Comments for Born for Combat at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 14 out of 14 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Thu, 23 May 2013 10:18:06 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5940 Amen to this site. Now more than ever, Catholics are called to the front lines of the Spiritual Warfare that goes on every single moment. The enemy has already snared so many Catholics into believing they are "enlightened" and therefore capable of going against Church Teaching in the name of intellectual freedom. The attacks on our Holy Mother Church is no longer merely external. It now comes from within. "To learn doctrine and to proclaim it" humbly, charitably and selflessly is what we all need to do instead of complaining and blaming each other. - Allan Alquinto Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:11:31 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5923 Yes, the prayer is Leo XIII's and goes like this: Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray: and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen - Robert Royal Fri, 04 Feb 2011 03:44:10 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5922 Query: I read somewhere that Leo XIII initiated the "Prayer to St. Michael" that used to follow the reading of the Last Gospel in the pre-V II Mass (St. Michael, the archangel, defend us against the slings and arrows of the Devil, etc.) Is this attribution (to Leo XIII) correct? TeaPot562 - TeaPot562 Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:43:43 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5920 The author recognizes Pope Leo XIII's denunciation of Marxism in Rerum Novarum, but oddly fails to mention his categorical denunciation of socialism as well. As such, his mention of Catholics rejoicing that much of Rerum Novarum has been fulfilled in the west seems curiously premature. Both aside, it looks like a thorough reading of Sapientiae Christianae is certainly in order and we've got some big shoes to fill as good Catholics. Thanks for the insights. - lIBERTAS Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:45:23 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5917 What a wonderful article and excellent comments! My wife and I just completed a catechist training program loaded with modernism, multiculturalism, feminism and paganism. Matt is right on, the enemy is inside the gate. Father Amorth said “the anti-christ” is inside the Vatican. Our duty is clear and these posts give me great heart, but how many sheep are lost? - Achilles Thu, 03 Feb 2011 10:06:55 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5916 Unfortunately, the poison is so thick in the Church today that even if these encyclicals were better known, their true meaning would be undermined by mealy-mouthed bishops and chancery staffs, and especially by the USCCB. This has already happened with Rerum Novarum, which I have seen, oddly enough, trotted out in support of the execrable healthcare reform legislation and the monstrous DREAM Act--legislation which Leo XIII would have commanded us to commit to the flames (and yet which is sadly, unaccountable, supported by virtually the entire college of US bishops). The modernists have taken the citadel, the enemy is inside the gates; and there is no benefit to be had from reading encyclicals if we're just going to misinterpret them. Perhaps before tackling the social encyclicals we should all be required to read Pope St. Pius X's Pascendi Dominici Gregis, which describes the Church today with prescient lucidity. - Matt Thu, 03 Feb 2011 07:13:34 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5915 Thank you for this post; its timing couldn't be more perfect for me. I have struggled to discern my responsibilities as a Catholic Christian in the midst of the current civic landscape. If God allows all authority, he surely allows the current situation, with its abhorrent legislation and funding prerogatives? Does God expect obedience from me to all authority in all situations, even to an 'unjust master'? I struggle with this so much, oscillating between conviction that I am just to mind my little life's immediate affairs (for the sake of simplicity and peace) on the one hand, and conviction that I am to be speaking out, participating in the public square for what is right and good (to much disruption in mine and my family's lives) on the other. Thank you for pointing me to this edifying encyclical; I need all the help I can get right now in finding some clarity. - Albany Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:16:33 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5914 Dear Mr. Hartch I grew up in the 70's and 80's in a time when in California our priest had the people saying parts of the Eucharistic prayer, alter girls befor the Vatican ever even considered it and said so many things aginst the church I don't even like to remember. The amount of spiritual