This post examines the final lecture by Henry Edward Cardinal Manning about the Crisis in the Holy See. Remember, he was writing near the end of the 19th century during the nationalistic upheavals in Europe, but history tends to repeat itself. Much in these four lectures can easily apply to our own time although the threats are coming from within the Church these days as much as outside. Check out my previous posts and read the entire document. The cardinal's prose is easy to understand and he turns often to the doctors of the Church and to well known theologians.
Lecture 1 - Introduction to the Crisis: the Revolt
Lecture 2 - Discussion of the Antichrist
Lecture 3 - Obstacles to the rise of the Antichrist
LECTURE 4The office of the Vicar of Jesus Christ contains, in fullness, the Divine prerogatives of the Church: for as much as, being the special representative of the Divine Head, he bears all His communicable powers in the government of the Church on earth solely and alone. The other bishops and pastors, who are united with him, and act in subordination to him, cannot act without him; but he may act alone, possessing a plenitude of power in himself. And further, the endowments of the body are the prerogatives of the head; and, therefore, the endowments which descend from the Divine Head of the Church upon the whole mystical body are centered in the head of that body upon earth; for as much as he stands in the place of the Incarnate Word as the minister and witness of the Kingdom of God among men. Now, it is against that person eminently and emphatically, as I said before, that the spirit of evil and of falsehood directs its assault; for if the head of the body be smitten, the body itself must die.
Manning tended toward ultramontanism (emphasis on papal authority and centralization of the Church). However, that doesn't mean the pope is never wrong and always without error in every statement. He remains capable of imprudence, faults, and failings. It's important to remember that truth in our own time considering the many imprudent, and even, evil actions by the Vatican. [Think of the Pachamama plant on the altar at St Peter's.]
At this point, Cardinal Manning shifts his focus to the "persecution of Antichrist, and finally his destruction." The apostles wanted to know the time and the place of the world's end. After Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple, they came to him asking, "Tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world?" [Matthew 24:3] From their perspective the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem would bring on the second coming. That is why, in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, "Amen I say to you, that this generation shall not pass, til all these things be done." For modern Catholics that can be confusing, because that generation did pass away and the world did not end. But for the Jews of the first century the destruction of the temple was cataclysmic. And the Roman destruction of Jerusalem was a butchery.
Cardinal Manning describes it this way:
Now, as in nature we see mountains foreshortened one against another, so that the whole chain seems but one form, so in the events of prophecy, there are here two different events which appear but one — the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the world...In this answer our Divine Lord spoke of two events—one, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the other, the end of the world. The one has been fulfilled, and the other is yet to come. This chapter of St. Matthew will afford us a key to the interpretation of the Apocalypse. That book may be divided into four parts. The first part describes the Church on earth, under the seven Churches to which the messages were sent by our Divine Lord. They represent, as a constellation, the whole Church on earth. The second part relates to the destruction of Judaism, and the overthrow of the Jewish people. The third part relates to the persecution of the Church by the pagan city of Rome, and to its overthrow: and the fourth and last part relates to the peace of the Church under the figure of the heavenly Jerusalem coming down from heaven and dwelling among men.
In the next section we hear of the great persecution described in both Matthew and the Apocalypse:
Fathers both of the East and of the West, foretold that, in the last age of the world, the Church will have to undergo a third persecution, more bitter, more bloody, more searching, and more fiery than any it has undergone as yet, and that from the hands of an infidel world revolted from the Incarnate Word. And therefore the Book of Apocalypse, like the prophecy of St. Matthew, reveals two events, or two actions. There is the event which is past, the type and the shadow of the event to come, and there is the event which is still future, at the end of the world; and all the persecutions that have ever been hitherto are no more than the forerunners and the types of the last persecution which shall be.
