India “In Journeying Often”: St. Francis Xavier in India East Meets West: T. S. Eliot and India The Orphanage in India May - June 2020 We commend to you, Venerable Brethren, in a special manner, the necessity of the sound religious training and moral formation of all who undertake this apostolate [of Catholic Action]. They must be “nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine” and “exercise themselves unto godliness” (I Tim. 4:6-7). As apostles of their brothers in blood they may win countless souls to Christ and, enlarging His Kingdom in India, may effect an ever wider extension of the inestimable blessings of that Kingdom of truth and life, of holiness, of justice, of love and of peace. What greater blessing could We wish your nation, what nobler ambition could inspire the Catholics of all India than the realization of such a divine plan?—Pope Pius XII, Radio Message, March 12, 1948 Letter from the Publisher Dear Reader, This month’s issue of The Angelus presents a guided tour of Catholic life in India. India is a name shrouded with mystique and fairy tales. This country has always fascinated the Western traveler. In a few sketches, authors are taking a close look at this populated world of unknown customs, tongues, and religions. If nothing else, India is teaching the modern world two forgotten truths: that religion is essential to social life and that religious plurality is mortal. No doubt we at the Angelus Press are delving into something which is beyond our comfort zone and far from our usual bearings. India recalls much more than tea and the elephants, more than Gandhi pleading for liberating the colony from English rule. It smacks of sacred cows, Hindu priests, and the slums of Calcutta. Had we wished to evoke the present social, political, and even religious situation, we would have soon been out of our depths. Yet, thanks to one of our oldest missionary presences in Asia, right after the Philippines, our Indian priests and religious were willing to lead us by the hand and lift a little corner of life in this unchartered territory. This, along with a little trip to Pakistan, a former Indian province, and another trip back in time to honor St. Francis Xavier, we are givena fair taste of Christianity in the Southern tropics. May 2020 marks also the anniversary of the canonization of the famous woman-warrior, Joan of Arc. A couple of articles sing the praises of this saint so much out of the ordinary. The Maid of Orléans is dear to many a young lady who honors her great strength of soul and her simple faith confronted by the lay and ecclesiastical courts. Missionary apostles and warriors of God fought side by side in their struggle to plant God’s kingdom on earth. Although the means and spheres of influence vary considerably, they held onto the same faith and love of the True God made Man and ultimately conquered. Long live St. Francis Xavier and Joan of Arc! May they find many followers among our traditional circles. Fr. Jürgen Wegner Publisher May - June 2020 Volume XLIII, Number 2 Publisher Fr. Jürgen Wegner Editor-in-Chief Mr. James Vogel Managing Editor Fr. Dominique Bourmaud Assistant Editor Mr. Gabriel Sanchez Associate Editor Miss Jane Carver Design and Layout credo.creatie (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) Mr. Simon Townshend Director of Operations Mr. Brent Klaske Subscription Rates 1 year 2 years 3 years U.S. $45.00 $85.00 $120.00 Foreign Countries $65.00 $125.00 $180.00 (inc. Canada and Mexico) All payments must be in U.S. funds only. Online subscriptions: $20.00/year. To subscribe visit: www.angelusonline.org. Register for free to access back issues 14 months and older. All subscribers to the print version of the magazine have full access to the online version. The Angelus (ISSN 10735003) is published bi-monthly under the patronage of St. Pius X and Mary, Contents Letter from the Publisher 4 Theme: India — “In Journeying Often”: St. Francis Xavier in India — East Meets West: T. S. Eliot and India — Christianity in Pakistan — The History of Catholicism in India — The Orphanage in India — How to Be a Missionary 6 10 14 19 24 30 Spirituality — Reading St. John—Part Three: Signs — The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: The Offertory—Part Three — Divina Disponente — Saint Joan of Arc — The Millstone and the Scandal of the Cross 33 36 40 44 48 Christian Culture — Cathedral Notre-Dame of Bayeux — The Icon of Pentecost — Einstein and the Priest 52 56 60 “Instaurare omnia in Christo” Queen of Angels. Publication office is located at PO Box 217, St. Marys, KS 66536. PH (816) 753-3150; FAX (816) 753-3557. Periodicals Postage Rates paid at Kansas City, MO. Manuscripts and letters to the editor are welcome and will be used at the discretion of the editors. The authors of the articles presented here are solely responsible for their judgments and opinions. Postmaster sends address changes to the address above. ©2020 BY ANGELUS PRESS. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE PRIESTLY SOCIETY OF SAINT PIUS X FOR THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA — India: Is It the Graveyard of the Naturalist Enlightenment and Pluralism? — Hush! Silence — Questions and Answers 64 68 72 Catechism — Complex Questions & Simple Answers — The Church Is Greater Than the Pope — The Last Word 78 82 87 Theme India “In Journeying Often” St. Francis Xavier in India By Fr. Therasian Xavier The Jesuit Fr. Georg Schurhammer’s monumental four volume Francis Xavier: His Life, His Times (Jesuit Historical Institute, Rome 1973–1982) is definitely a groundbreaking event in the study of St. Francis Xavier. Volume I deals with his European days (1506– 1541). Volume II is on India (1545–1549). Volume III covers Indonesia and India (1545–1549) while the last Volume is about Japan and China (1549– 1552). Each volume has at least 700 pages and reveals the very meticulous and lifelong research of the author. Though there is plentiful history which is a real treat, the spirit that pervades the volumes is very rationalistic and humanistic. Under the guise of “de-mythologizing Francis Xavier,” Fr. Schurhammer removes all supernatural elements from our saint. All the miracles of St. Francis Xavier are called 6 The Angelus May - June 2020 into question and later rejected as “pious exaggeration.” A Valiant Missionary St. Francis Xavier had a prodigious success— not because of what nature endowed him with— but because of what grace made him to be. He himself calls his method, a “pedagogy of grace.” Faith is a gift of God; therefore, it is to be obtained by prayer. He was a convincing preacher, thanks to several miracles he performed. At any rate, here is a brief but breathtaking account of St. Francis Xavier’s movement within India. It gives a vivid impression of our Saint’s tireless activity: Like St. Paul he could say, “in itineribus saepe” (II Cor. 11:26). Here we are presenting the chief dates and facts. 1542 AD: On May 6, 1542, St. Francis Xavier arrived at Goa in the “Coulam” with the new Governor Martim Afonso de Sousa and found here the newly founded Saint Paul’s College erected for the training of a native clergy for India. As soon as the monsoon was over, in the beginning of October, he left Goa with three Parava seminarians for the Fishery Coast, where the whole caste of the Parava pearl fishers, about 20,000 souls, had received baptism in 1535-37, practically without any instruction, as nobody knew their Tamil language, and were like sheep without a shepherd. He landed at Manappad, went from there overland to Tuticorin and baptized on the way a small village. In Tuticorin he translated the small catechism and went 7 Theme India from village to village teaching it, and baptizing the newborn children and grown-up pagans. A Timeline of Activity 1543-44 AD: In October 1543 came the fleet with the governor to the island of Neduntivu and St. Francis Xavier sailed with him back to Cochin and Goa where he made (the Society having been in the meantime approved by the Pope) his solemn profession in the hands of the Bishop Fray Juan de Albuquerque, O.F.M., his great friend, and met the two companions left with the fleet in Mozambique in 1542. One, Paul, he left at the college; with the other, Mansilhas, and some other helpers he returned to the Fishery Coast, via Colombo, where he visited the King of Kotte Bhuwaneka Bahu with a letter of the Portuguese king. The mission work was troubled by the invasion of the Badagas, the Telugu troupes of Vijayanagar, confederated with the Chera kings of Quilon and Southern Kerala against the Pandyan kings of Palayamkottai. Both parties sought for the help of the Portuguese. St. Francis Xavier, as mediator, got this help for the Chera kings who gave in return permission to the Makua fishermen of the coast of Southern Kerala to become Christians. The Makuas, eager to get the protection of the Portuguese like their Parava neighbors, were ready and in one month (November/December 1544), after a summary preparation, St. Francis Xavier baptized the whole caste, 10,000 souls. Before he could baptize the last village, Manakkudi, he got news that the raja of Jaffna had slaughtered his new converts in Mannaar, about 500–600. So he at once sailed to Quilon and from there to Cochin, from where he wrote to Mansilhas to visit the Makua neophytes and to leave a copy of the prayers and a teacher in each village and to baptize those of Manakkudi. Then he went to see the governor in Goa and got from him orders for a punitive expedition against the murderer of the Christians, the King of Jaffna. 1545 AD: On January 20, 1545, he was back in Cochin, where he met a Portuguese merchant, Antonio de Paiva, just returned from Makassar (Indonesia), where two kings had received 8 The Angelus May - June 2020 baptism and had sent for missionaries to baptize their people. Busy with organizing the expedition against the King of Jaffna, St. Francis Xavier sailed to Colombo and from there to Negapatnam, from where the fleet had to start. But here the expedition was postponed until a rich vessel from Pegu with Portuguese merchandise had been rescued—the vessel was stranded at Jaffna and had been confiscated by the raja. So St. Francis Xavier went on pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostle St. Thomas in Mylapore and here resolved to sail to Makassar to bring in that harvest. At the end of August he left Mylapore for Malacca with a relic of the Apostle Thomas, which he wore on his breast till his death. 1545-47 AD: He worked in Malacca and, as a priest, had already gone to Makassar, in the Moluccas (Amboina, Uliasser, Seran, Ternate and Halmahere), founding the mission among the Malays and the savage head-hunters. On the way back a Portuguese merchant, Jorge Alvares, just returned from the recently discovered Japan, presented him the Japanese Anjiro and spoke to him of the great door opened to the Gospel in that highly civilized nation. 1548 AD: In Cochin, where St. Francis Xavier arrived Jan. 13, 1548, he met the Superior of the Franciscan Mission in Ceylon, Fray Joam de Vila de Conde, from whom he heard how one of his friars, Fray Francesco de Monteprandone, had baptized the King of Kandy (March 9, 1546) and that the King of Kottê was persecuting the Christians. Besides that, he found that 12 new Jesuit missionaries had arrived from Portugal during his absence. Five of them were working on the Fishery Coast and in Southern Kerala according to the orders he had sent to Goa before leaving India; they were helped by the native priests Coelho, Mauel and Gaspar. He went there from Cochin, convoked them to Manappad, ordered Coelho to translate the big catechism, which he had composed in Ternate, into Tamil and left them an instruction full of missionary wisdom which culminated in the counsel to win the love of the people as true shepherds. Antonio Criminale was confirmed as their superior. From Manappad St. Francis Xavier returned to Cochin and sailed to Goa and from there to Bassein to meet the new Governor, D. Joam de Castro, from whom he got the necessary dispatches for the mission of Ternate and for the missionaries who had to found a college in Malacca. Castro, the hero of Diu, was sick; he asked Francis to remain with him during the monsoon of 1548, for he felt death coming; he died in St. Francis Xavier’s arms in Goa on June 6. Shortly before, on Pentecost, May 20, Anjirô with his two companions had received baptism from the hand of the bishop, and now St. Francis Xavier was preparing his voyage to Japan. As soon as the monsoon was over, the Father went to the south to pay a rapid visit to the Fishery Coast. Before he left Goa six new missionaries had arrived from Portugal, amongst them the Belgian Gaspar Barzaeus (Sep. 4); five more with Antonio Gomes followed during his absence on October 10. In the middle of November, St. Francis Xavier was back in Goa, where Gomes the new rector received the transfer of the College to the Society of Jesus. A Father was appointed to open another college in Bassein, and Father Lancilotto to found a school in Quilon for the Portuguese, the Paravas and the St. Thomas Christians of that place. On his way to Cochin in December 1548, St. Francis Xavier visited the flourishing college for the St. Thomas Christians, which his friend, Fray Vicente de Lagos, O.F.M, had founded in Cranganore, and in the Franciscan Convent of Cochin he met the saintly old bishop of the same Christians, Mar Jakob, and in his letters to the king he recommended both warmly to him. 1549 AD: In the middle of February 1549 he was back in Goa and went to Bassein to get the necessary dispatches for his Japan voyage from the new Governor Garcia de Sá. Back in Goa in March he sent Barzaeus to found a station in Ormuz. Another Father, the fiery old Catalan Cipriano, was destined to open a residence in Mylapore, and on April 15 St. Francis Xavier embarked with Father Cosme de Torres, Br. Juan Fernandez, a Malabar and a Chinese servant and Anjiro with his two companions for Japan. In Japan, where he stayed from 1549 to 1551, he founded missions in Kagoshima, Ichiku, Hirado, Yamaguchi and Bungo. Back in Malacca in December 1551, he found there letters from which he learned that he had been nominated Provincial of the newly erected Indian Province which extended from Africa to Japan, that Fr. Antonio Criminale, S.J., had died a martyr at the Fishery Coast and that Antonio Gomes had dismissed all the Indian boys from the Goa college, making it, against the will of the founders, the bishop and the orders of the king, a school for Portuguese only. 1552 AD: January 24, 1552, St. Francis Xavier landed in Cochin with an ambassador of the King of Bungo. In Goa, where he arrived in February, he met his brethren (10 new missionaries had arrived in 1551 under their leader Fr. Melchior Nunes Barreto) with Barzaeus whom he had recalled from Ormuz. The few weeks St. Francis Xavier remained in Goa were devoted to the reorganization of the mission and to preparation for his voyage to China; for on the way back from Japan he had received letters from Portuguese captives in that country, giving great hopes for the conversion of that people if he went there with a Portuguese embassy. Gomes, disobedient and incorrigible, was dismissed. Barzaeus was made Vice-provincial during St. Francis Xavier’s absence, and the Goa college reopened for Indian boys. On April St. Francis Xavier left Goa for his last voyage. Eight months later, Dec. 3, 1552, God called his Apostle from the lonely island of Sancian to his heavenly reward. St. Francis Xavier is the great prototype of modern missionaries and the founder of the Jesuit mission in Asia. Always united with God in ardent love, he worked with indefatigable zeal for souls. He ordered his missionaries to study the language of their Indian converts, he prompted the creation of vernacular Christian literature; he labored for the education of native catechists and priests; he founded schools in every village for teaching catechism, and colleges in the chief centers for higher education; by exact coordination and a military discipline he converted his mission into a powerful organization, and through regular correspondence he connected it with the headquarters in Europe and roused enthusiasm there for the Indian mission. Together with his collaborators he brought the mission on the Fishery Coast and in Southern Kerala from 20,000 to 100,000 in 1552. 9 Theme India East Meets West: T. S. Eliot and India By Andrew J. Clarendon A giant in the world of twentieth-century literature, T. S. Eliot was also one of the most learned of the poets. Best known for his diagnosis of the decline of Western civilization in the post-World War I era, he draws upon an eclectic variety of sources to convey his themes. This involves the masterworks of the West of course, but an additional interesting source of material comes from the Buddhist and Hindu literature of the Indian sub-continent. In reminding the West of perennial values, Eliot explores a fascinating correspondence between the wisdom of the East. Such wisdom, the expression of some of the best ideas in Eastern thought, is indeed old: timeless truths that remind us of what we already know and have forgotten or left unappreciated, that which “has been lost / And found and lost again and again,” 10 The Angelus May - June 2020 as Eliot sings in East Coker. Among several spiritually profitable examples of this meeting of East and West in Eliot’s works are in the “Fire Sermon” section of The Waste Land and in the third part of The Dry Salvages from The Four Quartets, moments that, while revealing some limitations in thought that lacks Divine Revelation, nevertheless provide real food for mind and soul. An Achievement of Modern Poetry The Waste Land is the high text of modern poetry, a searing expression of the despair that comes after a rejection of modernist selfreliance, of the inability of vital immanence to give real hope in the face of collapse. As Eliot writes, “what branches grow / Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man, / You cannot say, or guess, for you know only / A heap of broken images.” In other words, the poem is a pilgrimage—that may or may not be successful—from Hell toward Purgatory, from final despairing isolation to the possibility of redemption after suffering. As what Eliot calls the “controlling myth” of The Waste Land is the quest for the Holy Grail from the line “all is burning,” the Buddha goes on to describe how the various powers of man burn with passion. Liberation from suffering comes from detachment from and even loathing for the five senses and the mind. The Buddha concludes, “and in conceiving this aversion, [the disciple] becomes divested of passion, and by the absence of passion he becomes free, and when he is free he becomes aware that he is free; and he knows that rebirth [or reincarnation] is exhausted, that Arthurian legends, the central problem expressed in the poem is the loss of love and purity. The answer is the renewal of grace—as evidenced in the references to Shakespeare’s The Tempest— and a recognition of our fallen nature. The third part of the poem continues these reflections with an explicit reference to Buddhist literature: the title of this section is “The Fire Sermon,” a discourse the Buddha (who died around 400 B.C.) gave to his disciples. Beginning with the he has lived the holy life, that he has done what it behooved him to do, and that he is no more for this world.” At the end of “The Fire Sermon,” Eliot brilliantly parallels these thoughts with a moment from St. Augustine’s Confessions, a work that is an extended examination of the problem of human passion. The last five lines of this part of the poem are printed like this: 11 Theme India To Carthage then I came Burning burning burning burning O Lord Thou pluckest me out O Lord Thou pluckest Burning Here is the problem and the solution: fallen human nature is a reality; in fact, both Buddha and St. Augustine seem to be unable to transcend this vale of tears on their own, but whereas the Buddha seeks liberation from suffering through nothingness, St. Augustine calls on God to deliver him from the world and himself. East meets West with an acknowledgement of the need for the God who is Lord over all. A Confluence of East and West This confluence of East and West continues in Eliot’s magnum opus, the four long poems that constitute the Four Quartets. In these philosophical poems Eliot again explores parallels between Buddhist and Christian thought. For example, the Buddhist quest for liberation and release is paralleled with the ascetic theology of St. John of Cross, although it is clear that while Buddhist dhyana, or meditation, has something in common with St. John’s way of the nada, the purposes could not be more different. The Buddhist seeks nirvana— nothingness, literally to be blown out—while the Catholic seeks God alone at the summit of the spiritual life. Exploring other parallels, Eliot reaches farther back in Indian thought—as he does in the last part of The Waste Land—alluding to a moment in the 2,100-year-old Bhagavad Gita, the most famous part of the much older Sanskrit epic poem Mahabharata. The warrior Arjuna, involved in a war involving violence against his own kinsmen, seeks the counsel of Krishna, one of the major Hindu deities, whose response makes up the 700 lines of the Gita. The general theme is about following the divine will: not to worry about personal gain but to focus on doing one’s duty with disinterestedness. This reflects 12 The Angelus May - June 2020 central themes of the Four Quartets: to focus on the present moment, to attempt to perceive the eternal in time, to accept the purgative value of suffering, and ultimately to allow oneself to grow in love. In the third part of The Dry Salvages, the third of the Four Quartets, Eliot recalls the Gita with the first line—“I sometimes wonder if that is what Krishna meant”—and near the end quotes the Hindu poem itself: “on whatever sphere of being / The mind of a man may be intent / At the time of death.” The rest of the last line, unquoted by Eliot, is “thither will he go.” Dante, the great poet of Christendom, and the whole Catholic tradition certainly agrees: one’s future life is determined and defined by what one loves. This confluence of East and West is merely a reminder that truth is one and not an invitation to Eastern exoticism or a misguided and false ecumenism. In the chapter “Eastward Ho!