What is SAJM? - Pe. Brocard

Dear faithful, before I say a few words about the mystery of the Church—and more specifically, one of the most serious aspects of the crisis the Church is currently facing—allow me to briefly introduce our priestly society, the Society of the Apostles of Jesus and Mary.

What is SAJM?

On November 21, 2017, Bishop Christian Jean Michel Faure promulgated the definitive statutes of the Society of the Apostles of Jesus and Mary, a priestly society of communal life without vows.

In doing so, Bishop Faure sought only to continue the work of Archbishop Lefebvre: the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, so that he too might say what Archbishop Lefebvre wished to have inscribed on his tomb: Tradidi quod et accipi.

Why was it necessary to separate from the SSPX and found a society—not a new or different one, but another—to continue the work of Bishop Lefebvre? It is because, unfortunately, Bishop Lefebvre’s successors deviated from the course of action he had set for them on several points:

• Relations with the conciliar authorities. After having tried everything, Archbishop Lefebvre had clearly established that there could be no practical agreement before a doctrinal agreement. In short, it was necessary to wait until the conciliar authorities had converted before placing ourselves in their hands.

• The distinction between the Catholic Church and the conciliar church.

• Doubt regarding the validity of the sacraments administered by the prelates of the conciliar Church, due to their intention. This doubt led the Bishop to re-ordain priests (ordained in the new rite) before sending them to the faithful, so as to take no risk regarding the validity of the sacraments they would administer to souls. This is also the main argument that led him to consecrate four bishops without a papal mandate. “You know well, my dear brothers, that there can be no priests without a bishop. All these seminarians who are present here, if tomorrow the Good Lord calls me home—and this will undoubtedly be soon—well, from whom will these seminarians receive the sacrament of Holy Orders? From conciliar bishops, whose sacraments are all suspect. Because we do not know exactly what their intentions are. That is not possible.” (Homily at the Mass of Consecrations.)

• The rejection of the new Code of Canon Law (except for disciplinary decisions).

On all these points, the SSPX now has a new approach.

Nevertheless, can we be associated with what is commonly called the Resistance? It is undeniable that Bishop Faure received episcopal ordination from His Excellency Bishop Williamson, and that—especially in France—the SAJM (just like the Dominicans of Avrillé) are often linked to this movement by the faithful.

However, we differ from them on several points.

- Bishop Marcel Lefebvre’s Declaration of November 21, 1974, is the charter of our resistance; the declaration of fidelity to the positions of the Society is its regulation or application; yet several priests of the so-called Resistance have deviated from it. In this declaration of fidelity, Bishop Lefebvre asked candidates for the diaconate to commit to three things: to pray publicly for the reigning pope, to mention him in the Canon of the Mass (una cum papa nostro…), and finally, to accept the 1962 liturgy.

- Bishop Lefebvre never ordained seminarians without them being integrated into a structure. He did not want to create independent priests.

Several priests or bishops of the Resistance believe they should not follow His Excellency on these points.

Our raison d’être is not the struggle against this or that priestly or religious society, but rather to remain faithful to the Church of all time. Now, this fidelity, in practice, is embodied by following the example and the battle of Archbishop Lefebvre, whom Providence has raised up as our guide to keep us on this path. We will therefore have credibility only to the extent—and in the same proportion—that we are faithful to the thought and legacy of Archbishop Lefebvre, to his battle. What the faithful expect of us is that we continue Archbishop Lefebvre’s work of survival.

May Our Lady help us all to be fully faithful to the legacy that Archbishop Lefebvre bequeathed to us, to his struggle, and to his spirit.

Conference

Heresies attack the various dogmas of our Faith in turn. Today, it is the Church that is most particularly attacked by modernism, that sewer of all heresies. Modernists, through their ecumenism, deny that there is only one Church that holds the truth and can lead us to God; and through their collegiality, they attack the very constitution of the Church.

