Catholic Candle note: We received this article from a reader. 

Regarding reasons why (self-described) traditional Catholics remain in a compromise group, see this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/why-do-traditional-catholics-stay-in-a-compromise-group.html

Regarding how to sanctify the Sunday when there is no uncompromising Mass available to attend, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/sanctifying-sunday-no-mass.html

When it is God’s Will for us, we can do without the Mass and the Sacraments But With Our Lord in a Special Way

We’re not alone in the catacombs.  Our Lord compensates in a special way when we stand up against compromising priests and church leaders.  How does He compensate in that special way?  Well, I’ll tell you with first-hand experience.  To summarize in a few words: I’ve been happy and confident I’m following His will.

Without the Mass we might think we would be lost, but no, not so.  It is true that at Mass, the priest does act “in the person of Christ” (as the theologians say), and Christ then acts as our Mediator with God.   But many of us somewhat took advantage of that (while we still had Mass), and we let the priest “do all the work”.   Now, without the Mass and the priest, our relationship with Our Lord has to be one-on-One. 

God sent us the current circumstances in which we need to speak directly to God without a priest who stands in place of Christ for us.  As God sent us these circumstances and Wills that we be in them for His glory and our salvation, this circumstance can make us feel so much closer to Him.  He can feel like a part of us now as never before.

Without that weekly Confession available, we can have a much greater understanding of just how evil sin is, and how it hurts Our Lord – because we can’t confess every week and “start over, no problem”.  We can now realize it is far better not to sin even in the smallest way (i.e., venial sin), and we can do this with God’s help, because we’re now much closer to Our Lord one-on-One.

Without weekly reception of Our Lord in Holy Communion, it would seem to be a real loss, but we can make up in a special way with frequent, very slow and devout Spiritual Communions at least four times per day.  Doing this, it is twenty-eight Spiritual Communions per week vs. one “Sunday Catholic” Sacramental Communion.  The many Spiritual Communions can bring us closer to Our Lord when said with devotion and love.

Also, with the Mass on Sunday, compensation comes from reading each word from our missals with greater devotion and understanding, rather than attending a Mass expecting the priest to do most of the understanding and devotion.

The above four things we can willingly do without, for the Love of God.  Of course, the Mass and the Sacraments are an infinite treasure, which we should ardently long to receive when God sends them to us.  However, it is incomparably better to be in the catacombs with Him, but without the Mass and Sacraments, than to sin by attending compromise Masses and receiving compromise Sacraments!

We know also, sadly, that there are other things – like the beautiful liturgical music at Mass and parish devotions.  Plus, social parish gatherings, etc.  However, Our Lord will more than compensate for loss of these, with many spiritual graces.  He is never outdone in generosity!

To be sure, there are, unfortunately, only a few like-minded traditional Catholics in the catacombs, but their friendship is strong and loving.  The good Lord has always provided – and will continue to provide – what is needed for those who stand up for Him.  Bet on it!

Recklessness is the vice of making a decision without sufficient care about the correctness or consequences of the decision.

The sedevacantists are reckless.

Virtually all sedevacantists have these three reckless positions in common:

1.    Sedevacantists rashly judge the interior, subjective culpability of the pope and of conciliar Catholics, which leads the sedevacantists to declare that the pope and conciliar Catholics are not “real” Catholics and that we “know” that they are not part of the Catholic Church.[1]

2.    After having rashly judged that the pope is not a “real” Catholic, sedevacantists then recklessly conclude that he is not really the pope – based on their rash judgment of his interior, subjective culpability.[2] 

3.    Having recklessly concluded that we have no pope, they take upon themselves the pope’s authority to declare that the doubtful new conciliar rites of ordination and consecration are definitely invalid. 

By contrast, faithful and informed Catholics do not declare that they are certain that those rites are invalid. Instead, faithful and informed Catholics see enough doubt about those new rites that they exercise Catholic prudence and caution and simply stay away from them. They treat those rites as invalid because they are doubtful.[3]

A further recklessness of some sedevacantists:  They claim there are no good priests, Masses, or sacraments left.

