[For the earlier news, read here; the news was delivered by Fr. Pagliarani in the seminary of Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, France, in a Mass for Candlemas; translation from the original French -- apologies for any mistake made in rush.]
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dear confreres, dear seminarians, dear sisters and dear faithful, what a joy to be able to bless the habit of the 22 new seminarians.
On these blessed days in which our Lord, for the first time, goes to the temple to present himself before his Father, outwardly manifesting the offering of himself, of his life. "Here I am to do your will. That is why I was incarnated." And today, I manifest it. As much as possible, these perfect dispositions of our Lord must be the dispositions of a young man who wants to give his life to our Lord to one day ascend to the altar. What a beautiful example! It is the model to follow throughout our life. And this takes place in humility.
The humility of Our Lady is the humility of our Lord. Our Lady, the Immaculate, the perpetual Virgin, accepts the rites of purification according to the law of Moses. No creature has ever been and will ever be as pure as the Virgin. But out of humility, she accepts this ritual. And through the offering of two doves, one as a holocaust and one for sins, she is purified. It is the offering of the poor. And our Lord himself is redeemed. He is redeemed because as firstborn, he belonged to God, and he is redeemed by paying the small sum of five shekels, five coins. He who was himself the Redeemer, he who was himself the price of our redemption, accepts to be redeemed by a few coins. What humility!
They were not strictly obliged to go to Jerusalem for these rituals. Jews who lived very far away could do this by proxy. But they want to, the Holy Family wants to fulfill the law out of obedience. What a magnificent example! Our Lord already appears to us as obedient, obedient unto death. We know the perfection of his previous dispositions. He is already ready to give everything for our redemption and to fulfill obedience to his Father, to accomplish his will. You see how in this context of already perfect immolation, we have a prelude to the cross, to the passion. And it is in this apparently simple, ordinary scene, but in the eyes of God so unique, because redemption has already begun.
It is in this scene that Simeon appears, this old man. He takes the floor, and his speech makes two opposing parts, one to the other. First joy, the joy of seeing our Lord, of taking him in his arms, a joy proportional to the desire he had until that day. "I have seen, finally, I have seen the Savior, the salvation of Israel, I have seen him." In eternity, we will do nothing else but contemplate what Simeon contemplated in his arms during those few moments. This Savior, this salvation who has been prepared by divine Providence from all eternity. The incarnation was in the mind of God, so to speak. For all peoples. He is the only Savior given, offered to all peoples, to all races, without distinction. What joy! What joy in the eyes and in the words of this old man! This light to teach the truth, the only way of salvation.
Well, this joy of Simeon, this light is… suddenly, as if interrupted abruptly by this announcement made to Our Lady and Saint Joseph. He turns to them, blesses them, and will say something to them in another tone, which is linked to what preceded, of course. What will he concretely say to them? He will tell them that this redemption of mankind by this child will be accomplished in suffering, will be accomplished on the cross, will be accomplished through the passion. This child will be a sign of contradiction.
It is a very beautiful definition of our Lord. He is a sign of contradiction. What does this mean in a somewhat more modern language? It means that our Lord does not negotiate. He is a sign of contradiction. Our Lord affirms the truth. He manifests it by his word and confirms it by his miracles. He proposes it. And he clearly says that it is the only way of salvation. There is no other. Why does he say that? Because he cannot deceive souls. He did not come into this world to deceive souls. He came to save them. He manifests the truth.
He will be persecuted. And also those who will follow him will also be a sign of contradiction. One must choose. We cannot remain indifferent before our Lord. We cannot remain indifferent before redemption. He who remains indifferent has already chosen his side. He who remains indifferent has refused our Lord. And Simeon says this quite clearly. When he ends his prophecy, he says that all this… this manifestation of our Lord, his redemption, all this will happen so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. What does this mean? In what sense will the thoughts of men's hearts be revealed, be manifested? In this sense: in the sense that no one will be able to remain truly indifferent before our Lord. One must choose. It is a sign of contradiction. And our Lord himself will say to him one day, "He who is not with me is against me. And he who does not gather with me scatters."
