What if you “went big” in your self-offering and petitions while suffering for being a traditionalist in the 21st century?
Many of you already know the story of the Carmelite nuns who were executed in the French Revolution at the end of the 18th century. On 17 July 1794, the enemies of the Church led to the guillotine eleven Discalced Carmelite Nuns, three lay sisters and two tertiaries. These holy nuns even went so far as to ask permission of their Mother Superior to die under obedience. They were granted their final request on earth. They offered up their martyrdoms for the Catholic Church and for the end of the Revolution in France.
Ten days after their offering and execution, Robespierre was executed himself. This officially ended the “Reign of Terror.”
Wikipedia explains: In 1794, after the Terror began, the government searched the sisters’ apartments for two days; they found letters revealing their “crimes” against the Revolution, which included hostility to the Revolution, strong sympathies to the monarchy, and evidence that they continued to live as a community of consecrated Christian women. They also found two letters written by “the unfortunate” Mulot de la Ménardière to his cousin, Sister Euphrasia of the Immaculate Conception, containing unfavorable criticisms of the Revolution. Mulot was accused of helping them and of being a non-juring priest, even though he was married, and was arrested and imprisoned with the sisters. On 22 June, the sisters and Mulot were arrested and locked up in the former convent of the Visitation, an improvised jail for political prisoners in Compiègne. On 10 July 1794, they were transferred to the Conciergerie Prison in Paris to await trial. The sisters recanted their civic oath while in prison.
Keep in mind that a “non-juring priest” was one of the rare priests during the French Revolution who would not swear allegiance to the anti-Catholic government. They were essentially the proto-traditionalists of France because they stood out against the backdrop of the majority of French priests who capitulated to the Revolution. (St. John Vianney was raised in a family who attended underground Masses in the forest of Southeast France under non-juring priests.) The “non-juring priest” also reminds me of the priests who would not close their parishes during the scandemic of 2021-2022. This is because they put God ahead of the government.
French film maker François Lespès made a movie about thee Carmelite martyrs titled “Bienheureuses” meaning “Blessed” or “The Blessed Women.” The subtitle above reads: “The True Story of the Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne.” Their feast day is 17 July on the old calendar.
Wikipedia continues: During their trial on 17 July 1794, in which they received no legal counsel, Sister Mary-Henrietta tried to force the prosecutor to define the word “fanatic”, one of the charges against them. She pretended she did not know what the word meant, thus getting him to admit their fanaticism was due to their religion, which made them “criminals and annihilators of public freedom.” Mother [Superior] Teresa claimed full responsibility for the charges of being counter-revolutionaries and religious fanatics, and defended and insisted on the others’ innocence. All 16 sisters, along with Mulot, were sentenced to death. At one point, while waiting for the transportation from the Conciergerie to the site of their executions, one of the nuns, Sister St. Louis, after consulting with Mother Teresa, bartered a fur wrap she owned for a cup of chocolate for the sisters to drink from to give them strength after not being able to eat anything all day. There were 26 nights between their arrest and execution.
The French Carmelites who ended the French Revolution by their voluntary gift of blood offered themselves for the “Spouse [Jesus Christ] and the Church and for France” as seen in the movie clip above.
Now let’s bring this up to speed again of modern Catholic Church history. Like the heroic martyr sisters described above, many Catholic traditionalists even today are labeled “fanatics” (as seen in the Wikipedia quote above) by mainstream Catholics who would rather serve the world or flesh or devil. Like those nuns, they are allegedly “excommunicated” by leftists with no trial and no legal council.
In fact, many traditionalists today in countries that speak Romance languages happily call themselves “counter revolutionaries” in reflection of all who have stood for tradition. They especially resisted the diabolical revolutions of the left spanning the last three centuries.
