The Infiltration of Modernism in the Church (Part I)

The following conference was given by Archbishop Lefebvre at Montreal, Canada in 1982. It demonstrates by personal experience the tragic corruption of modernism right from the time of Pope Pius XI. The Archbishop describes the extraordinary influence of Monsignor Annibale Bugnini in the framing of the New Mass and how his unprecedented daring brought about the "approval" of this protestantized liturgy. This account of his personal experiences is the very clear demonstration of why Archbishop Lefebvre had to disobey so as to not participate in the self-destruction of the Church. We present it to our readers to allow them to share a more personal viewpoint of the Archbishop's battle for the Church and for the Faith.

The Infiltration of Modernism in the Church (Part I) 

BRIEF HISTORY

I'm happy to remark that every where in the world, everywhere in the Catholic world, courageous people are uniting together around priests who are faithful to the Catholic faith and to the Catholic Church, so as to maintain Tradition, which is the bulwark of our Faith. If there is a movement as general as this it is because the situation in the Church is truly serious.

If Catholics and good priests, some of whom have served in parishes for thirty years to the great satisfaction of their parishioners, have been able to beat the insult of being treated as disobedient rebels and dissidents, it could have only have been so as to maintain the Catholic Faith. They do it knowingly, following the spirit of the martyrs.

Whether one is persecuted by one's own brethren or by the enemies of the Church, it is still to suffer martyrdom, provided it be for the maintaining of the Faith. These priests and faithful are witnesses of the Catholic Faith. They prefer to be considered rebels and dissidents rather than lose their Faith.

Throughout the entire world we are in the presence of a tragic and unheard of situation, which seems never to have happened before in the history of the Church. We must at least try to explain this extraordinary phenomenon. How has it come to pass that good faithful and priests are obliged to fight to maintain the Catholic faith in a Catholic world, which is in the process of totally breaking up?

It was Pope Paul VI himself who spoke of self-destruction within the Church. What does this term self-destruction mean, if it is not that the Church is destroying herself by herself, and hence by her own members. This is already what Pope St. Pius X said in his first encyclical when he wrote: “Henceforth the enemy of the church is no longer outside the church, he is now within." And the Pope did not hesitate to designate those places where he was to be found: "The enemy is found in the seminaries." Consequently, the holy Pope St. Pius X already denounced the presence of the enemies of the Church in the seminaries at the beginning of the century.

Obviously the seminarians of the time, who where imbued with modernism, sillonism and progressivism, later became priests. Some of them even became Bishops and among them were even some Cardinals. One could quote the names of those who were seminarians at the beginning of the century and who are now dead but whose spirit was clearly modernist and progressivist.

Thus already Pope St. Pius X denounced this division in the Church, which was to be the beginning of a very real rupture within the Church and within the clergy.

I am no longer young. During my whole life as a seminarian, as a priest and as a Bishop I have seen this division. I saw it already at the French seminary at Rome where by the grace of God I was able to study. I must admit that I was not very keen to do my studies in Rome. I would personally have preferred to study with the seminarians of my diocese in the Lille Seminary and to become an assistant vicar, and finally a parish priest in a small country parish.

I longed simply to maintain the Faith in a parish. I saw myself somewhat as the spiritual father of a population to which I was sent to teach the Catholic Faith and morals. But it happened otherwise. After the First World War my brother was already at Rome, for he had been separated from the family by the circumstances of the war in the north of France. Consequently my parents insisted that I go to be with him. "Since your brother is already at Rome, at the French seminary, go and join him so as to continue your studies with him." Thus I left for Rome. I studied at the Gregorian University from 1923 to 1930. I was ordained in 1929 and I remained as a priest at the seminary during one year.

