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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, so be it. My dear brothers, following my sermon last Sunday, one of you asked me to explain the work of the Holy Ghost in the soul. I could give you a theoretical and theological lecture on this subject, but I find that this work of the Holy Ghost is very well illustrated—and much better illustrated—in the Book of Job, in the life of Job. We usually remember that Job endured great suffering, great trials, and great temptations. We remember that admirable phrase: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” But one cannot attain such a degree of faithfulness to God without God’s help. Moreover, the Book of Job is relevant to all periods of trial in life or in the Church, but it is particularly relevant to the period we are experiencing now, which is a time of very profound and almost universal trials. Satan attacks all of Job’s sons gathered for a meal at the eldest son’s house—that is, all the virtues united in faith. 

He attacks Job’s daughters, who represent moral virtues. He attacks Job’s work—and thus the work of the Church—represented by the oxen plowing the field. He attacks the humble donkeys. He attacks the servants, charged with watching over the Church. He attacks the gentle sheep. He attacks the camels, burdened with worldly concerns. He attacks the house, shaking its four pillars, its four corners. I am not here to describe to you the misfortunes of the Church today. That would be of little interest. And if I tell you this, it is to show you how relevant the Book of Job is today. And consequently, how relevant the solution to the problem that the Book of Job provides—which the Holy Ghost brings to us by revealing what He did in Job’s soul—is today. In the first part of the sermon, it is God who provokes the devil to tempt Job. God says to the devil, “Where have you come from?” And the devil replies, “I have gone throughout the earth, looking for people to bring down—of course.” At that moment, the devil isn’t thinking specifically about Job. And it is God who points him out to the devil. “Have you seen my servant, Job?” Simple, upright, God-fearing, shunning evil? The devil replies, “I’m not likely to succeed with him. You protect him, Lord.” And the Lord replies, “Very well, I’ll hand him over to you on the condition that you do not touch him. You may only touch what is outside of him. ” It goes further than that. When the devil decides to kill all of Job’s sons and daughters by bringing fire down from heaven onto his house—where all the children are gathered—the devil could not have brought down the fire from heaven unless God had given it to him. And we realize two things. First, that this is not a battle between the devil and Job, but rather a battle between the devil and God. And second, we see that God allows Satan to use as a weapon the very thing that God gives him. Moreover, since God permits Satan to test Job, it seems as though God grants Satan a certain power. And this is not merely an impression; it is a certainty. We must therefore, my dear brothers, not be surprised that today, in the battle the devil wages against the Church, he makes use of holy things. There are things that God will never place in the hands of the devil, because He cannot. These are His grace, the Holy Ghost and His gifts, and virtue—things that can never be misused. But God does not forbid it—and indeed, we see today that He allows the devil to fight against Him through the rite of the Mass, not through the Holy Mass itself. The sacrament of the Eucharist is beyond the devil’s reach. But the rite—yes, the devil has taken that into his own hands. The devil can fight against God, with God’s permission, by taking control of the pope, the hierarchy, families, and fathers and mothers. God did indeed allow the devil to fight against Him by taking hold of the Gospel; this is what gave rise to Protestantism.

The second part of this oath: why does God act in this way? There are two reasons for this, and I draw my explanations from the commentaries of Saint Gregory the Great. The first reason is God’s resounding triumph over Satan. We see this reason in the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, as it were, placed the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ into Satan’s hands. His divinity, of course, is completely beyond reach. And in His humanity, everything pertaining to His divinity is also beyond reach. But Christ’s humanity, insofar as it pertains to the earth, was indeed left in the hands of the devil. Our Lord will, in fact, say on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It is evident that the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ brings about a triumph of God over Satan that is far greater in this way than if the devil had possessed only ordinary weapons. The second reason given by Saint Gregory the Great is that man needs to be purified; he needs to be humbled, otherwise he is in great danger. But through this humiliation, through this purification, man—provided he is faithful, of course—will receive from God everything he needs to remain faithful. I read not long ago that the devil’s power extends only to those who willingly allow themselves to be ensnared by him. God tests man through his oxen, which plow with heavy, demanding, and absorbing labor—a labor that demands the soul’s attentive effort. And in this labor, the soul is in danger if it takes pride in the great work it has done. Satan will attack the donkeys. The simplicity of the donkey, which allows itself to be burdened without complaint, symbolizes the soul which, in its simplicity and by accepting everything, risks falling into lethargy. Satan attacks Job’s camels. 

The camels are those charged with governing the affairs of this world, who ruminate on the service of God—which is magnificent—but who are entangled in the world’s defilement. This burden, if one is not careful, can crush the soul. The burden of kings, the burden of stewards, the burden of heads of households—and so on. I have told you, following Saint Gregory the Great, that Job’s sons and daughters are the gifts of the Holy Ghost and the virtues. Well, Saint Gregory tells us that complacency in virtue is dangerous. Not virtue itself, of course—one can never misuse virtue. That is, in fact, one of its very definitions. Virtue is what makes a person good, and it can never be misused. So it is not virtue that is dangerous, but complacency in virtue. Now, we must admit, my dear brothers, that this applies to us in a very special way. Because of this complacency, it is very easy to let our guard down. I remember this young man whom we had hoped to train as a leader at the MJCF, and he was more than disappointing. So I went to see him and said, “How is it that you—who have received so much, who have spent so many years in a Catholic school, with so many priests, so many Communions, so many confessions, so much catechism—how is it that you are so cowardly?” And he replied, “Father, it’s precisely because I’ve received so much.” It’s easy to feel safe in a Catholic school simply because it’s Catholic. It’s easy to believe your children are safe because they attend Mass every Sunday, go to confession regularly, and receive Communion. And you might say to me, “Then God is the tempter.” Oh no, it would be blasphemy to say that. It would be blasphemy precisely because God allows such situations to happen so that He can sustain man from within.


