The Holy Rosary

Sunday, the Glorious Mysteries, in Latin with Cardinal Burke.

Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World

About the video I just shared, I'd like to recommend a book, Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World, by Maya Jasonoff, PhD, Coolidge Professor of History at Harvard University.

Dr Jasonoff is not some unreconstructed Royalist or United Empire Loyalist. Her father is of Eastern European Jewish descent and her mother was born in Calcutta. Her BA is from Harvard and her PhD from Yale (though she also earned an MPhil(Cantab) in England).

Here is a short review and excerpt from the Museum of the American Revolution:

The history of loyalists in the American Revolution is not just a national history, it's a global one. Few explain this better than Maya Jasanoff, in her pivotal work, Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World. Through the stories of ten major characters, Jasanoff explores loyalists' decisions to leave America after the war and their ventures to resettle across the British Empire, from Nova Scotia to Jamaica, Sierra Leone to India. She finds that each journey reveals "a different stamp of the revolution on the world."

In this excerpt, Jasanoff sheds light on loyalists' motives for leaving revolutionary America and where they went once they left.

Excerpt:

Perhaps the most surprising truth about loyalist refugees was how varied a role ideology might play in their decision–making. Though they shared an allegiance to the king and a commitment to the empire, their precise beliefs otherwise ranged widely. Some, like Bailey, expressed sophisticated intellectual reasons for their position. For others, loyalism stemmed from a personal commitment to the existing order of things, a sense that it was better to stick with the devil you knew. Also widespread was a pragmatic opinion that the colonies were economically and strategically better off as part of the British Empire. The extend and depth of loyalism points to a fundamental feature of this conflict that the term "revolution" belies. This was quite simply a civil war — and routinely described as such by contemporaries on both sides of the Atlantic. Polarizing communities, destroying friendships, dividing families — most famously Benjamin Franklin, the founding father, from his only son William, a loyalist — this was the longest war Americans fought before Vietnam, and the bloodiest until the Civil War of 1861–1865. Recovering the contingency, coercion, and sheer violence of the American Revolution explains why so many loyalists chose to depart — driven, like Jacob Bailey, by fear of harassment as much as by commitment to principle. By the same token, self–interest could be as powerful a motivator as core beliefs, as the cases of runaway slaves and Britain's Indian allies perhaps make most clear.

A range of reasons, ideological and otherwise, led all the people in these pages to the same defining choice: to leave revolutionary America. This book sets out to explore what happened to them next. Of the sixty thousand loyalists who fled, about eight thousand whites and five thousand free blacks traveled to Britain, often to find themselves strangers in a strange land. The majority of refugees headed straight for Britain's other colonies, taking up incentives of free land, provisions, and supplies. More than half relocated to the northern British provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec, helping to transform regions once heavily French to the English–dominated Canada of today. A further six thousand or so migrants, especially from the American south, traveled to Jamaica and the Bahamas — carrying the vast majority of the fifteen thousand exported slaves with them. Some ranged still farther afield. The East India Company army would soon be sprinkled with American–born officers, including two sons of the notorious turncoat Benedict Arnold. An unlucky few ended up among the first convicts sent to Botany Bay, Australia. And in perhaps the most surprising migration, nearly twelve hundred black loyalists moved to Africa, under the sponsorship of British abolitionists, to found the utopian settlement of Freetown, in Sierra Leone. In short, loyalists landed in every corner of the British Empire. Within a decade of the peace, the map of the loyalist diaspora looked much like the map of the empire as a whole.

And here is Dr Jasonoff giving a lecture on the subject:

American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World

Maya Jasanoff is Coolidge Professor of History at Harvard University. She specializes in the history of the British Empire. In her first book, Edge of Empire: Lives, Culture, and Conquest in the East 1750-1850 (2005), she explores the cultural interaction between Britain and Egypt and India during the rapid expansion of the British Empire in the Middle East and Asia. In her second book, Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World (2011), which provides the theme for her Clark Lecture, she explores the experience of the Loyalists who left the United States during and after the upheaval of the American Revolution.