THE FIRST VICTIMS OF MODERNISM

During my Seminary years tragic events took place, which now remind me of exactly what I lived through during the Council. I am now in practically the same situation as our Seminary Rector at the time. Fr. Le Floch. When I was there he had already been Rector of the French Seminary at Rome for thirty years. From Brittany, he was a very outstanding man and as strong and firm in the Faith as Brittany granite. He taught us the Papal encyclicals and the exact nature of the Modernism condemned by St. Pius X, the modern errors condemned by Leo XIII and the liberalism condemned by Pius IX. We liked our Fr. Le Floch very much. We were very attached to him.

But his firmness in doctrine and in Tradition obviously displeased the progressive wing. Progressive Catholics already existed at that time. The Popes had to condemn them.

Not only did Fr. Le Floch displease the progressives, but he also displeased the French government. The French government feared that by the intermediary of Fr. Le Floch and by that formation, which was given to the seminarians at the French Seminary in Rome traditional Bishops, would come to France and would give to the Church in France a traditional and clearly anti-liberal direction.

For the French government was Masonic and consequently profoundly liberal and frightened at the thought that non-liberal Bishops could take over the most important posts. Pressure was consequently exerted on the Pope so as to eliminate Fr. Le Floch. It was Francisque Gay, the future leader of the M.R.P., who was in charge of this operation. He came to Rome to exert pressure on Pope Pius XI, denouncing Fr. Le Floch as being, so he said, a member of.’Action Française" and a politician who taught his seminarians to also be members of "Action Française.’

This was all nothing but a lie. For three years I heard Fr. Le Floch in his spiritual conferences. Never did he speak to us of "Action Française." Likewise people now say to me: "You were formerly a member of Action Française.’”  I have never been a member of "Action Française."

Liberalism has penetrated the Church (Part II)

Excerpts from a conference, Angers, France, 23 November 1980 — Part II (Finish)

I try to explain that we must return to Tradition, that there has been an error, that they are mistaken, that it is necessary to return to a solid foundation, to the things of faith, to the catechism of old, to the sacraments of old, to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of old. There must be a return, even if they do not abandon all that they have done since the Council immediately. A tree is judged by its fruits. Let them at least leave us freedom (i.e., which rite of Mass to use). I do not agree with those who say there is no pope. very grave thing to say that there is no pope. Because the Pope is Liberal, that does not mean that he has ceased to be the Pope.

I do not think that Pope John Paul II is as infected with Liberalism as was Pope Paul VI; but, unfortunately, in view of the fact that he himself professes to be the spiritual son of Pope Paul VI, that he follows the line of Pope Paul VI, that he is there to defend and continue the work of Paul VI, that he feels it his duty to continue all that John and Paul did, whose names he took, we are troubled and we wonder where it will all end? Must we wait yet again for a new pontificate [to initiate a return to Tradition]? Yet, despite all that, the Pope is nonetheless keen to return to Tradition insofar as seminaries, clergy, Church discipline, and religious discipline are concerned. When the Pope speaks of these things, he speaks well. We are pleased to hear him. If only the Pope wished to return in this way in all respects!

I tell you that, quite simply, because you could ask yourselves many questions, as I ask myself, wishing with all my heart, praying morning and evening, night and day, that Tradition might return to the Church. The Pope himself would be more satisfied and happy than anyone if it did. We can only live in Our Lord, and by Our Lord with the reign of Our Lord. Everywhere! Everywhere! In the Liturgy, in social, political, family life, we can do nothing without Our Savior Jesus Christ. Do you see what I am trying to tell you? We must keep a firm line and we must not deviate during these difficult times in which we live. One could be tempted, justifiably, to extreme solutions and say: “No, no. The Pope is not only Liberal, the Pope is heretical! The Pope may well be more than heretical, so there is no pope!”  

