Guides along God’s Path

In every well-organized religious house there is a little-noticed but indispensable figure: the bursar. What does his role consist of? Supplying the community with everything it needs for its subsistence: provisions, general supplies and food. He is the “man of providence”, whose concern it is to manage the treasury in such a way that no one lacks anything. His task is so important that a community cannot live without him.

The word providence comes from the Latin providere, meaning to provide. And Divine Providence is the title we give to God as His Heart is open to the needs of His creatures, seeking to give them everything they need.

By the action of Divine Providence, we all exist and we do not lack water or food. In this sense, Our Lord admonishes us: if even birds have their sustenance and plants have the means to grow, how could the Heavenly Father leave mankind forsaken (cf. Mt 6:26-32)? We must only trust and He will provide.

Now, in general, God does not exercise His Providence directly, but both in the order of nature and, above all, in the supernatural order, He prefers to carry out His works through other beings.

For example, He could satisfy the appetite of the poor by transforming a rough stone into a real feast; however, He wants alms from the rich, so that they can be His intermediaries in that benefit. For the sick, suffering from malaise, pain, or difficulty sleeping at night, He does not cure them directly, but lets the doctor do it, by giving them the proper medicine. For another who would like to learn many things, instead of instructing him personally, He prefers to make use of a human instrument called a teacher.

Guides to point humanity in the right direction

As far as divine action in history is concerned, there are certain graces that, despite having been won by Our Lord Jesus Christ as Head of the Mystical Body, God reserves for souls depending on the collaboration of certain providential men with the Redemption.

From all eternity, the Creator has prepared the long and shining train of functions, graces, vocations and styles that must develop over the centuries, so that, above all in situations of degeneration, when His people are under tremendous oppression, He raises up heroes, prophets and founders of religious orders and sends them to show humanity a steady and sure course.

In ancient times, God spared the earth from destruction in the Flood because of one man, and on account of him the human race continued to exist. Noah was a man chosen by Divine Providence, the highest banner He raised, a prefigure of others that would come throughout history, the standard that contained all the other standards of the future!

He received the inspiration and the order to build the blessed ark to save the world from ruin. And just as the material ark contained all the good things created by God that would have perished in the flood, in Noah’s soul the entire human race that took refuge with him was spiritually blessed.

God later chose Moses, at the age of eighty, to save His people from the tyranny of Pharaoh. In the signs and plagues that then afflicted Egypt, we see God’s omnipotence resting on His prophet. Arriving at the shore of the Red Sea, he only needed to raise his staff and the waters opened up, forming two huge walls. Six hundred thousand men, not counting women and children, walked dry-shod over the sea floor, while, at his command, the Egyptian army, with its horses, chariots, horsemen, officers and the king himself, was swallowed up by the waves.

How many miracles, what power! For forty years God’s arm sustained him, and He caused manna to fall from the sky, quails to appear in the desert, water to flow from the rocks… And when two hundred and fifty rebels – led by Korah, Dathan and Abiram – decided to rise up against his prophetism, he ordered the earth to open up and consume them with everything they possessed.

In all these events, God could have, if He pleased, given the orders Himself, but He chose to enter into a partnership with Moses: He allowed His chosen one to participate in His powers, so that he had the strength that He Himself would have manifested by acting directly. To such an extent that, when he desired something, the Most High would reveal His will to the heart of His chosen one, and then all it took was his wish for God’s will to be fulfilled. This was especially true when the people fell into idolatry and Moses interceded for them, begging God to have mercy and not destroy them. The Lord granted him this, even though He had previously decreed that He would exterminate them and give the prophet another people.

And so, in the Old Testament, God sent models and guides to the people, men of fire like Samuel, Elijah, David – who combined royalty and prophetism – and many others, through whom He showed them the true paths.

In the new regime of grace, the Holy Church has always continued to be assisted by prophets. God has remained close to us through the living example of the saints: from St. John the Baptist and the Apostles, through St. Augustine, St. Benedict, St. Bernard, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic de Guzman, to St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Teresa of Avila. More recently, we find St. Louis Grignion de Montfort, an extraordinary man of unrivalled Marian devotion, whose written works demonstrate in a profound and magnificent manner who Our Lady is. And we could give many more like examples.

Characteristics of the providential man

So what are the characteristics of the providential man?

Firstly, we note that God generally requires him to fulfil a task so great that it is much greater than himself. His human stature is often out of proportion with his mission.

Secondly – and this is the point that most defines him, as it is a supernatural aspect – he becomes a channel of grace. Therefore, it is a huge mistake to try to pin the providential nature of one of these chosen ones on natural abilities, because it comes from God and not from man. If a “drop” of grace is worth more than the entire created universe, as St. Thomas Aquinas says,¹ then obviously the supernatural action in this man must be greater than his nature.

There is a third quality: his existence only has meaning in the fulfilment of the mission to which he was destined. If he abandons it, he will “lose his taste” and the words of Our Lord can be applied to him: “It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men” (Mt 5:13).

