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Saturday, July 2, 2022

Trusting the Science of the Saints

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Trusting the Science of the Saints

In his 1846 encyclical on Faith and Religion, Qui Pluribus, Blessed Pius IX wrote about the relationship between the Catholic Faith and reason:

“[B]y means of an obviously ridiculous and extremely specious kind of argumentation, these enemies never stop invoking the power and excellence of human reason; they raise it up against the most holy faith of Christ, and they blather with great foolhardiness that this faith is opposed to human reason. Without doubt, nothing more insane than such a doctrine, nothing more impious or more opposed to reason itself could be devised. For although faith is above reason, no real disagreement or opposition can ever be found between them; this is because both of them come from the same greatest source of unchanging and eternal truth, God.”

 

So Faith is higher than human reason but “no real disagreement or opposition can ever be found between them.” This follows logically from the fact that God, our omniscient Creator, entrusted His truth to the Church. If “reason” perceives a problem with the true Faith, “reason” is mistaken.

What would Pius IX and his skeptics think of the cutting-edge scientific advances dominating life in 2022?

One can imagine that quite a few skeptics of Pope Pius IX’s encyclical would have felt fairly confident that future advances in science would demonstrate the foolishness of thinking that Faith is above, and compatible with, human reason. But what would Pius IX and his skeptics think of the cutting-edge scientific advances dominating life in 2022?:

  • Men can become pregnant
  • Viruses can be stopped by “vaccines” that do not prevent one from catching or transmitting the virus
  • Livestock “gas” is causing global warming, so we need to transition to a bug-based diet to save the planet

Presumably the intellectuals of 1846 would be surprised by these scientific discoveries, but Pius IX would be even more dismayed by the “advances” in ecumenical science within the Church, which suggests that all religions are pleasing to God, other than the one the blessed pope practiced (i.e., traditional Catholicism). He would immediately know that such heresy had been planted by Satan and his minions.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the scientific advances that grow like noxious weeds within the world and Church are so ludicrous that they must be inspired by the father of lies, who takes perverse pleasure in seeing God’s creatures make such destructive use of reason. God is allowing us to open our eyes and see that “science” has gone off the rails. And yet many of the most powerful forces in the world demand that we keeping swallowing bigger and bigger lies to keep our bread and circuses.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the scientific advances that grow like noxious weeds within the world and Church are so ludicrous that they must be inspired by the father of lies.

If God is allowing us to see this, is He offering anything to help us escape? On June 24, 2022, He answered the question in a way that absolutely demands our attention: by allowing for the overturn of Roe v. Wade on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (and the ordinary day for the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist), God made it clear that our prayers and sacrifices remain the best means to spark great change in the world, even if we must persevere for decades. In other words, God reminded us that the science of the saints is the only one that matters from the perspective of heaven, and frequently the only one that truly matters in our worldly affairs.

In his classic book about devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Jesus, King of Love, Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey wrote of this science of the saints:

“Too many pride themselves on being cultured and intellectual but because of their weak Fatih they are unable to find the weighty and urgent solutions which society today requires. To bring the modern world back to holier and happier life, we have less need of learned men than of souls possessed of a strong and simple faith. A Curé of Ars, a Saint Therese of the Child Jesus, have done more good for humanity than all the intellectuals that have ever lived, because they shared intimately in the light of God, Jesus Christ, and radiated it around in a miraculous manner.”

This is so true in our day, when the world searches in vain for the “weighty and urgent solutions which society today requires.” As Fr. Mateo would tell us, we need saints to lead the way:

“No one is more keen-sighted and enlightened than the saint. He sees and understands everything in God who is indefectible light.”

The reason for this is not complicated, especially because we know from the Catechism that God created us to know, love, and serve Him in this life and be happy with Him in the next. If that is the purpose of this life, why would God require us to follow some other path to satisfy our legitimate worldly needs?

As we know from the lives of the saints, pursuing holiness is consistent with every permissible vocation and occupation, such that there is no need to choose between becoming a saint and “doing something useful.”

And, as we know from the lives of the saints, pursuing holiness is consistent with every permissible vocation and occupation, such that there is no need to choose between becoming a saint and “doing something useful.” That particular false dichotomy has existed ever since Satan began tempting humans and will remain one of the enemy’s most destructive weapons until Judgment Day.

