Dear
members of the Neocatecumenal Way,
After
having served you for ten years, celebrating two Holy Masses with you
every Saturday evening, as well as many penitential celebrations, I
would like to offer you a meditation offered by a priest, Père
Laurent Larroque, to over 200 priests and to over 10 bishops during
the International Spiritual Exercises of the Marian Movement of
Priests, at Collevalenza – Sanctuary of Merciful Love (Madre
Speranza), June 21-27, 2015. You might consider this meditation as
continuation of my article:
“The
Neocatecumenal Mass”:
The
Subtle and Powerful Attack on the Eucharist
JESUS
IN THE EUCHARIST (1)
In my first circular letter (2014), I said,
picking up the thought of Don Stefano, that we are facing four
problems against Jesus in the Eucharist, problems that can also be
called attacks against Jesus in the Eucharist: real attacks and not
just problems, in the times in which we live: 1) against the
real presence of Jesus in the
Eucharist; 2) as a result, against the
signs around Jesus in the Tabernacle,
marked by great negligence, and against the
times of public adoration of Jesus in
the Eucharist in the monstrance, marked by great scarcity; 3) against
Holy Communion in the state of grace,
with a growing spread of Communion in the state of mortal sin, thus
committing sacrileges against Jesus in the Eucharist; and finally 4)
very subtle but very determined, against the
sacrificial nature of the Mass.
In counterattack, Our Lady, in her Book, to help
us be the little flock of the faithful in the true faith in Jesus
Eucharist, accomplishes, I think, three things: 1) She
opens our eyes to this crisis in the
four areas: 2) She gives us the solution
with her three beautiful Eucharistic messages, "of incomparable
beauty," as Don Stefano used to say: the solution is adoration,
the awaiting for the return of Jesus in glory; and, of course, 3) She
opens our heart to hope, making us
realize how close the return of Jesus in glory will be also, and is
very logical, the glorification of his Real Presence in the
Eucharist.
In contrattacco, la Madonna, nel suo Libro, per aiutarci ad essere il
piccolo gregge dei fedeli nella vera fede in Gesù Eucaristia,
compie, mi sembra, tre cose: 1) Ci apre gli occhi su questa crisi
nei quattro settori: 2) Ci dà la soluzione con i suoi tre
bellissimi messaggi eucaristici, "di una bellezza
incomparabile", come soleva dire don Stefano: la soluzione è
l'adorazione, nell'attesa del ritorno di Gesù nella Gloria; e,
appunto, 3) Ci apre il cuore alla speranza, facendoci capire
quanto il vicino ritorno di Gesù nella gloria sarà anche, ed è
molto logico, la glorificazione della sua Presenza reale nella
Eucaristia.
In these my four meditations, I take up again with
you these three aspects. For over a year I am traveling around the
world, with great joy, to talk about these things and I was able to
deepen more and more, quoting almost always the same messages. First
I quote and then I comment.
The
Real Presence
“… My motherly Heart is once again torn to
see how widespread, even among priests, are the doubts concerning the
divine presence of my Son Jesus in the mystery of the Eucharist. And
thus indifference towards the sacrament of the Eucharist spreads,
adoration and prayer are snuffed out, and the sacrileges of those who
approach it in a state of mortal sin increase day by day. Alas, even
among priests the number of those who celebrate the Eucharist without
any longer believing in it is increasing. Some of these deny the real
presence of my Son Jesus; others would restrict it to the time of the
celebration of Holy Mass; and still others reduce it to a presence
that is merely spiritual and symbolic. These errors continue to
spread despite the fact that the doctrine has been clearly reaffirmed
by the Magisterium, especially the Pope. The time will come when,
unfortunately, this error will have even more supporters; and in the
Church, the perfume of adoration and of the Holy Sacrifice will be,
as it were, extinguished. And thus the abomination of desolation
which has already made its way into the holy temple of God, will
reach its culmination.” (December 24, 1977)
Some priests deny the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
They have become Protestants, even though they still have a place
in the Catholic Church. Others, more subtly, believe in the Real
Presence, but only for the duration of the Mass! The other day, in
Costa Rica, I was there to give my meditation in front of a group of
Apostles of the Movement, and one of the nuns who accommodated us and
was listening, she got up to give her testimony: there is a type of
prayer group, which could also be a powerful movement in the Church,
which really gives the impression of being in this case ... It seems
that they never need to celebrate in a church; and even if they
celebrate in this chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is, it does not
seem that they take it into account. They bring their table, which
they put before the altar; they carry their own type of unleavened
bread, and at communion, they always consume everything without ever
having a reserve of consecrated Hosts to be placed in the Tabernacle.