Forgotten History: The 'Good Americans' Who Stayed Loyal to the King

Today we are talking about the “Good Americans” - those who stayed loyal to the crown during the American Revolution. Lieutenant General James Robertson, a senior British general in America said that it was always his intention to subdue the bad Americans with the “Good Americans.” Well, he was referring to those brave loyalists - the men who knew right from wrong and respected their King.

The Eschatological Implications of AI

With Fr Gregory Pine, OP,  BA, STL, Assistant Director for Campus Outreach at the Thomistic Institute & Fr Anselm Ramelow, OP, MDiv, PhD, Prof. of Philosophy, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology.

How to Pray the Seven Dolours of the Blessed Virgin Mary

From EWTN

THE SEVEN DOLOURS (SORROWS) OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

According to a form approved by Pope Pius VII (1815)

V.  O God, come to my assistance;      
R.  O Lord, make haste to help me

V.  Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.           
R.  As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

   (The Hail Mary is said after each verse.)

1. The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34-35)

I grieve for you, O Mary, most sorrowful, in the affliction of your tender heart at the prophecy of the holy and aged Simeon. Dear Mother, by your heart so afflicted, obtain for me the virtue of humility and the gift of the holy fear of God.

     Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. 
     Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of of thy womb, Jesus. 
     Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

2. The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13-21)

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the anguish of your most affectionate heart during the flight into Egypt and your sojourn there. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of generosity, especially toward the poor, and the gift of piety.

     Hail Mary….

3. The Loss of Jesus for Three Days (Luke 2:41-50)

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in those anxieties which tried your troubled heart at the loss of your dear Jesus. Dear Mother, by your heart so full of anguish, obtain for me the virtue of chastity and the gift of knowledge.

     Hail Mary….

4. The Carrying of the Cross (John 19:17)

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the consternation of your heart at meeting Jesus as He carried His cross. Dear Mother, by your heart so troubled, obtain for me the virtue of patience and the gift of fortitude.

     Hail Mary….

5. The Crucifixion of Jesus (John 19:18-30)

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the martyrdom which your generous heart endured in standing near Jesus in His agony. Dear Mother, by your afflicted heart, obtain for me the virtue of temperance and the gift of counsel.

     Hail Mary….

6. Jesus Taken Down from the Cross (John 19:39-40)

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, in the wounding of your compassionate heart, when the side of Jesus was struck by the lance before His Body was removed from the cross. Dear Mother, by your heart thus transfixed, obtain for me the virtue of fraternal charity and the gift of understanding.

     Hail Mary….

7. Jesus Laid in the Tomb (John 19:39-42)

I grieve for you, O Mary most sorrowful, for the pangs that wrenched your most loving heart at the burial of Jesus. Dear Mother, by your heart sunk in the bitterness of desolation, obtain for me the virtue of diligence and the gift of wisdom.

     Hail Mary….

Let Us Pray:   Let intercession be made for us, we beseech You, O Lord Jesus Christ, now and at the Hour of our death, before the throne of Your mercy, by the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your Mother, whose most holy soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the hour of Your bitter Passion. Through You, O Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns world without end. Amen.

How To Pray the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary

Also known as the 'Servite Rosary', this devotion was developed by the Seven Holy Founders of the Order of Servites (Feast Day 12 February).

From Aleteia

By Philip Kosloski

This ancient spiritual practice helps us enter into the heart of Our Blessed Mother as we recall her sufferings

“As Christ was the ‘man of sorrows’ (Is 53, 3) through whom it pleased God to have ‘reconciled all things through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross’ (Col 1, 20), so too, Mary is ‘the woman of sorrows’ whom God associated with his Son as mother and participant in his Passion (socia passionis).” (Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy)

Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows is very ancient and over time pious customs have been developed to enter into the heart of Mary that was pierced so “thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:35). One such custom owes its origin to the Servite Order founded by a group called the Seven Holy Founders in 1233. From the very beginning they sought to live a life dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows.

