09-25-2022, 01:04 PM
Adapted from Issue 40 of the Recusant:
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre:
“Soon, Archbishop Lefebvre would no longer tolerate participation at Masses celebrated in the new rite except passively, for example at funerals. … He considered that it was bad in itself and not only because of the circumstances in which the rite was performed.”
“It is all wasted because the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, desecrated as it is, no longer confers grace and no longer transmits it.”
“These New Masses are not only incapable of fulfilling our Sunday obligation, but are such that we must apply to them the canonical rules which the Church customarily applies to communicatio in sacris with Orthodox Churches and Protestant sects.”
“It must be understood immediately that we do not hold to the absurd idea that if the New Mass is valid, we are then free to assist at it. The Church has always forbidden the faithful to assist at the Masses of heretics and schismatics, even when they are valid. It is clear that no one can assist at sacrilegious Masses or at Masses which endanger our Faith.”
“Your perplexity takes perhaps the following form: may I assist at a sacrilegious Mass which is nevertheless valid, in the absence of any other, in order to satisfy my Sunday obligation? The answer is simple: these Masses cannot be the object of an obligation; we must moreover apply to them the rules of moral theology and Canon Law as regards the participation or the attendance at an action which endangers the faith or may be sacrilegious. The New Mass, even when said with piety and respect for the liturgical rules, is subject to the same reservations since it is impregnated with the spirit of Protestantism. It bears within it a poison harmful to the faith.”
“The current problem of the Mass is an extremely serious problem for the Holy Church. I believe that if the dioceses and seminaries and works that are currently done are afflicted with sterility, it is because the recent deviations drew upon us the divine curse. All the efforts that are made to hang on to what is being lost, to reorganize, reconstruct, rebuild, all that is afflicted with sterility, because we no longer have the true source of holiness which is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Profaned as it is, it no longer gives grace, it no longer makes grace pass.”
“… So, if someone asks me: ‘I only have Mass of St. Pius V once a month. So what should I do on the other Sundays? Should I go to the New Mass if I do not have the Mass of St. Pius V?’ - I reply: Just because something is poisoned, obviously it is not going to poison you if you go on the odd occasion, but to go regularly on Sunday like that, little by little the notions will be lost, the dogmas will diminish. They will become accustomed to this ambiance which is no longer Catholic and they will very slowly lose the Faith in the Real Presence, lose the Faith in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and have a spirituality, since the prayers are changed and they have modified everything, in the sense of another spirituality. It is a new conception of Christian spirituality. There is no longer any ascetical effort, no longer a combat against sin, no longer a spiritual combat. There is a great need to combat against our own tendencies, against our faults, against everything which leads us to sin. So I would say to them: Listen, I cannot advise you to go to something which is evil. Myself, I would not go because I would not want to take in this atmosphere. I cannot. It is stronger than me. I cannot go. I would not go. So I advise you not to go.”
“The consequences of this state of mind or spirit spread within the Church, inside the Church, are deplorable, and are ruining and sapping the spiritual vitality of the Church. In conscience, all we can do is turn priests and faithful away from using the Novus Ordo Missae if we wish that the complete and whole Catholic Faith remains still living.”
“...People are still asking us these questions: ‘I don’t have the Mass of St. Pius V on Sunday and there is a Mass said by a priest that I know well, a holy man, so wouldn’t it be better to go to the Mass of this priest, even if it is the New Mass but said with piety, instead of just staying away?’
No! That’s not true! That is not true! Because this rite is bad, is bad, is bad! This is the reason why this rite is bad, it is poisoned! It is a poisoned rite! Mr. Salleron says it very well here: ‘It is not a choice between two rites that would be good! This is a choice between a Catholic Rite and a practically Protestant rite!’ It’s harmful to our Faith, the Catholic Faith!”
“This Mass is poisoned, it is bad and it leads to the loss of faith little by little. We are clearly obliged to reject it.”
Bishop de Castro Mayer:
“It seems to me preferable that scandal be given rather than a situation be maintained in which one slides into heresy. After considerable thought on the matter, I am convinced that one cannot take part in the New Mass, and even just to be present one must have a serious reason. We cannot collaborate in spreading a rite which, even if it is not heretical, leads to heresy. This is the rule I am giving my friends.”
Bishop Williamson (previously, before he changed his mind):
“The New Mass is in any case illicit...it’s intrinsically offensive to God, it’s intrinsically evil. […] If it’s valid, but illicit, may I attend? No. I may no more attend a valid, illicit Mass than I may attend a satanic Mass.”