Not only do they never make use of the Tabernacle, but even if there
is one, the nun must repeat to them, "Look, here's the Blessed
Sacrament, please, a minimum of gestures of attention ...".
"Open your eyes, my brethren - I said to the faithful a little
bit everywhere - because it truly seems that this way of doing things
is spreading a lot throughout the Church, that seems to correspond to
the heresy of which Our Lady is speaking about: some reduce the Real
Presence only for the duration of the Mass ...".
Others
reduce the presence of Jesus in a spiritual and symbolic presence
only. As if Jesus had said: "This is the symbol of my body."
Jesus, who is the Word of God, and Who was about to die, giving us
the supreme witness of His Love and of His Power, could have told us,
if he knew that it was only His symbolic presence! "This is
something too incredible to believe, my friends, and so do not worry,
I tell you immediately: this is only a symbolic presence of Myself in
your midst"! But no! Jesus, the Word of God, did not say it in
this way; He said: "This is My Body."
He already had shocked everyone by announcing that He would give His
flesh to eat and His blood to drink ... The Word of God in person
knows what he says, no? "I, the Lord, say and do," as He
says in Ez 37:14, when He raises a whole host of dead people. He is
the Almighty! There is no limit to His power to do as He says! So
already at the creation, "let there be Light! And there was
Light." "This is My Body!" And this is His Body. "My
words are spirit and life." If someone is small, he will enter
into the mystery; if he is a great wise and intelligent one, to him
the mystery will be hidden.
I like citing here the verse of "Adoro te devote, lateens
Deitas": Visus, tactus, gustus, in te fallitur; -- Sed auditu
solo tuto creditur: Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius -- Nil hoc verbo
veritatis verius. To see, to touch, to taste do not help at all
before Jesus Eucharist; but having heard with my ears, I believe all:
yes truly, even if I do not sense anything with the other senses, I
believe all with the hearing of the sound of the Word of the Son of
God, the incarnate Word Who said: “this is My Body”. There is not
a more true word than this word of the Son of God. It is an absolute
certainty. Even if one goes against the actual dictatorship of
relativism, where it is said that it is not possible to have certain
absolutes (relative is the opposite of absolute). In this
dictatorship, the one who has certain absolutes can be accused of
fanaticism… Nil hoc verbo veritatis verius! It is a joyous absolute
certainty! Even if I have to die a martyr under this dictatorship!
"Reducing the presence of Jesus in a spiritual and symbolic
presence only" comes from rationalism (born, as Mary explains in
her book, as a result of Protestantism): to want to put religion
within the limits of reason. To desire to explain the Word of God
with the sole force of human reason; a very nice strength, but very
limited to understand the infinite mystery of God: just as - as don
Stefano used to say - you cannot put the ocean in a bathtub!
Rationalism proceeds from pride, and is, as Mary says, the attitude
less suitable to approach the mystery of God, and especially to the
mystery of the hidden God, the "hidden manna," the
Eucharist. Then Our Lady continues:
“These
errors continue to spread despite the fact that the doctrine has been
clearly reaffirmed by the Magisterium, especially the Pope.”
In 1977 the Pope is Blessed Pope Paul VI. He pronounced a beautiful
"Profession of Faith", the "Credo of the People of
God", on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, June 29, 1968. And
Mary told us in this way:
“Recite often the profession of faith,
composed by the first of my beloved sons, Pope Paul VI, now up here
with me, as he foresaw these difficult moments.” (December 3, 1986,
340, h)
Not only "read it once in your life to the full", but
"recited often" this profession of faith of Paul VI,
because not only is it the pure doctrine of the faith, but more, it
tries to expose the errors of our time, especially rationalism, which
has led to subjectivism and relativism (which has now become this
"dictatorship of relativism" as Card. Ratzinger said on the
eve of his election).
Subjectivism =
the truth can not be objective, it is given only in part to
the human subject, to limited man in
his ability to understand; there is no objective truth, but just
different opinions (to be respected out of tolerance ...); thus there
is not a valid Revelation of God for everyone; each person therefore
must make do with this Revelation.
Relativism = one cannot say that there is an absolute truth; the
truth is known only in part, and those who say that it can be known
with certainty are to be denounced as dangerous fanatics (no
tolerance for the enemies of tolerance! - the dictatorship of
relativism).
