The three Great Gifts of God

...Is it not true that we today are in a certain sense in captivity, restraint surrounding us on all sides, imposed on us by those who bow to error both in the world and inside the Church itself? By those who juggle with the truth and who keep truth hidden instead of proclaiming it; We are in a world enslaved by the Devil, enslaved by error.
But it is our wish to hold to truth. We want to con¬tinue to proclaim it. What then, is this truth? Do we have a monopoly on it? Are we so presumptuous as to say we have the truth, others do not? No, truth does not belong to us. It does not come from us, it was not invented by us. This truth was transmitted to us, it was given us. It is written. It is living in the Church and in the whole history of the Church. This truth is known. It is in the books, in the catechisms, in all the acts of the councils, in all the acts of the sovereign pontiffs. It is in our Creed, in our Ten Commandments, in the gifts that God has made to us, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments. It is not we who invented this truth. We have only to persevere in it.
Because truth has an eternal character. The truth we profess is God, Our Lord Jesus Christ who is God and God does not change. God remains immutable. It was St. Paul who said, vicissitudinis obumbratio. There is not a shadow of vicissitude in Him, not the shadow of changeability. God is unalterable, semper idem, always the same. Certainly He is the source of every¬thing that changes but He, Himself, is unalterable, unchangeable. And by the fact that we profess God as truth we will enter in some way into eternity through truth. We have no right to change that truth. Indeed it cannot be changed. It will never change.
Men have been put on earth to receive a little of that light of eternity as it descends on them. They become in some way eternal, they too, immortal, according to the extent to which they attached themselves to the things that change, to moving things, they move away from God. And here it is that we feel a need. All men feel this need. They have in them an immortal soul which is al¬ready now in eternity, a soul which will be happy or unhappy, but it is a soul that exists. It will not die.
Every man who is born, who has a soul has entered into eternity. That is why we have need of eternal things, of the true eternity which is God. We cannot do without it. It is part of our lives. It is what is most es¬sential to us. That is why men seek the truth, seek the eternal, because they have an essential need of eternity.
And what are the means by which Our Lord has given us eternity, communicated it to us, made eternity enter into our lives even here below? Often when I was going through the African countries on my diocesan visits I chose a them that was dear to me and very simple, too. You have heard it many times but for the simple people I spoke to it summed up the truth. Ask¬ing what are the gifts the Good God has given us which make us participants of the divine life, life eternal, I would answer: there are three great gifts which God has made us and they are the Pope, the Blessed Virgin and the Eucharistic Sacrifice.


THE PAPACY
In reality it is an extraordinary gift that God has made us in giving us the Pope, in giving us the suc¬cessors of Peter, giving us precisely this perpetuity in truth communicated to us through the successors of Peter, that must be communicated to us through them. And it seems inconceivable that a successor of Peter could fail in any way to transmit the truth that he is obliged to transmit. Indeed, without virtually disappearing from the line of succession he cannot fail to communicate that which the popes have always communicated, the Deposit of Faith which does not belong to him alone.
The Deposit of Faith does not belong to the Pope. It is the treasure of truth which has been taught during twenty centuries. He must transmit it faithfully and exactly to all those under him who are charged in turn to communicate the truth of the Gospel. He is not free.
But should it happen because of mysterious circum¬stances which we cannot understand, which baffle our imagination, which go beyond our conception, if it should happen that a pope, he who is seated on the throne of Peter, comes to obscure in some way the truth which it is his duty to transmit or if he does not transmit it faithfully or allows error to darken truth or hide it in any way, then we must pray to God with all our hearts, with all our soul, that light continues to be thrown on that which he is charged to transmit.
NEVER CAN THE TRINITY BE CHANGED.
NEVER CAN THE REDEMPTIVE WORK OF CHRIST THROUGH THE CROSS AND THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS BE CHANGED!
THESE THINGS ARE ETERNAL.
THEY BELONG TO GOD.
And we cannot follow error, change truth, just be¬cause the one who is charged with transmitting it is weak and allows error to spread around him. We don’t want the darkness to encroach on us. We want to live in the light of truth. We remain faithful to that which has been taught for two thousand years. That what has been taught for 2,000 years and which is part of eter¬nity could change is inconceivable.
Because it is eternity which has been taught to us. It is the eternal God, Jesus Christ eternal God, and everything which is centered on God is centered on eternity. Never can the Trinity be changed. Never can the redemptive work of Christ through the Cross and the Sacrifice of the Mass be changed. These things are eternal. They belong to God. How can someone here below change those things? Who is the priest who feels he has the right to change those things, to modify them? Impossible!
When we possess the past we possess the present and we possess the future. Because it is impossible, I say metaphysically impossible, to separate the past from the present and future. Impossible! Then God would no longer be God! God would no longer be eternal! God would no longer be immutable. And there would be nothing more to believe in. We would be completely in error.
This is why, without worrying about all that is happening around us in these times we ought to close our eyes to the horror of this drama we are living through, close our eyes and affirm our Creed, our Ten Commandments, meditate on the Sermon on the Mount which is also our law. We must attach ourselves to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to the Sacraments awaiting the light that will shine around us again. That is all. We must do this without becoming bitter or vio¬lent in a spirit that is unfaithful to Our Lord. Let us stay charitable. Let us pray, suffer, accept all the trials, everything that happens, everything that God sends us. Let us do as Tobias did. Abandoned by everyone as they went to adore the golden calf of the gods of the pagans, he remained faithful. Still, he too could have thought that, since only he remained faithful it might be that he was mistaken. But no, he knew that whatever God had taught to his forebears could not change. The truth of God existed and could not change. And so it is with us. We too have to rely upon the truth that is God yesterday, today and tomorrow. Jesus Christus heri, hodie et in secula.
And that is why I say we must retain our confi¬dence in the papacy. We must retain confidence in the successor of Peter in so far as he is the successor of Peter. But if it should happen that he were not perfectly faithful in his duties, then we must remain faithful to those who were the successors of Peter and not to him who is not the successor of Peter. That is all. His duty is to transmit the Deposit of the Faith.




