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THE CHURCH VICTORIOUS

In our previous number, the article Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind dealt with the
brochure The Church and the Ministry published by the Dutch Dominicans, in which a
new organisation was proposed of priests and people, who were to join together in the so-
called centre for faith and spirituality, thereby providing an answer to the lack of priestly
vocations and the emptying of churches. It would seem a good idea to throw further light
on this suggestion now that the Dutch bishops have recently reacted in a pastoral letter
entitled Kerk, Eucharistie en Priesterschap (Church, Eucharist and Priesthood). It is ty-
pical of our times that in seeking a solution to a problem, as the Dominicans are doing,
efforts should be made to create in a new type of organisation, new structures and consul-
tative. Their plan, organisationally well thought out, would then be alleged to meet present-
day religious needs.

1 Do nothing and wait for the Promise
But how can a new type of organisation satisfy those needs if the essence is a crisis of
faith? For as the bishops state, the crisis of vocations is in a broader context of a crisis of
faith and a crisis of succession indeed, a certain cultural crisis. There have been other
crises. The Dominicans pretend that we are in a previously unfamiliar situation. This is in
some ways the case, but not as regards the lack of priests and the all-present crisis of
belief. The Church has never had an easy time, since each generation has to discover the
Lord anew. Take the 13
th
century for instance. The previous century had been one of an
exceptional flourishing of the Church, but the autumn soon came. In the early years of the
13
th
century Francis of Assisi had a dream in which God called him to rebuild His fallen
Church. When he awoke, he immediately seized a trowel and began to collect stones to
restore the ruined church in which he had spent the night. But very soon he understood
that Gods wish was otherwise, and the he started with his preaching on repentance and
penance. That was what the Church needed at the time! Constructing buildings, modern
structures beautiful things, but they miss the heart of the matter. God is a beggar who
goes round knocking on doors and asking: Please may I lodge here? The King of the
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universe, dressed in incomparable majesty and glory, wishes to lodge with us. He longs to
do so, and He speaks to us sinners with respect and softly beckoning HE asks: May I?
Faith is thus more important than a structure.
(See 4 steps to Jesus - www.jesus2020.com)

Let us be sure of what we are saying. The starting point of the Early Church was not a
management plan. In the forty days before His Ascension, do you think that Christ found
it necessary to hold a brainstorming session with a flip chart presentation where, dressed
in a three-piece suit, He drew up His plan? I think not. But He did speak about things
concerning his kingdom, and when He was finished He said: You may do nothing and
you must wait on the Promise. Do nothing: what a strange task! The promise? Yes, the
Promise, the promise of the Holy Spirit. And that Holy Spirit is still at work, though no
longer in such a sensational manner. No more tongues of fire and no house-shaking whirl-
wind.


preparatory drawing for the Disputa, placed bottom left in the final composition

2 The Church Triumphant and the Church Militant
Before focusing on the promise of the Holy Spirit in relation to our subject, I would first
like to draw your attention to the forty days of Jesus preaching on the things pertaining
to the Kingdom. The whole of Christology can be placed under this term. A synonym for
kingdom in this context is theocracy. This is already within our grasp for those parts
of our personal life and the social set-up in which we strive for it, using the means of
grace offered to us by Holy Church. (1)

