Dear readers,
Without being
pretentious, we might say a significant event in the life of the
Catholic Church is about to take place. No, it's not that I am
soon taking my annual vacation, although a lot of people are going
to miss me! Or maybe they really cannot wait until I take them?
Hum! Hum! Now, let us be serious... The important event I was
referring to is obviously the upcoming General Chapter of the
Society of the Apostles of Jesus and Mary or, (according to its
public title) of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).
It will take place from July 3 to 15 at Econe, Switzerland, where
the first six of Society's Seminaries had been established. Let
us reflect a little bit on that event...
In
the Constitutions of the SSPX we read about the General Chapter:
"It meets every twelve years for the election
of the Superior General and his Assistants. It also has the purpose
of examining whether the Society is conscientiously applying
the statutes and trying to maintain their spirit... The members
of the General Chapter are: The outgoing Superior General and
his two Assistants; the Secretary General and the General Bursar;
District Superiors; Seminary Superiors; and Superiors of Autonomous
Houses. In addition, the senior members of the Society, who have
made their final engagement, will be designated, up to the number
of forty members..." A five-day Retreat starts the General
Chapter, and the Holy Ghost is fervently prayed to.
This
gathering of the Major Superiors and older Priests and Brothers
is well organized and has been prepared for months. Its purpose
is to put to contribution the knowledge and experience of all
those consecrated souls, so as to ensure a faithful observance
of the Society's goal and rules. And what are these? Again, the
Constitutions, written by Archbishop Le-febvre himself, will
answer that: "The Society's purpose is the Priesthood
and whatever pertains to it and nothing but what pertains to
it; that is, the Priesthood as Our Lord Jesus Christ willed it
when He said, 'Do this for a commemoration of me'. It has therefore
to orient and direct priestly life towards that which is the essential
reason for the priest's existence: The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
with all that it means, all that flows from it, all that complements
it... The Society is essentially apostolic, because such is the
Sacrifice of the Mass... The whole effectiveness of the members'
apostolate flows from the Sacrifice of Our Lord, which they offer
daily. The Society is placed 'specially under the patronage of
the priesthood of Jesus. For Our Lord's whole existence was and
remains priestly, and the Sacrifice of the Cross was the reason
for His Incarnation...".
The
Archbishop then lists six activities related to the Society's
goal: "1- To do all the works necessary for the formation
of holy and knowledgeable priests. The formation given at the
Seminary will therefore be based on the works of St Thomas Aquinas,
and will avoid modern errors, especially Liberalism; 2- To provide
priests with retreats, recollections, literature; 3- To foster
and train Brothers, Sisters, and lay people for help in the fields
of Liturgy, Catechism teaching, etc. 4- To establish schools from
which will come vocations and Christian homes; 5- To perform the
various tasks of parish ministry; 6- To assist aged and infirm
priests."
These
texts, and countless others, show us the central place the HolyPriesthood
had in the mind of the Archbishop when he established his Society.
Its role is to "make" real priests, as Our Lord wants
them. This is THE purpose of the SSPX. Because it is only by and
through priests that Our Lord wants to continue His work of saving
souls. These priests must teach, sanctify, and govern the way
He wants. That's why the Society has never accepted to compromise
with the forces of evil at work in the Church. As Our Lord has
come into this world "to give a testimony to the Truth",
and to give Himself up on the Cross, and as the spiritual food
of the souls, so the Society forms priests who proclaim wide and
loud the whole Truth, and who offer as splendidly as possible
the true Mass and Sacraments. If we have to step on some toes
for that, so be it. Not only are we not obliged to ask any kind
of permission to do so, but it is our duty, if we want to follow
Christ, our divine Model and Eternal Priest. To ask permission
to celebrate the true Mass, or to accept to remain silent in front
of the errors of the Vatican II Church, would be nothing less
than to prostitute ourselves for the sake of official recognition
from those whom Archbishop Lefebvre, in his letter to the four
future Bishops of the Society, called "antichrists".
In
this issue of Convictions, we offer you three major texts from
Archbishop Lefebvre that will help us to better understand why
we must fight the New Church and support the Society. It will
help us also to see the importance of the General Chapter. Let
us pray to the Holy Ghost for its good results, so that the Society
may "Keep on Track"!