I cite here (without citing all of it) two clear paragraphs on the
Eucharist of Pope Paul VI in his "Profession of Faith":
“We believe that the Mass,
celebrated by the priest representing the person of Christ by virtue
of the power received through the Sacrament of Orders, and offered by
him in the name of Christ and the members of His Mystical Body, is
the sacrifice of Calvary rendered sacramentally present on our
altars. We believe that as the bread
and wine consecrated by the Lord at the Last Supper were changed into
His body and His blood which were to be offered for us on the cross,
likewise the bread and wine consecrated by the priest are changed
into the body and blood of Christ enthroned gloriously in heaven, and
we believe that the mysterious presence
of the Lord, under what continues to appear to our senses as before,
is a true, real and substantial presence.
(Cf. Dz.-Sch. 1651)
(http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/motu_proprio/documents/hf_p-vi_motu-proprio_19680630_credo.html).
Christ therefore can not be present in this
sacrament except by the change into His body of the reality itself of
the bread and the change into His blood of the reality itself of the
wine, leaving unchanged only the properties of bread and wine which
our senses perceive. This mysterious change is called by the Church,
very appropriately, transubstantiation. Every theological explanation
which might try to penetrate in some way this mystery, to be in
accord with Catholic faith, must firmly maintain that in
the objective reality, independently of our spirit (mind),
the bread and wine have ceased to exist after the consecration, so
that from that moment on they are the adorable Body and the Blood of
the Lord Jesus to be really before us under the sacramental species
of bread and wine (cf.. Dz-Sch. 1642, 1651-1654; Paul VI, Encyclical
Mysterium Fidei), just like the Lord wanted, to give Himself to us as
food and to associate us with the unity of His Mystical Body (cf..
Summa Theologica 111, 73, 3).
The unique and indivisible existence of the
glorious Lord in the heaven is not multiplied, but is rendered
present by the Sacrament in the many places on earth where Mass is
celebrated. After the sacrifice, this
existence remains present in the Blessed Sacrament, which is, in the
tabernacle, the living heart of each of our churches. And it is for
us a very sweet duty to honor and adore
in the blessed Host, which our eyes see, the
Incarnate Word, which they cannot see and that, without leaving
heaven, is made present before us."
Tabernacle
There are some points here that I must underscore:
Pope Paul VI wrote: "The tabernacle is
the living heart of each of our churches"
... How much it hurts then this widespread custom today to put our
Eucharistic Jesus no longer even in a corner the church, but even
more: to put Him outside of His church, in a chapel of adoration,
with the excuse to protect and worship Him better! It is not true!
For me this custom - which we do not know where it comes from -, this
custom to put Jesus on the side, is the mystery of the antichrist in
act: to want Jesus outside of his church to put oneself in His place.
You can not enter certain churches without having this very bad
impression "they took away Jesus in order to put man in His
place." And in fact, while the tabernacle is nowhere to be found
in the church, because it is in a chapel at the entrance of the
church, almost outside of his Church, we see instead the seat of the
celebrant as a marble throne, high up on a solid foundation, as if to
say: now man reigns in the Church, and the stone base, that is, the
tabernacle, was rejected by the builders. And one finds the temple of
God empty of God Himself! Once I even entered a church, empty of His
tabernacle. Seeking to find it, I entered the sacristy, and there at
the end of the room, where it was written "exit", I finally
found the little chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. For me it was all a
symbol to tell me: "they have put you out of the Church, O
Jesus." I had to meet with the archbishop of the city, and I was
not able to not talk to him about this custom in the church. He
replied to me: yes. it is true, I do not even understand this fashion
myself, which goes against the provisions of the Eucharist guidelines
of the Church, written in the Instruction of the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, "Redemptionis
Sacramentum," on March 25, 2004. Then I went to check , and in
fact it has written thus:
[130] “In accordance with the structure of each
church and legitimate local customs, the Most Blessed Sacrament
should be reserved in a tabernacle in a part of the church that is
truly noble, prominent, conspicuous,
worthily decorated,” and not only this, in virtue of the
tranquility of the place, of the space before the tabernacle and of
the presence of benches or chairs and pews, “suitable for prayer".
Cfr. also CIC 938.2: "The Tabernacle ... will be placed in a ...
significant, visible, with ornate decor, suitable for prayer."
So not a church where you have to go through the sacristy, with the
word "Exit", to finally find Jesus in the tabernacle ...
Our Lady says:
“Jesus in the Eucharist will once again be
the center of your ecclesial gatherings, because the Church is his
temple, his house which has been
built above all that his divine presence may shine forth in your
midst. Beloved sons, in these
present times the darkness has alas obscured even the tabernacle;
around it there is so much emptiness, so much indifference, so much
negligence. Each day, doubts, denials and sacrileges increase.
