Remedies for the evils of the Revolution

Crisis of the Church: Remedies for the evils of the Revolution

[translated and adapted from the French here]

Here is a text that we propose, written by the RP Pierre de Clorivière according to a manuscript dated 1794 and published in the magazine Fideliter n ° 6 of November 1978. The parallel with what we are currently living in the revolution which shakes the Church and who also touches the head of the SSPX is pregnant. This is the demonstration that the weapons of the Revolution have not changed in 300 years ...

To defend oneself from darkness, one must resort to the light, to avoid the seductions of the lie, one must cover oneself with the shield of the truth. We must therefore turn to religion, know its dogmas with their divine harmony, their marvelous unity and their excellence, penetrate the purity of its morality, the magnificence of its promises and the terror of its threats, the invincible force of its proofs, the multitude of his miracles and the certainty of his prophecies ...

It is therefore important to make a reflection to which he would have liked to be more careful: it is because even when one can not consult the Church or her first Pastor, to whom infallibility is promised we must not blindly refer to any particular authority, because there is none that can not be trained itself and drag us with it into error. It is less to the personal authority than to the authority of the reasons alleged that one must surrender; This is not the case in which blind obedience can be commendable, but it is necessary to use discernment, as the Apostle says: "rationabile sit obsequium vestrum"; finally, we must have more regard to the strength and the number of proofs and reasons than to the number of particular authorities. For in times of trouble the truth is persecuted, it usually happens that the greatest number leans toward the side which favors its weakness, though the least conforms to the truth. ·.

It is therefore necessary to consult the Lord with simplicity, in the design and the firm resolution to follow the light of his conscience , without regard to what may happen to be unpleasant, and to the disadvantageous judgment that men may bring to our conduct. The Lord is pleased to enlighten a soul who seeks it righteously, and the lights of a healthy conscience always agree with the decisions of a true doctrine. By conforming to these lights we have seen the simplest souls show more courage and firmness than most others in the defense of Truth.

But when, not wanting to stick to the overly expensive decisions of the conscience, one constantly consults new doctors, God, in punishment, allows that it meets which give answers in conformity with the desire of the nature: they serve to stun the cries of consciousness

The weakness, the human feelings, a false compassion, the example, the weight of the authority of people themselves fallen into the error, divert a great number of the true principles and drag them into deviations which they have many it's worth coming back.

What must be done then by those who are in the full path of truth, is patiently to support those who go astray, not to break the unity while the Church has not condemned them and that their error It is not such that it obviously leads souls to the precipice. But the condescension of the friends of truth can not go so far as to connive into an erroneous and pernicious doctrine; they must divert as many souls as possible; they must spread the true light, confound the lie and the illusion; all this in the spirit of gentleness and charity, with care to excuse the neighbor and to use indulgence towards those who testify the desire to return to the truth.

The faithful must always remember the hatred God has for error, and beware of the feelings of unbelievers, knowing that they are guided by the spirit of darkness. When, above all, impious systems dominate, how often do we not think ourselves forced by a cowardly and cowardly condescension to betray the interests of the faith? The remedy for this evil is sincere faith, true humility and contempt for the world.

Another danger is to abandon a truth after recognizing it , for fear of the harm to which one exposes oneself by defending it. Let it be thought that to defend a truth, especially when it touches the faith, is to defend the cause of God; to abandon it is to distance oneself from God to place oneself on the side of the Father of falsehood. It is always something serious and the consequences of which are fatal: a first mistake attracts a second , and such believed to have to reproach himself a false step which is seen in a short time in an abyss. It must be in the firm determination never to retreat in all that concerns the truth, and to count for nothing its rest, its interests, its very life, when it comes to defending it.

Certain virtues are especially needed in times of persecution, to cross them without faltering. And first of all, that poverty of mind which is so highly recommended in the Holy Gospel. Although the renunciation of the heart to the things of the earth is the only thing required of all Christians, there are circumstances in which real renunciation becomes necessary. This was very common in these early ages of the Church, where the faithful were threatened with losing their property and being reduced to the last indigence if they did not worship idols. We are now in an age where the spirit of poverty will be more necessary than it has been for centuries.