*spoiler alert
This book is a condensed version of the biography of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, so at times it may read a bit disjointed here and there. The full version of the biography from the same author is much longer.
The year 2020 brought about lots of focus and clarity in the midst of all the chaos. It may seem ironic with 20/20 and all but perhaps it is God's plan. I've never heard of Archbishop Lefebvre or the SSPX before this, but all the events of the past year has led me to want to learn more about it all.
For those who are not familiar with Archbishop Lefebvre, he is the founder of SSPX. The order is canonically irregular despite what many who have said otherwise. For those who have disparaging remarks about SSPX, perhaps it is time to reflect on everything that has happened to date, by their fruits you shall know them, and ponder on it all.
This book provided insights into Archbishop Lefebvre's childhood, his call to the priesthood, his work as a missionary in Africa, and his work as a teacher and shepherd to his flock. In everything he did, he did it with prayer, hard work, and just a really good attitude about it all. There were instances where I think lesser men may have given up or even falter, but Archbishop Lefebvre kept going and kept the faith.
From all the accounts, he was a well-spoken man with clarity and kindness, and based on his missionary work in Africa, he was a hard worker, very resourceful, and clearly called to be a missionary. He seems to be one of those people who can turn lemons into lemonade. He made do with what he had and hardly complained. His leadership skills was effective; otherwise the various work that he was tasked with over the years would not have flourished as well as it did.
The Catholic Church was slowly headed in a different direction before Archbishop Lefebvre came along, but the changing of the liturgy was taking root at this point in time. He was urged by many people, priests and seminarians, to help them find a way to retain the traditional Catholic faith. Archbishop Lefebvre tried to help however he could, but I think a line was drawn when the new liturgy was created and then mandated. The liturgy that he was ordained under and one that has been passed down over 2000 years was slowly being put aside. He prayed about all of this and asked God for signs to guide him. One of the signs was the Assisi Conference. The events that took place at the conference scandalized many, even to this day.
Fast forward to the time, when the SSPX was in the process of being established, it got to a point where everyone realized that the order would not continue if there weren't bishops. Bishops are needed to ordain priests. There was a lot of back and forth between Archbishop Lefebvre and Rome regarding the consecration of new bishops who would follow the traditional liturgy, but many signs indicate that they were just not even on the same page. This was evident in what happened at the Assisi Conference with Pope John Paul Il and other religious leaders.
What happened next, you know the rest of the story. There are more interesting stories from the book, but at the rate I'm going, it's already getting too long for a simple blog post.
At the end of the book, one part caught my attention. After his passing, a priest came to pay his respect and said that Archbishop Lefebvre simply love the church too much. I thought about this a lot after reading the book. The church is the bride of Christ. This is the one holy, apostolic, catholic church, as we often recite in our creed. Archbishop Lefebvre took this seriously, and I'm glad that he did. I think about the Catholic Church today, and many of them are unrecognizable compared to when I was a child, let alone back in the days of Archbishop Lefebvre. It makes me sad to think about it all. It's not just about the liturgy but about the dogma of the faith. We need to continue on the faith as Jesus Christ established; the tradition of our faith didn't just survive two thousand years by accident. By God's will, I pray that everything will work out.
In summary, I highly recommend the book. It provided much insight regarding Archbishop Lefebvre. He's a holy man, a man of God.