The
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus is wounded anew by his own, in his own
house, in the very place where He has taken up his divine dwelling in
your midst.
Become again perfect adorers and fervent
ministers of Jesus in the Eucharist who, through you, makes Himself
again present, immolates Himself anew and gives Himself to souls.
Bring everyone to Jesus in the Eucharist: by adoration, by communion
and by a greater love. (June 14, 1979)
“Jesus
is surrounded today by an emptiness, which has been brought about
especially by you priests who, in your apostolic activity, often go
about uselessly and very much on the periphery, going after things
which are less important and more secondary and forgetting that the
center of your priestly day should be here, before the tabernacle,
where Jesus is present and is kept especially for you.
He is also surrounded by the indifference of
many of my children, who live as if He were not there and, when they
enter church for liturgical functions, are not aware of his divine
and real presence in your midst. Often Jesus in the Eucharist is
placed in some isolated corner whereas
He should be placed in the center
of the church, and He should be placed at the center of your
ecclesial gatherings, because the
church is his temple which has been built first for Him and then for
you.
What causes deep bitterness to my motherly
Heart is the way in which Jesus, present in the tabernacle, is
treated in many churches, where He is placed in a little corner, as
though He were some object or other to be made use of, for your
ecclesial gatherings.” (August 8,1986)
“Help
everyone to approach the Eucharistic Jesus in a worthy manner, by
cultivating in the faithful an awareness of sin, by inviting them to
present themselves for the sacrament of Holy Communion in the state
of grace, by educating them in the practice of frequent confession,
which becomes necessary before receiving the Eucharist for those who
are in mortal sin.
Beloved
sons, build a dam to hold back the flood of sacrileges. Never before
as in these present times have so many communions been made and in
such an unworthy manner. The Church is deeply wounded by the
multiplication of sacrilegious communions! The time has come when
your heavenly Mother says: enough!” (June 14, 1979)
John Paul II, in Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 36,
cites St. Paul and St. John Chrysostom
(http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_17042003_ecclesia-de-eucharistia_en.html):
“Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the
bread and drink of the cup” (1 Cor 11:28). Saint John Chrysostom,
with his stirring eloquence, exhorted the faithful: “I too raise my
voice, I beseech, beg and implore that no one draw near to this
sacred table with a sullied and corrupt conscience. Such an act, in
fact, can never be called 'communion', not even were we to touch the
Lord's body a thousand times over, but 'condemnation', 'torment' and
'increase of punishment'”.
And then the Pope quotes the Catechism of the
Catholic Church (CCC 1385; I had already mentioned this in my first
circular letter): "Along these same lines, the Catechism of the
Catholic Church rightly stipulates that “anyone conscious of a
grave sin must receive the sacrament of Reconciliation before coming
to communion”. I therefore desire to reaffirm that in the Church
there
remains in force, now and in the future,
the rule by which the Council of Trent
gave concrete expression to the Apostle Paul's stern warning when it
affirmed that, in order to receive the Eucharist in a worthy manner,
“one must first confess one's sins, when one is aware of mortal
sin"."
What did Saint Paul say? "Let a man examine himself, and so eat
of the bread and drink of the cup. For any one who eats and drinks
without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself"
(1Cor 11:28-29).
The Council of Trento puts in practical terms this
stern warning of St. Paul saying that you can not communicate in the
state of mortal sin, if not, then not only does one not receive any
grace, but one commits a more serious sin, that of sacrilege. And
Pope John Paul II, with courage, says: "I therefore desire to
reaffirm that in the Church there
remains in force, now and in the future,
the rule” according to which “one
must first confess one's sins, when one is aware of mortal sin".
It is true that on the pastoral level, we have to say these things
with prudence, with love, to not scare away the people, or to avoid
being beaten by some church authorities, who could accuse us of being
bad shepherds and rigorists. I learned for example to warn people
just before communion, in order to not take people inside out
psychologically, without allowing them time to reflect on their own:
if I have to talk about these things it is because I feel that there
are many who may approach communion while they seem so far away from
the church, then I talk about these things in the homily, in a clear
way, without being too vague, if not, they do not understand
anything, but also with love in order to make understood my point of
view.
The encyclical continues (No. 37): "
The two sacraments of the Eucharist and
Penance are very closely connected." So I read the injunction of
Jesus to Peter, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with me"
(Jn 13:8), that is: If there is no confession, there can be no
communion. Especially if someone says: "I confess directly to
God”! Ah yes? Then go to communicate directly to God!