The New Mass is “so bad that no priest should use it, nor Catholic attend it.”
Fr. Carl Pulvermacher OFM, founder and director of Angelus Press (writing in ‘The Angelus’ magazine):
“Question. We started going to our parish church (Novus Ordo, of course) on the Sundays there was no traditional Mass here. My question is this. Is it wrong to go to our parish church when the traditional Mass is only available so infrequently? Is it wrong to receive Communion or any other Sacrament in the Novus Ordo church? […] S. P., Kasson, Minn.
Answer. Here we get down to the bare facts. In all questions like this I always advise people to avoid attending the New Mass, as well as the altered Sacraments. I do not say they are always invalid. However, this alone doesn't make them good. The New Mass is not grace-giving. It is not our Catholic Mass. The only reason it was created was to destroy our true Mass.”
…And Again:
“Question. Several people objected to my saying, in last month's column, that the New Mass was not grace-giving. "It is heresy to hold a valid Mass is not grace giving."
Answer. First of all, there is a difference between validity and grace-giving. I believe the one may be present without the other. Surely, I do not claim that in every case the New Mass is invalid. I hate to make comparisons but I know you would agree that a valid Satanic mass (Black Mass) would not be grace giving. […] I have yet to see a single Catholic who has truly benefitted from the New Mass. Never have I seen a novus ordo convent or a monastery where religious life was not in a state of decline. When we had the True Mass, normal progress was seen. When we adopted the Novus Ordo, we have seen normal decline. I dare any person - cleric or lay - to prove the grace-givingness of the New Ordo liturgy!”
Fr. Gregory Hesse:
The New Mass “is not a work of the Church.” It is “schismatic, it’s also doubtful.” “How can you fulfil your Sunday obligation at a Mass that’s not pleasing to God? It’s absurd! … You’d rather stay home than go to the New Mass.”
“So you can’t go there because it’s schismatic. You also can’t go there because it is doubtful. And that’s why, as Archbishop Lefebvre of blessed memory said, you’d rather stay home than go to the New Mass.”
“We must strip from our Catholic prayers and from our Catholic liturgy everything which can be the shadow of a stumbling block for our separated brethren, that is, for the Protestants.”
“To tell the truth, it is a different liturgy of the Mass. This needs to be said without ambiguity. The Roman Rite as we knew it no longer exists. It has been destroyed.”
“With the new liturgy, non-Catholic communities will be able to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with the same prayers as the Catholic Church. Theologically this is possible.”
“Our Dear Sons and Daughters, we ask you to turn your minds once more to the liturgical innovation of the new rite of the Mass … A new rite of the Mass: a change in a venerable tradition that has gone on for centuries … This novelty is no small thing.”
“The Catholic Church, in order that the Holy Sacrifice may be offered in a dignified and reverent way, established the sacred Canon centuries ago, so pure and free from all error that nothing is contained in it which does not, in the greatest way, inspire sanctify and raise the mind to God.”
“If anyone shall say that the received and approved rites of the Catholic Church customarily used in the solemn administration of the Sacraments may be despised, or without sin omitted by the ministers at will, or changed into new different ones by any pastor of the Church whomsoever, let him be anathema.”
[Si quis dixerit, receptos et approbatos Ecclesiae catholicae ritus in sollemni sacramentorum administratione adhiberi consuetos aut contemni, aut sine peccato a ministris pro libito omitti, aut in novos alios per quemcumque ecclesiarum pastorem mutari posse: anathema sit.]
THE NEW MASS IS NOT A CATHOLIC RITE: IT IS A SCHISMATIC, NON-CATHOLIC RITE.
THEREFORE, IT DOES NOT GIVE GRACE.
THEREFORE, IT DOES NOT GIVE GRACE.
Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre:
“Soon, Archbishop Lefebvre would no longer tolerate participation at Masses celebrated in the new rite except passively, for example at funerals. … He considered that it was bad in itself and not only because of the circumstances in which the rite was performed.”
(Bishop Tissier de Mallerais, Marcel Lefebvre the Biography, p465 ff.)
“It is all wasted because the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, desecrated as it is, no longer confers grace and no longer transmits it.”
(‘Open Letter to Confused Catholics,’ Ch.3)
“These New Masses are not only incapable of fulfilling our Sunday obligation, but are such that we must apply to them the canonical rules which the Church customarily applies to communicatio in sacris with Orthodox Churches and Protestant sects.”
