The beautiful words of that great French hero of the Traditional Mass, Jean Madiran, who has lived to see the miracle, remembering the names of some who died in the battlefield:
"For thirty seven years, a whole generation of militant Catholics, religious or lay members of the Militant Church (a generation reaching from 7 to 97 years of age) suffered, without giving in, openly defying the arbitrary interdict on the Traditional Mass. We think of our dead: Cardinal Ottaviani, Father Calmel, Father Raymond Dulac, Monsignor Renato Pozzi, Monsignor Lefebvre, Father Guérard. And, among the laymen: Cristina Campo, Luce Quenette, Louis Salleron, Eric de Saventhem. The pontifical goodwill is for them as a light breeze, which sweetly brings peace to their tombs. Wherever they are now, they do not need it anymore. But it is their memory amongst us which is appeased and elevated."
And also: Bishop Castro Mayer, Father Gamber, Michael Davies, Tito Casini, and so many, many others (priests, laymen and laywomen- God knows their names!), each of whom placed his own brick, large or small, in the great dam built for decades against the tumultuous tides of the late twentieth century. Thank you, thank you, thank you dearly! The heat of the battle has caused so much personal attrition, exaggerations, and misunderstandings... Yet, justice cannot be denied: gratitude is owed to those who did not live to see, on this earth, the glorious date of July 7, 2007.
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[2011 note: it was impossible not to think of the miracle of Summorum Pontificum when considering the text of the first lesson for this Thursday's Matins, in the Roman Breviary, used as the verses of our header above. As Jonathan prepares to fight, in a sort of guerrilla and with no previous knowledge of his father (King Saul), the Philistines encamped around Machmas (Michmash), near Gabaa (Geba), where the Hebrew encampment was, he tells his armor-bearer: "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised, it may be the Lord will do for us, because it is not difficult for the Lord to save, either by many, or by few" (I Kings/I Samuel xiv, 9). So very few were left, and so many great things did they do - they saved the Traditional Roman Rite and Sacraments, in the most difficult of times, when, as the Pope himself said last week, "the boat of the Lord seemed filled with water, almost near collapse". They did so out of pure love for God and His Church, when almost all stood by or had joined the Philistines, preserving these treasures for us, and for our posterity: may their names and struggles never be forgotten. Et fidelium animae per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace. Amen.]
