This post is an excerpt from Novusordowatch.org. In order to understand the situation we face, and what the near future probably holds, we must understand its contents.
Lecture IV: Passion and “Death” of the Church
Now,
it is against that person [the Pope] eminently and emphatically, as
said before, that the spirit of evil and of falsehood direct its
assault; for if the head of the body be smitten, the body itself must
die. “Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered,” was the old
guile of the evil one, who smote the Son of God that he might scatter
the flock. But that craft has been once tried, and foiled for ever; for
in the death which smote the Shepherd, the flock was redeemed: and
through the shepherd who is constituted in the place of the Son be
smitten, the flock can be scattered no more. Three hundred years the
world strove to cut off the line of the Sovereign Pontiffs; but the
flock was never scattered: and so it shall be to the end. It is,
nevertheless, against the Church of God, and above all against its Head,
that all the spirits of evil in all ages, and, above all, in the
present, direct the shafts of their enmity….
Now
the Church has had to undergo already two persecutions, one from the
hand of the Jews and one also from the hand of the pagans; so the
writers of the early ages, the Fathers both of the East and of the West,
foretold that, in the last age of the world, the Church will have to
undergo a third persecution, more bitter, more bloody, more searching,
and more fiery than any it has undergone as yet, and that from the hands
of an infidel world revolted from the Incarnate Word….
As
the wicked did not prevail against Him [our Lord Jesus Christ] even
when they bound Him with cords, dragged Him to the judgment, blindfolded
His eyes, mocked Him as a false King, smote Him on the head as a false
Prophet, led Him away, crucified Him, and in the mastery of their power
seemed to have absolute dominion over Him, so that He lay ground down
and almost annihilated under their feet; and as, at that very time when
He was dead and buried out of their sight, He was conqueror over all,
and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven, and was crowned,
glorified, and invested with His royalty, and reigns supreme, King of
kings and Lord of lords,— even so shall it be with His Church: though
for a time persecuted, and, to the eyes of man, overthrown and trampled
on, dethroned, despoiled, mocked, and crushed, yet in that high time of
triumph the gates of hell shall not prevail. There is in store for the
Church of God a resurrection and an ascension, a royalty and a dominion,
a recompense of glory for all it has endured. Like Jesus, it needs must
suffer on the way to its crown; yet crowned it shall be with Him
eternally. Let no one, then, be scandalised if the prophecy speak of
sufferings to come. We are fond of imagining triumphs and glories for
the Church on earth,— that the Gospel is to be preached to all nations,
and the world to be converted, and all enemies subdued, and I know not
what,— until some ears are impatient of hearing that there is in store
for the Church a time of terrible trial: and so we do as the Jews of
old, who looked for a conqueror, a king, and for prosperity; and when
their Messias came in humility and in passion, they did not know Him.
So, I am afraid, many among us intoxicate their minds with the visions
of success and victory, and cannot endure the thought that there is a
time of persecution yet to come for the Church of God….
The
first sign or mark of this coming persecution is an indifference to
truth. Just as there is dead calm before a whirlwind, and as the waters
over a great fall run like glass, so before an outbreak there is a time
of tranquillity. The first sign is indifference. The sign that portends
more surely than any other the outbreak of a future persecution is a
sort of scornful indifference to truth or falsehood. Ancient Rome in its
might and power adopted every false religion from all its conquered
nations, and gave to each of them a temple within its walls. It was
sovereignly and contemptuously indifferent to all the superstitions of
the earth. It encouraged them; for each nation had its own proper
superstition, and that proper superstition was a mode of tranquillising,
of governing, and of maintaining in subjection, the people who were
indulged by building a temple within its gates. In like manner we see
the nations of the Christian world at this moment gradually adopting
every form of religious contradiction— that is, giving it full scope,
and, as it is called, perfect toleration; not recognising any
distinctions of truth or falsehood between one religion or another, but
leaving all forms of religion to work their own way….
[T]here
grows up an intense hatred of what is called dogmatism, that is, of any
positive truth, anything definite, anything final, anything which has
precise limits, any form of belief which is expressed in particular
definitions— all this is utterly distasteful to men who on principle
encourage all forms of religious opinion….
The
next step is, then, the persecution of the truth…. [In ancient Rome]
there were all manner of sacred confraternities, and orders, and
societies, and I know not what; but there was one society which was not
permitted to exist, and that was the Church of the living God. In the
midst of this universal toleration, there was one exception made with
the most peremptory exactness, to exclude the truth and the Church of
God from the world. Now this is what must again inevitably come to pass,
because the Church of God is inflexible in the mission committed to it.
The Catholic Church will never compromise a doctrine; it will never
allow two doctrines to be taught within its pale; it will never obey the
civil governor pronouncing judgment in matters that are spiritual. The
Catholic Church is bound by the Divine law to suffer martyrdom rather
than compromise a doctrine, or obey the law of the civil governor which
violates the conscience; and more than this, it is not only bound to
offer a passive disobedience, which may be done in a corner, and
therefore not detected, and because not detected not punished; but the
Catholic Church cannot be silent; it cannot hold its peace; it cannot
cease to preach the doctrines of Revelation, not only of the Trinity and
of the Incarnation, but likewise of the Seven Sacraments, and of the
infallibility of the Church of God, and of the necessity of unity, and
of the sovereignty, both spiritual and temporal, of the Holy See; and
because it will not be silent, and cannot compromise, and will not obey
in matters that are of its own Divine prerogative, therefore it stands
alone in the world; for there is not another Church so called, nor any
community professing to be a Church, which does not submit, or obey, or
hold its peace, when the civil governors of the world command….
