Catolicismo, Campos (Rio de Janeiro), No. 55, July 1955
by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
The XXXVI International Eucharistic Congress to be held this month in Rio de Janeiro will be an admirable expression of religious strength. One can already predict this based on the unusual success of the local Congresses held in the various dioceses of our immense territory on the initiative of their respective bishops.
The next Congress is expected to have the same proportions as those held in other countries. For example, the XXXV International Eucharistic Congress in Barcelona was an apotheosis that thrilled the entire Catholic world.
This proves there is a powerful longing in the depths of the human masses in Brazil and across the world for a more spiritual, dignified and orderly existence. Catholics know this longing can only be realized through the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ, so they turn to the Blessed Sacrament with all the impetus of their longing, hope, and adoration.
But devotion to the Blessed Sacrament cannot be dissociated from two other essential elements of Christian piety: devotion to Our Lady and the Sacred Hierarchy.
The National Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida will see large crowds on this occasion, and it’s only natural as the Eucharist ignites the flame of Marian devotion in all hearts, and the Sacred Hierarchy will be the object of lively manifestations of respect and love. If Jesus is truly present in the Sacrament of the Altar, He is represented on earth by the Sacred Hierarchy. Thus, during these days, the eyes of the faithful turn with particular love to their Shepherds, the entire venerable national Episcopate, the three eminent cardinals in its ranks, the Most Rev. Carlos Carmelo de Vasconcelos Mota, Archbishop of São Paulo, Most Rev. Jaime de Barros Câmara, Archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, under whose aegis and through whose efficient and fruitful impulse the Congress will be held, and Most Rev. Augusto Álvaro da Silva, Archbishop of Salvador da Bahia and Primate of Brazil.
However, given the presence of many cardinals, archbishops and bishops, the Sacred Hierarchy will be even more widely represented among us. All of them will receive our ardent enthusiasm and the homage of our veneration.
All these feelings will culminate in one person, namely the Papal Nuncio, His Eminence Benedict Aloisi Masella, an august and generous friend of Brazil who will represent among us the sacred Person, supreme authority, and incomparable moral ascendant of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, the Holy Father Pius XII, gloriously reigning.
The Supreme Pontiff has listened deeply to the crowds’ yearnings. He sensed how much they aspired to a new order and called them to realize this new order, the Better World.
Now, the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ is the essence of the idea of the Better World. And the Reign of Mary is the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, in this issue, we continue studying the figure of a saint that Pius XII raised to the honor of the altars.[1] He was a prophet of the Reign of Mary and, in a sense, a martyr for that Reign: St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort.
St. Louis Grignion de Montfort lays the ‘Treatise’ at the feet of Our Lady (Church of the Montfortians in Rome)
St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort was born in 1673 and died in 1716. During the 43 years of his life, Europe lived through the last phase of one of its most brilliant eras. The Ancien Régime was going through a period of great stability, which didn’t end until 1789 with the “abrupt” Revolution that broke out in France. If we look at things only superficially, two forces seemed mainly assured of a peaceful and glorious future: Religion and the Monarchy, each guaranteed by the firm hand of the Bourbons and Habsburgs, who ruled almost the entire Catholic world. This feeling of splendid security was shared by kings, princes and noblemen, and many bishops, theologians and religious superiors. An atmosphere of triumphant détente had taken hold of France in particular, which had been tested by military setbacks during the decline of Louis XIV. However, that had been largely offset by the stability of the institutions, the country’s natural wealth, its brilliant cultural and social atmosphere, and the “douceur de vivre” in which daily life was immersed.