After having recklessly concluded that we have no pope, and that the conciliar rites are definitely invalid, some sedevacantists then add a fourth reckless position: they declare that there are no good priests and no good Masses offered anywhere in the world.

It seems rash to say that there are no true Masses offered anywhere.  How could we be sure of that?  It seems better and more prudent to say that we know of no faithful priests who are willing and able to help us (although, of course, we know of many compromising priests).

We know of some priests who have not responded to our attempts to contact them.  These priests might well know why we are contacting them and they do not answer.  Plainly they are either unwilling or unable to help us. 

But does that mean we know with certitude they are unfaithful?  No.  We don’t know their circumstances.  Perhaps they are too sick to come to the aid of uncompromising Catholics.  God will judge that.  We should withhold judgment on their subjective, interior culpability for what they are doing and not doing.

Does that mean we know that they are not offering a true, uncompromising Mass?  No.  Are we sure we know all possibly-faithful priests in the world?  No.

Again, it seems rash to conclude we know every priest in the world (and his particular situation) so that we could conclude there are certainly no true, uncompromising Masses offered anywhere.

How should we act given that we know of no good, uncompromising priests?

We (at Catholic Candle) have no knowledge of (or access to) uncompromising Masses, priests and sacraments (except Baptism and Holy Matrimony).  For how long?  For as long as God Wills.  We are content with that.[4]  We place our trust in God, because He desires our salvation more than we do.[5]

But our lack of a faithful priest could change this month … or perhaps not for years – whatever God prefers.  We don’t know God’s plan for this.  Nor are we desperate to find out anything.  We trust in our dear Lord and with that, we are content.  Of course, however, we do our best to find an uncompromising priest whenever we hear of the “rumor” of one.  We try to follow St. Augustine’s sound advice: work as if everything depended on you and pray as if everything depended on God.

Meanwhile, we must pray the Mass prayers, unite ourselves to whatever uncompromising Masses there might be offered anywhere in the world, and pray for priests.  Let’s persevere!

It is our supposition that there will be priests and Masses until the Second Coming of our Lord.  But that will not necessarily mean that we know who those priests are and where they are offering the Mass – much less, that we can attend their Mass.  For all we know, they are in a gulag somewhere.

Instead, let us focus on God’s Plan for us and the means of salvation He is currently giving us.  Let us pray the rosary.  We are in the time of the greater efficacy of the Holy Rosary.  Our Lady of Fatima told us that time is now:

God is giving two last remedies to the world: the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  …  Prayer and sacrifice are the two means to save the world.  As for the Holy Rosary, Father [Fuentes], in these last times in which we are living, the Blessed Virgin has given a new efficacy to the praying of the Holy Rosary.  This in such a way that there is no problem that cannot be resolved by praying the Rosary, no matter how difficult it is – be it temporal or above all spiritual ….[6]

Dear Readers, we are “in this” together!  Be assured that we (at Catholic Candle) are not only “looking out” for ourselves.  If/when we learn about an uncompromising priest, we will do our best to spread this information worldwide.  We will also do our best to help him make himself available worldwide, to all who need him.  Of course, we ask the same of you – should you know of any priests that do not suffer from the very problems we document on this website, please let us know.

Meanwhile, keep standing strong, Oh Soldiers of Christ!  May God shower you with His choicest blessings!

Our Lord permits the current Great Apostasy in which we are living.  It is for our good: “All things work together unto the good for those who love God.”   Romans, 8:28.

Further, we must remember that Our Lord can never be outdone in generosity.  He gives extra graces to Catholics in the catacombs, who stand firm against compromise.  He does not abandon them but merely changes His methods of blessing and sanctifying them.  Our Lady of Fatima informed us about God’s approaching change of method.

