Lenten Penance: Lessons from the Saints – A Reflection by Archbishop Lefebvre

Homily at Econe, February 24, 80, 1st Sunday of Lent (Soundcloud)

My dear friends,
My dear brothers,

The Church on this first Sunday of Lent invites us to austerity. We see this in the very rites of this Mass – austere rites – and it also invites us to meditate on the reasons we have for doing penance.

And this Gospel which tells of the temptation that Our Lord underwent at the hands of the devil must make us think that if the devil had the impudence and the pride to attack Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, when he knew perfectly well that He was the Son of God, how much more will the devil set his mind to destroy us. For he knows that with us he has much more chance of making us fall into sin.

And this is why we need to meditate on the reasons for this fast that the Church asks of us, this Lent in the image of Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gives us the example of this fast that he underwent for forty days in the desert.

And to concretize in a certain way the reasons, the motives for our penance, I will choose three examples: the example of Saint Mary Magdalene, the example of Saint Francis of Assisi and the example of the Virgin Mary.

Saint Mary Magdalene did penance because she had sinned. She had undoubtedly sinned gravely; she had led a dissolute life. But touched by the grace of God, she was converted. And then she decided to detach herself from everything that could draw her into sin. Here she throws herself at the feet of Our Lord, she breaks the precious vase of perfume that she had and pours this perfume on the feet of Our Lord. She kisses the feet of her God, and she receives this word so beautiful, so consoling for her: "Much has been forgiven her, because she loved much". This gesture of love by Mary Magdalene towards Our Lord earned her an even greater grace: that of being the first to recognize Our Lord Jesus Christ after his Resurrection.

This is how our Lord rewards those who do penance and those who mourn over their sins. We are all sinners; therefore we all have to mourn over our sins and break everything that can be an occasion for us to sin, in order to cling to our Lord Jesus Christ as we promised on the day of our baptism.

Saint Francis of Assisi, on the other hand, as far as we can tell, did not lead a dissolute life. He helped his father in his business. But he was afraid, he feared that this business, this search for money, for the goods of this world, would make him lose his soul. He felt his weakness and he decided – pushed by the grace of God – to break with all things here below. Everything that can in some way excite our appetites, our disordered appetites.

Because this is where we are weak. The consequences of original sin are still written in our hearts, in our souls, like wounds and we are sick; we need to heal. So to heal, we must also do penance in order to restore order within ourselves. And this is what Saint Francis of Assisi wanted to do. He could have become rich; he chose poverty; he could have become powerful; he chose ignominy, humility.

And Our Lord Jesus Christ shows us by the reward He gave to Saint Francis of Assisi, how much He appreciates the penance he did. And how much this example encourages us too, to do penance. Our Lord appeared to him on the Cross, radiant, and the rays coming out of the feet and hands and heart of Jesus pierced Saint Francis of Assisi. And he was marked with the stigmata of Our Lord. Thus God rewards those who do penance by pouring into their souls, a total love for Him, for Our Lord Jesus Christ.

And finally, the Virgin Mary did not have these reasons to do penance since she did not sin; since she did not know original sin, consequently she did not know its consequences and illnesses either.

The Most Holy Virgin Mary is all pure, immaculate in her conception. Why does she do penance? And this is the third motive, the noblest for us, to do penance: to associate ourselves with the Redemption of her divine Son.

If Jesus also wanted to shed his Blood, to pour out his Blood to redeem us, He who was God, He who knew no sin – the Virgin Mary also who had known no sin – wanted to associate herself with his pain. And that is why she was called Mother of Sorrows, Our Lady of Compassion. Queen of Martyrs, because a sword pierced her heart.

So she associated her pains, her sufferings, her trials with the sufferings of Our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the most beautiful, the greatest, the strongest reason why we had to do penance, in order to also associate our trials, to associate our blood in some way, with that of Our Lord Jesus Christ in order to save souls, in order to participate in his Redemption.

These, my dear friends, my dear brothers, are the three reasons why we must do penance, but above all out of love for Our Lord Jesus Christ, out of a desire to associate ourselves with his interests, his desires, his goal which is to save souls and to shed his Blood on souls.

Let us also do everything; let us accept not only the few penances that we impose on ourselves, but also the penance that the Good Lord imposes on us through Providence. Penance in the health difficulties that we may have; in the difficulties of fulfilling our duty of state; what trials in our families, in our acquaintances, in our friends, in all that surrounds us; what pain, what suffering. Let us accept these sufferings in union with those of Our Lord Jesus Christ for the redemption of souls.

Let us ask the Virgin Mary to make us understand the necessity of this suffering and this penance, in order to associate ourselves with her and receive, like her, the eternal reward.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre

Founder of the FSSPX

Published February 24, 1980

Source: La Porte Latine