Exsurge Domine! Arise O Lord! ~Sermon for the Votive Mass in Defense of the Church

ladiesvictorioushe

Sep 28, 2024

Sermon by Anonymous Traditional Priest

Lesson from the book of Esther:

In those days, Mardochai prayed to the Lord, saying, O Lord, Lord, almighty King, for all things are in Your power, and there is none that can resist Your will, if You determine to save Israel. You have made heaven and earth, and all things that are under the cope of heaven. You are Lord of all, and there is none that can resist Your Majesty. And now, O Lord, O King, O God of Abraham, have mercy on Your people, because our enemies resolve to destroy us, and extinguish Your inheritance. Despise not Your portion, which You have redeemed for Yourself out of Egypt. Hear my supplication, and be merciful to Your lot and inheritance, and turn our mourning into joy, that we may live and praise Your Name, O Lord, and shut not the mouths of those who sing to You, O Lord our God.

Continuation + of the Holy Gospel according to Luke

At that time Jesus said to his disciples, "Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go to him at midnight and shall say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine is come off his journey and I have not to set before him,' and he from within should answer and say: Trouble me not; the door is now shut and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee.' Yet if he shall continue knocking, I say to you, although he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say to you: ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be open unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. And which of you, if he ask his father bread, will he give him a stone? Or a fish, will he give him a serpent? Or is he shall as an egg, will he reach him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father from heaven give the good Spirit to them that ask him?

Thus conclude the words of the Holy Gospel

Arise, why sleepest Thou, o Lord! Arise and cast us not off to the end. O Lord, help us and deliver us.

Brethren in Christ our Lord!

As with joyful hearts, yet aware of the somber reality of this time, we gather at the altar of God to worship Him in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of Apostolic Tradition – we offer the Votive Mass in Defense of the Church –and begin with the words of the Antiphon: Exsurge Domine! Arise o Lord!

It was with these words that in the year 1520 Pope Leo X stood in defense of the Catholic Faith and Church against the attacks of Luther and his Protestant heresies. This dramatic prayer accompanied people of faith in times of danger and persecution – when infernal powers attacked the Holy Church. And this is what we must do in our time, when the Doctrine of the Faith is being subverted by shepherds who were sworn to defend it; and when the Sacred Liturgy of the Apostolic Tradition is threatened with extinction.

Years ago, before he became pope Benedict, Cardinal Ratzinger already warned and protested against the attack on the Sacred Liturgy of the Church saying: Anyone who nowadays advocates the continuing existence of Traditional liturgy or takes part in it is treated like a leper; all tolerance ends here. There has never been anything like this in history; in doing this we are despising and proscribing the Church’s whole past. How can one trust her present if things are that way? I must say, quite openly, that I don’t understand why so many of my episcopal brethren have to a great extent submitted to this rule of intolerance, which for no apparent reason is opposed to making the necessary inner reconciliations within the Church.

Brethren, we must turn to the Lord and call upon Him for help and strength – Arise o Lord, help us and deliver us. Because this is Christ’s Church established on the rock of Peter and the foundation of the apostles, and yet it is the successors of Peter and of the apostles who are apostatizing and plunging the Church in a state of war with itself.

As to many of the faithful shepherds, they are, unfortunately, as Bishop Schneider admitted, living in fear, remaining silent when as the Scripture says: they should be crying our defending the flock from wolves. Bishop Schneider told us that he cannot be silent and will speak out in defense of the Faith. He is mindful of the teaching of St. Augustine in today’s Office of Readings, who says: Brethren, do you see how dangerous it is to keep silent? I have said the He will take the sheep from bad shepherds and give them to shepherds who are good. The Lord says: Behold, I myself am over the shepherds and I will claim my sheep from their hands. And I will turn away from them that they may not pasture my sheep.

Brethren, we must pray for Bishop Schneider - this faithful and courageous shepherd, for surely the powers of evil will attack him. No one can become passive in battle for the TRUTH and yet we know that it is not by our powers that we can defend it. And yet defend it we must for it is our obligation as people of faith.

St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that when necessity compels, each one is under obligation to show forth his faith either to instruct and encourage others of the faithful or to repel the attacks of unbelievers.

Pope Leo XIII built on St. Thomas’ doctrine teaching that to recoil before an enemy or to keep silence when from all sides such clamor is raised against truth belongs to a man either devoid of character or one who entertains doubt as to the truth of what he professes to believe. In both cases such mode of behaving is shameful and is insulting to God, and both are incompatible with salvation of mankind. This kind of conduct is profitable only to the enemies of Faith, for nothing emboldens the wicked so greatly as the lack of courage on the part of the good.

In time of tribulation we must have courage to fight for the truth and to suffer; to endure adversity and be patient under trial. But above all – we need courage to persevere in prayer. And so it is a blessing that today the word of God comes to us with powerful readings to inspire us on the right path of virtue and perseverance.

In the Lesson from the Book of Esther, when the “Chosen people” were threatened with annihilation, Mardechai prayed in dramatic tones that could pierce rocks -Lord, have mercy on your people because our enemies resolve to destroy us, and extinguish Your inheritance.

We know that his prayer was echoed by the prayers of Esther who, for days, lay prostrate on the ground, pleading with God for salvation. A prayer like that is not only endowed with power to hope against hope, but it is a prayer that knocks on heaven’s door, with trust and perseverance that would never take “no” for an answer. And such prayer was heard– it knocked and the door was opened; asked and was given: sought God’s help and received it - which is what Our Lord is teaching us to do in today’s Gospel.

To be pleasing to God, we must pray with confidence, humility and perseverance. That kind of prayer is encouraged by Our Lord in the exhortation: ask... seek... knock!

And note, such prayer engages the totality of our being: verbal petition–asking for grace; intellectual pursuit – seeking to do God’s will; and action of will – knocking on heaven’s door; doing what pleases God. Unless these three elements are present, prayer is lame and deficient; but when we pray humbly bowed before God; with confidence and perseverance - the word of God gives us a guarantee that such prayer IS HEARD for Jesus assures us: "you will receive... you will find... and the door will be opened to you!

Brethren in Christ our Lord, -as with grateful hearts, yet aware of the somber reality of this moment, we gather at the altar of God to worship Him in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of Apostolic Tradition, which by the teaching of the popes can never be abrogated for it is the greatest treasure of the Church, we offer the Votive Mass in Defense of the Church – and begin with the words of the Antiphon: Exsurge Domine! Arise o Lord!

We place everything in the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, determined by our sacred obligation to keep the Faith and defend the truth – ready to be patient under trial but above all persevering in prayer, trusting that in the end the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph and the Church will rise in splendor as the pure Bride of Christ, the King of the Universe. Amen.

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