Entering the New Year with Christ
The year 2024 was full of battles for TFP Student Action Europe, with many street campaigns challenging mainstream opinion and the spirit of conformity. New students rose to the occasion and joined the fight for Christian Civilization.
But the enemies of the Catholic Church are advancing. How does a member of TFP Student Action Europe celebrate the new year, and what is necessary to prepare for the many battles ahead? He must increase his efforts and, above all, devote himself more to Our Lady, Queen of the Counter-Revolution.
Winter Academy
From December 27 to January 2, students from several European countries gathered in the eastern French city of Creutzwald (Moselle) in the heart of the historical region of Lorraine to participate in the annual TFP Student Action Europe New Year’s symposium. The objective was to form young and militant Catholics to be better prepared to confront the modern crisis.
Based on the social and political thought of the founder of the TFP, Professor Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira and his book Revolution and Counter-Revolution, for one week students learned how to better practice the manly virtues of chivalry, met like-minded students and learned about the historical process of Revolution that is destroying the West. Most importantly, they learned what one can do - individually and collectively - as part of the Counter-Revolution to restore Order. The spiritual aspect was ensured by the presence of several priests who celebrated daily Holy Mass and provided the Sacraments.
French Revolution
To understand and defeat the crisis of today requires tracing it to its historical roots. A central topic of study was the French Revolution and its continuing influence and importance.
Why was there so little reaction of the Old Regime in the France to the highly-organized Jacobin minority? Why didn’t the clergy react? And why did King Louis XVI fail to stop the revolutionaries under the pretext that he did not want bloodshed, ironically leading to one of the biggest massacres in history?
Our lecturers pointed out an often overlooked fact: the influence of Fenelonian education on the nobility and the “Revolution in the tendencies” that prepared minds for 1789. The attractive conversations in salons, the heated debates in cafés, the literary clubs and the Societés de pensées articulated by certain intellectuals propagated the egalitarian ideal in society.
Have modern Revolutionaries abandoned these methods? Participants were invited to reflect and discuss which places and institutions are the 'salons' and 'cafés' of our time.
Counter Movement
There was, however, a resistance in France against the agitators who aimed to destroy altar and throne: the uprising in the Vendée. They were prepared to take up arms and fight under the command of the local nobility. They organised a militia that proved successful in battle.
Sewing the Sacred Heart of Jesus on their uniforms, the Catholic insurgents inflicted many defeats on the Republican Army and had a real chance at overthrowing the regime. The reasons for their ultimate defeat are an important lesson to be learned.
Each day participants had to answer a questionnaire to sharpen their arguments and remember the essential lessons learned from the meetings. This knowledge will help us in the struggles to come.
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Seeking an authentic Life in Christ
Participants prayed the Rosary together and had the opportunity to attend Holy Mass and receive the Sacrament of Confession. Contrary to the modern view of holidays, our focus is not on earthly pleasures. Virtue and the spiritual life gives us real satisfaction and meaning. In the company of others that strive for the same, it becomes mainstream and easier to practice.
Moments of recollection and silence were also part of the program, where advice from spiritual authors and saints helped the young people to meditate on the graces they had received the previous year and prepare them to set the best spiritual new year’s resolutions for 2025.
Traditional Christmas Carols are a must during the Christmas octave. With a joyful heart the students sung traditional Christmas hymns together such as ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, ‘Les anges dans nos campagnes’, ‘Stille Nacht Heilige Nacht’ and ‘Pueri Concinite’.
Challenging Hike
Mid-week the participants went to climb Mount Saint-Odile in French Alsace. To the accompaniment of bagpipes and singing catholic songs, participants ascended the mountain, made even more beautiful thanks to the previous night’s snowfall.
In the middle of the hike besides a miraculous spring, the students paused to hear about the life of Saint Odile. Born blind and rejected by her father, Odile miraculously recovering her sight when she was baptized by Saint Erhard, Bishop of Regensburg. Her strength and faith led to the founding of Hohenburg Abbey, where she became abbess. Renowned for her miraculous healings, especially restoring sight to the blind, she became patroness saint of good eyesight and of the region of Alsace.
We reached our destination at the abbey of Mount Sainte-Odile, built on top of an ancient Roman fort from the third century. There the group raised the large, red standard of the TFP and sung the Creed, looking down from the mountain to the ocean of clouds and snowy treetops.
Chivalry
Following the hike, an experienced swordsman challenged the young men to leave their comfort zone with a course on fencing. Although obsolete in modern warfare, the sword is nevertheless rich in symbolism, representing the manly values of honour, justice and strength.
In addition to the many physical, intellectual and spiritual activities of the symposium, the students also made new friendships. Meeting like-minded young people from all over Europe, all dedicated to the fight for the Catholic cause, is a major boost to morale. Strong relationships among Catholic counter-revolutionaries are needed now more than ever.
In addition to the many physical, intellectual and spiritual activities of the symposium, the students also made new friendships. Meeting like-minded young people from all over Europe, all dedicated to the fight for the Catholic cause, is a major boost to morale. Strong relationships among Catholic counter-revolutionaries are needed now more than ever.
New Years Eve
Following an old custom in the Catholic Church, we ended the year singing a solemn Te Deum. From the last minutes of 2024 to the first moments of 2025 we prayed together the “Consecration to Jesus Christ through the hands of Mary Most Holy” by Saint Louis de Montfort, thus renewing our total commitment to Our Lord Jesus Christ through the hands of his Blessed Mother.
Then, as the first act of the year, we received the blessing of the Blessed Sacrament.
Once the ceremonies in the chapel were over, in the noble hall, with fireworks bursting outside, the ‘toast’ was given by a veteran TFP member looking back at a year of battles, hardships, friendships and victories for the Catholic Cause.
Read also: Why Are We Defending a Decadent West?
A Student Action against Abortion in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
Together We defend the Christian West
TFP Student Action Europe is launching a new offensive in 2025. Through lectures and studies, we delve deeper into the crisis we find ourselves in. We help students resist the woke madness and safeguard them from leftist indoctrination. Read more about our plans HERE and how you can join our unique student movement to defend Christianity together in 2025!
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing!" - Edmund Burke
That’s why you’re invited this year to get involved in the battle for Christ in society.