Through their spirituality they developed what has been called the “Servite Rosary,” also known as the “Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary.” It recalls seven events in the life of Mary when she experienced great sorrow. They are as follows:

1. The Prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:34–35)
2. The Flight into Egypt (Matthew 2:13)
3. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem (Luke 2:43–45)
4. The Meeting of Mary and Jesus on his Way to Calvary (traditional)
5. Standing at the Foot of the Cross (John 19:25)
6. Jesus Being Taken Down from the Cross (Matthew 27:57–59)
7. The Burial of Jesus (John 19:40–42)

How to Pray the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Mary

To pray this chaplet in memory of Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows, the custom is to pray the Our Father once and then the Hail Mary seven times at each division. At the very end, three Hail Marys should be prayed in honor of Our Lady’s tears.

It is suggested when praying the chaplet to say an Act of Contrition at the very beginning, recognizing the role our sins had in Our Lady’s sufferings.

One method that helps facilitate the meditation on Mary’s sorrows is to announce each sorrow before praying the seven Hail Marys. Here is the text given by the Church in the 1910 version of the Raccolta:

With this confidence in my heart, I meditate on the First Sorrow, when Mary, Virgin Mother of my GOD, presented JESUS her only Son in the Temple, laid Him in the arms of holy and aged Simeon, and heard his prophetic word, “The sword of grief shall pierce thy soul,” foretelling thereby the Passion and Death of her Son JESUS.

The Second Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin was when she was obliged to fly into Egypt by reason of the persecution of cruel Herod, who impiously sought to slay her well beloved Son.

The Third Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin was when, after having gone up to Jerusalem at the Paschal Feast with Joseph her spouse and JESUS her beloved Son, she lost Him on the way back to her poor house, and for three days bewailed the loss of her only Love.

The Fourth Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin was when she met her dear Son JESUS carrying to Mount Calvary on his tender shoulders the heavy Cross whereon He was to be crucified for our salvation.

The Fifth Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin was when she saw her Son JESUS raised upon the hard tree of the Cross, and blood flowing from every part of his sacred Body, and then beheld Him die after three hours agony.

The Sixth Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin was when she saw the lance pierce the sacred Side of JESUS, her beloved Son, the nails withdrawn, and his holy Body laid in her purest bosom.

The Seventh and last Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin, Queen and Advocate of us, her servants, miserable sinners, was when she saw the Holy Body of her Son buried in the grave.

V/. Pray for us, Virgin most sorrowful.

R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of CHRIST.

Let us pray.

GRANT, we beseech Thee, O LORD JESUS CHRIST, that the most blessed Virgin Mary, thy Mother, may intercede for us before the throne of thy mercy, now and at the hour of our death, whose most holy soul was transfixed with the sword of sorrow in the hour of thine own Passion. Through Thee, JESUS CHRIST, SAVIOR of the world, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. 

The Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows is a beautiful tradition in the Church and allows a soul to walk the via matris, following Mary who kept all of these sorrows in her heart.

Padre Pio: I Embrace Suffering For Christ

Bishop Warns Francis: Those Who Deny Salvation Is Only From Christ Aren't Christian

My Opinion on Non-Catholic Religions

I've had several discussions with a Protestant friend who regularly reads and comments on the blog, so I thought I'd clarify a few things.

First of all, in conformity with the Magisterium of the Church as expressed in the section on the Church in Particular in the Catechism of Pope St Pius X, I do not believe that Protestants are part of the Church founded by Christ. 

St Pius says:

The Church in General

8 Q. What is the Catholic Church?

A. The Catholic Church is the Union or Congregation of all the baptised who, still living on earth, profess the same Faith and the same Law of Jesus Christ, participate in the same Sacraments, and obey their lawful Pastors, particularly the Roman Pontiff.

9 Q. State distinctly what is necessary to be a member of the Church?

A. To be a member of the Church it is necessary to be baptised, to believe and profess the teaching of Jesus Christ, to participate in the same Sacraments, and to acknowledge the Pope and the other lawful pastors of the Church.

