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Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre #1
Apologia pro Marcel Lefebvre: Volume One
This book is certainly one of great historical value. Portrays the dramatic conflict relating to the grievances between Archbishop Lefebvre and the Vatican under Pope Paul VI. Depicts the role of one who had the foresight to recognize that he could not defend orthodoxy and at the same time accept reforms "themselves oriented towards the cult of man." Completely documented.
- GenresCatholic
461 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1979
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About the author
Michael Treharne Davies
47 books54 followersMichael Treharne Davies (1936-2004) was a convert from Anglicanism to the Catholic Church in the 1950s, and was a Catholic writer who authored various works following the Second Vatican Council, in addition to unifying Una Voce America, a conservative group. He went on to compose such works as The Liturgical Revolution, The Order of Melchisedech, Partisans of Error, For Altar and Throne,, and The Wisdom of Adrian Fortescue. Upon Davies' death in 2004, Pope Benedict XVI called him a man of deep faith who was ready to embrace suffering
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 11, 2019
Michael Davies' three books on Archbishop Lefebvre brought me back to the Church after 25 years of wandering in darkness.
September 20, 2024
DAVIES’ PASSIONATE FIRST DEFENSE OF THE CONTROVERSIAL ARCHBISHOP
Michael Treharne Davies (1936- 2004) was a British traditionalist Catholic writer, who from 1992 to 2004 was the President of the international Traditionalist organisation Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce. He wrote other books/booklets such as 'Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre (Volume Two),' 'Archbishop Lefebvre & Religious Liberty,' 'Pope Paul's New Mass,' 'Liturgical Shipwreck: 28 Years of the New Mass,' etc.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1979 book, "Many of those who read [the book] will know little or nothing about Archbishop Lefebvre when they begin. If they are Catholics they will have gathered from the official Catholic press that he is a French bishop who refuses to use the new rite of Mass and has a seminary in Switzerland where he trains priests in defiance of the Vatican. He will have been presented to them as an anachronism, a man completely out of step with the mainstream of contemporary Catholic thought, a man who is unable to adapt, to update himself. He is portrayed as little more than an historical curiosity... a man whose views do not merit serious consideration... he is alleged to have totally rejected the Second Vatican Council or to be linked with extreme right-wing political movements...
"In [a] pamphlet I explained that the only way to refute the type of attack made by [a critic of Lefebvre] was to present the entire truth---to write an apologia." (Pg. ix-x) He adds, "My book is objective but it is not impartial. It is objective because I have presented all the relevant documents both for and against Mgr. Lefebvre, something his opponents have never done. It is partial because I believe the evidence proves him to be right and I state this... Clearly, the value of the book derives from the documentation and not the commentary." (Pg. xi)
He notes that in 1977 a Swiss TV program interviewed a Father Cosmao, who told the interviewer, "[Mgr. Lefebvre] really stood for the Church at the time. The fact is, it is the Church which has changed, not Mgr. Lefebvre. The Church has changed most profoundly and in particular because she has come to accept what has been happening in Europe since the end of the 18th century, in the train of illuminism and the French Revolution." (Pg. 5)
Davies comments, "In practice, where the New Mass is celebrated strictly in accordance with what rubrics there are, it is so oppressively dull and insipid that no one could possibly participate in it with fervor. This explains the increase in the so-called Folk Masses, the introduction of dancing and audio-visual effects, and the liturgical antics of the Pentecostals, as an effort to infuse some form of life (however depraved) into what is no more than the corpse of the vibrant, noble and dignified liturgy of the Roman Mass. Pope Paul must have realized that the liturgy in its present form is a source of misery and even revulsion to countless thousands of the faithful, and that even where they accept it as an act of obedience to expect them to do so with fervor is to ask the impossible." (Pg. 180-181)
Lefebvre admitted that "I was already considered a traditionalist, even before the Council! You see, that did not begin at the Council!" (Pg. 31) Lefebvre states, "It is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who ... gave Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist... What other religion can lay claim to possess such a thing? And why? Because the only true religion is that of the Catholic Church." (Pg. 83)
Mgr. Lefebvre said in a 1976 sermon, "We do not accept this new religion. We are of the religion of all time; we are of the Catholic religion. We are not of this 'universal religion' as they call it today---this is not the Catholic religion any more." (Pg. 211) But he later told an interviewer, "I most definitely do not intend to set up a Church independent of Rome." (Pg. 348)
Davies comments on the 1976 Vatican condemnation of Lefebvre: "It is not a question of the Archbishop's accepting all the documents, there are only two that he didn't sign. And, as has been pointed out already, when he offered to accept these in June 1977, on the understanding that they would be interpreted in the light of traditional teaching, his offer was rejected... the Pope is referring to Vatican II as if it did not differ from preceding Ecumenical Councils." (Pg. 335)
Davies’ Apologia series are “classics” of the Traditionalist Catholic movement, and will be “must reading” for anyone studying Traditionalism, Lefebvre, or contemporary Catholicism.
