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The Mystery of Our Lord Jesus Christ: The Meditations of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre
In these 29 meditations inspired by Sacred Scripture, spiritual theology, and the fruit of his own years of contemplation and experience, Archbishop Lefebvre speaks about the life of Christ, His mind and will, the love He had for His Father, and His thirst for souls. How can Christ be a pattern for us? Why is it good for us that Jesus Christ is both divine and human? How can His heart be our heart? What was Christ’s mission and what does it have to do with ours?
Paperback
First published December 31, 2000
About the author
Marcel Lefebvre
45 books71 followersMarcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre (29 November 1905 – 25 March 1991) was a French Roman Catholic archbishop. Following a career as an Apostolic Delegate for West Africa and Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, he took the lead in opposing certain changes within the Church associated with the Second Vatican Council.
In 1970, Lefebvre founded the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). In 1988, after he consecrated four bishops to continue his work with the SSPX against the expressed prohibition of Pope John Paul II, the Holy See immediately declared that he and the other bishops who had participated in the ceremony had incurred automatic excommunication under Catholic canon law. In 2009, 18 years after Lefebvre's death, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of the four surviving bishops.
There is more than one author with this name
In 1970, Lefebvre founded the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). In 1988, after he consecrated four bishops to continue his work with the SSPX against the expressed prohibition of Pope John Paul II, the Holy See immediately declared that he and the other bishops who had participated in the ceremony had incurred automatic excommunication under Catholic canon law. In 2009, 18 years after Lefebvre's death, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of the four surviving bishops.
There is more than one author with this name
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 10, 2023
Transposed from conferences in French then translated into English made this a clunky read. The subject matter is dense and precise anyway, and normally translation is fine, but the fact these were written as talks for a conference adds another layer of awkwardness not present even in other works I’ve read by +Lefebvre.
The subject matter and meditations themselves are excellent, I’d give 4ish stars if the issues of the first paragraph weren’t present.
The subject matter and meditations themselves are excellent, I’d give 4ish stars if the issues of the first paragraph weren’t present.
October 15, 2021
Dense meditations on Our Lord and His divinity
December 3, 2020
Understanding Our Lord Jesus Christ is a lifelong endeavor and hence any book that assists in that study is worthwhile. This collection of spiritual conferences from the late Archbishop Lefebvre does bring to light some wonderful thoughts and considerations on that subject.
My only problems with the book (which can be ignored given that the text as a whole is worth reading) are the accusations of Pope Honorius as "favoring heresy" which is a favorite (and false) hobby horse of the Society of St Pius X and is driven home in a couple footnotes, as well as the jarring discussion of what would have been "current events" in the midst of a book on a spiritual subject. The book cannot be recommended for those who are not as yet clear on their ecclesiology or on the question of the papacy our times.
"Nothing is done in the world that does not relate to our Lord; it is either for Him or against Him, with Him or without Him. Our Lord is the key to the solution of all the problems." (p. 18)
"To try to construct human history outside of our Lord Jesus Christ is an absurdity. Our Lord is the center of history." (p. 18)
(quoting St. Louis de Montfort) "To know Jesus Christ, Eternal Wisdom, is to know enough; to know everything and not to know Him, is to know nothing." (p. 37)
"Who knows Christ knows enough, even if he knows nothing else; who does not know Christ knows nothing, even if he knows everything else." (p. 37)
"Evidently, when we say First Person [of the Trinity], we immediately have the feeling that the Father existed first because there was the Son and the Holy Ghost. But there never was a moment, not even a thousandth of a second, when the Father would have existed without the Son and the Holy Ghost. They have always existed consubstantially, and that is God. He is eternal; He is." (p. 56)
"Did the Incarnation add something to our Lord, to the Word, and hence to God, since the Word is God? Certainly not. This seems incomprehensible to us, and yet it is true, because nothing can be added to God. That is evident. We find ourselves here in the presence of mysteries that are beyond us, but which are nonetheless realities." (p. 56)
(regarding St. Joan of Arc) "Our Lord did not single out a highly qualified, highly intellectual person from high society with extraordinary natural talents. No, a simple soul." (p. 97)
(quoting Fr. Lebreton) "But in contemplating Christ Himself, one perceives in Him, vis-a-vis His Father, a dependence, and even an annihilation, of which nothing here below can give an idea. His doctrine is not His own, nor His works, nor His life; the Father shows Him what He must say and do, and His eyes on this most sovereign and well-loved rule, Jesus speaks, acts and dies. And this natural dependence of the Son of God is accompanied by an ineffable sweetness: as the Father gives all to the Son with ineffable love, so the Son places His happiness in receiving from and depending upon the Father." (p. 152)
