Rector's letters

Why is it important to consider this Council? Do we not risk drifting into a systematically negative criticism that is itself non-Catholic? Obviously, we cannot define ourselves as against the Second Vatican Council. We have no need to define ourselves in function of something else. It is sufficient for us to be Catholics - Catholics whose ideal is to fight as soldiers of Christ to bring about His kingdom, and especially His social kingdom on earth. But a soldier can only fight effectively if he is armed and trained to fight; if he has received an adequate training and knows his enemy. That is why it is important to meditate on this fateful Council.

Allow us to talk about one of our sorrows concerning the life of the SSPX. It regards the vocation of Brother within our Society. Little known, or at the very least much overlooked, the vocation of Brother attracts few, and rare are those who ponder the possibility of such a vocation among us.

We would like to invite you to join in our thanksgiving for the wonderful days of June 19th and 20th, when thirteen new priests received the priestly unction from H.E. Bishop Tissier de Mallerais and celebrated, for the first time, the sacred Mysteries. As explained in the enclosed "Verbum", these two days mark a milestone, not only in the life of the Seminary, but also in the history of the development of our work in this country. Our Good Lord allowed everything to come together for making these days an exceptional event.

Saint Bernard, in a concise formula, did not hesitate to say that man is only a "mass of corruption". But the holy liturgy seems to contradict such a peremptory assertion. In the Offertory, the priest pours a drop of water into the chalice of salvation while saying: "God, who in an admirable way hast created the nobility of human nature and hast restored it in an even more marvelous way... ".

The recent papal decree, justly restoring the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X, caused a media frenzy which you cannot have failed to notice. Skillfully orchestrated, this heinous campaign spread quickly, even in the halls of some episcopates always ready to follow the chaotic promptings of the media. It seems, however, that the furor has somewhat calmed down. This lull gives us the opportunity to reconsider, with less agitation, certain aspects of the decree of last 21 January.

In the midst of our daily struggle, we must be on our guard against the blows aimed at us from every side by the enemy of mankind. Thus, every night at Compline we sing: "Fratres, sobrii estote et vigilate, " "Brethren, be sober and watch."

We have a visceral dread regarding Lent. As a living oyster touched by a drop of lemon juice, we close up tightly when our comforts are threatened, our greatest fear being to have to give them up. We instinctively hate all that opposes our ease.

Weather forecast: heavy weather with strong waves! Peter's ship is in the midst of a great tempest. It is prey to the attacks and deceptions of its enemies, who go after Christ's Vicar with a ferocious glee, describing him as an old, senile man who has lost any contact with reality, a recluse lost in his dreams, lost in his intellectual musings and in the sonatas that he plays on his piano.

The patient transmission of ancestral knowledge, the priceless wisdom accumulated through the generations, has broken down - or, more precisely, it was voluntarily broken, as we have said in previous letters. The sacred authority of the parents, which should naturally have been a model for the child, was cruelly lacking. The child easily criticizes authority under any form and, involuntarily, develops a marked inclination to isolate and turn upon himself, thus contradicting his very nature, since man is a social being.

Paternity and maternity did not survive the assault of the Revolution. We heard their death-knell in our previous letter. The times are over when one could see a father endowed with a sacred authority and a mother haloed by affection, leaning over on the infant's cradle and taking care of his education. We could from now on write upon many of these cradles the extremely sad words, "father and mother unknown."