THE BLESSED VIRGIN
The second gift is that of the Blessed Virgin Mary. She has never changed. Is it possible to imagine that the Blessed Virgin Mary could change in her atti¬tude to the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, her divine Son, toward the Sacrifice of the Cross, toward the work of redemption? Is it possible to imagine that the Blessed Virgin Mary could change one iota of her faith, that she could have had doubts at some period of her life, that she could have thought herself mistaken? That she could have doubted the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, doubted the Blessed Trinity, she who was filled with the Holy Ghost? Impossible! Inconceivable!
Here below she was already in eternity. The Blessed Virgin Mary, through her faith, an unchangeable, pro¬found faith, could not be disturbed in any way. That is evident. Do not let us be disturbed by the noises around us but keep faithful, faithful like the Blessed Virgin Mary. And I want to add to this subject of the Blessed Virgin Mary something which seems to me to be impor¬tant for us at this time in which we live. Continuously we are told the Virgin says this or says that. The Virgin has appeared here, the Virgin has communicated this message to that person. Of course, we do not rule out the possibility that a word of the Blessed Virgin could be addressed to persons of her choice. That is evident. But considering the kind of period we are living through we must be suspicious. We must mistrust.
SHE IS PRESENT AT EVERY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS.
SHE CANNOT SEPARATE HERSELF FROM THE CROSS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
OUR DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN OUGHT TO BE PROFOUND, PERFECT.
The place of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the theology of the Church is, in my estimation, infinitely sufficient to make us love her above everyone after Our Lord Jesus Christ and that we should have toward her a de¬votion which is profound and continuous day after day. It is not necessary that we have constant recourse to messages about which we cannot be absolutely certain whether they come from the Blessed Virgin or not. I am not speaking of the apparitions which have been recognized by the Church. But we must be very careful when it comes to rumors that circulate everywhere to¬day. All the time I am receiving people or communi¬cations which are said to be addressed to me from the Blessed Virgin or from Our Lord a message to be ad¬dressed to me from the Blessed Virgin or from Our Lord a message received here, another there. Whereas in fact we should hope the Blessed Virgin is with us every day.
And she is. We know that. She is with us. She is present at every Sacrifice of the Mass. She cannot sepa¬rate herself from the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our devotion to the Blessed Virgin ought to be pro¬found, perfect. But it ought not have to depend on private messages.




THE EUCHARISTIC SACRIFICE

GOD, Jesus Christ, has given us Himself in the Eucharist. What more beautiful thing could He do? I often say to the seminarians: if the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X has a particular spirituality¬ - and I do not really want it to have one although I do not criticize the founders of Orders like St. Ignatius, Sts. Dominic and Vincent de Paul whom I know wanted to give particular characters to their societies, characters without doubt willed by Providence at the moment they were founded I think that if there is a particular mark to our Society it is devotion to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
How our spirits, our hearts, our bodies are as if captivated by the great mystery of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass! And it is in proportion to how we deepen our understanding of the great mystery of the Sacrifice of the Mass that we understand the priesthood, the gran¬deur of the priesthood. Because it is intimately, I say metaphysically, bound up with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And this is of the greatest importance in these times.
We have need of this, my dear friends. You have need of being captured by this spirituality of the Mass. Not only the priests but also our religious, our brothers, our nuns, and all of the laity, all of you faithful here present. We must have for the Sacrifice of the Mass a devotion greater than ever before because it is the very foundation stone of our faith.
THE SEMINARY REMAINS A CATHOLIC SEMINARY. AND IF GOD GIVES ME LIFE THE SEMINARY WILL NOT CHANGE!
I WOULD DIE RATHER THAN CHANGE ANY PART OF THE CATHOLIC DOCTRINE WHICH MUST BE TAUGHT IN THE SEMINARY.
I hardly dare cite for you an example, something that happened in Chile during the three days I spent there. Still, because the idea occurs to me, I will indeed tell you if only to show the point of degradation the concept of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has reached in the minds of some of the highest members of the hier¬archy. During my stay in Chile a concelebration was televised. It was presided over by the Auxiliary Bishop of Santiago. I myself did not see the screening but it was described to me by many people who saw it. There were some 15 or 20 priests concelebrating with him. During the ceremony the Auxiliary Bishop explained to the faithful, that is, everyone who was looking at the television, that this was a meal and he saw no reason why one should not smoke during a meal. And he him¬self smoked during that concelebration!
That is how far things have reached! This is the sad state of degradation, of sacrilege a bishop can attain. It is unheard of, inconceivable! Penance must be done for years in reparation for such offenses, for such unimagi¬nable scandal! It serves to show how far one can go when one no longer believes.
We must be attached to the Sacrifice of the Mass as to the apple of our eye; as we are attached to that which is dearest to us, that which is the most respected, the most holy, the most sacred, the most divine. That is the meaning of this Seminary.
They may criticize the Seminary in any way they like. And they do. The Seminary is this way, that way. They have decided this about it, that about it. But in fact they decide nothing, change nothing. The Seminary stays as it is. It continues to be what it is be¬cause that was why it was founded. The Seminary re¬mains a Catholic seminary. And if God gives me life the Seminary will not change. I would die rather than change any part of the Catholic doctrine which must be taught in the Seminary. With the grace of God, come what may, we will not change. So let them say what they will. Let them say that the Seminary has a new di¬rection, the Seminary is this way or that. It is the Devil who says such things in order to destroy the Seminary. Obviously he cannot tolerate Catholic priests who have the faith.
And then, one cannot avoid speaking about it, all around us here and there in every country but particu¬larly in France, there are divisions among those who are trying to hold to the faith, a mixture of calumny, slan¬der, exaggerated words, foolish expressions, unjustified suppositions. Let us ignore it all. Let us instead work well, doing the will of God according to the teachings of the Catholic Church, continuing like our prede¬cessors and our ancestors, doing what the Council of Trent asked of us, bishops, who must continue the formation which has always been given to priests. If we do this we will be certain we are remaining faithful.
That is enough. Let us remain calm. Let us remain faithful. And if it should ever come to be that the faith is not taught here, then leave me. If, my dear semi¬narians, I do not teach you Catholic truth, then leave! Do not stay here. That is your duty. But if I teach the Catholic Faith and you have the whole library at your disposal to find out whether or not what was handed to us is being handed down to you then, be confident. And we will do everything so that the Catholic Faith continues to be taught here, taught in its entirety so that you can, you too, carry on that truth that is so full of grace and life. Truth is the source of life. We have need of that life. The faithful are hungry for it. Why is it we have requests for priests from all sides? Because the faithful are thirsty for truth, thirsty for the grace of God, for the supernatural life, thirsty for that eternity toward which we are heading.
Therefore, have confidence in doing what the Church has always done - not confidence in Msgr. Lefebvre. I am a poor man like the others. I have no pretention to be better than others. On the contrary, I do not know why God has permitted me to have 30 years in the episcopate. I think that if I were to judge things on the human plane I would have pre¬ferred to remain a missionary in the jungles of Gabon; in isolation I would not have had all the problems I have had in my 30 years in the episcopate. But God has wanted it this way. He continues to try us. Very well, if that is His will so it must be and we must con¬tinue to carry the cross. It is not because He imposes crosses that we may abandon Him. On the contrary, we may not abandon Our Lord. We must follow Him.
And so, my dear friends, be faithful faithful to the Pope, successor of Peter when he shows himself to be truly the successor of Peter. Because that is what a pope is and it is in this sense we have need of him. We are not the people who want to break with the author¬ity of the Church, with the successor of Peter. But neither are we people who want to break with twenty centuries of tradition in the Church, with twenty cen¬turies of successors of Peter!
We have made our choice. We have chosen to be obedient in the real sense, obedient to what all the Popes have taught for 20 centuries and we cannot imagine that he who sits on Peter’s throne does not want to teach these things. Well, if that is the case then God will judge him. But we cannot go into error because there is a kind of rupture in the chain of the successors of Peter. We want to remain faithful to the successors of Peter who transmitted to us the Deposit of the Faith. It is in this sense that we are faithful to the Catholic Church, that we remain within it and can never go into schism. Since we are attached to twenty centuries of Faith we cannot make a schism. That is what guaran¬tees for us the past, the present and the future. It is impossible to separate the past from the present and the future. Sustaining ourselves with the past we are sure of the present and the future.
So have confidence! Ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to help us under all circumstances. She is as strong as an army arrayed for battle. She who suffered as Queen of Martyrs at the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And will we not follow Our Blessed Mother and with her be ready to suffer martyrdom so that the work of redemption can continue?