The
holy Fathers who have written upon the subject of Antichrist, and of
[the] prophecies of Daniel, without a single exception, as far as I
know, and they are the Fathers both of the East and of the West, the
Greek and the Latin Church— all of them unanimously,— say that in the
latter end of the world, during the reign of Antichrist, the holy
sacrifice of the altar will cease. In the work on the end of the world,
ascribed to St. Hippolytus, after a long description of the afflictions
of the last days, we read as follows: “The Churches shall lament with a
great lamentation, for there shall be offered no more oblation, nor
incense, nor worship acceptable to God. The sacred buildings of the
churches shall be as hovels; and the precious body and blood of Christ
shall not be manifest in those days; the Liturgy shall be extinct; the
chanting of psalms shall cease; the reading of Holy Scripture shall be
heard no more. But there shall be upon men darkness, and mourning upon
mourning, and woe upon woe.” Then, the Church shall be scattered, driven
into the wilderness, and shall be for a time, as it was in the
beginning, invisible, hidden in catacombs, in dens, in mountains, in
lurking-places; for a time it shall be swept, as it were, from the face
of the earth. Such is the universal testimony of the Fathers of the
early centuries….
The
secret societies have long ago undermined and honeycombed the Christian
society of Europe, and are at this moment struggling onward toward,
Rome, the centre of all Christian order in the world. The fulfilment of
the prophecy is yet to come; and that which we have seen in the two
wings, we shall see also in the centre; and that great army of the
Church of God will, for a time, be scattered. It will seem, for a while,
to be defeated, and the power of the enemies of the faith for a time to
prevail. The continual sacrifice will be taken away, and the sanctuary
will be cast down…. If you would understand this prophecy of desolation,
enter into a church: which was once Catholic, where now is no sign of
life; it stands empty, untenanted, without altar, without tabernacle,
without the presence of Jesus….
And
thus we come to the third mark, the casting down of "the Prince of
Strength;" that is, the Divine authority of the Church, and especially
of him in whose person it is embodied, the Vicar of Jesus Christ…. The
dethronement of the Vicar of Christ is the dethronement of the hierarchy
of the universal Church, and the public rejection of the Presence and
Reign of Jesus….
The
direct tendency of all the events we see at this moment is clearly
this, to overthrow Catholic worship throughout the world. Already we see
that every Government in Europe is excluding religion from its public
acts. The civil powers are desecrating themselves: government is without
religion; and if government be without religion, education must be
without religion. We see it already in Germany and in France. It has
been again and again attempted in England. The result of this can be
nothing but the re-establishment of mere natural society; that is to
say, the governments and the powers of the world, which for a time were
subdued by the Church of God to a belief in Christianity, to obedience
to the laws of God, and to the unity of the Church, having revolted from
it and desecrated themselves, have relapsed into their natural state….
[Many]
shall fall from their fidelity to God. And how shall this come to pass?
Firstly by fear, partly by deception, partly by cowardice, partly
because they cannot stand for unpopular truth in the face of popular
falsehood; partly because the overruling contemptuous public opinion, as
in such a country as this, and in France, so subdues and frightens
Catholics, that they dare not avow their principles, and, at last, dare
not hold them….
The
Word of God tells us that towards the end of time the power of this
world will became so irresistible and so triumphant that the Church of
God will sink underneath its hand — that the Church of God will receive
no more help from emperors, or kings, or princes, or legislatures, or
nations, or peoples, to make resistance against the power and the might
of its antagonist. It will be deprived of protection. It will be
weakened, baffled, and prostrate, and will lie bleeding at the feet of
the powers of this world. Does this seem incredible? What, then, do we
see at this moment? Look at the Catholic and Roman Church throughout the
world. When was it ever more like its Divine Head in the hour when He
was bound hand and foot by those who betrayed Him? Look at the Catholic
Church, still independent, faithful to its Divine trust, and yet cast
off by the nations of the world; at the Holy Father, the Vicar of our
Divine Lord, at this moment mocked, scorned, despised, betrayed,
abandoned, robbed of his own, and even those that would defend him
murdered. When, I ask, was the Church of God ever in a weaker condition,
in a feebler state in the eyes of men, and in this natural order, than
it is now? And from whence, I ask, is deliverance to come? Is there on
earth any power to intervene? Is there any king, prince, or potentate,
that has the power to interpose either his will or his sword for the
protection of the Church? Not one; and it is foretold it should be so.
Neither need we desire it, for the will of God seems to be otherwise.
But
there is One Power which will destroy all antagonists; there is One
Person who will break down and smite small as the dust of the summer
threshing-floor all the enemies of the Church, for it is He who will
consume His enemies "with the Spirit of His mouth," and destroy them
"with the brightness of His coming." It seems as if the Son of God were
jealous lest any one should vindicate His authority. He has claimed the
battle to Himself; He has taken up the gage which has been cast down
against Him; and prophecy is plain and explicit that the last overthrow
of evil will be His; that it will be wrought by no man, but by the Son
of God; that all the nations of the world may know that He, and He
alone, is King, and that He, and He alone, is God….
The
writers of the Church tell us that in the latter days the city of Rome
will probably become apostate from the Church and Vicar of Jesus Christ;
and that Rome will again be punished, for he will depart from it; and
the judgment of God will fall on the place from which he once reigned
over the nations of the world…. Rome shall apostatise from the faith and
drive away the Vicar of Christ, and return to its ancient paganism….
[Summing
up,] the Antichrist, and the antichristian movement, has these marks:
first, schism from the Church of God; secondly, denial of its Divine and
infallible voice; and thirdly, denial of the Incarnation. It is,
therefore, the direct and mortal enemy of the One Holy Catholic and
Roman Church— the unity from which all schism is made; the sole organ of
the Divine voice of the Spirit of God; the shrine and sanctuary of the
Incarnation and of the continual sacrifice….
