Waging the Greater Crusade

Ad majorem Dei gloriam.

Go forth confidently then, you knights, and repel the foes of the cross of Christ with a stalwart heart. Know that neither death nor life can separate you from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ, and in every peril repeat, "Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's."

S. Bernard of Clairvaux, In Praise of the New Knighthood

Enmity and contention exist in hell. The people of hell have conflicts, fighting and clawing at one another. If you quarrel for the sake of this world, beware that you are preparing hell for yourself, and you are on the way there.

Imam Ruhollah Khomeini, Jihad al-Akbar (The Greater Jihad)

The Need of a New Crusade

Praise and Glory be to the Name of Jesus Christ, forever. Amen.

The body weakens with age and lack of use, and the spirit likewise forfeits her natural lustre with a lack of discipline, conforming herself more to the mortal clay of this life as it drifts from her natural desire and Creator. She follows where she is led, by her possessor and master, whither his will shall carry him. We need not reflect at length on the severe danger of a world of souls whose masters and mistresses neglect, ignore, or deny them, enslaving themselves to the Flesh and thereby performing the works which deaden the soul. How many innocent souls lay today slain by the roadside of worldly ambition, starved and emaciated, longing for their singular Purpose?

When innocent Pilgrims to the Holy Land were set upon and slain with furious rapine by the Saracen, it was determined by our forebears that some great effort be exerted to secure the paths which the First Crusade had opened in the midst of the hostile Palestinian deserts. This first generation of New Knights had carried their crosses and shed their blood that the Earthly Jerusalem should be opened to the pilgrim servants of God who wished to glorify their Lord by walking in His steps, a path closed to them by the conquering heretic legions of Muhammed and his successors. This victory was won as a small measure of imitation of Our Lord whose Great Victory over sin and death, and the opening of the Heavenly Jerusalem, was likewise done by struggle, bloodshed, and the sacrifice of His own Precious Life.

That the Holy Land be conquered by imitation of Christ, and not through mere fleshly ambition of those who run for a corruptible crown, was not lost on S. Bernard, the great Abbot of Clairvaux whom Popes and humble peasant alike revered and from whom they sought counsel. He saw a new zenith of Christ's Church in this New Knighthood, which had baptised martial valour and purified it of carnal ambitions.

We are far afield of this great peak which S. Bernard's Crusaders ascended in their efforts, but here in the Valley of Tears we can survey the horizon and see clearly the peak, covered in the pure white of God's infinite Grace and love for those who serve Him without selfishness. We long to ascend it, too.

Weighed down by the muck and filth of this world, ruled and directed by the enemies of God and precursors of that accursed Synagogue of Satan whence we know the Son of Perdition shall rise, we cannot make the trek to the foot of this Mountain, much less accomplish the climb. "No man can fight properly, or with boldness for the Faith," S. Peter Damian reminds us, "if he cling to the fear of losing worldly things."

Therefore, let our imitation of this New Knighthood begin where we are, in an act of Purification that we might be worthy of taking back the Jerusalem of our Hearts from the enemies which now occupy it, that those who come after us may begin the climb to S. Bernard's heights and perhaps again take possession of even the Worldly Jerusalem.

The Saracen and the Jew Within

The Saracen and the Jew are spiritual types, and as such are far more dangerous than any mundane occurrence which we might call "Jew" or "Arab". These latter are merely men, subject to the same oppression as we, and capable of doing away with their sinfulness and sharing in the just wages of the labourers in the Vinyard of the Holy Church. They need only convert in their hearts and abandon their unique sinfulness.

The spiritual Saracen is soft, and loves comfort and the riches of the World. He adorns himself with silks and precious stones, and anoints his head and beard with the oil of Sin. He reclines and offers false piety with worldly knowledge and recitations without exceeding a minimum of expectations placed upon him. He flees discomfort, never turning the desert in which he lives to his benefit, but instead like S. Thomas' effiminate man, "withdraws from good on account of sorrow caused by lack of pleasure, yielding as it were to a weak motion".