September 18 1978

Extracts from the 1980 Ordination Sermon at Econe continued

...It is not a question of changing, of going either to the right or to the left; we wish to remain the Church and we wish to remain what we have always been since the beginning of the Society, because we have no other motive than to keep the Church going; and thus we have always thought that one day, when God wills it, when He decides, then we will go back into the official Church, since they have put us out of an official Church which is not the real Church, an official Church which has been infested with Modernism ; and so we believed in the duty of disobedience, if indeed it was disobedience! To obey, but to obey the immemorial Church, to obey all the Popes, to obey the whole Catholic Church. So we thought it our duty to disobey those cardinals who asked us to adopt, in part, Modernist errors, because we did not want to poison our souls and our hearts with the errors which have been condemned by our holy patron, Saint Pius X, and we remain faithful to the anti-Modernist Oath—the oath which Saint Pius X requires us to take. We remain faithful to that. They will receive us with the oath in our hands, or we will remain what we are. And we are convinced, we hope, we pray for this, and perhaps, my dear brethren, things will soon work out. This goal which seems impossible—to be taken as we are, with what we are doing, with what we are accomplishing, with our Faith—this seems almost impossible. But God can do the impossible, and we are more hopeful than ever, we are perhaps closer than ever to being recognized officially in Holy Church, as the Society of Saint Pius X, with all that we are, all that we think, all that we believe, all that we do.

And so, by the same token, all those who, like us, have defended the same Faith, the same Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the same sacraments, will come with us, will be accepted by us. There is no doubt about it. So we must pray today, in a very special way, for this intention, because you can imagine what we would be, how many we would be here, if we were not persecuted by certain members of the Church. Not five or six thousand, but twenty thousand, fifty thousand would profit by the graces that God gives us, that the Church gives to us, whereas now they are dying of Christ, perishing, losing the Faith, abandoned. We must think of all these souls and hope these unjust persecutions against us may cease.



... What a joy! Nothing is more beautiful than the priest distributing Holy Communion, nothing is greater, more sublime, nothing richer in virtues, in gifts, in graces. The faithful expect this from you.

I CLOSE, MY DEAR FRIENDS, with a few words to you who are about to be ordained priests, and to you I say, "Keep your faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ." Everything depends on Our Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing exists without Our Lord Jesus Christ, nothing in the material world, nothing in the supernatural world. Without Jesus there is nothing. Jesus is the Creator of all things, Jesus is the Redeemer of all souls. Without Him, there is no hope. Without Him, there is no being, no possible existence. So what is Our Lord Jesus Christ? What are the essentials that you have studied in your theology? Jesus Christ is Savior; Jesus Christ is Priest; Jesus Christ is King. These are the three essential attributes of Our Lord Jesus Christ by the very fact of His hypostatic union, i.e., His union with God Himself in One Person.

So these three attributes: Savior-Redeemer, Priest and King, where are they made concrete? Where do we live them? Where do we grasp them? In Holy Mass. In Holy Mass, Our Lord Jesus Christ is Redeemer. Who can deny that? The sacrifice of the Cross is His Redemption, the Redemption of Our Lord. Thus in offering your Holy Sacrifice of the Mass you contribute to the Redemption of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Redemption which Our Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished.

Priest. But where is He more priest than in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass? He is the Priest, you are only His ministers, you act only in the person of Christ, Who is the true Priest; thus your Sacrifice of the Mass is still Our Lord Jesus Christ in one of His essential attributes. And finally, King. "God reigned from the Cross." Our Lord reigned from the wood of the Cross; that is His throne, that is His crown. There He has conquered the world, and there He has a right to His Kingship. So it is also in he Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that His Kingship shines forth irresistibly; we must all submit to Him and revere, adore and thank Him as King.
And so—Redeemer, Priest and King—this is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; all the days of your lives you will discover Our Lord in His essential attributes, and you will share in them.

Poor creatures that we are! To share in the essential attributes of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to share in His Redemption, to share in His priesthood, to share in His kingship—what a responsibility! What a responsibility to all His faithful people! What a profound joy for you! With what humility and what joy you should perform the sacred mysteries! You should also bring your people to share in these attributes of Our Lord, by Holy Communion, by giving Jesus Christ Himself in the Eucharist. What a joy! Nothing is more beautiful than the priest distributing Holy Communion, nothing is greater, more sublime, nothing richer in virtues, in gifts, in graces. The faithful expect this of you.

Therefore, be faithful, my dear friends, be faithful to all you have been taught here at Ecône. It is only the echo of what the Church has always taught. Remain close to your seminary, remain close to what has made you a priest, remain close to the Society of Saint Pius X ;in this way you will be truly priests and through you Holy Church will go on, while waiting for your reward from the hands of your Mother in heaven, the Mother of the Priesthood, who has been by your side, here at Ecône, every day.

Oh, how touched we are, every evening, when we see you kneeling before the Blessed Virgin Mary before taking your rest; you say some prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, commending yourselves to her, asking her to sustain you, asking her to help you to become holy priests. And now, here you are ready to be sent out, ready to go, as Our Lord said, "Go forth, preach the Gospel." That is what you will do, and all our prayers today will go with you, the prayer of your parents, your friends, and all those who love you and who are united with you here below and in heaven.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Apologia pro Marcel- Lefebve part III Michael Davies

Pope St Pius X - pray for us

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For the seminarians of SSPX
Program of the year of spirituality

….Without this spiritual training, as Archbishop Lefebvre explained, “we would risk making the seminary a place for purely intellectual studies. We would train heads but not always hearts…hearts which are made to grow in sanctity and to live an interior life of intense union with Our Lord”.

A Special course the acts of the Magisterium

…Archbishop Lefebvre himself taught this subject as he explained:

The aim of this course is not so much to make a logical study of such errors, but rather to go over the encyclicals themselves and especially those in which the Popes have given an in-depth study of the truths opposed to these errors, or a detailed analysis of the errors themselves. On can only admire the zeal and faith of these watchful guardians of the deposit of the Faith, and it is all the more stupefying to note that this relentless fight was suddenly abandoned through a false ecumenism amounting to a betrayal of the truth, in favour of making pacts with the authors of these errors and the inheritors of their ideas.

The course is introduced through St. Pius X’s papal agenda: “To restore all things in Christ” (E Supremi Apostolatus) 1903 the first year of the pontificate of Pius X.



the desk, and relics of Pope St. Pius X - Dominican Convent, Stone, Staffordshire.

