Non nobis Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam. -Ps cxii. 9
True Knights Love Mary
From the altar of the Holy Cross, Our Lord looked down upon “His mother and the disciple whom He loved” and spoke:
Woman, behold thy son - St. John 19.26
Our Blessed Lady was pleased to know that the earthly farewell of her Divine Son expressed a request so dear to her maternal heart. Our Lord and King desired that she become the mother, not only of St. John, but of all those for whom He was shedding His most Precious Blood. Our Lord then said to St. John, and to us:
Behold thy mother. - St. John 19.27a
Just as He gave us into her maternal care, so Our Blessed Lady was also Jesus' parting gift of love to us. Our Divine King well knows that His true Chivalry needs a Lady to serve as well as a mother's love and tender protection. He therefore gives us the Blessed Virgin as our life, our sweetness and our hope; our Most Gracious Advocate.
But despite this consolation, the Crucifixion fulfills the prophesied piercing of Our Blessed Lady’s soul. Said Simeon the prophet to Mary at the Presentation:
And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed - St. Luke 2.35
What does the piercing of her soul reveal in us? Do we love Mary as Christ loves her? Do we thank Him for giving us so good and loving a Mother? Do we, like the Beloved Apostle,” take her to our own*? Or do we find Marian devotion too sentimental, too unsophisticated? Do we wonder if we should really put so much emphasis on Mary?
Behold thy mother as she mournfully cradles the lifeless body of our Crucified King, as once she joyfully cradled Him in His Divine Infancy. Her eyes reflect the exquisite pain in her virginal soul and plead more eloquently than words:
O all ye that pass by the way, attend, and see if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow. -Lamentations 1.12
Recall the words of the prophet and consider: the piercing of Our Blessed Lady’s soul reveals the thoughts of the heart. Our love and compassion for her is the measure of our commitment and fidelity to her Divine Son. Where the former is lacking, the latter is also.
More than one knight of history and romance placed an image of Our Lady on the interior of his shield that he might cast his eyes upon her as a source of courage in the fiery crucible of battle or fortitude in times of trial and temptation. May her image be ever emblazoned upon the shield of our faith** and may all Christian Knights reveal the “thoughts of the heart” by our love and compassion for Our Blessed Queen Mother.
Mary, Queen of Chivalry, pray for us.
*Cf. St. John 19.27b
**Cf. Ephesians 6.16
A Blessed Saint George's Day
From Lauds of the Traditional Divine Office and Missal for April 23:
O God, Who dost gladden us through the worthy deeds and prayers of Thy blessed martyr George, mercifully grant that all they which seek Thy mercy through him may effectually obtain the gift of Thy grace.
Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
Saint George, Pray for us.
Wherein doth Charity Lie?
It is (and will remain) a recurring theme in these musings that ridicule is the great enemy of Christian Chivalry; an echo of the mockery heaped upon Our Lord and King in His earthly ministry. Here is a recent example:
On March 24, 2012 an estimated 20,000 atheists and agnostics from around the country gathered together in Washington, D.C. to participate in a self-proclaimed "Reason Rally." There the unbelieving throng sat at the feet of the great prophet of "reason" Richard Dawkins to learn how to speak to us poor, unenlightened believers.
What great wisdom did he impart? The acclaimed author and activist called for agnostics to mock people of faith. He said the claims of religion "need to be challenged" and "if necessary, need to be ridiculed with contempt."
He offered this specific suggestion:
"For example, if they say they're Catholic: Do you really believe that when a priest blesses a wafer, it turns into the body of Christ? Are you seriously telling me you believe that? Are you seriously saying that wine turns into blood?"
Should the Catholic have the fortitude to answer "yes" he tendered this sage advice to the cheering rabble:
"Mock them! Ridicule them! In public!"
Note that Dawkins doesn't merely mock religious beliefs but religious believers* and calls for others to do the same. Apparently the cause of "reason" is so crucial that its promoters cannot be expected to offer actual arguments in favor of it, much less engage in an outdated convention like common courtesy.
Of course the well-posted defender of God's Honor can answer the objections of the atheist/agnostic, which is why the unbeliever must resort to ridicule in the first place. But what happens when ridicule does not silence the defender of the Faith? What if his defense actually exposes the inadequacy of the atheist/agnostic argument? When ridicule fails the unbeliever falls back on the tactic of recrimination and accuses the Catholic of being "uncharitable."
It may seem strange that those who openly ridicule Catholics should expect charity in response to their hostility and aggression, but they do. In the words of the 19th century Catholic philosopher Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre:
"The Church and the pope have never asked anything but truth and justice for their cause. On the other hand the Liberals, no doubt on account of the horror they naturally entertain for truth and above all for justice, are always demanding charity."
