At the beatification ceremony for
St. Joan of Arc, St. Pope Pius X declared:
In our time more than ever before, the chief strength of the wicked, lies in the cowardice and weakness of good men. All the strength of Satan's reign is due to the easy-going weakness of Catholics.
Oh! if I might ask the Divine Redeemer, as the prophet Zachary did in spirit: What are those wounds in the midst of Thy hands? the answer would not be doubtful: With these was I wounded in the house of them that loved Me. I was wounded by My friends, who did nothing to defend Me, and who, on every occasion, made themselves the accomplices of My adversaries.
And this reproach can be leveled at the weak and timid Catholics of all countries.
[Hat tip to M.V.]
PP,
ReplyDeleteIsn't he the Pope who kidnapped the inordinately baptized Jewish boy from his parents? I think he needed a touch of the easy going spirit.
nix that...it was Pius IX.
ReplyDeleteNo problem, Bill. Even if St. Pope Pius X wasn't the one, not pope is perfect. Pius X, like Garrigou-Legrange, looked favorably upon Action Française, because it was monarchist, counter-revolutionary, and politically pro-Catholic, even though it's principal ideologue, Charles Maurras, was an agnostic with ideas inimical to Catholicism. Still, none of these sorts of blemishes undermines the genuine truth of his many insights and value of his many virtues, of course, as I'm sure we would agree.
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