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What’s Wrong with the World is dedicated to the defense of what remains of Christendom, the civilization made by the men of the Cross of Christ. Athwart two hostile Powers we stand: the Jihad and Liberalism...read more

The Badge of Christian Warfare

Today is Septuagesima Sunday, which of course means that Lent is right around the corner. As this blog is dedicated to "the defense of what remains of Christendom", we might do well to reflect on the words of Pope Benedict XIV and Dom Gueranger as we prepare for the battle:

“The observance of Lent is the very badge of Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of Christ. By it we avert the scourges of divine justice. By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help. Should men grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe.” – Pope Benedict XIV
“It is sad and humiliating to note that as laxities were introduced by the hierarchy and local churches into the laws of fasting and practices of severe penance, the members of the Church have suffered immeasurable spiritual loss – a loss of at least part of the rigor of those sacred times set apart to cleanse their bodies and souls of imperfections and the corrupting spirit of the world. In our modern times, the spread of permissiveness, liberalism, deterioration of morality and the general practices of purity, have led to a spirit of relaxation and the loss of a general effort, on the part of the faithful, to strive for a life of holiness and of union with God through the practices of self-denial, mortification, piety and renouncement of the spirit of the world – a spirit which is opposed to the spirit of a true Christian life and the very possibility of eternal salvation.” - Dom Prosper Gueranger

Comments (24)

Jeff,

Thank you for the reminder - I'm still getting used to church calendar issues and hadn't much thought about Lent for this yet, yet.

Kamilla

I tried to read the quotation from Benedict 16 above with sympathy, but I cannot. It seems to me that every sentence quoted from him in this regard is false:

“The observance of Lent is the very badge of Christian warfare. By it we prove ourselves not to be enemies of Christ."

Developing the character of Christ, not observing Lent, is the badge of Christian warfare. Christ, the apostles, and the prophets went to war against evil and error, and did so without Lent. You prove you are not God's enemy by loving as He loves and doing as He does. God's enemies can, and sometimes do, observe Lent. Observing Lent proves very little, if anything.


"By it we avert the scourges of divine justice."

We avert the scourge of divine justice by the grace of God in Christ, not by Lent.

"By it we gain strength against the princes of darkness, for it shields us with heavenly help."

You gain strength against the prince of darkness by taking recourse to Scripture, as did Christ when He was tempted by Satan. Only after his wise and repeated application of the wisdom of Deuteronomy did Christ received heavenly help, not by observing Lent.

"Should men grow remiss in their observance of Lent, it would be a detriment to God’s glory, a disgrace to the Catholic religion, and a danger to Christian souls. Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe."

Without Lent, God's glory is in no way diminished. It was not diminished by the absence of Lent during all those centuries, both Jewish and Christian, before the practice arose. Nor was the Catholic church disgraced in those centuries when Christians grew closer to God without it. Returning to the character and practice of Christ and the apostles, and to their Lent-less piety, would not be a source of public calamity or of private woe -- much less misery to the world.

To say that neglecting Lent would doubtless be a source of public calamity and of misery to the world is as wrong-headed as Pat Robertson saying that the disaster in Haiti is the result of a Haitian pact with the Devil, or Jerry Falwell (as I recall) asserting that the 9/11 attacks were punishment from God against gays. The Pope should not have said this, period.

Michael,
Jeff was quoting Benedict XIV not Benedict XVI. Don't worry, Benedict XVI would never say such terrible things.

Heaven knows I am no theologian, but I feel like Mr. Bauman's fisking of Pope Benedict XIV can only be sustained if Lent is emptied of all its meaning as religious practice, leaving only a word. I don't think I would disagree with most of his assertions--such as the one that says "Developing the character of Christ is the badge of Christian warfare"--except that he seems incapable of imagining that Lent might be compatible with them--that Lenten practice is precisely an example of "developing the character of Christ."

I feel compelled to ask if Mr. Bauman even knows what Lent is.

If Lent is a formalized period of fasting preceding the celebration of Easter, then to say that "Christ never observed Lent" is fatuous. He certainly fasted. (We can forgive him for not doing so before a season he had not yet instituted.) What was Christ doing when he was tempted by Satan, to use Mr. Bauman's own example? He was doing what Benedict XIV instructs, and for similar reason. The disciples pretty clearly made fasting a central part of Christian practice practically from the beginning. The reason was precisely to "develop the character of Christ," to use Bauman's felicitous phrase.

Assuming Mr. Bauman has no issue with an annual celebration of Easter, then all I can think of for him to object to with Lenten practice is the formalization of it. Apparently even the mere naming of it, since he uses the word "Lent" as if it were a dirty word. That this formalization (and naming) might have come about through historical development in the years of grace following Christ's life sounds like a great scandal to hear Bauman tell it. I'd love to hear how he feels about Christian marriage, burial, and holy day practices.