And this revelation of the mystery of redemption, which will be made through the suffering of our Lord, will be accompanied by another suffering. You see, from the first manifestation of this mystery of redemption through the suffering of our Lord, God wanted Our Lady to be associated with this work and that the role of Our Lady beside our Lord be revealed, at the same time as the role of our Lord is revealed to men. And Simeon, addressing the Virgin, said to her, "And a sword of sorrow will pierce your heart, your soul will be pierced with a sword."
What a mystery behind these words! A mystery that we can penetrate, a mystery extremely dear to the Church. It is the mystery of redemption, of the association of Our Lady to the work of our Lord. There we understand well why the angel asked for the Virgin's consent, her fiat. The Virgin understood well that becoming the mother of God meant becoming the mother of a suffering God, a redeeming God, a suffering Messiah as described in the Old Testament. She said, "Yes, I accept. If it is the will of God, I accept." God incarnates for a very specific purpose. And Our Lady knew it and accepted all of this.
But why? Why in his divine wisdom did God want to associate Our Lady to the passion of our Lord in this way? Why? It is because our Lord will save souls, but he will ask each soul for its own cooperation, will ask each soul for its adherence to faith, its share of sufferings. And Our Lady, preserved from original sin before her conception, Our Lady was, in a certain way, the most perfect, unique redeemed, never touched by sin. And logically, God asked Our Lady for cooperation in the work of redemption proportional to her holiness. What a mystery!
It is a vision; behind this there is a deeply Christian, deeply Catholic vision. God wants the cooperation of creatures and made Our Lady the prototype of this cooperation. You can see well, it is there: in Protestantism, which destroys all cooperation. It is only God who saves, who saves the predestined. It is Luther's theology. And consequently, what do Protestants reject? Since this cooperation is not necessary on our part, what do Protestants reject? Logically, they reject religious life, they reject mortification, they reject the Mass, because the Holy Mass, from a Protestant perspective, is an effort, a human cooperation in a work that is only divine. They reject the cult of the saints, because there is no need for intercessors, intermediaries. And above all, they reject the cult of Our Lady. It is terrible! It means destroying, in some way, redemption as God willed it. But it is logical. It must be said.
On another level, in a different way, modernism does the same thing. Modernism, without denying all this, distorts it. Behind the misplaced shield of a misunderstood Christocentrism, it is a false snickering, of taking away from our Lord his centrality. Modernism also diminishes all this, diminishes human cooperation, efforts, mortification; religious life is no longer understood; the Mass, the Mass is understood in a completely different way. And Our Lady, Our Lady too, she is somewhat sidelined from this role she has in redemption, this central role. It is terrible.
When you have a magnificent painting, what do we do to highlight it? We try to find a frame worthy of this painting. And that is exactly what God did with the Most Holy Virgin. This magnificent painting of redemption is framed by co-redemption, framed by Our Lady herself. What wisdom! And now, we are told that to better appreciate the beauty of this painting, not to lose it, this frame should be removed.
Three times, Most Holy Mary accompanies our Lord to Jerusalem. Today, the Presentation at the Temple and the purification of Mary represent the first journey of the Virgin with Jesus to Jerusalem. On two other occasions, the Mother accompanies him. And these three episodes are concatenated one to the other, are on the same axis, have a common denominator. Today, Jesus, presented at the Temple, offers his life to the Father. At 12 years old, still accompanied by the Mother, Jesus offers his life to the Father. At 12 years old, Jesus manifests his divine holiness and offers it to the Father, presented at the Temple, again accompanied by the Mother. And the third time will be Calvary. Jesus, in fact, is accompanied by the Mother to offer this time to the Father his own life, his own blood.
