Ecclesiology of the Sun and the Moon: The Church’s Greatness Comes From God, and It Cannot Be Diminished

"Some, however, have made the mistake of thinking that once they enter the Church all their problems would diminish or completely go away. After all, the divine Lord and King is there! This is His Body and He is in complete charge."

From Rorate Cæli

By Fr. Joannes Petrus for Rorate Cæli

“At that time, when Jesus entered into the boat, His disciples followed Him: and behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves.” (Matt. 8:23-27)

To reach the eternal shores of Heaven we have to cross the sea of this world. His Majesty taught us that the world will be against us. That is why the Gospel indicates that the disciples followed Him into the barque of St. Peter, which symbolizes the Church, after which a storm arose. Our journey to Heaven is very much like a sea voyage, meaning there will be moments of up and down on the high seas… times of calm and times of storm… times of hot and times of cold… enemies lurking about (even inside the barque itself) trying to sink or corrupt the ship… sharks circling in the waters… and so on. 

Good news: all these things that confront us are part of creation, whereas the barque of St. Peter is not of this world, being the Mystical Body of Christ. No matter what things are aimed at the Church, they are only part of the created order. As St. Catherine of Siena said so well, “There is so much life in Her [the sweet Spouse of Christ, the Church] that no one can do Her to death” (Letter 371). In our own times we might say there is no bomb (nor combination of all bombs) big enough to blow up the Church! 

Some things cast at Her, however, will be more spiritual than others, such as the will of demons (ever run up against the will of a demon?) or the will of other men, which can be and indeed are as hard as diamonds. Yet, they are all created, and Christ the King can conquer any of them when He chooses to do so. The Gospel of the ship in the storm clearly shows that Our Lord has dominion over His creation, all of it. Only God knows exactly where to strike this hardest of rocks to break it down such that not even these perilous stones can make the ship founder. Thus, we read in this Gospel: Rising up He commanded the winds and the sea, and there came a great calm. Therefore, to weather all things, no matter what they may be, we must enter into the ship wherein sits Our Blessed Lord, the barque of St. Peter, and place ourselves under His dominion… which is the same as saying we must be faithful members of His Mystical Body, the Holy Roman Catholic Church, subject to the successor of St. Peter. We must seek Him where He is ever to be found: in the Church. St. Augustine teaches: to receive the Spirit of Christ, we must go to the Body of Christ.

Some, however, have made the mistake of thinking that once they enter the Church all their problems would diminish or completely go away. After all, the divine Lord and King is there! This is His Body and He is in complete charge. We might even think: “If I were in His shoes, I would do all I could to make the ride as smooth as possible! I would make the ship clean, ordered, and as perfect as possible for the passengers.” Yet, that is not what we find, both down through history to our own day. All this simply means that we must need what we find in Her: the trials, opposition, infiltration, and so on, in order to make it to the eternal heavenly shores. Far from our problems going away when in the Church, we are given all we need to receive the final reward of heaven!

Again, the Gospel indicates that there will be storms and big ones at that. In order to endure them, we must use the divine aid God gives to the baptized, namely the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, enabling the Church’s members to wait patiently for His Majesty to strike that most adamantine of rocks—the human will—to break it down. Love is patient. And this is why His Majesty allows the storms. They make us use them to become more faithful, more hopeful, more loving, more perfect. 

It is said that Pope Pius XII used to meditate long and frequently upon the ship in the storm as depicted in Rembrandt’s painting of this Gospel scene. This good pope knew the Church was ever anew in the midst of a terrible storm. In fact, he put it into words: “From the outset it should be noted that the society [i.e., the Church] established by the Redeemer of the human race resembles its divine Founder who was persecuted, calumniated and tortured by those very men whom He had undertaken to save” (Mystici Corporis Christi, no. 3). In this he echoed his immediate predecessor, Pope Pius XI, who taught: “the expiatory passion of Christ is renewed and in a manner continued and fulfilled in His mystical body, which is the Church” (no. 14, emphasis added). These are only echoes of what St. Paul taught the Colossians, namely that he (and all faithful Catholics with him) might “fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for His Body, which is the Church” (1:24). The Church will pass through storms… that is various continuations and fulfillments of His Majesty’s Passion… rejections from the world it has come to save. 

Using an analogy to explain this mystery of the Church’s difficult and most trying sufferings, some of the Fathers of the Church look to the Earth’s MOON, developing a sort of “Lunar Ecclesiology.” So, to help us understand better what is going on right now, let us reflect upon this analogy with the help of St. Ambrose’s Hexameron (“on the Days of Creation”).