To again use his own words: Isn't it at least imaginable that Lent is precisely an attempt to "return to the character and practice of Christ and the Apostles" in the context of the lives of everyday people separated in time from those days when he walked on the earth? Would we be better off not fasting? Is that more Christlike? Would we be better off fasting before some part of the year that is less holy? Would that be more apostolic?

Each Lent I (amend to) re-read the Lenten sermons of Pope St. Leo, who never tired of exhorting us to join with Christ, fasting in the desert and doing battle with the Enemy. Two things stand out in my mind: his implacable zeal for the battle against evil under Christ's banner, and his pastoral love for those who come late to the work. Thanks for reminding me to make the time once more!

Understand first that I enjoyed your post on the issue of the female police chief. Very instructive.

Perhaps, though, you could please explain how Benedict XIV's comments are acceptable in light of, say, Romans 14?

Chris,
I see the difference between Jewish fasting and Catholic Lent (especially as articulated in Benedict's quotation above). For you to collapse that difference is an egregious example of tendentious and anachronistic hermeneutics in the extreme. Christ and the apostles do not explain their practice of fasting in anything like the skewed way Benedict does Lent.

And are you actually defending the silly idea that not observing Lent would doubtless be the source of misery to the world and of public calamity?

Yes, many of the innovations that arose in the centuries following the departure of the apostles are to be eschewed.

Yes, many of the innovations that arose in the centuries following the departure of the apostles are to be eschewed.

Spoken like a true Pope.

Developing the character of Christ, not observing Lent, is the badge of Christian warfare.

A Christian develops the character of Christ, in part, by keeping a good Lent.

Christ, the apostles, and the prophets went to war against evil and error, and did so without Lent.

As prophets and apostles, their whole lives were lives of penance. Christ through His Church instituted Lent for the rest of us slackers.

You prove you are not God's enemy by loving as He loves and doing as He does.

Yes - but in order to love as God loves, one must obey as Christ obeyed. That means humbly observing the feast and fasts of His Church.

God's enemies can, and sometimes do, observe Lent.

Observing Lent, among other things, means repenting of your sins. God's enemies do not repent of their sins. Therefore, God's enemies do not truly observe Lent.

We avert the scourge of divine justice by the grace of God in Christ, not by Lent.

We obtain the grace of God in Christ, in part, by keeping a good Lent. God answers prayers. God forgives the repentant. God rewards those who give alms. God purifies those who take up their crosses and deny themselves for His sake. That's Lent. It's not supposed to end there, of course, but it helps one make a good start.

You gain strength against the prince of darkness by taking recourse to Scripture, as did Christ when He was tempted by Satan. Only after his wise and repeated application of the wisdom of Deuteronomy did Christ received heavenly help, not by observing Lent.

Our Lord's 40 day fast was in one sense the very first Lent. You said we should love as God loves. Christ's love for men drove Him to fast in the desert. Observing Lent also means taking recourse to Scripture - special devotions, psalms, attendance at Mass, etc., all of these entail an encounter with the inspired scriptures.

Without Lent, God's glory is in no way diminished.

God doesn't need Lent: we need Lent. When Christians ignore or hold the precepts of Christ's Church in contempt, God is not glorified on earth as He should be.

Nor was the Catholic church disgraced in those centuries when Christians grew closer to God without it.

Those early centuries were years of martyrdom. But as persecution receded, Christians grew apart from God, and became lukewarm, and forgot their inheritance. They needed reminders to fast and pray and do penance because of their weakness. Perhaps you are strong and you don't need Lent. Wonderful. But if you have contempt for Christ's weak ones, and if you dismiss the care of the Church for them, then you are really not as strong as you think.

To say that neglecting Lent would doubtless be a source of public calamity and of misery to the world is as wrong-headed as Pat Robertson saying that the disaster in Haiti is the result of a Haitian pact with the Devil, or Jerry Falwell (as I recall) asserting that the 9/11 attacks were punishment from God against gays. The Pope should not have said this, period.

Creation groans because of sin. The more Lent is observed, the less sin is in the world. The only reason the world is not destroyed - that millions of souls have another day of grace - is because the people of God pray and do penance for sinners. The Christian is not a spiritual island unto himself: every prayer brings grace to the world, every sin merits wrath, and the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.

Kamilla and Thenyssan: You're very welcome. Septuagesima really caught me off guard this year. Glad we have it!

Passerby: I'm no biblical exegete, but I would guess that Romans 14 has for its context the various pagan feasts once observed by gentile converts, and the festivals once observed by the Jews but now abrogated.

Another day, another expression of tendentious and anachronistic hermeneutics! Sorry, I'm always doing that.

