 |
| Dom Pateau in Notre-Dame de Chartres, Whitsun Monday |
 |
| Evil Hierarchs allied to the Powers of the World persecuting and burning Holy Orthodoxy and Virginal Purity - not new! |
Another thing very similar is the lamentable, almost despairing, situation, not of a country, but of the Church, the Church, the Bride of Christ in such a situation! Who could imagine it? The demolition, the blows suffered, for, by and following the Council, they're there, right before us. Sad. Lamentable. We dare to think, "how will the Church rise again?" And, we dare say, humanly, it's over. But we don't have the right of saying "humanly" when we talk about the Church, because the Church remains, she remains, the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And, even if we see her in this lamentable state, we don't have the right to associate this lamentable state with the Church and then say, "the Church is no more". No! The Church remains, but as if disfigured, as if having generalized cancer, and we have this certitude that she will rise again. ...When we say that Rome would like to give us a canonical recognition, we are filled with mistrust. By seeing the way with which the authorities have treated Tradition and all that have a little bit of a traditional sentiment, or traditional leanings, when we see how they have been treated, we are filled with mistrust. And even with fear. Fear of the future, and we say, "but how will this be possibly done?" But do we have the right of feeling this way? Aren't they real, very true, feelings, and too human?...Certainly, it is necessary to act with all prudence, certainly, by analyzing the dangers, by seeing if it is possible or not, but up to now, my dear brethren, we may say that a certain direction seems to appear, that might say that it might perhaps be possible that we be recognized, that we continue, but, up to this moment, I don't have, I myself, all the elements, one could say, the final elements, that may allow me to say, "yes or no". And thus up until today, and well that's where we are . ... That's all of it. If we have elements that are sufficient for deciding that, yes, it is possible, well then, we can reach the conclusion. And if we reach the conclusion that, no, it isn't possible, it's too dangerous, then, no, it's impossible, this cannot go on. And we'll say "no". That's it. It is not we who will try to impose upon the Good God our decision, our will. On the contrary, we try to search, by way of events, things that go on, what is His will, what does He want, the Good God? It is so surprising that we reach this point. It was not we who looked for it. Today, at least I reach this certainty, that the one who wants to recognize the Society is, in the end [bel et bien], the Pope. I see that, in Rome, everyone is not of the same mind. In Rome and elsewhere. But the Pope, yes. And then will he go until the end? Will he give in when faced with pressure, with opposition? ... Let us pray, let us continue to pray, let us ask for this light for all. That we may remain very united. Because it is true that such a decision, and it is also one of the reasons for this fear, it implies such a change of perspective... . From some parts we hear, "is that possible?" With all the elements I have in my hands, I say, "yes, it seems possible to me", but, once again, with the condition that we are left free to act. It seems clear that, if we are wanted, it is to reintroduce Tradition in the Church, if we can speak like this. Therefore not for us only, but also for all the Church, so that the whole Church may gain from it, from this magnificent thing, the Christian life.There are certainly lots of questions, that remain open. This question of a non-entente on certain points of the Council, we are not in agreement. It is precisely this that is surprising: why then, why then offer us this path, there must well be a reason. ... the reason is this state of the Church.
Since the 1970s, we have been engaged in resistance. ... This is a difficult attitude to maintain, requiring great, supernatural wisdom, of which Archbishop Lefebvre left us a fine example, one very difficult to follow. For a long time I have been noticing that without this wisdom we easily fall into challenging all authority, whatever it may be and whatever reason: family, school, chapel, religious or priestly institute, and so forth. This goes further than simple disobedience because it derives more from a gratuitous mistrust of anyone who wants to lead me somewhere I do not feel like going.
Although our area has been spared some of the troubles about which I prefer not to speak, and to follow up our previous Seignadou editorial, it does not seem to me superfluous to return to the question of our relations with Rome.
For example, I remember quite well, during the years 1988-1991, Archbishop Lefebvre stating that if Rome wanted to resume contact with us, he would insist on beginning with doctrinal discussions. This is what we have done. But as far back as my memory serves, I have no recollection that he ever envisaged having to wait for the “conversion” of Rome before going further. He knew too well what the Church is, to pretend to “convert” Rome. He knew that it is illusory to imagine that Rome would be able to disavow Vatican II or condemn its most condemnable theses! He knew better than we, we who so much like to sermonize the Pope and who dream of instantaneous “victory,” that it would take decades, and undoubtedly several generations, for Rome to abandon and forget these disastrous theses. At the very least, he would say, he wanted to continue going to Rome in the hope of “doing them a little good,” to make his objections heard and, if possible, admitted, so that he would be allowed to continue his work.
Vatican II was a genuine sign of God for our time. If we know how to interpret and accept it within the tradition of the Church, and under the secure guidance of the Magisterium, it will become an increasingly important driving force for the future of the Church. For this reason I hope this anniversary will be - for you and for the entire Church in France - an occasion of spiritual and pastoral renewal.
This renewal, which is part of a continuous and ongoing process, takes many forms. For the Year of the Faith, to which I have called the entire Church, we must seek a more conscious faith and renew our adherence to the Gospel. To this end, we must become increasingly open to the person of Christ, and rediscover the pleasure of the Word of God in order to achieve a profound conversion of heart and walk the paths of the world, proclaiming the Gospel of hope to the men and women of our time, in respectful dialogue with everyone. May this time of grace also make it possible to consolidate communion within the great family of the Catholic Church, and contribute to restoring unity among all Christians, which was one of the main objectives of the Council.
The renewal of the Church also includes the witness of Christians' own lives, that the Word of Truth the Lord left us may shine forth. If you approach witnesses of faith such as St. Bernadette the humble seer of Lourdes, Pauline Jaricot who gave new missionary drive to the Church, and many others who have made the soil of France fruitful, you will gain a deeper knowledge of Christ. ... St. Joan of Arc, the sixth centenary of whose birth falls this year, is one shining example. She brought the Gospel into the most dramatic events of the history of France and of her time. Rediscovering the joy of believing and the enthusiasm of communicating the power and beauty of the faith is a fundamental challenge of the new evangelisation to which the whole Church is called.
Left alone, Joan felt herself wavering. In the cemetery of Saint-Ouen, near Rouen Cathedral, before people and court, she signed in her last days an act of abjuration that had been presented to her and that she had not read, by placing under pressure a cross which represented, according to different interpretations, either acceptance or invalidation. On the following day, however, she retracted, and trusted in the need to conform to her voices. Even the greatest saints can feel tempted to be discouraged. It is nonetheless in their ability to rise up in such a situation that we recognize their spiritual strength and the heroic character of their virtues. Was not the Savior himself tempted in the Garden of Olives, before letting out a cry of sufferance, "Father, Father, why have you forsaken me?"
But the supreme sacrifice was at hand. Joan was condemned to death. The sentence of excommunication is read to her, with the solemn form that the representatives of the Church conferred upon it. She climbs up the steps of the platform where was located the fire that was to consume her, officially condemned by the Holy Inquisition whose guardians indicated to her in the verdict, with the hypocrisy that was to be expected, that they sincerely thought that she, Joan, should have "preferred to remain faithfully and constantly in the communion, as well as in the unity of the Catholic Church and of the Roman Pontiff." [6] On her was placed a headgear on which the points of condemnation, that her detractors repeated unceasingly, were written: "heretic, schismatic, relapser". What pain is more vicious for the true servants of the Church than that of feeling isolated at the end of their lives, rejected by their authorities at the same time in which places of honor are often granted to those who mistreat the essential truths of the Faith? Jesus Christ, abandoned by his disciples, had not himself been condemned to be crucified, at the same time in which Barabbas, the worst of criminals, was liberated?
Joan climbs up towards martyrdom. Her skin would crimson, her hair would burn, her limbs would be carbonized by the flames, and already some of her accusers, such as Loyseleur, approached hastily the cart taking her to the place of her torment to ask her to grant them her pardon. Faced with such holiness, her distraught executioner ran off and fell on his knees before a Friar Preacher: "I strongly fear I will be damned because I have burned a saint," a final confession that recalls the biblical words prefiguring the attitude of those who crucified Our Lord: "They shall look upon him, whom they have pierced".
A quarter-century after her death, the cause of the heroine of Orleans was revisited and the Church rehabilitated her officially. Until then, the number of those who believed that it was forbidden to judge the verdicts of the representatives of the ecclesiastical Institution was large. Pius XII celebrated this dignified end of a French heroine who was to one day obtain on earth, as she had in heaven, the crown of saints: "In the silence, the words of a martyr faithful to her vocation resonate, filled with faith in the Church, to which she appealed by invoking the sweetest name of Jesus, her only consolation. Through the flames that rise up, she stares at the Cross, certain that she will one day obtain justice." [8]
Is not Saint Augustine referring to the beautiful characters forged in Joan's image in these lines? "Often, too, Divine Providence permits even good men to be driven from the congregation of Christ by the turbulent seditions of carnal men. When, for the sake of the peace of the Church, they patiently endure that insult or injury, and attempt no novelties in the way of heresy and schism, they will teach men how God is to be served with a true disposition and with great and sincere charity. The intention of such men is to return when the tumult has subsided. But, if that is not permitted because the storm continues or because a fiercer one might be stirred up by their return, they hold fast to their purpose to look to the good even of those responsible for the tumults and commotions that drove them out: and, without forming secret congregations, they defend to the death and confirm by their testimony the faith which they know is preached in the Catholic Church. The One who sees their secret combats crowns their victory in secret. This situation seems rare in the Church, but it is not without precedent, it presents itself more often than it can be believed. So Divine Providence uses all kinds of men as examples for the sanctification of souls and for the edification of the people of God." [9]
[Part I: A Saint in armor]
[Part II: A Saint in isolation]
_________________________
Notes:
[6] Transcript of the trial of Joan of Arc, 56th session, May 30, 1431.
[7] Transcript of the trial of Joan of Arc, ibidem.
[8] Pius XII, Radio message to France, June 25, 1956.
[9] Saint Augustine, On True Religion, VI, 11.
[Wednesday, February 21st. The First Public Session]
...
As it is our office to keep and exalt the Catholic faith, we did first, with the gentle succor of Jesus Christ (whose issue this is), charitably admonish and require the said Jeanne, then seated before us, that to the quicker ending of the present trial and the unburdening of her own conscience, she should answer the whole truth to the questions put to her upon these matters of faith, eschewing subterfuge and shift which hinder truthful confession.
Moreover, according to our office, we lawfully required the said Jeanne to take proper oath, with her hands on the holy gospels, to speak the truth in answer to such questions put to her, as beforesaid.
