Ordination Sermon
Bishop Fellay’s Sermon given during the ceremony of the ordinations, St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, Winona, June 17, 2011
While we are still contemplating the great mystery of Pentecost, this marvelous and extraordinary intervention of the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity in the world, in creation, in the birth of our dear Mother, the Catholic Church—yes, while we are still in this blessed Time, Divine Providence allows us to confer the Sacrament of Holy Orders on future deacons and priests.
When we speak of the Holy Ghost, we speak of a Person within the Most Holy Trinity Who has been sent to creation with a very special mission. This mission is to sanctify, to bring holiness to His creatures, to elevate them to the supernatural world, the world of God, and to transform this earth into a prelude of Heaven. Of course, here on earth we know that life is a daily struggle, for it is a period of trial. As we know, the name of the Church on earth is the Church Militant, and it must constantly fight to fulfill its mission, the mission of saving souls. The Church will constantly be under attack from the devil and his allies. Similarly, the members of the Church will be under attack: even more so those who are closer to Our Lord and have received a special mission in this battle.
It is always impressive to see priests and deacons: Impressive because if we look at them solely with our human eyes, we do not see them as being much different from other men. If we remain on this natural level, we may even see a cassock—something that distinguishes them from others—but that is still not a great difference. However, the only way to see correctly the reality of a priest and of a deacon is by seeing only with the eyes of faith. We need a supernatural vision to understand who they are, to understand the greatness of the ceremony that we are attending: a ceremony that surpasses any human activity. We are, dear brethren, present at something that is so breathtaking: God Himself will choose certain souls from all humanity, souls that He will touch and transform, imprinting on them something that only they can have—the Character of the priesthood. The deacon will already participate in the priesthood, though, of course, the priest will participate to a higher degree. The Church tells us that this Character is nothing other than a participation in what we call the Hypostatic Union.
When we speak of the Hypostatic Union, we speak of the marvelous union between the human nature and the divine, a union that we find in Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Hypostatic Union is, in fact, precisely what makes Jesus a Priest. The priest is a mediator, one who stands in the middle, between God and man. Moreover, as Jesus is a partaker of both the human and divine nature, He is the only one who stands and can truly stand between God and man. Ambassador of man to God, He is the Mediator who was sent by the Father to save us. The action of salvation consists of a terrible reality: the Passion and Death of Our Lord. Our Lord, who is both Victim and Sovereign Priest, offered the sacrifice of His own death to pay for sin, to save us, to win for us God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness and ultimately Heaven. When God makes priests, He wants to give them such dignity that He makes them partakers of precisely what makes Jesus Priest. This union between the priest and the High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, is beyond all understanding! It makes the priest the most important man on earth, higher in rank than any political governor, prince, king, or president whatsoever. They busy themselves with the happenings of the world; the priest is absorbed with eternity. If there is anyone who is in charge of the destiny of mankind, it is the priest, who is chosen by God Himself. The priest stands daily before the Infinite Majesty of God, renewing the sacrifice of Our Lord Himself and, one might say, “doing business” with God concerning the salvation of souls. The priest offers to God the only sacrifice worthy of God, the only one that can pay for and repair the damage of man’s sin. God has entrusted the priest with the task of giving souls the treasures of the bounty of God, the forgiveness of sins, and Jesus Himself in the Holy Eucharist. However, once again, to grasp something of this mystery and to enter into it, we need faith.