One can only imagine the surprise, strangeness and contempt some high personalities felt upon learning that in the depths of Brittany, the Poitou and the Aunis, an obscure priest called Louis Grignion de Montfort, whose eloquence was popular but overwhelming, was stirring up cities and countryside by predicting a strange and terrible future for France. We find expressive echoes of these predictions in the fiery words of his prayer asking God for missionaries for his Society:
“Thy Divine Law is transgressed. Thy Gospel is ignored, Thy religion abandoned. Torrents of iniquity overwhelm the world, carrying away even Thy servants; the whole earth has become desolate; impiety is enthroned; Thy sanctuary is profaned, and abomination has reached even into the holy place. Will Thou suffer this any longer, just Lord, God of vengeance? Will the end of all be like that of Sodom and Gomorrah? Will Thou be forever silent?
“Seest Thou, Lord, God of battles, seest Thou the captains who are forming full battalions, the potentates who are assembling whole fleets, the merchants gathering in large numbers at the markets and the fairs? Crowds of robbers, drunkards, libertines, impious men are uniting against Thee every day – and so easily and promptly. The sound of a whistle, the beat of a drum, the sight of a blunt sword-tip, the promise of a withered laurel wreath, the offer of a bit of gold or silver; in a word, a breath of fame and earthly interest, a vile pleasure for which they long can, in a moment, unite robbers as one, call forward soldiers, assemble battalions, bring together merchants, fill houses and market places and cover the earth and the sea with an innumerable multitude of the reprobate, who, although divided among themselves by the places whence they come, by the differences in their dispositions or by their personal interests, are nevertheless united as one man, until death, to fight against Thee under the banner and the leadership of the demon.
“Ah, let me cry out everywhere: Fire! Fire! Fire! Help! Help! Help! Fire even within the sanctuary! Help for our brother who is being murdered! Help for our children whose throats are being cut! Help for our Father, who is being stabbed! If any man be on the Lord’s side, let him join with me (Ex. 32:26).”
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Yet, no one among so many triumphant statesmen and optimistic prelates had the clear and profound vision of St. Louis de Montfort. Behind the appearances of the world’s then splendid tranquility, a devouring thirst for pleasure, a growing naturalism, an increasingly accentuated tendency for the State to dominate the Church, for the profane to dominate the religious, the effervescence of Gallicanism, Jansenism, the corrosive action of Cartesianism were preparing minds for immense transformations. Voltaire and Rousseau were born while St. Louis was still alive. In France, religious orders were closed before the end of the century, bishops loyal to Rome were expelled, and an actress was worshipped in Notre Dame Cathedral as the goddess Reason. The blood of the martyrs flowed abundantly at the guillotine. If history can only be severe with those who did not foresee the storm, it cannot refuse to pay homage to the man of God who showed himself so far-sighted.
What are the virtues behind such exceptional clairvoyance?
First and foremost, a great zeal and relentless love of the truth.
When you love the Faith and want both feet firmly planted in objective reality and hate illusions and chimeras, your mind will not be satisfied with superficial or fragmented views, nor will you be satisfied with sporadic efforts in moments of fervor. A Catholic who truly loves the Church wants to know the Church’s essential interests and distinguishes them from secondary concerns.
Some of the most essential things for the religious life of a people are the level of public and private morality, the conformity of laws, institutions and customs with Catholic doctrine, the implicit or explicit tendencies of thought in the various social strata and especially the educated class, intensity of religious life, devotion of the faithful to the Holy Eucharist, Our Lady and the pope, their love of orthodox doctrine, hatred of heresies, sects and anything that might tarnish the purity of the Faith and customs for people’s religious and moral life and, therefore, for their entire temporal life. However, progress or decline in these matters rarely shows in very perceptible facts. It generally translates into discreet but typical symptoms requiring much attention to notice, discernment to interpret, and tact to encourage or repress.
