Ask Catholics What We Believe

Lord of the World

2009-05-29T14:22:00.000-07:00

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Many people are not aware of a startling recommendation that was made by our current Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. He was sharply critical of the call for a "New World Order" made by President George H. W. Bush.

While giving a speech at the Catholic University of Milan on February 8, 1992, during which time he was head of the Congregation for the Doctine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger recommended that we read a book entitled "The Lord of the World" written in 1907 by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson .

The Holy Father cautioned us saying the world that President Bush had called for would implement:

"... a similar unified civilization and its power to destroy the spirit. The anti-Christ is represented as the great carrier of peace in a similar new world order."

Given his position in the Church it is not only astonishing, it is utterly incredible that Cardinal Ratzinger would say this and then point to Msgr. Benson's book . He knew well the sensational nature of the "The Lord of the World" and the danger posed by the New World Order called for by President Bush. It is impossible that the Holy Father was not warning us that we could actually be facing the times and the danger that Msgr. Benson had written about.

And we also have a startling comment made by Pope John Paul II when in 1976, as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, he said,

"We are now standing in the face of the greatest historical confrontation humanity has gone through. I do not think that wide circles of the American society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel and the anti-Gospel. This confrontation lies within the plans of divine providence. It is a trial which the whole Church . . . must take up."

There have always been confrontations between the Church and Her Gospel, but notice Cardinal Wojtyla did not say "another confrontation". He said " the final confrontation".

And in fact, Msgr. Benson's book is considered by many to be a prophetic novel in that he spoke of things not known in his day. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen described this book as one of the three greatest depictions of the advent of the demonic in World Literature.

It is also worth considering a reflection by Dennis L. Cuddy, Ph.D. who commented on the characters and events in Msgr. Benson's book and then the events that have transpired over the last 100 years. In April, 2005 he noted:

"Not only was Benson prescient in terms of writing about "the Volor" (a fast silent aircraft that could hover), but he also wrote: "In 1917...Communism really began....The new order began then....(After 1989) the final scheme of Western Free Trade.... Esotericism is making enormous strides---and that means Pantheism....Humanitarianism is becoming an actual religion itself. It is Pantheism....Patriotism has been dying fast....(There is) this European parliament....(They believe) cooperation is the one hope of the world....(There will be) the alliance of Psychology and Materialism....With the Release Act in 1998...(there were) the ministers of euthanasia....Julian Felsenburgh (Lord of the World) had a magnetic character...rising out of the heaving dun-coloured waters of American Socialism like a vision....Felsenburgh's running the whole thing now....It will mean free trade all over the world....(His) speech consisted of a brief announcement of the great fact of Universal Brotherhood....The new era has begun....Party must unite with party, country with country, and continent with continent....Felsenburgh was called the Son of Man...the Savior of the World....Persecution was coming....It involved all the stupendous force of Socialism directed by a brilliant individual....America was powerless: the balance of power was overwhelmingly against her....This appearance of peace has deceived many....The press was engineered with extraordinary adroitness....The world is one now, not many. Individualism is dead. It died when Felsenburgh became President of the World....For any one to say that they believe in God---it is high treason....The Humanity Religion was the only one. Man was God....No actual point of light breaking the appalling vault of gloom."

Cuddy goes on to say:

"Note how in 1907 Benson correctly described the Communist movement coming to the fore in 1917, the final scheme of Western Free Trade in 1989, and ministers of euthanasia (e.g., Dr. Jack Kevorkian) in 1998. Note also that Benson referred to "the stupendous force of Socialism," and that is why Cardinal Ratzinger's choice of the name Benedict XVI is of interest. The last Pope by that name, Benedict XV, on July 25, 1920 delivered an encyclical BONUM SANE, in which he warned: "The coming of a world state is longed for, by all the worst and most distorted elements. This state, based on the principles of absolute equality of men and a community of possessions, would banish all national loyalties. In it no acknowledgment would be made of the authority of a father over his children, or of God over human society. If these ideas are put into practice, there will inevitably follow a reign of unheard-of terror." Pope Benedict XV then went on to warn of the contagion of Socialism.