Indeed, Fr. Mateo observed that the actual truth is precisely the opposite — we are better able to “do something useful” in proportion that we try to love and serve Jesus:

“[I]n proportion as any creature whatsoever, and especially an apostle, is ‘enamored’ of Jesus, and firmly believes blindly in His love, in that same measure the apostle may reckon on a veritable omnipotence, and have the power to transform the world. O Jesus! give us the omnipotence of those saints, above all of those who believed with a blind faith in the madness of Thy love, in order that like them we may bring the world captive to Thy bloodstained feet.”

Again, why would Our Creator and Redeemer have ordered our affairs in any other way? Jesus told us that without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5), and St. Paul wrote that “I can do all things in Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). This is the science of the saints.

The question is not whether or not we will suffer — for we will — but whether we will use that suffering to become saints and thereby transform the world.

In her Utopia Nowhere, Solange Hertz provided a concrete example of how St. Joan of Arc applied this science of the saints:

“A master tactician, she excelled in the deployment of artillery. Seasoned veterans were astounded at the accuracy of her judgment in combat. Military experts have studied her methods without being able to unlock her secret, yet her secret is an open one: she acted only under orders from heaven. On one occasion, when her captains had decided among themselves to await reinforcements before launching a major attack, she declared, ‘Well, you’ve had your meeting, and I’ve had mine. And believe me, our Lord’s advice will produce results, whereas yours will produce nothing!’ And so it happened.”

Today we look at the great feats of St. Joan of Arc and can see the infinite glory and wisdom of God. If she had set aside “Our Lord’s advice” to follow her own lights, she would have failed miserably. Is this not what we see throughout salvation history, as God uses the weak things of the world that He may confound the strong (Corinthians, 1:27)?

It seems that the best way to thank God for the great blessing of seeing Roe v Wade overturned is to learn and practice this science of the saints as well as we can. And we do not need to work great visible miracles or spend sleepless nights in meditation to become saints. St. Pius X said that St. Therese of the Child Jesus was “the greatest saint of modern times,” and we can follow her “little way” to holiness in any state of life.

If no grace is so great that we cannot obtain it from the Heart of Jesus, why we would insult Him by looking elsewhere for the solutions to the problems we face today?

To illustrate this, Fr. Mateo taught that God already gives us the means to become saints:

“For instance, many wives and mothers — whether of high or low estate — tread the road of suffering just by leading their daily lives. Many of our Catholic business men drag out their lives in offices and factories, hampered by a thousand obligations and almost crushed under the weight of imperative and unavoidable responsibilities. They eat the bread of weariness and their future is dark with sorrow and anxiety. Many of them are really leading heroic lives and bear the scars of a noble though unseen martyrdom. Day by day they are learning the sublime lesson of generosity and sacrifice. But what is still lacking in them, if they are to be clothed with a glory that is truly immortal and win the palm of a divine and saintly heroism, is a heart of love, a heart burning with charity. God would raise up many a saint if these crucified souls would but make Him their life, their all.”

The question is not whether or not we will suffer — for we will — but whether we will use that suffering to become saints and thereby transform the world. If we decide to make Jesus “our life, our all,” we will obtain what Fr. Mateo described as a “veritable omnipotence” to fight for God against the demons attempting to enslave us all.

As St. Mary Margaret Alacoque testified, Our Lord Himself told her of the unlimited graces we can receive if we seek them in His Sacred Heart:

“No grace is so great that we could not obtain it from the Heart of Jesus. The Savior promised this to His servant in these words: ‘Proclaim, and have it proclaimed to the whole world, that I set no limit on My gifts of grace for those who seek them in My Heart.’ ‘The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is the treasury of graces, and trust is the key to it.’”

If no grace is so great that we cannot obtain it from the Heart of Jesus, why we would insult Him by looking elsewhere for the solutions to the problems we face today? May the Blessed Virgin Mary help us to learn the science of the saints by trusting in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and doing all that He asks.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us! Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

New from RTV — WHY TRUMP MATTERED: Roe v Wade, RIP

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Last modified on Saturday, July 2, 2022
Robert Morrison | Remnant Columnist

Robert Morrison is a Catholic, husband and father. He is the author of A Tale Told Softly: Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale and Hidden Catholic England.