—Hum” from The Death of Christian Culture, John Senior notes that while “Every agent, Aristotle says, acts out of a desire for Being . . . Buddha teaches ‘desirelessness.’” For all its insight into the human condition, Buddhist philosophy is a metaphysical dead end that despite its antiquity reflects the modern spirit. Senior draws the connection: “The hell of Modernism is ennui . . . . Its heaven is having acute sensations of nothing. And that is why the ultimate Modernist poem is a blank sheet of paper, the ultimate painting ‘white on white,’ the ultimate music silence, the ultimate philosophy Buddhism.” As for the apparently many millions of deities in Hinduism, the Catholic need only respond in the same way he does to Western pagan mythology. What is wonderful in reading the mixture of East and West in works such as Eliot’s is to find those moments in which apparently remote cultures affirm the same truths, the perennial reality that unites us all. 336 pp. – Softcover – Illustrated – STK# 8761 – $24.95 King Arthur and His Knights By Howard Pyle “Yea, he who is a true king of men, will not say to himself, ‘Lo! I am worthy to be crowned with laurels’; but rather will he say to himself, ‘What more is there that I may do to make the world the better because of my endeavors?’” Written and illustrated in 1903, at the height of children’s literature, these books have inspired generations to greatness of thought and the acquisition of true virtue. The first book in this four volume series for children focuses on the tale of the future King Arthur and how he came to win his famous sword and to create his round table. “So endeth the story of the winning of Excalibur, and may God give unto you in your life, that you may have His truth to aid you, like a shining sword, for to overcome your enemies; and may He give you faith. (for faith containeth truth as a scabbard containeth its sword). For with truth and faith girded upon you, you shall be as well able to fight all your battles as did that noble hero of old, whom men called King Arthur.” Give your children a vision of a world in which virtue and beauty matters and these truths will stay with them for their entire lives! Visit www.angeluspress.org — 1-800-966-7337 Please visit our website to see our entire selection of books and music. Theme India Christianity in Pakistan By Kennedy Hall If you were to do a quick internet search of Christianity in Pakistan, without a doubt you would find the topic of persecution as the dominant theme. In fact, if it were not for the general Wikipedia article, the entirety of the first Google page would list links related to persecution. The current persecution of Pakistani Christians is of course a very grave matter, one that requires the utmost of attention. However, the presence of Christ in Pakistan goes back far in history, well before the current age of persecution, to the earliest ages of the Church. Rethinking Pakistan When we think of Pakistan, unless we are historians, it is probable that we are thinking of 14 The Angelus May - June 2020 the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which is the official nation state that gained independence from the UK as a Dominion in 1947. Like many middle and far eastern nations with British patrimony, Pakistan was carved out by cartographers, statesmen, and activists in the post-WW II era. In reality, Pakistan is a complex nation with significant cultural and ethnic links to the populations of the surrounding nations of Afghanistan and India. Pakistani history is mixed up in the history of empires and kingdoms that battled for the region over centuries, such as the Pala Empire, which was actually Buddhist. There is not a singular religious history to point to in the pre-Islam era of Pakistan, but since the arrival of Islamic Conquest in the early 8th century, Islam has been the dominant religion. As you can imagine, this region’s history has not been entirely kind to non-Muslims, something all too common in Muslim majority regions. Unkind as history has been to Christians in this region, we can link the origin of the One True Faith in this part of the world to the Apostle Thomas. It is commonly understood that Saint Thomas traveled to India, and died there. Of course, many modern historians, including some Catholics unfortunately, doubt the historicity of Saint Thomas’ presence in the Indian subcontinent, but tradition says otherwise. There is an apocryphal work known as the Acts of Thomas that speaks of the Saint’s adventures in a region ruled by a man named King Gondophares. This apocryphal work should not be consulted for religious reasons, as it is most certainly Gnostic, however, like the Protoevangelium of James (another apocryphal and at times problematic work) it does contain historical information. Archeological discoveries confirm the historicity of things mentioned in the account, and the writings of great Saints like Jerome and John Chrysosthom speak of Saint Thomas’ journey during the same time period. Pakistan’s Christian Roots Due to these historical truths, we can safely say that the roots of Pakistani Christianity are planted in the earliest days of what is commonly considered Indian Christianity. To be sure, there are no official churches in Pakistan like that of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India, but the historical precedent is ancient nonetheless. Whatever the level of devotion to Christ throughout the intermediary centuries from the Early Church to the present day, the Faith is a part of Pakistani history. With the advent of Islam throughout the region in the 8th century, any manifest form of Christianity was scant. In fact, it is hard to find any evidence of the Catholic faith practiced between the advent of Muhammadanism and the coming of European influence centuries later. This does not mean that there were no Christians, as Muslim societies tend to “squash the opposition,” by removing inconvenient truths from their histories. Most travel ventures undertaken by Europeans to India were by sea. Sea travel helped voyagers to avoid the hostile conditions for Christians throughout the Muslim majority world, and it was also an effective means of travel. However, there was some land travel by individuals and small groups of Christians through the PakistaniIndian region. The Italian explorer Marco Polo seems to have traveled through the northwestern mountain ranges connecting Pakistan and Afghanistan, although he was hardly a Christian missionary. Interestingly, there is a sheep famous amongst hunters called the Marco Polo sheep, common in the Pakistani mountain areas. With the expansion of European colonial efforts in the region, a stronger presence of Christianity took hold in the region. As previously noted, Pakistan was officially part of the British Indian territory before 1947, thus missionary efforts into what is geographically Pakistan were still considered missionary efforts into India. The British of course brought their Anglican Church along with other denominations, which today are more properly understood as the Church of Pakistan. The Church of Pakistan is a unique blend of Protestant groups, comprising Lutherans, Anglicans, and others into one community. The Jesuits Arrive Beginning in the late 16th century, Jesuit missionaries from the Portuguese-settled Goa region of India began to establish a Catholic presence in Lahore. For a few years the Catholics operated with explicit permission from the Emperor, however, the Jesuits eventually experienced great difficulties. The region was still very Muslim, and converts from the local population were small in number. If the current situation for Catholics in Islamic Republics is any indication of the hostility faced in Pakistan at the time, it is understandable that locals would greatly fear the repercussions of conversion from Islam to Catholicism. In many Muslim areas, conversion to Catholicism is considered the capital offense of apostasy, often punishable by death. The United Kingdom gained a foothold in India and Pakistan in the late 18th and early 19th 15 Theme India century. They built cities and set up permanent settlements, such as the modern version of Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city. Although the British were officially Protestant, they also had under their purview certain Catholic populations, like the Irish and the inhabitants of British North America, i.e., Canada. This meant that British Colonies had to provide the requisite religious opportunities for subjects of the Crown, cementing Catholicism as an integral part of the international settlements. As a result, this was a period of relative expansion for Pakistani Catholics. In fact, Karachi is home to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, beautiful Gothic revival style church, which was opened in 1881. Internationally Saint Patrick’s is known for its exquisite stained-glass representations of important events in salvation and Church history. Eventually, the situation for Pakistani Catholics began to deteriorate with the advent of independence. The protections afforded to Catholics in a British-inspired governmental system were now a thing of the past. As flawed as the Colonial system may have been in some ways, it was generally speaking more “tolerant” than the current realities in Pakistan. It should be noted that under British rule, both Christians and Muslims lived in relative peace, something that seems impossible in a so-called “democratic” age. In the new Pakistani nation, some prominent Catholics even campaigned for devout Muslim politicians who promised religious tolerance, but this dream was short-lived. Whatever good the initial politicians may have brought for Christians, the country has become more and more radically Islamic ever since. Christianity has remained technically legal, however in reality it is greatly suppressed by anti-blasphemy laws and violent outbursts by citizens. The Church in Pakistan Today Today, the Catholic Church in Pakistan operates under a typical diocesan system. There are over one million Catholics in the country, which represent less than 1% of the total Pakistani population. In Pakistan there are two archdioceses, four dioceses and one Apostolic Vicariate which fulfills the missionary efforts of areas without an established Catholic presence. The Catholic Church in Pakistan facilitates hundreds of schools and various other education and catechetical centers. In 1973, Archbishop of Karachi, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral 16 The Angelus May - June 2020 Karachi, Joseph Cordeiro, was named the first Pakistani cardinal by Pope Paul VI. The current Archbishop of Karachi, Joseph Coutts, was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2018. Despite the seemingly regularized situation for Catholics in Pakistan, it is one of the most dangerous places on earth for Catholics. The organization Open Doors, a nonprofit that monitors Christian persecution worldwide, has recently listed Pakistan as the fifth most hostile country on earth for Christians. The majority of the animus comes by way of Islamic oppression. For example, Open Doors estimates that 700 girls and women are abducted each year, they are raped and then forcefully married to Muslim men in the community, usually resulting in forced conversions. Young students are routinely beaten by their classmates, even with the knowledge of their teachers, who remain undisciplined by the authorities who often show no sympathy to the Christian students. Pakistan is technically a republic that espouses some form of religious tolerance, therefore Christian persecution is not an explicit or official policy. However, due to the Islamic nature of the country, various blasphemy laws are on the books that restrict any speech or expression that is seen as anti-Muslim. One can imagine the problem this poses for Christians as basic Christian doctrine would require a Catholic to reject Muhammad and the teachings of the Koran. Professing the Catholic faith publicly can be very dangerous indeed. Shahbaz Bhatti was a Pakistani politician and member of the National Assembly, who was named the first Federal Minister for Minority Affairs. He was open about his faith and defended Catholics publicly, and as a result was assassinated on March 2, 2011. He was the only Catholic official in the cabinet and the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for his murder, labeling him a “blasphemer of Muhammad.” In March 2016, five years after the death of Shahbaz Bhatti, his cause for beatification was formally opened by the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, making him a Servant of God. Perhaps the most famous case of Catholic persecution in Pakistan of recent years is the case of Aasiya Noreen, commonly known as Asia Bibi. Asia was involved in a feud with a coworker in 2009 over drinking water. She was the only Catholic on site and was forbidden from touching the same drinking utensils as her colleagues due to her being considered “unclean.” It is reported that she and a certain coworker had an argument and exchanged unpleasantries. Apparently Asia offended Muslim sensibilities by criticizing Muhammad. Whatever the nature of the verbal exchange, Asia was charged as a blasphemer and in November 2010 was sentenced to death by hanging. The decision was upheld at a higher court, and the case gained international attention. Shahbaz Bhatti defended her in the political realm, criticized the blasphemy laws; actions which led to his aforementioned assassination. Her family members received untold amounts of death threats, and many members went into hiding for fear of violence. Through a series of petitions and appeals from notable people, including Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, Asia was eventually acquitted and placed in protective custody. In May of 2019 she was finally relocated to Canada, where she now lives amongst emigrated family members and fellow Pakistani Catholics. The situation for Pakistani Catholics and other Pakistani Christian groups should remind us of the reality of martyrdom even in the modern day. Archbishop Lefebvre knew all too well the dangers Christians faced in Muslim majority nations from his time in Africa, and Pakistan is just another example. We must listen to the wisdom of the good Archbishop and pray fervently for the Reign of Christ the King in a world where they have uncrowned Him. We should also show true Catholic solidarity with persecuted Pakistani Catholics through our prayers and mission efforts. The modern secular state provides many difficulties for Catholics in the industrialized world, however, we can unite our sufferings to the great hardships that Pakistani Catholics face constantly. Let us pray that one day Pakistan will be fertile soil for mass conversion and remember that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. 17 92 pp. – Softcover – STK# 8767 – $9.95 The Catholic Guide Friendship and Chastity “I read this booklet carefully and found it to be excellent. It is very complete and is both solid in its principles and balanced in its application. St. John Bosco called purity ‘the most beautiful of all virtues.’ We might go further and call it a key to the restoration of Christendom. For from pure women will come true and noble-minded men, and only from such men—pure by definition—will come the restoration of all things in Christ.” —Fr. Gerard Beck, SSPX Topics: True Friendship • General Sex Attraction • Personal Sex Attraction • Physical Sex Attraction • Choice of a Marriage Partner • “Falling Out of Love” • The Divine Plan of Reproduction • The Meaning of Chastity • God’s Law of Chastity • Practical Moral Principles • Some Practical Applications • The Beauty of Chastity • Celibacy “This little book, read prayerfully, by older teens and young adults. will be both an encouragement and a tremendous help to purity. In a world that has lost its moral compass to the point that even decent young men and women can easily lose their way, the author gives a clear and balanced explanation of what it means to be pure. The principles on which he bases his treatise are rock solid, the examples enlightening, and the application to real life truly helpful without falling into the trap of being preachy or out of date. The chapter on the divine plan of reproduction is explicit but in an appropriate way. ” —Fr. Gerard Beck, SSPX Visit www.angeluspress.org — 1-800-966-7337 Please visit our website to see our entire selection of books and music. The History of Catholicism in India By Gabriel S. Sanchez, J.D. India, the second most populated country in the world, possesses a rich Christian heritage. Tradition holds that the Apostle Thomas arrived in the country around 52 AD, establishing the first Indian Church. Given that the southwest coast of the country was an important trading center for the Roman Empire, the region would have been accessible to early Christians seeking to spread the Gospel. The Thomistic roots of India’s Christian culture are so firm that today it is barely possible to pass a church in the country that does not bear that apostle’s name. Indian Christianity in the First Millennium Although some historians dispute the traditional account of St. Thomas bringing Christianity to the Indian people, the Christian historian Eusebius testifies that St. Pantaenus found Christians living in the country when he arrived there during the second century. At that time, the nascent Indian Church knew only the Gospel of St. Matthew in its Syriac form. This is consistent with the fact that Syriac was the Indians’ primary liturgical language for centuries. How the Indian Church grew is a matter of some dispute, though the region remained an important commercial center for centuries. It is likely that Christian merchants settled in the country and eventually a permanent hierarchy was established. However, India also became an arrival point for various heterodox Christian sects from around the Middle East, including Manichaeans. The most vibrant Indian Christian community of the first millennium were the so-called “St. 19 Theme India The St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy (Diocese) of Chicago is an Eastern Catholic eparchy for Syro-Malabar Catholics in the United States. The eparchy was erected by Pope John Paul II on March 13, 2001. It is one of the four eparchies of the SyroMalabar Church outside India. It has jurisdiction over Syro-Malabar Catholics in the entire USA. Thomas Christians,” that is, those living in the southwest state of Kerala and whose historical, spiritual, and liturgical patrimony came from Syriac Christianity and the so-called Syriac “Church of the East.” Due to this tie, the Indian Church eventually fell prey to the schism that erupted following the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon. As such, India’s Christians were effectively cut off from the Universal Church which, at that time, included both the Latins of the West and the Greeks of the East. Even so, the Indian Church retained a valid Apostolic hierarchy who ordained priests to dispense God’s sacraments. The Arrival of Latin Catholicism Despite hostility from their Hindu and Muslim neighbors, Indian Christianity persisted through the centuries with little-to-no contact with the wider Catholic Church. Following the Great Schism between Rome and Constantinople, the Indian Church did not take sides, but rather maintained ecclesiastical ties with the aforementioned Church of the East. At the close of the 15th century, Portuguese traders encountered Indian Christians and quickly formed an alliance against non-Christian political powers in the 20 The Angelus May - June 2020 country. It was during this period that India’s Christians, long separated from the See of Rome, began a tumultuous journey back into formal communion with the Catholic Church. In 1552, the Church of the East, which had been the mother church to Indian Christians for a millennium, fractured into rival patriarchates. One of the church leaders, Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa (John Sulaka), traveled to Rome, formally accepted union with the Catholic Church, and was recognized as the Patriarch of the Church of Assyria and Mosul by Pope Julius III. (This patriarchate is today known as the Chaldean Catholic Church.) While it was understood that Patriarch Sulaka’s jurisdiction extended over the Indian Church, the Portuguese were jealous to maintain their control over Indian ecclesiastical affairs. By an earlier agreement between Portugal and Rome, the King of Portugal had been vested with the right to appoint bishops for the Portuguese colonial territories. Sulaka’s brother, Joseph, was prevented from overseeing his Indian flock. While the Assyrian Patriarchate appointed another bishop for the Indians, by 1597 the Latin Catholic bishop of Goa in western India installed a Spanish Jesuit to govern the Indian Church. At the 1599 Synod of Diamper, crucial aspects of the Indian’s Syriac patrimony were suppressed in favor of Latin liturgical and spiritual customs. This immediately led to a fresh rift between Latin and Indian Christians, with the latter looking to reenter communion with other non-Catholic Oriental Christian churches rather than forego their heritage. After local Catholic authorities seized and executed a Coptic bishop who had been sent to lead the disgruntled Indians, they formally broke ties with the Catholic Church and expelled the Jesuits from their presence. Ironically, it was only after Dutch Protestants had driven the Portuguese out of western India that communion with the Catholic Church once again began to be restored. In the 1660s, a native Indian priest, Alexander Parampil, was consecrated as the Catholic bishop for the Indian Christians. His missionary zeal resulted in many disaffected Christians returning to the Catholic fold. Even so, bishops from the Church of the East who had not renewed ties with Catholicism also arrived in the country, leading to the existence of parallel hierarchies and renewed tensions among Indian Christians. In the centuries that followed, non-Catholic Indian Christians had trouble maintaining unity, eventually leading to a split between those tethered to the Church of the East and those who wished to belong to an independent Malankara Church. Outside of these two bodies, various Protestant sects also arose and, following the British conquest of India, Anglicanism began to make inroads throughout the country. The Eastern Orthodox Church, which has long possessed a tepid missionary mindset, has only a limited presence in the country. Indian Catholicism Today Despite the 16th and 17th century turmoil that threatened to break apart Catholic unity in India, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, which is based in Kerala, has 4.5 million members and continues to preach the Gospel despite its minority status. While these Catholics have opted to retain some of the Latin liturgical and spiritual elements brought to the country by the Portuguese nearly five centuries ago, they celebrate according to the Syriac Rite. While the Syro-Malabar Church had to endure centuries of being an adjunct to India’s Latin Catholic hierarchy, today it has the freedom to establish bishops in areas where a Latin hierarch already exists in order to better meet the needs of Indian Christians attached to their ancient Christian heritage. Another Catholic communion in India, the Syro-Malankar Church, is considerably smaller, consisting of around half-a-million faithful. Their reunion with Rome was consummated in 1930 when, under the leadership of Geevarghese Ivanios, they broke away from the Malankara Church. In his apostolic constitution Cristo pastorum principi, Pope Pius XI established the Catholic Malankara hierarchy. Unlike their Malabar brethren, the Syro-Malankar Church uses its own form of the western Syrian liturgy and does not rely upon Latin liturgical elements. Its presence in India alongside both Latin and SyroMalabar Catholics is a testament to the spirit of unity that is a hallmark of the Universal Church. Due to the work of Jesuits and other missionaries, the remaining 19 million Indian Catholics fall under the country’s centuries-old Latin hierarchy. Unfortunately, most of these Catholics have foregone tradition in favor of the New Mass and possess few ties to ancient Indian Christianity. Prior to the late 20th century, it fell to the Latin Catholic bishops to care for most Indian Catholics, regardless of their rite. As noted, however, a new consensus has emerged whereby the jurisdictional boundaries of both the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankar hierarchies have been extended into areas outside of western India. Such a move is consistent with the wishes of Pope Benedict XV who, in 1917, established the Congregation for Eastern Churches with the purpose of restoring and promoting Eastern Catholic traditions. While some have expressed concern that dividing Indian Catholicism could make it appear weak, particularly in the eyes of the country’s dominant Hindu population, the practical result of this diversity has been a slow but steady increase in conversions to Catholicism. 21 St.Mary’s Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church in Alleppey, Kerala. Situated right next to the famed backwaters, it is believed to be established in 427 AD Theme India The Orphanage in India By the Consoling Sisters Mother, could you please present yourself? I am Sr. Mary Immaculata of the Cross, superior of the Consoling Sisters of the Sacred Heart Convent in India. You belong to the “Consoling Sisters.” Can you briefly tell us the history of this Congregation? The founder and various foundations? Oh well, our founder, Don Basilio was a Passionist priest. He was a fervent preacher on the passion of our Lord and Our Lady of Sorrows. In 1950 he was elected Provincial Superior of the Congregation of the Passionists. Passionists would remark of him “being the one of the keenest intellects he had come across.” In 1961, encouraged by the Bishop of Soriano nel Cimino (Viterbo) he formed a group of young girls who 24 The Angelus May - June 2020 aspired to religious life. And after much reflection and prayer, founded the first community of “Consoling Sisters of the Sacred Heart.” It was approved as a pious union by Bishop Massimiliani of Civita Castellana (about one hour north of Rome) in 1961. Within 15 years, the community already had four houses across the country. As with Msgr. Lefebvre, he too saw the damages wrought to the religious life by the spirit of “adaptation to the modern times.” Fr. Basilio spent his last years in Vigne di Narni to keep as much as possible and to foster a deeper devotion to the Sacred Heart. A few months before his death on August 23, 1996, Father Basilio gave his spiritual testament to the sisters and entrusted this little flock of his to Fr. Emmanuel du Chalard and asked the Society of Saint Pius X to provide for the spiritual needs of the community. 