And yet, in a way that they are sadly unable to appreciate, the enemies of the Faith have a point. The Catholic must practice charity, and should not expect it of the unbeliever. After all, charity is a theological virtue and unbelievers do not possess the theological virtues. But the chivalrous man also knows that true charity is expressed in the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy which include: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, and admonish the sinner.
But is this what unbelievers are asking for when they demand "charity" from Catholics? Hardly. What they want is for Catholics to close our eyes and our ears to their errors, inconsistencies, lies and calumnies, and allow them to go unanswered. But this the true knight may not do, because he takes the Faith seriously. Because he knows his Lord and King "will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth."** To leave the unbelievers' doubts uncounseled, their errors uncorrected, their manifest sins unchallenged would be unchivalrous, unchristian, and above all uncharitable.
*Predictably his ridicule was not directed at the followers of Islam.
**1 Timothy 2.4
A Knight's Rule of Life - The Quest for Christian Perfection Part III
I am the light of the world: he that followeth me, walketh not in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8.12
The way of Christian perfection consists precisely in the imitation of Christ. This is the essence of true Christian Chivalry. But what particularly should the one aspiring to this spiritual knighthood do to attain Christian perfection? The answer is three-fold:
1. Love to pray, be eager for the Word of God, and devoted to the Sacraments, particularly the Holy Euchaist.
2. Practice self-denial and strive manfully to overcome even venial sin.
3. Perform your daily tasks in the state of grace and with good intentions.
A word about the second item on this list; self-denial means that the true knight is willing to do without some things he likes, and, at times, to abstain even from that which is permitted so that he can more readily reject what is not permitted. In the very words of Our Lord and King:
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9.23
This is the following of Christ, and, if this following is the essence of true Christian Chivalry, perhaps it is not surprising that the most popular book of the late middle ages (after the Bible) was The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis.
In Book 1, Chaper 11 Thomas writes:
If we strove like valiant men to stand up in the battle, doubtless we should see our Lord help us from heaven. For He is ready to help them that fight and trust in His grace; Who furnishes us with occasions of combat that we may overcome.
We are not alone in the quest. We call upon the Lord in all circumstances, mindful that apart from His grace we can do nothing. With this in mind I offer the following practical precepts to assist in living the three-fold way of Chrstian perfection enumerated above:
A Knight's Rule of Life
1. Daily offer morning prayer. Whether this be a simple morning offering accompanied by some common prayers, the Angelus, or even the first hour of the Divine Office, be certain never to neglect morning prayer. You may count it as a special blessing if you are able to go to Holy Mass, even if only on certain weekdays.
2. Offer all your work and duties to God. In this way you can transform your industry into a service to Our Lord and King, for His greater honor and glory. From time to time during the day turn your thoughts to Our Lord in the tabernacle and offer short ejaculatory prayers to renew your morning offering and keep His honor before you always.
3. Practice a daily regimen of prayer.
i. Pray before and after meals. Strive to pray thoughtfully, calling to mind that it is God who provides your daily bread. This is also a congenial time to practice self-denial; eat moderately and be content.
ii. Practice daily devotion; the Most Holy Rosary, the Angelus, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy are among the most popular but certainly not the only daily devotions available to the soul that seeks a life of prayer while living in the world. The Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) is the official daily prayer of the Church. Monthly Psalm-based devotionals like the Magnificat also offer prescribed Scriptural prayers for each day and include the readings for Holy Mass.
iii. If possible make a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament. A lay person may include Holy Mass as part of this hour. If getting to Church is not possible, set aside an hour to go before the Tabernacle "in spirit.'
iv. If you are a husband and father do not hesitate to bring your daily devotion to the family as the spiritual head of the household. The time your wife and children spend with you leading the family Rosary each evening (for example) will remain with them throughout their lives. It is well to remember that it is the father's example that has the most influence on whether children continue to practice their faith as adults.
4. Recreation should be wholesome and pleasing to God. Some recreation is good, even neccessary, but it goes without saying that the true knight should avoid any activity that cannot be wholeheartedly offered to the Divine Majesty. Let this knightly prayer be a constant reminder:
O Jesus, sweet Jesus, O Jesus divine,
My life and my death unto Thee I resign.
Every action of mine shall Thy patronage claim,
For whatever I do shall be done in Thy name.
5. Practice Christian Chivalry in your association with others. Guard against any and all improper speech. Be courteous and kind to everyone, but avoid over familiarity and be careful in whom you place your confidence. Practice the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.
6. When contradicted or distressed, be patient and resigned to God's Will. Recall the proverb:
The patient man is better than the valiant; and he that ruleth his spirit than he than he that taketh cities. Proverbs 16.32
Most especially, contemplate Our Lord's suffering for us and strive to follow His divine example. Patience, humility, forgiveness; this is the imitation of Christ and the way of Christian perfection.