Then there is the problem of the divorced already
married in the church who would like to approach the communion. We
know that if they want to communicate, either it is necessary first
an official canonical statement, of the nullity of a previous
marriage, or you have to live as brothers and sisters ... that is,
undertake a journey of penance. It would be in line with the
evangelical teaching, because in the Gospel regarding this problem
Jesus was very clear: He calls adultery the second marriage (Mk
10:11-12). In Familiaris Consortio,
Pope John Paul many years ago (1981) gave clear and evangelical
paragraphs on this theme (n "84):
“However, the Church reaffirms her practice,
which is based upon Sacred Scripture, of not admitting to Eucharistic
Communion divorced persons who have remarried. They are unable to be
admitted thereto from the fact that their state and condition of life
objectively contradict that union of love between Christ and the
Church which is signified and effected by the Eucharist. Besides
this, there is another special pastoral reason: if these people were
admitted to the Eucharist, the faithful would be led into error and
confusion regarding the Church's teaching about the indissolubility
of marriage.
Reconciliation
in the sacrament of Penance which would open the way to the
Eucharist, can only be granted to those who, repenting of having
broken the sign of the Covenant and of fidelity to Christ, are
sincerely ready to undertake a way of life that is no longer in
contradiction to the indissolubility of marriage. This means, in
practice, that when, for serious reasons, such as for example the
children's upbringing, a man and a woman cannot satisfy the
obligation to separate, they "take on themselves the duty to
live in complete continence, that is, by abstinence from the acts
proper to married couples”.”
So, there are situations subjectively
different, with degrees of guilt or of
justice, which must be taken into consideration by us, pastors; but,
I hope that the law, which is the same for all, might be clear at
least for us priests. Subjective situation must not become
subjectivism, that is, as if it were left to my discretion as a
priest the possibility to give or not the communion, in secret, for
example. The situation of the divorced and remarried is objectively
a situation that makes it impossible the reception of Holy Communion,
even if they are very good in other respects.
“There remains in force, now and in the
future, the rule” he says St. John
Paul II can not change the substance of the sacraments of the
Eucharist and of Marriage. It is not the Church that must convert to
the world, it is the world which must convert and believe in the
Gospel.
The
sacrificial dimension of the Mass
“I am always at your side when you celebrate the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass, which renews that accomplished by Jesus on the Cross.
With Jesus who, by means of you, today carries out his Sacrifice, I
am always at the side of each altar to offer with you to the Heavenly
Father, on my Immaculate Heart, the precious Victim of our
redemption.
Today
it is necessary to shed greater light upon the value of Holy Mass as
the Sacrifice which renews, in an unbloody but true manner, that
accomplished by Jesus on Calvary.” (July 5, 1984)
“Today it is necessary to shed greater light
upon the value of Holy Mass as…” supper? or as Sacrifice? For 50
years, the catechisms that I was able to use in France, all without
exception bring out the aspect of supper and minimize even to the
total disappearance of the sacrificial aspect of the Mass. Already 20
years ago, doing a course for the catechists, I had taken the CCC on
the Eucharist, which develops as it should be the sacrificial
dimension of the Mass, and I had some catechists who rebelled because
I did not speak enough of the Mass as a fraternal and festive
moment... I take up again John Paul II, Ecclesia
de Eucharistia, 10, quoted in my two
circular letters:
"In various parts of the Church abuses have
occurred, leading to confusion with regard to sound
faith and Catholic doctrine concerning
this wonderful sacrament. At times one encounters an extremely
reductive understanding of the Eucharistic mystery. Stripped
of its sacrificial meaning, it is
celebrated as if it were simply a fraternal banquet."
And unfortunately this is seen very often. Everything seems arranged
to make of the Mass a type of "one-man-show" of the
celebrant, with many interventions that prolong much the Liturgy of
the Word, sometimes very noisy, to then reduce the moment of the
Consecration to a minimum. It also seems strange to me the fact that
some celebrants, after the words of Consecration, they do not raise
the Host above themselves: only up to their level, as if to say that
Eucharistic Jesus is not to be raised up too much... The then with
such hurry that it truly seems that one want to mistreat Him… But
one must not judge; some may take long genuflections and be pure
movie actors...
If you lose the sacrificial dimension of the Mass, then you lose the
sacrificial dimension of the priesthood, and of Baptism.
If the mass is no longer the Sacrifice of Jesus,
then it is no longer the center of the life of the Priest, who has to
live, as he promised at his ordination, conforming his life to the
Cross of the Lord, that is, making the Mass the
center of his sacrificed life for Jesus and for souls.