25 Theme India What is your apostolate? To console the Sacred Heart of Jesus not only in our devotions and the promotion of devotion to the Sacred Heart through the practice of “The Guard of Honor” and the recitation of the nine “Offices of the Sacred Heart”, we also console Him in our work for the elderly who reside at the convent, we console Him through our invaluable assistance to the priests of the Society of Saint Pius X, at retreats, at summer camps and above all by caring for the orphans in India. What is the connection between the Indian and the Italian sisters? Following an invitation by Fr. Couture, the District Superior of Asia, in 2006, the Consoling 26 The Angelus May - June 2020 Sisters agreed to welcome me as a postulant. I was running my own orphanage and home for the elderly at that time. The orphanage was first started in 2000 in Cuddapah, Andhra Pradesh and once I found tradition it was moved to Tirunelveli which is 750 kms (466 mi) away so as to be near to the SSPX priory in January 2006. After my formation in Italy I came back to India in 2008 as a Consoling Sister and so our first house in India started. We are seven professed sisters now and we have one postulant in Italy. The convent is now located in Burkitmanagar, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. Now the mother house is in Italy, and it is also the novitiate. We try to send our aspirants there to receive their formation. Is working with orphans the main outlet of your apostolate? Besides our dedicated life of prayer for priests and I would say this is our main apostolate—yes, you can say that the Servi Domini Orphanage is our secondary apostolate. And we also have ten elderly women—totally abandoned by their families. How do you measure the “success” of your apostolate with these children? It is a tricky question as the workings of grace are not too evident to our eyes. It does transcend time and space. But what we do want or rather what we sow is the formation a girl would need to be a good Catholic mother. Obviously, it should be done in a family milieu. Because these kids do not have such an atmosphere or rather they come from a very dark childhood—we have to work double-time to provide—not just food and clothing—but also the warmth of heartfelt kindness and a delightful hope that somehow tomorrow will be a bright day for them than their past darkened by misfortune. To answer your question—the measure of our success is precisely this—we try to bring them to the Sacred Heart. If they stay there, even outside of these walls—until they die—then we have accomplished something. This obviously is the grace we beg from the Heart of Jesus. 27 Theme India Sister, when you talk about abandoned kids or orphans—how do they find you? Most of the children are brought to us by those who know us—priests, teachers, relatives of the children. Some of the kids are given to us by the government. Most of them come very young. We also have children a little older (10-12 years) come when they lose their parents. What is the help you receive from the SSPX priests? Are you somewhat dependent practically on the SSPX or is it mostly a spiritual support? As our founder entrusted our congregation to the SSPX, we still continue to look for spiritual benefits from the SSPX. And we have been very blessed, I should say. Daily Mass, benediction, 28 The Angelus May - June 2020 spiritual conferences and even guidance in our apostolate. The SSPX has truly been a godsend. We are very grateful. If the Holy Sacrifice is and should be the center of religious life—and it is not possible without a priest—it just shows how much we are indebted to the priesthood, and specially in a day like ours, where ever-modern priests devalue religious life. We fully believe the SSPX offers a safe haven for those who truly pursue their religious vocation. To answer your other question, it is an independent entity legally and we are not dependent on the SSPX in legal matters. Do you have any prospect of foundations in India? in other countries? Right now we have two houses in Italy—in Vigne and in Montalenghe—and one in India. In future, God willing, we would like to open a house in the USA as many vocations are coming from there, thanks to large families. Any wishes you wish to extend to the American readers? If I have to summarize our sentiments, it would be “God bless America!” Americans are universally known for their generosity and here it is no different. And so we are truly grateful for all you do for us. As the numbers of American vocations rise in our community, perhaps Americans have an added duty if I may say it on the lighter note. Seriously, we truly depend on your assistance, and as you are already aware, your contribution goes a long way and it truly helps us to do what we are doing. Any last word? “Wherever Christianity is hated by the world, what really counts is not the power of persuasion but nobility of heart.” And nobility precisely manifests itself in the unflinching courage to do the duty of our life well. And of course, let us offer to the Heart of Jesus those consolations which He deserves. This may not be a ‘fashionable thing” according to the standards of the world. But what is offered in our heart— unknown by the world and to the world—is what truly counts. Thank you father for your interest in our apostolate and I humbly beg the prayers of yours and of your readers. 29 Theme India How to Be a Missionary By Fr. Therasian Xavier A Meditative Lesson from a Great Master St. Francis Xavier is “a model of missionaries of all times and all places” (Pope Pius XI). More particularly is he the patron and exemplar of missionaries in India, the one country where he spent the greatest part of his brief missionary career—nearly five years out of ten. The prodigious success of his apostolic labor, whose effects last till our own day, invites one to reflect on the secret source of his missionary achievements. Perhaps we may not have the same vocation as he did, but then we all are called, religious and laity alike—to be the “light of the world” and “salt of the earth.” We may not have the duty to evangelize the whole world, but can we say we have no duty at all? How about 30 The Angelus May - June 2020 towards our own family circle, friends, the place where we work and county where we live? Let us have a brief look at the footprints of one of the greatest missionaries. Tradidi Quod et Accepi The most striking feature in St. Francis Xavier’s missionary life is undoubtedly his untiring activity. He was always on the move. Always busy: travelling, preaching, teaching, studying, planning, deciding, baptizing, receiving people, listening, advising, encouraging, reprimanding, writing. No moment of his day was wasted. One often wonders where he found time for meals and rest. But St. Francis Xavier paid no heed to his own person, convenience or health. One ideal had gripped him totally: Christ must be preached, His kingdom extended. This dream of his was the driving power of his relentless activity. He passed through the East “a Saint in a hurry,” the missionary explorer of regions to be won for Christ: India, the Moluccas, Japan, China. His missionary career was brief, but how much he achieved! “Consummatus in brevi explevit tempora multa.” My apostolic life too must be one of intense activity. No moment of time may go waste: “fugit irreparabile tempus.” No talent of the lord gave me may be left unused. There should be no room in my day, week, or month for idleness. St. Francis Xavier’s example teaches the value of time. Do I waste time in useless talk, visiting, reading, idling? Another lesson: It is not enough just to keep occupied, more or less lazily, choosing the occupations I prefer rather than what is most needed and important. Today, as much as in St. Francis Xavier’s time, perhaps even more, there is urgency in the work for God’s cause. The whole world is anti-Catholic. Period. Catholicism is being crushed. The restless and feverish activity of those in the other camp is a timely incentive to intense action. What are we doing? Moderation is no doubt needed, in order that we may last. But moderation is a dangerous slogan. St. Francis Xavier did not know it. It should be no smoke-screen for laziness. Even our rest and relaxation can and should serve our apostolic action. 31 Theme India Credidimus Caritati If we analyze the lives of any great missionary—we always see underneath their frenzy of activity, a beautiful source of energy. Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a great missionary bishop of our times could say towards his end “Tradidi quod et accepi.” This is how his missionary life ended. But where did it begin? Credidimus Caritati—that intense love of God. This universal love of effective charity is found in the Gospel. Yes, the last word of Our Lord is “Go and preach” but it began with “come and see.” Contemplation of charity is absolutely necessary for any missionary. St. Francis Xavier was no less a contemplative than a man of action. On the high roads of the East he was not less a contemplative than was the other Patron of missionaries, St. Therese of Lisieux, in her cell and cloister. He was, and no one who lived with him failed to be struck by it, a man of God, homo Dei—a saint, as they called him. It was said of him: “semper ridet et numquam ridet”; he always shows spiritual joy, the kindness and cheerfulness attendant on charity; but he never pours himself out on creatures, he is always recollected. His was a permanent spirit of prayer. Ejaculations—“O sanctissima Trinitas! Bone Jesu, Creator meus!”—escaped his lips, even when he would have preferred his converse with God not to be noticed by others. This constant union with God—a passive divine gift, in his later years at any rate—had been prepared by regular long hours of prayer. Part of the night, of the time that could not be given to immediate missionary tasks, he spent in prayer; and so, he did with a great deal of his time in traveling, whether on land or on the high seas. His daily Mass was for him the acme of his intercourse with Christ his Lord. My activity too, as a baptized Catholic, must be steeped in contemplation, in union with God, else most of it is a waste. The life of action and the life of prayer must go hand in hand. My daily time of prayer—holy Mass with preparation and thanksgivings, meditation, rosary, spiritual reading: must be spent in actual prayer, not in dreaming distractedly, but in real and sincere surrender and raising of my heart to God. Outside of prayer time: recollectedness, 32 The Angelus May - June 2020 “virtual prayer,” founded in purity of intention in my every action. I ought to renew my intention now and then; I ought especially to be genuinely unselfish in my actions, seeking purely God and His interests, not mine. Ejaculatory prayers also: I may teach and advise this practice to others; but then I must, first follow it myself. Only when my action is thus supernaturalized can it be spiritually fruitful. In Actione Contemplativus St. Francis Xavier’s prayer penetrated his action in such manner that his very activity was for him a way to God. He found God in all things and in all persons. He was active as the minister and instrument of God whose hand held him without break, whose own power infused into his word and deed a spiritual efficiency for good. After St. Paul he could say, “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”—Is not this the secret of the wonderful spiritual success in his very active missionary life? Apostolic action is of its nature the activity of God’s instrument. He, not I, is the chief agent and cause. I am instrumentum, “quod motum movet”: I can effect nothing except in the very measure that I am moved on by God. Apostolic action, missionary labor, is essentially subordinate to, dependent on, the Lord’s actual influence. Not only in the properly sacramental action in which Christ Himself acts through His minister. Also, in our daily activities, I must lead my family, guide my fellow workers, give others an example of Christian virtue, encourage the discouraged, all these, not in my own name, but in His. Such is the ideal, such it should be. And in reality? Do I guide, direct, decide, as Christ’s instrument, after consulting Him in prayer, according to His intentions, under the constant guidance of His Spirit? Only then can my action be instrumental for spiritual results. We have a world bigger than at the time of St. Francis Xavier to save. May St. Francis Xavier obtain for me a share in the missionary flame that burnt him and that came straight from the heart of God. Let us be mission-minded Catholic. Spirituality Reading St. John Part Three: Signs By Pater Inutilis We understand what is meant by a “sign”: that which, when known, makes known something other than itself. So, when we come to see “red,” we may think, according to the context, “stop,” or of a particular political party or a sports club, or quite a number of other things. In a religious context, the same may signify martyrdom, the Holy Ghost, or the cardinalate. God Himself has instituted signs we all know well in the New Testament: the seven sacraments are signs which convey a divine grace which they precisely signify. In the Old Testament, God also gave signs. These could be of a general nature as when He decreed: “Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years” (Gen. 1:14). In this case, “signs” is generally understood “to be for navigational purposes.” These signs could also be of a particular nature: evidence of divine intervention. The Example of Moses Here is an instance of this latter. When Moses was hesitating about accepting his mission and going to the children of Israel as God’s spokesman, whether he would be believed to be such or not, God allowed him to produce two “signs” of his mission: he would be able to cast his rod to the ground and turn it into a serpent, and to put his hand to his bosom once and again, making it leprous and curing it. “If they will not believe thee, saith he, nor hear the voice of the former sign, they will believe the word of the latter sign” (Ex. 4:8). A miracle is obviously a 33 Spirituality sign of divine intervention. But God has a special purpose in working miracles. Before promising Moses the power to work miracles, God had already promised him a “sign”: “Moses said to God: Who am I that I should go to Pharao, and should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? And he said to him: I will be with thee: and this thou shalt have for a sign that I have sent thee: When thou shalt have brought my people out of Egypt, thou shalt offer sacrifice to God upon this mountain” (Ex. 3:11 ff). This means that all the miracles and plagues I will do on your behalf to have you set free will be a sign that I am your God and you are my people, whose sacrifice is pleasing to Me. St. John, as we know, understood well the scriptures (Lk. 24 :45). From them he took his use of the word “sign.” This was his favorite word rather than “miracle” which has another connotation. What we call a “miracle” comes from the Latin “miraculum” and signifies something that causes wonder, admiration. Miraculum is not found at all in our Vulgate version of the Gospels. What the Rheims translation gives us as “miracle” is given us, in the synoptic Gospels of the Vulgate, mostly as “virtutes” and exclusively as ‘‘signa”—signs, in the fourth Gospel. The first three Gospels cover very much the same subject matter in a similar way: they may be written in parallel columns, giving a comprehensive view, a “synopsis,” of the whole. The fourth Gospel, having much that is unique to it, does not lend itself to being a part of the same overview. Virtutes— works of power—are surely miracles. But St. John 34 The Angelus May - June 2020 sees more to miracles. They are signs not only confirming divine teaching but also illustrating it; and so he will call them “signs,” and so shall we too here, the more closely to follow his thought. “This beginning of signs—hoc initium signorum—did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him” (Jn. 2:11). St. John puts this turning of water into wine into relation with another miracle, that of healing a ruler’s son: “This again is the second sign that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judea into Galilee” (Jn. 4:54). Between these two there had been many other “signs”: “When he was at Jerusalem, at the Pasch, upon the festival day, many believed in his name, seeing his signs which he did” (Jn. 2:23). “Rabbi,” Nicodemus would say to him, “we know that thou art come a teacher from God; for no man can do these signs which thou dost, unless God be with him” (Jn. 3:2). Therefore, the miracle at Cana is an appeal to our faith. “Jesus manifested His glory.” In other words, He has power over nature, and thus this power comes from God. Likewise, He is empowered to preach in God’s name. What is demanded from us is faith as Christ requested from the ruler whose son was sick (Jn. 4:48-50), and this faith that can ever increase (Jn. 4:47, 50, 53). But what is especially notable in the fourth Gospel is its interest in Our Lord’s discourses: long passages of His teachings which are among the most sublime. From the miracles of Our Lord that he could relate, St. John chooses those which he sees Christ having performed in conjunction with this teaching, the better to found and explain those which are truly “signs.” So, for example, chapter five contains much of what Our Lord says about giving life, but this is preceded by Him restoring fullness of life to a man who had been infirm for 38 years (Jn. 5:5). “Firstly,” comments St. Thomas Aquinas, “He puts forth a visible sign in which Christ’s power to give and restore life is manifested, according to the manner of this Gospel, in which to the teaching of Christ is always joined some visible doing, accommodated to the subject of the teaching, so that things invisible may be known from things visible.” The Miracle of the Loaves This method of presenting Our Lord’s teaching of our evangelist becomes only more evident in the following chapters. Chapter six begins with the miracle of the multiplication of loaves, although we should call it more properly a sign, as does St. John, “These men, when they had seen what a sign—quod Jesus fecerat signum—Jesus had done, said…” (Jn. 6:14). Apart from His own resurrection, this is the only miracle narrated by all four evangelists. Why does St. John repeat this one after his three predecessors? It is because Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself used this miracle as the occasion for His long discourse on the “Bread of Life’’ that He would give the following day in the synagogue at Capharnaum. The divine multiplication of loaves, as the manna to which Christ referred in His discourse, illustrates, and in some way helps understand this mystery of the Eucharist. Then, after having said: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12), Our Lord, in chapter nine, goes on to heal one born blind, and continues with a discussion of spiritual blindness. This healing is a sign: “How can a man that is a sinner do such signs?” (Jn. 9:16). In chapter ten, there is a question of giving life (Jn. 10:9; 10:28). This is followed by chapter eleven and the raising back to life of Lazarus, a “sign” of this doctrine (Jn. 11:47; 12:18). St. John, the eagle amongst the four living creatures, is inviting us to look higher, to the divine purpose behind such marvels. It is not unknown, of course, to the synoptic Gospels that miracles could be signs of things more transcendent. There is notably the instance of what Our Lords calls “the sign of Jonas.” This is very interesting. St. Paul tells us: “He rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (I Cor. 15:14). Where in the scriptures is it prophesied that He would rise on the third day? It is written in the book of Jonas, and it is what Jonas’ three days in the belly of the whale really mean (though I dare say he would never have guessed it!). Thus Jesus Christ: “As Jonas was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights” (Mt. 12:40). If Our Lord called this “the sign of Jonas,” it was to emphasize that what happened to the prophet foremostly prefigured something quite other and quite divine. This, we remember, is the allegorical sense, and a prophecy by deed moreover. Another mention of “the third day” is given us by St. Thomas Aquinas and our Good Friday liturgy, when they evoke the prophet Osee (6:3): “(the Lord) will strike, and he will cure us. He will revive us after two days: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.” The literal sense here is the national and religious revival of Israel after the exile, with the three days signifying three moments (Lk. 13:31ff), but the sense would still be “prophecy by deed” and “allegorical.” Back to St. John. “A great sign appeared in the heaven: a woman clothed with the sun…” (Apoc. 12:1). Did St. John see the Mother of God? And if he did, did she herself signify Holy Mother Church? Yet, it cannot be said of the Blessed Mother that “she cried travailing in birth and was in pain to be delivered” (Apoc. 12:2), whereas that is very much the case with the members of the Mystical Body. On the other hand, other details are proper to Our Lady: Her Son a ruler, on the throne of God (Apoc. 12:5). All in all, St. John’s writings invite us to scrutinize humbly what Jesus Christ “signified, sending by his angel to his servant John” (Apoc. 1:1). 35 Spirituality The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: The Offertory Part Three By Fr. Christopher Danel In this article we examine the Oblation or Offering of the Chalice, presenting the work of Msgr. Nicholas Gihr in his fundamental liturgical commentary The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: Dogmatically, Liturgically, and Ascetically Explained. Msgr. Gihr was a priest of Freiburg in Breisgau whose work of liturgical research took place during the time frame spanning the pontificates of Popes Pius IX to Pius XI, including that of Pope Saint Pius X. The early years of his work were contemporaneous with the last years in the work of Dom Prosper Guéranger. (The English translation of his study appeared in 1902; the original is: Gihr, Nikolaus. Messopfer dogmatisch, liturgisch und aszetisch erklärt. Herder: Freiburg im Breisgau, 1877.) Preparation of the Chalice In a manner similar to the Host, the chalice also is dedicated and offered to the Heavenly Father; and the offering is preceded by the preparation. This comprises the pouring of the wine into the chalice, as well as the mixing of it with a little water which was previously blessed by the Sign of the Cross. In the early history of the Roman Rite, the cross was 36 The Angelus May - June 2020 made by pouring the water into the chalice in the form of a cross (Ordo Romanus I). The symbol of mixing the wine and water is here to be considered, in order to arrive at the reason and the meaning of the use of the Sign of the Cross, which is omitted only in Requiem Masses. It is asked why the Sign of the Cross is made over the water only and not over the wine, and why in Requiem Masses the blessing of the water also is omitted. The most reliable explanation rests on the symbolic meaning to be found in the mingling of the wine and water. The wine symbolizes Christ, who has no need of a blessing and to whom no advantage accrues from His union with the people; hence the wine is not blessed. The water symbolizes the faithful, who greatly need divine grace and to whom accrues, from their union with Christ, the greatest gain. This is expressed by the use of the Sign of the Cross that is made over the water before it is mingled with the wine. The Sign of the Cross, therefore, does not apply so much to the water itself, as to the people signified by the water. This, consequently, explains why the Sign of the Cross is omitted in Requiem Masses. The whole Requiem Mass rite aims at giving to the departed souls the greatest possible assistance, hence much is omitted which refers to that fruit which those present, namely, the living, generally derive from the Mass. Thus, for example, the celebrant at the Introit makes the Sign of the Cross not over himself, but over the book, which here in a certain way represents the suffering souls, and at the conclusion of the Mass he does not bestow the blessing on those present. For the same reason, at the Offertory he omits to bless the water, that is, the people symbolized by the water. The prayer recited at the mixing of the water with the wine is as follows: O God, who in creating human nature, hast wonderfully dignified it and still more wonderfully reformed it: grant that by the mystery of this water and wine, we may be made partakers of the divine nature of Him, who vouchsafed to become partaker of our human nature, Jesus Christ, our Lord Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen. The foregoing prayer, which occurs in the ancient Sacramentaries as a Christmas Collect, contains in part the mystical meaning of the mingling of the water and wine. In it we beg for that participation in the divine nature, which is an exceedingly consoling and elevating mystery. It consists in this: poor, frail human nature, by the communication of heavenly gifts and graces, is elevated to a supernatural