The spiritual Jew loves himself above all things, and glories in his own carnality, all the while convinced and convincing others of his own righteousness. He lies to Truth itself and cloaks his sins in darkness of his own making to defy Authority itself, and flatters himself that his subtleties exceed Wisdom Himself. He pretends to offer pieties and services to God, but denies God in his heart, heaping punishments upon himself, for "what is done contrary to God's purpose, be it sacrifice or fast, is the most abominable of all things". Thus does S. John Chrysostom describe the Judaizing apostates of his own day.

Above all, Saracen and Jew alike deny their, or truly your, sinfulness, and live as though Elect of God.

Who among us does not harbour the Saracen and the Jew in the Jerusalem of our Heart? Who does not at all times long for comfort over hardship, pleasure over toil, appetite over discipline? Who does not, when he sins, bargain with his conscience and seek loopholes, as though the Judge of the Universe might be deceived as some half-bored busy magistrate?

This is the heart of man mired in Sin, and it is why we have been furnished examples from Faith and History of the worldly and hard-hearted races, to remind us where such as these find themselves in the end. We risk the destruction of the Temple of the Holy Ghost that is our very person if we continue to mock the Son of God and His Sacrifice. The armies of Titus and those of Nabuchodonosor have already been called up, and eagerly await the opportunity to raze us to the ground and cast us into fire and ruin.

"That the Walls of Jerusalem May be Built Up"

Do you not feel a pressing need to restore what has been lost? For with the Temple in the hands of the ungodly, the whole Kingdom has fallen into ruin and decay. The love of the stranger at the expense of kin, the indulgence in pleasure and constant pining after ever-more unnatural entertainments, the subversion of innocence and murder of innocents, the general sloth and obscenity of language, all are merely symptoms of a race of men who have placed abominations in the high places of their minds and souls.

Until, like Gideon, we pull down the altar of Ba'al and smash the baalim, we will continue to live among people who consume our young children and desecrate the graves and altars of our grandparents.

Bishop Sheen said there are two kinds of barbarian that threaten civilization, the active barbarian from without and the passive barbarian within. Speaking fifty years ago, he said the active barbarian did not worry him. We look at the heathen armies camped at the gates of our cities and wonder at his remarks.

We fear these active barbaians, we might even flatter ourselves that we are their victims, but their threat has only grown because the inner barbarians of our own people have not been brought to heel, but have multiplied in both number and in degredation, scourging the Body of Christ with sins that cry out to Heaven for justice.

When God saw fit to destroy the heathen city of Jericho and deliver it into the hands of the Hebrews, He appointed Joshua and Caleb to the head of His Armies to demonstrate His might, but it was a penitent prostitute of the heathen temples, Rahab, who delivered the city into the hands of the Israelites. Whom did the Lord appoint to link His humanity to Adam? His Bloodline passed through the gate by way of Rahab, wed to Salmon, of whom we know nothing, not by way of Joshua or Caleb, the great heroes who led the conquering worldly armies of the God of Hosts. How much greater is the Enemy within than the Enemy without, so too how much greater the Servant of God within.

The False Hope of Worldly Combat

The same Venerable Bishop Sheen adds,

If there is anything that has to be restored in our day, I would say it would be violence. Violence! The kingdom of heaven is won by violence, and only the violent shall conquer it.

He speaks of the inner Crusade! Too many hear only worldly things, though, ready to go forth with pen and sword alike. They exhaust themselves with such efforts, and leave the gates of their hearts and ramparts of their souls unmanned.

Evil propagates itself because the master of the vinyard now occupies himself in giving rewards to or withholding praise from other vintners. He advises, coaches, talks, even goes to tend the grapes, but his own wither on the vine, and unpruned the vines grow wild and thick. He wearies himself, and cannot apply his own expertise to the crop whence he derived it. All the worse for the young husbandman, who apprentices under the master but follows his career as advisor only, not as a vintner. He is distracted from his true task.