When all this is considered there is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days; and that there may be already in the world the "Son of Perdition" of whom the Apostle speaks (II. Thess. ii., 3). Such, in truth, is the audacity and the wrath employed everywhere in persecuting religion, in combating the dogmas of the faith, in brazen effort to uproot and destroy all relations between man and the Divinity! While, on the other hand, and this according to the same apostle is the distinguishing mark of Antichrist, man has with infinite temerity put himself in the place of God, raising himself above all that is called God; in such wise that although he cannot utterly extinguish in himself all knowledge of God, he has contemned God's majesty and, as it were, made of the universe a temple wherein he himself is to be adored. "He sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God" (II. Thess. ii., 2).


…6. Verily no one of sound mind can doubt the issue of this contest between man and the Most High. Man, abusing his liberty, can violate the right and the majesty of the Creator of the Universe; but the victory will ever be with God - nay, defeat is at hand at the moment when man, under the delusion of his triumph, rises up with most audacity. Of this we are assured in the holy books by God Himself. Unmindful, as it were, of His strength and greatness, He "overlooks the sins of men" (Wisd. xi., 24), but swiftly, after these apparent retreats, "awaked like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine" (Ps. 1xxvii., 65), "He shall break the heads of his enemies" (Ps. 1xxvii., 22), that all may know "that God is the king of all the earth" (Ib. 1xvi, 8), "that the Gentiles may know themselves to be men"(Ib. ix., 20).

…This being so, Venerable Brethren, of what nature and magnitude is the care that must be taken by you in forming the clergy to holiness! All other tasks must yield to this one. Wherefore the chief part of your diligence will be directed to governing and ordering your seminaries aright so that they may flourish equally in the soundness of their teaching and in the spotlessness of their morals. Regard your seminary as the delight of your hearts, and neglect on its behalf none of those provisions which the Council of Trent has with admirable forethought prescribed. And when the time comes for promoting the youthful candidates to holy orders, ah! do not forget what Paul wrote to Timothy: "Impose not hands lightly upon any man" (I. Tim. v., 22), bearing carefully in mind that as a general rule the faithful will be such as are those whom you call to the priesthood. Do not then pay heed to private interests of any kind, but have at heart only God and the Church and the eternal welfare of souls so that, as the Apostle admonishes, "you may not be partakers of the sins of others" (Ibid.). Then again be not lacking in solicitude for young priests who have just left the seminary. From the bottom of Our heart, We urge you to bring them often close to your breast, which should burn with celestial fire - kindle them, inflame them, so that they may aspire solely after God and the salvation of souls. Rest assured, Venerable Brethren, that We on Our side will use the greatest diligence to prevent the members of the clergy from being drawn to the snares of a certain new and fallacious science, which savoureth not of Christ, but with masked and cunning arguments strives to open the door to the errors of rationalism and semi-rationalism; against which the Apostle warned Timothy to be on his guard, when he wrote: "Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding the profane novelties of words, and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called which some promising have erred concerning the faith" (I. Tim. vi., 20 s.). This does not prevent Us from esteeming worthy of praise those young priests who dedicated themselves to useful studies in every branch of learning the better to prepare themselves to defend the truth and to refute the calumnies of the enemies of the faith. Yet We cannot conceal, nay, We proclaim in the most open manner possible that Our preference is, and ever will be, for those who, while cultivating ecclesiastical and literary erudition, dedicate themselves more closely to the welfare of souls through the exercise of those ministries proper to a priest jealous of the divine glory. "It is a great grief and a continual sorrow to our heart" (Rom. ix., 2) to find Jeremiah's lamentation applicable to our times: "The little ones asked for bread, and there was none to break it to them" (Lam. iv., 4). For there are not lacking among the clergy those who adapt themselves according to their bent to works of more apparent than real solidity - but not so numerous perhaps are those who, after the example of Christ, take to themselves the words of the Prophet: "The Spirit of the Lord hath anointed me, hath sent me to evangelize the poor, to heal the contrite of heart, to announce freedom to the captive, and sight to the blind" (Luke iv., 18-19)

From Biography of Marcel Lefebvre by Bernard Tissier de Mallerais and the papal encyclical referred to.

Extracts from the 1980 Ordination Sermon at Econe

...

…What graces, my dear friends, above all the grace to have kept the treasures and the gifts which Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself gave to His Church, because that is the Society of St Pius X; it is nothing else – to keep us, to receive us, to do us good and to sanctify us by the gifts which Our Lord Jesus Christ put into the hands of His Apostles, which His Apostles bequeathed to Holy Church, and which the Church has always given to us.

But today when we consider the general condition of the churches, i.e. the parishes, the seminaries, the religious orders, then these gifts take on a value infinitely greater, because we could have been in that utterly baffling situation, thrown into total confusion . We could have found ourselves in that situation. Why has God chosen us? Why has God given us the grace to keep the Church going, and to preserve all these treasures of the Church? The treasure of faith, the treasure of grace, the treasure of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the treasure of the sacraments, treasures incomparable.

…And if we should thank God for the graces which have been given to the Society, I think we should also thank God for the graces given by the Society. I cannot help thinking of all the houses, scattered across the world, forty or more houses of our priests, and besides these, many places of worship which have been opened and which are served by our Fathers every Sunday.

… And all the children, all the schools that we have, by the grace of God, been able to open or to develop, so many children preserved from the contamination of the world, and who have kept the Faith. And all those families who gather in the thousands upon thousands around our churches, where the sanctuary lamp shines- small but always well kept, decorated with flowers, well arranged little churches worthy of the Holy Mysteries which are celebrated, where everything is beautiful, even in poverty, by the care of the priest who faithfully preserves the ceremonies of the church and who sees to it that his chapel is beautiful, beautiful for Our Lord Jesus Christ, beautiful for the holy angels who dwell there, beautiful for the Blessed Virgin Mary. The faithful who come into these chapels, into these churches, are consoled, strengthened, and feel the grace of God, the grace of the Holy Ghost; and they go home refreshed, reassured that they have received into themselves the life of Our lord Jesus Christ, by Holy Communion the Eucharist and thus the Church goes on.

To be continued.

Apologia pro Marcel- Lefebve part III Michael Davies

A Holy Prelate meets Pope Paul VI part 3

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…”You need say only one word to the bishops: receive fraternally, with understanding and charity, all those groups of traditionalists, all those who wish to keep the prayer of former days, the sacraments as before, the catechism as before, receive them, give them places of worship, settle with them, so that they can pray and remain in relation with you, in intimate relation with their bishops. You need say only one word to the bishops and everything will return to order and at that moment we shall have no more problems. Things will return to order. As for the seminary, I myself shall have no difficulty in going to the bishops and asking them to implant my priests in their dioceses: things will be done normally. I myself am very willing to renew relations with a commission you could name from the Congregation of Religious to come to the Seminary. But clearly we shall keep and wish to continue the practice of Tradition. We should be allowed to maintain that practice. But I want to return to normal and official relations with the Holy See and with the Congregations. Beyond that I want nothing”.



He then said to me “I Must reflect, I must pray, I must consult the Consistory, I must consult the Curia. I cannot give you an answer. We shall see.” After that he said to me “We will pray together” I said “Most willingly, Holy Father”. We then said the Pater Noster, Veni Creator, and an Ave Maria, and he then led me back very pleasantly, but with difficulty – his walk was painful, and he dragged his legs a little. In the room to the side he waited until Don Domenico came for me; and he had a small medal given to Don Domenico. We then left….