7. Preserve the state of grace at all costs. Sanctifying grace is the supernatural life of the soul and the bond of filial love with our heavenly Father. Go to Confession regularly (our Holy Father Benedict XVI suggests monthly) and to Holy Communion whenever possible. Should you be so unfortunate as to fall into mortal sin, make an immediate Act of Contrition and seek sacramental Confession at the earliest opportunity.
8. Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Never miss Holy Mass on Sunday or a Holy Day of Obligation through your own fault. Keep it before you that Sunday observance is more than the hour you spend at Holy Mass. Once again, for the husband and father, the example of your Sunday observance (for good or ill) will be a determinig factor in the spiritual future of your children.
9. Develop the habit of daily spiritual reading. Sacred Scripture (particularly the readings in the Divine Office and the Daily Missal), the Lives of the Saints, The Imitation of Christ and other spiritual classics are all abundant sources of daily spiritual nourishment. Also, reading Scripture for a quarter of an hour according to the method of spiritual reading (lectio divina) carries a partial indulgence each day.
10. End the day with prayer. Say evening prayers and thank God for the blessings of the day. Examine your conscience and make an act of contrition for all your sins past and present. Implore God to watch over you and yours through the night.
N.B. - If you pray Shorter Christian Prayer (Morning and Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours) or follow the daily prayers in the Magnificat or a similar publication this will provide for rules 1, 9 and 10. If, like many knights of old, you pray the entire Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours) this will cover numbers 1, 3, 9 and 10 and has all the additional benefits of being the official liturgical prayer of the Church.
Chivalry & The Beatitudes - The Quest for Christian Perfection Part II
When Our Lord was thirty years old, He left His home in Nazareth and went out to preach about His Father and the coming of His Kingdom. As the Son of God He revealed how the true knight ought to live so that we might be His brothers, good sons of our Heavenly Father and worthy subjects of His Kingdom. He especially praised the virtues contained in the Eight Beatitudes (Mt. 5.3-10):
- Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.
- Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
- Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
- Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
- Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
- Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.
- Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Here Our Lord teaches us how to find peace and happiness in this world, and how to reach the halls of His Heavenly Court at the end of our earthly sojourn, by working to lay up spiritual treasures and not for the things of the world:
To trust in God and turn to Him in our adversities; to strive manfully for holiness, confident of His divine assistance; to practice courtesy and forgiveness that we may be forgiven; to keep our soul from sins of impurity that we may see God in His Kingdom; to keep peace as befits true children of God; to be always ready to suffer for the Catholic Faith in order to win Heaven.
Naturally all this is anathema to the modern liberal spirit that ever militates against following Our Lord's divine counsels. And the great weapon of the modern enemies of the quest for Christian perfection is ridicule.
The liberal establishment in the schools and universities, government and media constantly heap ridicule on all that is sublime, generous and beautiful. The Beatitudes, the Spiritual Works of Mercy, the Evangelical Counsels of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience, the Seven Sacraments, the doctrine of the Real Presence, the Miracles of Jesus, the Perpetual Virginity of Mary Most Holy, all these things and more are common fodder for the unrelenting ridicule, leering low-brow comedy and mean-spirited invective that pass for culture and intellectual life to the liberal establishment and the masses they seek to manipulate. Liberalism holds virtually nothing sacred except perhaps the continued murder of the unborn, the unbridled promotion of sexual perversity, and silencing the moral voice of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
If these mockers of Christ were to prevail there would be nothing left in the world to exalt the chivalrous character or attract the manly heart and not a single virtue left for them to "laugh to scorn." And so it is well for the true knight of today's Christian Chivalry to remember the concluding words of Our Lord and King’s Beatitudes:
Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. (Mt. 5.11-12)
The Quest for Christian Perfection Part I
It is the condicio sine qua non of Christian Chivalry that to merely avoid sin is not sufficient for the true knight. Authentic Chivalry requires growth in virtue and a constant striving for Christian perfection. As Our Lord and King Himself admonishes Christians of every age:
Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5.48)
The word virtue comes to us from the Middle English vertu, from the Latin virtus (strength, manliness.1) Hence, in older works of Catholic spirituality, it was common to find Christians of both genders exhorted to "strive manfully" against their predominant passions.
This manly pursuit of spiritual perfection was the primary characteristic of all the Saints and found its literary acme in the Arthurian character Galahad and his quest for the Holy Grail.2 While this understanding of a virile faith that views life as a struggle with sin and a manly quest for Christian perfection has largely vanished from the landscape of popular Christian spirituality,3 it remains a necessary condition of authentic Christian Chivalry.