Look at how many other things about which Benson wrote have come to pass: Esotericism making enormous strides (the New Age), a European parliament, an engineered press, the death of Individualism, the Humanity Religion (John Dewey's humanism or "common faith"), and "point of light" (President George H. W. Bush's famous term). John Dewey was the "father of progressive education" and a member of the American Society for Psychical Research, as were other notables such as President Theodore Roosevelt, William James ("father of American psychology"), author Mark Twain, attorney Clarence Darrow, and environmentalist Clifford Pinchot (a member of Skull & Bones). Robert Hugh Benson's father was the Archbishop of Canterbury whose second wife was Mary Sidgwick, sister of Henry Sidgwick, who was Bertrand Russell's tutor and a co-founder of the Society for Psychical Research in England with prominent members such as Prime Ministers William Gladstone and Arthur Balfour, John Ruskin (Cecil Rhodes' mentor), as well as Lord Alfred Tennyson (who desired a Parliament of Man in the Federation of the World) and famous author Lewis Carroll."

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Come Rack! Come Rope!

2009-05-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

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Set in Derbyshire, England, at the time when "Queen Elizabeth I" was persecuting Catholics, when being or harboring a priest was considered treason, and was punishable with death, it tells the story of two young lovers who give up their chance of happiness together, choosing instead to face imprisonment and martyrdom, so that "God's will" may be done. It is perhaps the best known of Benson's novels.

The book was written nearly nine years after Benson's reception into the Catholic Church. The inspiration for the story comes from Dom Bede Camm's account of the recusant Fitzherbert family in Forgotten Shrines (1910), and from Benson's own visit in 1911 to Padley, home of the Fitzherberts, a scene for part of the novel, in order to preach at the annual pilgrimage there. The title of the book is taken from a letter of Saint Edmund Campion, in which, after torture, he assured Catholics that he had revealed "no things of secret, nor would he, come rack, come rope." Most of the characters in the book are historical people; only the hero and heroine, their parents, and some minor characters are fictional.

Robin Audrey and Marjorie Manners, both aged seventeen, are secretly engaged. They both come from recusant Catholic families in Derbyshire, but she is the more devout of the two. Robin's mother died when he was about seven, and his father has continued to practice the Catholic faith, despite having to pay heavy fines for refusing to attend services in the established Church of England. The two families meet several times a year, when Mass is being secretly offered by a priest.

The story begins when Robin visits his fiancée and tells her that his father has announced that he can no longer tolerate the persecution and fines, that he will take the bread and wine in the Anglican church at Easter, and that Robin must do the same. Marjorie advises her lover to leave the area for Easter, so that his father will have time to accept that his son will not follow him. She gives him a rosary which belonged to the recently-executed priest Cuthbert Mayne, kisses him for the first time, and urges him to trust in God.

When he arrives home, Robin finds his friend Anthony Babinton waiting for him. Anthony is also a Catholic, fanatically devoted to the imprisoned, Catholic Queen of Scots. Robin tells Anthony of his troubles. Later, the two men are out riding, and pass three other men. One of them, Mr. Garlick, recognizes Anthony, having heard Mass in his house, and on being assured that Robin is also a Catholic, introduces the newly-ordained Mr. Simpson and his traveling companion Mr. Ludlam to the two friends, telling them that Mr. Simpson will say Mass the following Sunday. Robin realizes, as he goes home, that he must not mention this to his father.

Robin's troubles at home increase, as he has to cope with his father's anger and sneers. Meanwhile, Marjorie is tormented by unexpected but persistent ideas that perhaps God is calling Robin to the priesthood, to atone for his father's sin. She feels that if a love higher than hers is calling, she must not stand in the way, but is unsure whether such thoughts come from God or from her own imagination. She talks to Mr. Simpson, but he is unable to advise her. She is afraid to mention it to Robin, in case she has merely imagined this to be God's will, yet feels she should at least sow a seed in his mind. She prays for guidance, thinking that "a broken heart and God's will done would be better than that God's will should be avoided and her own satisfied."

On Easter Sunday, after the two lovers have met secretly for Mass with other Catholics at Padley, home to the FitzHerbert family, Marjorie tells Robin her thoughts, promising that she will marry him if he wishes, but saying that if it is God's will that Robin should be a priest, she will not hold him for a day. Horrified, Robin accuses Marjorie of wanting to be rid of him. On seeing how hurt she is, he kisses her and begs her forgiveness, but tells her that he cannot make that sacrifice.

