Ecce Sacerdos magnus in diebus suis placuit Deo, et inventus est justus. Non est inventus similis illi qui conservavit legem Excelsi - Behold the high priest who pleased God during his life and was found just. No one has been found like him in observing the law of the Most High (from the Mass of a Confessor Bishop)
One hundred years ago today, Marcel Lefebvre was born into a good Catholic family in Tourcoing, France. He died on 25 March, 1991, the Feast of the Annunciation. In between those two dates he evangelised Africa, although he is best known for the battle he fought to preserve Catholic Tradition in his later years, after the Second Vatican Council.
What can we say about this great man on the centennial of his birth? Much has been written about him, and I don't wish to repeat -- although I will point out that all three volumes of Michael Davies' Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre can now be read online HERE (tip of the bowler to Titus 2:5 Catholic). Many have personal anecdotes to share, everyone of them unanimous in its assessment of Abp. Lefebvre as a saint - but I have never met him.
Nevertheless, I can say that his courageous actions have deeply effected me in my life -- and I suggest there is nary a trad out there who can claim Archbishop Lefebvre had no such effect -- because he did precicely what his tombstone reads: "Tradidi quod et accepi"; I have handed down what I received. Because he did that in a time when few others were willing to, and because he was willing to "go the distance" (to use a colloquiallism) in his desire to do so, there are now Traditional Latin Masses the world over. Even those who exclusively attend the indult must admit, I would suggest, that if it were not for Archbishop Lefebvre they would not have their indult location.
It is his legacy, therefore, that impacts my life. I think that my post My First Encounter with the Most Beautiful Thing This Side of Heaven does a good job of giving you a taste of what I owe Abp. Lefebvre. If it wasn't for him, I would not know of the traditional Faith, nor would I be a traditionalist. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to publicly thank God for raising up such a great warrior for the Faith.
I shall end with a few quotes from the Archbishop himself:
"Our future lies in our past."
"No authority, not even the highest in the hierarchy, can compel us to abandon or diminish our Catholic faith, so clearly expressed and professed by the Church's Magisterium for nineteen centuries."
"The New Mass is a poisoned Mass, because, once Catholic truths
are no longer affirmed in the Mass, as is the case in the Protestant version, then little by little, faith in these truths disappears too."
Requiscat in Pace.
Posted on the Vigil of St. Andrew, a.D. MMV
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