For example, we don’t have Mass and Holy Communion because there are no uncompromising priests (at least in most places in the world).  Instead, Our Lord gives much greater efficacy than ever before, to the Holy Rosary, so that it fills all needs.[1]  

Similarly, the lack of uncompromising priests also means we don’t have confession (at least in most places in the world).  But again, our generous Lord knows our needs and He does not abandon us.  He only uses alternate means to sanctify us.  He gives great power to alternatives which are within our power during these apostate times.  St. John Chrysostom, Doctor of the Church, tells us the important use we can make of good works to blot out sin during the current Great Apostasy:

There is no sin which almsgiving does not blot out.  It is the fitting remedy to heal every wound.  But almsgiving does not only mean giving money, but also refers to every other good work helping others, including a physician healing the sick or a wise man giving good counsel.[2]

There are some people who call themselves “Traditional Catholics” yet who accept compromise confessions under the appearance of good.[3]  They rationalize their compromise by excuses such as:

➢  Excuse #1: “We are sinners and so we can’t be without confession”.  This is a false humility and a lack of trust in God.

·         A Catholic with true humility would say: “God is in charge and I will do His Will.  When He permits me to be without the Sacraments out of love for Him and for the uncompromising Catholic Faith, I won’t presume I know what I need better than God does.”

·         A Catholic who trusts in God would say: “God will not abandon me, if I don’t abandon Him.  He will take care of me and give me the means for my salvation, if I don’t abandon (and offend) Him by compromising and going to compromise priests.”

➢  Excuse #2: “We need to go to the Sacraments to show our children how important the Sacraments are.”  This is a false piety.  True piety would reject compromise Sacraments because they offend Our Lord and thus are against true piety.  When parents compromise in this way, they are merely teaching their children the life-long lesson that the Faith is “negotiable” and can be compromised for the Sacraments.  Beginning in the 1960s, conciliar Catholics taught their children the same lesson when they stayed in their local parishes for the sake of the Sacraments.

Our Lord is offended and angered by such compromise confessions!  Let us remain faithful to Him and use the means of salvation which He sends us, rather than the means which we choose, thinking we know better than He does.

People should avoid the Masses (and sacraments) of a compromise group, e.g., the N-SSPX[1] or another indult group or “motu proprio”[2] group, or Bishop Williamson’s group,[3] or the sedevacantists[4].  This is true even when that group has valid Masses and sacraments.

The Mass and the sacraments are good in themselves and are themselves causes of grace.[5]  However, this does not mean that valid Masses and sacraments always cause grace.  For sometimes they involve compromises and defects which are sins and are obstacles to grace.[6]

The end does not justify the means.  So, we cannot use sin (a bad means) to obtain grace (a good end).  When it is a sin to attend a particular group’s (or priest’s) Mass or sacraments because of compromises and errors, then those Masses and sacraments cannot do us good because the end does not justify the means and God does not give us grace through our sinning.[7]

Conclusion

When a Mass or sacrament is from a compromise group or is otherwise (objectively) sinful, then no one should attend or receive the Mass/sacrament.  Let us not attend any compromise Masses or receive (or attend) any compromise sacraments, telling ourselves that we “need our sacraments”! 

God knows better than we do what we need and provides for us better than we understand.  “All things work together unto the good for those who love God.”  Romans, 8:28.

The answer, I believe, is that most people don’t realize the damage caused by the indult Mass, or they falsely believe the indult Mass is better than no Mass at all, (i.e., they must have a Mass).  Or it is easier to accept the indult Mass to go along to get along.  By attending the indult Mass a person implicitly shows that he accepts the new mass because the indult is only allowed under this condition.

Attending an indult Mass gives bad example, as does approval of the indult Mass by the N-SSPX, Bishop Williamson’s group, and other compromise groups.

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre stated in a letter of Mar. 18, 1989, to Father Daniel Couture, “These Masses are scams which lead the faithful to compromise their principles!  Many have already abandoned them.”