That is not so. To be a Liberal is not necessarily to be a heretic, and as a necessary consequence, outside the Church. We must know how to make the necessary distinctions. This is very important if we are to stay on the right path, to stay in the Church. Besides, where would this thinking lead us? If there is no longer a pope, there are no longer any cardinals because, if the Pope isn't pope, when he nominates cardinals these cardinals can no longer elect a pope, because they are not really cardinals. Well then, would an angel from heaven provide us with a pope? The idea is absurd, and not only absurd,but dangerous because then we would be guided perhaps to solutions which are truly schismatic. One might go to find the "pope" of Palmar de Troya who has been excommunicated. He has excommunicated me, he has excommunicated the Pope and everybody ! There are others. One could go to the church of Toulouse, to the church of Rouen, who knows ? To the Mormons, to the Pentecostals, to the Adventists, or everywhere. Souls are lost, and I do not wish to have such a responsibility.

There are those who find me severe perhaps, for insisting that those young priests who do not agree with us, do not agree with that line which I have always followed, leave us. But I cannot allow the wolf into the sheepfold. If today I say there is a Pope, this Pope, we are not obliged to follow him in everything. It is possible to have shepherds who are not always good shepherds in the full sense of the word, and we are not obliged to follow them in everything. But to go from this, to say that we do not have a pope, no! And so they introduce divisions among traditionalists. They introduce division into the Church, and I want nothing to do with this. I can have nothing to do with this, while regretting it profoundly.

(One day there will be a Pope) a pope truly like a St. Pius X, and there will be no more problems. Holy Church will find herself once more in the Truth, and we shall be in communion one hundred percent with the pope who will have found Tradition again. Oh, certainly, I shall probably not be alive when that happens, but we hope that an arrangement can be made with Pope John Paul II. I do not in any way despair of an arrangement being made with him. We ask simply perhaps not to get into too much discussion over theoretical problems, to lay aside the questions which separate us, such as that of religious liberty. We are not obliged to settle all these problems now. Time will clarify them and bring a solution.

On a practical level, I ask as I have done so many times, that we be allowed to experiment with Tradition (qu’on nous laisse faire l'expérience de la Tradition!). I might be told: “You can do it!"

Yes, but imagine that the Pope himself said: “Leave them in peace". If he would just say one little word to the bishops: "Let them do it! They are not doing anything bad. They are doing what we did ourselves for half or two-thirds of our lives. Let them do it, and we shall see what happens." That is the only thing that we ask of him.

At that moment I am certain that Truth would regain its rights, that Tradition would regain its rights, and that the Church would find a new youth.

Liberalism has penetrated the Church (Part I)

The Teaching of Archbishop Lefebvre

Note: As the confusion is clearly growing in the Church today, a new temptation is now appearing which can be summarized like this: “Before Pope Francis, things were much better in the Church”. This would be the same as to say: although this tree is producing bad apples, the tree is still good!  Thus by reading various texts of Archbishop Lefebvre written between 1965 and 1991, one can see that the rot is primarily in the tree itself, that is in the text and spirit of Vatican II Council.  A good tree cannot give bad fruits.   Pope Francis is merely a fruit of the Council. ~ Fr. Daniel Couture

Liberalism has penetrated the Church

Excerpts from a conference, Angers, France, 23 November 1980 — Part I

The spirit of Liberalism has penetrated the Church. How can such a thing have happened? Do I really believe that Pope Paul VI had a Liberal mentality? It is not I who say it, but his great friend, Cardinal Daniélou. It can be found in his book, The Memoirs of Cardinal Daniélou, told by His Sister, where it is explicitly stated: “The Cardinal says of Pope Paul VI that he was one of his best friends, that he knew him well and that he had a Liberal outlook.” That is sufficient ! That explains everything that has happened during his pontificate, because the Liberal mentality is one which is tempted by the world, by all those liberties, as if by some sort of enchantment.

The Liberals were enchanted by the French Revolution. When, fifty years later, France found itself confronted with revolution it was also faced with a choice: must the consequences of the revolution be perpetuated or should they be opposed? There were evidently those who were quite opposed to the principles of the revolution, and others who simply said that one should simply oppose the excesses, the abuses, the violence of the revolution. Yes, but it was enough to Christianize the principles of the revolution a little, and one could come to terms with them quite well. Well, that was France’s loss. Pope Leo XIII did not realize that it was really the Masonic leaders that were controlling France at this time, and believed that terms could be agreed. The result was the Combe Ministry and all the monks and nuns expelled from France. The churches plundered, all the wealth of the Church seized. That is what Liberalism is. 