state, endowed with inestimable riches and clothed with incomparable beauty. Hence the holy Fathers speak of a deification of man (deificatio), whereby they understand a supernatural, mystical, blissful union with and resemblance to God. “They in whom the Holy Ghost dwells become deified” (St. Athanasius). To participate in the divine life, in the divine glory of Jesus Christ, we, therefore, pray, saying: per hujus aquae et vini mysterium, that is, by the mystery which is represented by the present mingling of water and wine. This mystery is manifold: at one time it represents the Incarnation and the Redemption (the issue of water and blood from Christ’s pierced Heart. These two mysteries are the original source of all grace for us: only because the Son of God assumed human nature and sacrificed His life in death for us, have we been made the children of God, co-heirs and associates in the glory of Jesus Christ. Another mystery signified in the mixing of wine and water is the mystical union of the faithful with Christ principally as accomplished in the reception of the Eucharist. By this union with the Head, divine life diffuses itself throughout the members, as from the stock of the vine the vivifying and fructifying sap flows on to the branches. The more intimately we become incorporated with Christ by means of the holy Sacrament, the nearer we draw to the fountain of all graces, and the more plentifully are they diffused in our soul. That we may be the more readily heard, we gratefully acknowledge, in support and confirmation of the above petition, the exceedingly great mercy the Lord has shown us in the boon both of our creation and of our redemption. Therefore, we implore that the work which God has wonderfully begun, He may mercifully complete in us by imparting to us the divine life of grace here below and of glory hereafter. The Oblation of the Chalice The priest raises the chalice, as though he would present it to God; but here the celebrant does not cast down his eyes, as at the offering of the Host, but he keeps them fixed on the Crucifix all the while that he is offering the chalice. The reason lies in the accompanying 37 Spirituality offering prayer, with which this raising of the eyes harmonizes, since the prayer contains the petition that the sacrificial offering “may ascend as an agreeable odor” to the throne of the Most High, and since, moreover, the offering prayer does not peculiarly and expressly remind the celebrant of his unworthiness. Before the priest puts down the chalice, he makes the Sign of the Cross with it over the altar, to signify that in the chalice and upon the altar that same Precious Blood is offered which was shed on the wood of the holy Cross. The Offering Prayer We offer unto Thee, O Lord, the Chalice of salvation, beseeching Thy clemency, that it may ascend before Thy divine Majesty, as a sweet odor for our salvation, and for that of the whole world. Amen. What Is Offered? As the above prayer shows, “the Chalice of salvation” is here offered. Although the Chalice now contains merely the wine mixed with water, it is yet called the chalice of salvation, that is, a chalice bringing salvation, for the reason that the sacrificial wine will soon be changed into the sacrificial Blood of Christ. In the offering of the chalice there is, at the same time, contained the petition that the Lord would change the wine into Christ’s Blood, and graciously and agreeably accept this Blood from our hands. These two ideas are comprised in the words that “the Chalice may ascend as a sweet odor” to Heaven. Only the consecrated chalice is truly a “chalice of salvation,” as it contains that divine Blood which was shed on the Cross as a sacrifice and a ransom. The chalice becomes the sacrificial cup in which the Precious Blood of Christ, this source of salvation and life, gushes forth new and fresh every day. In the chalice we offer that sacred Blood which once flowed through the members of the Savior’s body, and which gave Him strength to love, to labor and to suffer for us, that divine 38 The Angelus May - June 2020 Blood which throughout eternity flows in and out of the Heart of Jesus. In the chalice is offered that Blood which has brought eternal salvation to all the elect; for in heaven the blessed stand around the throne of the Lamb of God, singing unto Him: “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God in Thy Blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign on the earth” (Apoc. 5:10). Who Offers the Chalice of Salvation? The priest says here offerimus “we offer,” while at the offering of the Host he said offero “I offer.” The priest stands at the altar as the representative and authorized agent of the Church; therefore, he offers the Host, as well as the Chalice, in the name of all the faithful, and they, especially those who are present, offer in conjunction with the priest. This participation of the faithful in the celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice is now made expressly prominent, when it is said in the plural (offerimus), and this is frequently the case in the Canon. But why just at the offering of the Chalice is the cooperation of the faithful expressed? The reason for it we find usually in the incident where by the mingling of the water with the wine in the Chalice, the union of the faithful with Christ in the Communion of Sacrifice has just been symbolically represented, and this union is, therefore, now suitably expressed in the offering of the Chalice. It is also affirmed, that the plural offerimus refers to the priest and deacon, who in Solemn High Masses offers the Chalice with the celebrant and recites the prayer with him. For What Purpose Is it Offered? We offer the Chalice “for our salvation and for that of the whole world.” The Holy Mass is, in the first place, a means of grace and salvation for the children of the Church, who most of all receive in bountiful measure of the fruit of the Sacrifice. But the Church prays and offers that all may be saved, and may attain unto the knowledge of the truth. In the Mass, as on the Cross, Christ is, “the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for those also of the whole world” (I John 2:2). The Lord God “scents the sweet savor of the Sacrifice” (Gen. 8:21), that is offered daily on thousands and thousands of altars “for the salvation of the world.” Unceasingly does the Church offer Christ’s Sacrifice from the rising to the setting of the sun, every day and at every hour, without interruption and without end. As the sun advances in its course, shedding light and life, so also in the same round with it daily travels the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, diffusing around the earth spiritual life in the Church and in its members as it is offered up. At the morning’s dawn, priests ascend the altar to offer the Holy Sacrifice, then hour after hour other priests succeed them and to these others still in every country wherein the Church has followers, the offering of Sacrifice goes on until the daily cycle is completed and to the last link is joined the first in the sacrificial chain and the perpetual Sacrifice continues anew. This is the true eternal fire that is never extinguished, the sacrificial fire which burns day and night in the sanctuary in honor of the Almighty. This is the eternal High Priesthood, the perpetually offered Sacrifice of the High Priest. Without ceasing does it go up to Heaven, and without ceasing does God come down to the altar to become present in the Sacrament for our sakes, that we all and each one in particular may be partakers of this Sacrifice, and with it and in it of the whole plenitude of grace. Unceasingly does the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass fasten an eternally new bond between heaven and earth, between God and man. Truly the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a worship of God, such as He is deserving of a divinely ordained, true and perfect divine service of adoration and subjection to God, of contrition and reconciliation, of praise and thanksgiving, and of the glorification of the Savior invisibly and yet visibly enthroned among us on the altar; a divine service ever renewed and continued to the end of the world, when He shall come again in judgment amid the clouds of heaven with power and majesty. 39 Spirituality Divina Disponente By Pope Benedict XV Extract of the May 16, 1920 papal bull effecting the canonization of St. Joan of Arc. After going through the earlier life and exploits of Joan, Pope Benedict XV concludes his sermon with the poignant emprisonment and death of the saint. Meanwhile the Maid, trusting in Divine Providence, was supported by the lively hope that her imprisonment would not impede God’s plans to be fully accomplished. Therefore with a serene soul, before being sold to the English, she remained for about four months in the castle of Beaulieu; she was sent then to the castle of Beaurevoir: while there she found out that she had been sold to the English and, having heard that the city of Compiegne was about to be destroyed, she attempted to escape from prison, but with no success. Nonetheless she was consoled by celestial voices who predicted that 40 The Angelus May - June 2020 the city of Compiegne would be freed before the Feast of Saint Martin; which is what the events actually confirmed. Afterward she was taken to the castle of Crotoy, where, in the month of November, she was handed over to the English by the Duke of Borgogne. While she was staying in these castles, everyone admired her faith and devotion. Finally, in the month of December, she was transferred by the English to the castle of Rouen, where the wicked trial against her started. The English harbored a deadly hate against Joan and wished her death at any cost, because she had come to the aid of the most Christian King of France, and they feared her especially because of his victories attained because of her; and, having understood that in France the Maid was considered as one sent by God, they plotted to send her to be burned at the stake, under the accusation of being a witch. Not long before, they had already condemned to the stake a poor woman in Paris, only because the woman had said that the Maid was a saint and had acted driven by the will of God. Since the aim of the trial was also to dishonor the King of France, the English took great care to have Joan also covered by ignominy and be condemned as a heretic, thus decreeing the death of the Maid before her trial. The English King, Henry VI, on January 3, 1431 wrote to the judges that, if perchance Joan were not condemned as a heretic and witch, he reserved to himself the right to hold her. So the judges, for their own safety, asked and obtained a letter of protection by the King of England. All the witnesses of that time, when interrogated, declared in sincerity that the trial had been set up “by the will and under the pressure of the English,” who always kept Joan under their surveillance and did not allow that she be guarded in the ecclesiastical prisons. Some historian, almost contemporary, wrote that the passion of the Maid started at the trial. Eyewitnesses reported that she was in prison, with iron fetters, locked in an iron cage with neck, hands, and feet restrained; the custodians of her prison were awful men, with no respect and sullied with stains of vices of any sort. According to not a small number of eyewitnesses, this trial, which lasted four months, was not only unfair, but also faulty and null. During that time the behavior of the Maid was really admirable: she, who was less than twenty years old, exhibited such tranquility in her soul, and answered the questions of the judges with so much prudence, that all looked at her with marvel. The witnesses, regarding her faith and devotion during this time, declared that she always asked if she could attend Mass, especially in the days of obligation, and also receive the most holy Eucharist, and she was very sorry if these spiritual consolations were denied to her. During this same trial the Maid fell ill and the English were caught by a great fear that she might die of natural death, so that many doctors were sent to her, one of whom, among other things, affirms: “The King had bought her at high price and he did not wish her to die except by court verdict, and by being burned alive.” After she regained her health, but not yet strong enough, the trial resumed in haste. Joan’s answers over and over again stated that she was willing to submit completely to the judgment of the Roman Catholic Church, but the judges contended that she should submit to them, as the Church’s representatives. When asked if she would submit to the Lord the Pope, she answered yes to the Pope, but not to the judges there present because they were his mortal enemies. This very answer, foreseen by the same judges, became the basis of the accusation, since it was falsely misrepresented as if Joan did not wish to submit to the Church. Another charge for prosecution was alleged by the judges to be her visions and revelations, which they stated were from an evil spirit, and particularly those male clothes, which Joan said she had worn by divine command. These accusations were collected in twelve clauses and some men, especially from the University of Paris, extremely hostile to the Maid, although unaware of the trial, expressed their opinion against Joan. However, in France, others who defended her with all their might were not lacking: in fact, many requests for her liberation were issued. After all, the nullity and the malice of the trial were indeed very clear so much so that when the most renowned priest John Lohier, Dean of the Roman Rota, arrived from Normandy to the city of Rouen, when asked his opinion about the trial of the Maid, in the presence of the Bishop, he affirmed that it was null for various reasons. After this, other highly qualified men, also important for their ecclesiastical rank, proved very clearly the injustice and nullity of the trial and, for love of truth, and to give honor to them, we should like to remember Cardinal Elias de Bordeille, Bishop of Perigueux, John Gerson, Teodoro de Lellis, Examiner of the Sacred Roman Rota, Pontano, Lawyer of the Sacred Consistory, and other most distinguished jurists. Until the end of the trial, and even in the 41 Spirituality presence of the executioner, the Maid never wished to deny her visions and revelations, despite the fact that the judges used any stratagem to have her reject them as false. It was indeed very important for the English to have her declare her visions and revelations as false and untrue before being condemned; in fact, if she remained resolute in her depositions, people would always firmly think that her mission had been received from God. That is why the judges, to achieve their aim, as a last resort, exposed her to the view of the people and of the executioner. So on May 24 of the same year 1431, Joan was brought into the square of the sepulcher of Saint-Owen, where, on a platform built for this purpose, there were the Bishop with the Cardinal of Winchester, the judges, the doctors, and many others. The Maid was placed on a stand facing everyone, where she could see also her executioner on a carriage in the street waiting for the sentence that the body of Joan be burned. But, before that, Nicholas Loyseleur, who perfidiously betrayed the Maid, told her that she would be spared from death if she did what was being asked of her. Master William Erard started a speech, and against the King of France, among other things, said the following: “O Kingdom of France, you are thought of and called most Christian, and your Kings and Princes also most Christian: but now, by your doing, Joan, even your King, who calls himself the King of France, by following you and believing your words, has become heretical and schismatic.” The Maid, in her humility, said nothing about herself, but wanted to defend the King for being himself a good Christian; the above-mentioned Master imposed silence on Joan and ended his speech. But the Maid affirmed she had done nothing wrong, that she believed in the twelve articles of the Faith and in the Ten Commandments, and that she had always believed all that the Holy Church of God believed; at that point the Bishop told Joan that the Bishops were judges in their own dioceses and therefore she had to submit to them. Meanwhile Master Erard handed the sheet of abjuration to the Maid to have it signed, but Joan declared: “Let this paper be examined by the clergy and by the Church, in whose hands I have 42 The Angelus May - June 2020 to be put, and if they will recommend me to sign it and to do what it is asked in it of me, I will do it willingly.” Master Erard in reply to her: “Do it now, otherwise your days will be ended today in the fire.” He went on by starting the reading of the sentence to death. Joan, exhausted, terrified by the threats, astounded by so many suggestions and exhortations, was forced to capitulate, submitting to the conscience of the judges. At this point they read to her a small list of abjurations, in which they required her not to wear man’s clothes, not to carry weapons and stuff of that sort. If more had been asked in this writing, especially regarding the visions and revelations of the Maid, the judges feared that her conscience would make her withdraw from what she had just accepted. But instead of the list, which, according to the testimony of John Massieu and others there present, consisted of about eight lines and no more, during the trial a much longer one was substituted instead. Furthermore, as Joan was illiterate, she traced a circle with a cross in the middle, as a mockery, on the list handed to her. Then she asked the Prosecutor if she would be put in the hands of the Church, as promised; on the contrary, she was sentenced to life in prison in the same castle of Rouen, under English custody. At that point a great turmoil ensued among the present, and many stones were thrown. On Thursday afternoon, May 24, when the Maid, in feminine clothes, returned to the same jail, she had to suffer much at the hands of the English, who tormented her in many ways, and they were so irate, also against the judges, that, three days later, when some of the judges entered the castle to see Joan, they were pushed back by them with drawn swords. Meanwhile the Maid wore again male clothes, to better protect her virginity; in fact she was violently tempted by the guards and also by a man in high position. When asked by the judges about the reason why she was wearing male clothes again, she answered that she did it to defend her purity. When asked if she had had more visions, Joan answered in all sincerity to have been scolded by the celestial voices because of her abjuration, which she declared to have done under violence and for fear, and whose meaning actually she had not even understood. Lastly, when asked if she desired to wear female clothes, she said she was ready to do it under the condition of being retained in a safe place. On May 29 the judges met, and the death of the Maid was decreed, on the accusation of being a repeat offender. The day after, early in the morning, two priests were sent by the Bishop to Joan in jail to prepare her for death. The poor girl, hearing that she was condemned to be burned, started crying for men’s malice, capable of burning her virginal body. But immediately she lifted up her anguished soul putting her every hope and trust in God. After receiving the Sacrament of Penance, she herself asked for the Holy Eucharist, then surrounded by about 800 English soldiers, she was taken to the square of the old market; on a sheet of paper affixed above her head was written: “Heretic, Witch, Apostate, Recidivist.” Along the way, while pouring devout tears, she kept recommending her soul to God and to the Saints with so much devotion that moved to tears all who heard her. In the square were three platforms, two for the judges and the prelates, and a third one with the wood for burning Joan. When arrived in the square, dressed with a long gown, as she had asked, in front of a large multitude of people, she listened to the speech of Master Nicolò Midi, who, after he finished, told the Maid: “Go in peace, the Church delivers you now into secular hands.” Some of the council members rightly asked for the formula of the abjuration to be read again, to no avail; rather, the sentence of death was immediately delivered without the opinion of the secular judge, so, taken with great violence by the armed English, she was lead to the execution. The Maid, on her knees, renewed prayers to God; she asked forgiveness to all, and asked the priests to celebrate each of them a Mass for her soul. She asked for a little cross which an Englishman on the site made out of two wood-sticks; after kissing it with great devotion, Joan placed it on her breast. But she asked also for a cross from the Church, and she got it. Then, after greeting farewell to all the people there, she was pressed by the executioner to climb the wooden pile, in the shape of an ambone, and the executioner started the fire from underneath. In this supreme hour, the Maid well understood the prediction of her liberation, which she had heard from celestial voices: “Bear willingly everything: do not worry and do not be scared for your martyrdom: you will enter the realm of Paradise.” She clearly understood that death had been given to her because of her mission and, recommending herself with all her strength not only to the most holy Virgin Mary, but also to blessed Michael the Archangel, to blessed Catherine and all the Saints, up to the last instant of her life she declared that all she did was according to the will of God. She begged the father confessor to lift the cross of the Lord, so she could see it; which he did; and Joan, hugging it while pouring abundant tears, with great devotion kissed it until, continuously invoking in the midst of the flames the Most Holy Name of Jesus, she expired. The holy death of the Maid raised the admiration of all, to the point that also her enemies got very scared, and the executioner himself declared that Joan had been condemned to death unjustly and that he feared very much for himself, because he had burned a holy woman. And soon prodigies happened. In fact many in the crowd saw the name of Jesus written within the flames that burned Joan, and an Englishman, very much hostile to the Maid, who had said he wished to be the one to light the fire, watching her die, remained in awe and immobile, revealing afterwards to have seen a dove flying through the flames. Moreover, the heart of the Maid remained intact and bleeding, which was confirmed by the executioner himself. But the English wanted her heart to be thrown in the river Seine, together with Joan’s ashes, not to have people claim her relics. Finally God, vindicator of innocence and justice, inflicted many punishments on the wicked ones; in fact, all who were responsible for the martyrdom of Joan died a horrible death; moreover, as the Maid had predicted, the English were thrown out of the city of Paris, then out from Normandy, from Aquitania, and from the whole of France. 43 Spirituality St. Joan of Arc By Charles Péguy She was of the people and Christian, a Saint. She was most certainly, in a sense, a woman at arms. One might almost say, a warrior. She was unquestionably a very great military leader. She was a flower of the Christian race and of the French race, a flower of Christendom, a flower of all heroic virtues. Possessing the Virtues Whatever may be the powers of the living springs, whatever may be the devices and the perpetual emission and effusion, whatever may be the inexhaustible innovations of grace, at the same time there indubitably exists a certain technique, a certain blessed hierarchic arrangement, as it were professional, a 44 The Angelus May - June 2020 framework and a skeleton almost of the trade, a certain blessed professional hierarchy of heroic virtue and saintliness. There are degrees which are the very degrees of the Throne. To the first degree, Joan of Arc possessed in their fullness the virtues of war, which are not small. I mean to say by that, very expressly and very properly, that she entered into the game of war and into the risk of war fully, without any restriction, without any intervention, without any interposition on the part of divine protection. She obeyed, she accomplished a divine mission proper in a human world without having felt a corresponding divine protection proper. She had received the commandment, she had received the vocation, she had received the mission. She obeyed, she carried out the commandment, she responded to the vocation, she accomplished her mission. She passed to the achievement, to the accomplishment of her mission in the midst of a hard (and tender) humanity, in a world, in a Christendom hard and tender, herself being gentle and firm, strong, gentle, sometimes apparently hard. Apparently harsh. During her whole mission, which extended into her captivity, she received constant assistance of counsel from her “voices” and an abundance of graces of which we can have no idea. The day of her death she received a grace which perhaps was never given similarly and to such an extent to any other saint, so that the day of her death already was no longer for her the last day of life on earth but literally, really, already the first day of her eternal life. But after all, with this mission, with this vocation, with all these graces, with all these gifts, with this constant presence of counsel, she never received either the grace, or the gift, or the counsel, or any privilege of being invulnerable. She waged war, exposed to all the accidents of war. She, like everybody else, waged a war like everybody else. Less fortunate than many saints, less fortunate than many prophets even, and many rulers of the people of Israel, she did not find fighting beside her the angels who assisted her with their counsels, or the saints. Never have the words of Jesus—“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father and He shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?”