WHAT MINDS LACKING ZEAL COULDN’T SEE
At the time of St. Louis-Marie, superficial minds throughout Europe saw things differently. Vocations to the priesthood and religious life were numerous, and they figured that was enough and paid little attention to formation and selection. As the churches were many and rich and ecclesiastical festivals were glittering, they cared little whether the religious art in these churches was infected by profane inspirations so characteristic of the century, and whether those festivals were merely an exteriority or elevated souls to God. Those in power showed faith, but little was known about whether their faith was active and affected how they held the reins of State and society. There was censorship against immoral or heretical books. In principle, all teaching was strictly Catholic, but little did they know if the censorship filtered out heresy or some germ of error was implicit in the depths of what was printed or taught in universities.
SELF-INDULGENCE, A SOURCE OF BLINDNESS
Seeing all this is a lot of work and requires a serious mind, dedication, struggles and the risk of sacrificing friendships.
How much happier the attitude of superficial minds is. One has the “right” to sleep well, to live happily and in harmony with everyone. Catholics applaud us because we are in their ranks. Non-Catholics applaud us because we don’t hinder their plots and progress. And so, the generations of the unconcerned go on, while problems get worse, crises get bigger, and catastrophes get closer. Some die in their beds and have a terrible fright when seeing that Heaven is not for them. Others are surprised by a Revolution like that of 1789.
THE FIERCE INTRANSIGENCE OF THE UNCONCERNED
If there was one man who didn’t commit the sin of carelessness, it was St. Louis-Marie. He saw everything. His words, which we have transcribed, are a complete picture of the religious-moral realities of France and Europe in his time. Of course, he wasn’t the only one who saw these problems, but we don’t know anyone in his country who saw them so completely. More numerous were those who saw them only in fragments. However, the vast majority, including most responsible people, saw nothing. By 1789, the crisis was irremediable. These are the fruits of carelessness…
A reckless person has a sore spot in his soul. He’s like a sybarite lying on a bed of roses, but terribly bothered by a bent petal. This sore point is the conviction that creeps up on him occasionally but deeply, that he plays a role in life but does not fulfill a mission.
A foresighted man, who must prevent, shake, and awaken, comes up against his sore point by his firm attitude, iron reasoning, and serious bearing. That’s why the unwise hate him and fight him in two ways. The first is by isolating him. But foresighted men have a magnet, and no one can isolate them. Then comes defamation, ostracism and outright persecution, all weapons used against St. Louis-Marie. The terrible thing for them is that he thus took on a martyr’s halo, climbed the ladder of holiness, and became invincible.
Jacques Cathelinaux, the “Saint of Anjou”
Premier Généralissime de la Grande Armée Catholique et Royale
In 1789, as the torrent was sweeping everything away and the reckless were crying, compromising, fleeing or dying, the Revolution found only one obstacle in front of it: The Chouannerie, a chivalrous and holy flower born from St. Louis-Marie’s apostolate. These are the rewards of foresight.
FORESIGHT IS NOT PESSIMISM
This admirably foresighted saint, who foresaw such terrible events, was far from being a pessimist in the sense of having an unhealthy obstinacy in seeing only the bad side of things.
Here are the days he foresees in his prayer, after the great crisis that has now reached its paroxysm:
“When shall it come, this deluge of fire and pure love, which Thou art to enkindle in all the earth with so much strength and sweetness that all nations, Turks, idolaters, even the Jews, will burn with it and be converted? And no one can hide himself from his heat (Ps. 18:7).
“May it be enkindled: May this divine fire, which Jesus Christ came to bring the world, be enkindled before that of Thy anger, which will reduce everything to ashes. Send forth Thy spirit and they shall be created; and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth (Ps. 103:30). Send forth the spirit of fire upon the earth to create priests all aflame, by whose ministry the face of the earth may be renewed and the Church reformed.”
To hasten the coming of these days, during this Congress, we must ardently pray to the Blessed Sacrament in union with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the supplicant omnipotence. We will see in another article the horizons that St. Louis-Marie’s prayer opens up for those longing for Our Lady’s Reign.
[1] The first article in this series was published in Catolicismo no. 53, May 1955, titled “Doctor, Prophet and Apostle in the Contemporary Crisis.”