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The 1979 Ordination Sermon delivered
by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. My dear brethren, What do you think of this ceremony today? What have you in your minds and hearts at the sight of all the priests here present and particularly in view of these deacons who in a few moments, with the grace of God, will have become priests? I am persuaded that your heart is full of joy, of consolation at the thought of the multiplication of priests of the Catholic Church. For it is indeed the Catholic Church present here today and you have the proof of this in the great number and diversity of priests who have come from the entire world. I salute, in particular, Monsignor Ducaud-Borget who has come from Paris expressly in order to assist at this ceremony, he who in the capital of France is the valiant defender of the Tradition of the Catholic Church. I salute equally Monsignor Donahue who has come especially from America, from Los Angeles, in order to assist at this ceremony. These are testimonies which show us at the same time the profound convictions which all of these priests, who are present, have of the need of a renewal in the Church but renewal based upon the Tradition of the Church; upon that which has made the grandeur of the Church in the past; that which still makes it in the present, and that which will make it in the future. It is these same principles which would respond to the question of those who yet would wonder: Why Ecône? Why this Seminary? Why the priestly Society of St. Pius X? See these priests, these future priests, these seminarians. See all of these religious who are here, present from diverse congregations, of diverse nationalities and I should make allusion to our dear Carmelites who are most certainly united with us in heart but who are not able to come for they have the cloister and they desire to keep the cloister. They are with us and they pray for us; and all those religious who are absent and were not able to come today, but who are united in heart and prayer with us. All that is the Church. And you dearest faithful who are present, you represent also the Christian families—Catholic families— who defend their faith and do not want to allow themselves to be invaded by error, by heresy, by immorality, by the removal of faith in God and of Catholic morals. All this is a great testimony. Ecône—it is the faith of the Church. Ecône— it is the moral of the Church. Ecône forces itself to be the holiness of the Church and I will add, without fear, this term which in certain ears will create a certain emotion, that Ecône has the politics of the Church; for the Church has politics. The Church knows what Christian society is. The Church has forged it, she formed it during the course of the centuries. During nearly twenty centuries the Church has inspired all of Christian Europe—Catholic Europe. She has directed it. She has directed all of society which was otherwise oriented. Its justice was other than that in which we live today because the Church has her principles—eternal principles—principles of her faith and her faith is nothing other than Our Lord Jesus Christ: the living Son of God as St. Peter expressed it, he who was worthy to be the founding rock of the Church, "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God". Christ, the Son of the living God, has shown us that which it was necessary to do and in particular by His cross, by His priesthood, by His immolation on the cross, by all of His blood poured forth; he has shown us that to be the Son of God, to be Catholic, is to have the heart filled with charity, filled with love, and to be ready to give one's life for others. Our Lord Jesus Christ has shown us this example and He shows it continually upon the altar. The altar is nothing other than the place of sacrifice; the altar of sacrifice where love immolates itself; the charity .and that which manifests it and which gives the grace to practice this charity from whence the utility of the priesthood. The Church is not able to put aside the priest because if there were no priests there would no longer be the Sacrifice of the Mass. There would no longer be the Sacrifice of the Cross. There would no longer be this Source. This source of love of charity which so remarkably expresses itself in the sacrifice of Our Lord. We see Him with His Heart pierced, His head bowed, His hands and His feet also pierced—all this by love for us. This is the sacrifice of the altar. Thus, this magnificent example is a source of charity, a source of the Holy Ghost who "invades "us when we receive Holy Communion—the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. There is then the lesson which the Church gives us, there is that which the Church thinks and there is what She has done through the course of the centuries. Thus Ecône continues. Ecône continues the Church with the same principles, with the same faith, with the same charity, with the same convictions and we are persuaded of this—filled with the same spirit, with the spirit of Our Lord Jesus Christ who has manifested Himself in all of the holiness of the Church through the course of the centuries. Why then this situation of Ecône? A situation which, let us hope, will soon be resolved for the greater good of the Church? It is that in face of the Church the citadel of Satan has built itself and today it well hopes to have the victory—they are indeed close. All is organized. All is prepared to crush the Church, to make it disappear, to make the name of Our Lord disappear, to make the priesthood disappear, to make the faith disappear. All is ready because for centuries Satan has prepared it. He has prepared it in his secret meetings which Have given as foundation of their legislation; opposed to the legislation of the Church, opposed to the legislation of love—the celebration of the Rights of Man in 1789 and in 1948. They are identical, both, and they may be translated simply: the right to despise the rights of others, the right to lack charity, the right to no longer fulfill one's duties, the right of force. There is this declaration and we see its deplorable results—physical force. The force of an army which invades a country as all the communist countries have been invaded; force of money which commands the world; force of political power which placed as the basis of governments—no longer the rules of charity; no longer the decalogue; no longer the "Sermon on the Mount" which asks man to sacrifice himself for his neighbor, to give himself for his neighbor. No! Their principles are