Cardinal Manning describes the parallels between the two opposing mysteries, the two spirits active in the world:
...the mystery of impiety and the mystery of godliness; and also the parallel of the two cities, the City of God and the city of this world. There remains another parallel which it is necessary that we should examine in order to make clear that which I shall have to say hereafter. We read in the Book Apocalypse of two women. There is a woman clothed with the sun, and there is a woman sitting upon a beast covered with the names of blasphemy. Now it is clear that these two women, like the two mysteries and the two cities, represent again two antagonist spirits, two antagonist principles.
The woman clothed with the sun signifies both the Blessed Mother and the Church, the woman on the beast is the pagan city of Rome. The two spirits are at war with one another until the end of time. As he moves into his final point, the cardinal points out that the world in its persecution of Christ appeared to win on Good Friday and that, like Christ:
....so shall it be with His Church : though for a time persecuted, and, to the eyes of man, overthrown and trampled on, dethroned, despoiled, mocked, and crushed, yet in that high time of triumph the gates of hell shall not prevail. There is in store for the Church of God a resurrection and an ascension, a royalty and a dominion, a recompense of glory for all it has endured. Like Jesus, it needs must suffer on the way to its crown; yet crowned it shall be with Him eternally. Let no one, then, be scandalised if the prophecy speak of sufferings to come. We are fond of imagining triumphs and glories for the Church on earth, - that the Gospel is to be preached to all nations, and the world to be converted, and all enemies subdued, and I know not what, until some ears are impatient of hearing that there is in store for the Church a time of terrible trial: and so we do as the Jews of old, who looked for a conqueror, a king, and for prosperity; and when their Messiahs came in humility and in passion, they did not know Him. So, I am afraid, many among us intoxicate their minds with the visions of success and victory, and cannot endure the thought that there is a time of persecution yet to come for the Church of God.
Our own petty sufferings and persecutions prefigure the sufferings ahead. We get a chance to practice in order to make ourselves ready. And isn't Advent the time to "wake up." Part of that wake up call is to recognize that a time of trial awaits the Church and her members. When the Antichrist comes he won't be pushing a tea cart with crumpets and chocolates. He will deny Almighty God and enshrine the abomination of desolation. The signs of his coming are four according to Cardinal Manning.
- an indifference to truth: The sign that portends more surely than any other the outbreak of a future persecution is a sort of scornful indifference to truth or falsehood...not recognising any distinctions of truth or falsehood between one religion or another, but leaving all forms of religion to work their own way. I am not saying a word against this system if it be inevitable. It is the only system whereby freedom of conscience is now maintained. I only say, miserable is the state of the world in which ten thousand poisons grow round one truth; miserable is the state of any country where truth is only tolerated.
...the Catholic Church cannot be silent; it cannot hold its peace; it cannot cease to preach the doctrines of Revelation, not only of the Trinity and of the Incarnation, but likewise of the Seven Sacraments, and of the infallibility of the Church of God.
And that's what those who embrace sacred tradition are doing -- keeping the faith as taught by the apostles and the Fathers of the Church. The infallibility of the Church rests on dogma, the unchanging truths of the faith as taught by Jesus Christ and upheld by the Church over the millennia. St. Paul warned Timothy to avoid anyone teaching a different doctrine with "the profane novelties of words, and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called.... [They] have erred concerning the faith." The sad reality is that many of those teaching "profane novelties" today are often wearing roman collars. How many have lost the faith like the Irish abbot in the film, Catholics (also called Conflict)? Manning could not foresee today's crisis, but his lectures also apply to the situation we face. The worst suffering comes, not from outsiders, but from those at the heart of the Catholic family.
3) In his third sign that precedes the rise of the Antichrist, we read about Daniel's three marks of the Antichrist's coming:
The first, that the continual sacrifice shall be taken away; the next, that the sanctuary shall be occupied by the abomination which maketh desolate; the third, that “the strength” and “the stars,” as he described it, shall be cast down....
The Holy Fathers who have written upon the subject of Antichrist, and of these prophecies of Daniel, without a single exception, as far as I know, and they are the Fathers both of the East and of the West, the Greek and the Latin Church—all of them unanimously,–say that in the latter end of the world, during the reign of Antichrist, the holy sacrifice of the altar will cease.