(Conference of 8th November, 1979)
“It must be understood immediately that we do not hold to the absurd idea that if the New Mass is valid, we are then free to assist at it. The Church has always forbidden the faithful to assist at the Masses of heretics and schismatics, even when they are valid. It is clear that no one can assist at sacrilegious Masses or at Masses which endanger our Faith.”
(Ibid.)
“Your perplexity takes perhaps the following form: may I assist at a sacrilegious Mass which is nevertheless valid, in the absence of any other, in order to satisfy my Sunday obligation? The answer is simple: these Masses cannot be the object of an obligation; we must moreover apply to them the rules of moral theology and Canon Law as regards the participation or the attendance at an action which endangers the faith or may be sacrilegious. The New Mass, even when said with piety and respect for the liturgical rules, is subject to the same reservations since it is impregnated with the spirit of Protestantism. It bears within it a poison harmful to the faith.”
(‘Open Letter to Confused Catholics,’ Ch.4)
“The current problem of the Mass is an extremely serious problem for the Holy Church. I believe that if the dioceses and seminaries and works that are currently done are afflicted with sterility, it is because the recent deviations drew upon us the divine curse. All the efforts that are made to hang on to what is being lost, to reorganize, reconstruct, rebuild, all that is afflicted with sterility, because we no longer have the true source of holiness which is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Profaned as it is, it no longer gives grace, it no longer makes grace pass.”
(‘A Bishop Speaks’ - laportelatine.org/bibliotheque/oeuvres_mgr_lefebvre/
1963_1975_mgr_lefebvre_un_eveque_parle/1963_1975_mgr_lefebvre_un_eveque_parle.pdf - p. 71 ff. )
1963_1975_mgr_lefebvre_un_eveque_parle/1963_1975_mgr_lefebvre_un_eveque_parle.pdf - p. 71 ff. )
“… So, if someone asks me: ‘I only have Mass of St. Pius V once a month. So what should I do on the other Sundays? Should I go to the New Mass if I do not have the Mass of St. Pius V?’ - I reply: Just because something is poisoned, obviously it is not going to poison you if you go on the odd occasion, but to go regularly on Sunday like that, little by little the notions will be lost, the dogmas will diminish. They will become accustomed to this ambiance which is no longer Catholic and they will very slowly lose the Faith in the Real Presence, lose the Faith in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and have a spirituality, since the prayers are changed and they have modified everything, in the sense of another spirituality. It is a new conception of Christian spirituality. There is no longer any ascetical effort, no longer a combat against sin, no longer a spiritual combat. There is a great need to combat against our own tendencies, against our faults, against everything which leads us to sin. So I would say to them: Listen, I cannot advise you to go to something which is evil. Myself, I would not go because I would not want to take in this atmosphere. I cannot. It is stronger than me. I cannot go. I would not go. So I advise you not to go.”
(Spiritual Conference at Écône, 25th June, 1981)
“The consequences of this state of mind or spirit spread within the Church, inside the Church, are deplorable, and are ruining and sapping the spiritual vitality of the Church. In conscience, all we can do is turn priests and faithful away from using the Novus Ordo Missae if we wish that the complete and whole Catholic Faith remains still living.”
(Letter to John-Paul II, 5th April 1983 - Conference #1, St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, 24th April 1983)
“...People are still asking us these questions: ‘I don’t have the Mass of St. Pius V on Sunday and there is a Mass said by a priest that I know well, a holy man, so wouldn’t it be better to go to the Mass of this priest, even if it is the New Mass but said with piety, instead of just staying away?’
No! That’s not true! That is not true! Because this rite is bad, is bad, is bad! This is the reason why this rite is bad, it is poisoned! It is a poisoned rite! Mr. Salleron says it very well here: ‘It is not a choice between two rites that would be good! This is a choice between a Catholic Rite and a practically Protestant rite!’ It’s harmful to our Faith, the Catholic Faith!”
(Conference at Econe, 11th April, 1990)
“This Mass is poisoned, it is bad and it leads to the loss of faith little by little. We are clearly obliged to reject it.”
(‘The Mass of All Times,’ p.353)
Bishop de Castro Mayer:
“It seems to me preferable that scandal be given rather than a situation be maintained in which one slides into heresy. After considerable thought on the matter, I am convinced that one cannot take part in the New Mass, and even just to be present one must have a serious reason. We cannot collaborate in spreading a rite which, even if it is not heretical, leads to heresy. This is the rule I am giving my friends.”
