Commission, in contact with various bodies devoted to the usus antiquior, will study the practical possibilities in this regard. The celebration of the Mass according to the Missal of Paul VI will be able to demonstrate, more powerfully than has been the case hitherto, the sacrality which attracts many people to the former usage. The most sure guarantee that the Missal of Paul VI can unite parish communities and be loved by them consists in its being celebrated with great reverence in harmony with the liturgical directives. This will bring out the spiritual richness and the theological depth of this Missal." - Benedict XVI, Letter to Bishops accompanying Summorum Pontificum

On the other hand, since the Liturgical Regime of 1962 is firmly placed within the mainstream of the Church, can exclusivist and exclusionary traditionalism continue?

At any rate, the appearance of the guitar in this video from gloria.tv will hardly conciliate the traditionalist sensibility on the question, especially if 'fiddleback' vestments start to be called 'guitarfronts' instead:

However, what can be said of the Servi Jesu et Mariae, and it is no small boast, is that their purpose is the restoration of traditional religious life in the Ignatian mold, doing so by means of the Traditional Liturgy. The founder and first Superior General, Father Hönisch, entered the German Province of the Society of Jesus in 1952. In 1976, while still a member of the Society, he founded the KPE, the Catholic Scouts of Europe, to counter what was happening to Catholic youth ministry at the time. His solidly Catholic teaching and youth work brought him into conflict with his superiors, which led to his expulsion from the Society of Jesus and his incardination into the Diocese of Augsburg.

While a Priest of the Diocese of Augsburg, he was approached by several members of the KPE who asked him to found a Society that might permit them to persue their vocation that had been formed through the KPE. Fr. Hönisch was said to be extremely reluctant to establish an entirely new Society and attempted to encourage them to join existing Congregations. Eventually, he bowed to the zeal of his spiritual children and, in 1988, established the Servi Jesu et Mariae, along the lines that he had learned while a member of the Society of Jesus. His wish, it has been reported, was that, once the situation in the Church and the Society had settled, that the the Servi Jesu et Mariae could be absorbed into the restored Society, an admirable and generous spirit of gratitude to the Society of his formation and ordination.

Are the Servi Jesu et Mariae traditionalists? Does it matter? Is there salvation outside the strict lines of traditionalism? The answer is probably best found in the souls of those who find there vocation among those who set out to be Servants of Jesus and Mary.

Servi Jesu et Mariae

Servi Jesu et Mariae (Servants of Jesus and Mary) is a Congregation of Papal Right, established in 1994. Seeing their apostolic task as being totally available for service to young people, the focal point of their work is apostolic work in the Scout Movement and group work in the Catholic Scout Movement of Europe (Katholische Pfadfinderschaft Europas - KPE).

All members of SJM make three vows: poverty, chastity and obedience, in order to bind themselves ever closer to Christ in the service for His church. According to the model of the Jesuit Order, the community does not have common prayer in choir, therefore it becomes even more important for each individual member to have a deep inner life of prayer, at whose centre there is the Eucharist, and which is seen in a frequent adoration of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. The Congregation celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass according to both the novus ordo missae and the 1962 Missal of Bl. Pope John XXIII. Currently the Congregation has about 50 members, of which about 25 are priests.

SJM is based in Blindenmarkt, Austria, but is active not only in German-speaking areas, but also in Kazakhstan, Albania, Rumania, Ukraine and in France. The Congregation also runs the "Haus Assen" boarding school in Germany.

For more information, contact:

• Servi Jesu et Mariae - SJM
  (Diener Jesu und Mariens)
  Auhof 22
  A - 3372 Blindenmarkt
  Österreich / Austria
  Tel. (0043)-7473-2094
  Fax (0043)-7473-2094-100
  web: www.sjm-congregation.org/english/english.htm