We look at the world today; we try to find this faith… Where is it? Even when you look to the Church, there is something appalling in the loss of understanding of all these mysteries that we have just described. If there is anyone who is unknown today, it is the priest. Even the official documents of the Church after the Council mention a crisis of the identity of the priest, which means that the priest no longer knows who he is…. How can that be? Where is the root of the problem? My dear brethren, I think we can say that it comes from a lack of awareness of God. Modern man no longer knows who God is. Man turns to his imagination, he invents his gods, he makes up something in his little head. He no longer accepts this objective God, this God Who is our Creator, Who is outside our little world, Who is infinite, almighty, eternal, Divine Providence–a God who at every moment and for all time is the Sovereign, who is in control of everything, who dictates everything, who is infallible in His Providence. He is the God who, nevertheless, gave His creatures the freedom to merit with their actions; this means, my dear brethren, that whatever a man chooses to do will be either good or evil. A good action will be rewarded; an evil one will be punished. If we put God in His place, we must also put man in his place, and this correlation between man and God will be either a marvelous story or a tragedy. Or both. Because every time creatures perform good actions, they please God. If they do something evil, not only do they do something evil, but they also “violate” God’s commandment and offend God Himself, His majesty. This understanding of the terrible consequences of human actions—especially the behavior we call sin—is forgotten today. Modern man does not know what sin is; he is ignorant of the consequences, particularly of the most terrible consequences both here on earth and after this life. The consequence here on earth is death. The reason why death came into being—death awaits every one of us!—is because of the very first sin—only one sin, my dear brethren!—of our parents, Adam and Eve, and as a result every human being will die. And still we can tolerate sin so easily? We can disregard it? What about the consequences that are no longer mentioned—hell, the worst consequence of sin! They do not speak of it nowadays, and when they do, they say no one is there! This tragedy of an eternity of unhappiness, of suffering, is terrible! Separation from God for all eternity: this is called hell. This can easily be the end of man if he does not behave, if he does not follow God’s commandments. It is the mission of the Church to do what she can to take this destiny away from humankind, to bring souls to heaven and not to hell. It is not difficult: avoid sin, avoid offending God and do not presume, “Well, that’s not too serious!” or “It is so easy to get God’s forgiveness,” and so on. No, sin is serious! And when we understand that, we understand better the role of the priest who, every day, is exposed to this drama, yes, to the eternal destiny of man. To the priest has been given the power to open heaven, to free souls who are in the bonds of sin, in the claws of the devil. This is why we have priests, so we can be saved and go to heaven. If we do not have priests, woe to us! We cannot sufficiently appreciate the gift God gives us today by giving us more priests! We must thank God—oh, yes!—let us really thank God for giving us more priests who will renew the sacrifice of Our Lord, who will stand like Jesus on the Cross, begging for forgiveness, for God’s mercy, paying for sin and giving souls God’s grace.
All this work is done with the Holy Ghost (we are in the Octave of the Holy Ghost), and when we speak of priests, we speak of a very special relationship between the Holy Ghost and the priest and the deacon. If there is an ordination in which we can see this to the highest degree, it is, I think, in that of the deacon. In the form of the sacrament itself, while the bishop imposes his hand on the head of the deacon, he says, “Accipe Spiritum Sanctum–Receive the Holy Ghost.” “Ad robur–Be strengthened….” “Ad resistendum diabolo–to resist the devil” and his temptations. That is the perception of the Church. When she makes deacons, she calls for the help of the Holy Ghost to resist the devil and to fight against his temptations.This is the belief of the Church, not what they say today. And it continues in the form itself why and by which deacons are made deacons: “Emitte ignis”–send forth and place in them the gifts of the Holy Ghost, His sevenfold gifts. It is impressive, my dear brethren, to see this action. We must reflect that it is God Himself, in the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, who is coming into each one of them and is transforming and supernaturally strengthening them for the superhuman fight against the fallen angels, this fight to save souls. For the priest, too, there is mention of the Holy Ghost, for this work of sanctification is the Holy Ghost’s work. Let us ask the angels and the Blessed Virgin Mary to give us a better and deeper understanding of this work of God and of how close He is to us.
My dear brethren, you would certainly like to hear something about the Society’s present situation. Where do we stand? What’s going on? I would prefer to tell you that it’s all sunshine or all clouds, but I have to tell you what it’s like today: we have clouds and sun! This is the case to such an extent that, for the last two years, we have constantly faced contradiction. Already two years ago, in 2009, I requested a meeting with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone, because of the difficulty of the contradictions that we are always facing. I do not exaggerate the word “contradiction.” What does it mean? It means that we receive from Rome contradictory messages; some will tell you this and some will tell you that. It’s not only divergence; it’s contradiction.
Of course we think about it and ask why it is the case. Where does it come from? Our understanding is that, in Rome, as in the whole Church, there are different currents. To simplify, let’s call them the progressive and conservative currents. There are certain churchmen who are close to us and who like to see us be fostered. But there are others who hate us, this being the only phrase which correctly describes their behavior towards us. They hate us and they are in Rome. Sometimes things come from them and sometimes from the others.