St. Ambrose: 

“Most authors seem… to interpret this passage [on the Sun and Moon from Ps 103:19 ‘He hath made the Moon for seasons: the Sun knoweth his going down’ and Ps 135:9 ‘The Moon and the stars to rule the night: for His mercy endureth for ever’] mystically of Christ and the Church… that the Church may have her seasons, namely, of persecution and of peace. The Church, like the Moon, seems to lose light, but She does not. She can be cast in shadow, but She cannot lose Her light. For example, the Church is weakened by the desertion of some in time of persecution, but is replenished by the witness of Her martyrs. Wherefore, glorified by the victories of blood shed for Christ, She may pour forth all the more abundantly over the entire world the light of Her devotedness and Her faith” (IV, 2.7). 

The light of the Sun always shines on the Moon, but it is not always visible to us! In other words, the Church’s greatness cannot be diminished. There is a great temptation here, namely to want to be always in the Sun. Some try to make a sort of enclave or safe haven where this seems to be possible, but history shows it always ends up becoming a fake church, a false solution, having the appearances of the Church but empty of Her true life-giving powers. Using the Moon, let us not forget that that this orb is covered with flaws and defects in the form of craters (i.e., bad members, evil prelates, etc.), but they are only superficial. So, too, with the Church. 

St. Ambrose continues: “In fact, the Moon undergoes a diminution of its light, not, however, of its mass.” The meaning: the Church is indestructible, indefectible. There will always be faithful souls in the Church, even if they are hidden away from view. We can think here with certainty of the Church in Heaven and that in Purgatory… the light shines ever brightly there (glorifying the first and purifying the latter). We can also think historically of the defection of millions in Europe from the Church Militant under the revolts of Martin Luther and Henry VIII, trying to make the Church what they wanted it to be. Meanwhile millions converted in Mexico through Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Church does not lose Her mass, nor Her light. Not a few in our day justify a similar revolution, claiming they must “save the Church.”

St. Ambrose goes on: 

“… at the time when [the Moon] seems to give up its light in the course of the month, [it is] so that it may borrow from the Sun. This phenomenon can be easily observed … The orb of the Moon remains intact, although the whole of it does not shine as does a part of it. Its size is the same as it usually appears when it is filled with light. A certain shadow makes it appear that the Moon is bereft of light” (IV, 2.7).

He thus concludes… 

“Your opinion of the Moon should be based, not on the observation of your eyes, but on the insight of your mind. The Moon diminishes in size so as to make an addition to the sum of physical phenomenon. This, therefore, is a great mystery. He who has allotted His gifts to all things has allotted this to the Moon. He has emptied it (literally “annihilated it”) so as to replenish it. He has even ‘emptied Himself’ that He might replenish all… The Moon, therefore, has made known the mysteries of Christ. It is no slight thing in which He has placed His sign. No slight thing is that which contains the type of His beloved Church, as … in the Canticles [Song of Songs] the Lord says of His spouse: ‘Who is she that looks forth as the morning rising, fair as the Moon, excellent as the Sun?’” (IV, 8.32). 

This great Father and Doctor is saying: the Church is seemingly abandoned by God and allowed to be stripped like Our Lord on Calvary (thus the waning of the Church) so that He will fill Her up anew later with good and faithful members (thus the waxing of the Church). Chastisements (like these times in which we live) are followed by times of peace and expansion. Is there not still to come a promised Age of Peace/Age of Mary?—or what the message of Fatima foretold: “the triumph of Mary’s Immaculate Heart?” Love is patient.

Notice the pattern of God being emphasized by this Father and Doctor of Holy Church. The Church passes through seasons… of persecution and of peace … moments of trial followed by calm, as the Moon passes through phases of waxing and waning. 

A simple way to verify this pattern is to return to the Gospel of the ship in the storm. The tempest on the Sea of Galilee takes place after His Majesty finished preaching the Sermon on the Mount and worked various miracles among His listeners, proving that He is divine and what He says is true. But then He enters the barque of St. Peter to cross the sea to help others, those in the district of the Gerasenes. They almost did not make it, however, due to the huge storm described in the Gospel. When He lands He has to exorcize violent men from a legion of demons. Yet, these same men, freed of the devil, go all throughout their people proclaiming what God had done for them. His Majesty, however, has to leave the shores of this land shortly thereafter for a time because His message was not well received; it was “too much,” as it were, for the people to accept all at once. The Gospel explains, nevertheless, that His Majesty returned again later and then they welcomed Him with open arms. A great conversion took place! Love is patient. Revolution is impatient.