If you attend the indult, you get a Faith-destroying sermon.  Who can believe a priest trained in Modernist schools and seminary for his whole life would give a Faith-strengthening sermon?  Not a chance.  This puts your Faith in jeopardy.  It’s all a plan to liberalize the faithful to accept the conciliar church.  It is offered as a “treat” but is actually a “trick.”

Archbishop Lefebvre understood that the enemies of Christ’s Kingship occupying Rome would not blush at using this Most Sacred Gift of God, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in order to lure the resisting Catholics into the conciliar church.[1]  So, his warnings ring true for all the congregations and clergy who compromise (in any way!) with Vatican II, the new mass, the new Code of Canon Law, the new Profession of Faith and other conciliar changes!  Archbishop Lefebvre initiated a Catholic Resistance; we simply must continue resisting modernist Rome, “until we have a perfectly Catholic successor of Peter.”  (Letter of Archbishop Lefebvre to Four Bishops of SSPX, Aug. 20, 1987.)

To improve relations with Rome, the N-SSPX publicly thanked Rome for a (false) “freeing” of the Mass, (the July 2007 motu proprio), which can be used only by a priest who accepts the new mass.  Because of this and many other N-SSPX compromises, including unnecessary sacramental indults (for confession and marriage), uncompromising traditional Catholics should not attend N-SSPX Masses or support the N-SSPX.

By attending the indult Mass wherever it is offered, or by supporting the groups who approve attending it (e.g., the N-SSPX and Bishop Williamson’s group), you put your Faith in jeopardy.

Further, former Pope Benedict XVI wrote:

The faithful who ask for the celebration of the forma extraordinaria [i.e., the Latin Tridentine Mass] must not in any way support or belong to groups which show themselves to be against the validity or legitimacy of the Holy Mass [i.e., the conciliar mass] or the Sacraments celebrated in the forma ordinaria.[2]

I believe attendance at the indult Mass would be down if the priest saying the indult would start out by explaining each time that “If you are attending this Latin Mass under the Motu Proprio, you acknowledge that you accept the new mass.  If not, please leave and don’t come back.”

Not only did the N-SSPX thank Rome for the (false) "freeing" the Mass, they explicitly accept 95% of VC II.  Yet, many still overlook this, believing God will understand.  He is certainly merciful, but He is also just.

Below are other reasons for staying far away from the indult.  Would you attend the indult Mass offered by a priest who also offers a Black Mass?  If not, then why accept a priest who offers the sacrilegious new Mass?  The new mass is inherently harmful to souls and to the Catholic Faith.  Thus, it is a sacrilege because it fits the definition of sacrilege: viz., the “irreverent treatment of the sacred.”[3]

If a person attends an indult Mass in a church that is also used for the new mass, then he willingly uses for worship a place which is also set aside for the commission of sacrilege.  A place used for sacrilege is far more unfitting for Divine worship than a “neutral” place, like a rented meeting hall. 

Thus, when traditional Catholics compromise by choosing an indult Mass, they accept the conciliar hierarchy’s bait and they presume they will be strong enough and wise enough to discern and reject the accompanying conciliar poison.

That is the exact excuse friends of ours made to us in the late 1960s, when we left our local diocese parish in order to remain traditional Catholics.  They felt we should stay to fight on the inside and help the parish reject liberalism.  However, absolutely none who stayed on the inside remained faithful to the Catholic Faith.  None.

The question arises as to whether or not the indult Mass gives grace.  Although we know that God gives grace to whomever He pleases, whenever He pleases, He does not give grace because we offend Him (as we would offend Him by attending an indult Mass).

In conclusion, Archbishop Lefebvre called the indult Mass a scam, i.e., “a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation; to deceive and defraud.”[4]  He also stated in his Aug. 29, 1987, letter to the four new bishops of the SSPX that Rome permitted the indult Mass “in order to lure the resisting Catholics into the conciliar church!” 

So, let’s heed the faith-saving advice of Archbishop Lefebvre and stay completely away from all indult Masses and all compromise groups accepting indult Masses, like the N-SSPX.