If for the priest is no longer the way to say with Jesus, "this
is my body priestly offered in the same moment and in the same
movement of the offering of Jesus to His Father," then
everything is empty of meaning. It is the abomination of desolation.
If the mass is no longer the Sacrifice of Jesus, then it is no longer
the center of the life of the baptized, of the Christian, the
offertory is no longer the offering of his life with Jesus...
Sometimes you see at the offertory dances, bringing all the fruits of
the earth; okay, but, I'm afraid this is done losing sight of the
true meaning of the offertory, the union of our life with the
Sacrifice of Jesus.
Every life is a Mass, and every soul is a host, Marthe Robin used to
say. This one can not lose sight of without losing the whole of
Christianity. This would the abomination of desolation.
I think at the scene of Isaac who goes with his father Abraham to the
place of sacrifice (Gen 22): "Father," he says. "Yes,
my son, tell me" "I see well enough the wood for the fire,
and the knife ... But I do not see the lamb for the sacrifice ...".
So you can imagine the poor father who raises his agonizing eyes to
Heaven asking God's help ... And I imagine that it is effectuated
then the word that Jesus would say one day: "Abraham rejoiced to
see my day; it he saw it and was glad" (Jn 8:56). Then he turns
to his son: "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt
offering, my son." It will be Jesus... And behold comes finally
John the Baptist, after so many centuries, showing Jesus: "Behold
the Lamb of God, behold the promised Lamb, behold the One who takes
away the sin of the world!" (Jn 1:29) .
We say in the Gloria and shortly before the Communion: "Lamb of
God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us...."
Sometimes we are so used to these words that we no longer care to
Whom we are speaking to... Jesus, the Lamb of God pre-announced by
the Father so many centuries ago, "foreordained already before
the foundation of the world", as St. Peter (1Peter 1:20), it is
He Who gives Himself to us in the sacrifice of Himself in every Mass.
And the consecrated Host is Host because it means the victim. It is
not a type of bread...
And we, priests, what do we say, then? We are the new John the
Baptist: let us take the host and say, “Behold Him! Behold the Lamb
of God established before the world to keep the world in existence,
behold the One Who with His Sacrifice redeems the world ";
without Him, without the Mass, without the priest, the world no
longer has any meaning, no reason to even exist! And what does John
the Baptist still say? "O mankind, I call you, come to your
Spouse. The One who has the bride is the divine Spouse. The One Who
has the bride, that is humanity, is the Bridegroom, Jesus, God who
came to marry humanity. But I, a priest, am the friend of the
Bridegroom, and I rejoice in hearing the voice of the Bridegroom,
when He calls humanity to say yes to Him, to become His bride.
(Because you can not have a marriage without a mutual yes).
The yes of Jesus is His Incarnation up to the giving of Himself on
the Cross. The yes humanity is faith in Him, in His total and
faithful Love. And this He does being the Lamb sacrificed for the
Redemption of the world. And this is my joy, says John the Baptist
(Jn 3:29); and it is my joy, says the priest, to bring humanity to
Its Spouse through faith, and my joy is complete in this way:
especially when I show to humanity, which is held here in front of me
at Mass, the consecrated Host saying to the Bride: behold, I the
friend of the Bridegroom, I tell you that you are blessed for your
wedding with Jesus: behold the Lamb of God, blessed are the invited
ones to the great eternal banquet of the Marriage of the Lamb! And I,
a priest, I find my joy complete in this way, in my being a friend of
the Bridegroom. I do not need to go to find other joys in the world,
in the pleasure in the world, in seeking the vain glory of the world,
or even in alcohol, or in amusements, in the compensations otherwise
lawful or totally misleading ... My joy is complete to be a new John
the Baptist who shows the Lamb of God, to the supreme witness.
Then I add, as Don Stefano used to say: do not be surprised if Satan
has succeeded in sifting you, in biting the heel of Mary which we
are, making us fall into his snares. Do not be discouraged. Come to
confession and re-begin more confident of our mercy of our Friend, in
order to be more compassionate towards our sheep.
All this to tell you that in the Mass, as sacrifice, we live our own
mystery, inviting all to the Marriage of the Lamb, and by finding our
joy in the sacrifice of ourselves together to Him: "Humanity
belongs to You, Jesus, you have entrusted it to me, however, you must
grow in their heart, but I must decrease, in the joy of seeing
humanity go to you". "Today it is necessary to put in
greater light the value of the Holy Mass, (the value of the
priesthood, the value of Baptism) as a Sacrifice."
