We must approach nobility with respect and defend it against all the caricatures which try to ridicule it, leading souls into a disastrous illusion. As it happens with all higher truths, nobility is subjected to a campaign of denigration so that, making of it a universal object of contempt, nobody would be encouraged to make the effort of abandoning his own turpitude and trying to rise to the heights where this truth invites him to be. Moreover, as this vile attempt is not enough and, in spite of everything, the truth still stands, the satanic cunning consists in creating an illusion so close to reality that it deceives the intelligence. Let us repeat it: there is nothing more harmful than an illusion. This mockery deeply vitiates the intelligence, making it believe that it is nourished by the truth. In fact, these illusions do nothing but inoculate a deadly poison, because error is never as frightening as when it disguises itself under the appearances of truth.
Dear friends and benefactors,
We must approach nobility with respect and defend it against all the caricatures which try to ridicule it, leading souls into a disastrous illusion. As it happens with all higher truths, nobility is subjected to a campaign of denigration so that, making of it a universal object of contempt, nobody would be encouraged to make the effort of abandoning his own turpitude and trying to rise to the heights where this truth invites him to be. Moreover, as this vile attempt is not enough and, in spite of everything, the truth still stands, the satanic cunning consists in creating an illusion so close to reality that it deceives the intelligence. Let us repeat it: there is nothing more harmful than an illusion. This mockery deeply vitiates the intelligence, making it believe that it is nourished by the truth. In fact, these illusions do nothing but inoculate a deadly poison, because error is never as frightening as when it disguises itself under the appearances of truth.
We could illustrate this with thousands of examples. Let me mention some of them: Protestantism claiming to be Christian for better misleading souls, the sentimentality that assumes the name of friendship for better corrupting, the oligarchy that corrupts by the power of money and which is only a group of upstarts thinking of enriching themselves by impoverishing others, etc. The list is long – we could keep going or make the practical and immediate applications!
What is most important is to understand that, when wanting to preserve our nobility, we become the target of cowardly attacks. From that moment on, these attacks must give us a new boldness and determination, since they will be the undeniable proof that we are on the right path.
Please forgive me for this digression… Although, to be completely honest, I do not regret it: such digressions often make it possible to underline a great truth or to explain a principle. We must learn how to start reflecting from one simple thing until we reach the fundamental principle. This is the nobility of the intelligence, using every occasion to elevate itself. Let us acquire the intelligence and the love of the summits and jump from one truth to the other. The air that we breathe there strengthens our soul and allows us to better resist the attractions of the present world.
We must not allow true nobility to be thus mishandled by those who, unworthy of it, only try to disguise it. Their most usual procedure is to argue that nobility is no more than a stupid pride. Thus, a noble man is presented as a theatrically extravagant Marquis, who only excels in a haughty display of his own emptiness. Such a man is only a parasite who would never agree to do an honest day’s work, but who profits from his rank to enrich himself at the expense of others. This superficial description has become common and the theatrical character is now taken as the archetype of nobility – an archetype that history textbooks use to justify the detestable French revolution. These misrepresentations often lead to an unreasoned resentment and bitter words, of which we must never be scandalized and to which we should answer only by greater kindness.
But to caricature nobility in this way does not seem to be enough! Its enemies have manufactured a counterfeit which can satisfy the natural propensity of man to show off. The illusion of nobility has been created by the attribution of its name to something totally different. Nobility has been moved from the order of being to the order of having – that is, away from the realm of moral character, into the realm of wealth and possessions.
This process started in the aftermath of the French revolution, when Napoleon granted high-sounding titles of nobility to the former regicides who had enriched themselves in the upheavals of the revolution. But this decline reached its climax when honorable and authentic noble families yielded to the new masters and hastened, servilely, to give them a pretense of legitimacy. Without this betrayal, the power that arose from the Revolution could have never had such pretense of legitimacy and it would have been easier to show that it was a pitiless tyranny. These men, guilty of such a slavish flattery, were unworthy of their heritage and, in fact, lost it.
Such betrayal is unconceivable. It arouses in the soul a great indignation. If it would not have happened, we would be still living in Christendom and we would not hear today these attacks against Holy Mother Church. Let us be proud of our Christian nobility and, by our fidelity in preserving our Catholic heritage, take the place of those who have betrayed it. This duty may even go so far as to include the sacrifice of our lives. We must serve by our devotion to this higher cause.
Noblesse oblige. Fortunately!
In Christo Sacerdote et Maria,
Fr. Yves le Roux