The fourth distinguishing feature of the providential man is that he has, through an action of grace in his soul, the understanding, aptitude and sensibility to carry out a certain mission. No matter how much others, devoid of that calling, make human or superhuman efforts to imitate him, it will yield them nothing, for they will not succeed.

Additionally, there is a fifth, more imponderable characteristic that marks this chosen one: the transparency of predestination. From early on, sometimes while yet in the cradle or on his mother’s lap, an unusual factor can be seen in him that separates and distinguishes him from others.

The Divine Model

This last trait is super-eminent in the Child Jesus. He must have been gentle, exceedingly kind, but at the same time serious and grave, unlike any other child His age. He must have inspired admiration in the people with whom He lived, because we know from the Gospel that He amazed the very doctors in the Temple, leaving them dumbfounded at His wisdom (cf. Lk 2:47).

As Our Lord grew in age, His noble, tender, strong, in a word, perfect Soul, which was in the beatific vision, was reflected on the outside, radiating the splendour He possessed within Him in His physiognomy, gestures, attitudes and His whole body.

Then what can we say about the commanding, culminating and crowning beauty of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the age of thirty? It had been foretold that He would be the most beautiful among the sons of men (cf. Ps 45:2). There has never been nor will there ever be a more beautiful man in the entire order of creation.

Yet how can it be explained that in Nazareth He went unnoticed?

How could His neighbours, friends and relatives have failed to discover in Our Lord the providential Man? He was certainly an orator like no other in Israel. But what did that matter to His fellow citizens? It says in the Gospel that they remarked: “He is one of ours. His father is a carpenter!” (cf. Mt 13:55-56). How could they not recognize the Messiah in Him? How could they not see the radiance of His divinity?

“Assueta vilescunt”, the Latin saying goes. Unfortunately, human beings get used to everything, and extraordinary things, when they become routine, end up fading in our sight, until at a certain point they seem ordinary to us.

And in the case of Our Lord, the divine plan demanded that He go through the long period of thirty years without being distinguished from ordinary people. You might say: “He was a misunderstood man.” Yes, He was the Misunderstood Man par excellence, with a capital ‘M’! As well as contradicting the deviations and errors of the time, showing Himself to be the opposite of the convictions of those people, He brought a new doctrine endowed with power (cf. Mk 1:27), completely unimaginable to His contemporaries: “He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not” (Jn 1:11).

Misunderstood, isolated, persecuted… but victorious!

This is the sixth characteristic of the providential man, which is difficult for the modern mentality to accept, always inclined to solve problems in a magical manner, without setbacks – including that of being, as a repetition of the God-Man, misunderstood by those close to him.

How many times have we seen this happen in history, even in the natural world! In the world of art, for example, at a certain moment a Mozart appears, a truly genial talent, whose compositions represented an evolution in music by surpassing the classical style and already pointing to some romantic strands that would follow soon after. However, his contemporaries did not always accept him, because the artistic schemes of the time did not tolerate change. That is why he died almost destitute, and his third-rate funeral was attended only by a handful of friends.

In the supernatural field, providential men come bringing something completely unusual and indicating a course that is sometimes contrary to the unanimous opinion formed by the society of their era. And that is why they shock!

As a result, they will often go through terrible hardships, which will cause them to be despised, persecuted and slandered men, whose situation will look like a disaster even to themselves, with the impression that everything will collapse upon them.

At such times, the devil, who, as St. Peter says, prowls around like a lion, seeking whom he may devour (cf. 1 Pt 5:8), will try to increase the temptation, to the point of making his own vocation seem incomprehensible to him.

But if, giving himself over to a great cause, the providential man remains faithful and trusts, then Providence will lift him up, giving him courage and making him a victor! This is what happened to Our Lord: the Only-begotten Son of God was betrayed, martyred, crucified; but the Cross, the instrument of His Death and a symbol of ignominy, became the standard of history, an object of distinction and glory, set atop every crown, every tower and every cathedral.

The providential man for the 20th century

If Providence acted in this way for a high reason of wisdom, wanting all glory for Our Lord Jesus Christ, at the same time Providence wanted to test those who came into contact with Him, demanding from them the delicacy of attention to see that there was someone there who was more important than any other man.

And does Providence not also allow the extraordinary role models sent by God to guide the steps of humanity to undergo this same trial, in order to test their generosity and then reward their love?

Even in the 20th century, when the revolutionary process had reached its peak, there was a man sent by Providence to watch over the direction and sound guidance of mankind: Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira.

Thinking back to my first meeting with him, I remember that – without knowing how to apply the terms – I saw in him a prophet, a providential man called to change the course of history. This corresponded to my longings and to the mystical promptings of grace to find someone who would transform the world. And I was certain that I had to serve that man and follow this path to the end.

What was this end?

There was no happy future for him on earth; rather, bitterness, isolation and silence was heaped upon him… But looking back, I do not regret having followed him despite so many setbacks, for it is certain that through his fidelity he bought graces that are reserved for the Reign of Mary and the triumph of her Immaculate Heart! ◊

Excerpts from oral expositions given
between 1991 and 2009

Notes

¹ Cf. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa Theologiæ. I-II, q.113, a.9, ad 2.