July 1978 Print

When I wrote the following pages, I had already made my final decision to study for the priesthood as a member of the Society of Saint Pius X under Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. But since I could not apply for admission to the seminary at such a late date, after my graduation from public high school in 1973, I took advantage of a scholarship which Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C, had offered me, and went there to continue my studies for a year before entering the seminary.

At the university, most of the young men and women whom I encountered and befriended had received their education in Catholic schools, and had accepted in good faith and without much concern the new religion of the 'conciliar Church,' having lived in daily contact with it. However, none of them insulted me for my traditional convictions; in fact, our friendly discussions of religious questions occasionally lasted several hours.

To explain to these friends in an orderly fashion my desire to become a traditional priest, I set my ideas down on paper. In order to avoid any inaccurate statements, and to prove that I desired nothing other than what the Church had always expected from her priests, I laid aside the rules of literary elegance to rely rather heavily on quotations from other authors on the Holy Priesthood—bishops and priests, Popes and Saints of past ages and of our time.

Douglas Laudensctitager
Pentecost Monday, 1978

 

One cannot consider the matter of the Holy Priesthood today without also considering the situation of the Church as a whole. And with no evasion, in all honesty, I can only say that one could hardly imagine a picture more frightening, more dreadful, more grievous, than that which I, and concerned Catholics like myself, see in Christendom today. Only the blind or insane, those who "having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not," could dare to deny that the Church has fallen into chaotic disorder.

Countless authors of various reputations have written a multitude of books on this subject; entire periodicals in all the major countries report it, discourse upon it, and lament over it regularly. I could not begin to cover the subject in a paper five times the length of this; but I must outline what I mean so that my subsequent statements may be understood.

Previously, heretics would attack a specific doctrine—perhaps the Eucharist, or Church authority, or justification, etc. But the heresy which ravages the Church today has assaulted every aspect of Catholic faith and morals. It combines Modernism, the "synthesis of all heresies," with the evolutionism of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. "It is for this reason, I believe, that we are now faced with a complete system which we cannot readily accept, but which is extremely difficult to oppose since the traditional, the true definitions are no longer permitted." (Archbishop Lefebvre.) Unfortunately, due to the rampant disregard for the eternal perdition to which heresy and license lead, most people do not even care! Meanwhile this vicious cancer attacks the very foundations of the Faith, and all the rest of it crumbles as well.

The necessity of the true Faith for salvation is denied. The papal and episcopal offices are downgraded. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the Saints is shelved. Abortion and immorality, Communism and Freemasonry, clerical traitors and rabble-rousers are left without condemnation. The Sacraments are desacralized and "communized." Young people are psycho-dramatically conditioned in insidious "retreat" programs. The children are taught heterodoxy, immorality, and revolutionism in the new catechisms, suggestively if not explicitly. The capricious emotionalism of Pentecostalism is substituted for the genuine Christian spirituality of self-sacrifice. Church management is "democratized" and thus led into chaos. Indifferentist ecumenical advances are made obsequiously to every imaginable heretical and infidel sect. Everything is tainted by humanism; the list could go on and on forever!

As a Catholic I cannot accept these multifarious perversions of Catholic faith and practice.

Impossible? If only it were! Only because they fail to recognize the divine and supernatural mission of the Church, can naturalistic moderns, especially youth, fail to comprehend the struggle of the forces of evil against her. But a close look ought to assure anyone of the veracity of my charge. Chaos reigns in the Church.

The Reformers have succeeded pre-eminently in one area: in obtaining the substitution for the ancient Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of the Roman Rite of that humanistic travesty of Catholic worship, the Novus Ordo 'Missae,' which, in the words of His Eminence, Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani, "represents, as a whole and in detail, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Holy Mass." More has been written on this subject than on any other perversion in the contemporary Church: on the changed definition of the Mass, on its ambiguity, on its possible invalidity, on its desacralization and humanization, on its similarity with the reformed services of notorious heretics like Cranmer, etc. Let it suffice for me to say that the Novus Ordo, which "teems with oblique attacks and downright errors against the integrity of the Catholic faith," is not Catholic in the traditional (and I would add, the true) sense.

Some of my young friends will now have given up on me as hopeless. Since they no longer acknowledge even the basics on which the Faith rests, they could not even care about the rejection of every other aspect of traditional Catholicism. To their accusations of fanaticism, I can only respond, "My God! How can one be calm when one hears such blasphemous lies uttered against the mysteries of Christ?" (St. John Fisher.) I am neither holy nor learned enough to convert them; I can only offer them my pity, and continue on my way.

I cannot neglect the obvious implication of my charge of a widespread apostasy from the Faith. Someone perpetrated it; someone permitted it. Perhaps they were not the same people; but both groups are responsible. And obviously, the hierarchy of the Church share a major portion of that responsibility. Some, including the present Pope Paul VI, were pushing the liberal doctrines for quite a while; now they have gained ascendency in the Church. ". . . alas! how energetically and how laboriously, how fearlessly is work inaugurated and pressed forward by (Christ's) enemies for the immeasurable destruction of souls!" (St. Pius X.) Whether by positive action of the hierarchy, or the lack thereof, the Enemy has breached the walls and overrun the City of God. "Those who failed to resist share the blame as well—qui tacet consentire videtur."

Therefore, we "traditionalists," as Catholics, oppose it. "We should be wrong to let ourselves be swept into the current which leads only to the utter and complete ruin of the Holy Sacrifice." (Archbishop Lefebvre.)