Well, the position with the Council is much the same. There are those who say that the principles could be accepted, but not the excesses. But the Liberal worm is in the fruit. It is a mistake to try to limit the excesses. If the disease is in the fruit it always comes back again. In fact, the worm which is in the fruit must be removed, as must the errors which are at the interior of Liberal thought. One day there will have to be a return to Tradition. We will be forced by events or by disasters which God will perhaps send as a punishment for not accepting the social reign of Our Savior, Jesus Christ. But they will be forced because there will no longer be anything, all will be destroyed, all will be demolished. There will no longer be seminaries, there will no longer be real priests, there will no longer be the Sacrifice of the Mass. Everything will have vanished.

So what is to be done? We are surely obliged to return to Tradition if the Church is to have a true renewal. That is why even without wanting to win, even without wanting to say that it is we who have won, deriving a kind of satisfaction at seeing that we are right - that is not what matters. What matters is the salvation of souls, the continuation of the Church, the duty which we have towards Our Savior Jesus Christ Who should reign. It is that which we uphold, as it is that which makes us steadfast. In any case, we are inevitably the winners from the outset. Were we have to die, were an atomic bomb to kill us all, what we have done, what we have taught, what we have said conforms with the truth, since it conforms with what has been taught, as St. Paul says, in the early Church. This truth cannot perish. It is not possible. So, quite simply, we must continue, as did our parents and our grandparents, to preserve our religion as it always was.  

We shed tears of blood to see the Church deteriorating to this extent, to see the wretched state of our churches, of our priests, of our seminaries, or of those religious orders which sell all their goods. Take, for example, the Sisters of the Order of the Visitation, founded by St. Francis de Sales. The Sisters of the seventy-five convents which remain in France met last year and decided to sell half of them, and use the others for homes for the old sisters. That is what is happening to the convents in France, nearly forty Visitation convents for sale!

Obviously, people write to me from everywhere. They write to me from Quimper: "Monseigneur, the minor seminary at Quimper is for sale. Don't you wish to buy it?"

“Monseigneur, the seminary at Legé is for sale. Couldn’t you buy it?”

This very morning someone said to me: "Monseigneur, the major seminary at Nantes is for sale. Won't you buy it?"

Incredible! And it is like that everywhere. Every week I am told of the sale of a major seminary, or a convent, or an abbey.

We must know how to draw distinctions. As you can well imagine, it was a profound sorrow for me to see some of my priests leave the Society because they do not agree with a line of conduct which I have followed since the foundation of the Society. I have always recognized the Pope. I went to see Pope Paul VI, and I have been to see Pope John Paul II. I am ready to see Pope John Paul II tomorrow, if he asks me, but I am ready to speak the truth.

(Continued next week)

Abp. Lefebvre, Easter retreat, April 1988 (Part II)

