Taking of the habit: Sisters of the Society of St. Pius X
Sermon by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
This is the translation of a sermon given by Archbishop Lefebvre in the Holy Week of 1976 at Ecône.
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My dear faithful,
During these last days of Holy Week, we have lived unforgettable hours, trying to participate in the feelings that Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself had during the last days of His life.
Passover of the Passion
On Holy Thursday, it was the pain that Our Lord felt because of the betrayal of one of his apostles: Judas. And soon in the evening, by the abandonment of His apostles themselves, whom He had just made priests, priests for eternity, for whom He had offered the first Sacrifice at the Last Supper.
His apostles abandon Him. New abandonment, new pains for Our Lord Jesus Christ. The next day, during the day of Good Friday, the death of Our Lord; it is the tearing of the heart of Jesus to see that his beloved people, the people of Israel, whom he chose to be born here below; whom he chose to accomplish his work of Redemption, crucify Him, deny Him, reject Him.
A new heartbreak for Our Lord. And finally, as if Our Lord Himself wanted, before dying, to be able to say that He had given everything to His Father, that He had kept nothing for Himself, Our Lord, seeing His mother at the foot of the Cross, hands her over to Saint John. Our Lord can truly say that he has given everything, that everything is consumed. He has nothing left, nothing here below, but everything in Heaven.
At the very moment when the gates of hell that succeeded in scourging Him, that succeeded in reducing His Body, similar to that of a leper, that succeeded in making Him die, this is the moment of Our Lord's victory.
Likewise, when Pharaoh thought he could take the Jews back to Egypt to enslave them again, God swallowed up the waters of the sea in the same way as the Jews. God swallowed up the armies of which Pharaoh boasted in the waters of the Red Sea.
Thus the guards who were near the tomb of Our Lord were struck down. And Our Lord, in spite of the weapons of which the princes of this world boast, triumphed and is now as He always is, as we said of Our Lord this morning in the night: Christus heri, hodie et in sæculo—“Christ yesterday, today and in all ages. Principium et Finis—“He is the beginning and the end". Alpha et Omega—“He is the Alpha and the Omega. To Him belong all times.” Ipsius sunt tempora et sæcula (blessing of the Paschal candle)—“Time and eternity belong to him.” Ipsi gloria et imperium per universa æternitatis sæcula— “To Him belong the glory and the commandment. Now and for ever.” This is what Our Lord is.
Thus Our Lord also made his transitas, his Passover, his passage from this world below in which the powers of darkness tried to crush Him, tried to prevent Him from doing His work. Through all these difficulties. Our Lord ascended to Heaven glorious, triumphant, as the Hebrews also triumphed over Pharaoh, a weak image of Our Lord's Passover, of this passage to eternity, of this passage to His Father.
Our passover
This is an example for us. If we want to share in the glory of Our Lord, if we want to share in His Resurrection, if we want to share in His Redemption, we must follow Him. He said: Exemplum dedi vobis, ut quemadmodum ego fecit vobis, ita et vos faciatis—“I have set you an example, so that as I have done to you, you also may do yourselves” (Jn 13:15). He said to us: follow Me, follow My example, follow Me in carrying your cross and then you will also share in My glory. That is what Our Lord is saying to each of us today.
Poverty
Just as Our Lord was born poor, He wanted to die poor. Everything was taken from him, even to the point of tearing His own Body, to the point of spilling all His Blood. Everything was taken from Him. He died poor, as He was born poor. Beati pauperes spiritu quoniam ipsorum est regnum cœlorum —"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 5:3). This is what Our Lord teaches us.
But what is this poverty? Perhaps we understand it too easily as material poverty. It is much more than that! It is much more beautiful than that, much greater than that, this poverty of which Our Lord speaks to us.
Poverty is in three words: docility, availability and detachment.
Docility
In our spirit and in our intelligence, to be poor is to fill ourselves with the Truth so that we may be filled with the Truth that is Our Lord Jesus Christ. For from now on, we have nothing else here below but Our Lord Jesus Christ. We have no other God; we have no other way; we have no other truth; we have no other help; we have no other support, no other salvation, than Our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is therefore everything to us. Everything for our minds too. So we must empty our minds of ourselves. To the extent that we are attached to our own ideas, then we are not with Our Lord Jesus Christ. To the extent that we are attached to our own ideas, we are not with Our Lord Jesus Christ. We must open our souls, our minds to Our Lord Jesus Christ, to the Truth. And to this Truth, precisely, that Our Lord Jesus Christ is our King; that Our Lord Jesus Christ is God; that Our Lord Jesus Christ is. He is the only source of our salvation.