(quoting Fr Bonsirven) "If we consider the trinitarian life of the Father and the Son, we can understand their unity of will. The Father shows to the Son and communicates to Him all that He does. For His part, the Son neither wants nor can do anything but what the Father shows Him. What obedience can be as perfect as this integral communion, this uniformity of will? As St. Cyril explains in a rather lovely image, we can no more say that there are real commands given from Father to Son, than we could say that the sun commands its rays to shine. And the same Doctor adds that if we consider the Word Incarnate, the commandment referred to is not the order of a superior, but uniquely the expression of the Son's mission." (p. 158)
"This experimental knowledge provides the key to understanding some passages in Scripture. For instance, it is in light of His experimental knowledge that we can understand the words of the Gospel when Joseph and the Virgin Mary went to look for our Lord in the temple and brought Him back to Nazareth: 'And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace with God and men' (Lk. 2:52). How indeed, could He advance in wisdom, since He was perfection itself, if not by the exercise of His agent intellect, by which, in a certain manner, He could grow in experimental knowledge." (p. 168)
My only problems with the book (which can be ignored given that the text as a whole is worth reading) are the accusations of Pope Honorius as "favoring heresy" which is a favorite (and false) hobby horse of the Society of St Pius X and is driven home in a couple footnotes, as well as the jarring discussion of what would have been "current events" in the midst of a book on a spiritual subject. The book cannot be recommended for those who are not as yet clear on their ecclesiology or on the question of the papacy our times.
"Nothing is done in the world that does not relate to our Lord; it is either for Him or against Him, with Him or without Him. Our Lord is the key to the solution of all the problems." (p. 18)
"To try to construct human history outside of our Lord Jesus Christ is an absurdity. Our Lord is the center of history." (p. 18)
(quoting St. Louis de Montfort) "To know Jesus Christ, Eternal Wisdom, is to know enough; to know everything and not to know Him, is to know nothing." (p. 37)
"Who knows Christ knows enough, even if he knows nothing else; who does not know Christ knows nothing, even if he knows everything else." (p. 37)
"Evidently, when we say First Person [of the Trinity], we immediately have the feeling that the Father existed first because there was the Son and the Holy Ghost. But there never was a moment, not even a thousandth of a second, when the Father would have existed without the Son and the Holy Ghost. They have always existed consubstantially, and that is God. He is eternal; He is." (p. 56)
"Did the Incarnation add something to our Lord, to the Word, and hence to God, since the Word is God? Certainly not. This seems incomprehensible to us, and yet it is true, because nothing can be added to God. That is evident. We find ourselves here in the presence of mysteries that are beyond us, but which are nonetheless realities." (p. 56)
(regarding St. Joan of Arc) "Our Lord did not single out a highly qualified, highly intellectual person from high society with extraordinary natural talents. No, a simple soul." (p. 97)
(quoting Fr. Lebreton) "But in contemplating Christ Himself, one perceives in Him, vis-a-vis His Father, a dependence, and even an annihilation, of which nothing here below can give an idea. His doctrine is not His own, nor His works, nor His life; the Father shows Him what He must say and do, and His eyes on this most sovereign and well-loved rule, Jesus speaks, acts and dies. And this natural dependence of the Son of God is accompanied by an ineffable sweetness: as the Father gives all to the Son with ineffable love, so the Son places His happiness in receiving from and depending upon the Father." (p. 152)
(quoting Fr Bonsirven) "If we consider the trinitarian life of the Father and the Son, we can understand their unity of will. The Father shows to the Son and communicates to Him all that He does. For His part, the Son neither wants nor can do anything but what the Father shows Him. What obedience can be as perfect as this integral communion, this uniformity of will? As St. Cyril explains in a rather lovely image, we can no more say that there are real commands given from Father to Son, than we could say that the sun commands its rays to shine. And the same Doctor adds that if we consider the Word Incarnate, the commandment referred to is not the order of a superior, but uniquely the expression of the Son's mission." (p. 158)
"This experimental knowledge provides the key to understanding some passages in Scripture. For instance, it is in light of His experimental knowledge that we can understand the words of the Gospel when Joseph and the Virgin Mary went to look for our Lord in the temple and brought Him back to Nazareth: 'And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace with God and men' (Lk. 2:52). How indeed, could He advance in wisdom, since He was perfection itself, if not by the exercise of His agent intellect, by which, in a certain manner, He could grow in experimental knowledge." (p. 168)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews