Extracts from the writings of Archbishop Lefebvre
“The Society is both contemplative and missionary. There is no apostolate without contemplation. Contemplation is not necessarily for the cloister. It is the Christian life; a life of Faith and the realities of our Faith. The great reality to contemplate is the Holy Mass. This is what must characterize the members of the society: contemplating Our Lord upon the cross and seeing there the summit of God’s love, a love even unto supreme sacrifice. That is what Our Lord is! This is what the Church contemplates primarily… And by this we will be missionaries: by the desire to pour out the blood of Our Lord on souls. This the Mysterium Fidei to contemplate and to work for, the priestly mission par excellence. And the faithful gather around us because of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and for nothing else. One cannot be attached to the cross of Our Lord without being a missionary…
We must have total trust in the position we have taken because it is the Church’s attitude. It is not mine, it is not ‘that of Archbishop Lefebvre’ it is that of the church. One day or another all the rest will collapse."
“The priest and the future priest must find in his priesthood all his religious and apostolic virtues, and firstly the virtue of religion; hence he will respect the primacy of God’s love, divine praise, adoration and prayer.”
“The entire life of the priest – their studies, piety and works – is centred on the Mass.
A profound theological knowledge of the Sacrifice of the Mass will convince them ever more firmly that in this sublime event is realized all of Revelation, the Mystery of Faith, the completion of the Mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption, the whole effectiveness of the apostolate. Nothing therefore shall be neglected to the end that piety be directed towards and flow from, the Liturgy of the Holy Mass, which is the heart of theology, of pastoral activity, and of the Church’s life.”
“You must understand that everything rests on this sacrifice of the Mass which is the treasure bequeathed by Our Lord dying on the Cross. He gave His treasure – His Body, His Soul, His Divinity. He gave it to the Catholic Church on the altar of Sacrifice.”
“Nothing is more essential to the survival of the Catholic Church than the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. To hide it away is to shake the very foundations of the Church. All Christian, all religious and all sacerdotal life is founded on the Cross, on the Holy Sacrifice of the Cross renewed on the altar.”
“Fight for the maintenance of Tradition and fight fearlessly. Above all we must strive, we must fight. Above all we must strive to preserve the rite of our Holy Mass because it is the foundation of the Church and of Christian civilization. If there were no longer a true Mass in the Church the Church would disappear.”
"The defense of his Faith is the first duty of every Christian, more especially of every priest and bishop. Wherever an order carries with it danger of corrupting Faith and Morals, ‘disobedience’ becomes a grave duty. It is because we believe that our whole faith is endangered by the post-conciliar reforms and changes that it is our duty to ‘disobey’ and to maintain Traditions. The greatest service we can render the Catholic Church, the successor of Peter, the salvation of souls and of our own, is to say no to the reformed liberal Church, because we believe in Our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God made man, who is neither liberal nor reformable.”
Jacques Debout in his poem “The Three against the Other” expresses through the mouth of Satan – who is attacking Our Lord – the value of a Mass.
The demon of Riches
What does He set up against us ?
Satan
The Eternal Sacrifice -
Which has crushed my head and
Despite my efforts daily wrenches from
Me both the living and the dead.
In the hidden but true, destiny of nations
Masses are so many revolutions.
Those which are unseen and in their lonely depths
Can disrupt worlds from within.
The Mass, overflowing both priest and Missal
Is an event, forever universal,
And when, powerless, I run my head against some obstacle.
It is because in a church, a barn or hut,
Some man poor and infirm, has held in his hand
The formidable Host and the dread Wine.
What does He set up against us ?
Satan
The Eternal Sacrifice -
Which has crushed my head and
Despite my efforts daily wrenches from
Me both the living and the dead.
In the hidden but true, destiny of nations
Masses are so many revolutions.
Those which are unseen and in their lonely depths
Can disrupt worlds from within.
The Mass, overflowing both priest and Missal
Is an event, forever universal,
And when, powerless, I run my head against some obstacle.
It is because in a church, a barn or hut,
Some man poor and infirm, has held in his hand
The formidable Host and the dread Wine.