The First Power of the Church, the Power to Command – Jurisdiction

From the beginning, God wanted man to be saved by and in a society charged with instructing him, guiding him, and offering sacrifices for him. A structured and hierarchical society, to teach him the truth and enlighten his understanding; to guide him and correct his rebellious will and help him to do good and avoid evil; and finally, to offer prayers and sacrifices to God on his behalf, in order to obtain for him the graces he needs for his salvation.

In the beginning, it was the patriarchs who exercised these functions; then, with Moses, we have the tribe of Levi, with the family of Aaron as high priest; and finally, the Church, with the distinction between the faithful and the clergy and, among the clergy, a hierarchy.

The problem we face today with the crisis in the Church is that the authorities of the Holy Church are imbued with modernist ideas that have already been condemned by previous popes. We can no longer trust them or submit to them blindly, because there is a risk of damnation. So what can we do?

1) The faithful must have a sense of the hierarchy of the Church

For the existence of two churches, this conciliar Church, see the excellent article written by Bishop Tissier de Mallerais. To put it very simply, let us say that we need only look at their fruits to see that we are dealing with two different churches: when we see two kinds of fruit, we conclude that they come from two different trees. The modernist authorities are changing everything: they have a new (Protestant) Mass, a new doctrine (human dignity), a new Our Father, a new Way of the Cross, a new Rosary, a new canon law, a new type of holiness (Mother Teresa of Calcutta, John Paul II), new virtues (charity is replaced by false benevolence, faith by religious sentiment, hope for Heaven by the construction of a paradise on earth). They change the doctrine of Christ the King by religious liberty, the conversion of souls by ecumenism, and the monarchical constitution of the Church by collegiality.

No one in good faith can deny the crisis that the Holy Church is currently undergoing. But God wants us to save our souls, even now; and the order willed and established by God does not change: if we want to save our souls, we must seek out a Catholic authority to submit to, one that teaches and guides us, and from which we will receive grace.

Unfortunately, most of us, including priests, seek only valid sacraments, and that is all! When it comes to instruction, we submit everything to the judgment of our limited intelligence. No one seeks to submit to any authority: we have never had as much spirit of independence as we do today. Or else, we submit as long as we agree, but as soon as our feelings are hurt, it's over!

Most of the faithful, when looking for a church to attend, are only concerned with whether the sacraments are valid there. As if they were saved ipso facto by receiving the sacraments...

And we think we can save our souls that way!

The followers of Arianism also received valid sacraments: how many were saved and are in heaven? If they died Arians, none. Absolutely none.

What we, the faithful and priests, must therefore seek is an authority that teaches us the true doctrine and to which we can submit in order to go to heaven. How many of us really have this attitude?

His Excellency Bishop Tissier de Mallerais, in his lecture on the jurisdiction of substitution (March 10, 1991), insisted on this point: "You, faithful laymen and women, have a duty to ask your traditional priests and your chapels for the full priestly ministry that is normally exercised in a parish. You have a duty to ask for all the priestly ministries that they are able to provide. It is your duty to entrust yourselves entirely to your traditional priests. You must not be content to ask them for a Mass, a baptism, or a sermon, and that is all. If that were the case, you would paralyze the priest. He cannot exercise his ministry in all its fullness under such circumstances." And further on: "There must be voluntary submission on the part of the laity to the clergy. They must feel the need for their souls to depend totally on the priestly ministry in all its breadth. I think this is a requirement of the sense of the Church. If you have a sense of the Church, that is, a sense of the hierarchy of the Church, you will understand this."

Priests and laypeople, we must do everything in our power to submit ourselves to truly Catholic authority, and not be content with seeking valid sacraments and Catholic doctrine. When looking for a traditional chapel, we must not only ask ourselves, "Are the sacraments valid? Will the sermon be Catholic?" but also, and above all, "Will there be a representative of God here to whom I can entrust the guidance of my soul and that of my children, so that he may lead me to heaven?"

Let us use a comparison to better understand this. And since we are soldiers of Christ the King, let us make a comparison with war.

