Thank You. Deo Gratias. On The 10th Anniversary Of Summorum Pontificum, We Thank . . .

Text and Illustration: RORATE CAELI

On the 10th Anniversary of Summorum Pontificum: We thank in particular . . .

IN PRIMIS . . . Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Bishop Castro Mayer: Long may their memories live !

The beautiful words of that great French hero of The Traditional Mass, Jean Madiran (1920-2013: Rest in Peace !), who lived to see the Miracle, remembering the names of some who died in the battlefield:

"For thirty seven years, a whole generation of militant Catholics, Religious or Lay Members of The Militant Church (a generation reaching from seven to ninety-seven years of age) suffered, without giving in, openly defying the arbitrary interdict on The Traditional Mass.

We think of our dead: Cardinal Ottaviani, Father Calmel, Father Raymond Dulac, Monsignor Renato Pozzi, Monsignor Lefebvre, Father Guérard. And, among the Laymen: Cristina Campo, Luce Quenette, Louis Salleron, Eric de Saventhem.

The Pontifical goodwill is for them as a light breeze, which sweetly brings Peace to their tombs. Wherever they are now, they do not need it anymore. But it is their memory amongst us which is appeased and elevated."

And, also: Father Gamber, Michael Davies, Tito Casini, and so many, many others (Priests, Laymen and Laywomen - God knows their names !), each of whom placed his own brick, large or small, in the great dam built for decades against the tumultuous tides of The Late-20th-Century.

Thank you, thank you, thank you dearly ! The heat of the battle has caused so much personal attrition, exaggerations, and misunderstandings... Yet, justice cannot be denied: gratitude is owed to those who did not live to see, on this Earth, the glorious date of 7 July 2007.