principles which destroy society, which destroy man and which are a continual scandal. We see today the atrocious effects of this, it must be said, humanity is seen as never before. That a mother may assassinate her child without being punished and by the hundreds of thousands, by millions. That cries for vengeance! The blood of these children cries for vengeance before God; the blood of these innocents is a disgrace for our civilization and that because they have replaced the decalogue and Christian principles, the principles of the Church by the rights of man. The rights of man—which as I have been saying to you is" the right to kill one's neighbor, it is the right to despise one's neighbor, it is the right to steal, it is the right to crush. Simply think of the dear Vietnamese who today perish in the sea. Who perish of hunger. Why? In order to flee the hell of communism-, in order to flee their dear country of Vietnam where they had been at home. They indeed had rights in their homeland. What are their rights now? Who defends their rights today? They no longer have the right to approach the land-the land which has been given to all men. They have simply the right to die at sea! And how many? How many have escaped upon fragile crafts and have perished in the sea? Think of the Cambodians massacred today in our age when one says that science has made marvelous things. This science, for what does it serve if not only to crush others more rapidly and more efficaciously. Let us take guard! Let us take guard of the promises of Fatima. They indeed risk to be realized and we well risk, perhaps, seeing them if God gives us life to do so. The Blessed Mother clearly said that the end of the Twentieth Century, if man did not convert and return to the law of God, to the application of the law of God, would see terrible chastisements. She said this in 1917 at a time when no one would yet have been able to think of atomic bombs but she said that water would be transformed into vapors and that fire would descend from heaven and that those who will be living will wish to die before the atrocities that they will see! This is what awaits us with these principles of the rights of man. This is what awaits us with this contempt of neighbor, this contempt of God and when one considers that this is done by Catholics— by those who have been baptized and call themselves Catholics and who are chiefs of state—it is a scandal! We must pray, my dear brethren, that the Holy Ghost will enlighten them. This citadel of Satan which has been raised against the citadel of God has cause, unfortunately, many Catholics to lose their faith. Many of them have believed it necessary to ally themselves to the force, with powers to those who have money and thus they have made compromises. It is these that one calls liberal Catholics, condemned by Pope Pius IX, condemned by Pope Leo XIII, condemned by St. Pius X. All these Catholics who have come to terms with the enemy and those who play the game of the enemy—it is these who have penetrated in Rome and it is these who have inspired the Second Vatican Council and all of its consequences. Thus we are in complete confusion. Instead of teaching the good and true catechism they teach anything. They place in doubt all the truths of the Church. Instead of teaching the morals of the Church they place all in doubt and permit all "experiences". Rather than teaching the faith of the Church they "research" and they place all the principles of the Church in doubt. Thus our Church is infiltrated. It is in the process of "auto-destruction" as Pope Paul VI said. We must then resist. We must hold fast. We must contiue the Church. It is not possible that the good Lord will not aid us and He does so. How is it possible that in the space of ten to fifteen years so many priests, so many religious have understood that it was necessary to resist, that it is necessary to maintain our faith at all costs in spite of the persecutions, in spite of the difficulties, in spite of the trials. The Lord one day will permit, we have no doubt, that we will be recognized; not only recognized but thanked for having defended the Tradition of the Church. Thanked for having made priests who are true priests and who have profound convictions and who have as a program for their life the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and who want to put this into practice. There is the salvation of our civilization! There is the salvation of souls! There is the Church! I then wholeheartedly congratulate you, my dear brethren, for having come to encourage our young Levites who indeed will have difficulties to conquer in the exercise of their ministry; difficulties of all sorts due precisely to the general confusion in which we live, due to this satanic organization which seeks to destroy the Church. But you will help them by your prayers and you will help them by all of your means. You will return to your homes everywhere, determined to maintain your Catholic faith and especially that of your children. Protect that of your children in order that afterwards generations will rise, Catholic generations, who will re-make a Christian society and who will restore justice, love, and peace in the states, in civilization and in all nations. That is what we ask the good Lord today. Let us pray to the Holy Ghost, today, who is certainly present among us in a very special way. Let us pray to the Holy Ghost to give the Pope force and courage to conquer all of the opposition which surrounds him, in order that he accomplish a veritable renovation of the Church upon the eternal principles, upon the eternal sacrifice, upon the eternal sacraments. Let us ask the Holy Ghost today for our Holy Father the Pope who needs this succour in order to take the necessary courageous measures to “re-give" the Church her faith, her morals and her Christian civilization so that souls may be saved. We ask this particularly of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she who is certainly very close to us today, who rejoices in this assembly, who rejoices in these young deacons who are going to become priests, sons of Mary. For if there is anyone who here on earth understood the program of the cross it is indeed the Blessed Virgin Mary who assisted at the agony of Our Lord and who understood the admirable mystery of the love of Jesus for us. Let us also ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to come in aid and support the Pope in an action of renovation in the Church. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Courtesy of the Angelus
Press, Regina Coeli House |
