A MEETING WITH FATHER LOURDELET

A FREE TRANSLATION FROM THE FRENCH ORIGINAL

[Paix Liturgique] Meeting with Father Lourdelet

SOURCE - Paix Liturgique- Letter 386 - May 7, 2013

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I - PORTRAIT OF A COUNTRY PRIEST

" I have fought the good fight "(2 Timothy 4, 7):
Abbot Lourdelet private before the altar
where he celebrates Mass daily.

"Since the day of my ordination in 1944, I always celebrated the traditional Mass and never have needed to ask for permission. "

This is a archetypal French village priest that we show this week. Not a historical or sociological reconstruction, but the portrait of a priest in the flesh which this year celebrates his 69 years of priesthood. A diocesan priest who, throughout his life, maintained and defended the doctrinal, pastoral and liturgical tradition of the Church. One of these faithful priests with "a certain idea of ​​the Church," who lived since his seminary and did everything to pass it on to new generations of priests.

However, and unlike most of his fellow priests he remained faithful to the traditional priesthood, the priest does not have to suffer the persecution of his superiors. He is one of those priests who, in a few dioceses have remained amid post-conciliar storms much like - remote analogy, of course - some jurors not priests crossed the revolution without damage. Providence had other plans for them. In this case, Providence wanted to keep him to perfect souls of the faithful and for the relief of those of his colleagues shaken by the crisis in the Church.

A priest of the diocese of Versailles and the Diocese of Pontoise after redistricting  of the Church of Paris, pastor of Belloy-en-France from 1965 to 2004, Father Paul Lourdelet, since it is from him who has indeed been for nearly twenty years the successor of the Canon Catta at the head of "Opus Sacerdotale" before handing over to Father Julien Bacon, another admirable figure of priestly charity, a year older than him and from the Diocese of Arras.

One of our editors who had the grace to assist daily at the holy Mass of Father Lourdelet earlier this year, and had the pleasure of spending a few hours in his company, we offer this week the first a series of three short letters inspired by the example of this humble priest sentinel of the deposit of Faith. [1]

***

Born in 1921 in Versailles, Paul Lourdelet was ordained in 1944. At the time, the diocese of Versailles is the former department of Seine-et-Oise and covers the south, west and north of Paris. "My first appointment, he says, was vicar of Goussainville today a parish of the Diocese of Pontoise. I stayed there until 1949, alongside an excellent priest who helped me fix my shyness. In fact, he told me, or rather forced me to preach paperless. It is to him that I owe to be able to preach in my priesthood more than fifty retreats for children with no text before me. "

"In April 1949 I was appointed pastor of Fontenay-en-Parisis neighboring village Goussainville. Besides the church, there is no parish structure. Fortunately, as we are taught on the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, God's providence, "infallible in what it lays out". It has in fact guided all my life. An unoccupied gardener's house became the priory and a sister joined me to be my housekeeper. "

"In 1954, the bishop gave me a vicar to extend my support to four other parishes. From that time until 1992, I celebrated three Masses each Sunday. Two years later, as a result of health problems, I was sent to Richebourg, a village of 450 souls located just west of the diocese, near Houdan. I stayed until 1961. Richebourg, then this is the village of Thorez, Piaf, but also the Pompidou family that I counted among my parishioners. "

"In 1961, I made the great exercises of St. Ignatius (one month) and returning found in a letter from the bishop who appointed me pastor of Quincy-sous-Senart. Then came four years of penance if the Priory is in poor condition, the parish hall is brand new. But it's actually much more than a gym parish hall: there is no catechism taught but rather gymnastics seems the main activity the legacy of my predecessor. There are even exercise time during the Mass ... And 23 participants who are not parish members! "

It was during these years in Quincy-sous-Senart that abbe Lourdelet will be found- providentially of course! - Associated with the birth of Opus Sacerdotale [which will be discussed next week]. As of 4 August 1964, he became secretary of canon Catta." A very special secretary, he says with amusement, since I had no phone, no typewriter or car. "

"In May 1965 the project announced a new city and urban population explosion in the sector which made me express to my Bishop Renard, my attachment to a priesthood in rural areas. Thus I find myself almost to my starting point, again north of Paris, Belloy-en-France, which became my parish until 2004. "

When Father Lourdelet wins Belloy, the Diocese of Pontoise is not yet official but it is already written that it will be part of Belloy. This affiliation, in 1966, a diocese in construction, combined with the fact that this corner of Ile-de-France to escaped the devouring urbanization in the Paris region, will preserve the abbe Lourdelet  from the conciliar tsunami.

During his 39 years at Belloy, Father will continue a more traditional ministry, based on the Mass, the sacraments and catechesis. In fact, throughout these years marked by rampant secularization of society, the parish will attract more and more people who have abandoned any religious practice for 10, 15 or 20 years, but recovering from abbe Lourdelet desire to sanctify the Lord's day. "You know, families do not hesitate to come every Sunday from Beauvais, a distance of over 50 km from Belloy," he says with a touch of disbelief in how older people recalling some fond memories their memory.

