Why is it important to consider this Council? Do we not risk drifting into a systematically negative criticism that is itself non-Catholic? Obviously, we cannot define ourselves as against the Second Vatican Council. We have no need to define ourselves in function of something else. It is sufficient for us to be Catholics - Catholics whose ideal is to fight as soldiers of Christ to bring about His kingdom, and especially His social kingdom on earth. But a soldier can only fight effectively if he is armed and trained to fight; if he has received an adequate training and knows his enemy. That is why it is important to meditate on this fateful Council.
Dear friends and benefactors,
Why is it important to consider this Council? Do we not risk drifting into a systematically negative criticism that is itself non-Catholic?
Obviously, we cannot define ourselves as against the Second Vatican Council. We have no need to define ourselves in function of something else. It is sufficient for us to be Catholics - Catholics whose ideal is to fight as soldiers of Christ to bring about His kingdom, and especially His social kingdom on earth. But a soldier can only fight effectively if he is armed and trained to fight; if he has received an adequate training and knows his enemy. That is why it is important to meditate on this fateful Council.
It is not our intention here to launch into a deep study of the Council. We simply want to warn against the danger of getting used to the current situation in the Church and to show what our reaction ought to be in the face of this disaster which Archbishop Lefebvre rightly called "the Third World War."
We must not fear to say it: the present situation is revolutionary. From the first session of the Council, with a shocking lack of even the most elementary respect for the rules of propriety, a commando force took over the command posts in the Council, thanks to a long-prepared infiltration, and indelibly marked it with Liberalism. Afterwards, strengthened by the influence acquired within the Council and thanks to its efficacious technique of infiltration, that commando force worked from within for the destruction of the Church. Until the day of this wicked attack, the Church had to fend off assaults coming from the outside, and the attackers never attained a definitive success. Realizing the futility of his efforts, Satan changed strategy and attacked Holy Mother Church from within. He infiltrated his henchmen, spreading error in seminaries, so that the young clergy would be tainted without even knowing it.
The danger for us would be to forget this and think that the present situation is only a simple crisis that will pass away by itself. Let us not be deceived: the enemies of the Church have sworn Her destruction - and that of our souls — and they will keep fighting to the very end. They will seem to be ready to make some concessions and grant some permissions. They will give way nimbly, hoping that we will take the bait, but they will never agree to give up their goal - the complete destruction of Holy Mother Church.
They already have claimed victory. They are mistaken. Their battle is lost in advance and their momentary triumph resembles that of the enemies of Christ on Good Friday. Let's not fool ourselves: error will not win. Christ permits this success as a chastisement, to purify His Church and to bring Her to His side on the cross. We must look beyond external appearances, and find within our souls the peaceful certainty that God permits the present humiliation of His Church in order to assimilate Her more completely to His Son. He will share with Her the triumph of His Resurrection. We must wait for that hour, while remaining always vigilant, as the temptation to seek peace by compromising will be great.
We must also be attentive to see that the error of Liberalism - that error that makes a religion out of human freedom and whose poisons we daily drink, even unwittingly — does not furtively enter into our souls. Let us remember St. Augustine's warning: "By seeing everything, we end enduring everything, and by enduring everything, we are ready to accept anything." That is to say that what at the beginning justly scandalizes us, little by little becomes so habitual that we take part in it, and thus, unconsciously, we drink the poison. If we are not on our guard, we will be so filled up with this mortal error of Liberalism that, in turn, we will also fall and contribute to the destruction of the Church.
This is the time to be vigilant. We must pray and be formed at the source of the true doctrine, so that error will not contaminate us.
After forty years of seeing the application of the decrees of the Council, we can follow the advice of Our Lord and judge the tree by its fruits. Certain advocates of the Council challenge this evangelical judgment and try to separate the Council from its aftermath. But it is not so! The reforms that followed are, in fact, the natural outcome of the Council. Without the Council, these disastrous reforms would never have seen the light of day.
The most blameworthy consequence of the Council has been the destruction of the sense of the sacred. We see that very clearly in the systematic destruction of the theological virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity.
By Faith, by the knowledge we have of Him, we adhere to God directly and enter into His intimacy. By Hope we raise our hearts above all created things and soar towards God, to adore Him as our Creator and Redeemer and, with a holy impatience, long to possess Him in eternity. By Charity, we love God through Our Lord Jesus Christ, as He loves Himself. Faith, Hope, and Charity establish us in God and, through these virtues, we live in His holy Presence. These virtues find their most beautiful expression in the Liturgy when the Priest offers the Holy Mass and we unite ourselves to him, giving God the homage that is due.
Today, the new liturgy shows, sadly but clearly, that the virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity are no longer considered that holy path towards God. There is no transcendence, and it is not unusual to hear, in one way or another, that strange profession of faith of Pope Paul VI: "We have, more than any other, the Cult of Man." Does this mean that Faith, Hope and Charity are now the expression of faith in Man, of hope placed in him and of charity reduced to only a vague philanthropy? Alas, it is impossible think otherwise, when we see that the new theology teaches that all men are to be saved, and yearns for a golden age on earth where we will be united to everyone, our differences behind us, in a universal brotherhood.
