No one needs to be convinced that we are living in a "pagan" world. Each day the teachings of Christ and their influence on humanity are being more eclipsed by Godlessness. How is it that the world, once carefully cultivated and sown with the good seed of Christ’s doctrine, now brings forth the bitter fruits of Atheism? "An Enemy hath done this." (Mt. 13:28)
As men and nations remove them-selves further away from the dominion of Christ, the more they ally themselves with the Adversary, Satan. There is no middle ground. You are either completely with Our Lord, or in some degree in league with those who gather beneath the Enemy’s banner that bears the blasphemous inscription "non serviam"—"I will not serve."
The very first revolution took place in the heavenly ranks when Lucifer fell from "light bearer" to the apostate herald of darkness. He has successfully passed on to man his rebellion against Almighty God. The prevailing view of selfish disregard for God’s revealed truth and God’s authority echoes Satan’s tempting words to Adam and Eve in the Garden, "You shall be as gods." The greatest passion in the world today is the search for independence, autonomy answerable to no one but self. "Freedom" in modern terms is a liberty with no restraints.
Saint Paul contrasts "the wisdom of the flesh"—and "the wisdom of the spirit." "For the wisdom of the flesh is death, but the wisdom of the spirit is life and peace." (Rom. 8:6) The children of this world who rejoice in their "freedom" —who are guided by the "wisdom of the flesh" are not attached to some neutral tendency or harmless opinion. The Apostle teaches that "the wisdom of the flesh" is "an enemy of God." Saint James says the same thing in his epistle, "Whosoever will be a friend of this world, becomes an enemy of God." (James 4:4)
A Spiritual Battle
In the encyclical "Quas Primas," issued in 1925, Pope Pius XI explained that "it would be a grave error to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs, since by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to Him by the Father, all things are in His power. All men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In Him is the salvation of the individual, in Him is the salvation of society."
It’s only too apparent that sin in society, the collective turning away from God, leads to destruction. The Twentieth Century was proof of this. Man claimed to be in control of "progress" as never before and never has the world witnessed suc h horrifying consequences… world wars, the spread of tyrannical atheistic Communism, abortion on demand, an epoch of unrivalled violence and injustice. Unfolding before us today is a frightening struggle, waged with greatest intensity. It is a war of conquest for world domination. It is a spiritual battle for the heart, the mind, and the soul of every human being on this earth. Ultimately, it is the irreconcilable enmity, begun in the Garden of Eden, which will endure and grow to the end. It is between Mary, the worthy Mother of the Redeemer, and the Devil–between the children and servants of the Blessed Virgin, and the children and tools of Lucifer.
The Light Ages
The Faith alone will transform society, as it has in the past. It created the once great Christian nations and forged upon the ruins of ancient pagan Rome a Christian civilization. The social culture produced by the Catholic Church was founded upon Our Lord’s admonition, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all else shall be added to you." (Mt. 6:33) Temporal interests were guided by the supernatural during the Middle Ages. Ignoring the fact that art, education and literature flourished under the influence of monasticism, the enemies of the Church call this era the "Dark Ages."
The first to reject the fruits of this golden age, sadly enough, were the Church’s own children. Protestantism inaugurated the great modern cultural and religious revolution that continues to this day. In former days, when truth was deemed the greatest treasure, Catholics were not afraid to state the fact that Luther did not reform the Church; he started his own. No true unity will be reestablished among Christians until they return to the Divine order established by Christ in His visible Church. Those who have accused the Catholic Church of apostasy from Christ’s teaching and have separated from Rome must now renounce their errors and return to the one true Church.
The spirit of revolt that entered the western world as a result of Protestantism spread quickly. It didn’t take long for the revolution, like a malignant cancer, to advance to its next and more deadly stage. Rationalism, which made reason superior to faith, went beyond a so-called "reform" of the old religion to a substitution for it. Then, in 1717, two hundred years after the Protestant revolt, modern Freemasonry emerged. It claims to be a continuation of the ancient mystery religions of the East. Paganism, the occult, Gnosticism’s "ancient wisdom," including its belief in evolution, have been cherished and preserved by Freemasonry to the present day.
Welcome to the New Age
The New Age glories in its rejection of Christ, the Light of the World, and has now brought its darkness upon us. Modern popes have warned the faithful about the forces seeking to destroy every vestige of Catholic civilization. Pope Saint Pius X described this as the "repeated attacks of the wicked utopia of revolution and impiety…"
Freemasonry intensified the revolution against both the Church and Christian State. It became the spearhead for innumerable movements that have attacked with "irreconcilable hostility" the authority of the popes, the teachings of the Church, and the Church’s influence in society. It is no wonder that Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical "Humanum Genus" (1884) stated that Freemasonry has as its "ultimate purpose, the utter overthrow of the whole religious and political order of the world that the Christian teaching has produced…"
Nor is it surprising that Freemasonry’s maxims of absolute equality that is, every inequality is an injustice and every authority a danger, found its full social and economic expression in revolutionary Socialism or Communism. According to Marx, man must be totally emancipated from religion—the ultimate source of the concept of inequality. The appeal of such an absurd ideology has its roots in pride and sensuality—fallen human nature following the path of least resistance, revolting quite naturally against all restraints human or divine.