No, we are not reactionaries; we merely want to preserve and maintain the ancient and unchanging Faith. We do not oppose liturgical development. "A change for the better, a yet stronger and more comprehensive statement of these fundamental truths (in the Mass) could be accepted. But a watering down or a suppression of them—never!" (Archbishop Lefebvre.) For that reason we reject the Novus Ordo; for in it, "The essential dogmas of our Holy Religion are no longer expressed with the same clarity. . . . One cannot make inroads into an ancient and living tradition in such a radical manner without endangering the very dogmas which are embodied in it." (Archbishop Lefebvre.)

Those who call "traditionalists" heretics, schismatics and apostates should reconsider who deserve those titles!

One need only think of Martin Luther, that former priest, who, having pushed aside Holy Mass and his prayers because of his frantic involvement in other activities, fell from the grace of his state, to realize the evil of such occurrences. "But alas! what need is there of citing such examples of remote history? Are we not shocked in our own day by the sad spectacle of degraded ministers of the Gospel who have not only soiled their sacred garments, but unblushingly glory in their shame before the world; who have not only forsaken the Mother that reared them, but who insult and vilify her, who hire themselves for a price to the enemy?" Many modern priests have indeed betrayed the Church, by neglect, by worldliness, by heresy and apostasy, even by treachery and secret labor against her for the forces of evil. But the betrayal of Church and flock in this day results primarily from mediocrity. I do not even blame it on the contemporary heresy. For if a priest would maintain the grace of God in his heart, he would undoubtedly retain the divine Truth as well. Sanctity comes first; when that falls, so does everything else.

Some modern priests attempt to justify their lukewarm conduct. Others do not even care. Some blame it on the times, or on their "environment," or on the confusing changes in the Church—but none of these reasons holds. None of them justifies a priestly failure. "If there be failure, it is the priest that fails." And of such a betrayer of his mission, Our Lord Himself said, "It were better for him, if that man had not been born."

God forbid, then, that I should become a poor or mediocre priest.

Cardinal Gibbons sums up the importance of priestly example well for his brethren: "A pious, learned, and zealous priesthood is the glory of the Church of God. By our personal holiness, we work out our own salvation, and edify our neighbors; by our erudition, we enlighten them; and by our zeal, we make them partakers of the precious heritage of Christ."

"Truly the priest is another Christ living and walking on earth. Consequently, his life should be a perfect image of that of the Saviour, or rather a continuation of Our Lord's life."

. . . Everyone can understand the necessity of such a living example; the people look up to the priest as their shepherd and expect him to guide them. To this end, as I have just said, words do not suffice. Holy life cannot become a theoretical ideal for the priest, either; for his flock looks up to him, not only as a guide, but as a model. ". . . the truths of religion are never so worthily and effectively taught as when taught by virtue; because in the common saying: 'Deeds speak louder than words.' The priest must preach the law of the Gospel, but for that preaching to be effective, the most obvious and, by the grace of God, the most persuasive argument is to see the actual practice of the law in him who preaches it." Orthodoxy is not enough; "It is the likeness of Christ in the pastor that transforms the members of the flock into the likeness of Christ." Many have said it in many ways, but the fact remains the same: "As the shepherd, so the sheep; as the priest, so the people."

Awareness of such an important role ought to lead the priest to strive even harder for his own sanctification. "There must be a zealous and untiring action that strives to bring about a fruitful renovation of spirit, a practical piety that refers all to the glory of God, an exercising of penance that tempers and checks the inordinate inclinations of the mind, an assiduity of charity that inflames us with the love of God and our neighbor, and moves us to promote the works of mercy; finally, there must be a ready and vigorous will that seeks by striving and struggling to mount whatever is highest in perfection." For "a priest should have a loftiness of spirit, a purity of heart and a sanctity of life befitting the solemnity and holiness of the office he holds."

Thus, no priest can tolerate mediocrity. "His light must burn day and night before men." No priest can neglect the sublimity of his office. "It is not sufficient for him to lead the life of an ordinary Christian, but he must live as a priest."

"The duty of the priest is to proclaim Christ and bring Him to souls. He cannot better acquit himself of this sacred obligation than by bearing in his own body the marks of the humiliation and suffering of Christ Himself." For us, Cardinal Vaughan instructed his spiritual sons, Jesus ". . . desires that Priests who bear His office should aim at a similar self-sacrifice. . ."

"Ecclesiastics, fully convinced that 'the outstanding dignity of the priesthood consists entirely in the imitation of Christ,' ought to be especially attentive to this admonition of the Divine Master: 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.' "

Especially in this secular age does the priest of God have the responsibility of living as an example of Christlikeness before men. "At a time when the domination of money, and the attractions of the senses, and an over-exalted esteem for technical studies are everywhere spread abroad, they want to look upon him as a man who speaks in the name of God, who is animated by firm faith, and who, as it were without thought of himself, is on fire with fervent charity." This the priest must well remember. "In all that he does, in all that he is, whether consciously or not, the priest represents and involves his Lord and Master. He no longer is free, but bound for his whole life. Should he ever forget it, the judgment of men will not, for invincibly a priest is set apart, he belongs in the realm of sacred things."

His responsibility of sanctity places upon the priest several restrictions. "What Christ has not done, the priest shall not do either." "A priest ought to be in no place where His Master would not go, nor employed in anything which His Master would not do." In a word, "It is the duty of the priest to avoid everything, in word or in deed, which might prejudice his ministry and lessen its prestige, either with the faithful or with those outside the fold of the Church."

"For the priest is not a person who can be good or bad in himself alone: his mode of living and his conduct have a consequent effect upon the people. Where the priest is really good, what a great blessing he becomes."

I hope that I may become such a priest.

 

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This article represents brief excerpts from Mr. Laudenschlager's extensive essay. The Angelus Press is currently publishing, in book form, the entire essay in the hope that the content may be of profit to young men who are considering a vocation to the priesthood, as well as to other loyal Catholics seeking a clearer understanding of the dignity and duties of the priest and of the present crisis of the priesthood.