Let me give you an example which took place last September. A priest who used to belong to a religious order and who had just joined us received a letter from his former superior. He was told that he was no longer a member of his order and that he was excommunicated. To this letter was joined a letter of confirmation from the Congregation in charge of religious in Rome, stating the following: “Father is indeed no longer member of your order because he is excommunicated as he has lost the Faith by joining the formal schism of Archbishop Lefebvre.” This letter was dated last September!
So I went to Rome and asked the Secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Commission what this was all about. He did not even let me finish the passage which I was reading from this letter before he said: “I know already. We–the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith–have told the Congregation for Religious that they do not have the right to say something like that. They are incompetent, and they have to revise their judgment.” He then continued: “This is what you have to do with this letter” and acted like he was throwing it away. That’s the gesture he made! In other words, take it and put it in the trash can. So one authority in Rome is asking me to throw away another Roman authority’s decision. Is that not a contradiction? He continued by saying the following: “You must tell your priests and faithful that not everything that comes from Rome comes from the pope!” I said to him: “It’s impossible. How do you want the faithful and the priests to be able to make that judgment? What comes from Rome comes from the pope! Or else one might say what pleases me comes from the pope and what displeases me does not come from the pope!”
With such an example, my dear brethren, you have to understand that there is a serious problem in Rome. If an authority tells us: “Be aware that not everything that comes from Rome comes from the pope,” where does it then come from? How is it possible? Rome, the Vatican, is supposed to be the right hand of the pope. This means that the pope is no longer in control.
When I speak of contradiction, my dear brethren, I mean that certain people in Rome consider us as being outside the Church, excommunicated, and even as having lost the Faith and being heretics. But there are others who very clearly accept us as Catholics. When Bishop de Galarreta and our priests go to Rome for the doctrinal discussions, they say Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. How can you have both attitudes at the same time? Do you see how strong this contradiction is? My dear brethren, that’s why you can understand that we are very cautious. We are not going to throw ourselves into this turmoil, however much we welcome the sun but hide ourselves from the clouds.
Who is going to win in the Holy See? We have so many examples where we see that, when the pope wants to do something good, he’s blocked or paralyzed. I will give another of so many examples. The only Trappist abbot in Germany requested from the pope to return, not only to the Tridentine Mass, but to be able to restore the Rule and Constitutions that were in place prior to Vatican II. The pope granted it and, in order to make it possible, he removed him from the Benedictine Federation, which uses modern Rules, so that he could follow the old one. The pope placed the abbey directly under himself. Six months later, the abbot called a friend in Rome and asked him what was going on. “I have no news,” he said. His friend replied: “Write again to the Pope, but this time send the letter to me and I will personally take it to the Pope,” which he did. He brought the letter and asked the Holy Father what was happening with this abbey. The pope, very surprised, said: “I granted the permission six months ago!” An inquiry was made and they found out that someone–we know exactly who it was–had put the letter in a drawer at the Secretary of State’s office. This time, this friend–who told me the story personally, so there is no hearsay–said to the Holy Father: “Write concesso (“permission granted”) in the letter and I will take care of it. I will bring the news to the abbey.” By doing this, they went around the Secretary of State to give news of the Pope’s decision. This is just one example.
To show you how limited the pope himself is in his actions, look at the recent text about the Tridentine Mass. This is yet again a beautiful example of the contradictory forces which are in Rome. On the one hand, it’s very obvious that there is a desire, with this text, to spread the Mass everywhere, to make it possible for every soul to have access to not only the old Mass, but to the old way the sacraments were given: all of the liturgical books are put at everyone’s disposal. But at the same time, there are surprising restrictions. The first restriction, which is very surprising, is that modern seminarians cannot have the old rite. Only those who are under the Ecclesia Dei Commission can be ordained according to the old way. Why then is it said that the pontifical which provides the old rite of ordination is put at their disposal?
