September 1983 Print

 

The Ordination Sermon
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
Ecône, Switzerland
29 June 1983

My very dear brethren,

Today there is a very special serenity about our celebration of the Feast of the Holy Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul. Last year, at the General Chapter of the Society, Father Franz Schmidberger was elected Superior General. During the year, Father has assumed this burden so that, from now on, the direction of the Society will be his—now, he has the special charge and the special grace to continue the work which is being done by the Priestly Society of St. Pius X.

I have no doubt that the choice made, after much prayerful thought, and with the help of the Holy Ghost, will enable our work to continue, under the heavenly patronage of St. Pius X who is its inspiration. From this moment on, the Society will maintain its fervor, and go forward with courage, in union with God and according to the Tradition of the Catholic Faith. Especially is this true of the work of the seminary which is so important for the spiritual welfare of mankind, for the glory of the Church and for the glory of God.

If I had to sum up in a few words what has been our chief aim during the past thirteen years, since the foundation of the Society, I would say, that it has not ceased to be Catholic—it is neither schismatical nor heretical. That is what matters, beloved brethren, to remain Catholic. It is a very sad thing to become a schismatic, to become heretical—to leave the Church by forsaking our Holy Father the Pope and the hierarchy—going who knows where?—but going outside, away from the Church. Some have done this today and it is a very sad state of affairs.

Today, error continues to spread—the Roman Curia itself is still occupied by Modernists, and this error continues to diffuse itself throughout the Church.

This error is spread by ecumenism, more than anything else. This heresy, so widely diffused, would like to bring into one—all religions, all ideologies. It is spread by the members of the Church—never the Church itself, for the Church is holy, always possessing within itself the Faith. This heresy is spread by those who separate themselves from the Church. Those who refuse the Magisterium of the Church, while still claiming to be Catholic, claiming to act under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, have separated themselves from the Church. Such have broken with Rome, separated themselves from the Church, the Mother and Mistress of Truth, the Church, our guide. What can we do without the Church? We continue in the Church, as did our predecessors, our parents and our ancestors. Quite simply, we are continuing the Church. We do not want to separate ourselves from it. Never! The Church, for twenty centuries, has maintained the work of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ. We wish to continue in this way of the Church.

Luther broke with the Church and led the faithful away from the Church and, by this very fact, he led them away from God. This is, perhaps, the gravest and most painful thing about Protestantism, as well as all those movements that flow from Protestantism, such as Liberalism, Progressivism, Modernism—all these movements lead souls from God. God wanted to dwell among us, to live close to us—God wanted to dwell within us. By the grace given to us at our baptism—sanctifying grace—He has sanctified us. We know that we are the children of God—His holy Spirit dwells in us. God is with us; His life is in us. This is no small thing, for it is here that we begin our preparation for eternity. We are temples of the Holy Ghost. The Church has always taught that here below, through sanctifying grace, we share in the life of God Himself; we share in the Divine Nature of Jesus Christ Himself. As a result, we are truly children of God, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, united to God by sanctifying grace.

What a marvelous thing! but, alas, so many have forgotten that today. How many Christians no longer recognize this great reality? How many Christians today live as if they did not know Jesus Christ? That was precisely Luther's great error. Luther put forward a new idea of Redemption, an idea which was totally false, namely, that we remain sinners, that Our Lord Jesus Christ by His Cross, by His Sacrifice on Calvary, covers our sins; our sins are not really forgiven but that we are justified by faith alone, by our faith in Jesus Christ. [Luther taught] that by baptism we become justified but, at the same time, we remain sinners. No sanctifying grace, no presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our souls, no transformation of our souls into the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Our souls have not been cleansed by the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, they are "of the earth, earthy."

So many souls, therefore, have turned away from the Church because of this, turned away from God, and from Our Lord Jesus Christ. We have noticed, unfortunately, that since the wind of ecumenism has whispered its way into the Church, there have been the same results within the Church itself. Souls separate themselves from the Church because they no longer have the Faith. In the Church—the sole means of salvation, the sole way of saving our souls—we now find spreading everywhere—in the Catholic press, in sermons, in the conception of the Church which so many priests have, even some bishops, that the Catholic religion is not the only means of salvation, but that all religions bring salvation. The Catholic Faith, they say, is but one religion among many others, including Islamism and Buddhism. The Catholic religion is only one among other religions. This is a heresy, a heresy! There is only one true religion founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is God, and that is the Holy Catholic Church—the sole means of bringing salvation for our souls. It is necessary, in some way or other, for every soul to belong to the Catholic Church if it is to be saved. No soul can be saved except through Our Lord Jesus Christ, her Mystical Spouse. We are members of the Mystical Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the Church has always taught us. There is no other religion but that. We may not choose—it is not we who have founded our holy religion, but God Himself.

Now, within the Church, we see this error spreading everywhere—souls separating themselves from God and His holy Church.

We must point this out: these novelties, these ideas, particularly that of ecumenism, have spread everywhere since the Second Vatican Council. These ideas have all flourished since Vatican II. Indeed, all of the reforms have been issued in this spirit of ecumenism—a false spirit, a spirit which is destroying the Catholic Church. It was not for nothing that Pope Paul VI spoke of the "self-destruction" of the Church.

No longer is mention made of sanctifying grace. We are turning to that naturalism and surrealism of the Protestant religion and, in so doing, separating ourselves from God, we are separating ourselves from heaven. We are separating ourselves from Our Lord Jesus Christ.

My dear brethren, having knowledge of the greatness of our dignity—our dignity as Christians—we know that by this grace we are the elect, the chosen of heaven, one day to understand fully, to be caught up in the Holy Trinity, to sing of the glory of the goodness of God, united with Our Lord Jesus Christ in His Mystical Body. All the Sacraments are there for us to reinforce and to strengthen this sanctifying grace, which is none other than the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ increasing in our souls through the Holy Ghost, in a lasting way.