The theocracy, or the Kingdom of God, exists everywhere where the Church Militant on
earth and the Church Triumphant above are united with one another. In this context I am
forced to think of the tremendous fresco painted by Raphael in the papal apartments and
known as The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament. (2) This fresco can be seen as a
portrayal of the unification of the Church Militant below, and the Church Triumphant
above. Thanks to the bond between these two, the Church Militant here below is also a
Victorious Church. If that bond were to fail, the world would be abandoned to the forces
of destruction.
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Raphaels painting centres on the Holy Ghost and the monstrance containing the conse-
crated Host, located on the altar. Human figures, on the one hand as elements of the
Church Triumphant and, on the other, of the Church Militant, are arranged in two semi-
circles, one above the other, concentrated on and venerating the Host. God the Father,
bathed in celestial glory, sends out the Holy Spirit over the crowd of biblical and eccle-
siastical figures, who subscribe to the Holy Mass and argue upon the Host. At the bottom
of the composition there are saints, popes, bishops, priests and the mass of faithful,
inserted in a vast landscape dominated by the altar, the Eucharistic Sacrifice and the Holy
Ghost. They represent the Church Militant here on earth, which has acted valiantly and in
this way shall continue to act, and through the minds eye they contemplate the Holy
Trinity. Meanwhile the Church Militant implores, through the ever-continuing Sacrifice
of the Host, the aid of the Church Triumphant above.



The risen Christ sits on a throne of clouds between the Most Holy Virgin - bowed in ado-
ration, and St. John the Baptist, who, according to iconographic tradition, points to Christ.
The apostles, evangelists and martyrs of the Old and New Testament are seated around
this central group on a semicircular bank of clouds similar to that which constitutes the
throne of Christ. They form a composed and silent crowd, and although they are painted
with large fields of colour, these figures are highly individualised. Following a 15
th
-cen-
tury tradition, Raphael has placed portraits of famous personalities, both alive and dead,
among the people in the crowd. For instance, the first architect of the St. Peters Basilica
in Rome, Donato Brabant, is shown leaning on the balustrade on the left. Pope Julius II,
who personifies Gregory the Great, is seated near the altar. Dante is visible on the right,
distinguished by his laurel wreath. Among them are also the famous teachers of the
Church, including Dominic, Francis, Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure, as well as Dun
Scotus, Nicholas of Lyra, Dante, Savonarola, and all the theologians deemed worthy for
the Triumphant Church. The presence of Savonarola seems strange, but may be explained
by the fact that Julius II revoked Pope Alexander VIs condemnation of him.

The scene is characterised by an extreme clarity and simplicity of its structure, which
Raphael achieved through preparatory sketches, studies and drawings containing notable
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differences in pose. The mental legacy of other artists from his circle is clearly identifi-
able throughout the composition, but the layout, the gestures and the poses are original
products of Raphaels search for perfection, which here reaches a degree of admirable ba-
lance and high expressive dignity. Says Giorgio Vasari, commenting on the children in
the air: (3)
four children holding open the Gospels and really, it would be impossible for
any other painter to produce figures of more grace and perfection than these. The
saints in the group in the air seem alive, and are remarkable for the foreshortening
(of the perspective) and their depth effect. Their draperies also are varied and very
beautiful, and the heads rather celestial than human, especially that of Christ,
displaying all the clemency and pity which a painting of the divine can demonstrate
to mortal man.

At the geometric centre of this breath-
taking painting is the Holy Ghost in the
familiar form of a dove in a luminous
circle, somewhat raised above the mon-
strance in the composition. In a down-
ward motion this divine Person is mo-
ving towards the monstrance, which
symbolises the gate between the earthly
and the transcendental realities. The
Holy Ghost descends through this gate
to give his gifts to the Church Militant
through the Blessed Sacrament, the
incarnation of the second divine Person.
And it is through this same gate that the
Church Triumphant seeks its way to the Church Militant. Thanks to the gate the Church
Militant will happen to be a victorious Church, despite the heavy attacks that constantly
shake Her. The biblical prophecy, that the gates of Hell will never prevail against Her,
must be understood in this context. Enemies are numerous, cruel tricks and traps lie
everywhere in wait for the Church. Were it not for Gods immeasurable mercy, especially
thanks to and by way of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, we would suffer the same fate as
Sodom and Gomorra.

Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy.
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
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3 A plan of action
With this description I want to indicate that the progress of Christs Church on earth must
be understood from the mystical point of view. The material world came into being from
the invisible and is carried by it (fundamental point of belief), and the Church, the
Mystical Body of Christ, is carried by that same invisible. However the Church is also
attacked by the same though a different invisible world. Thus it is that a victory can
only be gained from that domain. We are partners in Gods plan of creation, but not with-
out Gods support through the means of grace that He makes available in an indissoluble
union with the members of the Church Triumphant. Let us use these means, and not allow
ourselves to follow the wrong path because of a desire for action. On the contrary: we
should do nothing and wait for the promise. But did the apostles do nothing, in the
absolute meaning of the term? No, since it is written: They all continued with one
accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his
brothers. (Acts 1:14) I would now like to quote from my earlier article where I cited the
Great Conchita of Mexico, through whose pen Jesus dictated:
I wish that in all dioceses the faithful should offer up their Sunday communion
for the priests, for they have a great need of the Holy Spirit. And I promise that the
beneficial effects will not be long in showing themselves in the Church.

I also quoted Gloria Polo of Columbia who had heard from Jesus:
Who did you think you were, making yourself God and judging My anointed?
They are human, and the holiness of a priest is built by his community, that prays,
loves, and supports him. When a priest sins, his community is questioned, not him.

These are powerful words that show that our prayers for our parish are not optional. The
community of believers has a clear duty, practically democratic. The Second Vatican
Council put it like this:
a common dignity of members deriving from their rebirth in Christ, a common
grace as sons, a common vocation to perfection, one salvation, one hope and
undivided charity. () Although by Christs will some are established as teachers,
dispensers of the mysteries and pastors for the others, there remains, nevertheless, a
true equality between all with regard to the dignity and to the activity which is
common to all the faithful in the building up of the Body of Christ. (Lumen
Gentium 32)

On the occasion of the 150
th
anniversary of the death of the Saint Cur dArs, Pope Bene-
dict XVI established a Year for Priests, which went from mid-2009 to mid-2010. Hence,
the Apostolic Penitentiary of Rome provided the possibility of a Plenary Indulgence, in
particular for priests, but also granted to all the faithful according to the form described
below, which perfectly agrees with the words of Gloria Polo:
The Plenary Indulgence is granted to all the faithful who are truly repentant and
who, in church or in chapel, devoutly attend the divine Sacrifice of Mass and offer
prayers and any good work they do that day to Jesus Christ the Eternal High Priest,
for the priests of the Church, so that He may sanctify them and form them in
accordance with his Heart, as long as they (the priests) have made expiation for
their sins through Sacramental Confession and pray in accordance with the Supreme
Pontiffs intentions.

With what I have written I wished to show that what Conchita and Gloria Polo say may
not be regarded as just so many words, but that they fit well within the sacramental eco-
nomy of salvation. Economy here refers to the principles and practices used by the com-
munity of believers to organise the ownership and the sharing out of the gifts of grace.
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That is how simply God organises his work! All that is required is that on Sundays the
Holy Mass is offered to the benefit of the serving priest and offer that day for this in-
tention to God in order to turn the Church Militant into the Church Victorious, and this
so I understand it to the exclusion of other intentions that, during the Mass, are lowered
to the level of daily intentions. Implicitly this means that the faithful who take the matter
seriously attend Holy Mass more than once per week. It can be painful to exclude certain
intentions from the endless services rendered by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, but it can
be recuperated during the week. It is no reason for concern, for if we pray for the priests,
then we pray for ourselves and for the Church, and when we pray for the Church we also
pray for the entire world and for all those who are close to our hearts. If we believe that
this is how it works, this way is within everyones reach. Can it be any simpler?

