The beauty of the churches built in the ages of faith remains one of the glories of Holy Mother Church. Centuries passed and left their mark in them, but, to the surprise of the profane, they have not lost their majesty. We know why: our churches are not only marvelous stone buildings, but they are, above all, the consecrated sanctuaries where the Divine Lamb renews His eternal sacrifice. Their beauty is not that which is common to human works. Built for the offering of the Divine Victim, they belong to the domain of the sacred and, although damaged, still they are impervious to the irrevocable insult of time.
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
The beauty of the churches built in the ages of faith remains one of the glories of Holy Mother Church. Centuries passed and left their mark in them, but, to the surprise of the profane, they have not lost their majesty. We know why: our churches are not only marvelous stone buildings, but they are, above all, the consecrated sanctuaries where the Divine Lamb renews His eternal sacrifice. Their beauty is not that which is common to human works. Built for the offering of the Divine Victim, they belong to the domain of the sacred and, although damaged, still they are impervious to the irrevocable insult of time.
At the top of their domes, we usually notice a stone of majestic appearance, called keystone because of its essential function in keeping up the structure of the building. Has it suddenly fallen? The dome itself, then the walls which carry it, will not take long in breaking down. It will be the end of that church.
The keystone is a work of art, extensively worked so that it can perform its task and richly decorated in order to stress its importance. It is truly an architectural jewel, the masterpiece of our stone buildings.
In the spiritual building that is Holy Mother Church, the keystone is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
The doctrines of the Church, the sacraments, the religious life, the missionary and charitable works, the holiness of her children, in a word, all the treasures of the Church rest upon the Mass. The Mass is the heart of the Church and vivifies her.
For several decades, however, the Holy Church has been unrecognizable: she has seemed to be anemic! Her missionary irradiation died out. Her own children do not know her any more and turn away from her. Whole swathes of Church doctrine are either called into question, forgotten or overlooked. Self-appointed theologians devote themselves freely to every fantasy, and liturgical abuses are so common that they hardly astonish us any more! The sanctuaries of doctrine and the liturgy are in ruins and strangely resemble those stone churches mutilated by wars and revolutions. Thus, how could we avoid questioning the reason for changing the keystone of the building, forty years ago, under the fallacious pretext of a so-called pastoral effectiveness? Wasn't it obvious that the dome and the walls would break down and hurt souls? The keystone cannot be changed without suffering the consequences!
On the other hand, how could we not be delighted by what the Pope affirmed, solemnly and publicly, in his recent motu proprio Summonim Pontificum, that the liturgy in use before the post-conciliar reforms is always a proper and legitimate good of Holy Mother Church and that it never ceased being such, in spite of contrary assertions?
Our priestly souls are delighted by the fact that the jewel that is the Mass will bring down immense graces upon the whole Church - starting with those priests who suffer by not knowing what they are and who will be able to find, in the intimacy of the altar, a new reason to live for, as it is finally given to them a reason to die, in the union with the Divine Victim!
Our joy is simple, devoid of any spirit of bitterness or of revenge. We fight for the honor of Christ, not in order to obtain some personal benefits. The Roman document gives us the opportunity - too rare, alas! - to affirm publicly that we are happy to be children of Holy Mother Church; happy to serve her in this time of crisis, in which she is divinely assimilated to the sacrifice of the cross; happy to witness the power of the truth, which cannot disappear in spite of the efforts of the wicked; happy to wait, in prayer and sacrifice, in vigilance and in peace, for the hour of the resurrection.
This joy does not prevent us, however, from being clear-headed. We know that this papal recognition will certainly cause, at least for some time, a greater confusion, since the basic problems still remain. In addition, there will be, undoubtedly, some faultfinders who will take a malicious pleasure in accusing us of compromising with the revolution - while, at the same time, others will be scandalized because we keep our combat stance, in spite of the publication of motu proprio.
Let us thank Archbishop Lefebvre for having saved, in spite of the sanctions that fell down on him, the Holy Mass from the sacrilegious hands of those who tried to destroy it in the name of a false obedience.
Let us also thank Bishop Fellay for having refused, in its time, the proposal of Rome, which appeared ready to grant us, under the terms of a special permission and to the profit of the Society of St. Pius X alone, the right to celebrate the Mass in this honorable rite. Let us thank him for having avoided this trap, which would have made us the guardians of a museum of a bygone past, and for having unceasingly asked Rome to perform an act of justice by restoring the truth about the Mass codified by Saint Pius V, a good common to the Holy Church and not a particular right by reason of a charisma or a preference.
The Holy Father should be assured of our gratitude for having carried out this work of justice.
We would like, finally, to pay homage to those priests, today deceased, who valiantly fought to remain faithful to the Mass of their ordination. They underwent a cruel persecution on the part of their own hierarchy; some died of sorrow. Their sacrifices have not been useless. They will be, tomorrow, the hidden but efficacious cause of the complete resurrection of the liturgy and of doctrine.
May their example stimulate our souls and obtain for us the grace of being found faithful in the midst of the ruins!
In Christo sacerdote et Maria,
Fr. Yves le Roux