He who gives us the lovely virtues of faith, hope and charity, all the supernatural values, has already given us heaven in our souls. If we abandon this doctrine we are no longer Catholics, we are no longer descendants of the saints who showed, by their lives, exactly what the presence of sanctifying grace worked in their souls. That is the greatness of the Sacrifice of the Mass, knowing that through the Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by Our Blessed Lord Whom we are receiving, sanctifying grace makes us grow in virtue, in strength and in wisdom. We are given a foretaste of the happiness of heaven. How lovely this is and how comforting amidst the suffering, the difficulties and the sacrifices of life. Poor Protestants, poor Protestants indeed! This is why they have always envied us; they have always envied our concepts of sanctifying grace and of baptism. They have always envied us the Blessed Eucharist. They have always envied us the transformation of our souls into the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. They have always envied us the sacrament of penance which establishes again in our souls the friendship of Our Lord, while, for the Protestant, he is always a sinner, always a sinner ... only faith and a feeling of confidence in Our Lord can save him. He knows that this is not possible, that this is not true. That is why there used to be so many converts to Catholicism—they were attracted to the Catholic Church, whereas today there are very few converts any more since would-be converts are being given the impression that the Catholic Church has discovered Protestant ideas. No longer do they have respect for the sacrament of penance, no longer do they have their former respect for the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Eucharist, no longer do they have that respect for the Sacrifice of the Mass, the redemptive Sacrifice of Our Lord which sanctifies us day by day. So, there are no more converts—instead Catholics are becoming Protestant.

Here, before us, my dear people, is the reality. Today, before us, are those who in a moment or two will be priests, priests of Our Lord Jesus Christ, sharing in the grace of the Hypostatic Union with Jesus Christ Who calls them to be His priests.

It was by the gracious union of the Divinity with Humanity that Jesus became a Priest, the Priest, Priest for ever, priest "yesterday, today and for ever."

You have shared by His grace in the grace of union with Our Lord Jesus Christ—you, too, will be priests for all eternity.

It will be your task to show forth this faith, this hope, this charity—this supernatural charity wherever you may be—in what you teach, in the way you celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in the way you administer the Holy Sacraments, by what you preach, by the way you behave towards the faithful. Like St. John the Baptist, you are to be heralds, you are to be shining lights. At the same time, you must be clothed with charity, radiating charity and the Holy Spirit.

So the faithful will see in you one who, in a world gone pagan through the forces of naturalism and rationalism and which can no longer think or reason, yet which speaks of free thought, one who teaches supernatural realities. You will teach your people the virtues of faith, hope and charity, the faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ Who is the object of our Faith, He Who is the source of our Faith, He Who will be the fulfilment of .your faith in the glory of the Beatific Vision in heaven. You will preach these great and splendid realities to all the faithful who come to you and, above all else, you will be continuing, in very truth, the Catholic Faith.

Keep this hope firm. Hope is the pilgrim's virtue, for we are traveling home to God, to paradise, to heaven. Every day hundreds and thousands of souls leave this earth, to go where? Where? What is their end? What is their final destination?

You will teach the people hope—hope in God's holy Word, to work out their own salvation in "fear and trembling," through hope, to avoid sin which separates us from our heavenly home.

Then, above all else, you will be models of charity. That charity which came upon the apostles on the day of Pentecost, when, having received the Holy Ghost, "they were all filled with the Holy Ghost," "loquentes magnolia Dei—speaking of the wonderful works of God." That was the result of this "pouring out of the Holy Ghost"—"they sang of the greatness of God." You, too, are destined to sing of the greatness of God. You will receive, a few moments from now, the Holy Ghost in all its fulness—you will be priests of Our Lord Jesus Christ, it will be yours to "tell of the glory of the Lord," "to sing of the greatness of God." This will be your work and your final happiness in heaven—"to sing of the glory of the Lord."

You will be devoted to your neighbor and to his needs. You will not be surrounded by those who take Holy Communion to the sick, you will go yourself to bring those who suffer this heavenly nourishment!

You will give them the Sacraments, you will give them the true Faith that you possess, this deep faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ. Be dedicated, too, to the teaching of the Catechism, that is, teaching the Truth.

But, above all else, as priests you will be sustained by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. The priest is made to offer sacrifice, and the Sacrifice cannot exist without priests. You will ascend the altar daily to offer sacrifice. With what joy, with what deep feelings of gratitude to Our Lord Jesus Christ, with what fervent desire to bring Christ Our Lord to the altar and to give Him to souls—there is nothing greater, nothing more splendid, nothing more sublime than to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

So, when you give thanks to God after the Ordination is over, and all here with you who have come for the Ordination ceremony, there will be heartfelt joy in the thought that there are a goodly number of new priests—true priests, holy priests, true apostles, to continue the mission of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Here, indeed, is the Church, here is the image of the Church. Today we are experiencing one of the greatest moments of the Church, and the greatest moment in the life of your seminary. A seminary without ordinations is no longer a seminary.

Here, at Ecône, our seminary has given magnificent results to the praise and glory of God, for the salvation of souls, for your own personal well-being.

Ask our kind Heavenly Mother, my dear friends, to help you understand what your priesthood is, for she is the Mother of the Eternal Priest, and understands fully what the priesthood is, better than anyone else, so she will help you to understand the greatness of your priesthood.

Pray to the Blessed Virgin, take her with you as you ascend the altar, and you will be true brothers of Jesus and true children of Mary.

—Translated by Very Rev. Msgr. K. R. Hodgson—