As most of you are aware, the motto of the Society of St. Pius X is that of our patron: Instaurare omnia in Christo. Our founder, Archbishop Lefebvre, chose this motto because it summarizes well the broad mission of the Society: the restoration of all things in Christ. Although the Society’s specific charism is the priesthood and all that pertains to it, the full outpouring of God’s grace, through the hands of the priest, results in a Christian culture where everything is oriented, directly or indirectly, to the altar.

For this reason, the Society has been solicitous to found schools for the Christian education of youth and to help parents form their children in a world that continues to grow hostile to the Faith. Our hope with this issue is to provide some principles and examples to further the educational goals of the Society.

Although this topic is primarily relevant for parents and teachers, we must reflect on how all of us teach by example. Do we lead those we come in contact with to a love of truth, beauty, and goodness? Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Divini Illius Magistri, defines education rather broadly: “The proper and immediate end of Christian education is to cooperate with divine grace in forming the true and perfect Christian” (p. 94).

The Holy Father explains that education does not belong only to the family or the State, but to the Church as well. In that light, I am confident that you will find fruit for reflection in these pages regardless of your state in life. Let us take as our own the words of the Holy Father again: “Christian education takes in the whole aggregate of human life, physical and spiritual, intellectual and moral, individual, domestic and social, not with a view of reducing it in any way, but in order to elevate, regulate and perfect it, in accordance with the example and teaching of Christ.”

In Christ the King,

Fr. Arnaud Rostand, Publisher