…The Holy Father had said in the course of the conversation: “Well at least we have a point in common: we both want to stop all these abuses that exist at present in the Church, so as to give back to the Church Her true countenance, etc…” I answered “Yes absolutely”

…”I do not know Holy Father if you know that there are twenty three official Eucharistic prayers in France”. He raised his arms to heaven and said “Many more, Monsignor, many more!” So then I said to him: “But, if there are many more, if even so, you add another, I do not see how that can harm the Church. Is it a mortal sin to keep up Tradition and do what the Church has always done?”



…Yes but the whole problem is there. In so far as the new Church separates itself from the old Church we cannot follow it. That is the position, and that is why we maintain Tradition, we keep firmly to Tradition; and I am sure we are being of immense service to the Church. I should say that the Econe Seminary is basic to the battle we are waging. It is the Church’s battle, and it is with that idea we should position ourselves.

“You are against me” said the Holy Father. “I am not against you, I am against what separates us from Tradition; I am against what draws us towards Protestantism, towards Modernism.”

Apologia Marcel lefbvre part one Michael Davies

A Holy prelate meets Pope Paul VI part 2

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…On the one side we desire to submit to you entirely, to follow you in everything, to have no reserve about your person, and on the other side we are aware that the lines taken by the Holy See since the Council, and the whole new orientation, turn us away from our predecessors. What then are we to do? we find ourselves obliged either to attach ourselves to your predecessors or to attach ourselves to your person and separate ourselves from our predecessors. For Catholics to be torn like that is unheard of, unbelievable. And it is not I that have provoked that, it is not a movement made by me, it is a feeling that comes from the hearts of the faithful, millions of the faithful whom I do not know. I have no idea how many there are. They are all over the world, everywhere. Everybody is uneasy about this upset that has happened in the Church in the last ten years, about the ruins accumulating in the Church. Here are examples; there is a basic attitude in people, an interior attitude which makes them now unchangeable. They will not change because they have chosen; they have made their choice for Tradition and for those who maintain Tradition.



…As for me, I am in the same case. I try to make priests, good priests as they were made formerly, there are many vocations, the young men are admired by the people who see them in trains, on the underground; they are greeted, admired congratulated on their dress and bearing; and I am suspended a divinis! And the Bishops who have no more seminarians, no young priests, nothing, and whose seminaries no longer make good priests – nothing is said to them! You understand, the poor average Christian sees it clearly. He has chosen and he will not budge. He has reached his limit. It is impossible.

“That is not true. You do not train good priests.” He said to me “because you make them take an oath against the Pope” “What” I answered “An oath against the Pope? I who on the contrary, try to give them respect for the Pope, respect for the successor of Peter! On the contrary, we pray for the Holy Father, and you will never be able to show me this oath which they take against the Pope. Can you give me a copy of it?”

…Then the Holy Father said to me further “It is true is it not, that you condemn me?”
I had the strong impression that it all came back rather to his person, that he was personally hurt: “You condemn me, so what ought I to do? Must I hand in my resignation and let you take my place?” “Oh!” I put my head in my hands. “Holy Father do not say such things. No, no, no, no” I then said “Holy Father let me continue. You have the solution of the problem in your hands… to be continued.
Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre Michael Davies

A Holy Prelate meets Pope Paul VI

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Archbishop Lefebvre, from memory recalls that he sent the following note to the Pope:-

“Most Holy Father
Will your Holiness be pleased to accept the assurance of my respectful veneration? If in my words or my writings certain expressions have displeased Your Holiness, I am exceedingly sorry. I am still hoping that your Holiness will kindly grant me an audience and I assure you of my respectful and filial feelings. Rome 10 September 1976.

…So the next day Saturday, at quarter past ten, I went to Castelgandolfo, and there I really believe the Holy Angels had driven out the Vatican employees because I had come back there. There were two Swiss Guards at the entrance, and after that I encountered only Mgr. X (not Mgr. Y their names are very alike). Mgr. X (the Canadian) conducted me to the lift. Only the lift man was there that is all, and I went up. The three of us went up to the first floor, and there, accompanied by Mgr. X I went through all the rooms: there are at least seven or eight before you come to the Holy Father’s office. Not a living soul! Usually – I have often been to private audiences in the days of Pope Pius XI, Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, and even Pope Paul VI – there is always at least one Swiss Guard, always a gendarme, always several people, a private chamberlain, a monseignor who is present if only to keep an eye on things and prevent incidents. But the rooms were empty – nothing, absolutely nothing. So I went to the Holy Father’s office, where I found the Holy Father with Mgr. Benelli at his side. I greeted the Holy father and I greeted Mgr. Benelli. We seated ourselves at once, and the audience began.

The Holy Father was lively enough at the beginning – one could almost call it somewhat violent in a way; one could feel that he was deeply wounded and rather provoked by what we are doing. He said to me:

“You condemn me, you condemn me. I am a Modernist. I am a Protestant. It cannot be allowed. You are doing an evil work, you ought not to continue, you are causing scandal in the church, etc …” with nervous irritability.

I kept quiet, you may be sure. After that he said to me: “Well speak now, speak. What have you to say. I said to him

“Holy Father, I come here but not as the head of the traditionalists. You have said I am head of the traditionalists. I deny flatly that I am head of the traditionalists. I am only a Catholic, a priest, a bishop among Millions of Catholics, thousands of priests and other Bishops who are torn and pulled apart in conscience, in mind in heart…”

To be continued
From Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre by Michael Davies.

Our Lord has won the victory over death...

...Finally, Our Lord has won the victory over death, for death is the consequence of sin. And, thus, today we celebrate His Resurrection, the consequence of the Victory of Our Lord. We are assured that we ourselves will one day have the joy of the resurrection, if however we follow Our Lord, if we love Him, as did the Blessed Virgin Mary as she stood at the foot of the Cross. This phrase which I am going to cite for you is located in the Office of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows, on the day of the feast: Dilectus meus candidus et rubiscundus totus spirat amorem, "my Beloved, pure and at the same time rose (by the Blood which flows) in His entirety breathes forth love/' caput inclinatum, "His Head inclined," manus expensae, "His Hands extended," pectus apertum, "His Heart opened." Yes, let us contemplate Our Lord Jesus Christ upon His Cross just as the Blessed Virgin Mary did, and let us ask Our Lord to give us this love. But in order to have this love, we must sacrifice, we must struggle. Every aspect of the Cross proves it to us. If we do not battle, if we remain passive, if we fall asleep, then the enemy will be all-powerful and will come once more to gain admission into our souls. And, alas, my dear brethren, today this is the great drama of the Church.