I think it’s better to make ourselves known as we are rather than by means of the videos that we make, to make ourselves known by what we are doing today: a seminary here, a retreat house there, a school here, a priory there, and slowly but surely – with the grace of God, to be sure, it is God who sustains us since we seek to work for our Lord, since we seek to work for the Church, and Our Lord helps us, and that’s what happens. If we made this visitation by Rome, it is because, after 12 years of combat, from 75 to 87, Rome ended by saying that it could not consider us as if we did not exist. The Society is not nothing, traditionalists (including all those who fight the same fight as us and who are close to us), are not nothing. Thus, it is necessary that we do something and so the canonical visitation took place (note: by Cardinal Gagnon and Monsignor Perl, in November-December 1987), and I think that it is already a great victory for Tradition, because this visitation certainly was certainly favorable (at least it was so in words). The latest issue of Fideliter will tell you the details. The visitation was favorable; they expressed sentiments which were openly favorable to us, even to the point that Msgr. Perl said to the Dominican Sisters of Fanjeaux: “It is with works like yours that one will rebuild the Church.” You cannot make a more beautiful compliment than that! I think that when he said that, he extended it to everything that he saw in the course of his trip, because he more or less passed around the same compliments everywhere, and the Cardinal as well. At the conclusion, you saw it yourselves, the Cardinal officially assisted at the Mass for the renewal of engagements on December 8. To assist at a Mass of someone suspended a divinis is somewhat out of the ordinary for a Cardinal. That was the conclusion, that was the conclusion of his visitation. That is written in history; it cannot be changed, it is done. When they will write the history of the Society, the history of our resistance, the history of our fight, that will be part of the facts written down. That is clear.

            You can say whatever you want, Rome can do whatever it wants afterwards, even to the point of making a denial, “but it wasn’t for this or for that, but he didn’t do that…” It is done, it is said, it is accomplished, it is history. Rome is obliged to recognize the work for the continuation of Tradition as a work for the reconstruction of the Church, a work for the continuation of the institution of the Church. There are obliged to recognize it.

            But will our fight be sufficient, will the development of the Society be sufficient for us to succeed to establish Tradition even in Rome? That is the secret of God. It is possible, it is something possible in the sense that (it would happen) without changing, by continuing to condemn the errors, by remaining with the truth, and Tradition. Let Rome grant us what we ask: that we have an office in Rome, that we have an official representation (note: an official presence) in Rome, without concession, without compromise, without being asked to accept their errors. That would be a second victory for Tradition, a definitive victory for our Lord. For, why not grant us, once we have official representation in Rome by some sort of office, why not grant us a church in Rome? There would no longer be any reason to refuse us a church. There are so many empty churches in Rome. They could well grant us one and thus there would be the official return of Tradition to a church in Rome, with all the traditional ceremonies. That would be extraordinary. And there is no doubt that that would have a very great influence in Rome.

            So, just as I have just said, it would be a second step. It is doubtless a plan that is still more difficult to realize, but who knows? If they want to recognize the benefit of our seminaries, the benefit of our formation of priests, and give us a seminary in Rome, that would be the crowning of our work. We would take you all to Rome and we would make you do all your courses in Latin, dear professors! For then there would be no reason why there would not be seminarians, provided that they come with good intentions, not with the intentions of drowning us, of dividing us, of making their errors spread amongst us. But if there are young men who come from the entire world to Rome, because they want to undertake their seminary studies at Rome, and they come to us, to our seminary, we would do what Rome did throughout the centuries, at those universities: the Gregorian, the Angelicum, the Lateran. Those three great Roman universities have given 60 to 70% of the bishops to the entire world. (At least 60 to 70% of the bishops in the entire world have come from those universities) So! There is no reason why our seminary in Rome, if it pleases God, would not also furnish bishops for the entire world. As you see, we still have a bit of hope! All of that is possible with the grace of God. It is a beautiful dream, but who knows? God can make it happen. For the return of all Christendom to Tradition will only take place with the help of Rome. We can do all that we can, and we surely do all that we can for the return of Tradition. But it is necessary that Rome finish the work by taking up her own Tradition back into her hands. It is not possible otherwise.

Abp. Lefebvre, Easter retreat, April 1988 (Part I)

            Our rule is that faith goes before obedience. The first obedience is the obedience of the faith. Faith goes before obedience to men whose duty it is to give us the faith. This position is simple, but clearly we find ourselves in opposition with those who destroy the faith. We have a double fight: there is the fight against the errors, and the fight against those who are in favor of the errors. It is difficult to be against the errors and not to be against the men who diffuse the errors. This is what makes it easy for those who attack us to say: “You battle against Rome and so you are against Rome, so you are against the Pope, so you are against the Council, so you are outside the Church.” These are reactions which are entirely comprehensible, and easy to make, but false. They suppose that Rome never makes a mistake, which is false.

