Texts of Archbishop Lefebvre for the time of elections (3)
Archbisop Marcel Lefebvre
Texts of Archbishop Lefebvre for the time of election: Extract from the sermon in Lille, August 29, 1976
And finally, third error, we no longer want the Social Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ, under the pretext that it is no longer possible. I heard this from the mouth of the (papal) Nuncio of Bern, I heard it from the mouth of the Vatican envoy, Father Dhanis, former rector of the Gregorian University, who came to ask me in the name of the Holy See not to perform the ordinations of June 29. He was in Flavigny on June 27, when I was preaching the retreat to the seminarians. He said to me, “Why are you against the Council?” I said, “Is it possible to accept the Council when in the name of the Council you say we must destroy all Catholic states, that there must be no more Catholic states, therefore no more states over which Our Lord Jesus Christ reigns? - It is no longer possible! (he replied)” But another thing is that it's no longer possible, another thing is that we take that as a principle and therefore that we no longer seek that reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ. But then what do we say every day in the Lord's Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”? What is this reign? A moment ago you sang in the “Gloria”: “Tu solus Dominus, tu solus Altissimus, Jesu Christe - You are the only Lord, You are the only Most High, Jesus Christ”. We would sing this, and as soon as we leave we could say, “No, Our Lord Jesus Christ must no longer reign over us?” So, are we living illogically, are we Catholic or not, are we Christian or not?
The Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ alone can bring peace on this earth. The States are struggling every day; in the newspapers you have pages and pages, on television, on the radio, and even now with the change of the Prime Minister: What are we going to do for the economic situation to recover? What are we going to do to get the money back? What are we going to do to make industries prosper? All the newspapers around the world are full of this kind of news.
Well, even from an economic point of view, Our Lord Jesus Christ must reign. Because the Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ is precisely the reign of those principles of love that are God's commandments and that bring balance in society, that bring justice and peace in society. It is only in order, justice and peace that the economy can reign in a society, that the economy can flourish again. This is clear. Take the Argentine Republic as an example. In what state was it in only two or three months ago? In complete anarchy, brigands killing right and left, industries completely ruined, factory bosses locked up and taken hostage, an incredible revolution. In a country as beautiful, as balanced, as sympathetic as the Argentine Republic, a Republic that could be incredibly prosperous, with an extraordinary wealth. There comes a government of order, which has principles, which has authority, which puts things in order, which prevents brigands from killing people, and then the economy comes back, the workers have work and they can go home (each day) knowing that they are not going to be knocked out by someone who would like them to go on strike when they do not want to.
We want the Reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and we profess our faith by saying that Our Lord Jesus Christ is God. And that is why we also want the Mass of St. Pius V. Because this mass is the proclamation of the kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The new mass is a kind of hybrid mass that is no longer hierarchical, that is democratic, where the assembly takes more place than the priest, and therefore it is no longer a true mass that affirms the kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. How did Our Lord Jesus Christ become king? He asserted His kingship through the Cross. “Regnavit a ligno Deus.” Jesus Christ reigned through the wood of the Cross. He conquered sin, he conquered the devil, he conquered death by his Cross!
So, these are three magnificent victories of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Can this be called triumphalism? Well, yes, all right, we are all for the triumphalism of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why our ancestors built these magnificent cathedrals. Why did they spend so much money, these people who were much poorer than us? Why did they spend so much time to make these magnificent cathedrals that we still admire now, even those who do not believe? Why? Because of the altar. Because of Our Lord Jesus Christ. To mark the triumph of the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Well! Yes, we want to profess the triumph of the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ in our Mass. And that is why we kneel down, we like to kneel before the Holy Eucharist. If we had the time, if we did not want to keep you too long, we would have circulated among you with the Blessed Sacrament to enable you to manifest to Our Lord Jesus Christ, to his holy Eucharist, that you adore him: "Lord, You are our God! Oh Jesus Christ, we adore You! We know that it is through You that we were born, it is through You that we have been made Christians, it is through You that we have been redeemed, it is You who will judge us at the hour of our death. It is You who will give us the glory of heaven if we earn it”.