Michael Treharne Davies (1936- 2004) was a British traditionalist Catholic writer, who from 1992 to 2004 was the President of the international Traditionalist organisation Foederatio Internationalis Una Voce. He wrote other books/booklets such as 'Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre (Volume Two),' 'Archbishop Lefebvre & Religious Liberty,' 'Pope Paul's New Mass,' 'Liturgical Shipwreck: 28 Years of the New Mass,' etc.
He wrote in the Introduction to this 1979 book, "Many of those who read [the book] will know little or nothing about Archbishop Lefebvre when they begin. If they are Catholics they will have gathered from the official Catholic press that he is a French bishop who refuses to use the new rite of Mass and has a seminary in Switzerland where he trains priests in defiance of the Vatican. He will have been presented to them as an anachronism, a man completely out of step with the mainstream of contemporary Catholic thought, a man who is unable to adapt, to update himself. He is portrayed as little more than an historical curiosity... a man whose views do not merit serious consideration... he is alleged to have totally rejected the Second Vatican Council or to be linked with extreme right-wing political movements...
"In [a] pamphlet I explained that the only way to refute the type of attack made by [a critic of Lefebvre] was to present the entire truth---to write an apologia." (Pg. ix-x) He adds, "My book is objective but it is not impartial. It is objective because I have presented all the relevant documents both for and against Mgr. Lefebvre, something his opponents have never done. It is partial because I believe the evidence proves him to be right and I state this... Clearly, the value of the book derives from the documentation and not the commentary." (Pg. xi)
He notes that in 1977 a Swiss TV program interviewed a Father Cosmao, who told the interviewer, "[Mgr. Lefebvre] really stood for the Church at the time. The fact is, it is the Church which has changed, not Mgr. Lefebvre. The Church has changed most profoundly and in particular because she has come to accept what has been happening in Europe since the end of the 18th century, in the train of illuminism and the French Revolution." (Pg. 5)
Davies comments, "In practice, where the New Mass is celebrated strictly in accordance with what rubrics there are, it is so oppressively dull and insipid that no one could possibly participate in it with fervor. This explains the increase in the so-called Folk Masses, the introduction of dancing and audio-visual effects, and the liturgical antics of the Pentecostals, as an effort to infuse some form of life (however depraved) into what is no more than the corpse of the vibrant, noble and dignified liturgy of the Roman Mass. Pope Paul must have realized that the liturgy in its present form is a source of misery and even revulsion to countless thousands of the faithful, and that even where they accept it as an act of obedience to expect them to do so with fervor is to ask the impossible." (Pg. 180-181)
Lefebvre admitted that "I was already considered a traditionalist, even before the Council! You see, that did not begin at the Council!" (Pg. 31) Lefebvre states, "It is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who ... gave Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist... What other religion can lay claim to possess such a thing? And why? Because the only true religion is that of the Catholic Church." (Pg. 83)
Mgr. Lefebvre said in a 1976 sermon, "We do not accept this new religion. We are of the religion of all time; we are of the Catholic religion. We are not of this 'universal religion' as they call it today---this is not the Catholic religion any more." (Pg. 211) But he later told an interviewer, "I most definitely do not intend to set up a Church independent of Rome." (Pg. 348)
Davies comments on the 1976 Vatican condemnation of Lefebvre: "It is not a question of the Archbishop's accepting all the documents, there are only two that he didn't sign. And, as has been pointed out already, when he offered to accept these in June 1977, on the understanding that they would be interpreted in the light of traditional teaching, his offer was rejected... the Pope is referring to Vatican II as if it did not differ from preceding Ecumenical Councils." (Pg. 335)
Davies’ Apologia series are “classics” of the Traditionalist Catholic movement, and will be “must reading” for anyone studying Traditionalism, Lefebvre, or contemporary Catholicism.
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