This first sign has come about in some places already. The Protestant revolt ended the holy sacrifice of the Mass in many countries for decades and resulted in many new churches with no sacrifice on their sterile altars. In England the faith was ruthlessly suppressed. In Muslim lands Christians suffer brutal persecution, but the fulfillment of the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy is still only partial at present:
The fulfillment of the prophecy is yet to come ; and that which we have seen in the two wings [Protestantism and Islam], we shall see also in the centre; and that great army of the Church of God will, for a time, be scattered. It will seem, for a while, to be defeated, and the power of the enemies of the faith for a time to prevail. The continual sacrifice will be taken away, and the sanctuary will be cast down. What can be more literally the abomination which makes desolate than the heresy which has removed the presence of the living God from the altar? If you would understand this prophecy of desolation, enter into a church which was once Catholic, where now is no sign of life; it stands empty, untenanted, without altar, without tabernacle, without the presence of Jesus. And that which has already come to pass in the East and in the West is extending itself throughout the centre of the Catholic unity.
What is the "centre of the Catholic unity?" Isn't it the Church herself, especially the Vatican which is like the center hub of a wheel with the spokes going out to the whole world? Can the center hold when it is worm-eaten? How many churches have been converted to restaurants and bars with the altars desecrated in dioceses headed by false shepherds? The first two signs of Daniel are well advanced. And then there is the third, the attack on the "Prince of strength," the pope:
And thus we come to the third mark, the casting down of “the Prince of Strength;” that is, the Divine authority of the Church, and especially of him in whose person it is embodied, the Vicar of Jesus Christ. God has invested him with sovereignty, and given to him a home and a patrimony on earth. The world is in arms to depose him, and to leave him no place to lay his head. Rome and the Roman States are the inheritance of the Incarnation. The world is resolved to drive the Incarnation off the earth. It will not suffer it to possess so much as to set the sole of its foot upon.
What is the most effective way for the world to "drive the Incarnation off the earth?" It is, of course, to replace the good shepherds with hirelings. And how many do we see in the Church today? This sad reality illustrates what Cardinal Manning describes in the closing portion of his lecture as he speaks about prophecies relating to the future:
The direct tendency of all the events we see at this moment is clearly this, to overthrow Catholic worship throughout the world...many who have known the faith shall abandon it, by apostasy. “Some of the learned shall fall;” that is, they shall fall from their fidelity to God. And how shall this come to pass? Partly by fear, partly by deception, partly by cowardice; partly because they cannot stand for unpopular truth in the face of popular falsehood; partly because the overruling contemptuous public opinion, ... so subdues and frightens Catholics, that they dare not avow their principles, and, at last, dare not hold them. ... And so they give up their faith, and become materialists, seeking for the wealth and power of this world... which has cast off its fidelity to the Church.
Manning ends the lecture series with a description of the persecution to come which we are already seeing in many places. But he reminds us that we should not despair since it is obviously the will of God who defeats all enemies:
...there is One Power which will destroy all antagonists; there is One Person who will break down and smite small as the dust of the summer threshing-floor all the enemies of the Church, for it is He who will consume His enemies “with the Spirit of His mouth,” and destroy them “with the brightness of His coming.” It seems as if the Son of God were jealous lest any one should vindicate His authority. He has claimed the battle to Himself; He has taken up the gage which has been cast down against Him; and prophecy is plain and explicit that the last overthrow of evil will be His.
And what will happen to Rome, the seat of the Church?