In 2004, at the age of 83 years, after 60 years of priesthood, Father Lourdelet takes his diocesan retirement but not without assuring his parishioners with clever connivance of the then Bishop Riocreux, doctrinal and liturgical continuity of the parish entrusted to Father Francis Scrive.  This retirement led Abbe Lourdelet out of the Paris Basin, in a chapel nestled in the heart of Anjou forest. "It was perfect for a hermit's life, especially the bishop began by prohibiting me to celebrate the Holy Mass! "

Father Lourdelet not wait for the lifting fortunately, of this ban - which would be laughable if it were not scandalous in these times of a desert of worship campaigns - to open the doors of the chapel to the faithful around the area. Gradually, through word of mouth flow families across the region to the chapel, and some Sundays, Father will even harrow[2]. As if that was not enough to occupy his retirement, Father willingly continues to preach retreats and recollections, especially at the request of Father Pozzetto, Director of retreats with the Fraternity of St. Peter.

In 2011, the 90 years old Father Lourdelet finally ceased all ministry to return to Versailles as a resident of a religious house. With an altar set up in the room adjacent to his office, he can continue to celebrate the daily Mass and pray he also devotes his time to much correspondence and recording of his memories. Again, initially, Chaplain Bishop had forbidden him to receive the faithful to the Mass - a decidedly Episcopal mania! In recent months, the bishop has however meant that he could accept a few close and, in fact, welcomed Father every day someone eager to hear his Mass, which was our case in early February.

The Next week we will publish the second part of this paper, we evoke, always through the testimony of Father Lourdelet, birth, history and action of "Opus Sacerdotale".

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[1] The priestly life of Father Lourdelet is very rich and it is possible that this or that we report deserves correction or clarification:. We gladly publish reviews and testimonials that we receive

[2] Biner: say two Masses , that canon law allows, because of the shortage of priests. We can even "Triner" Sunday.

Sine ira et studio

In the months immediately following, during a break in the work of the Council, Lefebvre decided to send to Genoa father Christian Charlot, then a seminarian and his aide, to meet Cardinal Siri and propose the creation of an international seminary in which young people destined for the priesthood could receive an education in the Catholic tradition, in opposition to the progressive drift of much of theology.

Fr Charlot said, who later became a priest of the "Fraternity of Mary"  and later trusted collaborator of the same Siri, interviewed by Father Raymond Spiazzi in the book Cardinal Giuseppe Siri (Edizioni Studio Dominican, 1990): "On the matter of the seminary said to me: "It 'a good thing, you do it well, but always in the spirit of the Church, in obedience.'" And on Coetus Internationalis Patrum : "Siri said that one should not destroy our meetings with what the Church has established. He did not want that there was a union of the fathers of the council, regardless of their role, to apply pressure. If the Church had wanted a Cardinal there was a reason: the Cardinals had to have a wide eye on the universal Church and help the Pope with that.

From this detailed episode reveals, among other things, the large difference in approach to the Council (and the Church) by Siri and Lefevbre : If at first, despite all the personal reservations about the course and turn that the Vatican was taking, it was always the first place to have obedience to the Pope and the duty to cooperate with him in order to achieve the general good of the Church, even then the second tended to give precedence to their own particular point of view, declined in an ideological way, and therefore potentially "violent", in respect of the council. The rest of the story and evidence that this initial difference between Siri and Lefebvre would eventually be the origin of the gap in their paths: the first produced a fruitful commitment within the body of the Church, in fidelity to the Pope, to read the Council in continuity with the Church history, giving voice and words to those who, while critical of the Vatican did not want to lose the meaning and richness of their Catholic experience, and the second elicited the "escape" to Ecône, the break with the papacy , episcopal ordination without papal mandate, the excommunication and schism, in revolt against the same teaching that you wanted to defend to the hilt (as pointed out then in a press release of Communion and Liberation, "what happened to Ecône is a very serious injury to 'unity of the body of Christ, in front of which pales all the reasons put forward to explain it. The most serious consequence of this act of rebellion carried out to defend traditional values ​​is precisely to encourage opponents of the true tradition ").

It was precisely because of his love for the Catholic Church and its unity which Cardinal Siri, in the years before the excommunication, tried in every way to prevent what even then seemed like a possible painful schism within the Church . Fr Charlot, who had since joined the "Fraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary," replied positively to the invitation of Archbishop Lefebvre for a collaboration with his seminary. Charlot says: "We said yes, provided they accept our spirit: it was necessary to enter positively in a mystical vision of the Church, it was necessary to learn the conciliar reforms and try to give them life with the spirit of the eternal Church. It was not closed, Lefebvre. But he was surrounded with people ... he did not want to hear about the forms of the Mass. They would have deserted him if he had accepted the point of view of Siri. Here ended the estimation of Siri for Lefebvre. "    SOURCE


"But Siri did not merely try to serve as a mediator between the Rome of Paul VI and then to John Paul II and the ultratraditionalist french. He sought in fact up until the very last to prevent schism. AND to confirm it in a way no doubt still remains the extreme message, dated June 22, 1987, sent to Archbishop Lefebvre, before he proceeded to those consecrations, which in fact were to cut the communion among the priests of Ecône with the successor of Peter.