The chivalrous (virtuous) man is he who habituates himself to living as pleases God. He does this through the personal virtue of manly strength and courage and the practice of the theological and moral virtues.
Faith, hope and charity (love) are called theological virtues because they are infused in the soul by God (along with sanctifying grace) and becasue they refer directly to God.
The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us. (Rm. 5.5)
And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Cor.13.13)
The moral virtues are so-called because they regulate our moral life in a way pleasing to God. Among these are the four chief or cardinal virtues: prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude.
Prudence helps us to take the right means to a good end, specifically the means to our spiritual good and salvation. Temperance masters our unruly desires and passions. Justice gives to each that which is his due. Fortitude ennobles us to do what is right and just in the face of difficulties and opposiitons.
Yet many Catholics seeem to think that a life of Christian perfection is not for them, but ony for priests and religious in monasteries and convents. This erroneous attitude was addressed by St. John Chrysostum (d. 407) in his Homilies on Genesis. The saint rejected the notion that it impossible to live in the world, married with children, and at the same time lead a virtuous life. He pointed to the just man Lot who with wife, children, and servants lived in the city amidst wicked men and yet shone like a light in the darkness. He concluded:
I do not say this to dissuade anyone from entering into solitude. I only want to point out that none of this is a hindrance to those who exercise self-control and watchfulness. To the worldy-minded solitude would be no help, since it is not where we live that makes us virtuous but having the right will and mind and doing the right deeds; in which case we cannot be harmed through living in the city [i.e., the world].
More recently Vatican II reiterated Our Lord's universal call to holiness in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church:
The Lord Jesus, the divine teacher and Model of all perfection, preached holiness of life to each and every one of His disciples of every condition.
Thus it is evident... that all the faithful of Christ, of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity.
We see therefore that the life of virtue is really not an option for any Christian much less the man that would aspire to an authentic Christian Chivalry.
1 The Latin vir (man) is the root of virile as well as virtue.
2 On which I propose to do a series of posts.
3 The Protestants explicitly rejected Our Lord's call to holiness as incompatible with Luther's doctrine of salvation by "faith alone" and Calvin's teaching on the "total depravity" of fallen man - such are the effects of the "traditions of men" (cf. Mk. 7.7-9) In the Catholic sphere, the feminization of the Church in the late 20th and early 21st century have all but expunged any notion of manliness from Catholic piety even to the point of forbidding the use of male pronouns when referring to mankind (sorry, human-kind) and even God Himself (sorry, God Godself) - such are the effects of "human tradition" (cf. Mk. 7.7-9 NA
Chivalry is not Dead
+JMJ+
In my various works of Catholic apologetics and catechesis for Saint Joseph Communications, Lighthouse Catholic Media. Pro Multis Media, etc. I have often made reference to medieval Catholicism and its outstanding feature: Christian Chivalry. However, I am usually unable to offer more than a passing anecdote as the demands of the topic at hand usually do not allow for more (my recent DVD on the Crusades being a welcome exception.) It is my intention to rectify that situation here.
Now, I am fully aware that promoting a revival of Christian Chivalry particularly, and a deeper appreciation of medieval Catholicism generally, probably doesn't strike the casual reader as an obsession-worthy pursuit - I hope this blog will change all that.
On this blog I will wax eloquent (or at least indulgent) about Chivalry and the lamentably under-appreciated connection between piety, virtue, honor, and valor that is, in my humble opinion, the surest remedy for the abominable lukewarmness that sadly characterizes the public and private lives of so many Catholic men today.
Of course displaying a "medieval mentality" in a public forum opens one up for ridicule - and ridicule is the great enemy of Christian Chivalry. It is the chief weapon of the world against all things virtuous, honorable, and traditional. This ridicule is on open display in the main stream media, and the modern academy, and, all too often, in the blogs and other writings of even "conservative" Catholics. However, as Kenelm Digby wrote more than a century ago in his four volume opus The Broadstone of Honour:
"There is no danger in an enlightened age, as it is termed, or truly in any age, of men becoming too heroic, too generous, too zealous in the defense of innocence, too violent in the hatred of baseness and crime, and too active in the cause of virtue and truth. The danger is quite on the other side. There is much to be feared from the ridicule which is cast upon sentiment [and] from the importance attached to personal convenience..."
Despite a centuries-long effort by the secularists, Chivalry is not dead. And no amount of ridicule can ever completely overcome it so long as there are men that choose to embrace and live out the eight Beatitudes. In the words of Digby again:
"Chivalry is only a name for that general spirit or state of mind which disposes men to heroic actions, and keeps them conversant with all that is beautiful and sublime in the intellectual and moral world."
There has never been a greater need for this "state of mind" than in the "formerly Christian West" of today.
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