The pattern on display here is this: as His Majesty (and later, the missionary efforts of His Church) strives to convert all nations, including Russia, we might add in these telling times: what does the world do? Represented by the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, it resists! It conspires to stop these soul-saving efforts! The world and its master try to sink the boat of St. Peter! (Interesting to ponder here is how waves and tidal motions are often related to the actions of the Moon.) Soon, the real source of the problem is identified. The devil confronts His Majesty directly on the shores, typifying how occult phenomena  (we might recall here the Amazonian idol being introduced into the Vatican Gardens and St. Peter’s Basilica) will greatly increase as the Savior and His Church seek to save souls. Nevertheless, try as they might, the devils are sent into the swine and cast back into hell, shown by their running into the waters. This symbolizes how baptism enables us to put to death our fallen nature and make the devils take flight, if only the baptized would engage in the battle properly.  Even though His Majesty is resisted, eventually, through the preaching of the Holy Faith and many trials, the people convert through the instrumentality of men freed from Satan’s grip—and a time of peace and conversion is granted. Thus, the Gospel says of His return (His Second Coming hinted at here, too): “And having passed the water, they came into the country of Genesar. And when the men of that place had knowledge of Him, they sent into all that country, and brought to Him all that were diseased. And they besought Him that they might touch but the hem of His garment. And as many as touched, were made whole.” Truth is preached (the Moon waxes), and then it is resisted with the occult rising up (the Moon wanes); but in due season, the Moon waxes anew, dispelling darkness and ushering in a new season of grace… a time of peace. Love is patient.

Returning to St. Ambrose: 

“Deservedly is the Moon compared to the Church, who has shone over the entire world … she illuminates the darkness of this world… Looking down… the Church has, like the Moon, Her frequent risings and settings. She has grown, however, by Her settings and has by their means merited expansion at a time when She is undergoing diminution through persecution and while She is being crowned by the martyrdom of Her faithful. This is the real moon which from the perpetual light of Her own brother has acquired the light of immortality and grace. Not from Her own light does the Church gleam, but from the light of Christ. From the Sun of justice has Her brilliance been obtained, so that it is said: ‘It is now no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me’” (IV, 8.32).

“Happy, in truth, is that [i.e., the Moon] which merited such an honor! Wherefore I would not call you happy by reason of your renewals, but by the fact that you are a type of the Church. In the former case you are but a servant [i.e., providing us light and seasons], in the latter, our beloved!” (IV, 8.32).

Clearly, despite all the rhetoric we may have heard over the years (e.g., that we are in a “springtime” or “new Pentecost”), the Church is passing through a great period of waning. As St. Ambrose put it: “…the moon, to which the Lord has granted the important office of illuminating the whole world, goes through the process of waxing and waning.” (IV, 8.31). He adds, 

“If you are afflicted with sadness at the sight of the waning of the Moon ‘which repairs its losses and renews itself,’ all the more ought you to be saddened if your soul, which has been filled with the fruit of virtue, should frequently afterward change its intent and purpose by an attitude of inconstancy and heedlessness” (IV, 8.31). 

As members of the Church, we are part of the whole. If the Church at large will be  enduring a passion, so will we. Perhaps we are in one now. That means you have faith, hope, and charity operative in your soul! What to do? We must pray, and pray well. “Lord, save us, for we perish!” We must stay the course, and keep our faith intact. When in trouble, study the Faith, read the Sacred Scriptures, learn from the lives of the saints. Be warned: there are no viable enclaves to protect us at this time… no escapes… no cloisters… no fortresses. The trial is everywhere, ubiquitous. Thus, in faith, hope and charity keep to your duties of state in life and God will keep you safe. Keeping to these duties brings its own reward! Thus, the reason Our Lord said, “O ye of little faith.” 

Finally, we must not be afraid: “Why are you fearful?” Faith and hope tell us that this too will pass… that something good, namely peace and victory are surely not far away… victories that are merited by our enduring a passion with Our Lord’s Mystical Body, the Holy Catholic Church.

Imagine Our Lord commanding us to get into the boat to cross over to the other shore as He did with the Apostles. We might say, “Lord, there will be a big storm, we will surely sink. There are demoniacs, violent and impure men and filled with a legion of devils. They eat swine and violate God’s laws… why go?!” God wills it! Be not afraid, have faith, pray, and be patient in hope and charity, for this is the path to Heaven… and it promises the salvation of many souls… including our own!