And that is why we are anxious today. We are anxious and that is why we have so many reservations about everything that is said, everything that is done today, about all those who want to take away the divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. They would like to diminish it for us; they would like to diminish the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ; as I heard a very high prelate say, the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ was no longer possible; we should no longer think about it. Is this possible? Is it possible?
For us, we believe in the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is King. He must be King. And even if all States were secularised, even if all societies were Masonic, even if all societies rose up against Our Lord Jesus Christ, as our prayers said in Holy Week:
Astiterunt reges terræ et principibus convenerunt in unum adversus Dominum, et adversus Christum ejus —"The kings have risen up against Our Lord Jesus Christ, the powers of this world have risen up against Our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 4:26), shall we agree with this? No! We believe in the kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ; we want it for ourselves; we want it for our families; we want it for our cities.
Our Lord has the right to reign over us. He will reign in eternity, but He must reign here on earth too. Do we not say every day: “Thy kingdom come? Do we not say every day, “Thy will, O Lord Jesus Christ, be done on earth as it is in Heaven"?
So if the kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ is to be as beautiful, as great, here below as in Heaven, what more can we desire? This is our programme, the programme that Our Lord Jesus Christ has given us. This is our Truth and we do not want it to be taken away from us; we do not want it to be diminished. We hold on to it to the depths of our souls. We are ready to give our blood for the reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ, as all the martyrs and saints have done. Docility to Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Availability
Availability of our will to that of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Available. “What do you want me to do?” as St. Paul says, overcome by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ: "What do you want me to do, O Lord? Thy will be done”—Fiat voluntas tua.
This is what we must always have in our hearts and in our wills. God's will, let it be done, the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
To be available, therefore, to oppose nothing to the will of Our Lord Jesus Christ and never to oppose His holy Will. This is perfection. We should seek this perfection and look for anything in ourselves that might be an obstacle to the accomplishment of the holy Will of God and Our Lord in us. Availability.
Detachment
Finally, in material things: detachment, according to the conditions in which we live. Use of the goods of this world, according to our condition.
And for you, my dear postulants, who will soon become religious in the eyes of the world, through the habit you will wear, be completely detached, completely detached from the goods of this world, from all the goods of this world. Have no other thought in your minds, in your hearts, in your souls, than that of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him be your love; let Him be your concern; let Him be the One you think of night and day. Follow Him!
In a few moments you will also make your transitas, you will also make your passage, your apparent passage from this world, to the religious life. By the same token, you will ascend from your seats to the altar. You will make this passage. You will leave the world; you will leave your families; you will leave everything to which you have been more or less unduly attached up to now, in order to attach yourself solely to Our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is what the feast of Easter teaches us, my dear sisters. Poverty. Beati pauperes. This is poverty. Poverty of our minds, which is expressed in docility; poverty in the way we live.
Poverty of our minds, which is expressed in docility; poverty of will, which is expressed in readiness; poverty in detachment from the goods of this world.
Quæ sursum sunt guærite ... quæ sursum sunt sapite, non quæ super terram—"Seek the things that are above... Do not seek the things of the earth" (Col 3:1a–2). This is what we sing today on the occasion of the triumph of Our Lord Jesus Christ over all the elements of this world.
Dear postulants,
Ask the Blessed Virgin Mary to help you understand these things, to make a resolution and to help you to live the Gospel.
Take a firm resolution today to attach yourselves to Our Lord
Seek the things that are above; where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. (Col 3:1)
Jesus Christ, to be truly the spouses of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let nothing in your heart stand in the way of what Our Lord wants from you. And then you will be true religious women.
For do not think that religious life is a life without a cross. Because Our Lord wanted everyone to carry his cross. It is quite normal that all those who are closer to Him carry more. It is normal. You will have your crosses to bear; bear them courageously.
And also, be an example for the world. For this world which no longer knows what the Truth is; which no longer knows what it is to do the will of God; which no longer knows what it is to detach itself from the goods of this world, which is losing itself and giving itself over to the powers of hell.
Then you will be an example and a continual preaching by your attitude, by your behaviour, by your prayers.
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