The battle is hot.
The intensity of the
battle will only increase as modernism continues its advance in neutering the
faith and morals handed down to us by our spiritual ancestors … the faith and
morals attested to and recommended by the Saints … the faith and morals attested to and recommended by the
blood of the Martyrs shed for the sake of the Gospel.
Saints and Martyrs; flesh
and blood testaments of the New Testament.
The advances of modernism that are
weakening the Church should be no surprise. The scandals of the 20th
Century that have so terribly scarred the beautiful face of the Church should
not surprise us. The push by some of the bishops and priests to further
liberalize the Church should not be surprising.
His Holiness Pope Saint Pius X
[Pontiff 1903-1914] labored faithfully to warn and protect the flock from the
advances of modernist thought. “That We should act without delay in this matter
is made imperative especially by the fact that the partisans of error are to
be sought not only among the Church's open enemies; but, what is to be most
dreaded and deplored, in her very bosom, and are the more mischievous the less
they keep in the open. We allude, Venerable Brethren, to many who belong to
the Catholic laity, and, what is much more sad, to the ranks of the priesthood
itself, who, animated by a false zeal for the Church, lacking the solid
safeguards of philosophy and theology, nay more, thoroughly imbued with the
poisonous doctrines taught by the enemies of the Church, and lost to all sense
of modesty, put themselves forward as reformers of the Church; and, forming
more boldly into line of attack, assail all that is most sacred in the work of
Christ, not sparing even the Person of the Divine Redeemer, whom, with
sacrilegious audacity, they degrade to the condition of a simple and ordinary
man.”[1]
Here we are now, a little over a century after His Holiness penned these words,
engaged in a fully-fledged exercise of spiritual survival in an arena where
modernism, now so thoroughly entrenched, is no longer content to be mischievous in the dark shadows but, rather, unashamedly flaunts and declares itself openly as acceptable and holy.
The book, How
Should We Then Live: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture,
by Francis A. Shaeffer [first published in 1976] was an eye-opener when I read
it in 1980. The question, “How should we then live?”, in light of the continued
development and advancement of modernism in the world [and more importantly in
the Church] is well worth fresh reconsideration.
1 Peter 3:1-13 [Pope Peter
with pen in hand] talks about the atmosphere of scoffing and indulgence in
lusts that will precede the Lord’s Second Coming. Peter poses the question, “Since
all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of people ought you
to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the
coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and
dissolved, and the elements melt with fire?
Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle;
be our defense against
the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him,
we humbly pray;
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
cast into hell Satan
and all the other evil spirits
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
[1]
The Encyclical "Pascendi Dominici Gregis" Given by His Holiness Pope
Saint Pius X September 8, 1907
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