(Letter to Archbishop Lefebvre, 29th Jan., 1970)
Bishop Williamson (previously, before he changed his mind):
“The New Mass is in any case illicit...it’s intrinsically offensive to God, it’s intrinsically evil. […] If it’s valid, but illicit, may I attend? No. I may no more attend a valid, illicit Mass than I may attend a satanic Mass.”
(youtube/opMuVJcud7M)
The New Mass is “so bad that no priest should use it, nor Catholic attend it.”
(Eleison Comments #387)
Fr. Carl Pulvermacher OFM, founder and director of Angelus Press (writing in ‘The Angelus’ magazine):
“Question. We started going to our parish church (Novus Ordo, of course) on the Sundays there was no traditional Mass here. My question is this. Is it wrong to go to our parish church when the traditional Mass is only available so infrequently? Is it wrong to receive Communion or any other Sacrament in the Novus Ordo church? […] S. P., Kasson, Minn.
Answer. Here we get down to the bare facts. In all questions like this I always advise people to avoid attending the New Mass, as well as the altered Sacraments. I do not say they are always invalid. However, this alone doesn't make them good. The New Mass is not grace-giving. It is not our Catholic Mass. The only reason it was created was to destroy our true Mass.”
(www.angelusonline.org/index.php?section=articles&subsection=
show_article&article_id=875)
show_article&article_id=875)
…And Again:
“Question. Several people objected to my saying, in last month's column, that the New Mass was not grace-giving. "It is heresy to hold a valid Mass is not grace giving."
Answer. First of all, there is a difference between validity and grace-giving. I believe the one may be present without the other. Surely, I do not claim that in every case the New Mass is invalid. I hate to make comparisons but I know you would agree that a valid Satanic mass (Black Mass) would not be grace giving. […] I have yet to see a single Catholic who has truly benefitted from the New Mass. Never have I seen a novus ordo convent or a monastery where religious life was not in a state of decline. When we had the True Mass, normal progress was seen. When we adopted the Novus Ordo, we have seen normal decline. I dare any person - cleric or lay - to prove the grace-givingness of the New Ordo liturgy!”
(www.angelusonline.org/index.php?section=articles&subsection=show_article
&article_id=863)
&article_id=863)
Fr. Gregory Hesse:
The New Mass “is not a work of the Church.” It is “schismatic, it’s also doubtful.” “How can you fulfil your Sunday obligation at a Mass that’s not pleasing to God? It’s absurd! … You’d rather stay home than go to the New Mass.”
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaGLel1_uXY - 33m.ff.)
“So you can’t go there because it’s schismatic. You also can’t go there because it is doubtful. And that’s why, as Archbishop Lefebvre of blessed memory said, you’d rather stay home than go to the New Mass.”
(Ibid.)
WHY IS THE NEW MASS A SCHISMATIC RITE?
“We must strip from our Catholic prayers and from our Catholic liturgy everything which can be the shadow of a stumbling block for our separated brethren, that is, for the Protestants.”
- Mgr. Annibale Bugnini
“To tell the truth, it is a different liturgy of the Mass. This needs to be said without ambiguity. The Roman Rite as we knew it no longer exists. It has been destroyed.”
- Fr. Joseph Gelineau SJ, member of Bugnini's "commission" which created the New Mass
“With the new liturgy, non-Catholic communities will be able to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with the same prayers as the Catholic Church. Theologically this is possible.”
- Max Thurian, Protestant member of Bugnini's comission which created the New Mass
“Our Dear Sons and Daughters, we ask you to turn your minds once more to the liturgical innovation of the new rite of the Mass … A new rite of the Mass: a change in a venerable tradition that has gone on for centuries … This novelty is no small thing.”
- Pope Paul VI
“The Catholic Church, in order that the Holy Sacrifice may be offered in a dignified and reverent way, established the sacred Canon centuries ago, so pure and free from all error that nothing is contained in it which does not, in the greatest way, inspire sanctify and raise the mind to God.”
- Council of Trent, Session XXII
“If anyone shall say that the received and approved rites of the Catholic Church customarily used in the solemn administration of the Sacraments may be despised, or without sin omitted by the ministers at will, or changed into new different ones by any pastor of the Church whomsoever, let him be anathema.”
[Si quis dixerit, receptos et approbatos Ecclesiae catholicae ritus in sollemni sacramentorum administratione adhiberi consuetos aut contemni, aut sine peccato a ministris pro libito omitti, aut in novos alios per quemcumque ecclesiarum pastorem mutari posse: anathema sit.]
- Council of Trent, Session VII, Canon XIII
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre