Guardians of the Holy Eucharist
Dear Friends and Benefactors,
As we enter the month of June, this month of the Sacred Heart, of the Holy Eucharist, of the Sacred Priesthood - since priestly ordinations usually take place this month in our seminaries - it is good to be reminded that the priest, by his ordination, is the appointed guardian of the Holy Eucharist, the sacrament of sacraments, the gift of gifts. All the various minor and major orders he receives as he ascends towards the altar during his years of formation, unfold his duties, both towards the mystical body of Christ, the Church, and towards the sacramental body of Christ in the Eucharist. By having abolished and then replaced the four minor orders by simple ministries, the Conciliar Church has removed the role of the priest being the guardian of the Altar. Guardian implies that some unworthy candidates will have to be barred from approaching the Holy Eucharist.
The first minor order of doorkeeper or porter expresses that truth beautifully. When the bishop ordains the young cleric to this first minor order, he says: “Act always keeping in mind that you will have to give an account to God for all that is contain under these keys.” St Thomas explains that it is the role of the doorkeeper to altogether debar the unclean, he means here “the absolute unbelievers and those unwilling to believe”, “from beholding Divine things and from the assembly of faithful” (cf. Suppl., Q. 37, a. 2). Holy Church has inserted this duty in its laws by refusing Holy Communion to public sinners (CIC 1917 c. 855).
By so doing, the Church is applying a great principle of spiritual life that we find in the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius. “In the case of those who go from one mortal sin to another, the enemy is ordinarily accustomed to propose apparent pleasures. He fills their imagination with sensual delights and gratifications, the more readily to keep them in their vices and increase the number of their sins. With such persons the good spirit uses a method which is the reverse of the above. Making use of the light of reason, he will rouse the sting of conscience and fill them with remorse” (n. 314). For such sinners, the devil gives a false peace (such as “you’re fine”, “everyone does it”, “it’s not so bad”, “we must be understanding”) in order to leave them in their sins and increase the number of their sins, but the good spirit - here it can be a mother, a friend, the Church - must give a salutary shock to try to wake them up. Such is the reason behind refusing communion to such unworthy persons.
This is what St Ambrose of Milan did in 390 A.D. by refusing access to the cathedral to Emperor Theodosius for a recent massacre of 7,000 people.
This is what Archbishop Lépine of Montreal should also have done with pro-abortion Prime Minister Trudeau, last May 17, on the occasion of a Mass for Montreal's 375th anniversary. (http://www.catholicregister.org/item/25208-trudeau-joins-religious-leaders-at-mass-celebrating-montreal-s-375th-birthday) Parce nobis, Domine!
This reminds me of two very similar events, this time in Ireland. The first was in 1979, after the Irish government passed the law allowing contraception. The Sunday following the promulgation, the health minister attended mass in Dublin’s Pro-cathedral and the Archbishop of Dublin did not have the courage to refuse him communion. The next day, it was front page news in the Irish Newspapers, with a large photo of the event, as if to say: contraception is accepted by the Church after all!
The second event took place ten years later, in October 1989. Archbishop Lefebvre was celebrating mass in our little chapel in Belfast and a well-known infamous priest, Fr. Pat Buckley, publicaly pro-gay and pro divorce, came to the mass and even dared to show up for Holy Communion. Having been warned, the Archbishop simply passed him by at the moment of communion. The next day this too was worthy of a front page news heading: “Lefebvre refuses host to Buckley”. When the reason for this was given to the BBC journalists present - that Holy Communion must be refused to public sinners - this became a quote of the week!
One of the worst fruits of the liturgical reform - even more these days with the sad consequences of Amoris Laetitia - has certainly been the unbelievable multiplication of sacrileges and Eucharistic profanations. Let us never forget: all these will demand severe reparation to the Divine Justice.
Let us go back to the Last Supper. After the washing of the feet, and halfway through the meal, Our blessed Lord made the prophetic announcement: “Amen, amen I say to you, one of you shall betray Me” (Jo 13:21). All the apostles reacted strongly to this announcement, but John who was reclining just next to Our Lord, leaned on his Sacred Heart in order to console Him: “Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved” (Jo 21:23). The first mention of John “leaning on Jesus’ bosom” is immediately after the announcement of the betrayal. Let us make a note of this. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is essentially a devotion of Eucharistic reparation. We hear the same from the Angel of Fatima: “Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Repair their crimes and console your God”.
Whenever we hear of some new Eucharistic sacrileges and profanations, let us immediately react like St John and console Our Lord. And let us keep in our prayers those who will become priests in the next few weeks, that they be real and holy guardians of the Holy Eucharist, burning with love for the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
News of the District
- M.I. (Militia Immaculatae): Between May 19 and 23, Fr. Karl Stehlin, the world-wide director of the M.I. made a quick visit to our centers of Rocky Mountain House, Calgary, Winnipeg and Lévis, promoting this wonderful organization which goes hand in hand with the Fatima year. He enrolled 220 new Knights. He hopes to reach the number of 100,000 knights of the Immaculate worldwide for the Fatima pilgrimage, next August. There are almost 50,000 at present.
- On May 13 a superb procession attracting more than 350 faithful took place in St Catharines, Ontario.
Yours truly, in the Sacred Heart of Jesus and in the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Fr. Daniel Couture