What do these three so different episodes have in common? And why is the Holy Mother always present? She accompanies our Lord, and accompanies him three times, in pain, in suffering. The first time, today, February 2nd, this announcement of Simeon, "A sword will pierce your heart." At 12 years old, she accompanies him again to the temple, and again the terrible loss, the pain of having lost our Lord. It was the most unimaginable test for Mary. And the third time, she accompanies him again in pain, in the pain of Calvary. But why every time she accompanies him, must she do it in pain? Why? Because she is co-redeemer, because she participates systematically in the passion of our Lord. She prepares her with our Lord. The passion of our Lord is also hers. It is obvious.
And what is the consequence of this truth which is in the Gospel? It is not an invention of a mystic. These episodes are narrated in the Gospel. What is the consequence of this? And that, as Mary was present during all the life of our Lord, and followed him in his passion, and in all that prepared and referred to his passion, so today, Mary, logically, continues to be at the side of our Lord and to dispense the graces which are the fruit of this passion of our Lord which was also hers, to which she was associated until today, until the announcement of Simeon. What a great mystery was enclosed in this sword. What a great mystery.
One last consideration. But how could Our Lady offer her Son, accept to offer her Son, and such a Son? We can understand that she offered to God herself her existence, her virginity, but such a Son. How could she offer him? Her virginally conceived Son, virginally born, of whom she was the only parent. The human nature of our Lord comes all from Our Lady, integrally. It is her immaculate flesh, her immaculate blood that formed the humanity of our Lord, exclusively. This perfect Son whom she adores. How could she offer him? How could she say yes, yes? Not only do I say yes and I stay in Nazareth. I say yes and I accompany him. I say yes positively. How could she do that? How to explain this?
The answer is very simple. And the answer must shake us. She did it out of love for us. It is not a fable, it is the Gospel. Will we renounce this doctrine? Will we forget this sword planted in the heart of Our Lady? Will we forget what it means? Will we forget what Our Lady did at the foot of the cross? Will we forget the agreement of redemption? No way. It is our faith. It is the heart of our faith. It is what we hold most dear.
On the day of judgment, our Lord will show us his wounds. Our Lord judges humanity by showing his wounds and asking each man, "What have you done with my wounds? What have you done with my passion? Did you take refuge in my side or did you prefer the world? What have you done with my blood shed on the cross? What have you done with the Holy Eucharist? What have you done with my grace?" He will also ask us one last question. "What have you done with my mother? I had nothing left. I was stripped of everything, abandoned by everyone. I had only a drop of blood left in my body. I had only my mother with me. But not just any mother. A mother I had prepared. An immaculate mother. A mother full of graces. The mother of God. I had prepared her for me, to incarnate me, to come into this world. A mother who accompanied me from the Presentation at the Temple to the cross in my passion. She never abandoned me. I had only her and I gave her to you so that she could continue to form in your soul something of my traits, something that, one way or another, could resemble me. I gave you my mother. What have you done with my mother? She begot me in the manger, without pain, surrounded by heavenly hosts, in poverty, but without pain! To you, she begot you at the foot of the cross. What have you done with her? How have you treated her, honored her? Have you truly treated her as a mother?" There is no escaping this. It is the question our Lord will ask us.
Can we renounce this doctrine so beautiful, so profound, which manifests to us excessively the charity of our Lord? Are we afraid that by treating Our Lady as she deserves, as co-redeemer, she will distance us from the mystery of redemption in which she herself is totally plunged? For a Christian to have this fear, it is inadmissible. It is inadmissible. Can we deceive souls in this way? It is inadmissible. Can we distance souls from Our Lady when her role is not only to bring us to our Lord, but to form our Lord in our soul? It is inadmissible.
We think the time has come to think about the future of the Saint Pius X Fraternity, about the future of all souls that we cannot forget, that we cannot abandon. And, of course, to consider what we can and must do for the Church. And this raises questions that we have asked ourselves for a long time and to which today, perhaps, we must give answers.