The writers of the Church tell us that in the latter days the city of Rome will probably become apostate from the Church and Vicar of Jesus Christ; and that Rome will again be punished, for he will depart from it; and the judgment of God will fall on the place from which he once reigned over the nations of the world. For what is it that makes Rome sacred, but the presence of the Vicar of Jesus Christ? What has it that should be dear in the sight of God, save only the presence of the Vicar of His Son ? Let the Church of Christ depart from Rome, and Rome will be no more in the eyes of God than Jerusalem of old. Jerusalem, the Holy City, chosen by God, was cast down and consumed by fire, because it crucified the Lord of Glory; and the city of Rome, which has been the seat of the Vicar of Jesus Christ for eighteen hundred years, if it become apostate, like Jerusalem of old, will suffer a like condemnation. And, therefore, the writers of the Church tell us that the city of Rome has no prerogative except only that the Vicar of Christ is there; and if it become unfaithful, the same judgments which fell on Jerusalem, hallowed though it was by the presence of the Son of God, of the Master, and not the disciple only, shall fall likewise upon Rome.... [Doctor of the Church, St. Robert] Bellarmine [wrote] that the Roman people, a little before the end of the world, will return to Paganism, and drive out the Roman Pontiff.
Cardinal Manning did not see the apostasy we are seeing within the walls of Holy Mother Church herself. He saw the exile of Pope Pius IX and the assassination of his secretary of state. He saw the attack on the Church by the freemasons and godless rebel politicians. It seems likely that, when Jesus asked the question, "When I return will I find any faith on the earth?", He referred to the mass confusion and chaos created, not by politicians, but by the Vicar of Christ himself and the princes of the Church. What could be worse for the flock?Many of our shepherds appear to have abandoned the faith and embraced the evils of the world. We need to pray and do penance for them! The flock desperately needs holy shepherds!
The lecture series ends with Manning presenting the choice for us. Will we embrace truth or untruth, Christ or Antichrist?:
And now to make an end. Men have need to look to their principles. They have to make a choice between two things, between faith in a teacher speaking with an infallible voice, governing the unity which now, as in the beginning, knits together the nations of the world, or the spirit of fragmentary Christianity, which is the source of disorder, and ends in unbelief. Here is the simple choice to which we are all brought; and between them we must make up our minds....It is a time of trial, when “some of the learned shall fall,” and those only shall be saved who are steadfast to the end. The two great antagonists are gathering their forces for the last conflict;-it may not be in our day, it may not be in the time of those who come after us; but one thing is certain, that we are as much put on our trial now as they will be who live in the time when it shall come to pass. For as surely as the Son of God reigns on high, and will reign “until He has put all His enemies under His feet,” so surely every one that lifts a heel or directs a weapon against His faith, His Church, or His Vicar upon earth, will share the judgment which is laid up for the Antichrist whom he serves.
For Manning, the teacher who speaks "with an infallible voice" is the pope. Pope Pius IX clearly loved and taught the faith and had great devotion to the Blessed Mother. He suffered incredible persecution! As for papal infallibility, the fact is that, when the pope echoes the truth as taught by Jesus Christ whom he represents, we must believe. But we are also called to discern the spirits, and when priests, bishops, cardinals, and even the pope deviate from the faith as taught by the apostles and Fathers of the Church and introduce novelties that conflict with past teaching, we have a duty to resist.
Advent is a time of preparation and choosing. We remember the past when Jesus was born at Bethlehem. We celebrate that birthday anniversary in the present with the festivities of Christmas. But we also look to the future when the Antichrist comes and the final battle takes place. Now is the time to choose our path. Shall we not follow the example of Joshua who said to the people of his day:
Choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.
Choosing to "serve the Lord" means choosing to follow in the footsteps of the cross. That is the message of Advent. Jesus wasn't born in a palace and laid in a crib of gold. His suffering began with a piercing cold night and no place to rest except a feedbox used for the animals. Should we expect anything different?
I want to be ready for the persecution by accepting all the sufferings of today. I may not do that very well, but I'm encouraged by the psalmist who writes, "A contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn." [Ps 51:17] O Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!
May we all experience a blessed Advent accompanied by Cardinal Manning whose intercession I will be seeking in these final weeks before Christmas.
Lord Jesus, Incarnate Word, have mercy on us.
Our Lady, Queen of Advent, pray for us.
Cardinal Manning, intercede for us.
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