In his magnificent work, The Liturgical Year, Dom Guéranger recounts a simple layman’s glorious profession of the Catholic Faith, when Nestorius (the arch-heretic who was then Patriarch of Constantinople) publicly promoted his own poisonous teaching. Here is Dom Guéranger’s account:

[O]n Christmas Day, 428, Nestorius, taking advantage of the immense concourse [crowd] which had assembled in honour of the Virgin Mother and her Child, pronounced from the episcopal pulpit the blasphemous words: “Mary did not bring forth God; her son was only a man, the instrument of the Divinity.”

The multitude shuddered with horror. Eusebius, a simple layman, rose to give expression to the general indignation, and protested against this impiety. Soon a more explicit protest was drawn up and disseminated in the name of the members of this grief-stricken Church.... This generous attitude was the safeguard of Byzantium, and won the praise of Popes and Councils.¹

Dom Guéranger recounted this event to teach us a guiding principle that we must follow. He continued:

When the shepherd becomes a wolf, the first duty of the flock is to defend itself. It is usual and regular, no doubt, for doctrine to descend from the bishops to the faithful, and those who are subject are not to judge their superiors.²

But in the treasure of revelation there are essential doctrines which all Christians, by the very fact of their title as such, are bound to know and defend. The principle is the same whether it be a question of belief or conduct, dogma or morals. Treachery like that of Nestorius is rare in the Church, but it may happen that some pastors keep silence for one reason or another in circumstances when religion itself is at stake.

The true children of Holy Church at such times are those who walk by the light of their baptism, not the cowardly souls who, under the specious pretext of submission to the powers that be, delay their opposition to the enemy in the hope of receiving instructions which are neither necessary nor desirable.

Id.

We ask those timid followers of Bishop Williamson or the “new” liberal SSPX:

• How would you have responded if you were in the congregation that day, when Nestorius uttered his heresy?
• Would you not have stood up for the Catholic Faith like Eusebius did?
• At your Judgment, what would you want to have done (if you had been there)?

Eusebius was a layman and could have (wrongly) made excuses for failing to defend the Faith, by saying Nestorius is a bishop and more learned than he is. But as Dom Guéranger declares, he (and you) have the “necessary knowledge of the essentials of the treasure of Revelation”. What we need, in order to stand up for the Faith, is not great learning but strong Faith, as Eusebius had.

Do you have this strong Faith that all Catholics should have? Stand for the Faith against the liberalism of Bishop Williamson³ and the “new” SSPX!4

Bishop Williamson and the “new” SSPX are attacking the Catholic Faith as Nestorius did. Stand up for the Faith! The Faith must be placed before your allegiance to a leader. Stand up now! Right now, you are living in a “Nestorius-Eusebius” situation!

As Dom Guéranger explained, when Nestorius rose to prominence, Eastern Catholics “hoped to see in him a second [St. John] Chrysostom” (who was a great Doctor of the Church). Id., p.397. In our times, this is like Traditional Catholics hoping that Bishop Williamson or Bishop Fellay would be a second Archbishop Lefebvre. All those hopes were in vain. Bishops Nestorius, Williamson and Fellay began spewing forth vile errors against the Faith.⁵

Dom Guéranger adds another parallel to our times. He explains that “there were pacifists who, though not sharing Nestorius’ errors, thought it would be best not to answer him for fear of embittering him, increasing the scandal, and wounding charity.” Id., p.382.

Similarly, in our times, some so-called Traditionalists (including bishops and priests), lack courage to stand up for the true Faith because their embittered leaders would ostracize them. For example:

• In the Fake Resistance, Bishop Aquinas⁶ and the Dominicans of Avrillé⁷ privately reject at least some of Bishop Williamson’s and Bishop Zendejas’s⁸ liberalism but are afraid to defend the truth. Because of that, the real Resistance has no bishop.
• In the “new” SSPX, Bishop Tissier⁹ privately rejects at least some of Menzingen’s liberalism but is afraid to defend the uncompromising truth.

These cowardly “pacifists” seek to serve two masters, viz., their liberal leaders and the uncompromising Faith. They have forgotten Our Lord’s words: “No man can serve two masters.” St. Matthew, 6:24.

Let us follow the glorious layman Eusebius, not the cowardly pacifists of his time and our time!