This victory which Our Lord has won and which manifests itself today on this feast of the Resurrection, comprises necessarily a gigantic combat against the world, against death, against sin. Our Lord has triumphed, but this combat continues, and the entire history of the Church is but the history of this combat, with its diverse, vicissitudes. And today, are we not in an hour of darkness where the devil reigns once again, where the spirit of the world is everywhere and permeates everywhere? Are we not heading for death, for eternal death? And, alas, in the Church itself they no longer will to fight, one must not talk of combat anymore, no more talking of penance, no more talking of renouncement, no more talking of mortification. Such is the great drama which the Church is undergoing today—they have laid down their arms. Thus the devil finds himself all-powerful, because they do not fight him anymore. The day will soon come when they will say that the devil no longer exists, that the world is not really as bad as one would make it; that this world is full of good intentions! But we know that to be the instrument of the devil to pervert us. If the world has hated Our Lord, as Our Lord Himself said, the world will hate you as well. Thus, if we ourselves happen to love the world, the world will love us, and as a result we will separate ourselves from Our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet today it seems that one is full of complacency for this world-even clerics, even bishops! Yesterday I was reading a declaration made by a cardinal on the "rights of man"—for from now on it is no longer a question of the Decalogue which tells us to love God and our neighbor, it is no longer a question of speaking about our duties vis a vis God, Our Lord, and our neighbor—no, it's only a question of the "rights of man!" And these "rights of man," which are reputedly necessary for human dignity, to what do they reduce themselves? To the sharing of the goods of this world! It is necessary to share the goods of this world, there you have that to which the "rights of man" reduce themselves.

Is that what Our Lord represents to us upon His Cross? Our Lord requires us precisely to scorn the riches of this world, and here you have it that those who ought to teach men to despise these riches, to love the spirit of poverty even if they be rich, to live as poor, poor in spirit, detached from the goods of this world, behold, those who ought to preach these things and preach Our Lord Jesus Christ think only of the allotment of the goods of this world, and thereby arouse once again envy in the hearts of men. Always more, always more than our neighbor, thus fostering jealousy of those who possess a few goods and implanting in the hearts of men this division, this class struggle, which is precisely what the devil wants in order to destroy the world and destroy souls! And will there not be in Brazil this year a meeting of all the delegates of the episcopal conferences to talk of nothing but the "rights of man?" Where is this human dignity? They talk of the "rights of man for human dignity," but to what does it refer? Human dignity consists in loving the truth and loving the good. To the degree that we separate ourselves from the Truth, to the degree that we remove ourselves from the Good, we are no longer worthy of dignity, we shall no longer be worthy of Heaven. Would the devils still be worthy of dignity? Such are the profound errors which have actually entered into the spirits of even those who should preach the truth and who henceforth are prophets of error.



And therefore we must, we, my dear brethren, maintain the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, meditate every day the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and put it everywhere: in our rooms, in our homes, at the crossing of our streets. Let the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ reign and let it be everywhere before our eyes, so that we may have this continual lesson which Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us in such an admirable way! He Who is rich because He is the Creator of all things, and all belongs to Him. He has willed to live poor and die poor. He Who should have had all the honors of the world. He at Whose feet all humanity should have come and prostrated itself to render Him honor and glory. He died as an evildoer! He Who possesses everything and could have offered Himself all the legitimate pleasures which the world can offer, He willed to perish bathed in His Blood! That is the example which Our Lord Jesus Christ gives us if we desire to five truly as Christians. That is what you, my dear friends, will preach in the future: the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, just as did St. Paul. What does he preach? Jesus, and Jesus crucified. You will preach Jesus crucified for the good of souls. And if you do not, you deceive those to whom you are sent, and you will not lead them to Heaven. And it is for this reason that we must maintain firmly the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and as a consequence His Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is because the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ is no longer honored, and no longer honored in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in particular, that souls are being lost, that souls are disoriented and no longer know where to find the way to Heaven. The road to Heaven is in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, it is in the Sacrifice of Our Lord, it is in the Cross of Our Lord Who pours out His Blood every day upon our altars. It is by this Cross that we shall go to Heaven, there is no other road, there is no other way of salvation but the Cross of Jesus, Who is the Royal Way of Heaven, Via Regalis Crucis et Caeli\ Thatv my dearly beloved brethren, is what we must maintain at all cost.

Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to teach us the Cross. She will do so, she will tell us what is truly for us the road of Heaven, and likewise will welcome us when the hour of our death arrives, if we have followed Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us ask also on this day that spirits be enlightened, that the minds of priests, of those who must preach the truth, be enlightened by the Holy Ghost in order that they truly return to this predication of the Cross which is the throne of glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Translated by Joseph Cottins at Ecône—March 1979 from an Easter Sunday sermon preached on March 26 1978

Our beloved Archbishop, faithful to Our Lord and His Blessed Mother, leaves us…

On February 11 1991 he gave his last conference to the seminarians and concluded: the situation in the Church is more serious than if it was just a question of a loss of faith. We are seeing another religion established, with other principles that are not Catholic.

He left on 13th February to make a last trip to Gigondas and then on to Fanjeaux and Brignoles. When one of the Sister superiors mentioned plans for the near future, the Archbishop replied: “I won’t be there any more… I would have done it willingly but I will be gone”. As he left the community he said “Mother I have worked for a long time. Everything is in place and you have bishops. Now for me, requiem aeternam.” “I have finished my job now rest”.

He said… “I pray every day that I might die before losing my mind. I would like to go because if I contradicted myself they would say ‘there it is; he said he got it wrong’ And they would take advantage of that”.

The ordination chalice of Archbishop Lefebvre that he used everyday to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass



On March 9th The Archbishop entered the hospital at Martigny . On March 11th he received extreme unction and the apostolic benediction. He was in great suffering and underwent numerous tests until Monday 18th when surgery was performed. They removed a cancerous tumor the size of three grapefruits. On the Wednesday he became anxious his limbs were terribly swollen and he had pains in his back and in his head. He said “ it is the end I have a terrible headache. The good Lord must come and fetch me. I truly want to die with a few of my priests around me to say the prayers for the dying. They cannot refuse me that”. Fr. Puga came on the Thursday morning and re-assured him and also Fr Simoulin said “we are in Passiontide”. The Archbishop closed his eyes and replied “Yes it is the passion”. He was sad as he was unable to receive communion.

His condition seemed to improve but by Sunday 24 March he suddenly got worse. At 7pm the Rector returned to the hospital but as soon as he entered intensive care he could hear the terrifying sound of forceful groaning which could be heard above the noise of the equipment nearby ; it was amplified by the oxygen mask. The Archbishop could not speak but he understood everything the priest said to him. “Your grace the retreat that you were to have preached to us … you are now preaching it in a way we had not foreseen” The Archbishop smiled. “Some of the faithful from Valais including the drivers are following the retreat with us.” And the Archbishop smiled again. Then the priest drew attention to the Crucifix, very slowly the Archbishop turned his head to look where the priest was pointing, then he gently closed his eyes. A look towards the crucifix the last conscious gesture that his sons saw him make; the look of the adoring worshipper and priest.

At 3.25 am while Fr Schmidberger was saying the prayers from the ritual in expiratione The soul of the Archbishop flew to God. Fr. Schmidberger closed the eyes of the beloved father. It was Monday of Holy Week. March 25 1991 Feast of the Annunciation of the most Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day the soul of Marcel Lefebvre was judged.




Tradidi quod et accepi. I have handed on what I received. Everything that I received I have handed on.
Extracts from the biography of Marcel Lefebvre by Bernard Tissier de Mallerais

Post 14. Love carved upon the Cross! That is the crucifix

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Extracts from sermon preached on 14 September 1975 feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross.

