Sermon for the XXIII Sunday after Pentecost - 2025

by H.E. Bp. Thomas Aquinas O.S.B.

“Filia mea modo defuncta est…”

“… non est enim mórtua puella, sed dormit…”

“Et deridebant eum.”

Holy Church seems dead at this moment. She has been invaded by the modernists who have taken the key positions. The predictions and plans of Freemasonry seem to have triumphed. Freemasonry wanted a pope who would hold the ideas of Freemasonry. It did not want a Masonic pope—this could be dangerous for them—but a pope with their ideas would be ideal. God allowed it to be so, as in the case of Job, in which God permitted him to be tempted, attacked, stripped, and wounded by the devil, to the point of being abandoned by his wife and his friends.

A council that breaks with Tradition, that is, that breaks with Our Lord Himself. Reforms that intensify this rupture. The excommunication of Archbishop Lefebvre and Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer, who were never rehabilitated.

A new liturgy of the Mass, as had been foretold by the worst enemies of the Church. Ecumenical gatherings pleasing to Freemasonry, meetings that deny the exclusivity of the Catholic Church as the sole ark of salvation.

New saints who are, in reality, false saints, such as “Saint John Paul II,” “Saint Paul VI,” “Saint John XXIII,” and many others.

Encouragement of the charismatic movement, of Protestant and diabolical origin.

Attacks against the terms co-redemption and mediation of Our Lady.

Destruction and corruption of seminaries and religious life, stagnation of vocations.

Reduction and near annihilation of missionary life.

In other words, the alignment of the Church with the world, with Freemasonry, with the Revolution in its twofold liberal and communist face.

We may ask ourselves: does the Church still subsist? What should we answer? What does Freemasonry answer?

Yes, it says. The Church is dead.

But Our Lord tells us: “Withdraw. The girl is not dead. She sleeps.”

I believe we can apply these words to the Church. One who sleeps is alive.

The Church seems dead. Her hierarchy is shattered. We might think all is lost.

But no. All is not lost, for, as Our Lord says, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against her.”

The Church continues her mission under the greatest persecution ever seen since her foundation.

But where is the Church?

The Church is where her four marks are: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.

One. Is there unity in the Conciliar Church? The bishops do not understand one another, nor do they understand Rome. Some want the ordination of women; others do not. Some support liberation theology; others do not. Some favor contraceptives; others do not. Some want more autonomy, and Rome does not.

Holy. Where is the holiness of the Conciliar Church? In “Saint” John Paul II? In “Saint” Paul VI? In “Saint” John XXIII? In the new Mass? In the priests who frequently refuse to hear confessions? In the faithful abandoned without priests to guide them?

Catholic. When missionary spirit is lacking and indigenous peoples are abandoned? When apostolate toward Orthodox and Protestants is refused? When the Holy See makes agreements with Orthodox communities not to seek conversions in certain Eastern regions? When Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that one should not convert Buddhists, and that it was enough that they be good Buddhists and Muslims?

Apostolic. The Conciliar Church is not apostolic, for it breaks with the apostles by breaking with Tradition.

But then, where is this Church that sleeps and that Our Lord will resurrect if it so pleases Him?

She seems dead, but she is not.

She is one in her faith.

She is holy in her sacraments, in the Sacrifice of the Mass, and in her members—some more, others less—but many live in the grace of God, in large families, in good vocations, etc.

She is catholic, for she is spread throughout the whole earth, on every continent.

She is apostolic, for she teaches the same truths that the apostles taught and that are found in the catechisms of the Council of Trent and of Saint Pius X, and in the doctors and theologians approved by Holy Church.

The Church sleeps, but she is not dead.

The Society of Saint Pius X has chosen to draw a little closer to the Conciliar Church. This is a dangerous attitude. We prefer to wait until Our Lord comes to awaken the official Church from her sleep.

Our enemies are clever. They have already deceived many. We prefer to maintain the reserve of Archbishop Lefebvre. He used to say that if he were called again to the negotiating table, it would be he who would place the conditions. If Rome did not accept the encyclicals that condemn modern errors, if she did not accept the Syllabus, Pascendi, Quas Primas, etc., then nothing could be done.

For now, Rome shows no sign of accepting these encyclicals of Pius IX, Leo XIII, Saint Pius X, Pius XI, and all the popes who condemned modern errors.

So we continue to wait, with the help of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of all graces.

But while we wait, we refuse to say that the Church is dead. The Church does not die. She may appear dead, but she is alive and communicates to us the life of grace that leads us to eternal life.

Amen.