The Soldiers of the Church Militant [pp. 27-32]

THE SOLDIERS OF THE CHURCH MILITANT.9
threads of a series of movements that caused
some of the most liberal men of the Church to
be deposed by the decree of Gregory XVI, who
was influenced indirectly by Beckx, through the
aid of the duchess. This school of intrigue
was a capital one for the confessor, as it gave
him an opportunity to develop a gift that was
finally to raise him to the highest honor in his
Order.
To him is also to be accorded all honor for
the wonderful revival in thl)e worship of the
Virgin Mary. He wrote a book entitled the
"Month of Mary," which has passed through
some twelve editions, and his Order succeeded
in introducing what is now called "Mariolatry"
into the Church, so that it now amounts to but
little less than blasphemy. Beside the Trinity
they have placed a goddess in reality, and thus
displaced, in large measure, the worship of
the Savior Christ; for, according to them, men
owe their salvation first to the intercession of
Mary with Jesus. And in this line of activity
they were never satisfied until they effected the
entire deification of the Mother, and induced
the Pope to issue the dogma of the lmmaculaf'e Conception, for which, by common consent,
the present general of the Jesuits is largely
responsible.
In this book of devotion, the month of May
is declared to be the month of Mary, and the
one in which she should be daily worshiped as
tthle lofty Mother of Christ. For this purpose a
fitting place is chosen for a shrine, which is
adorned with an image of Mary, and decked
with the early flowers. Before this image, certain passages of this book are to be read daily
as special lessons and prayers, and it contains
forms of prayers and reflections, and the examples of certain saints who had distinguished
themselves for their devoted ness to Mary,
among whom are many J'suits; and the whole
closes with what is called a "drill," in imitation
of the soldiers who command the ovation. The
order is given to worship with all zeal this hleavenly princess, and to leave nothing undone during the month of May to gain her applause and
favor. The effect of this was to set half the
rural communities to praying to the Virgin to
bless their fields and crops during the coming
Summer; and this was carried so far as to engage priests to go over the fields, for a "consideration" of course, and bless them, with a view
to make them fertile for the coming harvest.
This is now a common practice in some of the
most Catholic districts.
That there may be no uncertainty about this
matter, we give from this collection one of the
devotional prayers to Mary, which runs as fol
lows: "To thee I consecrate my person, my
body and my soul, together with all I have and
possess. But most especially I give and devote to thee my heart, and wish and desire
that it may ever in the future belong to thee.
Mary was born to compensate the injury suffered( by heaven, and to increase its glory, and
become its queen. Mary has given us a new
life through Jesus Christ. Shle has conquered
the devil, and her name alone puts the spirits
of hlell to flight. She is mighty in heaven, on
earth, and in hell, because Jesus shares his divine power with her. Through thy obedience,
Mary, hast thou opened the gates of heaven.
Thou art our hope, our help; thlrou,gh thee we
shall reach the eternal kingdom. 0, queen of
heaven and of earth, on thee we place our entire
reliance! We lay every thing into thy hands;
show that thou art our mother in life and in death,
O gracious, 0 kind, sweet Virgin Mary! May
Jesus live! may Mary live! Amen."
In the course of other prayers, Mary is addressed with the titles, "Thlou excellent vessel
of devotion," "Thou tower of David," "Thllou
ivory tower," "Thou ark of the covenant." Atd,
in addition to these prayers, the faithful are in formed, in manifold legends, of the personal presence of the mother of God, and her gracious
aid in performing cures and saving the people
fromn tribulation. The various instruments to
this worship are inscribed with wonderful scenes
in which Mary was present and gracious to her
children. A rosary, for instance, bears a drowning person to the shore; a scapulary worn on the
body preserves one from bullets; and an old
house on the point of falling is represented as
being held up by the Virgin a whole night with
her own hands, until the sleepers awake and can
escape. According to these stories, Mary annihilated the Turkish fleet at Lepanto in 1571,
and drove the Turks fromn Vienna in 1683. Of
certain holy Jesuits it is stated that they chlerished a fiery and violent love for Mary, and
kissed her image with intense affection.
Among other things in this book are "drills,"
or exercises, for fixed days during the month of
May. One day they are to pay a visit to some
shrine of the Virgin, and another make some
sacrifice in eating, or commit some act of punishment to the flesh. "Do thy neighbor a favor
for the love of the Virgin;" "Wear a medal
representing the immaculate conception;" "The
month of May is the time for spiritual'drill.'"
These and many others are the gods which
Father Beckx recommends to his faithful followers as the agents of their salvation. And one
who has never seen the conscientious perform ances of these demands may well doubt the fact;
L
29'