…For if there is a testimony of the love of God for us, it is certainly Our Lord Jesus Christ crucified on the Cross for us. What more could Our Lord have done, what more could God have done, than immolate Himself on the Cross for us, to redeem us from our sins? Shall we be insensible to the sacrifice of Our Lord, of the Son of God? One can still find marked on old crucifixes of another age these words: "Can you say that I have not loved you, when you see Love carved upon this Cross?" Love carved upon the Cross! That is the crucifix: love manifested, love alive upon the Cross. Thus one can understand the desire that all holy souls have felt ever to have the crucifix before them, to find in the crucifix the support of their spirituality, the source of their spiritual life.

And how those souls desired to assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; to participate therein so as to re-live Calvary, to re-live what the Blessed Virgin lived; and thus to unite themselves to the sufferings of Our Lord Jesus Christ! Compassion — Our Lady of Compassion is the patroness of our religious. Why? Because Christian souls ought to suffer with Our Lord. A soul that would not wish to suffer with Our Lord would not be a Christian soul. And we should not only suffer with, but also, as it were, think with Our Lord. That is to say, desire with Our Lord to suffer for the remission of the sins of the world: all the injuries; the sacrileges, the sins which are so numerous in the world. And finally, we should complete the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Saint Paul says this very thing: we ought to complete in the flesh the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And that we should also desire.

0h, it is a desire that will cost us dearly ... that will cost us dearly, that will make us suffer — for if we wish to complete the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, it will be necessary to suffer with Him, to be immolated with Him. And it would be too easy to say: "Since I am a Christian, God will bless me and exempt me from all suffering. I shall lead a life without suffering, without sacrifice, because I love God, God must love me, and therefore the Good Lord should certainly not want me to suffer!" That is, indeed, poorly to comprehend the mystery of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. If Our Lord has shown us the example of suffering, then on the contrary, we should almost have the desire to suffer with Him, the desire to sacrifice ourselves with Him! And when the thorn of pain pierces us, we should be happy, and find in this sacrifice our joy, our happiness, in associating ourselves — as God wants us to associate ourselves — to the Passion of His Son for the redemption of the world and for the redemption of our sins. Is this not but another mark of love from God, His desire that we be united in suffering with Our Lord Jesus Christ?




That is the Christian life; that is the Catholic teaching. That is our faith, the object of our faith, the reality of our faith. That is what all Christian generations have understood: those generations of holy fathers and mothers of families who suffered, who suffered in a Christian manner; who accepted their sufferings, who accepted their difficulties with joy; who were examples to their children. In suffering and in pain, they knew how to support it with Our Lord Jesus Christ. These were the generations of Christian families which bore so many vocations. It was in that that vocations were born: in the example which their parents could give of knowing how to live with Our Lord Jesus Christ, to suffer with Our Lord Jesus Christ, to pray with Our Lord Jesus Christ; to assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with such faith, with such piety, in the spirit of self-oblation as victims with Our Lord Jesus Christ.

How beautiful it is, this Christian, this Catholic doctrine! How completely it transforms our life! How completely it transforms our life here below! And it is that which prepares us for life eternal "O crux, ave, spes nostra!" We refer to the Cross as our hope, for in fact, the Cross is only a road, a way: the way to eternal life, to glory. But it is necessary to pass by way of the Cross! One must take up the Cross and bear it after Our Lord to arrive at eternal life. This via crucis should be ours throughout the course of our life so as to arrive at life eternal.
There, my dear friends: there is our faith. That is what you should be pursuing here. You should have the Cross ever before your eyes. Your most precious desire should be to assist at, to participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It should be this that fills your heart, your soul, with that balm that causes all the little difficulties you may have — in your studies, with your health, in the difficulties of community life that causes all that to disappear before the joy that you have to unite yourselves with Our Lord Jesus Christ, before the joy that you have to live with Our Lord Jesus Christ; before the thought that, one day, God willing, you will ascend to the altar and will offer the Sacrifice of Our Lord; that you will renew the sacrifice of Calvary and that you will offer yourselves as well as victims with Our Lord on the altar for the redemption of the sins of the world; that you will preach this doctrine of the Cross, that you will preach Jesus and Jesus Crucified; as Saint Paul says. Saint Paul had no other preaching "nisi Jesum et Jesum crucifixum." That was the preaching of Saint Paul. It will also be, I am sure, your own preaching. And as model of this participation, you will present to the world the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Compassion.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Post 13 First Sunday in Lent 1991, the last public sermon

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My dear brethren,

It is a great joy and a great satisfaction for me to be with you in this wonderful Church of St. Claire, which is filled with so many memories. Divine Providence chose the First Sunday of Lent for me to be among you. Allow me, therefore, to give you some advice in order that you practice this Lent well - Lent which is nothing other than the preparation for the beautiful Feast of Easter. Before becoming partakers in the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we must be partakers in His Passion, in His Redemption, in His Sacrifice.

Lent is undoubtedly a time of penance. Therefore, we must make some efforts to deny ourselves usual satisfactions - in eating, and drinking and the like. It is good to deny ourselves in these things in order to attach ourselves more to the spiritual goods, forgetting the temporal goods in order to elevate ourselves towards the eternal ones.

But more than by our penances, God is pleased by our observance of His Commandments. God created us to be with Him one day. The way that leads us to Him through the years that we have to spend here below is marked by His Law towards Him. His Law is in fact nothing else than the road signs, which Our Lord has placed along the way of our earthly life, leading us towards Heaven in order that we attain heavenly bliss.

What then are these Commandments of God? Our Lord Himself took care to remind us of them and St. Paul says the same thing as well. They consist in loving God and loving our neighbor. All the Commandments of God are summed up in this. In the very measure in which we love God and love our neighbor and put this love into practice in our daily lives are we walking peacefully towards the happiness of Heaven. How can we manifest in a particular way our love towards the Good Lord? I think that the most profound, the most essential way to manifest our love to God is to pray. We have all learned to pray in our catechism, the little catechism of old - since today's catechisms have distorted everything and do not teach anything clearly. But we keep the good definition of old: prayer is an elevation of the soul towards God. It is simple, it is short, but it is much - to lift up our soul towards God. I think that if we would put more in practice this definition of prayer, to lift up our soul towards God, we would indeed be less attached to the goods of this earth and we would be more attached to God Himself and to the heavenly goods.



Therefore let us make an effort during this Lent to pray better and to pray more.And what are the different ways to pray? What are the different kinds of prayer?

First, there is vocal prayer: that which you do here during Mass, during the prayers in common, the Rosary you said together just a while ago. These are vocal prayers, in which you express your love for God and through which you lift up your souls towards God. Therefore we must hold in high esteem this kind of prayer and practice it much. We do so in particular by assistance at Mass and also when we can by the recitation of the Rosary, praying to the Blessed Virgin Mary, uniting ourselves to her, and by all the practices of vocal prayers, all the devotions approved by the Church, which all the devout souls have practiced in their lives, these souls which have gone to Heaven before us and are now singing the praise of the Good Lord in Heaven, in particular all the saints.