Should we still wait before thinking about consecrating bishops? We have waited, prayed, observed the evolution of things in the Church. We asked for advice. We wrote to the Holy Father to simply present the situation of the fraternity, explain its needs, and at the same time, to confirm to the Holy Father our only reason for being, which is the good of souls.
We wrote to the Holy Father, Most Holy Father, we have only one intention, that of making all souls who come to us true sons of the Roman Catholic Church. We have never had another intention and we will always keep this intention. And the good of souls corresponds to the good of the Church.
The Church does not exist in bindings. The Church exists in souls. It is souls that form the Church. And if one loves the Church, one loves souls. One wants their salvation and wants to do everything possible to offer them the means to achieve their salvation. So we wrote to the Holy Father to understand this very particular situation in which the fraternity finds itself, and to let him take the means to continue this work. In an exceptional situation, we acknowledge it, but this work which, once again, has only the purpose of preserving tradition for the good of souls.
Well, these reasons, unfortunately, do not seem interesting, are not convincing. Let's say these reasons have not found an open door at the Holy See for now. We regret it very much. But then, what are we going to do? Are we going to abandon souls? Are we going to tell them that there is ultimately no need for the fraternity to continue its work, that in the end everything is more or less fine? In other words, that there is no longer a state of necessity in the Church which would justify our apostolate, our existence, to help the Church, not to defy it, never. We are here to serve the Church.
And we serve the Church by preaching the faith and telling the truth to souls, not by telling fables to souls. Can we tell souls that despite everything, everything is fine? No. That would mean betraying souls. And betraying souls would mean betraying the Church. We cannot do it.
That is why we think that next July 1st could be a good date, an ideal date. It is the feast of the Most Precious Blood of our Lord. It is the feast of redemption. We have nothing else that interests us. It is what we hold most dear. It is the blood of our Lord which flows from his feet on the cross, on the wood of the cross and which was first adored by Our Lady at the foot of this cross and which we continue to adore at the foot of the altar. It is the only thing that interests us. It is the only thing we want to give to souls. And men have a right to it. It is not a privilege. Men have a right to it. We cannot abandon them.
In the coming days, of course, we plan to give you more teachings, more explanations. It is important to understand why. It is important to understand the stakes of all this. It is crucial. But at the same time, it is necessary to understand this in prayer. It is not enough to prepare the intellect. It is not enough, I would say, to have a purely apologetic approach to all this. We must prepare the heart. Our heart is a grace. We must cling to this grace. We must thank the good God. We must prepare ourselves.
Yes, consecrations, consecrations, once again, not to defy the Church, it is not a challenge. Consecrations out of fidelity to the Church and to souls. And I add one last consideration. I fully assume the responsibility of this decision.
I assume it first before God. I assume it before the Most Holy Virgin, before Saint Pius X. I assume it before the popes. I would like one day to be able to meet the pope before July 1st. I would like to explain to him, to make him understand our real, deep intentions, our attachment to the Church, so that they know it, that they understand it. And I assume this responsibility before the Church, of course, and before the Fraternity, all the members of the Fraternity, and before, I repeat once again, all the souls who, one way or another, have recourse to us, ask us for help, or will ask us for help.
All these souls, all these vocations that Providence has sent us, continues to send us. I assume this responsibility before them too. Each and every one in particular, because a soul has infinite value. And in the Church, never forget, in the Church, the law of laws, the law that supersedes all others, is the salvation of souls.
It is not chatter, it is not the synod, it is not ecumenism. It is not liturgical experiments, new ideas, new evangelizations. It is the salvation of souls, it is the law of laws. And this law, we must all owe it, each in our place, to observe it and to expend ourselves fully to observe this law.
Why do I end? Because today, Our Lady and Our Lord teach us that before their existence here on earth, they had no other idea, no other goal than that of saving souls. And as we said, one way or another, each of us, according to his talents, according to his place, must do all he can, must give his contribution to save his soul and that of others.
Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