"Monseigneur - the Cardinal wrote in the note to become a valuable point of reference for those historians who, in the future, prepare to analyze, sine ira et studio (without anger or fondness), the turbulent years of the post-conciliar period - I beg you on my knees do not detach from the Church. You have been an apostle, a great bishop; You must stay at your place. At our age we stand before the door to eternity. Think about it. always look forward, here in the church and then in paradise " . But unfortunately these heartfelt words did not follow any response."    SOURCE

How Cardinal Siri tried to Avoid the Schism of Lefebvreby Gianteo Bordero

A bold and courageous attempt, driven by a truly Catholic spirit, and aimed at preserving the unity of the Church. This was what Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, Archbishop of Genoa from 1946 to 1987, decided to take with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre before the latter was subject to latae sententiae excommunication, following the ordination of four bishops consecrated without the necessary authorization of the Pope in 1988.

The relationship between the Siri and Lefebvre began during the years of Vatican II, when around the Archbishop of the capital of Liguria, the then President of CEI [NLM: the Italian Episcopal Conference], there gathered a significant group of members of the episcopate who were against the twisting of the Council into an assembly for a radical break with the tradition of the Church. On the evening of October 22, 1963, in the midst of debate about the conciliar documents on the Church (which caused the resounding statement of the position of Pope Paul VI in the Nota Praevia of 16 November 1964 on the meaning of the word 'collegiality') the two met at the first meeting of what would later become the Coetus Internationalis Patrum, a group that originally collected thirty Fathers' worried and dissatisfied with the work on the Council floor" (Benny Lai, Il Papa non eletto, Laterza 1993), coordinated by the Brazilian Bishop Gerardo de Proença Sigaud and by the same Archbishop Lefebvre.

In the months immediately following, during a break of the Council deliberations, Lefebvre decided to send to Genoa, Father Christian Charlot, then a seminarian and his aide, to meet with Cardinal Siri and suggest the creation of an international seminary in which young men destined for the priesthood could receive training in harmony with the Catholic tradition, in opposition to the progressive drift of much theology. Charlot, who later became a priest of the Fraternity of Mary and then a trusted collaborator of Siri, was interviewed by Father Raymond Spiazzi in the book “Cardinal Giuseppe Siri” (Edizioni Studio Domenicano, 1990): "On the matter of the seminary, he [Siri] said: 'It is an excellent thing, it must be well organized, but always in the spirit of the Church, in obedience". About the Coetus Internationalis Patrum: "Siri said it should our meetings should not destroy what the Church has established. He did not want a union of the Fathers of the Council, irrespective of role, to be a pressure group. If the Church had wanted him as a Cardinal, there was a reason; Cardinals must have one eye on the universal Church and to help the Pope in this."

[...]

It was precisely because of his love for the Catholic Church and its unity that Cardinal Siri, in the years leading to the excommunication, tried in every way to prevent what already seemed like a possible, painful schism within the Church. With Father Charlot, who meanwhile had become part of the "Fraternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary," [Siri] replied positively to the invitation of Archbishop Lefebvre for his collaboration with the seminary. Charlot recalls: 'We said yes, provided they would accept our spirit: to enter positively into a mystical vision of the Church, learn the conciliar reforms and try to enliven them with the spirit of the eternal Church. Lefebvre was not closed [to this].

[...]

[T]he efforts of the Genoese Cardinal to repair relations between Rome and Ecône remained alive and were greatest in subsequent years, after the suspension a divinis of Monsignor Lefebvre which occurred in 1976 due to the ordination of priests despite the prohibition imposed by the Vatican. Siri was very active on this subject in 1977-1978. In the last months of that year, after some second thoughts of Lefebvre and public words of appreciation from Lefebvre for the Cardinal during the second conclave of that year, [Siri] asked him to Genoa, proposing a plan of agreement: “full submission to the authority of the Pope and also full adhesion to the norms of the Council. The only request of Lefebvre concerned permission to celebrate Mass in Latin according to the rite of St. Pius V.” (B. Lai , Il Papa non eletto)

The cardinal was received in audience by Pope John Paul II on 13 November 1978 and then submitted to the pope the draft agreement that Lefebvre seemed willing to accept. Pope Wojtyla gave his consent and he decided to receive the founder of St. Pius X in the Vatican on November 18.

Siri advised John Paul II to inform of Lefebvre’s visit only, in person, Cardinal Franjo Seper, president of the Holy Office. And he suggested publishing only after the fact a brief report in L'Osservatore Romano which was to announce that the monsignor had "settled his difficulties with the Holy See." But something did not go well, and after the meeting between the Pope and Lefebvre there was no announcement of the peace made between the Holy See and the Fraternity of St. Pius X. 