            So, that is where we are, but if our role is to combat the errors, and also to oppose ourselves to and disobey those who diffuse the errors, that does not prevent us from trying to keep contact with them in order to try to convert them, in order to try to bring them back to Tradition. Perhaps it is an undertaking that is a bit presumptuous, perhaps a bit difficult, but at the same time, it is what God asks of us. Even if necessary to try to convert our superiors! What are we doing? But it is clear that they are in error, they are opposed to what their predecessors taught. We see the two texts. The text which is given to us now and the text which was given to us before are completely opposed. Who are we to obey then? Those who went before or those of today? We cannot obey both of them. That’s a contradiction. That’s what I said to Pope Paul VI when I saw him at Castel Gandolfo: “Most Holy Father, we are in an unbelievable situation. We are obliged to disobey you in order to obey your predecessors. Put yourself in our place. It’s an impossible situation. Consider what a situation it is for the faithful! There is a contradiction between what the Council teaches and Quanta Cura of Pius IX.” “Oh, we don’t have time to do theology here.” It is an easy answer to make, but it’s not an answer. It is serious.

            So, that is where we are, and we continue to be there. But keeping contact with Rome is a rather delicate business, rather delicate, because at the same time that we criticize them, we also have to correspond with them, we have to go from time to time to see them, at least the representatives of the Pope. Well, God permits things to happen in this way, that we keep our connection with Rome, and that at the same time we criticize Rome without fear. The letters that I have sent to the Pope with Bishop de Castro Meyer were not very tender. That is the least that one could say. The same is true of the little image (note: about the meeting of religions in Assisi in 1986) that I had made which was even criticized by not a few traditionalists. It even came into the hands of the Pope. That is what Cardinal Ratzinger told me. He was clearly not very edified by it. But I finally said to Cardinal Ratzinger: “if that could but save his soul”. You tell me: “We are giving lessons to the Pope!” These are catechism lessons! He lets all the devils into the Church and then he wants to be in the good books with God! He has to choose. Either he goes completely on the side of the demons, and stays with the demons, or he keeps to the side of the good God and he drives away the demons. What do you want? It is not complicated. It is the catechism in images. In spite of that, they want to correspond with us, they want to consider us as something. It also seemed to me that a principle that should always be kept is to convince by facts rather than convince by means of a propaganda campaign which would be made in our favor by all the media, by the radio, by television, etc.

Prayer for Vocations by Pope Pius XII

Lord Jesus, High Priest and universal Shepherd, Thou hast taught us to pray, saying: "Pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into His harvest" [Matt. 9: 38]. Therefore we beseech Thee graciously to hear our supplications and raise up many generous souls who, inspired by Thy example and supported by Thy grace, may conceive the ardent desire to enter the ranks of Thy sacred ministers in order to continue the office of Thy one true priesthood.

Although Thy priests live in the world as dispensers of the mysteries of God, yet their mission demands that they be not men of this world. Grant, then, that the insidious lies and vicious slanders directed against the priesthood by the malignant enemy and abetted by the world through its spirit of indifference and materialism may not dim the brilliance of the light with which they shine before men, nor lessen the profound and reverent esteem due to them. Grant that the continual promotion of religious instruction, true piety, purity of life and devotion to the highest ideals may prepare the groundwork for good vocations among youth. May the Christian family, as a nursery of pure and pious souls, become the unfailing source of good vocations, ever firmly convinced of the great honor that can redound to our Lord through some of its numerous offspring. Come to the aid of Thy Church, that always and in every place she may have at her disposal the means necessary for the reception, promotion, formation and mature development of all the good vocations that may arise. For the full realization of all these things, O Jesus, Who art most zealous for the welfare and salvation of all, may Thy graces continually descend from heaven to move many hearts by their irresistible force; first, the silent invitation; then generous cooperation; and finally perseverance in Thy holy service.