The second kind of prayer is mental prayer or meditation. Mental prayer consists in lifting up our mind towards the Good Lord by meditating on the grandeur of God, on His perfections, without pronouncing exterior words. It is another kind of prayer. When you come during the day and adore the Blessed Sacrament, close to Our Lord, without the need of words, lifting your soul to the Good Lord, submitting yourselves to Him, thinking of Him, living with Him for a while, forgetting the worries of this world, daily worries, in order to elevate your soul towards God, you practice mental prayer. Spiritual directors, all the saints and founders of Orders recommend it. You well know that the good Poor Clares who were here before - behind these grilles - spent a long time in mental prayer. The same is done in all the Carmels, in all the religious congregations. Even the rules for the clergy required of priests, monks and nuns the practice of mental prayer. It is good also for the faithful to imitate those who have consecrated themselves to God and to practice mental prayer in a special way. You can do it in a church, in a chapel, but also at home in front of a statue of the Virgin, in front of a Crucifix, or a little home oratory that you may have arranged in your home. Everyone can pray to Our Lord and unite himself with the Blessed Virgin Mary in his mind.



There is a third kind of prayer which is essential, and which is the most important, beside vocal and mental prayer: the prayer of the heart.

What is the prayer of the heart? It is that which shows internally love for the Good Lord, without even a particular thought on this or that subject, such as this perfection of God, or that manifestation of the charity of God towards us. But to simply love God, to express our love to the Good Lord. It is somewhat like a little child in his mother's arms, like to what he has in his heart for his mommy and daddy. He is happy - he is in his father's arms or his mother's arms. He does not think of anything else. He thinks only of loving his parents. Well, we should have such a natural, profound and constant love for the Good Lord. This prayer is the most pleasing to God because it places us entirely at His disposal. By it, we offer our whole self to God. We offer our body, our will, our time and all that we are to Him Who created us, to Him who awaits us, to give us this heavenly bliss which He has prepared for us. This is the best way not to sin any more, at least not to sin grievously. He who truly loves God gives in a way his very being and all that he is throughout the day and at all times. This prayer of the heart can be permanent, without stopping. As a child who loves his parents loves them always, with a perfect continuity, so we should love the Good Lord in a similar way. In loving God this way we will not fear sin because we will feel that any disobedience to God will draw us apart from Him. Thus, if we truly love Him how could we, at the same time, love Him without our whole heart and displease and disobey Him? This would be a contradiction. This is why the prayer of the heart is so important.

I beg you, during this Lent, to put yourselves into the hands of the Good Lord, to forget the things of this world in order to attach yourselves to the Good Lord. This is the first advice I will give you to fulfill the Law of the Good Lord asking us to love Him. The first Tablet of the Law of Moses had these three Commandments towards God. The second Tablet shows us the law of the love of our neighbor. How can we manifest our love for our neighbor? Undoubtedly the services we render to our neighbor outside our families, in our profession, in our daily lives, but we could also ask ourselves where we most frequently fail to love our neighbor. To this end let us ask St. James who, in the epistle he wrote and which belongs to Holy Scripture, tells us of this little organ given to us by the Good Lord called the "tongue." He tells us: "It is with the tongue that one sings the praises of the Good Lord but it is with the tongue that one ignites the fires of iniquity and the fires of division." This is true. Therefore let us make an effort to practice charity in our words and by this very fact charity in our thoughts. Thus let us avoid rash judgments, detractions, and calumnies, which are so easy and sometimes so tempting in our conversations. Unfortunately, some love to criticize this or that, dividing rather than uniting, rather than practicing charity. Let us make efforts to manifest the love towards our neighbor during this Lent by striving to avoid detractions and calumnies - all the sins of the tongue. Such is, my dear brethren, the advice I deem good to give at the beginning of this Lent.



Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and the Child Jesus to live as they lived at Nazareth. We must remember that the example Our Lord has given us is absolutely remarkable. What did God Himself - for He is God Who came down among us - do during the thirty-three years of His life? Of these thirty-three years He spent here below before ascending into Heaven, He remained thirty years in family life except when, leaving His parents, He remained at Jerusalem to teach the Doctors of the Law. This is the only event we know of His infancy or His youth. Until the age of thirty He practiced charity in the family. This is an admirable example Our Lord gave us. Therefore He does not ask us things, which are utterly impossible - no, just the practice of charity towards God and towards our neighbor, as He Himself has done in the family of Nazareth.

Let us ask the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph to help us to practice this Charity so that, by the grace of the Good Lord, by the grace of the Sacraments which we receive, we may walk little by little towards the goal of our life here below: to share one day the happiness of Heaven with all those whom we love and who have left us.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Post 12 Archbishop of Dakar

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…It is significant that Rome choose this forty one year old ex-missionary for the capital of French West Africa, whose diocesan structure was finally emerging. We must conclude that they found “a job that was big enough” for him, to use the words of Cardinal Lienart. In addition to the qualities listed in Canon 331, the future Bishop also had a gift for organization and was a genius when it came to material and practical matters. His only fault was stubbornness. When this point was raised, it was noted that tenacity was a virtue (as seemed to be the case with Marcel Lefebvre) when sound doctrine was at stake.


… It was finally decided that the consecration would take place in his family’s parish church in Tourcoing. In Tourcoing, as in Mortain where the community had held a celebration for him on July 6 1947, he began to notice the marks of respect now shown towards him and to feel the distance this created between him and his friends. According to his sister Christiane, however he did not behave differently since he loved simplicity and good friendship too much. At Lophem-les-Bruges where he went for a few days on retreat at the monastery of his cousin, the famous liturgist Dom Gaspard Lefebvre, the monks insisted on seating him on a conspicuous throne. He objected: “But I have not ye been consecrated Bishop!” “On the contrary, you are a bishop-elect, and that is sufficient.”

…He meditated on his favourite words from St John which he had chosen for his Episcopal device, “Et nos credidimus caritati” Yes he said we have believed in the great charity that God and Our Lord has for us….

On the coat of arms of the elected Bishop, the congregation’s emblem appeared on the left above the “African memory” – the future cathedral of Dakar – while on the right “on a gold background stands a red cross with a six pointed star and four five petal azure flowers – the arms of his great uncle Pierre Lefebvre, a burgher of Tournai, dating from 1690. Be that as it may the Archbishop also saw in these symbols Our Lord’s cross steeped in blood, the cross of the crusade for His reign which is based on the gold of God’s charity and supported by the universal mediation of our Lady.

For the fifth time he took the anti-modernist oath with his hand on the gospels, affirming with conviction “ I firmly hold, then, and shall hold to my dying breath the belief of the Fathers in the charism of truth, which certainly is, was and always will be in the succession of the episcopacy from the apostles. The purpose of this is, then, not that dogma may be tailored according to what seems better and more suited to the culture of each age; rather, that the absolute and immutable truth preached by the apostles from the beginning may never be believed to be different, may never be understood in any other way.”



He received the fullness of the priesthood on September 18 1947 in the church of our Lady in Tourcoing.

from the biography of Marcel Lefebvre by Bernard Tissier de Mallerais
emphasis is ours not from the original.