Old Traditions, New Schisms: Part 1

Last week, the Vatican formally excommunicated the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). It was a long time coming, but it still made for big news. The society claims to support the Catholic Church and the pope yet also rejects many of the Church documents of the past 60 years. The Church has tried different approaches in bringing the group in line, ultimately drawing a line in the sand, hoping tough love will lead its supporters back into proper communion.

SSPX was founded by Marcel Lefebvre in 1970. Lefebvre was a conservative Catholic priest from France. In the 1920s he went to Rome to study, as his family thought the French seminaries too liberal. His political and religious positions were deeply shaped by his family and by French society in the early 20th century. His father was a monarchist who believed the Revolution had been Masonic and anti-Catholic; French monarchists believed a monarchy and powerful Church was the best structure for a Catholic society. Lefebvre later supported political movements like the Vichy government and National Front that suppressed religious liberty and tolerance.

In 1931 Lefebvre joined the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. He served in Gabon as a missionary then in the order’s seminary in France. In 1947, he was appointed vicar apostolic in Dakar and given the responsibility of overseeing Church matters across French Africa. In 1959, Lefebvre was one of 120 appointed to the preparatory commission for the Second Vatican Council.

America the Beautiful

This year the United States celebrates 250 years since it declared independence. It has been a difficult anniversary to embrace: the country feels like it's tearing apart, that democracy is waning, that we're falling further and further away from the ideals of its founding.  

But I do think the ideals are worth celebrating. Our founding broke all the preconceptions of what made a nation. Forged on paper, wholly new, established on ideals and ruled by the people. The Declaration of Independence asserts that people have natural rights, endowed by their Creator. We have the right life, to liberty, to pursue our happiness. We have the right, even the duty, to overthrow tyrants. We have the right to form our own form of government and challenge and change it as needed. 

This new country would have no kings, no nobility, no inherited titles. Lawmakers would be decided by an ever-expanding electorate of the citizens. Their power would come from the consent of the governed. No one person, not even one branch of government would have total control; there would be checks and balances to ensure that justice ruled over might. The purpose of the government would not be one of top-down power but of securing the rights and security of all its people. 

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Today is the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The devotion is getting extra attention this year as the U.S. bishops consecrated the United States to the Sacred Heart yesterday as part of their observance of the country’s 250th anniversary. The feast is celebrated on the third Friday following Pentecost.

The devotion of the Sacred Heart is a newer devotion, though it can be traced back to older devotions of the wounds of Christ and His redemptive love. The Sacred Heart focuses on Jesus' immense, boundless, and sacrificial love for humanity. In 1673, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a nun in France, began having visions. Over the next few years, these visions revealed to her the devotion of the Sacred Heart.

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is depicted as a pierced or bleeding heart surrounded by flames, crowned with thorns, with a cross on top. Each element has its own meaning. The pierced heart represents Jesus’ humanity, His love, and the pouring forth of His grace. The flowing blood represents his pierced side, blood and water flowing like His outpouring of mercy. Blood and water also represent the elements of the sacraments Eucharist and baptism. The flames represent the burning desire for humanity to be reconciled to Him. The crown of thorns represents His sacrifice and suffering for humanity. The cross represents our redemption through His suffering.

While I don’t have a particular devotion to the Sacred Heart, I do find it interesting to learn about different devotions and reflect on the symbology. There are so many ways to view and reflect on Jesus; as Pope Leo XIV recently said in Magnifica Humanitas,  “the truth of the Gospel…can also be illustrated by the image of a multifaceted polyhedron, in which the one truth of the Gospel is reflected from different angles.”