Tutto questo per dirvi che alla Messa, come Sacrificio, noi viviamo
il nostro proprio mistero, invitando tutti alle Nozze dell'Agnello, e
trovando la nostra gioia nel sacrificio di noi stessi insieme a Lui:
"La umanità ti appartiene, Gesù; tu me l'hai affidata, però,
tu deve crescere nel loro cuore, e io invece diminuire, nella gioia
di vedere l'umanità andare a te" "Oggi è necessario
mettere in maggiore luce il valore della Santa Messa, (il valore del
Sacerdozio, il valore del Battesimo) come Sacrificio".
"In the Eucharist, Jesus Christ is truly
present with his glorified Body and his Divinity. And so
ecclesiastical Masonry, in many and subtle ways, seeks to attack the
ecclesial devotion towards the sacrament of the Eucharist. It gives
value only to the meal aspect, tends to minimize its sacrificial
value, seeks to deny the real and personal presence of Jesus in the
consecrated Host.
In this way there are gradually suppressed all
the external signs which are indicative of faith in the real presence
of Jesus in the Eucharist, such as genuflections, hours of public
adoration and the holy custom of surrounding the tabernacle with
lights and flowers." (13 June 1989)
Thank you, Mary, for opening our eyes to these
problems: they are not matters of taste or liturgical sensibility in
the Church; no, they are a real attack
against the Eucharist, all these ways
of putting Jesus aside; to put the tabernacle on the side and often
lower than the chair of the celebrant (which is often put at the
center, big and wide as a prince); to make brown instead of white
hosts; (they make them crumbly instead of compact, always with many
fragments of which no one cares about; taking large hosts which then
must be divided, with many drawbacks. Then I suffer, in so many
Masses that live touring the world, the systematic simplification of
the offertory, or the purifications after Communion: even there, a
way to despise the signs of respect to Eucharistic Jesus. It would be
necessary to read again well and obey Redemptionis
Sacramentum of the Congregation for
Divine Worship, 2004.
If one wants to make the Eucharist respected:
genuflections etc., you become easily labeled as a traditionalist, a
fundamentalist, a retarded person, behind the times… There is need
the Defender
in order to not let ourselves become disturbed by all these
accusations!
You know that in the Bible the accuser
is Satan; that the Defender
(the defense Advocate)
is the name that Jesus gives to the Holy Spirit in the speech after
the last supper, when He announces the hatred of the world against
the disciples ... One is no longer talking about tastes or liturgical
sensitivity, one is talking about the great eschatological attack of
the end times! This is a conviction that I tried to present in my
Circular Letter of 2015:
The Antichrist must substitute himself for the true Christ in the
Church. Where is "the same Christ, our Passover" (CCC 1324)
in the Church? In the Eucharist. Thus the fight is focused on the
Mystery of the Eucharist. In 2Thess 2,3-4 it reads that the
Antichrist "exalts himself against every so-called god or object
of worship," that is above the Eucharist. He never does it
openly, but always with subtle ambiguity, so that in the end the
antichrist will succeed in "abolishing the sacrifice"
(Daniel 12:11).
"By accepting the Protestant doctrine,
people will hold that the Mass is not a sacrifice but only a sacred
meal, that is to say, a remembrance of that which Jesus did at his
Last Supper." (December 31, 1992, 485 g)
“THE FOURTH SIGN (OF THE END TIMES) IS THE
HORRIBLE SACRILEGE, perpetrated by him who sets himself against
Christ, that is, the Antichrist. He will enter into the holy temple
of God and will sit on his throne and have himself adored as God.
[Our Lady cites Saint Paul:]
“This one will oppose and exalt himself against everything that men
adore and call God.
[What
is it that men adore and call God, if not Jesus in the Eucharist? For
me Saint Paul announces the attack in the end times against the
Eucharist].
“The lawless one will come by the power of
Satan, with all the force of false miracles and pretended wonders. He
will make use of every kind of wicked deception, in order to work
harm.” (cf. 2Thes 2:4-9). [Jesus
Himself speaks of this:]
“One day, you will see in the holy place he
who commits the horrible sacrilege. The prophet Daniel spoke of this.
Let the reader [of Daniel] seek to understand.' (cf. Mt 24:15)
Beloved children, in order to understand in
what this horrible sacrilege consists, read what has been predicted
by the prophet Daniel:
“Go, Daniel; these words are to remain secret
and sealed until the end time. Many will be cleansed, made white and
upright, but the wicked will persist in doing wrong. Not one of the
wicked will understand these things, but the wise will comprehend.