— never have they been so fully accomplished in a saint, and here we meet again with this vocation, this unique election, this unique imitation by which one can say that of all the saints, she it was to whom certainly it was given that her life and her Passion and her death should most closely imitate the life and the Passion and the death of Jesus. Twelve legions of angels. She did not ask for them any more than He did. She never asked for them. This counsel, which she had, which was like the consequence, like the natural sequence of the commandment, of the vocation, like the natural sequence, supernatural and natural, coming from the same voices, borne by the same agency, this counsel which she had and had still, almost familiarly, so to speak, for her use as daily prayer, this habitual counsel like morning and evening prayer, she asked for often and asked for it again. Supernatural, direct, physical help in war, assistance in war, supernatural troops of war which she did not have, she never asked for. The Palms of Martyrdom It would seem that never had the King of Heaven wished so expressly as in the person of this great saint that one of His daughters should win of herself the palms of martyrdom. She knew it. Not only was she not protected, she was not ensured against sickness and against wounds and against military defeat, but also she knew that she was not ensured against sickness and against wounds and against military defeat. She accomplished a divine task through merely human means. She carried out a divine commandment through strictly human means. She responded to a divine vocation through exclusively human means, by a work, by a military war, by operations, by efforts strictly human. This is what gives her a place apart, a most eminent place in the hierarchy of sanctities. Let us also note, let us note further that the substance in which this sanctity had to be exerted was the most extraordinary, the farthest removed from the habitual order, one might almost say the most foreign to habitual substances of sanctity. And even that one most contrary and hostile to the habitual substances of sanctity. Among all saints she it was who was truly sent on a mission extraordinary. By these two commandments she has a unique place in the hierarchy of sanctities, she is holy and blessed among all saints while at the same time through the first commandment she is a woman among all the saints. If, on the other hand, one wishes to consider her, no longer in her order of sanctity, but in her order of humanity, who does not immediately perceive that in this order she is a unique woman? A unique being. For if one wishes, she is of the race of saints, and if one wishes, she is of the race of heroes. Coming from God and returning to God and constantly receiving assistance of counsel from her voices, in all her being she 45 Spirituality is a saint. She is of the race of saints. But in this hard humanity of the fifteenth century, and of all the centuries, accomplishing by purely human means such an array of purely human exploits in a purely human war, in all of this purely human action, through all her externally directed action, through her whole engagement of body and soul in military action, in an entire action of war, by her entire condition, by her entire active being she is a hero, she is of the race of heroes. Now, not only are the race of heroes and the race of saints not identical, but they are two scarcely or ill-connected races. One might almost say that they do not care for each other, that they do not like to keep company together, that they are embarrassed to be in one another’s company. There is something inexpressibly profound and which should be fathomed, through which the race of heroes and the race of saints stand in some inexpressibly deep contradiction. There are perhaps no two races of men that are so profoundly foreign one to the other, so far removed one from the other, so antithetical one to the other as are the race of heroes and the race of saints. Doubtless one would discover that this profound contradiction merely manifests, but under a form, perhaps under its sharpest form, under its eminent form, that eternal contradiction of the temporal and the eternal. Now Joan of Arc, precisely because she exerted her saintliness in purely human trials, by purely human means, precisely because she had remained entirely vulnerable in battle, vulnerable to sickness, vulnerable to wounds, vulnerable to capture, vulnerable to death, vulnerable to defeat and to all defeat, fully exposed like an ancient hero to all warlike adventure, precisely for this reason she is of the race of heroes as she is of the race of saints. And as in the race of saints she is not only a saint among all saints and a woman among all saints, so in a parallel manner, so in the race of heroes, she is a hero among all heroes and a woman. She is not less eminent in the heroic hierarchy than in the sacred hierarchy. And thus, she is at a point of intersection unique in the history of humanity. Two races meet in her that meet nowhere else. By a unique intersection of these two races, by an election, by a vocation unique in the history of the world she is at once 46 The Angelus May - June 2020 saintly among all heroes, heroic among all the saints. A Concluding Word I do not believe that I have ever spoken of the Catholic world. I have often spoken of the Church, of communion. I do not feel truly myself, I do not really touch the bottom of my thought save when I write of Christendom. Only then I fully see what I say. Spirituality The Millstone and the Scandal of the Cross By a Benedictine monk When we think of the word “child,” we think of someone in the process of growth and transition from a fragile state to the state of an adult. The atmosphere in which God desires the child to grow is one of security and confidence. St. Benedict says in his Rule that human nature itself is drawn to pity towards old men and children. He asks that the rigor of the Rule not be applied to them and to have compassionate consideration for them (Ch. 37). Orphans have been the concern of religious orders for centuries. We will never know how many religious men and women have given their lives in order to care for abandoned children in this valley of tears. These religious men and women and the children they cared for, are certainly the intimate friends of God. They were worthy of the confidence manifested to them by the children they cared for. May they 48 The Angelus May - June 2020 also receive the eternal reward promised by Our Lord to those that show charity to the least of His children. The Innocence of Children Our Lord praised the innocence of children by teaching us that if we do not imitate their purity of heart, we will not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. “ …Unless you become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven.” … “Suffer the little children to come to Me and forbid them not.” The child also shows us the beautiful example of confidence towards those that represent God’s authority in their life, such as their parents, teachers and priests. Our Lord is extremely severe with those in a position of authority that abuse this confidence. According to the divine plan, God has chosen certain religious men and women to help the child grow in grace and virtue. Since the child’s soul was created to be able to receive God Himself, its value is infinite before God. The Precious Blood of Christ is poured out for the salvation of these little ones. When the priest or religious loses sight of God and his vocation, he is capable of seeing the child as an object that he can abuse and not as a soul reflecting God’s beauty. Our Lord says that it would be better for those that cause this horrible scandal to have a millstone attached to their necks and to be thrown into the sea. How many millstones would be necessary for the scandals of the past several decades? Our Lord also speaks about another type of scandal, the scandal of the Cross. It would seem that our Lord causes a type of scandal to those that refuse to follow His example. The Pharisees and the scribes, those of His own village, and many of the Jews were all scandalized because of His miracles on the Sabbath, His humble and poor origin and especially because of His passion and death on the cross. All those that refused to take up their cross daily and follow Him were scandalized. Today’s Scandals Perhaps we can draw a type of parallel with today’s terrible scandals that are causing such an upheaval in the Church. The priests and religious that were called by God to protect and instruct the souls confided to them unfortunately wounded them, becoming a major obstacle for their souls. “But woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men, for you yourselves do not enter in; and those that are going in, you suffer not to enter” (Mt. 23; 13). Some prelates seem to suggest that a type of “clericalism” causes scandal. The priest have too much authority and control over these souls. Others seem to accuse the parents for not keeping a close watch over their children. These positions seem to suggest that the problem is outside of the priest. The real root of the problem is the priest who is scandalized by the Cross. The idea of sacrifice in the New Mass has been greatly diminished. The logical consequence is that the priest has lost the notion of his personal sacrifice. The sacrifice of a perfectly chaste life flows from the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, which the priest celebrates everyday at Mass. Chastity, in the eyes of modern man, is identical to the scandal of the cross. Our Lord says to the disciples of St. John the Baptist: “…blessed is he that shall not be scandalized in Me.” If the cross of Christ does not scandalize him, the priest, at his daily Mass, is capable of offering the sacrifice of a chaste life united to Christ’s sacrifice of the cross. Money and lawsuits will never heal the souls of the victims, nor will they remove the millstone of sin from the neck of the guilty. When all seem to be useless, the words of St. Benedict often shed light. When all other corrections seemed to have failed concerning a rebellious brother, he tells us to have recourse to the most powerful of all weapons… prayer. Let us pray for the shattered lives of the victims and for the conversion of the souls of the priests, scandalized by a life of sacrifice, which is ultimately the scandal of the cross. 49 The Romanesque-Gothic cathedral of Bayeux is not the oldest, largest, or most impressive cathedral in France but it has a beautiful interior and a history that makes it well worth seeing. Most of the visible parts of the Bayeux Cathedral are Gothic but the church has a Romanesque core with even a few Carolingian elements in the crypt. Although Bayeux escaped the Second World War without any noteworthy damage, the exterior of the cathedral has not weathered the elements of the past few centuries too well. The interior with important Norman decorations is beautifully restored. Christian Culture Cathedral Notre-Dame of Bayeux By Dr. France-Marie Hilgar The Main Dates XIth century: The Norman Cathedral was consecrated in 1077. Only part of the front towers and the crypt remain as striking witnesses of that building, which was transformed during the following centuries. XIIth century: The typical decoration of the large arches and of the walls was made from 1142 to 1263. Then came the Gothic art; from this period still remain the enriched pillars of the nave, the doubling of the large arches, the ogive vaulted aisles, the southern doorway and the Chapter House (1165-1205). XIIIth century: the two Gothic spires were built in 1250; the choir (1230-1240); the north and south transept; the western doorway. XIVth century: chapels are built on the sides of 52 The Angelus May - June 2020 the aisles. XVth century: a lantern tower gave light to the transept in the Norman building. A graceful octagonal story was erected. XVIth century: The furniture which had been destroyed during the religious wars was restored. The choir stalls were carved in 1589. XVIIth century: The right side of the choir is surrounded by iron railings. XVIIIth century: The high altar, made of grey marble, adorned with golden bronze, is placed in the choir. In 1772, the choir is enclosed with five railings richly carved. The Bishop’s throne and the pulpit have also enriched the cathedral during the XVIIIth century. XIXth century: When the central tower was going to collapse, a most clever engineer boldly managed to rebuild the four piles of the cross-aisle on which it is based (1858). Being strengthened the tower is enriched with another octagonal story, on which is raised a brass dome supported by an iron frame. The nave is made of six bays. The large semicircular arcades of the lower story have not all the same span. The transition towards the high windows is showed by a row of four-leave trefoil and a string of graceful foliage all around the nave. south transept, the full archway adorning the wall does not reach the balustrade. Up to the trefoil line are some narrow trilobate archways of unequal height on the three walls. One can notice in the upper gallery six polychrome statues, representing the Apostles. Their most noble attitude and the folds of the garments tell us of most refined art. These statues of the XIIth century have been used later on when the transept was rebuilt. A Profusion of Sculptures The Structure of the Chapels Without any doubt, Bayeux Cathedral is famous above all for the extraordinary profusion of sculptures which adorn the walls of the nave, representing either traceries of net-work, or different circles in which are carved four-petaled flowers. The visitor can observe the fretted, or lozenged archivolts of the large arcades, and being most attentive can notice the capitals of some pillars from the old Norman building, with abacus-looking like painted draught-boards. On the last but one bay remains a nice corbel showing the place of the ancient organ. In this lovely harmony, the most interesting carved work are the embossments which can be seen in each corner stone. On the north side, a juggler with a monkey; a bishop who seems to crush a snake; a lion over which flies a dragon grasping a human head in its claws; another bishop giving his blessing. On the southern side we have a bearded man, a dragon, interlaced monsters, a serpent clasping a tiger and a griffon over them. These strange beasts, inexpressive faces, stiff and unskilled no doubt come from various influences and talents. Does not a dragon with big and prominent eyes and pointed ears remind you of Far-East style? Undoubtedly most of these animals and monsters are not unlike those that can be found on miniatures decorating Saxon and Irish manuscripts. The transepts are built in two stories which are divided by a narrow gallery and lined by a balustrade. In the north transept, where is the Sacristy, the lower part is decorated with large blind archways. On the upper part. A tripointed window gives light to this arm. In the The chapels opening on the aisles were built in the first half of the XIVth century. Some of them are enriched with beautiful works, such as the Chapel of Bonne Nouvelle (north-west) where stands a reredos of carved and painted stone showing the emblems and symbols of Our Lady. In the north arm was formerly the Cathedral well. The side wall hides a chapel of Saint Peter. The reredos represents the Resurrection of Christ. In the south arm one altar is dedicated to Saint Nicolas and the paintings show the wellknown tale of the three children; another one is dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket. On the tympanum of the next doorway are carved some scenes of his life. The choir has nine chapels. On the wall of Saint Michael’s chapel is painted a fresco of the Visitation, from the XVth century. The chapel of Saint Eloi has some paintings representing Saint Eloi and Saint Robert. The choir with the ambulatory and the nine chapels makes a magnificent harmony. It stands as a typical example of Norman Gothic style. Four bays precede the apse. Above the archways is a beautiful triforium. A narrow way commences at the springing of the arches. The vaults are adorned with strange frescoes of the XIIIth century that have been restored, representing the first bishops of Bayeux, with most fine inscriptions. The adornment of the choir seems rather austere. Carved medallions made of geometrical designs are seen on each part of the archways, which all have the same span. On the back of the choir stand two pillars with a little column in each corner. Instead of roses, as you find on the right side, the 53 Christian Culture adornment is made of foliage. The crypt on which is built the choir is divided into three small naves; each of them has six bays, with ridged vaults. Several capitals decorated with rows of curved leaves are dating from the XIth century. Some of them are bearing acanthus leaves, roughly carved, and may date from the pre-Roman time. On the north side is a recumbent statue of a canon. Several frescoes of musician angels decorate the walls and the counter arches. The most well-known ornament of the Cathedral is the famous embroidered cloth called Queen Mathilda Tapestry. This most valuable, historical and archeological document is kept in a 54 The Angelus May - June 2020 museum not far from the Cathedral. The Chapter house is a building adjacent to the north tower of the Cathedral. The north wall is adorned with a fresco of the XVth century representing the Holy Virgin surrounded by members of the Chapter of Bayeux. The paving stones are made of varnished earthenware of the XVIth century. In the middle of the room a labyrinth can be seen. On the tiles decorating the countermarch at the end of the room, which have been preserved, are painted hunting scenes— footmen with hunting horns, wild boars, stags, horsemen, etc. Christian Culture The Icon of Pentecost By Romanus The Feast of Pentecost is not only the commemoration of an historical event, but a celebration of a present reality: the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Likewise, the icon of Pentecost is much more than the depiction of a past event: it is also a representation of the Church. The icon depicts the event described in Acts 2:1-4, when the Holy Ghost descended as tongues of fire upon the Apostles gathered together and enabled them to preach in different languages. This icon shows us the divine guidance given to the hierarchic Church in the conversion of the world. That is the core message of the icon of Pentecost. It is not so much about the physical manifestations of the descent of Holy Ghost as it is the substantial presence of the Spirit in the Church, acting through the Church, to sanctify the world. 56 The Angelus May - June 2020 Two Iconographic Traditions The Orthodox icon representing the Feast of Pentecost is probably unfamiliar to most Westerners. In the Latin tradition, the tongues of fire and the presence of the Holy Mother of God are emphasized along with, of course, the twelve apostles. In the Orthodox tradition, icons of the Pentecost don’t always depict tongues of fire. Instead, at the top of the icon a circle or semicircle represents heaven and from its center, twelve rays point downward toward the twelve apostles, symbolizing the descent of the Holy Spirit. Also, the All-Holy Mother of God is absent from the scene in most of the Orthodox icons—which is strange because the Acts of the Apostles make a point of telling she was present. The explanation is that the Pentecost icons of the Orthodox Church, unlike the images of the event in the Latin Church, stress the underlying ecclesiological meaning of Pentecost and less so the narrative details of the descent of the Spirit or observable physical facts, as reported in Acts. God the Holy Spirit The source of the unity and harmony of the Apostles is in the semi-circle at the top of the icon, showing the descent of the Holy Ghost. From the semi-circle rays of light shine down to illumine them. Sometimes the “tongues of fire” described in Acts are shown at the tips of the rays, ready to descend upon the Apostles. Other times, the tongues of fire are shown already within the halos of each of the seated Saints. Some icons of Pentecost show a dove, either within the mandorla at the top of the icon, or even descending upon those gathered in the upper chamber. Given the appearance of the Holy Ghost as a dove during Christ’s Baptism, it is understandable that this physical image of the Spirit is also used in Pentecost icons. However, the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of flame at Pentecost, and a dove at Christ’s Baptism, being—in reality—neither of these things. Therefore, for the Orthodox tradition, it appears as inappropriate to depict the Holy Ghost as a dove at Pentecost, or indeed in any icon except those for the Baptism of Our Lord. 57 Christian Culture The Apostles Blessed are You, O Christ our God, who made fishermen all-wise, by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them, drawing all the world into Your net. O Loving One, glory be to You (Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Apolytikion for Pentecost). The Apostles are seated in a semi-circle, representing their unity and harmony—and the semi-circle is open towards us, so that we as observers are drawn into that unity. Contrasting with the uniformity of the semicircle, and in harmony with the hierarchic detail, there is sometimes a variety of poses in the figures of the apostles. This goes to the inner meaning of the icon: although there is the one Spirit—one Body—each member is given special gifts. In the Orthodox tradition, the apostles are frequently depicted in inverse perspective: the size of the figures grow bigger the closer they are to the central seat. It prevents the apostles who are near the back of the semicircle from being painted as smaller, which would happen in the rendering of most normal paintings. Thus, no apostle appears greater than another, stressing that they are all equals. They are usually represented holding scrolls, symbols of having received the gift of teaching. Rather than a general disturbance—often portrayed in Western images of Pentecost— caused by the descent of the Spirit, Eastern icons of the event express an overall sense of order, calm and solemnity, to show the unity and singleness of purpose of the hierarchic Church in converting the world. Stressing the point that the icon of Pentecost is also an image of the Church, frequently are represented others than the original twelve Apostles. St. Peter sits to the right of the center seat, and St. Paul to the left. St. Paul, of course, was not present at Pentecost, neither were St. Luke and St. Mark, the Evangelists, who are also frequently depicted. Their presence, of course, makes other three Apostles disappear from the icon, as the number of twelve has to be maintained. But that alteration is not relevant here, as the meaning of the icon is the substantial 58 The Angelus May - June 2020 presence of the Spirit in the Church. Nonetheless, the Western tradition is usually more literal in its depiction, restricting itself to the twelve original Apostles (including St Matthias in Judas’ place). The “Teacher’s Seat” In the Orthodox tradition, a striking aspect of the Pentecost icon is the empty space at the center. This central seat is a place of honor, the “Teacher’s Seat” around which the Apostles are gathered. Why is it empty? Because it is the seat Christ should be sitting in, Who has ascended physically into Heaven. Yet Jesus promised many times that though He would leave them physically, He would instead give to them the Holy Spirit as a comforter, advocate, and guide. This promise was first realized at Pentecost, and is still true today. Therefore, the icon, which is also an icon of the Church, shows the Apostles gathered in unity, sustained by the power of the Holy Ghost, surrounding Christ Who is invisibly present. The world, Cosmos, is at their feet, ready and waiting to be harvested through the passing on of Christ’s teaching. But the Orthodox Church stresses the empty seat and the depiction of the Apostles as equals to make the icon reflect their ecclesiological vision—a Church in which there is neither preeminent authority, nor a “Vicar of Christ,” but which is guided by a “college of equals,” the successors of the Apostles. The Virgin Mary On the other hand, in the Western tradition the icons of Pentecost usually show the Mother of God in the center, occupying the “Teacher’s Seat.” Placing the Mother of God in that central position proposes her as the ultimate exemplar of a Christian. With Jesus Christ ascended into Heaven, the Holy Ghost acts within people, and through the Saints Christ is manifested in the world. Mary is therefore shown as the best example we have, and the person on earth who most resembled Jesus Christ (both physically as His mother and spiritually as His disciple). But that central position also expresses the Latin understanding of the Mother of God as image and Mother of the Church. The ecclesiological meaning is stressed by the singling out of St. Peter, marked by her inclination towards him, and the Apostle’s gesture of entreat towards her. The Cosmos At the bottom of the icons in the Orthodox tradition there is another semi-circle, showing an old king against a dark background. He is often named as Kosmos and represents all the peoples of the world, rather than the whole of creation. He is sitting “in darkness and the shadow of death” (Lk. 1:79), the world which had formally been without faith and had suffered under the weight of Adam’s sin. He is aged, to show the corruptibility of the world. The red garment he wears symbolizes pagan or the devil’s blood sacrifices, and the crown signifies sin which ruled the world. Yet he also holds a blanket containing scrolls representing Apostolic teaching… Though in darkness, the descent of the Holy Ghost has not only reached the Apostles, but also all corners of the world into which the Apostles will preach the Gospel. 