My fervent wish is that there should be ten or more faithful in each parish who attend
Holy Mass in this way every Sunday. The Old Testament gives us various examples of
situations where ten people expressed a wish and their wish was granted. If there had
been ten just people in Sodom and Gomorra, God would not have decided to destroy
those cities. And yet even two believers would suffice, for where two or more are
gathered together in Christs name, God is in the midst of them. On the condition, of
course, that they must strive to increase their number to ten. And would it not be a good
idea for priests to take the initiative to propose this line of action to their parishioners?
This is not simply a luxury, for as Jesus had Conchita write, meaning the priests:
And when distracted by the innumerable duties of their ministry, they torture their
minds to know how they will manage to reconcile their life of prayer with that
involved in the tasks they have to fulfil. This unity in their life, this [purely external]
putting in order of their ministry, and even the simple practice of pious acts, is
impossible to accomplish from a human point of view, even if the latter favours it.

The approach outlined here fits in well with the pastoral letter that gave rise to this article.
By way of remedy for the current crisis of faith the bishops make the case for a deepening
of the life of the community of belief. If ordinary parishioners were to apply themselves
according to these simple guidelines in let us say the centres for faith and spirituality,
which the bishops call Small Christian Communities, Gods gifts will not be long in
coming! The bishops state very clearly that the Eucharist is source and high point of
Christian life. The Eucharist must never be seen as a matter of course. How right they
are to say that the priestly office is not merely functional but sacramental in its nature.
Let us therefore act as if we believe this!
Hubert Luns
[Published in the Brandende Lamp, 2
nd
quarter 2008, N
o
. 114]



AFTERTHOUGHT (published in the Brandende Lamp no. 115)
It is as yet too early to say anything further on the campaign we started in our previous
number, namely to offer a great many ardent prayers for priests and to offer the Sunday
Mass exclusively for our parish priests. We must realise that the conversion of our country
must come first and foremost from the priests. The blessed Clemens Maria Hofbauer put
it like this: Think about it: our priests are bringers of salvation and perdition, blessing
or curse over the people! When, under the ancient covenant, other punishments had pro-
ved insufficient to turn the stubborn people from their evil ways, God sent the heaviest
punishment: bad blind priests! So pray that the Lord God should raise up holy priests!
St. John Chrysostom always strongly insisted to his priests: Be saviours of the world! It
is our duty to pray and to offer sacrifice ceaselessly for our priests!
Jan Leechburch Auwers

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Notes:
A missed opportunity
(1) In the light of the gifts of grace offered to us by the Church, we can state without exag-
geration that the twenty centuries that God has thus far granted to humanity have been
lost insofar that they have been scarcely used, at least insufficiently.

The Raphael Rooms
(2) The four Stanze di Raffaello are a suite of reception rooms, which form the public
part of the papal apartments. A stanza is a unit in poetry, or otherwise, within a larger
context (the term means stopping place in Italian). The Stanze di Raffaello are famous for
their frescoes painted by Raphael and his studio. Together with Michelangelos ceiling
frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, these are the grand fresco sequences that mark the High
Renaissance in Rome. The Stanze, as they are invariably called, were originally intended
for the suite of apartments of Pope Julius II. He commissioned Raphael and his studio in
1508 or 1509 to redecorate the existing interiors of the rooms entirely. They are on the 3
rd

floor overlooking the Belvedere Courtyard. See Wikipedia under Raphael Rooms.

(3) The Lives of the Most Excellent Architects by Giorgio Vasari - Florence (1568), un-
der the chapter Painters and Sculptors. (Referred to by the Columbia University Educa-
tional Department website)



PRAYER FOR PRIESTS (in the spirit of St. Theresa of Lisieux)
O Jesus, eternal High Priest, protect your priests in the shelter of your Sacred Heart
where nobody can harm them. Keep their anointed hands immaculate, those hands that
daily touch your Holy Body. Keep pure their lips that are stained red with your Precious
Blood. Keep their hearts pure and raised above earthly things, hearts sealed by the sacred
sign of the priesthood. Let them grow in love and faithfulness to You and safeguard them
from contamination by the world. Give them power over hearts, as they have the power to
transform bread and wine. Bless their work with rich fruits and finally give them the
crown of everlasting life. Amen.