10 Q. Who are the lawful pastors of the Church?

A. The lawful pastors of the Church are the Roman Pontiff, that is, the Pope, who is Supreme Pastor, and the Bishops. Other priests, also, and especially Parish Priests, have a share in the pastoral office, subject to the Bishop and the Pope.

11 Q. Why do you say that the Roman Pontiff is supreme Pastor of the Church?

A. Because Jesus Christ said to St. Peter, the first Pope: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and I will give to thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound also in Heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in Heaven." And again: "Feed My lambs, feed My sheep."

12 Q. The many societies of persons who are baptised but who do not acknowledge the Roman Pontiff as their Head do not, then, belong to the Church of Jesus Christ?

A. No, those who do not acknowledge the Roman Pontiff as their Head do not belong to the Church of Jesus Christ.

Again, in conformity to the Magisterium, I believe that membership in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church as defined by St Pius is necessary for salvation. Pope Boniface VIII said in his Bull, Unam Sanctam, 'Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.'

The following statements on extra Ecclesiam nulla salus (Outside the Catholic Church There is No Salvation) are from the highest teaching authority of the Catholic Church. They are ex cathedra Papal decrees (decrees from the Chair of St. Peter). Therefore, they constitute the teaching given to the Catholic Church by Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Such teachings are unchangeable and are classified as part of the solemn magisterium (the extraordinary teaching authority of the Catholic Church).

Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, Constitution 1, 1215, ex cathedra: “There is indeed one universal Church of the faithful, outside of which nobody at all is saved, in which Jesus Christ is both priest and sacrifice.”[1]

Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam, Nov. 18, 1302, ex cathedra:

“With Faith urging us we are forced to believe and to hold the one, holy, Catholic Church and that, apostolic, and we firmly believe and simply confess this Church outside of which there is no salvation nor remission of sin… Furthermore, we declare, say, define, and proclaim to every human creature that they by absolute necessity for salvation are entirely subject to the Roman Pontiff.”[2]

Pope Clement V, Council of Vienne, Decree # 30, 1311-1312, ex cathedra:

“Since however there is for both regulars and seculars, for superiors and subjects, for exempt and non-exempt, one universal Church, outside of which there is no salvation, for all of whom there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism…”[3]

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, Sess. 8, Nov. 22, 1439, ex cathedra:

“Whoever wishes to be saved, needs above all to hold the Catholic faith; unless each one preserves this whole and inviolate, he will without a doubt perish in eternity.”[4]

Pope Eugene IV, Council of Florence, “Cantate Domino,” 1441, ex cathedra:

“The Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the Church before the end of their lives; that the unity of this ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only for those who abide in it do the Church’s sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the Christian militia produce eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.”[5]

Pope Leo X, Fifth Lateran Council, Session 11, Dec. 19, 1516, ex cathedra:

“For, regulars and seculars, prelates and subjects, exempt and non-exempt, belong to the one universal Church, outside of which no one at all is saved, and they all have one Lord and one faith.”[6]

Pope Pius IV, Council of Trent, “Iniunctum nobis,” Nov. 13, 1565, ex cathedra: “This true Catholic faith, outside of which no one can be saved… I now profess and truly hold…”[7]

Pope Benedict XIV, Nuper ad nos, March 16, 1743, Profession of Faith: “This faith of the Catholic Church, without which no one can be saved, and which of my own accord I now profess and truly hold…”[8]

Pope Pius IX, Vatican Council I, Session 2, Profession of Faith, 1870, ex cathedra: “This true Catholic faith, outside of which none can be saved, which I now freely profess and truly hold…”[9] [1] Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Sheed & Ward and Georgetown University Press, 1990, Vol. 1, p. 230; Denzinger 430.

[2] Denzinger, The Sources of Catholic Dogma, B. Herder Book. Co., Thirtieth Edition, 1957, 468-469.

[3] Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Vol. 1, p. 386.

[4] Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Vol. 1, pp. 550-553; Denzinger 39-40.

[5] Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Vol. 1, p. 578; Denzinger 714.

[6] Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Vol. 1, p. 646.