59 Christian Culture Einstein and the Priest By Fr. Frank Riccomini In an irony that will echo through the centuries, early in his professional career (ca. 1900), the brilliant but unemployed theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein, could not find a teaching position at any school or university in Switzerland, not even for teaching high school math. Burdened by a well-founded reputation as a non-conformist, so unforgivable to Swiss society and to academia, he was, at first, barred from the lecture hall and the professor’s podium. Consequently, he sat, a condemned and unrecognized genius, in his cramped, third-tier Swiss patent examiner’s office in downtown Bern, dedicating a dreary eight hours per day to sifting through patent applications, the majority of which proposed ways to synchronize train station clocks. Perhaps in this confined and somewhat penitentiary section of the universe, 60 The Angelus May - June 2020 he first devised that quote so often attributed to him: “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.” A Humble Frame of Mind The condemnation was a kindness, actually. Besides putting food on his table and a roof over his head, two commodities he was sometimes in danger of forfeiting, it put him in a more humble frame of mind, the best understructure for the framing of great discoveries. Materially, it put him in the mental habit of contrasting objects in motion, such as trains, with stationary objects, such as clocks, in the context of space-and-time “thought experiments,” which naturally bred in a mind such as his a purpose far more impactful than keeping trains on time. It inspired his special theory of relativity, expanded later into a general theory of relativity, an idea so brilliant and revolutionary that it single-handedly derailed the Newtonian train of thought regarding the physical world, a train that had been running regularly for almost three centuries, with a great number of passengers in tow. This cosmic and revolutionary shift was so popular that more than 600 books and articles were written about it before six years had passed, and, well before whirlwind of scientific activity that it unleashed, characterized by the writings, the personality, and, in later life, the hair of Albert Einstein, there emerged a lesser-known, better-groomed and clerical complement to the scientific genius: the soft-spoken, brilliant, Belgian-born Fr. Georges Lemaître. His own academic background as a mathematician, astrophysicist and theoretical cosmologist led him to consider and develop certain of those Einsteinian equations in a way that would create a special and distinct piece Twitter and YouTube revolutionized the universe even further, it went “viral,” so to speak, as the favorite topic of casual conversations among common folk such as waiters and actresses. After the publication of his theory, along with the elegant mathematical equations that proved it possible, came a frenzied effort on the part of experimental scientists to gather evidence that would prove it “factual.” Out of the of scientific history. Applying the logic of the theory’s math, taken together with observable shifts in the light spectra surrounding galaxies far, far away, he calculated that the universe is in a continual state of expansion from a single point, or singularity, the “hypothesis of a primeval atom,” as he called his theory. Later it was popularized both by the pejorative expression of scientists who first scorned it 61 Christian Culture (Einstein was among the scorners), then by the eponymous TV program that glorifies a distorted vision of it, as the so-called “Big Bang Theory.” Lemaître’s own professional inceptions were more auspicious than Einstein’s. He graduated early from high school studies with the prospect of the priesthood in front of him and a serious grasp of science inside of him, and, although the Great War sidelined both paths for a while, military service helped to develop his deeper moral qualities. Serving with great bravery and distinction during the Belgian resistance, he won three separate citations for gallantry in action and earned his nation’s military equivalent of the American Silver Star. After the war, he began his studies for the priesthood under the guidance of Cardinal Mercier, who, for all Belgians, had personified national resistance to the German invader, and then, for the young former soldier, served as a spiritual director in a different kind of warfare. Doubtless this giant among Catholic educators provided for both the spiritual and intellectual proclivities of his gifted charge. In 1923, Lemaître received Holy Orders from the very hands of his director, and, thanks to his personal support, won a scholarship to study astronomy at St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge. One year later he transferred to Harvard, and, the year after, to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where, in 1926, he earned his doctorate. Finally, in 1927, he published his famous theory on the ever-expanding universe. Unfortunately, it was not famously received—the journal in which it was printed never expanded beyond the frontiers of Belgium, nor was it translated outside of the langue Français. An Important Meeting In October, 1927, Fr. Georges Lemaître met Dr. Albert Einstein for the first time. Both of them, along with Marie Curie, Niels Bohr, Max Born, Erwin Schrödinger and other famous physicist of the day, were invited to the Fifth Solvay Congress of Physics in Brussels. The organizers were most likely influenced to invite Lemaître by one Théophile de Donder, founder of the Université libre de Bruxelles, by whose 62 The Angelus May - June 2020 intervention four years earlier Lemaître had been granted his Cambridge scholarship. Either de Donder or a mutual friend, Arthur Eddington, Lemaître’s professor at Cambridge and the chief English interpreter of Einstein, had seen to it that Einstein read Lemaître’s ingenious paper. This, in turn, precipitated the first meeting of the non-practicing German-Jewish physicist with the ardently Catholic clerical cosmologist, and their famous walk through Parc Léopold in Brussels, where Einstein, with his wanted and summary bluntness, told the young priest that, while his math calculations were correct, “from the point of view of physics, this [theory] is atrocious!” As violent (some would say rude and condescending) as it was, his reaction belied a relevant and human character trait in Einstein— at times his “beliefs” were even stronger than his science. It seems that, even as a revolutionary free-thinker, Einstein always regretted the devastation done to classical Newtonian physics by his relativity theory and other speculations in the realm of quantum physics. The stableuniverse conception was one of the last major features in that familiar and traditional world, and Einstein could not bear the thought of seeing it marred by the consequences of his own work. In his book, Einstein, His Life and Universe, Walter Isaacson reveals that Einstein, in a way, felt isolated from some of his most fervent disciples and even from a significant portion of the scientific world, not just because he towered above them as a celebrity scientist, but because he could never approve their enthusiasm to disdain classical physics, an enthusiasm, he recognized, his own discoveries had served to ignite. In fact, to Newton, whom he had idolized from boyhood, he issued a public “apology” in the course of a lecture, and, later, when writing his memoirs, he would address him in a similar vein: “Newton, forgive me. You found the only way which, in your age, was just about possible for a man of highest thought and creative power.” Did he feel some penitential urge to atone for the disrespect of his life-long hero? If so, who was a young, 33-year old priest, of all people, to stand in the way of it with his ridiculous theory? If either sense, one for tradition or one for atonement, were not compelling enough for Einstein, he had another reason for rejecting Lemaître… a surprisingly theological reason. Although his displaced, non-observant, Germanic-Jewish ancestry hadn’t boasted anything remotely close to religion for at least two centuries, and although Einstein had declared himself an ardent non-believer in any “personal God who concerns Himself with the fates and actions of human beings,” nonetheless, Einstein could never appreciate the universe better than when he saw it as an expression of God. To the German physicist, Max Born, who insisted too strongly on the randomness at the heart of quantum physics and the absence of determinate causality in nature, he piously and justifiably flared: “God does not play dice!” Isaacson notes, further to this point, that Einstein was influenced by Spinoza, one of the few philosophers he read and liked, and by his perspective of the “eternally fixed will of God,” a fixed and stable notion quite naturally reflected in a fixed and stable universe, as opposed to an expanding, dynamic one. If such were the case, who was a young, 33-year old priest, of all people, to stand in the way of it with his ridiculous theory? Steadfastness, Not Discouragement For his part, thankfully, Fr. Lemaître was not discouraged. Perhaps his experience throughout the Great War and already steeled him against blunt, irrational, Teutonic onslaughts. Perhaps some more priestly instinct warned him of a moral conflict inside the soul of the giant genius. Certainly, he knew better than Spinoza about the beauty and dynamism of the creative will of God. In any event, he held his ground and waited for a better opportunity to win a blessing from Einstein. Fortunately, some friends arranged for a follow-up discussion. During round two, Lemaître was surprised to learn that Einstein did not seem so well informed about the some of the astronomical data of certain galaxies that Lemaître had used to give his theory weight. There’s no exact record of how the conversation proceeded from there, or of what, if anything, Einstein was willing to concede at that time, or whether there was ever, in fact, a private intellectual reconciliation between the two. What is certain is the public and exceptionally dramatic nature of their next reunion, a few years later, when the whole world would know that Einstein had a change of heart. In a simple, spontaneous and magnificent gesture, Einstein, never one to shy away from the sketching of historical moments, created the “stuff of legends” for history books of science and of religion alike. In January, 1933, during a series of seminars hosted in Pasadena, California and graced by the august presence of the world’s leading scientist, Fr. Lemaître once again delivered an exposé of his expanding universe concept. Author Mark Midbom, in A Day without Yesterday, describes what happened next: “After the Belgian priest had detailed his theory in full, Einstein stood up, applauded, and said, ‘This is the most beautiful and satisfactory explanation of creation to which I have ever listened.’” If we were to postulate a theory—not a scientific one but a psychological one—to explain the acceptance of Lemaître by Einstein, it would be this: the one-dimensional theology of a scientist was helped by the clear-sighted science of a cleric. This just goes to show that irony is not measured relative to where you stand or how fast things are moving. Einstein may have put considerable faith in the stupidity of mankind— can we blame him?—but he had the wisdom and humility not to place himself outside of it. He was, after all, as he frequently stated, “not sure about the universe.” According to friend and fellow physicist George Gamow, Einstein called his attempts to reject an expanding universe “the biggest blunder of my life.” As for Fr. Lemaître, he is not known to have spoken about it again. 63 Christian Culture India: Is It the Graveyard of the Naturalist Enlightenment and Pluralism? By John Rao, D.Phil. Oxon. When I was a child I thought that everyone who reached maturity spoke broken English with an Italian accent. This was not only because my neighborhood was packed full with people of Italian origin, all of whom seemed elderly to a school child, but also because the most important of the adults—the local priests, the majority of whom came from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, founded in Milan in 1850— preached and heard confessions by means of a somewhat crippled English as well. In short, being a grown-up, an Italian-American, and a Catholic evangelist were synonymous in my youthful universe. 64 The Angelus May - June 2020 An Indian Presence in the City Sometimes I wonder whether there might be a child or two in New York City today who thinks that anyone who becomes a Catholic priest develops an Indian form of a British accent. I say this because clergy of Indian background seem to be active absolutely everywhere in my hometown, and especially in the many confessionals that my sins have led me to frequent on my spiritual stumble to eternity. Moreover, the advice that I have received from these sons of St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Francis Xavier has generally been very, very good indeed, bringing honor to the twenty-million-member branch of the Church Militant in their country. Formed by a variety of self-sacrificing missionaries they have become missionaries on the sidewalks of New York in their turn. In any case, playing with this thought, and calling upon the notes from the course on Indian History that I have taught a fair number of times at my university since 1979, it dawned on me that the whole of the native land of these missionaries from the East may have its own unplanned and generally unperceived role to perform in God’s Providence. That role is to serve as the graveyard of the naturalist Enlightenment vision born in a decadent West, and most especially its pluralist manifestation. For India’s history is not one that gives hope to Enlightenment minds thinking that the religious spirit is something that a progressive growth in temporal wisdom will inevitably dispel, or to pluralist prophets of a unified culture emerging from the happy reduction of the remnants of varied spiritual souls to quiet, private “clubhouses” eager to tolerate one another. India has repeatedly called attention to two basic facts of life: that religion is central to man’s social and political life and dreams, and that what is at stake in this matter is not just any religion, but the particular religion one believes to be true. The first of these trumpet blasts of reality strikes at the western naturalist Enlightenment vision as a whole; the second at its pluralist expression, with both, perhaps, having helped to shape the attitude of the fervent Indian Catholic clerics I encounter at the mercy seat of God, “East Side, West Side, all around the town.” Colonial History Recognition of our first fact of Indian life is one that the British masters of the subcontinent gained at significant military cost in the middle of the nineteenth century, through the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. The decades preceding that great rebellion were dominated by the labors of the Governor-Generals of the British East India Company, eager to stem that institution’s steady decline and the total passage of its power into the hands of the British Crown. Governor-Generals, like Lord William Bentick (1774-1839), worked honestly and industriously to restructure and reform India on the basis of the most progressive, naturalist Enlightenment guidelines. These were offered by the great British Utilitarians of the age: Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), James Mill (1773-1836), and John Stuart Mill (1806-1873). Convinced as he was that hardcore, “positive,” materially useful scientific knowledge was universal in character and applicable to the solution of all problems everywhere, Bentham is reported to have said that he could legislate for the entirety of India without ever leaving his living room in Chelsea. James Mill happily reported to Bentham that Bentick told him at a dinner before taking up his post in India in 1828, that although it was he who was to possess the title of Governor-General, it was actually his Utilitarian masters who were going to be exercising the real authority. It would be impossible for a Catholic to be upset with some of the grotesque religious practices that Bentick sought vigorously to end, practices such as the sati, the widow’s suicidal leap into her dead husband’s funeral pyre. And it is undeniable that there were a good number of British East India “men on the ground” who were eager to avoid any disregard of Hindu and Moslem religious concerns, especially that regarding aversion to the biting into the grease from forbidden animals on the new standard cartridges, problems with which are said to have been responsible for bringing on the Mutiny in 1857. Still, it was the general spirit of a haughty contempt for local religious beliefs and practices from the know-it-all heights of naturalist utilitarian wisdom—and that of the Liberal Christianity allied with it, which equated science’s work with God’s work—that was perceived in Britain to have been the cause of the great rebellion. Hence, a serious backing away from many efforts to reform Indian religion on the part of the United Kingdom, whose government did at this point relieve the British East India Company of its responsibilities. Haughty foreign demeanors aside, there were a good number of Indians won over to the naturalist cause who wanted a victory of the secularist viewpoint. This was definitely the case with the mainstream leadership of the Indian National Congress, founded in 1885 with the aid of an English sympathizer; a leadership which eventually included Mohandas Gandhi 65 Christian Culture (1869-1948) and Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964). It was these two men who guided the movement for full independence after the massacre at Amritsar in 1919 soured them on cooperation with the British. Their goal was a unified India in the tradition of the European Enlightenment nationalist tradition, one in which the sociopolitical reality took precedence over religion and religious differences, with these reduced to the private sphere alone. Still, the obvious Hindu revival already taking place for quite some time, together with fears for what that resurgence might portend, convinced nationalists of Islamic background to create its own separate Moslem League in 1906. It nevertheless remained allied with the Indian National Congress in the pursuit of the common goal of independence. Religious Division in India We have by now moved into the Indian assertion of a second “fact of life”: the continued reality of religious division, despite all naturalist Enlightenment and potential pluralist dreams. Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), leader of the Moslem League in the Gandhi-Nehru years, shared the Indian National Congress’ secularist, pluralist vision, at least to begin with, although, over time, he came to disagree with its tactics. Jinnah also grew more and more troubled by fears for the very survival of the Moslem population in an independent India where it would inevitably be a minority. This fear was, once again, impressed upon him by the evergrowing influence of the Hindu revival even within the Indian National Congress, and even against the wishes of Gandhi and Nehru. But it was also fed by the rebirth of the Islamic spirit within his own League, stimulating calls among youth for a separate, independent Moslem India; the future state of Pakistan. So little could the pluralist-minded secularists of the Indian National Congress do to quell the religiously committed forces in the country that Gandhi was himself murdered at the very moment of his own movement’s victory by Nathuram Vinayak Godse (1910-1949), a Hindu activist. Godse begged the government not to 66 The Angelus May - June 2020 remit his sentence of death, stressing his pride over having mortally chastised an “effeminate” corrupter of the substance of his Hindu Faith. Despite the efforts of Nehru and his daughter Indira (1917-1984) (married to a Gandhi unrelated to the Mahatma),herself assassinated because of another religious-focused incident, the attack on the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar showed that religious differences continued to defy any pluralist-minded attempt to keep spiritual questions in the private sphere. Driving the nail into the coffin from yet another angle, Indira’s son and successor Rajiv (1944-1994) was also killed, in his case because of anger regarding the lack of respect for India’s substantive ethnic and regional differences. The Indian National Congress was very centralist in its approach to government, while simultaneously flying high the banner of modern liberty. Pluralism, while claiming to allow freedom for all, actually permits only frivolous surface manifestations of liberty. Intellectually and in practice, it has always broken down ethnic and group beliefs and cultures in the promotion of the same, drably unifying individualist hunt for material profit. Essential elements of Punjab and Madras diversity as such would eventually be considered “bad” because unique and therefore “divisive”; only distinctions such as the sale of diverse curries from each of them could be granted the right to the flag of freedom because, while different, they could both tickle the palates of their otherwise culture flattened fellow Indians. In any case, assassination was looked upon in India as a tool to avoid the murder of real cultural diversity. Regional freedoms aside, it is really from the standpoint of religion that I have been seeking to answer the question posed as the title of this article: “Is India the graveyard of the Naturalist Enlightenment and of Pluralism? Although the victim, by now, of a decades-long obsession with the pursuit by everyone of material prosperity— the central key to unity in the pluralist mind. I am not certain that this is sufficient for keeping the country in the naturalist camp. After all, despite its offer of economic freedom to everyone, it is only a very small elite that has been able to benefit from that liberty in India. And I definitely see nothing on the powerful religious plane to prevent responding to the query in question with a potential “yes.” For the Hindu Revival has more than prospered, especially through the political victories of the Bharativa Janata Party, founded in 1980. With the historical memory of the violently established Islamic domination of much of India in its mind, including such episodes as the Moslem Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb's (1618-1707)’s perceived attempts to lead his subjects forcibly away from Hinduism, this “People’s Party” has been very militant in its religious policies. Its program was clarified by the dramatic 1992 march on the city of Ayodha, thought by many Hindus to have been the hometown of Rama, in order to attack and demolish the Babri Mosque built there by one of the Mogul leaders. This militancy has grown so much in the last few years that statues and temples have been raised to “the patriot” Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Gandhi, as well. Allow me to conclude by insisting that I am in no way praising bloodshed and disunity. Anti-Pluralist Hindu militancy, which regularly involves assaults on Moslem towns and neighborhoods, and is sometimes also answered by retaliation in kind from Islamic militants, is not a happy phenomenon. Such militancy has also been directed against Catholics, who, while only 1% of the population, are nevertheless not hidden from public view. Only a caricature of the Catholic Faith would make rejoicing over such violence and civil discord seem to be a corollary of its insistence on its sole possession of the Truth. nation producing and consuming as much as they can in their distinctly Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Moslem, and Hindu ways. That robots can achieve this goal is undeniable. That children of the Creator and Redeemer God can do so I must reject. And that the unpleasant realities of religious division in a given land can ever be addressed in a way that is peaceful, human, and pleasing to the One True God without Catholics trying to be Catholics is unthinkable. The Indian dilemma is the human dilemma. This potential “graveyard of naturalism and pluralism” will not find an answer to its particular problems until it itself becomes Catholic. In the long, long meantime, it teaches us a valuable lesson by demonstrating that the kind of divisions that exist therein cannot be wished away by ideologically formed naturalists and pluralists simply because they are all too real. Indians appear to recognize this fact of life. Some Catholics must be among their ranks, since there has to be a reason to account for the firmness of the Indian priests that I encounter in the confessional—the heirs of the PIME missionaries from Milan that I knew in my youth—in their efforts to toughen up my response to sin. Weakened as we American Catholics are by a naturalist Enlightenment Pluralism that has worked mightily to suck the substance from our Faith and our grasp of what we are actually truly “free” to do to live it while avoiding the charge of “divisiveness,” we are assuredly not their help. Long may their accents resound over the sidewalks of New York! The Problem With Pluralism My gripe—as regular readers of The Angelus well know—is with the pluralist recipe for dealing with religious division. That recipe, which pluralists insist is the sole recipe for handling diversity, is for every religious group, in practice, to deny its central claims; for each to become a cheerleader for a spiritually flavored naturalism, teaching men and women how to be well-behaved citizens of a purely secular 67 Christian Culture Hush! Silence By the Sisters of the Society Saint Pius X The Ducroit Family just finished the evening meal. “Phew, finally!” the mother is thinking, fatigued because of the incessant talking of her six children during dinner, who do not know how to listen to one another. As usual, everyone does the dishes while Father goes to his office to read the newspaper. In order to calm her children, Mrs. Ducroit plays a CD with some music. The children listen for a little bit then they continue their childish chatter while the music fills the kitchen. The dishes finished, everyone gathers in the living room to pray the daily Rosary together. Therein is found a birdcage with some pretty canaries. The birds unite their singing to the Ave Marias. In addition, in this same room, Vincent, the baby, cries wholeheartedly while little Maxence plays with his toy truck…Where is the calm we all need so much? 68 The Angelus May - June 2020 The Necessity of Silence For a good and healthy development, silence and calm are necessary. Unfortunately, people no longer tolerate silence. In the stores, in waiting rooms, in train stations: music is played everywhere. Noise is imposed on us. May silence find room at least in our own homes! In the beginning, providing silence may demand an effort from the parents as well as the children. However it will become a habit and will be beneficial for everyone. At certain times it is appropriate to shout or engage in joyful antics, for example during a nice game of tag in the garden. But, afterwards, while returning to the house, the mother will calm her little flock down. Why Silence? The children are at school: the mother is ironing her laundry in silence. This helps her to recollect during her work and to reflect on the sermon from the previous Sunday. At 4 o’clock, she gets in her car to go pick up her children at school. She is happy that they have many stories to tell, but makes sure that only one child speaks at a time and that the others know how to listen. In addition, she asks Catherine questions, because she is very quiet and slow of temperament: she is easily forgotten among her talkative brothers and sisters! Yes, learning to listen is an important thing: to listen to those around you, to listen to nature— such as the babble of a brook, the melody of birds, the silence of the falling snow… This can be taught from a young age with little games: the father opens the window and the children close their eyes in order to concentrate and listen. After two or three minutes, he closes the window and in turn everyone can relate what he or she has heard. This exercise calms the children, and the calm is so beneficial! Your baby is upset and cries often…why is this? Perhaps it is because he is in motion more than necessary. He is moved during a walk 69 Christian Culture from one arm to the other, picked up to appease his cries, on the go because of too frequent trips. During these trips, the child gets into the habit of looking at all the images that come one after another. Nothing precise remains in his mind and he is fatigued by this other kind of noise. It is thus necessary to be watchful and protect him as much as possible from the cradle. It is also in silence that the mother of the family will draw the energy and strength to teach tranquility to her dear children. For this she must know how to sacrifice at times and turn her phone off… For the child, listening is synonymous with docility and receptivity: necessary qualities to grow and build character. Following the Rhythm of the Child Silence is, in addition, contrary to a certain spirit of competition, which consists in the desire to produce many things quickly. A child is normally slow and, when one leaves him at his pace, he is able to pass entire minutes looking at a picture, in playing tirelessly at the same game, in listening to the same song, the same story… It takes him a certain time to get dressed, to eat, to think. When we adults demand that children work quickly, when we share our stress with the children, know that we are thus in the process of destroying a small part of the reign of their interior silence! This is why it is not always good to impose a whole series of activities on the child’s Wednesday afternoons or Saturdays, and to steal from him the precious time that he would calmly spend in his room and his little universe. He ought to be able to “settle down” as we say today, to engage himself in games where his imagination will develop and discover, at his pace, the beauty of the world that surrounds him. Some Practices In this agitated world, it is necessary to relearn how to value and to love silence. Join the 70 The Angelus May - June 2020 moments of silence with an activity that your children love. Charlie really loves to draw. At 7:00 pm, while the little children of the family are going to bed, he, the eldest, still has half an hour before his bedtime. His parents ask him to be quiet in order to not bother the little ones. During this time, Charlie enjoys drawing and thus has good memories of these moments of silence. Contact with nature will also foster this appreciation: a beautiful walk in the forest, in the mountains, by the sea will allow the listening of the singing of the birds, the sound of a waterfall, and will rejuvenate the entire family. Naptime for the youngest, during the day, can be an occasion of added responsibility for the older children: “Hush! We must not make noise. Your little sister is sleeping and we mustn’t wake her!” Finally, during family prayer, which, according to the age of the children will be more of less brief, parents should insist early on that toys are left aside, that the child is totally present in all that he does. To help this, we should try to have our young children participate as much as possible. In the same way during Mass, if the younger ones need something “material” to occupy them, we will give preference to religious objects that don’t make noise (plastic Rosaries, holy cards in an album, a cloth book or missal…) Let us work courageously in order that these moments of silence that we request from our children are not a constraint, but rather a pacification, a time that is beloved in view of its benefits. It is also thus that the interior life is able to develop, because “silence is the help that we give to God so that He can fill us (with His life), as He desires” (Mother Mary of Jesus, OCD). Translated by Lauren Marie Webb 816 pp. – Cloth-covered case bounding with gold foil stamping – 6" x 9" – STK# 6720 – $39.95 The Church’s Year By Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine “Goffine’s explanation of the Epistles and Gospels of the ecclesiastical year is a book that I would honestly recommend to all Catholic families: and to persons not Catholic, who wish to instruct themselves in Christian truths. It contains the Gospels and Epistles for all Sundays and feast days: with an instruction suited to each day. It explains the meaning of each feast day: and sets forth the spirit in which it should be observed. It is particularly useful for persons who may for any reason not assist at the High Mass and not hear a sermon. It serves too as a manual of information concerning feast and ceremonies and Christian duties. It will bring blessings on any house in which it is kept and used.” —Archbishop Henry Elder of Cincinnati, 1884 Call 1-800-966-7337 and get yours today! Visit www.angeluspress.org — 1-800-966-7337 Please visit our website to see our entire selection of books and music. Christian Culture by Fr. Juan Carlos Iscara, SSPX I have always heard that “liquids do not break the fast.” Then, why can’t I have a cup of coffee just before Communion? First of all, let us be reminded of the necessity of doing penance, in different ways and at different times. Because we are sinners, justice requires each of us to make recompense to God for the honor we have denied Him by our sins. Because we have misused our goods, our souls 72 The Angelus May - June 2020 and bodies—as well as those of others—we must strive to restore the order we have disturbed by our sins. In order to help us fulfill this requirement, Holy Mother Church, knowing our weakness and laziness, binds us to fast and abstinence at certain times of the year and on certain days. In general, “fasting” is a noticeable reduction of our intake of food and drink. “Abstinence” refers to the abstention of eating meat. The ecclesiastical regulations for both have changed throughout the centuries. With these preliminaries out of the way, and to answer the present question, we have to distinguish between the penitential fast and the Eucharistic fast. The penitential fast is the one that was traditionally required by the Church during the seasons of Lent and Advent, and on Ember Days, Rogations and the vigils of certain feasts. It developed gradually in the Church and widely varied in its practice. For example, in the times of St. Gregory the Great (7th century), it consisted in the so-called “black fast,” which included both fasting and abstinence in one penitential practice: only one meal, at evening, without meat, dairy products or eggs (but in some places fish and seafood were allowed); moreover, during the Holy Week the only foods permitted were bread, herbs, salt and water… Later, as the centuries passed, the Church, mindful of the discouragement to which our weakness may lead us, relaxed this strict practice by means of new laws and dispensations. Today, under the present rules (1983 Code of Canon Law, canons 1250-1253), the Church commands, under pain of sin, fast and abstinence on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and abstinence on all the Fridays in the year. According to these rules only one full meal is permitted, but two “collations” or noticeably smaller meals are allowed. Fasting refers only to solid foods; all liquids are allowed. Hence, “liquids do not break the fast”—that is, they do not break the penitential fast that we should practice in Lent and, if possible, on the other days in which it was traditionally required. But the Eucharistic fast is subject to a different set of rules, which have also widely varied throughout the centuries. Since the 3rd century, it required abstention from any food or drink, even water, from the midnight before receiving communion. Such requirement was maintained even up to the 1917 Code of Canon Law (canon 858), which allowed only two exceptions (for people in danger of death, or to prevent desecration of the Blessed Sacrament), and permitted those who had been ill for more than a month and with no expectation of prompt recovery, to receive communion sometimes even if they had taken water or some medication. Later, in 1953, Pius XII allowed to all the taking of water and medication, and in 1957 reduced the fasting time to three hours before communion. In 1964 Paul VII further reduced the time to one hour. The present legislation (1983 Code of Canon Law, canon 919) requires, under pain of sin, to keep the fast for at least one hour before communion, while allowing the intake of water or any medication even within that hour. Notice the “at least,” which means that that is the minimum required by law to avoid committing a sin, but a good Catholic should aim at greater perfection, even—if possible—at keeping the more strict previous regulations to atone for our sins and the sins of the world. Please, notice especially that the only drink allowed is water. Now, in the common estimation of men, coffee is not water—we do not wash our hands with coffee! Therefore, drinking coffee, tea or any other drink that is not water, within that hour before communion, does actually break the Eucharistic fast. Thus, in conclusion, coffee does not break the penitential fast of Lent, but it does break the fast required to receive communion. To what, precisely, does the precept of loving our enemies oblige us? “Enemies” are those who hate us, or who have injured us and have not made any kind of reparation, or towards whom we feel adversary for some reason (natural dislike, envy, etc.). 73 Christian Culture There is a special divine precept of loving those enemies, not as such, but insofar as they are capable of eternal beatitude and, in fact, destined to it. Their enmity is an evil and it has to be rejected as such, but the persons who are our enemies must be loved for the gifts that God has bestowed upon them—they have to be loved because of God. The precept is “special” in the sense of having been particularly promulgated by Our Lord (Mt 5:44), because of the difficulty of putting it into practice. In fact, it is not different than the precept of loving our neighbor. Therefore, we must not hate them, that is, we must neither desire them any evil nor take any complacency in whatever evils may befall them. Even if enemies, they do not cease to be children of God, called to beatitude; to hate them is a sin, incompatible with the love for God. We must not take vengeance upon them, that is, we must not repay evil with evil, for that intention proceeds from hatred or other disordered motive. In theory, it is permissible to desire some evil, some punishment or suffering, to come to them, but only if we are prompted by pure motives of justice or charity—that is, either for the deterrence of the evildoer and the restoration of the order of justice, or to help him to correct himself and come back to God. But, in practice, on account of our own weaknesses, it is very difficult for us to act solely for such pure motives. Therefore, it is better to abstain from desiring any evil to anybody. We are obliged to show towards our enemies the common signs of charity that are given to any man (for example, to answer a greeting or a question) or to all those who are in certain conditions (for example, to show mercy to the poor). In certain extraordinary circumstances, when special signs of charity are due in such a manner that denial or omission of those signs would be interpreted as hatred or enmity, we may be even obliged to show such special signs of charity, those which are not due to anybody (that is, those which are not demanded by their condition or state, or custom), but given only out of liberality and special friendship. We are obliged to forgive our enemies sincerely, as the lack of forgiveness leads us back 74 The Angelus May - June 2020 to hatred of enmity—but we are not obliged to accept them again in close friendship and to give them the special signs of affection that we would have freely given before. Finally, the offender is obliged to seek reconciliation, as soon as possible. But he is excused from it if he has the moral certainty that forgiveness will be denied, causing a greater alienation of spirits, or if the offended is not willing to accept anything but the greater humiliation of the offender. What shall we do to transform all our actions into prayer? St. Paul answered this question when he wrote: Whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all to the glory of God… All whatsoever you do in word or in work, all things do ye in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. St. Augustine tells us to convert our life, our actions, our occupations, our meals, even our repose, into a hymn of praise unto God’s glory: Let the harmony of thy life ever rise as a song, so that, thou mayest never cease to praise… If thou wilt give praise, sing, then, not only with thy lips, but sweep the chords upon the psalter of good works; thou dost give praise when thou workest, when thou eatest and drinkest, when thou liest to rest, when thou sleepest; thou givest praise even if thou holdest thy peace. St. Thomas briefly expresses the same thought: Man prays so long as he directs his whole life toward God. It is love that directs our whole life towards God. The practical means of giving all our actions this direction is to offer each of them to the Most Blessed Trinity in union with Jesus Christ living in us, and in accordance with His intentions. Because of our fallen nature, our intentions and our thoughts easily tend toward sin and if we were to follow the bent of our own sentiments, our works would be of sin. Therefore, we must renounce our own intentions so as to unite ourselves to those of Jesus. Upon undertaking any action, we should renounce all our sentiments, all our wishes, all our own thoughts, all our desires, in order to enter, according to the word of St. Paul, into the sentiments and the intentions of Jesus Christ. When our actions endure for some time, it is useful to renew this offering by looking upon a Crucifix, or better, upon Jesus living within us, and to raise our soul to God through repeated ejaculations. In this manner our actions, even the most commonplace, will become a prayer, an elevation of the soul to God, and we shall thereby comply with the teaching of Jesus: We ought always to pray and not to faint. 344 pp.–Hardcover–STK# 8343✱–$25.55 The Best of Questions and Answers The best questions and the best answers of 30 years of The Angelus. This will be a family’s heirloom reference book for everyday Catholic living to match the Catholic Faith we believe and the Latin Mass we attend. Over 300 answers classified under 30 subtitles. – Marriage, Parenting, Family Life and Child Rearing – Science and Medical Matters – The Bible and Biblical Matters – The Trinity, Jesus Christ, The Virgin Mary, Angels, and Saints – Life After Death – The Mass and the Liturgy – Church Practices and Customs – The SSPX and the Crisis – The Papacy and the Church Teachings 75 O Jesus, true and fruitful Vine, remember now the lavish, the excessive profusion wherewith Thou didst shed Thy Precious Blood, when on the Cross Thou didst tread the winepress alone, and wast crushed as a cluster of ripe grapes; when Thou didst give us water and Blood from Thy pierced Side, so that not one drop remained in Thy Heart. Then wast Thou hung up as a bundle of myrrh, and Thy tender Flesh grew pale, and Thy moisture was all dried up within Thee, and the marrow of Thy bones consumed. By this Thy most bitter Passion, and by the shedding of Thy most Precious Blood, I beseech Thee, O most loving Jesus, wash my soul at the hour of my death with the water which flowed from Thy Sacred Side, and adorn it with comeliness in the Precious Blood of Thy sweetest heart, and render it acceptable in Thy sight in the fragrant odor of Thy divine love. Amen. Catechism Part Three: Prof. Felix Otten, O.P. and C.F. Pauwels, O.P. Editor’s Note: This article continues the series of straightforward responses to frequently-encountered questions and objections concerning the Catholic Faith. The questions and answers are adapted from Professor Felix Otten, O.P. and C.F. Pauwels, O.P.’s The Most Frequently Encountered Difficulties, published originally in Dutch in 1939. Children who are unbaptized cannot go to Heaven, yet they have done nothing wrong and it is not their fault that they were unbaptized. How can this be reconciled with God’s righteousness? We have no direct statements from the Scriptures about the fate of the unbaptized children who have died. The text of Mt. 19:14 (also at Mk. 10:14 and Lk. 17:16), “Let the little ones 78 The Angelus May - June 2020 come to Me,” do not refer expressly to children. For in this passage, Christ only means that we must be simple as children in order to enter the kingdom of God. But we do have indirect statements from Biblical texts that no one enters Heaven who has not been reborn through Baptism. And so, we know for sure that unbaptized children cannot go to Heaven. Where they do go, we know from the teaching of the Church, which is based on tradition and the teachings of the theologians. Unbaptized children do not go to hell because they have not committed personal sins, and no one is doomed except for those who have personally committed sins. The original sin with which those children were still infected is not a personal sin of theirs, but rather a “natural sin.” The place where they do go, we call limbo or limbus. We can compare it with the place where the patriarchs before Christ waited until Heaven was opened to them. But we don’t know where that place is. In limbo, according to the teachings of the theologians, these children enjoy natural happiness. The unbaptized children’s lack of the supernatural blessed sight of God does not cause them sorrow or suffering. For either they do not even know that such happiness has been given to others, or, if God has revealed it to them (which, of course, we cannot tell), they see that it is a completely free gift from God on which no one can claim a right of his own accord. Thus, it appears that their fate is not contrary to God’s justice. They lack nothing; they are happy and do not suffer at all. While these children lack something that was given to others, that is, the beatific vision, that is something to which they have no right, because it is a supernatural gift. And so, if unbaptized children know anything of this gift, they rejoice in the happiness of others. A Christian must rely on the merits of Christ’s sacrifice to obtain forgiveness and salvation. However, Roman Catholics do not; they instead hope to be rewarded for their good works. In this way, are Catholics not like the Jews? In the first place, there is a great difference between the Jews and the Catholics. The Jews thought they were pleasing to God through purely outward good works: receiving the circumcision, belonging to the chosen Jewish people, keeping the precepts of the Law, rest on the Sabbath, maintain purity, give alms, fasting, etc. Catholics, however, speak of a work as being good only if the inner intention is good and so one does not do good out of habit or routine or pride or human respect, but for God alone. Further, Catholics teach that we can do such truly good works only through the power of grace, which Christ has earned for us. So, they do put all their trust in Christ and know that they cannot do anything without Christ. Catholics believe, contrary to certain Protestants, that a man can really do something through Christ’s grace that is pleasing and pleasant in God’s sight. Catholics accept with confidence all statements of the Apostle Paul against the “working sanctity” of the Jews and about trusting in Christ; they do not contend with this teaching. Catholics believe that men can do good works by grace. When they say that they will receive Heaven as wages for those good works, they use this image metaphorically. On Saturday the worker gets his wages for a week’s work. They just want to say this, that man has done good by the undeservedly received grace of Christ; and therefore, in view of that good work done by the grace of Christ, God gives him back something much greater and more glorious, namely, the gift of Heaven. There is in a sense “achievement and consideration” with salvation, so we can rightly speak of the wages for the good works. But then we take all those terms in a very particular sense, so that no wages or merit on earth can be compared to them. In that sense, Christ will also say, “Come, blessed ones of My Father, take possession of the realm, … for I was hungry and you have fed Me” (Mt. 25:34-35). This indicates that we receive the Kingdom of Heaven because we have done good. In the same sense St. Paul wrote: “From now on is the crown of righteousness ready for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me” (II Tim. 4:8). This shows that God, out of righteousness and because Paul had fought the good fight, would give him that crown. In summary, Catholic teaching about merit is indeed based on the Holy Scriptures, and in no way undermines the merits of Christ. 