Dear
Friends and Benefactors,
Since
the appearance of our last Letter notable events have occurred
in the Church: the death of Paul VI and the election of
John Paul I. These events, to be sure, are of no small importance
to us, so great is our desire to see the Church liberated
from the Modernists and progressives who occupy it. For
nearly twenty years now we have been praying God to give
His Church true Apostles animated by the Catholic Faith,
that Faith which has furnished the Church with her Martyrs,
Confessors, Doctors, Virgins and all the Saints who render
her history illustrious and prove the fruitfulness of her
doctrine, Sacrifice, and Sacraments.
We
tremble at the thought that this infiltration of Modernism,
of Naturalism, in the Church might continue. The consequences
of this veritable cancer are the worst that the Church has
had to undergo in her long history, namely: the corruption
of the Catholic faith of numerous bishops and of a great
number of priests, brothers, and nuns. These churchmen think
like Protestants and Modernists: the recently published
book Des Evêques disent la foi de l'Eglise catholique
(Bishops expound the Faith of the Catholic Church) is
yet another proof of this. The concepts of sanctifying grace,
of original sin and its consequences, of mortal sin, of
the expiatory and satisfactory nature of the Sacrifice of
Our Lord continued on our altars, are wholly corrupted.
Here
once more are all the errors of Liberalism, Americanism,
Sillonism, and Modernism condemned by the Sovereign Pontiffs.1
Add to these the "Liberation Theology" which is
a Marxist interpretation of the Gospel, tantamount to a
sacrilegious outrage against Our Lord, and we can hardly
be surprised if the patience of God shows signs of running
out. Everything around us seems to be collapsing because
He has been abandoned Who is the Foundation of all things,
the Truth, the Way, and the Life: Our beloved Savior and
Lord Jesus Christ.
Confronted
with this situation, we are resolved to remain all the more
faithful to Our Lord, to His Reign, His Cross, His Sacrifice,
His Sacraments, and His Teaching faithfully handed down
by the successors of Peter for nearly twenty centuries.
Let
us ask Saint Pius X to guide the steps of John Paul I. May
the Blessed Virgin Mary, as jealous of the integrity of
the Faith as she is sensitive to all that betrays her Divine
Son, come to the aid of His Church.
By
the grace of God and the support of your prayers and generosity,
the Society of Saint Pius X, priests, brothers, sisters,
and auxiliaries, is expanding so rapidly that it is becoming
difficult to supply you with news that is complete. We hope,
then, that each District Superior, or the Superior of each
independent priory, will furnish more detailed information
for his own area.
On
29 June last, we ordained 18 priests, two of whom are attached
to the Bédoin Monastery of Dom Gérard, while the remaining
16 are members of the Society. All will be taking up their
ministry during this month of September. We would need,
however, to ordain four times as many priest's in order
to respond to all the requests which are coming to us from
every continent and country. Everywhere the faithful feel
abandoned or betrayed by the clergy. They can no longer
find the Catholic Church, but only a Modernist worship and
doctrine. Parents are filled with anxiety for their children.
Japan,
India, Australia, South America, South Africa, without counting
all the countries where we have already sent missionaries,
are begging us to send them true priests. Likewise, vocations
are emerging on all sides. Last year was notable for the
number of vocations from Italy and South America. This year
we have 65 new aspirants to the priesthood who will be entering
our three seminaries. A fourth seminary will be opening
in March
1979 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The
German-speaking seminary has been transferred from Weissbad
to Zaitzkofen in Germany (located between Munich and Regensburg).
Weissbad will henceforth be used as a house of preparation
for the major seminary. In Madrid in Spain and Brussels
in Belgium centers have been opened where the Society will
begin to exercise its ministry. Albano in Italy will be
housing all the second-year students of Ecône who are spending
the year in the vicinity of Rome in order to improve their
Latin and acquire familiarity with the city at the heart
of Catholicism.
The
Society has acquired an important center in St. Marys, Kansas
in the United States. This center, which includes a large
sanctuary dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, may
be used for pilgrimages, retreats, and perhaps later as
a college.
Eleven
new postulants have requested entry to the Brothers' Novitiate
while the Sisters' Novitiate at St. Michel-en-Brenne has
fifteen postulants and the Carmel in Quiévrain, Belgium
twelve. If, in addition, all the new vocations of those
Congregations which are maintaining their sane traditions
are taken into account, one cannot but marvel at this true
renewal of the Church, a renewal where verily the fruits
of the Holy Ghost are shining forth, and not the aberrations
of the Charismatics.
How
can one avoid the conclusion: there where the faith of the
Church is, there also is her sanctity, and there where the
sanctity of the Church is, there is the Catholic Church.
A Church which no longer brings forth good fruits, a Church
which is sterile, is not the Catholic Church.
Certainly,
we ourselves are of no great importance and the good that
is done by us comes from Our Lord. But it is precisely for
that reason that we are confident, for out of nothing Our
Lord can make much. The whole history of the Church proves
this. Our Lord does not require of us to succeed. That is
His concern. What He does want from us, however, is our
good will and that we be ready to accept whatever He sends
us, the trials and crosses just as gladly as the blessings.
Should
these few lines reach priests, brothers, and nuns who are
striving to preserve the Faith, and by that very fact, the
Tradition, and in particular the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass,
let them know that the Society is ready, as far as its means
allow, to assist them spiritually, morally, and materially.
Dear
Friends and Benefactors, how we wish to be at your service
for your sanctification, for the education and spiritual
support of your children. We especially hope to open schools
for boys. The future of Christian families depends on this.
We are very aware of your needs. That is why we already
have schools in New York and Houston in the United States
and are taking over the school of St. Michel at Châteauroux
in France.
On
the other hand, we are also counting on you and we trust
that your prayers, sacrifices, and generosity towards us
will continue as they have done up to now. May God through
Mary and Joseph repay you with abundant blessings.
+ Marcel
Lefebvre
Feast
of the Nativity of the Most Holy Virgin Mary
