The Greatest Teaching of Archbishop Lefebvre

Of all that Archbishop Lefebvre taught us, one point, it seems to me, stands above all the others. That point is none other than listening to the Popes. Indeed, if they had been listened to, neither the Catholic States would have been destroyed, nor would the Church have been invaded by her enemies who occupy her today.

God established the Church to communicate His teaching to us. To listen to the Church is to listen to God Himself. But how can we discern the voice of the Church? The struggle of Archbishop Lefebvre has sufficiently answered this question. It is enough to refer to it. Father Calderón has also studied this question well. The voice of the Church is in Tradition.

But let us return more directly to the Popes. They are the true Magisterium. The Popes have condemned all the errors of today. Not only have they condemned them, but they have also denounced the men and the institutions that conceived and spread them.

If we wish not to be overwhelmed by this crisis, let us listen to Archbishop Lefebvre, the faithful echo of the Popes, and to the Popes, the faithful echoes of the Truth which is God Himself.

Saint Benedict begins his Rule with the word: “Listen”, addressed to his disciples. Even more, the Church cries out to us: “Listen, my son, to the precepts of your Mother and incline the ear of your heart; receive willingly and faithfully carry out the counsels of your Mother, so that by obedience you may return to the Tradition from which you have strayed through the negligence of disobedience.”

This is what Archbishop Lefebvre taught us. Let us listen to him. Let us listen to the Popes before the Second Vatican Council, and we shall reach the summit of doctrine and holiness.

+ Thomas Aquinas O.S.B.