Let’s bring this up to the 20th century and the 21st century even more. The late and leftist Cardinal Suenens bragged about his role in Vatican II by saying: Le Concile, c’est 1789 dans l’Église. That is, “The Council, it is 1789 in the Church.” In other words, Vatican II was the French Revolution within the Catholic Church. Yes, this line came from a friend (not an enemy) of Vatican II! Then, the successor to Cardinal Suenens was the infamous mob-boss of the St. Gallen mafia, Cardinal Daneels. Indeed, the full unveiling of iniquity has taken place for anyone with eyes to see.
There’s no “gaslighting” like Trad Inc. dishonestly insisted upon this last week. The leftists have no need to “gaslight” real Catholics, for they are displaying their diabolical power in plain sight with no need for subterfuge.
Now we come to my humble suggestion to all traditionalists out there who are suffering cancelation or isolation today from their families: Please offer up your white martyrdoms for what Our Lady of Fatima stated would be the Triumph of her Immaculate Heart and what Our Lady of Good Success said would be the “total restoration of the Catholic Church.” Or, if Christ is going to return soon, please offer your white martyrdoms for the salvation of more souls in the shadow of “le Concile [Vatican II qui était le] 1789 dans l’Église.”
But people are not only divided in the Catholic world at-large. The fact is that many traditionalists are divided among themselves. And this seems to be causing more pain than even the accusations from mainstream Catholics. I understand that traditionalists will be tribal until we have a traditional Pope. Yes, I understand that my writing and pods are not going to change many attitudes.
But I can say this: If your suffering is real, then your offering must be for something bigger than just your own personal tribe of traditionalists. It must be for the restoration of the entire Catholic Church, not just the parish you attend or the religious congregation you support.
If you think this sounds like too tall of an order, remember that many of the early saints said the final saints would be the greatest in the Church. Not only the red martyrs, but even the white martyrs would be unprecedented just before the final curtain drops on Catholic Church history and world history.
In fact, St. Robert Bellarmine said the final Christians on earth would do their Purgatory on earth, as the souls in Purgatory will all funnel into heaven on the Last Day on earth when Christ returns in glory. In other words, you may be doing your Purgatory here if you are suffering a white martyrdom as a traditional Catholic today in 2026.
Some readers might think I am telling rad-trads to lick their wounds that only exist in their imaginations because of pride. Other readers might think I’m just repeating the shallow phrase of “Offer it up” in the face of real suffering. But the fact is that I know of many families who are divided with the news in the traditional world this summer of 2026. I know of grown men who have been brought to tears because of division in their families and confusion in their parishes.
All I can say at the initial level of comfort is that I too have felt the extreme pain of online embarrassment and false-accusations over the last decade. So, none of this is purely cerebral or intellectual for me. I have lost good friends (lay and priest alike) as well as extended family over these issues of division in the Catholic Church.
But we have to see this with a global vision instead of a local vision if we are going to do more than lick our wounds. The Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne were not content to offer their necks on the guillotine for some boring request like “more vocations to our congregation.” No. They had such a trust in God that they offered their red martyrdoms in tremendous boldness “for the Spouse, for the Church and for France.” This was a boundless offering for many souls that stretched far beyond the reaches of their own personal families or even the Carmelites.
So also, any white martyrdoms of the traditional movement (priest, nun and lay alike) suffering some form of humiliation or cancelation for trying to do Catholicism as it has been done for nineteen and a half centuries should be as bold before God as they are humble: Go big or go home because your white martyrdoms are real, especially following all the recent decrees in Rome and local chanceries.
Do not just offer yourselves for your family and parish. Go big in your trust of Jesus Christ and His Holy Mother Mary. Offer your sufferings and your white martyrdoms for the entire Catholic Church at-large, that again we might experience what Our Lady of Good Success promised: “the total restoration of the Catholic Church.” This is all the more true if you’re too humble to admit your sufferings constitute a real white martyrdom.
Every morning for the past ten years, I have prayed the following prayer, which you can tell is slightly modified from normal times in Church history: O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer you all of my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, for the intentions of our associates and please, for the total restoration of the Catholic Church.