But I may say that there is something worse. On the one hand, you have this desire to put the old Mass at the disposal of all the souls in the whole world. But then you have Paragraph 19 which says that those who want to be the beneficiaries of this must neither belong to groups nor even help those who are against the New Mass. But 95 percent of those who want the old Mass are against the New Mass! Why do we want the old Mass? If we were satisfied with the New, we wouldn’t even think about the old one! Those who are against the validity or the legitimacy of the New Mass are deprived of the old one. For them: nothing! That is no longer an act of reconciliation; that’s an act of war!
I think that the only way to explain how such divergences are possible in one text is precisely these divergences within the Vatican itself. Each party tries to get something. And, of course, we are in the middle of this mess.
So you hear all kinds of rumors: absolutely everything possible and impossible! Please, my dear brethren, don’t run after these rumors. If we know something, we will tell you. We have never hid anything and we have no reason to hide what’s going on with us. If we don’t tell you anything, it’s because nothing is happening. Some people say that something is going to happen. No; this is not true! The truth is that Cardinal Levada has called me to Rome, and it appears that it will be around the middle of September. That’s the only thing I know. It’s about the discussions we had with Rome. After these discussions, it had been said that “the documents will be given to the higher authorities.” These are the exact words. That’s the only thing I know about the future. All the rest is made up. Please don’t run after these rumors.
All this shows, my dear brethren, that the fight is continuing. There are two dangers today, if I may say. The first is to be under the illusion that everything is fine, everything is finished, the fight is over. That, however, is an enormous illusion. I can guarantee you, my dear brethren, that if and when Rome finally corrects this canonical situation, the fight will start. It will not be the end! But we are not there yet. How long do we have to wait? I don’t know; I have no idea! We will continue to say that there is a crisis in the Church. Sometimes it’s really frustrating because in Rome they give the impression that everything is fine, and the next day we talk to them it’s not. These are the words from the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: “But you know, it’s the priests, it’s the bishops, it’s the Catholic universities: they are full of heresies!” That’s what the Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith told us in June 2009! So they know that the situation in the Church is dramatic. If they are able to say that it is full of heresies everywhere, it really means something! At the same time, they act as if everything is fine. It is disappointing and confusing, my dear brethren, but that’s the situation.
Therefore, don’t get caught up in all these illusions. But at the same time, don’t let discouragement touch you. It’s true that this fight is long, but we cannot change that. The devil remains the devil and we are not going to make peace with the him. It’s going to last as long as God wants, but we have all we need for this fight: grace and the support of God. So we must continue in this fight with serenity and without discouragement. It’s so clear that we are blessed by God. The traditional Mass that we are celebrating is nurturing the Christian spirit inside of us, the spirit of Christ, which teaches us that we have to stay away from the world, to make moderate use of earthly goods, and that what is most important is not here on earth. What is most important is God, heaven, our eternal destiny.
My dear brethren, if I call you to this Rosary Crusade, it’s precisely to help you get out of these traps, both of illusion and of discouragement. In this prayer, in this chain of roses which unites us to the Blessed Virgin Mary, we are sure to be under her protection and to be fighting the right fight. She will lead us! Do not fear; the good Mother is not going to abandon her children. Be generous, be really generous in these prayers. We cannot expect good things for the Church through human means. No, we expect them by supernatural means and prayer precisely is one of the mightiest means we have.
So, my dear brethren, I invite you to pray the rosary and to pray it well. The quantity does not matter so much as the quality: the way you pray. Why did the Blessed Virgin Mary bring the rosary to St. Dominic? What was her purpose? It was to unite the faithful with God in contemplation by meditating upon the events in the life of our Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary. That’s the purpose of the rosary. It’s not just to say 15 decades or a certain number of rosaries, but it’s like the melody, the background music which helps us meditate on the mysteries which unite us with Our Lord Jesus Christ and with the Blessed Virgin Mary. So let us pray well! A well-prayed rosary, we can be certain, is a very, very powerful thing. Sister Lucy of Fatima dared to say that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave a special efficaciousness to this prayer in such a way that the rosary would be the solution to all problems.
My dear brethren, in continuing this ceremony, let us place ourselves under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and under the protection of the Holy Ghost, asking Him to set the world afire, to put the flame of charity more and more into these priests and deacons that they, in turn, set the world afire, the invincible fire of charity, the love of God and of one’s neighbor for the love of God. Amen.
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