On November 21, 1974, in Rome, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre wrote a memorable manifesto, a vigorous declaration of Catholic Faith against the errors infecting the Church today. In it, he presented, very clearly and firmly, the profound motives that had led him to oppose the grave doctrinal deviations of the Roman authorities. That text made quite clear that his opposition to the Roman reforms, far from being the result of a schismatic or rebellious spirit, was no more than the expression of his deep and indefectible devotion to the Throne of Peter.
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
On November 21, 1974, in Rome, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre wrote a memorable manifesto, a vigorous declaration of Catholic Faith against the errors infecting the Church today. In it, he presented, very clearly and firmly, the profound motives that had led him to oppose the grave doctrinal deviations of the Roman authorities. That text made quite clear that his opposition to the Roman reforms, far from being the result of a schismatic or rebellious spirit, was no more than the expression of his deep and indefectible devotion to the Throne of Peter.
The very spirit of Archbishop Lefebvre is contained in that document. Serenely following the line determined by his penetrating Faith, he refused to deviate from the very simple principle that illuminated his whole combat against the Modernistic infiltrations of Holy Mother Church. He judged the deviations of "the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies" from the standpoint of the teachings of "eternal Rome, Mistress of wisdom and truth." The line of conduct of the SSPX in its necessary combat in the bosom of the Church is wholly contained in this famous declaration.
To remain faithful to this spirit and to avoid getting lost along side paths that are but dead ends, we have considered it important to try to present the reasons for Archbishop Lefebvre's steadfastness in the Faith and his serenity in the midst of this frightful storm that sweeps through the Church.
But, first, let us admire and praise God's goodness towards us. He does not cease to provide for the needs of our souls, watching over His Church. Thus, Satan's efforts to bring to naught the work of Redemption have been in vain, in spite of the grave defection of the highest Church authorities. The Good Lord raised the action of Archbishop Lefebvre in order to perpetuate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass upon our altars, to teach the doctrine, to dispense the sacraments to the faithful and to allow the formation of small Christendoms around our priories.
To be a faithful instrument in the hands of divine Providence, Archbishop Lefebvre had to be a man of prayer. No man can be faithful unless he prays and trusts only in God, knowing that he cannot rely on his own limited forces. Archbishop Lefebvre's piety was not spectacular, but was nonetheless real, nourished by the liturgy and Thomistic doctrine, as is revealed in his last book, "Spiritual Journey," or in his spiritual conferences, published as "The Mystery of Jesus." In this spirituality we find the simplicity and balance that are distinctive of our Founder. As one of the perfections of God is His simplicity, shouldn't we also strive to be simple ourselves? In our relations with God, we should distrust all the possible excesses that betray a secret complacency in ourselves. We must be worshippers of God in spirit and truth, and work so that in every circumstance God will be honored in Our Lord Jesus Christ. The combat of Archbishop Lefebvre in defense of the centuries-old liturgy of the Church is an indubitable proof of his spirit of adoration.
A man of theological prayer, his life was a perpetual homage to the primacy of doctrine. In this he showed himself perfectly faithful to the formation he had received from Rev. Fr. Le Floch at the French Seminary in Rome. This Roman formation, truly Thomistic, favored the true development of the intelligence, bringing it into submission to the realities of Faith, thus allowing the young clerics to become true servants of Holy Mother Church and to defend Her against the attacks of that Naturalism that tried to reduce Her to no more than another association among the many existing in society.
This sense of the Church and of her absolute necessity for honoring Our Lord and saving souls explains not only Archbishop Lefebvre's missionary zeal, but especially his uncompromising defense of the primacy of the Church and his fierce hatred of modern ecumenism and its consequent religious liberty.
These two errors have produced today's indifferentism, a poison that leads souls to their eternal damnation. As is well known, Archbishop Lefebvre's firmness and exclusive love of the Church earned him heavy condemnations!
Although these supernatural motives that animated Archbishop Lefebvre in his different combats are essential and good, they are not sufficient to reveal exactly the spirit in which he carried on the battle. His firmness was not harshness: in him, strength was harmoniously united to a profound goodness. That such union existed should be pointed out, because what usually happens is that the combatants are overcome by the ardor of the fight, so that the force that leads them is passion and not virtue. It is all too easy to be carried away by the heat of the combat and to lose the guidance of reason amidst the fray, thus also losing the balance that is proper to the virtue of fortitude. Our Founder, however, in the numerous combats he had to lead in defense of the Faith, never abandoned that gentleness and affability that were the most striking features of his personality.
This alliance of force and gentleness stresses the importance of natural virtues, for the supernatural, to be authentic, must be incarnated in them. The supernatural that pretends to exclude what is natural is a monster born out of pride; it does not perpetuate the mystery of the Incarnation but only feigns to do so, revealing thus its satanic source. The Devil, incapable – because of his state of damnation – of penetrating into the kingdom of Grace, tries to reduce human nature to a mere shadow of itself, pushing man to follow the attractions of his senses rather than to act under the guidance of the virtues. If supernatural grace does not find the fertile soil of the natural virtues to plunge its roots into, it cannot penetrate into man. It becomes a pale counterfeit that easily becomes false piety or false mysticism, or a religious sentimentality abundant in false visions, syrupy impressions and mawkish devotions. Sometimes, falling into the opposite extreme, it hardens and turns into an extravagant asceticism, or into an unpleasant rigidity, most contrary to the spirit of charity.
On the contrary, when grace finds the natural virtues, it fertilizes this favorable soil and bears fruit. Far from destroying nature, the supernatural humanizes man, allowing him to act according to his own nobility by serving God in the harmony of the virtues.
As we are not angels, we should respect the order of our nature. We must distrust the false super-naturalism that looks down on the simple human virtues. Far from neglecting them, a true supernatural spirit cultivates and protects them, and thus, itself grows and fructifies into holiness. It would be an illusion to be content with fighting for the Faith without trying, at the same time, to protect all those natural virtues that allow man to be in conformity with the order of his own nature, and which give to the supernatural the possibility to implant itself deeply into the soul, healing our wounded nature. We cannot do without those small virtues, so necessary for the implantation of the theological virtues into our fight for the defense of the Faith.
God has given us the example of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. No one more than he has had the sense of the honor of God, no one more than he has cultivated with care those virtues that we call "minor" – simplicity, politeness, thoughtfulness, affability, and the like – only because they upset our pride by subjecting us to the service of God through the service of others! Do we want to remain steadfast in the Faith? Let us then make the combat for the practice of these ordinary virtues the first step of our spiritual recovery.
In Christo Sacerdote et Maria,
Fr. Yves le Roux
NEWS FROM THE SEMINARY
• The Seminary has available, as usual, Christmas cards which, for a token donation to the Seminary, can be sent to friends with the promise that their intentions will be included in a Novena of Masses to be said at the Seminary for nine days starting on Christmas Day.
• Over the Christmas break there will be an Ignatian Retreat for Men here at the Seminary, from December 27 to January 1st .