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Remember this day March 25, 1991 - The Death of Archbishop Lefebvre

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JMJ

This is the day, 25 years ago, that Archbishop Lefebvre passed on to his eternal reward.

I know that he has as many (perhaps even more) critics than admirers.  For example I still remember Fr. Paul Nicholson's screed in which he shouted from the top of his webpage: "To die excommunicated - how horrible".

I'll leave aside Fr. Nicholson's ignorance on the matter as in the grand scheme of things, his impact on the life of the Mystical Body of Christ, which IS the Roman Catholic Church is no greater than that of Michael Voris etc.

Archbishop Lefebvre and the work he founded (ie Fraternal Society of St. Pius X) have had a significant impact.

Let us list of few from greatest to smallest:

  1. Consistent and constant Catholic perspective on the crisis of the Church from the halls of the Second Vatican Council to the Synod on the Family (and beyond!)
  2. Summorum Pontificum and Universae Ecclesiae: By which the restoration of the sacramental life of the Church was begun.
  3. Removal of the 'excommunications' the served as an epithet against all Traditional Catholics
  4. Generation of numerous Traditional Catholic Orders: FSSP et al.
  5. Refuge in the tempest that shakes the Church of Christ to its foundations.
This is a work that continues in spite of attacks and even stupidity of some former members.

The man who founded this work, implanted his character and culture on it, that can be summed up on one word:

Missionary


Think of this and pray for the Church as you wend you way to the Liturgical Function this afternoon.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre requiescat in pace, your work continues!

P^3

Attached below are the memories of a priest I know well, who has laboured long in Canada.  Worthy memories!

Courtesy of SSPX.ca





Archbishop Lefebvre's 25th anniversary

March 25, 2016 
District of Canada
March 25 1991 – March 25, 2016: already 25 years since Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the Society of Saint Pius X, passed away to his eternal reward!  I can still remember the day when the Archbishop left us as if it was yesterday.  So, on the occasion of that anniversary please allow me to recall some personal memories.

News of the Archbishop's passing

Being involved in the apostolate of the Society of St. Pius X in Canada since my ordination in 1988, I was taking care of my duties as a priest on Palm Sunday March 24, 1991.  After the Blessing of Palms and Mass in Calgary in the morning, I flew to Edmonton for an afternoon Mass.  Then, in the evening, after flying back from Edmonton to Calgary, I decided to stop by our church to check the answering machine.  Over the past days, we had received some alarming reports on the health condition of Archbishop Lefebvre, who had been admitted to the hospital in Martigny, Switzerland.  But on that Sunday night, there was a message on the answering machine, coming from one of our good friends, Michael, who said that he heard that the Archbishop had a heart attack and was on life support.  After listening to that alarming message, I drove back to the trailer that used to be the home of the SSPX priests in Calgary.  As I drove into the yard, I remember that there was snow on the ground.  Shortly after, Martin came to see me from across the yard.  He was to give me the sad news that he just received, that is to say that Archbishop Lefebvre had passed away.  Both of us stayed silent, as we could not find words to express our emotions. 
On the following day, I flew back to Winnipeg, and it was decided that the three priests from St. Raphael priory, Frs. Violette, Castel and myself would go to attend the ceremony of the funeral, to be held in Ecône on the Tuesday after Easter.  Meanwhile, we had to complete the ceremonies of Holy Week in the chapels of the SSPX across Western Canada.  On that Good Friday, I flew to Vancouver, to take care of the liturgical functions in Langley and Nanaimo.  Then, on Easter Sunday evening, I was bound on a flight from Vancouver to London Heathrow, then connecting to Geneva, where I took the train for Martigny.

Attending the Funeral in Ecône

When I reached Ecône, I went immediately to the chapel Notre-Dame-des-Champs (Our Lady of the Fields) where the Archbishop was laying in state.  Later on, in the evening, the body of the Archbishop was moved to the main chapel of the seminary, to allow more priests and seminarians to keep watch over their spiritual father.  The wake lasted for the whole night, in great silence, only interrupted by the singing of the whole office of the dead done by three different scholas. Then, in the morning, there was a Solemn Pontifical Mass of Requiem, celebrated by Bishop Tissier de Mallerais, with a sermon given by Fr. Schmidberger, then superior general of the SSPX.  What was really striking during the funeral of Archbishop Lefebvre, was the great atmosphere of peace found among the spiritual children of the founder of the Society.  Sure, we were sad because we had lost our spiritual father, but our hearts were at peace, because we knew that he had done his duty, by transmitting all the means necessary for the making of priests, especially four young bishops that have been travelling the world since, to administer the sacraments of Confirmation and of the Holy Orders. 

"He loved the Church too much"

The words that he pronounced on the day of the 1988 episcopal consecration had become reality: “Tradidi quod et accepi” - “I have transmitted what myself had received”.  He spent his whole life to transmit, to pass on the treasure that he had received from his parents, priests, bishops who had been his mentors during the early years of his life.  As said Bishop Tissier de Mallerais in a recent interview on “La Porte Latine”, the French website of the SSPX: “The matter of all his life [Archbishop Lefebvre] was to render to God love for love: from the day of his priestly vocation when he was 17 years old, up to his last day, when he died as excommunicated.  Cardinal Oddi, who knew him quite well, said about him: “he loved the Church too much!”.  That is to say, he pushed his love of the Church and of Our Lord to the extreme by being exposed to the most grievous ecclesiastical penalties, suspension and excommunication, in order to rescue the priesthood and the permanency of the holy sacrifice of the Mass within the Church.  By doing so, he followed his Divine Master: “but God, (who is rich in mercy,) for his exceeding charity wherewith he loved us” (Ephesians II, 4).”

The disciple was not above the master

Now, it just happens that the 25th anniversary of the death of Archbishop Lefebvre falls on Good Friday, the day of the Passion, the supreme sacrifice of Our Lord on Calvary.  The disciple was not above the master. Like his Master, he was condemned by the high priest to the sacrifice of his honour and reputation, some kind of condemnation to a spiritual death, the penalty of excommunication.
But we know that Easter Sunday follows Good Friday.  Let us pray that the sacrifice of our good Archbishop Lefebvre will bear fruit for the resurrection of the splendour of the whole Church, that is to say the re-flourishing of perennial Tradition and of the Mass of all times.
Now, as news is coming from Rome that a unilateral recognition of the Society of Saint Pius X may be in the agenda of the near future, let us not forget all the good work of the SSPX that Rome is bound to recognise as we are without any change, is due principally to its solid foundation, thanks to our dear Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre!
Fr. Dominique Boulet SSPX
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