I have to admit (true confessions) that I never feel strengthened by fasting. I gather this must be one of those things where the way one feels subjectively is misleading. And it's certainly true that Our Lord said, "When you fast." That's striking, that "when." As though He doesn't think he has to offer any sort of justification. He assumes that they will and just wants to tell them not to be ostentatious about it. But it never (when I've tried to do it) has seemed to do me the slightest good, spiritually. Just makes me cranky and light-headed.

Lydia, that you don't feel strengthened by fasting is perfectly normal. Any kind of strenuous exercise makes you weak before making you strong.

It’s a pity that formal obligations for fasting have become so lax. Today, fasts with any real bite are strictly voluntary, even during Lent. Obligatory fasts can be more efficacious because they provide a greater opportunity to mortify the will, as well as the senses.

I'm not sure what early Christians Michael Bauman is speaking of who did not observe Lent. The observance of a period of fasting before Easter is discussed in the writings of St. Irenaeus, and he is only one generation removed from the apostles. He personally heard the Gospel preached by St. Polycarp, who was himself a disciple of St. John the Apostle. When St. Irenaeus discusses the period of fasting prior to Easter he mentions a variety of different time frames, from just one day to 40 days, but the fact that some fasting preceeds Easter was clearly a long established tradition already in his time.

So, I guess I'm unclear on when exactly there has been no Lent for Christians anywhere or anytime prior to the protestant reformation.

William,
There's nothing at all papal about my registering strong disagreement with some of the things that grew up inside the church after the apostolic age. I make no claim to primacy, to authority, to infallibility, or to any other such pretension in so doing -- which means I am speaking very much unlike a pope. Christians are not only entitled but obligated to speak against what seems wrong or evil. They are not aping popes when they do so.

Jeff,
I suppose we understand the spirituality of Christ and the apostles very differently. They never seems to me to say anything about fasting or penance in the vein of Benedict, or to practice it in the way he articulates, or for his reasons. His understanding and practice of it seem utterly foreign to their character, their teachings, and their practice, which is why I am surprised that some here insist that following Benedict's lead on this point will make us more like Christ and the apostles. Nothing the apostles and Christ say or do makes me think so, being so widely divergent from Benedict's view.

It is an exaggeration, perhaps even a flat falsehood, to say, as you do, regarding the apostles, that "their whole lives were lives of penance." Penance?

We know what Lent is intended to do. But good intentions do not mend the matter at all, not when it gets some fundamentals so desperately wrong -- as it does when its chief advocate insists it's a way of avoiding divine wrath, as if our relationship with God were based on human performance -- and as if that performance were a way to avoid tsunamis and earthquakes.

We know what Lent is intended to do. But good intentions do not mend the matter at all, not when it gets some fundamentals so desperately wrong -- as it does when its chief advocate insists it's a way of avoiding divine wrath, as if our relationship with God were based on human performance -- and as if that performance were a way to avoid tsunamis and earthquakes.

This is not what Pope Benedict thinks and this is not the purpose of Lent. Last I recall, it was the Church that condemned semi-Plegianism.

The Chicken

I make no claim to primacy, to authority, to infallibility

Of course you do. If there was a shadow of self-doubt in your comment, I couldn't find it. You just have a different doctrine.

Michael, I'm actually sympathetic to some of your disagreements with the quotations, but the tsunami thing seems really gratuitous.

Lydia,
Regarding not observing Lent, Benedict, not I, said, "Neither can it be doubted that such negligence would become the source of misery to the world, of public calamity, and of private woe."

I wonder what "misery to the world" -- the world! -- and "public calamity" he has in mind that would _doubtless_ follow from failure to observe Lent. He distinguishes these large scale disasters (ie, global misery and public calamity) from private woe. What global misery and public disaster does he have in mind here? Nuclear war? Global warming? The spread of Communism? Earthquakes? Take your pick. I'd also like to hear someone explain "private woe." Chest colds? A demotion at work? Depression? A heart attack? Bullies at school? What large scale disasters and private woes result from not observing Lent and are avoided by observing it? How would he (or we) know? His whole set of assertions is fatuous.

William,
Confident theological assertion is not reserved only for popes. Or, if it is, you'd have to change either your tone or your title (wink).

I assume, Michael, that the public calamity would be things like breakdowns in society caused by private laxity and irreligion. Something like that.

Michael,
I know you like to pretend to believe in Scripture, so this is for you.

Matt. 11.20-23:

20 Then began he to unbraid the cities wherein were done the most of his miracles, for that they had not done penance.
21 Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to the Bethsaida: for if Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes.
22 But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgement, than for you.
23 And thou Capharnaum, shalt thou be exalted up to heaven? Thou shalt go down even to hell. For if in Sodom had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in thee, perhaps it had remained unto this day.

Then began he to unbraid the cities...

Did they have a hair problem?

Well spotted, Bill.

The word should be "upbraid," of course.

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