Our conscience might of training, habit, or grace command us, but we do not exercise it. Our worldly combat distracts us, our bodily exercise which should glorify God by perfecting His Temple, instead wins us only the perishable crown, for both fighting and exercise in the world done for the world's sake - and so often they are - gain us nothing, even if the lips confess in whispered reverence "the Spirit", the limbs speak louder still "the World!"

Yet how quickly the young especially rush to the barbell instead of the cross, to the sword instead of the Rosary, to pick up the medicine ball instead of the Missal. They make themselves apprentices to evil masters, and so gain no strength to bear the Yoke of Christ. Lift first the Cross, and give meaning to your training!

We cannot restore ourselves or our fallen world by facing outward, seeking to apply mortal balm to our lesions, but desiring no cure from the Physician who can cleanse us of our leprosy. We see that we must struggle, but we must remove the beam from our own eyes, and see clearly how and against whom we must first contend. It is not sufficient to struggle for our own sake, but to strive, endure, and overcome for His sake and in His name.

Many have attempted to arrest the decline and collapse by worldly means. All have failed, because no matter where they have begun, all have ended by giving themselves over entirely to the exterior battle, to an outer warfare of material means with material ends. None have first waged and won the inner battle of purification, and made themselves worthy of rule.

The Inner Crusade

Foreswear yourself, first, in the manner of a Knight to Liege-Lord, promising to live and die according to the honor, dignity, and power of your lord. Make your lord no worldly man, by the One Lord, Our Lord Jesus Christ, ruler of all Creation. Suffer Him no insult, offer Him no grumbling or complaint, and die in His name both to the outside world which continues to persecute Him and the Saracen and Jew within you who so despise Him and His Throne.

Discipline yourself, rising with the Sun and, beholding the merely natural light it offers, give glory and thanksgiving instead to the Light which lighteneth every man who cometh into this world. Do not exhaust your strength but sharpen it, and retire having spent as much of yourself as is fitting in a day. With every breath between, offer of your life a prayer of penitence, adoration, and thanksgiving.

Wage relentless and merciless war on the vices within you, and put them to death. Do not weigh their merits or offer them pardon, but ruthlessly carve out of yourself every ungodly thing, every flattery, every appetite, until you long for God alone. Then, and only then, has He regained His Throne. Then, the war is not over: for the Enemy will besiege the City. Keep constant vigilance, therefore, and let no evil thing enter your body, by your eyes or by your ears or by a deceitful, flattering, or obscene tongue.

Be obedient above all, impoverished in your attachments, and chaste in habit, word, and thought. By these three you make of your soul a fitting tabernacle to offer each day and each act within it a Benediction. Assist at Holy Mass in this spirit and you shall find yourself more fully united to the Priest, whose purpose is to unify himself in turn to Christ crucified.

Remember that in your war, you fight for love and with joy. Rejoice at every sorrow, offer every obstacle to Christ, for it is in His power to bring every enemy stronghold within you to utter ruin, as Sodom and Gemorrah or as Jericho. Fight also for love of God's gifts, for your lineage and your descent, for all in your charge, who depend on your sure defense to guide them on their pilgrimage to that Heavenly City. Whatever legions array themselves against you, cry "God's Will!" and thence never show the enemy your back.

Be consecrated in your effort, and subject to authority. No man can wage war against the enemy from within his own stronghold, he must assault it from without, fully armed and with intact supply lines. Let the Holy Eucharist nourish your arm, that the blade of your devotions and asceticism may drink deeply in combat with your passions. Let your Confessor be your nurse and chief tactician, and let him be a man of similar commitment and devotion.

In this way, purify yourself. Offer penance for the many who sin knowingly and the many more who sin unknowingly, all of whom will answer to the same Judge who shall appraise the worthiness of your efforts. By Penance alone is the world cleansed, and then the Outer Crusade to regain land and people is little more than a tiumphant parade, a display to make manifest victories already won by the Inner, and Greater, Crusade. Hail the victory you meet with the words of Our Lady: Penance, Penance, Penance!

To God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost be all honour, glory, laud, and power, now and forever. Amen.