79 Catechism A good Christian must have the intention to honor God in his life. Catholics, on the other hand, think only of the happiness and rewards their actions will bring. When someone puts forward this objection, he frames it as if honoring God and thinking of one’s own happiness are in conflict. Only then is it a compelling difficulty. But this is a forced contrast. The two can easily go together and the whole difficulty is eliminated. After all, God has a dual purpose in creation: His own glorification and the happiness of His creatures. Because of His wisdom and omnipotence, God has arranged it so that these two things can go together, and so that man, who honors and serves God, can find real and true happiness in life (even though it is still imperfect in this life on earth). Of course, the glorification of God is the first and main purpose of creation; and therefore man must first of all aim to honor God 80 The Angelus May - June 2020 and devote all of his powers to it. But that does not mean that he should consider all thoughts of his own happiness as wrong and bad. However, if someone wants to work out his own happiness in such a way that he cannot serve and honor God, in other words: if he goes to seek his happiness in something that violates God’s will, then he is doing wrong. Likewise, if a person were to serve God outwardly, but would think only or mainly of the reward he hopes to receive, is also doing wrong. If a person honors and serves God from the bottom of his heart, consecrates his work to God at the beginning of the day, and thanks God for all that is good, then that is good and according to God’s will. Finally let us consider the Gospel: Do we not pray in the Our Father, “Hallowed be Thy name,” and also, “Give us this day our daily bread”? Does this not prove with Christ’s own words that we may also think of our own interests? If, incidentally, someone says that Catholics only think of rewards and happiness, we can only deny it. After all, the fact that we also talk about this is not proof that we are only thinking about it. Donate to support Angelus Press and the continuation of Traditional Catholic content. Go to: angeluspress.org to donate today! Please go to Angeluspress.org and see what books could help you and your family grow in the Faith. Keep Learning Keep Growing Keep the Faith Theological Studies The Church Is Greater Than the Pope (Even though She is ruled by the Pope) By Fr. Roger-Thomas Calmel, O.P. Some thoughts to help sanctify oneself in the Church when the conduct of the (visible and temporary) leader of the Church is dizzying because he has let himself be caught up in the modernist system. The Faith of the Church (just as the Faith of the Pope insofar as he is truly acting as Pope) is not subject to dizziness. The Lord rules His Church, which is His Mystical Body, His spouse, by a special Providence. It is not part of the providential designs of the Lord for His Church to give her ordinarily as a visible leader, as a vicar invested with the primacy, incapable or bad Popes. If, in the second millennium of the history of the Church there is not a great number of canonized Popes, we still would not say that bad Popes are the general rule. This would go against history, and it would go against the Divine Revelation on the Lordship of Christ, on the society of grace that He 82 The Angelus May - June 2020 has instituted and directs. Portae inferi non praevalebunt. If the general rule of the government of the Church were bad Popes, the gates of hell would soon prevail. The Church Lives Past the Pope In any case, the Church is greater than the Pope. The Church does not die when the Pope dies. The Church does not stop believing even when her Vicar is inconsistent or cowardly in defending the deposit of Revelation; the Church is still burning with love even when the love of Christ and souls is stifled in the heart of a Pope by ambitions, illusions and worldly and globalist dreams. The Pope is the head of the Church, but before being her head he is her son like each of us. Before keeping and interpreting with authority the deposit of Faith that comes to him, as to us, from the tradition of the Church, he has to receive this deposit and faithfully believe it. Before introducing, if need be, some homogenous reforms in the rites of the sacraments, he has to, like us, receive them humbly from the Tradition of the Church. His one and irreplaceable responsibility is to preserve for all, to preserve as the leader assisted by the Holy Ghost in a privileged way, what he receives as a son just like every one of us. If he happens not to be a good son, he could, alas, not be a good leader. And in any case, he never has the right, as leader, to try to introduce another way of behaving like a son; that would be innovating in the order of the Apostolic Tradition, instead of preserving it and clarifying it homogenously. We should say trying to innovate, for we are sure that he will never be able to do more than try. The privilege of infallibility will always preserve the Pope from formally changing the religion. But even without a formal change, the attempts or complicity or cowardice can go very far and become a very cruel trial for Holy Mother Church. The Error of Modernism The modernist system, or more precisely the modernist device and procedures, offer the Pope a new occasion of sin, a possibility of equivocating with his mission that had never before presented itself. Granted the double modernist principle: first of all, universal reform, especially for the liturgy, in the name of a more open pastoral approach to the modern world, and secondly, the dispossession of the regular and defined authority to the benefit of hidden, elusive, anonymous authorities typical of collegialities; in a word, this double principle having penetrated into the Church, the following destructive consequence has been the result: the Apostolic tradition in doctrine, morals, and worship has been neutralized, although it has not been killed—without the Pope having had to officially and openly deny all of Tradition and therefore proclaim his apostacy. He did not need to and he did not declare enormities such as: henceforth you are bound under pain of excommunication to bring the language, forms and rites of the Mass into line with the Protestant Cenacle; henceforth, priests, under pain of being forbidden, will act like Protestant pastors; henceforth the catechism taught to the little ones will be either Lutheran or shapeless. The Pope never said, never had to say: everything that has been taught, everything that has been done up until Vatican II, all the doctrine and worship anterior to Vatican II is anathema. And yet we have the result before our eyes… To reach the point where we are now, it was enough for the Pope, without doing anything to strike down the former tradition of the Church directly, to let modernism do its work. He could doubtless say: I did not forbid anyone to do the opposite of what is being done in these invalid Masses and heretical catechisms. It is nonetheless true, as we can clearly see, that we are drawing closer every day to the point we would have reached if the Pope had declared Apostolic Tradition anathema. We should not be frightened, however, for we shall never reach that point, for several invincible reasons. Things may be happening as if there had been a formal order from the Pope, but this order does not exist and will never exist. Our consciences therefore remain free. And it is clear that as the reforms are opposed to all of tradition, they are null and void. We are not pretending to be the Pope or falling into free interpretation when we declare: the Church has never reformed the Catholic rites of the sacraments to conform them to the rites of those who reject the Faith in the sacraments. Saying this is the same thing as saying: I believe in the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church. It does not matter at all if the Pope allows or seems to allow such a perverse reform, if the Pope does this or not: every Christian can see that this sort of reform is not Catholic; he is therefore not bound to obey; or rather, he is bound to stick to tradition even if it makes him look disobedient. A Pope who becomes a prisoner of modernism would come fairly close, simply due to the nature of the modernist system, to the inaccessible point of which Lucifer never ceases to dream, in an ever-sterile dream: the point of ruining the Tradition of the Faith and the sacraments. Resisting such a Pope would nonetheless be difficult, precisely because he would not officially impose, under pain of anathema, a religion contrary to that of the entire Church prior to his pontificate. He would not have to impose it, it would be enough to let the modernist device work with its double power of destruction: universal reform demanded by a pastoral approach of adaptation to the modern world, and a dissimulated dissolution of the regular hierarchy. Neither the death of the Pope nor the power- 83 Theological Studies lessness of such a Pope, nor even this very specific defection made possible by the appearance of modernism, in a word, no fault of any given Pope, even as a religious leader, can ever keep us from living in Christ, in His Church, in communion with Peter as Peter, with the peaceful certitude that when a given successor of Peter faints, it is only an exception and for a short time.—The Faith teaches us to see Peter in the Church, for the protection and defense of the Church, rather than seeing the Church as subject to the possible failings of Peter and as variable depending on his changes. I Believe In the Holy Church The current trial of the Church is profound and universal. To such an extent that the prelates and theologians who were still so unbelievably optimistic yesterday, are now beginning to show a certain amount of worry in their conversations, conferences or articles. Doubtless the Church, born out of the side of Jesus opened on the cross and assisted by the Holy Ghost, can never be abolished; and the misery of our times, the weakness of men and the rage of the devil will never keep her, even today, from making saints blossom in every condition of life. Perhaps we have tangible proofs of this rare marvel. Nonetheless, the Church’s trial affects our soul deeply, wounds us, bruises us. Faith, courage, the decision to persevere in the Tradition received from the Apostles is not enough to take away the pain and sometimes the anguish. In these conditions, our reader will forgive me for beginning ex abrupto. Let the deceived clergy dare to express clearly what they insinuate with such reticence, let them proclaim, if they have the courage, that they are reciting and singing an updated Credo and let them say: I believe in a mutant Church that needs to catch up with history and convert from her sins; for us, inserted as we are in the tradition of two millennia, we continue to believe in the holy Church, one throughout all the ages, that never commits any faults and has no need to convert, but rather never ceases to make more effective the conversion of those to whom she has given supernatural life; a Church that is never behind in bringing salvation to sinners; a Church whose movement and forward march are not guided by history but by the Spirit of God; (history is an occasion and not an efficient cause). Let the illusioned clergy, who have never borne 84 The Angelus May - June 2020 the weight of any Church institution, parish or monastery, school or orphanage, let the clergy with no experience, no suffering from any real reform, feverishly scribble down on paper (which accepts everything) plans and theories that are both simplistic and complicated, if not heretical, rejuvenations and arrangements, corrections and updates; for our part, we continue to think that true and holy reformers begin by reforming themselves, respect the heritage of the centuries incorporated into the ecclesial treasure, truly bear the weight of souls in order to answer their spiritual needs; these needs that are always fundamentally identical, even though certain needs are more pressing at certain times. Some Christians who were complaining of sclerosis and abuse yesterday now find themselves disconcerted in the face of reforms undermined by subversion, like an organ by the cancer that is devouring it. Are they going to lose their footing, give in to the dizziness of doubt or perhaps of despair? Let them rather take heart and be reassured, and we ourselves with them, reaffirming our faith in the holy and indefectible Church, remembering that she has everything she needs to defend us today from the false reforms, just as she defended us before from sclerosis and routine; she defended us, but our heart was not always pure enough to realize it. The protection of the Church, today as yesterday, will become effective for us if we first ensure our interior reform, if we preserve with love the inalienable deposit that has been transmitted to us. A break, a rift, a dislocation is occurring and slowly growing wider, between those who believe in the Church of all times and those who, willingly or unwillingly, have accepted to revise the article of the Credo on the Church. The debate is not principally about the pastoral approach, “the man of today” and the historical future, or even about rejuvenation. The present quarrel is actually about faith in the Church. For some, and we are with them, thanks to God, it is granted once and for all that the Church founded by Our Lord with the marvelous growth she has accomplished, especially when she was able to unfold as a perfect society—the holy, Catholic, apostolic and Roman Church—no matter the time period and even in modern times, has never failed in her mission, has kept inviolate the purity of the evangelical source, has fulfilled her pastoral charge suitably, visibly and fruitfully. However, other Christians have begun to doubt the perfection of the Church. According to them, she offers manifest proof in every sector of her insufficiencies and incapacities. As a remedy, they seek to provoke changes whose end they do not allow themselves to fix, or rather, the only end that can be fixed is the constantly revised demands of a better world to be built. In reality, they do not believe in a free Church independent of history that transcends and judges the world in order to be able to save it. They believe history imposes itself upon the Church, dominates and transforms her. What are we to do in this disarray? First of all, persevere in the Faith that has been transmitted to us, with its definitions and anathemas. They may promote reforms, but if they disregard defined dogmas and the condemnation of errors—as if the world had ceased to be the world—these reforms no longer deserve their name and become subversive movements. What else are we to do? Having attached ourselves to the Faith of all times, convert; do penance, for the Kingdom of God, that is to say the holy Church, has truly come and it is in our midst; seek first the Kingdom of God and His justice and the rest, especially the strength to persevere, will be given to us. Lastly, the third attitude in the face of a reform that has fallen into the hands of subversion: keep a living fidelity to the age-old heritage of the Church. They claim to bring us back with their evangelical “rejuvenation” to the forms of Christian life before it was fully explained. They would like to abolish dogmatic formulas, strictly codified discipline, the ascetic state of life for the clergy, Gregorian chant, a specific liturgical language, the determination of the Church’s rights in civil society. They intend to “rejuvenate” us by going back to a source that is apparently the true and only evangelical source, but that did not give birth to the river that is carrying us. But it is an absurd interpretation of the Gospel that begins by refusing the developments that proceed from it and that, for example, on the pretext of going back to the worship in spirit and truth promised by Christ to the Samaritan, rejects the form of Catholic worship that began to be established in the 5th century; as if the countless number of holy priests who have celebrated the Mass according to the Canon did not render to the Lord a worship in spirit and truth. This type of “rejuvenation” has a name: it is Protestantism; the Gospel without the Church; or more precisely, an arbitrary interpretation of the Gospel that decides to ignore the Church, her growth, her heritage, her legislation. True “rejuvenation”—if we must use this word—is that which, having first received the heritage of the Church with great piety, delivers it if need be from an overcharge that deforms it, brings out all its beauty; and that in keeping with tradition and not based on the demands of History. We have admirable signs of this living fidelity to the evangelical source, ever flowing from a growing Church. Think of disciplinary documents like the Motu Proprio of St. Pius X on Sacred Music at the beginning of the century, and more recently, John XXIII’s Constitution Veterum Sapientia on the Latin language. The reformers who were saints, the only ones to whom we are attached, all proceeded in the same way. Whether they were reforming an Order, the clergy of a given country, the Church government, they all first sought their own personal reform; then, in keeping with the legitimate Magisterium, they declared the world, its maxims and its institutionalized scandals anathema; lastly, they maintained with a living fidelity the sacred heritage of a Church that has grown according to the Gospel since her first steps in Judea and Samaria, since the first recognition of her rights and privileges after the great Roman persecutions. The type of reform that they want to introduce into the Church now can only lead to terrible destruction because it is ruled by false principles: they presuppose either that the Church with her disciplinary, dogmatic and cultual developments has ceased over the course of the centuries to be in keeping with the Gospel, or that she is guilty of sin, and in particular that she is lazy and behind in bringing heavenly goods to the world. These presuppositions come from a very insufficient faith in the Church, a diminished, degraded faith that is unaware of the elevation and supernatural purity of its mystery. But the Church is a truly supernatural, truly holy society—the Mystical Body of Christ, the perfectly faithful Spouse of Christ, as faithful as the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is, in every century, with no exception and until the end of the world, Jesus Christ spread and communicated. That and nothing else. 85 Simply the Best Journal of Catholic Tradition Available! “Instaurare omnia in Christo” For over three decades, The Angelus has stood for Catholic truth, goodness, and beauty against a world gone mad. Our goal has always been the same: to show the glories of the Catholic Faith and to bear witness to the constant teaching of the Church in the midst of the modern crisis in which we find ourselves. Each issue contains: – A unique theme focusing on doctrinal and practical issues that matter to you, the reader – Regular columns, from History to Family Life, Spirituality and more – Some of the best and brightest Catholic thinkers and writers in the English-speaking world – An intellectual formation to strengthen your Faith in an increasingly hostile world Support the Cause of Uncompromised Traditional Catholic Media! Call and get your subscription today! 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Everyone has FREE access to every article from issues of The Angelus over two years old, and selected articles from recent issues. All magazine subscribers have full access to the online version of the magazine (a $20 Value)! The Last Word Dear Reader, In the year 1858, year of Lourdes, year of the priestly ordination of St. Pius X, future Bishop Freppel developed the first Church apologetic work from St. Justin. He analyzed the slide from the original belief in a unique God, monotheism, to the belief in many gods, the same polytheism as practiced in today’s India, and pantheism which is the divinization of nature and of man. Error has its logic, just as truth has. The starting point of the fall from monotheism to polytheism is clearly original sin, which darkens the intellect and the will. Then, impressed by the wisdom found in creation, by the power of nature, and through a false notion of person—which is the logical connection between all these errors—men started to divinize the effects of God’s attributes, rather than to see the Maker Himself in them. Listen to Divine Wisdom: “All men are vain, in whom there is not the knowledge of God: and who by these good things that are seen, could not understand Him that is, neither by attending to the works have acknowledged who was the workman: but have imagined either the fire, or the wind, or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the great water, or the sun and moon, to be the gods that rule the world. With whose beauty, if they, being delighted, took them to be gods: let them know how much the Lord of them is more beautiful than they: for the first author of beauty made all those things” (Wis. 13:1-3). What was said of the ancient Greek religion can surely be applied to other pagan beliefs, to Hinduism, as well as modern day worship of Mother Earth. “Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say: ‘Behold this is new’: for it hath already gone before in the ages that were before us” (Eccles. 1:10). Baptism, by removing original sin and bestowing sanctifying grace, enlightens the intellect, and through the gift of wisdom, helps it to see in creatures the mere ladder to ascend to the contemplation of the beauty of their Creator. “Go and baptize all nations!” This order is still very much valid today! Fr. Daniel Couture The Society of Saint Pius X is an international priestly society of almost 700 priests. Its main purpose is the formation and support of priests. The goal of the Society of Saint Pius X is to preserve the Catholic Faith in its fullness and purity, not changing, adding to or subtracting from the truth that the Church has always taught, and to diffuse its virtues, especially through the Roman Catholic priesthood. Authentic spiritual life, the sacraments, and the traditional liturgy are its primary means to foster virtue and sanctity and to bring the divine life of grace to souls. The Angelus, in helping the whole man, tries to be an outlet for the work of the Society, helping them reach souls. We aspire to help deepen your spiritual life, nourish your studies, understand the history of Christendom, and restore the reign of Christ the King in Christian culture in every aspect. $ 9.00 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: THE ANGELUS, 480 MCKENZIE STREET, WINNIPEG, MB, R2W 5B9