Art Thou not moved to compassion, O Lord, seeing the crowds like sheep without a shepherd, without anyone to break for them the bread of Thy word, or to lead them to drink at the fountains of Thy grace, so that they are continually in danger of becoming a prey to ravening wolves? Does it not grieve Thee to behold so many unplowed fields where thorns and thistles are allowed to grow in undisputed possession? Art Thou not saddened that many of Thy gardens, once so green and productive, are now on the verge of becoming fallow and barren through neglect?

O Mary, Mother most pure, through whose compassion we have received the holiest of priests; O glorious Patriarch St. Joseph, perfect model of cooperation with the Divine call; O holy priests, who in Heaven compose a choir about the Lamb of God: obtain for us many good vocations in order that the Lord's flock, through the support and government of vigilant shepherds, may attain to the enjoyment of the most delightful pastures of eternal happiness. Amen.

Prior's Word: Understanding a Vocation...

A vocation is truly a mystery, one of these truths we cannot fully understand. Why does the Almighty want to be so dependent on us to save other souls? Why does He choose this one and not that one, “dividing to every one according as He will”?

In the Gospel, it is interesting to notice Our Lord asking help for all kinds of things. For instance, passing through Jericho “Jesus, standing still, commanded (the blind man) to be called” (Mk 10:49); at the tomb of Lazarus, He asked the bystanders to “take away the stone!” (Jn 11:32); on Palm Sunday He asked the Apostles to “loose them (the ass and her colt) and bring them to Me” (Mt 21:2). He definitely could have done all these things alone… No, He wanted others to help Him.

There is also the manner in which He calls souls to His service. We see that already in the way He Himself called the Apostles: through John the Baptist (John and Andrew), one brother (Andrew) calling his other brother (Andrew calling Peter), directly (Phillip), a friend calling his friend (Philip calling Nathanael)… Vocation statistics show that the Holy Mass and Holy Communion play the first role in the springing of a vocation, then the example of a truly spiritual person, an old priest, a good nun… Often it will be through a silent reading (St Ignatius), hearing a sermon (St Anthony Abbot), a pilgrimage…  Many decided to give all to God following a severe sickness, or a near-death accident, or surviving a war…  Then, you have, as St Ignatius recommends, the rational analysis, the pros and the cons, what is the best life for me, or looking at my life from my death bed: what kind of life would I have liked to have lived…

The harvest is indeed very great and the workers so few.  Listen to a world famous recruiter of vocations, his words are so true even today:

“Many, many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again I have thought of going round the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and everywhere crying out like a madman, riveting the attention of those with more learning than charity: ‘What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven and falling into hell, thanks to you!’ I wish they would work as hard at this as they do at their books, and so settle their account with God for their learning and the talents entrusted to them.

“This thought would certainly stir most of them to meditate on spiritual realities, to listen actively to what God is saying to them. They would forget their own desires, their human affairs, and give themselves over entirely to God’s will and his choice. They would cry out with all their heart: Lord, I am here! What do you want me to do? Send me anywhere you like – even to India.” (St Francis Xavier)

Mitte, Domine, operarios in messem tuam!

Send, Lord, laborers in Thy harvest!

Meditations for Easter.., p.459, 462:

from The Passion and the Death of Jesus Christ by St. Alphonsus de Liguori

 Oh, happy are we if we suffer with patience on earth the troubles of this present life! Distress of circumstances, fears, bodily infirmities, persecutions, and crosses of every kind, will one day all come to an end; and if we be saved, they will all become for us subjects of joy and glory in paradise: Your sorrow  (says the Saviour, to encourage us) shall be turned into joy. So great are the delights of paradise, that they can neither be explained nor understood by us mortals: Eye hath not seen (says the Apostle) nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for those who love Him. Beauties like the beauties of paradise, eye hath never seen; harmonies like unto the harmonies of paradise, ear hath never heard; nor hath ever human heart gained the comprehension of the joys which God had prepared for those that love him. Beautiful is the sight of a landscape adorned with hills, plains, woods, and views of the sea. Beautiful is the sight of a garden abounding with fruit, flowers, and fountains. Oh, how much more beautiful is paradise!