Such ideas are a profanation of the theological virtues. Faith in Man, who will save himself as Man because he is mysteriously united to Christ by his human nature. Hope of a universal peace when men will finally recognize the inestimable value of their humanity which enables them to live in mutual respect of their irreconcilable differences - a mutual respect that they dare to call Charity...
In one word: Faith in Man, Hope in Man, Love of Man. Omnipresent Man, who has thus become the center of a new worship! We face a profanation of the mystery of the Incarnation, which is no longer the revelation of the Love of God for Man, but instead the revelation of the intrinsic value of Man himself.
There is no longer anything sacred but Man!
What more can we say about this delirium? May God have pity on us - the children of God ask for the bread of doctrine, but they have received only stones for food!
How shall we react in the face of this "destruction of the holy place," as Pope Pius XII said? Above all, we must not react in a human way, because acting in this manner will expose us to great dangers. We might be even tempted to abandon the struggle, because humanly speaking no solution seems possible. The enemies of the Church have seized the citadel and hang on solidly to the key positions from which they will not be thrown out. A natural weariness can lead us to excessive and dangerous decisions.
Our reaction ought to be a reaction prompted by Faith, and only by Faith. We must not reduce the mystery of the Passion of the Church to an intellectual problem, or worse, to a sentimental one. It is not for us to understand this mystery of the identification of the Church with Christ crucified, but to acknowledge that it is a providential design of God and then adore Him.
In concrete, we must remain faithful to this adoration due to God, following the advice of St. Vincent of Lerins, who teaches us to hold fast to what the Church has always and everywhere taught. That is to say, our attachment to Tradition is not a question of custom or preference, but a question of Faith and of fidelity to this Faith. This is also why we cannot sign some practical agreement with "neo-modernist Rome," because we would be drawn into a slippery slope of compromise and would, slowly but surely, lose the Faith.
If our reaction is truly prompted by Faith, we will wish to offer reparation. Reparation is, in fact, an important duty for a Christian. In ascending to Heaven, Our Lord imposed on us the duty of making reparation for the insults against Him and His Holy Mother. Is not the destruction of the Faith in the very heart of the Church an insult against Christ, Who left us, as our inheritance, the Deposit of Faith to transmit unchanged? This loss of Faith, apart from being most insulting to Christ, is the source of the eternal loss of innumerable souls.
Our duty is clear - we cannot let the insult pass without desiring to make reparation for it. Our reparation consists of living in a way that renders homage to God, and not in enjoying the sinful pleasures that the world proposes. We will make reparation by loyally fulfilling the duties of our state in life. This fidelity to duty rests on two pillars - prayer and penance. A soul that desires to offer reparation is essentially a soul of prayer and sacrifice.
Our prayer must be, above all, the offering of the Most Precious Blood of Christ to His Father during the Mass, of course, but also during the day, uniting ourselves in spirit to the Masses being celebrated throughout the world, and reciting our Rosary, through which we are united to Our Lady and to Her prayer of intercession.
Our prayer must go forth before the throne of God, to implore the grace of obtaining numerous priestly and religious vocations, so that the glory of God may be manifested and souls will not be abandoned, but receive the graces they need.
We pray simply to ask pardon for all those who have introduced novelties in the Church, prayers that repeat for them the words of Our Crucified Lord: "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." Let us not forget also to pray for those who follow these mercenaries and are lost.
Our times are critical. The Immaculate Spouse of Christ, our Holy Mother the Church, agonizes, insulted and mocked. Her children no longer know what it is to be Christians or no longer dare to affirm it loudly and forcefully. Vocations are diminishing, and we fear that tomorrow, deprived of pastors, men will fall into idolatry, as a great number of them already have, alas! The Second Vatican Council promised us a new springtime in the Church, but has left behind it only rubble piling up.
Our times are critical. It is not, however, a time for despair. It is the hour of the Cross. It is also, mysteriously, the hour of victory. It is the time when we need to go to Mary, who stood strong in Her unwavering Faith, praying and uniting Her sorrows with the sufferings of Her Son. She is our Mother and She will protect us, so that we will keep the Faith by prayer and mortification.
Our Lady has vanquished all heresies. She will overcome Modernism, She has promised so at Fatima, affirming that in the end Her Immaculate Heart shall triumph. More than ever, we must use our Rosary as a powerful weapon and enlist as Catholics, as soldiers, in the army of our Mother, and tirelessly pray our Rosaries. Our Lady is our Hope. The day will come - and may it please God to be soon! - when She will receive the filial homage of the Holy Father, consecrating Russia to Her. Faithful to Her promise, She will then defeat the materialism and atheism that have spread everywhere, even into the sanctuary!
Thanks to Our Lady's intervention, fruit of our devotion to the Rosary, victory is ours. We have the peaceful certainty of it. It suffices for us to be Her children, to enter joyously in the school of Our Lady, praying and doing penance as She has so often asked us to do. Do not doubt the power of prayer united to penance. As Our Lady specifically said at Pontmain: "Pray, my children. My Son allows Himself to be moved by your prayers."
And if Our Lord hears us, who could succeed against us? Let us pray. We are the youthfulness of God and of Holy Mother Church. We belong to the youth full of faith, of the faith that vanquishes the world, ready to live and to die defending the honor of God, repairing thus the offenses committed against Him.
In Christo Sacerdote et Maria,
Fr. Yves le Roux