[...]

Thus the attempt of Siri failed. If it had been successful, almost certainly the final break of 1988 would not have taken place, culminating with the excommunication and schism. On June 22 of that year, when Lefebvre announced his intention to ordain four bishops, the Genoese cardinal wrote to Lefebvre: "Monsignor, I beseech you on my knees not to break from the Church! You have been an apostle, a bishop, you must remain in your place. At our age we are at the door of eternity. Think! I am always waiting for you, here in the Church and later in Paradise ." It was yet another painful testimony of what was essential for Siri: love for the Church and unity of its members first of all.

[...]

© Copyright Ragionpolitica, February 3, 2009

SING THE MASS, NOT ONLY DURING MASS

A FREE TRANSLATION FROM THE ORIGINAL ITALIAN OF AN EXCELLENT ARTICLE ABOUT LITURGICAL SINGING

Sing the Mass, not only during Mass

July 1, 2013 to continuitas

The believer is sitting - maybe a little 'sleepy - in his pew, waiting for the beginning of the Mass. Trying  to recite some short aspiration to prepare his soul for the celebration. Then, behold, the bell rings. He sees the altar, the cross, the censer, the deacon and then the celebrant. Meanwhile, the choir begins to sing ... How many times have we seen this scene? Lots. Here we would like to focus very briefly on a somewhat 'neglected, in those moments, namely: the choir, the choir, the congregation, what is being sung? Many answers can be found: we should say, some beautiful Gregorian chant,  ... but we fear such cases are a bit 'rare. More often it is a part, more or less known, perhaps a bit 'pertaining to the liturgical season that you are experiencing. And how many songs are available! The booklets and composers for decades have indulged in providing so much material to the faithful, in good faith (no doubt). But certainly you can challenge two aspects. 

The first, that the products supplied to the faithful songbirds are of true quality. Of course, not all congregations can reach the levels of certain choirs. But let us remember that simplicity does not rhyme with sloppiness or vulgarization or vapid modernization. The true simplicity is something else,  to succeed with little intelligence to penetrate the mystery that is being celebrated. 

Second - and this is the primary topic of this post - we must note that it is now ingrained in our country, the habit to sing during the Mass and not to sing the Mass . 
To illustrate, we report a text which appeared in Notitiae n. 5 (1969), p. 406. The bulletin which  is the organ of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The words that we report do not belong to a real decree, but are still important.  Here they are:

Many submissions have been asked if it is still valid regarding the formula of the Instruction on Sacred Music and Sacred Liturgy of 3 weeks. 1958 n. 33: "In Missis lectis cantus populares religious fidelibus cantari possunt, servata tamen ut hac lege singulis Missae partibus congruant plane."

The formula is exceeded.

It is the Mass Ordinary and simply that, which must be sung, and not just "something else", however appropriate , which overlaps with the mass. Because the liturgical ' action is unique, has only one face, one accent, one voice: the voice of the Church. Continuing  singing motets, even devout and pious ones (like the Lauda Sion offertory on the feast of a saint), but unrelated to the Mass, in place of the texts of the Mass itself , means continuing unacceptable ambiguity: to give bran instead of common wheat, light wine watered down instead of generous wine.

Because we are interested in not only the melody in the chant, but the words, text, thought, feelings coated Poesi and melody. Now, these texts must be those of the Mass, not others. Singing the Mass, then, and not only sing during the mass.

These words are very clear, but must be investigated and considered a moment. 
During the Holy Mass, we have some predefined texts for singing, some of which are fixed in the text every Sunday (the Ordinary: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei), while others vary (the songs of Just like the hint of entry or that of communion.) 
In the extra-ordinary form of the Roman rite, the issue was resolved from the beginning with all the Masses by dividing into two major categories: Masses read and those sung . In the beginning of all the liturgical texts (including the Ordinary and precisely) were read by the priest, without singing them (however, the opportunity existed to add -  but be careful, not replace: by adding - some popular songs at fixed times). In the latter, most of the Mass was sung by the celebrant, the choir and the congregation. It was sung always and only with the texts established by the Church, which could not be replaced.

(Copyright http://www.lemissioni.org )

In Masses in the ordinary form, however, the majority of Masses took a hybrid form: some of it 'read, and some of it sung'. This is not in itself wrong. But it is beyond dispute that, while the songs of the ordinary on the whole remained  (though unfortunately traditional melodies are rarely used), these have virtually disappeared. Take for example yesterday, XIII Sunday in Ordinary Time (or,better said XIII per annum ). The antiphon was, all you peoples, clap your hands, shout to God with cries of joy. And that of Communion, however, was, O my soul, bless the Lord, 
all my being, bless his holy name. or "Father, pray for them, because they may be one, and the world may believe that thou hast sent me," says the Lord. still or moves decisively toward Jerusalem to meet Jesus in his Passion. So , we would urge all those who have heard these texts SUNG to raise his hand: no fear most probably have not. The composers, usually so prolific, in this regard they gave very few examples here and very few have dedicated music for the texts of the Proper of the Mass. Yet sing in the words of Scripture - because these antiphons are taken from Scripture - is the most traditional and ancient there is in the Sacred Liturgy. Use the Word of God itself - a guarantee of truth, unlike some ambiguous texts (not to mention erroneous) that are served up today - it's something that seems obvious and beautiful, but too rarely practiced and experienced. Still, it might seem that it would take so much effort: just simple melodies, there is no need whatever. We will come to accept that you also use the recto tone, just to hear those words in our churches! 