 And so, in this situation of temptation, a person who relies on God’s grace is stronger than one who is not subjected to temptation and is less endowed with God’s grace. It is good, little flock, that I should depart. Do not worry that you will no longer benefit from my visible presence, for I will send you the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Comfort, my Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. What does the Holy Ghost do in our souls during these difficult times of struggle, temptation, trial, and war—both in our own souls and in the soul of the Church? That is to say, in the souls of the faithful saints, of the faithful Christians. He is the Spirit of understanding—that is, the Spirit who grants understanding, who keeps faith alive and deep within the soul amid temptations. The purpose of the gift of understanding is to keep faith alive and deep. Understanding: to comprehend the things of God, to know the things of God. Don’t you see the Spirit of understanding at work in the Church right now? Of course we see it if we pay even a little attention. But even if we didn’t see it, we have the revelation from the Book of Job, which lets us know that, even if we don’t see it, the Holy Ghost is at work in the soul—and all the more so because, as I told you at the beginning, this is a battle waged by Satan against the oil of the Holy Ghost, and it is evident that Satan will find no flaw in it. It is the Spirit of wisdom—that is, the wisdom given by the Holy Ghost—which, through profound charity, unites the soul to the wisdom of God in the face of the world’s folly.

 I won’t go into detail about why the Spirit of wisdom is linked to love. It is because there are things that, to truly understand them, to truly grasp them, to truly judge them, to truly savor them, require a great deal of love. Some things can only be understood among friends. And the Holy Ghost creates within us this friendship—which we call charity because it is so precious—and which blossoms to its fullest in wisdom. He bestows it upon us; He bestows it upon the Church. People are foolish, but the Church remains wise. It is the Spirit of knowledge that illuminates God’s work in the world and grants true authority in the face of those who flout the authority they have received. True authority flows from God’s wisdom through God’s knowledge communicated to humankind. It enlightens and guides, especially in troubled times. And it would be wrong to say that there is no longer any authority in the Church today. That is not possible. On the other hand, what is true is that those who have been entrusted with the responsibility of exercising authority flout it, and that God grants men like Job the true authority that enlightens the faithful—the authority of Archbishop Lefebvre, the authority of Bishop Williamson, the authority of a simple father over his family, the authority of a friend over his friend.


 This is what is called fraternal correction. It is the Holy Ghost who gives counsel—the counsel that leads one to choose the way of the cross where the world advises human means, material means, carnal means, and even diabolical means. The cross, a means despised by the world, is nevertheless the most powerful of all. It is the spirit of piety that causes God’s fatherhood to shine forth. It is the spirit of strength that confronts all the terrors the world raises before us—terrors that are nothing but smoke screens. It is the spirit of reverence that leads us to be wary—not of God, but of ourselves—and which, in doing so, drives us back into God’s arms, imploring Him not to let us falter. We find all of this in the recommendations of Saint Louis-Marie Grillon de Montfort, the Marian apostle of times of struggle—recommendations he addressed to the few priests who followed him and who would continue his fight after him. You are small; they are great—they, that is, the adversaries. You are poor; they are rich. You have no standing; they are supported by everyone. 

You are weak; they hold the reins of authority. But the Lord has promised you: “I am your protection and your defense, little company.” I have engraved you on my heart, written you on my hands, to cherish and defend you, because you have placed your trust in me and not in men, in my providence and not in money. I will deliver you from the traps set for you, from the slanders heaped upon you, from the terrors of the night and the darkness that intimidates you, from the assaults of the midday demon who seeks to seduce you. I will hide you under my wings, I will carry you on my shoulders, I will nourish you at my breasts, I will arm you with the truth—my truth—and so powerfully that you will see with your own eyes your enemies fall by the thousands at your side. A thousand wicked poor on your left, ten thousand wicked rich on your right. I will grant your requests in my prayers; I will accompany you in your sufferings; I will deliver you from all your evils; I will glorify you with all my glory, which I will reveal to you in my kingdom openly—that is, face to face—after I have showered you with days and blessings on earth. This seems like a challenge, and yet it is wisdom. It seems like a challenge because we find it hard to admit that our greatest strengths are nothing but weaknesses in the face of God’s power. 

We find it hard to admit that the good Lord is asking us to strip ourselves bare to such an extent so that He may clothe us, enrich us, and nourish us in ways we cannot even imagine. Saint Louis-Marie Grillon de Montfort seemed like a madman when he preached these things, and all the wise men—or so-called wise men—and Jansenists turned against him. But when the French Revolution came, we realized that these were the fruits of his preaching—and that of his successors and collaborators—and that it was his doctrine that roused the people of the Vendée by the thousands, by the hundreds of thousands, and granted them such magnificent glory that, right up until the Council, there was not a single family in the Vendée that had not given the Church at least one priest and one nun. Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in You and hope in You. Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, be my refuge in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; so be it.