damage to me personally and my brothers was incredeble. To this day one of my brothers still doubts the existence of God. But Thanks to organizations that have taught and explained the faith so many of us "walking wounded" have learned and are stronger in our faiths than ever before. We now have taken letters like sapientiae christianae and are back in the "fight" attempting to teach others and love others as we were called to do by our Holy Father and not by the world. Hopefully our Bishops and priests will see the light and start doing the same because I still see so many trying to copy the ways of the world. may God protect and guide us in this fight for our Catholic Church Pax Cristi - Todd Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:14:26 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5913 Dear Mr. Hartch, Thank you for an excellent, inspiring essay. And I thank the commenters for their insights and for sharing their experiences. Are we seeing the remnant emerge right before our eyes? God bless all of you and all the writers and commenters on TCT. - Louise Thu, 03 Feb 2011 05:08:23 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5912 Yes, we are born for combat, and especially at our Confirmation become soldiers of Christ. However, there is a problem with the ex opera operantis side of things, for we don’t know how to tap into the graces of that sacrament. Essentially we suppressed the Holy Spirit when he tried to teach us and lead us into the charisms, the gratiae gratis data, in the 70’s. We weren’t buying it. There was a lot of elevated and irrelevant chatter about Ronald Knox’s Enthusiasm and about Montanism by the intelligentia of the Church, and with that we essentially threw His gifts back in His face. But tongues and prophecy are a school for holy speech and would have rendered learned men sharp weapons in the hands of the Lord, as they did Saul of Tarsus. As it was, for the most part only the lowly and the uneducated (those, for example, who did not subscribe to the Wanderer, America, Triumph and National Review) were humble enough and docile enough to accept these graces. We have no possibility of prevailing in our many struggles unless we allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide us. Thorough-going catechesis by itself does not make a soldier of Christ nor strengthen him for combat, nor inspire him to fight, for that matter. - Lee Gilbert Thu, 03 Feb 2011 05:00:19 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5911 Mr. Hartch, a most impressive contribution to the Catholic Thing. Thank you for taking the time to teach those who wish to learn. Your column reminds me of a quote that has stayed with me over the years though I can't offer attribution: "Courage is the most important virtue because it is the one upon which all others depend" Thank you to the author and/or the editors for the wonderful tool of immediate access to the mentioned encyclicals. What a wonderful teaching tool. - Ray Hunkins Thu, 03 Feb 2011 04:52:59 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5910 We are born for combat, but Bill mentions the IED's in our path. Hopefully most of these guys have self imploded, but they have left a lot of casualties in their wake, lost souls and spiritually walking wounded. And they, "insipientes", did not even have the prospect of 72 virgins! - Yezhov Thu, 03 Feb 2011 04:43:52 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5907 Mr. Hartch, are you aware that Ex Corde Ecclesiae was preceded by an encyclical entitled (check me) Sapentiae Christianae which was to instruct Catholic universities and colleges as to how they were to comport themselves? That came out in the 1970s. Both of these encyclicals were D.O.A. and ECE has only recently been revived(?). Fr. Chas. Curran at Catholic U. for years as the U.S. bishops would not force him out. Pro-abortion Fr. Robt. Drinan served in Congress for years and the bishops could not force him out! "Born to Combat"? When my wife and I were bringing our seven children into this world, there was no Church to support us. We were anomalies in the 70s and 80s and we were derided and scorned. I see effeminates and chuckleheads in the pews. They bought into the Spirit of Vatican II hook, line and sinker. I have not been in a parish in twenty-five years, yet my family and I attend Mass every Sunday and frequently partake in the Sacrament of Penance. My father, trained in a seminary, cited parts of Rerum Novarum by heart, but that was when the Church was still Catholic. - Bill Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:11:33 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2011/born-for-combat.html#comment-5906 “Christians are,” Leo continues, “born for combat.” Thank you so much for this reminder of our call to duty. It is so easy to allow the battles to pass us by. Press us forever we pray into the heat of battle! - Catholic Tide Wed, 02 Feb 2011 21:27:11 +0100