Dear Reader,

“The exception proves the rule” is a proverb often used by charlatans to justify the unjustifiable—“I’m not usually in favor of abortion but in the case of X, the exception proves the rule,” etc. What does it mean?

The key is the meaning of the word “proof.” When the government mint wants to produce a new coin, it first produces a proof coin which is a test. The exception proves the rule in the sense that the exception tests the rule. The rule exists for a purpose. When the purpose cannot be achieved by the rule, there is an exception. All man-made rules are like this. Only God’s laws can be without exception.

I remember one time that my parents told my brothers and me to stay at home. “Now,” said my mother, “on no account are you to set foot outside the door while we’re gone!” A rule: don’t go out; a purpose: safety. Simple. And then, my brother, Johnny decided he wanted to open the windows to let in some fresh air, the wind blew over the candle underneath the curtains in his bedroom and the next thing we knew, our house was blazing! Paul said, with the air of one with authority: “This is it my brothers, we must die now because it is forbidden to us to leave this house! We shall be martyrs to obedience!” Then, my younger brother Marcel said, “No, we must exit the burning house to save our lives. We will not be disobedient in doing that because the exception proves the rule. The purpose of the man-made law given us by our parents is the salvation of our persons. Now that the house is on fire, we must go beyond the man-made law and exercise the virtue of equity which consists in not obeying the strict letter of the law but judging that this is the case where the man-made law does not apply.” Yes, dear reader, Marcel said all that while we stood in the burning house.

This story bears a remarkable resemblance to what happened in the Church: in the wake of Vatican II, churchmen ceased preaching the Faith, protestantized the Mass, confirmed the heretics and led Catholics to lose their birthright—the Faith. In this danger for the Faith and the salvation of many, Archbishop Lefebvre, proved the rule: Catholics obey the pope—except when the pope commands them to sin or to lose the Faith.

Fr. David Sherry