We must adore the dispositions of Divine Providence, which, having instituted the Church on this earth, allows her to encounter every kind of obstacle, and formidable resistance on her way.
A struggle to be concluded at the end of time
The reason for this is obvious, because the Church is militant and therefore in continuous struggle: a struggle that makes the world a veritable battlefield and every Christian a valiant soldier fighting under the banner of the Crucified One; a struggle that began with our Most Holy Redeemer’s life and will only be concluded at the end of time. Therefore, like the brave men of the tribe of Judah on their return from slavery, we must repel the enemy with one hand and with the other build up the walls of the holy Temple, that is, work for our sanctification.
This truth is confirmed by the very lives of the heroes whose decrees have just been published: heroes who achieved glory not only amidst dark clouds and brief storms, but surrounded by continuous struggles and harsh trials, to the point of giving their blood and lives for the Faith. […]
Courage comes when faith is living
Courage, in fact, has no raison d’être unless it has a conviction as its fundament. The will is a blind power when it is not enlightened by intelligence, and one cannot walk with firm steps in the dark.
If today’s generation has all the uncertainties and doubts of a man walking gropingly, it is a clear sign that it no longer values the Word of God, which is the lamp that guides our steps and the light that illuminates our paths: “Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum, et lumen semitis meis” (Ps 118:105). Courage will come when faith is alive in the heart, when all the precepts imposed by faith are practised, because faith is impossible without works, just as it is impossible to imagine a sun that does not give light and warmth.
And the martyrs we commemorate are witnesses to this truth, because martyrdom cannot be an act of mere enthusiasm in which one offers one’s head to the axe in order to go straight to Paradise; it presupposes the long and painful exercise of all the virtues, omnimoda et immaculata munditia.1
Pure as an Angel, bold as a lion
And to speak of the one who is best known, LaPucelle of Orléans, she remains as pure as an Angel, both in the humble village of her birth and in the midst of the licentiousness of the armies, bold as a lion in all the dangers of battle, while merciful to the miserable and the unfortunate. Simple as a child, in both the quietude of the fields and the tumult of war, she is always recollected in God, and is all love for the Virgin and like a Cherub for the Most Holy Eucharist […].
Called by the Lord to defend her homeland, she responds to her vocation by undertaking something that everyone, including she herself, thought impossible; but what is impossible for men is always possible with God’s help.
Christian indolence, the backbone of Satan’s kingdom
Therefore, we must not exaggerate the difficulties of practising all that the Faith imposes on us in order to fulfil our duties, to exercise the fruitful apostolate of example that the Lord expects of each of us: “Unicuique mandavit de proximo suo”2 (Ecclus 17:12).
More than ever, the main strength of the wicked is the cowardice of the good, and the might of Satan’s kingdom is Christian indolence
Difficulties come from those who create and exaggerate them, those who trust in themselves without Heaven’s help, and those who abjectly give in, daunted by the world’s mockery and scorn. Hence it must be concluded that, in our time more than ever, the main strength of the wicked is the cowardice and weakness of the good, and the backbone of Satan’s kingdom is Christian indolence.
The Pope’s lamentation
Oh, if only I could ask the Divine Redeemer, as the prophet Zechariah did in spirit, “What are these wounds in the midst of thy hands? – Quid sunt plagae istae in medio manuum tuarum?” (13:6a).
The answer would leave no doubt: “With these I was wounded in the house of them that loved me – His plagatus sum in domo eorum qui diligebant me’ (13:6b); by my friends, who did nothing to defend me and who at every turn became accomplices of my adversaries.
“Save France, O great God!”
And many Christians in France cannot be exempt from this reproach, made to unbelieving and fearful Christians in all countries. If by my venerable predecessor she was called a most noble, missionary, generous and chivalrous nation […], I will add to her glory all that Pope Gregory IX wrote to King St. Louis:
“God, whom the heavenly legions obey, having established different kingdoms on this earth according to the diversity of languages and climates, has entrusted many rulers with special missions for the fulfilment of His designs. And just as He once preferred the tribe of Judah to the other sons of Jacob and endowed it with special blessings, so He chose France above all other nations of the earth for the protection of the Catholic Faith and the defence of religious freedom. This is why France is the very Kingdom of God; the enemies of France are Christ’s enemies. That is why God loves France, because He loves the Church, which spans the centuries and recruits her legions for eternity. God loves France, which no endeavour has ever succeeded in detaching entirely from the cause of God. God loves France, where at no time has the Faith lost its vigour; where kings and soldiers have never hesitated to face dangers and to give their blood for the preservation of the Faith and religious liberty.” […]
What seems impossible to men is possible to God. And I am confirmed in this certainty by the protection of the martyrs who gave their blood for the Faith, as well as the intercession of Joan of Arc who, living in the hearts of the French, continually repeats this prayer in Heaven: “Save France, O great God!” ◊
Excerpts from: ST. PIUS X.
Speech on the Publication of the Decrees
of the heroic virtues of Joan of Arc, John Eudes,
Francis de Capillas, John T. Vénard and Companions,
13/12/1908 – Translation: Heralds of the Gospel
Notes
1 From Latin: onimodal and immaculate purity.
2 From Latin: “And He gave to every one of them commandment concerning his neighbour.”
