So fear not, clans of holy Tradition. This persecution is a sign that many millions have kept the faith despite the Revolution's best efforts to drive it out of us. The Revolution has failed. Francis knows it and we know it.  And our job now is to hold the Catholic ground as our fathers did 50 years ago, as Archbishop Lefebvre and Bishop Castro Mayer did once before. They changed history and frustrated the Revolution by simply keeping the old Faith, and so must we. Who will be the next Lefebvre? The next Castro Mayer? The next Michael Davies? The next Walter Matt?

It’s all happening again, but it all happened before. And now it is our turn to stand guard and keep watch at the sanctuary gate. It will take more than prayer. Prayer without action at a time like this is Lepanto’s Holy League without the fleet. We must act. We must resist. We must fight. And, yes, we must also pray. All men and women of Christendom are being called to come to the aid of Mother Church, and if we are up to that call this will be the greatest honor of our lives.

Christ celebrated the First Christmas as an outcast, a homeless child, rejected and ignored by Herod and Caesar respectively. But the evil ones were powerless to stop Christ’s Mass then, and they are powerless to stop it today. Francis is sending Herod’s henchman to slaughter the Holy Innocents because he is afraid, and he is weak. So maybe some of us will have to flee into Egypt, or into the desert, or back down into the catacombs. So be it. Our consolation is knowing that, when we embrace this persecution for His sake, the Child of Bethlehem will be with us always, even if for a time we are left clutching to our Rosary beads and scapulars outside of locked churches.  

Resist Herod to his face this Christmas, dear friends. God will take care of Francis in His Own good time and in His Own way.  All we need to do is keep the Faith, asking our fathers in heaven—the pioneer traditional Catholics who fought this war once before—to pray for us now so that we may live up to their example and be worthy of their holy cause. 

Merry Christmas, dear friends and Catholic clans of Tradition all around the world. We stand together, united at last.  All glory and honor to Christ our Redeemer King.

- Michael J. Matt

1972 Press Release

The New Mass became strictly compulsory throughout the world on November 28, 1971, the first Sunday in Advent, according to rumors in some Catholic circles, mainly “progressive” in composition. However, on the eve of that date, Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer of Campos, Brazil, while speaking over “Radio Culture” of his city, declared that: “The Mass of St. Pius V may continue to be celebrated within the present ecclesiastical legislation”.

“The Church is going through the worst of its crises”, explained the illustrious prelate. “Such a situation makes the whole world turn its gaze upon all that is happening within the Church.   And as so often happens, certain details are being overlooked which would give the proper perspective to the facts being examined. What is happening in so many areas of the Church (…) is also and principally, occurring to the Holy Mass. We say principally because the Mass is the center of Christianity. The Mass gives it life and renders it authentic. For this reason, the first thing Luther did, in his attempt to shake the Roman Church, was to attack the Mass”.

Next the imminent Bishop of Campos went on to demonstrate that “The Pontifical documents related to the new Mass have in no way abrogated the Mass of St. Pius V”.

The first thing Luther did, in his attempt to shake the Roman Church, was to attack the Mass”.

He noted that the compulsory aspect of the New Ordo, initially decided upon to start on November 29, 1969, was later put off until November 28, 1971. When the new Missal was promulgated by the Congregation for Divine Worship in March of 1970, the new date of November 28, 1971, was no longer spoken of. For, the preparation of translations of the new Missal, their subsequent approval by the Holy See, and the decisions of the Bishops’ Conferences all overshadowed the subject at the time. When the new Lectionary was published on September 30, 1970, in Latin, the same Congregation remained silent once more concerning the date of November 28, 1971. And this same silence was noted at the Notification of June 6, 1971, according to which the Episcopal Conferences could make the texts binding only after their translations had been approved by the Holy See.

Continuing, Bishop Mayer analyzed the specific situation in his own country, where the new texts are not compulsory, as their makeshift translations are full of mistakes, requiring further revision. “It is incomprehensible”, His Excellency said, “that texts recognized as being defective, should be imposed in matters sacred. This means that the date of November 28, 1971, is a subject which is over and done with. Any priest may, therefore, continue to celebrate within the legal norms, the Mass of St. Pius V”.

The distinguished prelate and theologian also made the following thought-provoking statement: “According to Canon Law now in force, a custom which is centuries old, or from time immemorial, may be considered abrogated only when such an abrogation is explicitly declared (Canon 30). Now, on the one hand, the traditional Mas of St. Pius V has more than a century of tradition behind it. In fact, its usage goes back more than a millennium. The Mass was being celebrated at least in the sixth century as the Mass of St. Pius V is now celebrated. Meanwhile, on the other hand, no document on the new Mass has explicitly revoked the Mass of St. Pius V. Therefore, the celebration of this Mass continues to be lawful. Furthermore, nobody may censure a priest for continuing to celebrate it”.

Bishop Mayer noted that St. Pius V had established it “to impede (…) Lutheran innovations from infiltrating into the Church.

Upon examining the doctrinal value of the traditional rite, Bishop Mayer noted that St. Pius V had established it “to impede (…) Lutheran innovations from infiltrating into the Church, and, therefore, from adulterating the sacred rite in such a manner that its characteristic of a true proprietary sacrifice should fall into oblivion and even be annulled. The Mass of St. Pius V is, then, a barrier against heresy”.

“The Protestants used to say, and still say, that all the faithful are priests and that the priest has no special priesthood. The Mass of St. Pius V makes an unmistakable distinction between the celebrating priest, who offers the sacrifice, and the people who gather with the priest, in an inferior position, to participate in the sacrifice.

“The Protestants denied that the Mass was a true sacrifice. To them it was only a Supper. The Mass of St. Pius V affirms, in a peremptory manner, that the Mass is indeed a true sacrifice.

“The Protestants denied, and still deny, that the Mass is a propitiatory sacrifice. The most they will accept is that it should be called a sacrifice of thanksgiving. The Mass of St. Pius V registers, in an indelible manner, the propitiatory meaning of the Mass it is, then, a barrier against heretical invasion.

The Mass of St. Pius V is, then, a barrier against heresy.

“That is why it is so easy to explain why the faithful, who love the Church and love Jesus Christ, are so attached to this Mass (…) Thus, it is also quite understandable why the French newsman, Louis Salleron, raised the question: ‘(…) is it perchance possible to prohibit a Mass which, from time immemorial, is the Mass of uninterrupted tradition? This Mass, fixed during the sixteenth century in full harmony with the Council of Trent, which, for many years, worked to determine thoroughly the object of the Eucharistic dogma?’—We also believe that it is not possible”.

Bishop Mayer concluded his radiobroadcast with the following words: “Therefore, in full harmony with the Church, all priests may continue to celebrate the traditional Mass of St. Pius V”.

Taken from The Remnant Archive (1972)