…It is enough to know that in that blessed realm resides a God omnipotent, whose care is to render happy his beloved souls. St Bernard says that paradise is a place where “there is nothing that thou wouldst not, and everything there that thou wouldst.” There shalt thou not find anything displeasing to Thyself, and everything thou dost desire thou shalt find.

…What consolation will it not feel in meeting there with relatives and friends of its own who have previously entered into heaven! …

A meditation for Easter Sunday… from a Dominican friar

How supreme the change that has taken place since the dolor and darkness of Good Friday! Then, the agonized Spouse of Christ was submerged in an ocean of bitter sorrow. Her altars were denuded; her ministers were clothed in the sable garments of mourning; a wail of grief went forth from her bosom, piercing the highest heaven.

Behold the glorious transformation of Easter Sunday! Our weeping Mother has dried her tears and hushed her sighs of grief. Her priests appear in vestments of white and gold; her altars are decked with lovely flowers and flaming lights; her organs peal forth exultant paeans, and, in a very rapture of gladness, she calls upon heaven and earth to join in her song of triumph, repeating again and again her thrilling “Alleluias.”

Nor is the Mater Dolorosa forgotten in those joyful canticles of Easter. Tenderly mindful of the sorrows of Mary, the Church cries to her to rejoice in the golden dawn of the Resurrection: “Regina cœli, lætare,” (she chants), “O Queen of Heaven! rejoice, because He whom thou didst merit to bear, hath risen, as He said. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary! because He is truly risen from the dead!” Yes, Blessed Mother, rejoice and be glad! No longer have hell and Satan power over your adorable Son. He lives and reigns forever, the immortal Conquerer of sin and death, and one day, when your grand work for God and His Church is completed, you shall share everlastingly in the joys of His kingdom!

O sweet and gentle Mother! recalling your profound emotions immediately after the death of your Divine Son, assist us to dwell awhile with you on the action of His adorable soul after its separation from the flesh upon Calvary’s cross. You remember the promise the dying Redeemer made to the poor penitent thief that he would be with Him that day in Paradise (Luke 23. 43). That pledge was faithfully fulfilled.

Our Lord appeared to His Blessed Mother just after His Resurrection, changing her sorrow into intense joy, and giving her in anticipation a share of the glory and happiness that awaited her in Heaven. How sweet and consoling must have been the converse of Our Lord with His Blessed Mother! How she must have thanked and congratulated Him for choosing her to be His companion in the sublime work of the world’s redemption — and for having vouchsafed her a share in His manifold sufferings and sorrows! And how Jesus, in turn, must have thanked His Blessed Mother, and praised and blessed her for all she did and suffered for Him from the moment of His Incarnation to His expiration on the cross! Let us try to picture to ourselves the overflowing rapture of Mary’s immaculate Heart when she beheld the glorified body of her divine Son. She did not go with the devout women when (as the Evangelist tells us) they went very early in the morning to anoint the body of Christ. She well knew that it had no need of the embalming spices or agents, since it was not destined to molder in the grave. She did not go to visit the tomb on Easter morn with the weeping Magdalen, for she was well aware that the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea was vacant of its divine Tenant. Already her adorable Son had visited and consoled her. And with what ecstatic joy must she have gazed on those hands and feet, lately so livid and lacerated, now shining as if adorned with dazzling jewels; on that glorified body, so horribly torn by the scourges, now resplendently arrayed with heavenly vesture; on that sacred face, once clouded by blood and bruises, now more brilliant than ten thousand suns, thence diffusing the light of the Lamb, which shall fill the New Jerusalem with ineffable delight, from everlasting to everlasting!

Palm Sunday - Blessing and Distribution of the Palms