Now, from the moment that the daily Sacrifice
is abolished and the horrible abomination is set up, there shall be
one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits
with patience and attains one thousand three hundred and thirty-five
days.” (Dn 12:9-12).
[Then
Our Lady explains the sense of the prophecies of Daniel:]
The
Holy Mass is the daily Sacrifice, the pure oblation which offered to
the Lord everywhere, from the rising of the sun to its going down.
[Also
here, Our Lady refers to a passage of the Bible, Mal 1:11, used in
the Eucharistic Prayer No. 3]
The Sacrifice of the Mass renews that which was
accomplished by Jesus on Calvary. By accepting the Protestant
doctrine, [here is used the excuse of
the value of Ecumenism] people will hold
that the Mass is not a sacrifice but only a sacred meal, that is to
say, a remembrance of that which Jesus did at his Last Supper. And
thus, the celebration of Holy Mass will be suppressed.
[And
no one will see anything wrong, because we are all blinded by so many
bad habits and ways of thinking, that everyone will find this as
good!]
In this abolition of the daily Sacrifice
consists the horrible sacrilege accomplished by the Antichrist, which
will last about three and a half years, namely, one thousand two
hundred and ninety days. (December 31,
1992, 4th sign)
Thank God; Mary says that this time of abomination will not last
long. Hard times, but ephemeral times. And I interpret: afterwards,
all the promises of Fatima will be fulfilled, and all the promises of
the Bible: the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the
return of Jesus in glory, glorifying also His Real Presence in the
Consecrated Hosts in all the tabernacles of the earth, to the
admiration of those who will see Him whom they have pierced.
"Look! Jesus Christ is coming amid the clouds, and everyone will
see Him, even those who killed Him; and all the races of the earth
will mourn over Him. Yes, amen. I am the First and the Last, says
God, the Lord who is, who was and who is to come, the Ruler of all
the universe.” (Nov. 22, 1992)
But first, those who oppose this pseudo-universal fraternal
reconciliation, which will seduce all of humanity - because few will
have their eyes open to see that there is being sacrificed the truth
of Jesus in the Eucharist (cfr. CCC 675), to see that this is the
great apostasy of antichrist – they will be considered enemies of
ecumenism, enemies of fraternity, enemies of reconciled humanity.
"You are
being called more and more to become the apostles and new
martyrs of Jesus, present in the Eucharist.
And so you must increase your reparation, your adoration and your
life of piety. The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus will work great things
in each of you.” (13 July 1978)
I mentioned already twice in my two circular
letters this phrase of John Paul II, but it is so relevant that I
repeat it again: "The Eucharist is
too great a gift to tolerate ambiguity and depreciation."
(Ecclesia de Eucharistia,
10).
The instruction "Redemptionis
Sacramentum," also cites 11.
Ecclesia de Eucharistia,
52: The Mystery of the Eucharist "it is too great for anyone to
feel free to treat it lightly and with disregard for its sacredness
and its universality". To the contrary anyone, even if Priest,
who acts in this way, satisfying their inclinations, injures the
substantial unity of the Roman Rite, which must be vigorously
preserved, and performs actions in no way consistent with the hunger
and thirst for the living God felt today by the people, neither does
he carry out authentic pastoral activity or proper liturgical
renewal, but instead, he deprives the faithful of their patrimony and
of their heritage. For arbitrary actions are not
conducive to true renewal, but
detrimental to the proper right of the faithful to a liturgical
celebration that is an expression of life of the Church according to
her tradition and her discipline. In addition, they introduce
elements of distortion and disharmony in the same Eucharistic
celebration that, in an eminent way and by its very nature, aims to
signify and to wondrously bring about the communion of divine life
and the unity of the people of God. The
result is uncertainty of doctrine, perplexity and scandal of the
People of God and, almost inevitably,
bitter reactions: all elements in our time, in which the Christian
life is often particularly difficult on account of the inroads of
"secularization", confuse and
notably afflict many faithful."
(Cf. Congregation, Instruction Inaestimabile
donum, 1980).
Against this atmosphere
of confusion and sadness, Maria gives
us a great light and a great joy: her Movement! And her promises give
us a great and powerful hope, superior to all the human motives to
dispare: Jesus is about to glorify, and He will do so "now",
His Real Presence in the Eucharist!
Père Laurent Larroque
- - -
To
read the second meditation of Père Laurent Larroque on the same
theme, visit:
The
Progressive Protestantization of the Catholic Mass