[7] Denzinger 1000.

[8] Denzinger 1473.

[9] Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Vol. 2, p. 803.

However, regarding those who through no fault of their own are ignorant of the Catholic Faith, salvation is still possible.

11. POPE PIUS IX (1846-1878) — Singulari Quidem, 1856:

174. “It must, of course, be held as a matter of faith that outside the apostolic Roman Church no one can be saved, that the Church is the only ark of salvation, and that whoever does not enter it will perish in the flood. On the other hand, it must likewise be held as certain that those who are affected by ignorance of the true religion, if it is invincible ignorance, are not subject to any guilt in this matter before the eyes of the Lord. Now, then, who could presume in himself an ability to set the boundaries of such ignorance, taking into consideration the natural differences of peoples, lands, native talents, and so many other factors? Only when we have been released from the bonds of this body and see God just as He is (see John 3:2) all we really understand how close and beautiful a bond joins divine mercy with divine justice.”

Quanto Conficiamur Moerore (1863):
“…We all know that those who are afflicted with invincible ignorance with regard to our holy religion, if they carefully keep the precepts of the natural law that have been written by God in the hearts of men, if they are prepare to obey God, and if they lead a virtuous and dutiful life, can attain eternal life by the power of divine light and grace.”

12. POPE PIUS XII (1939-1958) — Mystical Body of Christ (June 29, 1943):

“As you know, Venerable Brethren, from the very beginning of Our Pontificate We have committed to the protection and guidance of heaven those who do not belong to the visible organization of the Catholic Church, solemnly declaring that after the example of the Good Shepherd We desire nothing more ardently than that they may have life and have it more abundantly… For even though unsuspectingly they are related to the Mystical Body of the Redeemer in desire and resolution, they still remain deprived of so many precious gifts and helps from heaven, which one can only enjoy in the Catholic Church.”

Further, I believe that every religion or denomination founded since Pentecost, Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, Protestantism of all flavours and sects, and the non-Christian cults like mormonism and 'Jehovah's Witnesses' are all the direct work of Satan in attacking the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church Militant on earth.

As for those religions that predate Pentecost, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, the various forms of idolatrous paganism, etc., I believe that they still exist because of the active intervention of Satan to prevent the spread and triumph of the Catholic Faith.

Does this mean that only those who are outwardly members of the Catholic Church can be saved? No. The Church also teaches the doctrines of Baptism by blood and Baptism by desire, as explained by Fathers Tanquery and Prummer below.

13. FR. A. TANQUERY, Dogmatic Brevior; ART. IV, Section I, II – 1945 (1024-1)

The Baptism of Desire. Contrition, or perfect charity, with at least an implicit desire for Baptism, supplies in adults the place of the baptism of water as respects the forgiveness of sins.

This is certain.

Explanation: a) An implicit desire for Baptism, that is, one that is included in a general purpose of keeping all the commandments of God is, as all agree, sufficient in one who is invincibly ignorant of the law of Baptism; likewise, according to the more common opinion, in one who knows the necessity of Baptism.

b) Perfect charity, with a desire for Baptism, forgives original sin and actual sins, and therefore infuses sanctifying grace; but it does not imprint the Baptismal character and does not of itself remit the whole temporal punishment due for sin; whence, when the Unity offers, the obligation remains on one who was sanctified in this manner of receiving the Baptism of water.

14. FR. DOMINIC PRUMMER, O.P., Moral Theology, 1949:

• “Baptism of Desire which is a perfect act of charity that includes at least implicitly the desire for Baptism by water”;
• “Baptism of Blood which signifies martyrdom endured for Christ prior to the reception of Baptism by Water”;
• “Regarding the effects of Baptism of Blood and Baptism of Desire… both cause sanctifying grace. …Baptism of Blood usually remits all venial sin and temporal punishment…”

So, I stand with the Church and I pray every day for the conversion of the world to the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, the only Church founded by Christ!