Some might argue that the IEC, in its Clarification annexed to the typical edition of the Roman Missal in Italian, stated that " In lieu of songs inserted in the liturgical books you can use other appropriate songs in the sacred action at the time and the character of the day or season, provided they are approved by the national Episcopal Conference or by the local or regional level . ", but there is no place that such songs on their own are certainly to be preferred  over the Ordinary of the Mass and to be promoted, as it is recognized immediately afterwards: " We urge the musicians and singers to make use of antiphonal texts of the day with some possible adaptation. "And do not forget that the same Cei , establishing the law concerning the liturgical language, writes that " It will be included in the repertoire of the Mass celebrated in the ordinary Italian songs of their own and possibly in Latin. "And 'This is a solution to resort to traditional melodies in Latin , which will probably come up with our readers better prepared. It would certainly be an excellent opportunity, which would not need even to create new melodies, since they exist already. In this way, moreover, they would be fulfilling the precepts of Vatican II and of the whole tradition of the Church, which has certainly favored the Gregorian chant and the rest of the church's musical heritage, including polyphony. With a little ' realism, however, we realize that this solution is not easily realized everywhere, and because not all the choirs support Gregorian chant, and because - especially! - There is a great aversion to this extraordinary and happy musical expression proper to the Roman liturgy.  So, with a view to the progressive improvement of the conditions prevailing in the musical liturgy, it seems that, at least as a transitional measure, the use of liturgical chants to music can finally be of no small advantage to the faithful, as well as for beauty, the dignity and decorum of the sacred rites. 

For the Ordinary just then sing the liturgical texts themselves, not modern pop songs that, after the fashion, pass also - and I do not want to detract from the beautiful works that were composed: only, it seems that in the face of Scripture and a practice that traditional songs tailored to the Ordinary should Just have to take second place. 
Hopefully the Lord will deign to raise in His Holy Church of the good and willing men and women of music , which is dedicated to this task with skill and competence!

I say with Cardinal Silvio Oddi, "Merci, Monseigneur"

June 30, 2013

 A very edifying posting from Ex Laodicea Blog

What should we think of Archbishop Lefebvre?

What should we think of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre? Today is the 25th anniversary of his historic action at Econe, when he consecrated four bishops to continue his work after his death: in his own words, ‘to preserve tradition, while waiting for tradition to regain its rights in Rome’. By tradition he meant both divine tradition and the ecclesiastical traditions that are closely bound up with the former. With regard to divine tradition, it was not that he considered that the Roman Church had  defined things contrary to revelation, but rather that a modus agendi had been adopted by the Roman authorities, from the pope downwards, profoundly inimical to certain revealed truths. In particular, he considered that the new ecumenism and new inter-religious dialogue obscured the dogma ‘no salvation outside the Catholic Church’; that the post-conciliar way of addressing civil authorities obscured the right of Christ to reign over all human societies; that the new Mass, both in itself and in its implementation, obscured the Sacrifice; that the new canon law and the approach adopted by the holy see towards bishops’ conferences obscured the right of the pope to rule over the Church. As for ecclesiastical traditions, which are as it were the bark protecting the sap of divine tradition, I have mentioned elsewhere many of those that were imperilled and all but destroyed after Vatican II.

Archbishop Lefebvre’s response to this unprecedented situation was not to deny the authority of the pope or the diocesan bishops. The bishops whom he consecrated were expressly not given jurisdiction, since he asserted that he had no right to give them jurisdiction. His business was to pass on the power of order, so that there would be validly consecrated bishops committed to tradition in its fullness. Jean Madiran, the veteran French commentator on Catholic affairs, was not willing to take up a public position in favour of the archbishop, which caused a painful rupture between them. But that makes his words about the four bishops consecrated all the more significant:-

Ils n’ont pas la carrure de Mgr Lefebvre. Mais ils sont eveques. Ils ont de ce fait, dans l’Eglise, une presence qu’on ne peut meconnaitre. Leurs propos, leurs comportement, parfois ou souvent, peuvent etre juges plus ou moins regrettables. Mais leur presence maintient de facon militante un temoignage episcopal contre la disparition du catechisme romain et contre l’interdiction ou le mepris de la messe tridentine. Sans Mgr Lefebvre et sans ses successeurs, il y aurait quand meme des pretres, des laics, des institutions militants pour la messe et le catechisme traditionnels; il y en a eu, il y en a dehors de la FSSPX: sans eveques, ils seraient loin d’avoir le meme poids (“Histoire de la messe interdite”, fasc. 2, p. 62, 2009 – apologies for the lack of accents).