If, in wartime, a general sends several commandos on a mission, each under the command of a captain, and if, during the mission, the general betrays them and goes over to the enemy, how should the soldiers react for the good of their country?

Should they split up to carry out the mission as they see fit, even though they have not been trained for it and do not know the plans? Of course not, that would be suicide.

They would turn to the captain, who has received training and instructions, and continue to obey him for the sake of the mission, unless he too shows signs of betrayal.

If they went to the captain and said, "All we ask is that you give us food and ammunition, but above all, don't give us orders," what would be the outcome of the war? Lost.

2) Submission: what criteria should guide a Catholic's choice?

But here the following question arises. How do we choose our superior? Submission, yes, but not blindly to the first person who comes along. Not all priests or bishops who claim to resist modernism can necessarily guide us to Heaven. It is, unfortunately, a sad reality that some priests have opposed the authorities of the Church solely out of a spirit of independence, so that they can do what they want without constraint or limitation.

Let us look at a first sign that cannot be mistaken. If the priest begins by practicing what he preaches: let him first submit himself to authority. Be wary of independent priests! Be especially wary of young independent priests, those who attended seminary with the idea of being independent. Archbishop Lefebvre never, ever supported or even ordained this type of priest; they do not have the spirit of the Church.

So how do you choose? Take the three things you must receive from the Church, then apply them:

- Doctrine. Make sure he transmits Tradition to you; and ask him, if necessary, for his references to the Magisterium of the popes before the Second Vatican Council.

- Valid sacraments. Don't take any chances. The sacraments are the main source of grace. You don't have the right to expose your children to questionable sacraments; their eternity is at stake. For example, today more than ever, our children need to receive the sacrament of Confirmation in a valid manner in order to be witnesses of Our Lord in this apostate world. What would people think of a general who sent his men into battle armed with rifles that might not work, and who didn't seem to care?

- Sure guidance. Someone who will guide you firmly, without becoming a guru. Again, when you are an independent and isolated priest, it is easy to become a guru for souls!

3) The pick and choose attitude is a Protestant spirit that sterilizes all the graces of the sacraments

Going from chapel to chapel, and from one priestly society to another, is to take oneself as one's own guide on the spiritual path. One is sure to miss out on holiness, and perhaps heaven. In this crisis, it has become more difficult to save our souls. Our two most dangerous enemies will be our sensitivity and our rationalism. It breeds a "pick and choose" attitude that sterilizes all the graces of the sacraments.

·    Our sensitivity: an attitude that we find hurtful, a remark that we find offensive, can distance us from the priest—or even from a chapel—and push us into the arms of people who are certainly much more likeable , but who have neither the knowledge to guide us nor, doubtfully, the power to give us grace. Between a smiling surgeon who has studied little (or studied the wrong books) and a surgeon who may be grumpy but knows his job, who would you entrust your child to for surgery?

·    Our rationalism: as always, we must avoid two extremes: the one who claims that blind faith saves and will follow blindly, - and the lay person who, after reading three books on doctrine, proclaims himself a doctor of the Church and takes it upon himself to criticize all priests and bishops and to propagate his theses as the only true position in this crisis of the Church.

Let us study, let us be humble, let us beg God to give us well-trained priests and bishops who will know how to guide us through this crisis, and when we have the grace to find one, let us remain faithful. And if it seems to us that we must change, let us be careful that it is not an emotional reaction, and let us verify that our judgment is rooted in the Tradition of the Church.

Conclusion

Dear faithful, at the seminary, we work every day to form priests who will help you save your souls.

Help us in this noble work! This work is essential to the survival of the Church and the salvation of souls!

How can you help us? By praying for us, and also by asking Heaven for vocations through fervent prayers.

And, for those who are able, by providing material support for the daily operation of the seminary. For more information and for other doctrinal and spiritual talks, visit the seminary’s website: https://seminariodomlefebvre.com/seminario/

Rev. Pe. Brocard