As 'Dagger John' Hughes, Archbishop of New York said in 1850 in a lecture called "The Decline of Protestantism and Its Causes,", the aim of the Church is "to convert all Pagan nations, and all Protestant nations. . . . Our mission [is] to convert the world –including the inhabitants of the United States – the people of the cities, and the people of the country, . . . the Legislatures, the Senate, the Cabinet, the President, and all!"

Living in a Conviction-less Age

'[W]e pretend that we can have the world and Christ. This comfort has led us into a void of our own conviction-less faith. Catholics were all too agreeable to give up Mass for Covid.'

From Crisis

By Constance T Hull, MST

Christians’ lack of conviction was the catalyst for Christ being removed from the cultural throne of the West. Instead, we have accepted a bland, banal, suburban counterfeit that requires very little sacrifice or suffering.

Some of the most intuitive and fascinating writing about the state of the world can be found among recent Orthodox Christian converts. Many of these writers lived as seculars or pagans, so they can grasp at a deeper level the undercurrents of our culture and present moment. Paul Kingsnorth, who was heavily involved in environmentalism and spent time as a Wiccan, is one of those converts. 

In a recent article on his Substack, The Abbey of Misrule, Kingsnorth wrote about the re-paganization of the West, which he argues is not here yet because we are in a moment of what he calls the Void. There is no set god that sits on the throne of our culture at this moment because there is a transition taking place. We are not quite pagan or atheistic because those who adhere to these belief systems lack conviction. There is no skin in the game, so to speak. They back down when any sacrifice for their paganism or atheism is asked of them. Kingsnorth writes in his essay “Into the Void”:

It is not, I would say, any kind of ‘age’ at all. It has no shape. It has no centre. Nobody sits on its throne. It is, taken in the round, simply a vacuum. There is nothing here at all.

It is a void.

So this is what I have taken to calling the time we live in now, here in the post-everything West: the Void. The Void is an empty space. There is no god here, of any shape. Deicide has dealt with that.

The Void is our new Colosseum: both bounded and empty, a place of entertainment and terror. In the Void, nothing is real, nothing has meaning, and nothing leads us in any direction but inward. When we get there, all we find is our passions, and they drag us in every direction we can think of. We have no idea who to turn to for help, and despair rises all around us as a result. In this culture, Satan is cool, but not because we believe in him: precisely because we don’t. In the Void, we all hate Christianity, but not that much. It is barely worth hating. Nothing much is worth hating, or loving anymore.

In this temporary moment of the Void, there is no real conviction in anything. A lack of belief leads inevitably to indifference, but this godless throne will not remain so for long. Humanity rarely stays in states of indifference for long and instead will choose a new god for the throne of the West. The indifference toward Christianity will shift to greater and greater hostility in the years to come.

I agree with Kingsnorth’s assessment of the Void we currently find ourselves in, but it is time to engage in a serious examination of conscience on the lack of conviction Christians in the West also live. Growing up in the United States, and having attended Mass in parishes across the U.S. and parts of Europe, I have repeatedly witnessed a deep lack of conviction.  

We as Christians have failed in our evangelical mission. Our lack of conviction was the catalyst for Christ being removed from the cultural throne of the West. Instead, we have accepted a bland, banal, suburban counterfeit that requires very little sacrifice or suffering. Like our pagan and atheistic counterparts, we are not willing to sacrifice or suffer for our beliefs.

If there is one way to best describe Western Christianity, it is to say it is Cross-less. We have chosen a prosperity-gospel, moralistic, therapeutic, deist counterfeit. We believe that the Gospel does not require much of us. We can still live our worldly, consumer-driven way of life. We can go to our suburban parishes, pat ourselves on the back, and pretend that we are living the fullness of the Gospel. After all, the Lord wants us to be comfortable and have good things, right?

“In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“So, therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:33)

These are two examples among many. The Lord tells us we are not greater than the Master. Our Master died on the Cross for our salvation. We are called to live crucified lives each day— without counting the cost—in the hope that we will spend eternity with Him and bring countless others with us. Nowhere does Christ tell us we get to live in comfort. I am as much to blame as anyone else. For years I didn’t grasp how radical the Gospel calling is for each one of us. I still fail daily to live it. 