{They do not have the same stature as Archbishop Lefebvre, but at least they are bishops. From this simple fact, they have a presence within the Church which cannot be ignored. We may consider that their words or behaviour are sometimes unfortunate, or often unfortunate; and yet simply by existing, they ensure that a vigorous protest is kept alive among the world’s bishops against the disappearance of the Roman Catechism, and against the prohibition of the Tridentine Mass, or the tendency to despise it. Doubtless, even without Archbishop Lefebvre and his successors there would still be priests, lay-men and organisations fighting for the traditional Mass and the traditional catechism. There have been and still are such outside the SSPX. But without the bishops, all these would be far from having the weight that they do.}

We cannot say ‘the old rite {etc} would have died out without the archbishop’, since we do not know what God would have done had Marcel Lefebvre not acted as he did. Probably there is no such thing as ‘what God would have done’. But we can say that, as a matter of fact, it was he who preserved it. From his decision to ignore as invalid the suspensio a divinis in 1976, and from his later decision to ignore the papal command not to proceed with the consecrations, has flowed, as a matter of fact, the Fraternity of St Pius X, Le Barroux, Quattuor Abhinc Annos, Ecclesia Dei Afflicta, the Fraternity of St Peter, the Institute of Christ the King, Summorum Pontificum, the Latin Mass Society training weeks… I should think there can be few priests in the world today saying the traditional Roman rite who could not trace out a shorter or longer lineage leading to the archbishop. Gesta Dei per Francos?

Of course, there is that matter of disobedience to a papal command, and that disputed question of whether the excommunication was incurred or not. To the latter question, it seems to me that it was not incurred, since canon law recognises the subjective conviction of necessity, even when erroneous and culpable, as excusing from this penalty. Who can confidently deny that the archbishop, whether or not erroneously or even culpably, thought that his action was necessary for the good of the Church? As for the former, St Thomas lays down two cases when it is not necessary to obey the command of a superior. Either his command is contrary to that of a higher superior, or else he is commanding in an area where he has no authority. The latter does not apply here, since the consecration of bishops is certainly within the authority of the pope. What of the former? The archbishop would have said, I believe, that he had, as a bishop, a general duty from God to hand on the episcopal grace to men who would uphold divine and ecclesiastical tradition at a time when these were gravely imperilled, and when there seemed to be no one else (apart from his co-consecrator) willing to act as he did. In other words, he would have argued that the pope’s command was contrary to that of the the pope’s own superior.

I do not think one can say a priori that it is impossible that things should ever become so bad that such a course of action would be justified. Whether things have in given circumstances become that bad is a judgement that a bishop must make before God according to such light as he possesses. Obviously it is about the gravest possible judgement that any man can be called on to make. It is not, I think, for those who were not in Marcel Lefebvre’s unique position to pass judgement upon his action. Light would have been offered him to see his way; whether he took it or not is the secret of God. And yet, for my part, when I think of the man and his life’s work, I cannot but echo those words that Cardinal Oddi is said to have spoken at the archbishop’s tomb in Econe on the 18th September, 1991: “Merci, Monseigneur”.

PRIDE AND DELUSION FROM 'CHRISTIAN ORDER'

Pride And Delusion

THE EDITOR

“The media gave a distorted picture of the Second Vatican Council.
 Now the real spirit of Vatican II needs to be examined.”

So Benedict XVI went down swinging in defence of his beloved Council. Quelle surprise! It was, after all, the culmination of his life's thought and work at the service of the Nouvelle Théologie.

In keeping with his "reputation [at the Council] for being a radical progressivist," as his Lutheran friend Oscar Cullmann fondly recalled, the suit-and-tie-wearing Father Ratzinger had been suspected of heresy by the Holy Office. He was even forced to rewrite a post-doctoral dissertation littered with his nouvelles propositions et ambiguïtés; neo-Modernist views which finally broke through in le verbiage pastoral of Vatican II that was to serve his stated purpose: "an official reconciliation with the new era inaugurated in 1789." Finally, after benighted millennia, the light was dawning. But then, like every false utopian dawn since Eden, it all fell apart. Surfing the tidal wave of la Révolution catholique, rebellious clerics wiped out every fixed reference point of Catholic faith and life; their self-indulgent novelties crashing like giant breakers over the faithful and dumping the Body of Christ in a wild sea of endless "change" for change's sake.

Rather than take manful responsibility, the liberal vanguard ploughed on: defending the indefensible; blaming everybody but themselves for the cataclysmic fallout (which their Thomistic teachers, like Fr Garrigou-Lagrange, repeatedly forewarned). And so, on 16 February, finger-pointing to the bitter end, Comrade Benedict informed the priestly proles of Rome that

The world interpreted the Council through the eyes of the media instead of seeing the real Council of the Fathers and of faith ... The journalists’ interpretation of the Council is different, it is political... The Council was violently trivialised and it was seen outside the context of faith.