While those responsible, and the means used, change from year to year, the goals of the revolutionary process remain the same—the destruction of the Christian order—Christian civilization and the Church that produced it.
The New Paganism
In many respects the decline in our civilization is worse than that of ancient Rome. The noted author and historian Hilaire Belloc explains this in his essay "The New Paganism" (1931). The New Paganism, unlike the old, he writes, is a corruption—the falling away from the experience of the Faith. It is therefore radically different from the Old Paganism, which was a movement toward the Faith. Belloc concludes his essay with this powerful summary; "men do not live long without gods; but when the gods of the New Paganism come they will not be merely insufficient, as were the gods of Greece, nor merely false; they will be evil. One might put it in a sentence, and say that the New Paganism, foolishly expecting satisfaction, will fall, before it knows where it is, into Satanism."
Seventy years later, Satan’s reign is well established.
The Strength to Win
God’s ways are not man’s ways. The solutions to life’s insurmountable problems more often than not lie in the unexpected, in the less than obvious ways and means. This is never truer than in mankind’s "fight to the finish" with the powers of Hell. Who would have expected God to send His Son into the world in such obscurity, poverty, and arduous labor as a carpenter? Yet, this is how the Savior of mankind came to us. Who could have comprehended the extent of God’s love for us that He would require—for our offenses—His Son to die on the Cross for us? Therein is accomplished our Redemption. And yes, there is a valiant woman who plays a major role in this drama of our deliverance. Mary, crushed but undaunted, stands beneath the Cross for our sake, offering her Son to the Father. She alone with God could say—"My Son, what have the sins of mankind done to Thee?" And having shared, as no one else, in this greatest of torment…having participated, as no one else, in this supreme act of reparation, Mary receives—among all God’s creatures—the highest glory, seated in splendor beside the throne of her Son.
Throughout history, Our Lady has guided, admonished, interceded for, and delivered her Son’s people, the new Israel, the faithful of the Catholic Church. Yes, we instinctively turn to Mary because God, as it were, turned to her to begin the great work of our Redemption. Without her Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, there is no salvation. We would be, in time and throughout eternity, under the curse of original sin, at enmity with God, under the frightful dominion of the Devil.
Saint Louis Marie de Montfort (d.1716) states in his book "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary" that by consecrating ourselves entirely to Mary we are thereby most perfectly consecrated to Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and our God, to Whom we owe all we are. This "Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary" is, in the saint’s words, "a perfect renewal of the vows or promises of Holy Baptism." As expressed in his prayer of consecration we renounce "the devil, the world, sin and self, and we give ourselves entirely to Jesus Christ by the hands of Mary…"
This holy slavery, when understood, appreciated, and practiced brings with it great joy and peace to the soul. It is the humble path to God. By it we acknowledge our weakness in the great battle for our salvation. By it we are sure to conquer our mortal Enemy because She who fights for us shall crush his proud head. (cf.Gen. 3:15) Particularly at the end of the world, we are told by Saint Louis Marie, the Most High with His Holy Mother, will raise up an army of saints. "These great souls, full of grace and zeal, shall be chosen to match themselves against the enemies of God, who shall rage on all sides; and they shall be singularly devoted to our Blessed Lady." Illuminated by her light, led by her spirit and sheltered under her protection, this spiritual militia will build up the Mystical City of God, the Church, and the civilization produced by the Church.
Remember Our Lady’s warnings at Fatima in 1917. There must be prayer, reparation, and consecration to her Immaculate Heart or dire consequences will follow. The sins of the world will not go unpunished. Russia will spread her errors—abortion was first legalized in Russia in the 1920’s. There will be starvation, war, the annihilation of entire nations, and the persecution of the Holy Father and of the Church. All these chastisements bear witness to the awful reality of sin and the severe punishment it deserves.
We cannot present here all the crucial ways in which Our Lady exercises her powers, nor the entire Fatima message including the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart. In simple summary, Total Consecration is offered as an incomparable means of fulfilling our baptismal duties, an incomparable means of sanctifying ourselves, the Church, the world. Our Lord willingly made Himself a Slave for our salvation. He continues as such in the Blessed Sacrament. By entering into total servitude in union with Jesus and Mary, we imitate, we participate in their total giving of self. Therein we find no burdensome servility but true freedom.
Give Our Lady an army of fervent souls, totally consecrated to her, and she will conquer the world.