How many of us sitting in the pews understand this truth? Our brothers and sisters in Christ in places like Nigeria, Pakistan, Haiti, and elsewhere live each day with the threat of violence—and, in many cases, martyrdom. They risk life and limb to be fed by the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Meanwhile, Western Christians cancel Mass on federal holidays because state-mandated days off are more important than the public celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; or we cancel if there is a threat of snow. My spiritual mother and father grew up in Poland under the Soviet Union. They quite literally went to Mass, with two small children, while tanks were parked outside of the church. Would we do the same? 

Day in and day out, we pretend that we can have the world and Christ. This comfort has led us into a void of our own conviction-less faith. Catholics were all too agreeable to give up Mass for Covid. The most important thing we do—celebrating Mass—became non-essential, while abortion clinics and liquor stores remained open. Years later, we are still justifying our self-imposed exile from the Real Presence while unborn babies were being slaughtered. We are unwilling to sacrifice to follow Christ, but we imagine that all of us would bravely endure martyrdom if it came.

The odds of this being true are slim given fallen human nature, history, and the Passion narratives. St. John was the only apostle to remain at the foot of the Cross. He was able to do so because of a very deep prayer life that gave him the charity and fortitude to endure the horrors of watching his Beloved Savior die. The others ran when the Lord’s hour came. True, they all died as martyrs later, but we like to ignore the fact that when the time of Our Lord’s death arrived, his closest friends abandoned Him. How can we possibly believe we wouldn’t do the same? How could we think so when we are willing to sacrifice so little right now? 

Western culture is experiencing a void because we lack conviction. The Void is waiting to be filled. The answer should be that Christianity will once more seek to lead people to Christ, but too many of us lack conviction. Our leadership has abandoned us for their own lack of conviction. Any member of the clergy who refuses to rock the boat and call us to do the same has misunderstood the calling of the Gospel and has chosen a counterfeit. Christianity without conviction and sacrifice is not Christianity. It is a counterfeit, a fraud.

Our lives look no different from our contemporaries. We blindly follow the increasingly technocratic leaders of our nations. We watch the same trashy television shows, ignore the Satanic messages in pop culture, seek comfort, lead consumer and materialistic lives, and have abandoned any semblance of asceticism. Our prayer lives have been overtaken by social media and binge-watching television. Catholics cannot be expected to attend Mass twice a week for more than a small handful of days a year. Why should the world take us seriously when we don’t take our Faith seriously?

I am asking myself these questions as much as anyone else. I am a product of my culture; and the more I look to Christ’s example, the more I see how incompatible postmodern values are with the high calling of the Gospel. We are, quite literally, slaves to comfort and consuming. I am a slave too. Everything around us leads us to live for the passions rather than the Lord. All this comfort and counterfeit Christianity is responsible for the Void that is in our culture. We will never be able to re-evangelize the West until we are willing to get rid of our own false idols and acknowledge how we have utterly failed in our mission to lead people to Christ.

This is a bitter pill to swallow. Many will find it too harsh. But if we do not begin to examine our failings and the counterfeits we have embraced, then our culture will replace the Void with something much more sinister. There is a growing mainstream movement of Satanism. And Europe has opened its borders to Islam, which has subsumed every culture it has conquered. Our culture is turning from indifference toward Christianity to open hostility. The Void will only remain for a short moment in history because nature and the preternatural abhor a vacuum.

The only way forward is through heroic Christianity that embraces the Cross. Suburban parishes of comfort and a superficial veneer must die away. We can no longer pretend like checking off Sunday Mass is discipleship. The only option is to embrace the Gospel in its fullness: with the joys and sufferings. A crucified ascetical Church will lead souls to Christ. A Church that looks no different from the world is a waste of people’s time—which is why they either don’t come, or they don’t stay. Will we start to live with conviction? Or will we continue to watch our culture be overtaken by darkness, with little concern on our part because we prefer our material comfort to Christ?