Au contraire ex-Holy Father: "the real Council" was quickly identified by intellectual giants like Dietrich von Hildebrand as a revolutionary instrument of the Nouveaux Théologiens. Fifty disastrous years on, only those with a stake in that anti-Thomistic revolt deny the fact; seeking easy scapegoats for their destructive handiwork. For all its wickedness, however, it was not the sinful media but the sins of vapid churchmen that "violently trivialised" an Ecumenical Council of the Church. Just as it was restless pride —the besetting Modernist sin — that put the Council "outside the context of faith" and tied it to the zeitgeist. And since the child of revolutionary pride (personified by Robespierre) is Terror, it was that spirit — radiating from pastoral ambiguities to incite the terrifying Cult of Novelty — which laid waste to the Western Church with the blessing of complacent shepherds.

"Seminaries were closed, convents were closed, liturgy trivialized…." Reeling off the carnage and delusional disclaimers in turn, Benedict insisted that "the virtual Council was stronger than the real Council." But not to worry. Despite “so much calamity, so many problems,really so much misery,” he assured his captive audience that “50 years later… the strength of the real Council has been revealed."

Well, insofar as the "real Council" is the Trojan Horse in the City of God exposed by von Hildebrand just two years after its conclusion, its subversive power "has been revealed" — prodigiously! Yet we are stymied. For if ex-Benedict remains in stubborn denial about that réalité révolutionnaire, so do his cardinalatial peers: the nouvelles-Mods & nouveaux-Cons casting their first papal ballots as we go to press. Ergo, regardless of their choice, fabricated renewal tailored to the fabricated era "inaugurated in 1789" will likely power on; until such time as it peters out and we end up back at the counter-revolutionary default setting for all genuine renewal and reform — Tradition organique.

Mercifully, prominent mainstream theologians, historians and intellectuals are attacking the contrived status quo as never before. This discontent will gather and grow until the Trojan Horse-cum-Elephant in the room can no longer be ignored, and Pope John's ill-advised, revolutionary Council is wound back and wound up.

Meanwhile, the ensuing articles — especially Dr Rao's historical reflections, and Dr Hickson's fresh approach to the milieu which surrounded and inordinately permeated the commencement of Vatican II — help to place our recent past, troubling present, and worrisome future, in Providential perspective.

First liturgical reform of Pope Francis

THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 2013

First liturgical reform of Pope Francis

by abbé Guillaume de Tanoüarn

I borrow this short brief for It seems to me likely to be of interest to all metablogueurs:

First liturgical reform of Pope Francis:

It is dated May 1, it was enacted on June 19. Now, in the Eucharistic prayers 2, 3 and 4 will be marked as "St. Joseph the husband of Mary." Recall that in the Eucharistic Prayer No. 1 as in the traditional Roman Canon this mention already exists. It was added by Pope John XXIII, at the request of the Canadian Fathers of St. Joseph in Montreal, November 13, 1962, during the First Session of the Second Vatican Council. This is a subtle way to celebrate Vatican II! And show the continuity between Francis and Benedict, since the first issued a decision making study by the second.

