Paix Liturgique
Letter 986
December 15, 2023
From December 1 to 3, 2023, 600 seminarians from all French dioceses gathered in Paris. On the occasion of this gathering, Mgr de Moulins-Beaufort answered the questions they freely put to him. One of them asked: "Does the Church in France have a problem with traditionalists?" Mgr de Moulins-Beaufort replied: "Yes, no doubt because of our turbulent history since the Revolution. If there's a central question, it's one of political theology and our relationship with the world. Vatican II's decree on religious freedom is very clear. Christ didn't come to build Catholic nations; he came to found the Church. It's not the same thing. By dint of harboring nostalgia for a Catholic state, we lose our energy for evangelization."
We can only agree that there is disagreement. It certainly concerns, directly and very concretely, the very pure Lex orandi represented by the traditional liturgy, to whose defense we devote all our efforts, but in fine, it does indeed affect the Lex credendi, especially on the question of political theology.
But if we agree with the observation, we are blown away by the President of the Bishops' Conference's evacuation of the idea of Christianity: "Christ did not come to build Catholic nations, but he came to found the Church". With one word, he consigns to the antique store the traditional doctrine of the baptism of nations as a goal to be pursued, enshrined in Pope Pius XI's encyclical Quas Primas and recalled each year by the celebration of the feast of Christ the King.
We reproduce below a homily delivered at the closing of the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage, which focused precisely on this theme.
Homily by Abbé Claude Barthe
chaplain of the Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage
for the Feast of Christ the King
October 31, 2021 in Rome
Reverend Father, Dear Brothers and Sisters, Dear Pilgrims,
As we have done every year for the past ten years, we end our pilgrimage ad Petri Sedem in this parish of the Holy Trinity of the Pilgrims, which has once again welcomed us so fraternally, in the manner of Saint Philip Neri.
This pilgrimage of the traditional Mass concludes with the celebration of Christ the King, called for by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Quas primas, as a reminder that the nations once baptized according to the Savior's order must re-establish within themselves Christ's regency over all their institutions, so that they may be properly Christian Cities: "May the rulers of the nations honor you with public worship!" sings the Vespers hymn. If this reminder was out of step with general developments back then, it's even more so today. The transformation of society today is frightening, apocalyptic: exacerbated individualism, the legalization of what natural reason designates as crimes, the ideological submission of so-called "liberated" individuals. And despite all this, we must continue to nurture hope in the Catholic City: it is Christian hope insofar as institutions, good or bad, Christian or apostate, contribute to the salvation of many or, on the contrary, to their damnation.
I would like to emphasize the connection between this Mass, for which we are present in Rome, and the doctrine of Christ's kingship over the nations.
Without going into great historical considerations, it is important to remember that this Mass was formed at the same time as the West was becoming and constituting itself as Christian. As far as the structure of the liturgy is concerned, the great period of its creation lies between the Constantinian and Carolingian eras, when the orations of the canon, a veritable rule of Eucharistic faith, and the other great priestly orations, developed at the same time as the forging of this specific Latin language, which some have described as canonical. As for the flesh of this Mass, if we can call the multiple prayers of gloss at the Entrance, Offertory and Communion this, its full flowering was achieved with the Gregorian reform. The Roman Mass was fully constituted when the ideal of Christianity reached maturity. It is the Mass of Christendom.
But above all, it should be noted that, theologically, this Mass, sacrificial in essence, is at the same time royal. It is Christ, who makes his royal entrance at the first moments of the ceremony, who reveals himself in epiphany at the offertory, who "draws all to himself" from the top of the glorious cross at the moment of the canon, who invites his friends to his royal banquet at the moment of communion. The adoration of the Lord, who manifests himself to his faithful in this way, has been expressed since cathedral times by the Elevation, a kind of ostension of the King's Body.
Of course, it's not enough to celebrate Mass to lay a cornerstone for the reconstruction of Christianity. Other battles are necessary. But the anti-modern character of our liturgy, quite the opposite of a liturgy that imitates profane fashions and language, powerfully helps us to put the priestly and royal mark of Christ on the whole of our personal, family and public lives.
Certainly, Christ's kingship today resembles more than ever what it was during Our Lord's Passion. It is especially by meditating on St John's account of the Passion that we can share in the feelings of this King whose kingship is providentially proclaimed at the same time as it is mocked: Christ is clothed in the red robe of kings, but it is to mock him; he is crowned, but with a crown of thorns; his royal title is recognized, but it is displayed on a gallows of infamy. "We do not want this man to reign over us" (Lk 19:14), have been the words of modern states since their inception, as well as of the supra- or para-national, financial and ideological entities that govern us. They repeat this daily, especially in their hatred of the law inscribed by God in the hearts of men.
And we, who are living out this extreme abasement of Christ's kingship, must use this apostate world as not using it, to paraphrase Saint Paul, living and acting in it without participating in its evil works, which is not easy, because of the difficulty of knowing what we can and cannot do, and also because of the crucifying renunciations this can involve. Each of us has duties of action and abstention, which may vary according to the individual, his or her condition and abilities, but for all of us there is the overriding obligation to ensure that what we have received is passed on to future generations.
"Jesus," said the Good Thief, "remember me when you come into your Kingdom." In other words, while Peter has denied his faith and the Apostles, with the exception of St. John, have gone into hiding, it is this dying man who makes the most formidable confession of Christ's kingship. And who becomes the first Christian saint: "This very night, you will be with me in paradise. May this confession be ours. The Lamb, who was slain, is worthy," says the Apocalypse in the passage that serves as an introduction to this Mass, "to receive power, divinity, wisdom, strength and honor; to him be glory and power for ever and ever."
Pilgrims, we'll see you again next year! And may God, in this coming year, support our efforts and labors in the service of a royal liturgy, which he has in a way entrusted to us, the faithful, priests, tomorrow bishops. Mary Queen, Mary our Queen, do not abandon us!