We remember that the enthronement of Pope Francis had occurred on the day
 of St. Joseph (March 19) and we see that this document is dated May 1. Thus
we can say that the two feasts of St. Joseph are honored in this decision of June 19.
 Who is St. Joseph? I have already spoken on this blog March 19, 2011. The Pope
defined St Joseph on March 19 as "guardian" guardian of the Virgin, guardian of
the child, the guardian of the family of Christ which is the Church. Saint Joseph
is the conservative par excellence. Like all conservatives, he invents nothing, he
 does not create or procreate anything. But he takes care.  And when he must
 leave at night to escape the totalitarian rule of Herod, he is the one awoken. It
 seems to me that our Pope identifies quite well to a conservative saint. We can
say that he watches or takes care. This is a watchman at the head of the Church
 twenty-four hours on twenty-four.  Moreover, he does not claim to trigger
 a new Pentecost alone, such as his predecessors. He strives to do the best with
 what God has given him. And as it is a little Machiavellian (in the words of
 a former ambassador to Argentina), he seeks to pass for anything but conservative,
then that is what he is. For once, I feel some of you are already furbishing your
dialectical weapons knock me out. Pay Attention to what is called "conservative."
 It all depends on what you conserve.  He keeps  "the deposit" as St. Paul says to
 Timothy. He retains what he has received from the Lord, the grace, supernatural
 truth and the sacraments which are the effective signs. He does not preserve
 the venerable frills or a way of life that has its inevitable papal rites.  He
retains, by occupation and mission what makes us live - the Gospel
of life. His conservatism is revolutionary (as noted recently, we noted here).
I can not help thinking, with respect, that this revolutionary Christian
conservatism fits like a glove a Peronist he has not ceased to be. "The first
peronist pope in the world" proudly headlined the Argentine press four months
 ago. Well maybe that's what it means "a Peronist Pope" a conservative
 revolutionary. But back to that reform: This small addition is a new way to
 express in the liturgy the importance of the cult of saints ( in the venerable
 rite that I celebrate daily is full of famous celestial friends with two lists of
apostles and martyrs: it creates links to them by name every day.) It is also a
way in our confused times , to recall the importance of the family and that the
family is not based only on sex, which is why it is recalled that Joseph is "the
 husband of Mary." This is first and foremost a how to bring the two forms of
 the Roman rite, which will hopefully one day - not too far - be brought
 together as one form.  The idea of "reform of the reform" tends toward the
 ideal ... In this regard, let me take kindly Father Aulagnier which, in Item,
insists that the Institute of the Good Shepherd defends right to "belittle the
 Novus Ordo Missae". I do not know why Father Aulagnier expresses himself
 as if he were the Institute, he can think what he wants also, but I 
think myself that, whatever our rights, we, first of all,
as Catholics, have the duty to do everything possible to bring the new rite
 to the ancient rite. It seems to me that this small addition of St. Joseph
could mean the beginning of a reform of the reform, as it signaled the
beginning of the liturgical reform when John XXIII added to Canon in 1962.
John XXIII had dared touch the Canon, so we could change it, he thought, at
 the time. Well our revolutionary conservative pope dared touch the new guns,
 leaving intact the old to reconcile them. My opinion is that we did not finish
touching the Novus Ordo Missae: not to disparage but to better appreciate
 what Pope Benedict XVI called the "continuity" of the liturgical history Church.

BISHOP RUDOLF GRABER ON VATICAN II

BISHOP RUDOLF GRABER (1903-1992)

AUTHOR OF "ST ATHANASIUS AND THE CHURCH OF OUR TIME"



....A few years ago, Bishop Rudolf Graber asked, "Where do the conciliar texts speak of communion in the hand, for example, or where do they enjoin the so-called altar facing the people (which is scant testimony to that `giving perfect glory to God' which the Liturgy Constitution says [in Par. 5] is the goal and purpose of worship)? The answer is: NOWHERE. This good bishop went on to mention a number of other things which fall into the same category: elimination of the subdiaconate and the four minor orders the monotonous enumeration of "Sundays in ordinary time" _ while the Protestants of course have retained the pre-Lenten season and the Sundays "after Trinity" <de facto> abandonment of Latin as liturgical language of the Western Church; elimination of the second imposition of hands during priestly ordination, and many others.....

. http://www.ewtn.com/library/LITURGY/FR94103.TXT

WOE TO THE WORLD BECAUSE OF SCANDALS

"But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of scandals. For it must needs be that scandals come: but nevertheless woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh."

Matthew 18:6-7


"AND he said to his disciples: It is impossible that scandals should not come: but woe to him through whom they come. It were better for him, that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should scandalize one of these little ones."   

Luke 17:1-2


"Now the Spirit manifestly saith, that in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error, and doctrines of devils,"

1 Timothy 4:1

OUR LADY OF GOOD SUCCESS TO MOTHER MARIANA DE JESUS TORRES (1563-1635):

“depraved priests, who will scandalize the Christian people, will incite

 the hatred of the bad Christians and the enemies of the Roman, 

Catholic and Apostolic Church to fall upon all priests. This apparent triumph

 of Satan will bring enormous sufferings upon the good pastors of the Church.”

The Eponymous Flower: St. Josemaria Escriva Didn't Want to Say New Mass

The Eponymous Flower: St. Josemaria Escriva Didn't Want to Say New Mass: Edit: a few Saints have profanity in their correspondence. St. Josemaria certainly does. Although this may scandalize some Opus Dei member...

Wounded in the house of them that loved Me - Vultus Christi

"The Erosion of Faith Several years ago, in the context of a course I was teaching, I suggested that the erosion of faith in the Most Holy Eucharist was, in fact, fostered by a number of liturgical and disciplinary changes: -- Minimalistic approach to the fast before Holy Communion. -- The offering of the Holy Sacrifice by the priest facing the congregation. -- The removal of the communion rail and obfuscation of the sanctuary as "the holy place." -- The relegation of the tabernacle to the side of the sanctuary. -- The reception of Holy Communion standing, and in the hand. -- The introduction of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Taken together, these changes sent a chilling message to the Catholic faithful (and even to confused clergy): "Folks, the Blessed Sacrament just isn't all that we thought it was."

Dom Mark Daniel Kirby

Wounded in the house of them that loved Me - Vultus Christi

vultus.stblogs.org

And they shall say to him: What are these wounds in the midst of your hands? And he shall say: With these I was wounded in the house of them that loved me. (Zechariah 13:6)WOUNDED IN THE HOUSE OF THEM THAT LOVE ME