Later that day, Mr. Simpson, looking pale and speaking with a trembling voice, reads out to the group of Catholics a letter he has received, telling of the execution of a priest Mr. Nelson, and of a layman Mr. Sherwood, and how bravely they both faced martyrdom. Both were hanged, drawn and quartered for their faith; Mr. Sherwood had also been racked several times. The host, Mr. FitzHerbert, announces that the letter is from Mr. Ludlam, who has decided to go to Douai and study for the priesthood. There have also been rumors that Mr. Garlick will go too.

The following week, Robin returns home, full of doubts and fears, and worried about his financial situation, as he has no money of his own, and his father has made it clear that he will not pay fines for Robin's refusal to attend church. On his way home, he meets Anthony, who hints at some enterprise to restore the Catholic Faith to England, and urges Robin to join him and his friends. Robin's doubts increase: unsure of what Anthony's secret enterprise involves, hopeful that it may offer him a way out of his dilemma and enable him to marry Marjorie, yet unclear as to the morality of the enterprise, he tells Anthony he cannot decide immediately. When he goes back into the house, he faces his father, who angrily demands to know his intentions. Robin begs his father not to pressurize him, but to give him time; and his father gives him until Pentecost.

That night, after several failed attempts to sleep, Robin hears the noise of horses, is seized with curiosity, and goes out to see who is riding at that hour. Hiding behind a wall, he sees Mr. Simpson setting out on one of his perilous journeys with two other men. The sight of the priest risking his life to serve God and bring consolation to souls inspires Robin to make the decision against which he has been fighting. He goes to his father's room, wakes the old man, and says he is ready to give his answer: "It is that I must go to Rheims and be a priest."

A few days later Robin comes to Marjorie to say goodbye before setting out for Rheims. They agree that he must always remember that he is to be a priest, and that if he comes to her house, it must just be as to any Catholic neighbor.

And the drama unfolds ...

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By What Authority?

2009-05-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

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"BY WHAT AUTHORITY?" tells the story of how Catholics suffered at the hands Queen Elizabeth the Ist of England. It is the story of the English Reformation from a Catholic perspective. Monsignor Hugh Benson achieved this depiction without the use of the stereotypes that characterized virtually all such productions in his day. He is a lover of truth and ferrots out those who embrace error and evil because they want to love their sin for ego sake.

This is an intriguing book. The characters are clearly cut, defining virtue and vice in each. And though it was written over 100 years ago, the Elizabethan persecution of "Papists" rings true even today when it is considered "with it" to openly mock and denounce the Catholic Church with the Papacy at its head.

At a time when pressure is mounting against the Church on many fronts, we would do well to read this book and understand that if we are blind to the past we are doomed to repeat great tragedies.

It goes to where will each of us spend our eternity!

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A Winnowing

2009-05-10T20:38:00.000-07:00

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In 1st Corinthians 7: 26-29 we read,

26: "I think therefore that this is good for the present necessity, that it is good for a man so to be."

27: "Art thou bound to a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife."

28: "But if thou take a wife, thou hast not sinned. And if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned: nevertheless, such shall have tribulation of the flesh. But I spare you."

29: "This therefore I say, brethren; the time is short; it remaineth, that they also who have wives, be as if they had none."

In this book a young Catholic land-owner has a near death experience and proposes to become a monk and suggests that his wife enter a convent.

Is the near-death experience which resulted in the desire for a man to become a monk and request that his wife enter the convent related to this Scriptural passage in any way, particularly vs. 29?

Could a near-death experience result in a desire to live as one will live in eternity, even though still married in this life? Does this not call to mind the purpose of marriage is a path to sanctification?

Christ told us those who are married in this life they will no longer married in the next life, for there is no marriage in the next life.

What was it this young man experienced that would turn his eyes towards heaven this way. What does it mean for sanctification regarding a chosen state of life? How is a lady to react to such trying circumstances?

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Paradoxes of Catholicism

2009-05-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

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Monsignor Benson in this his last published work shows all the good qualities of those previously written by him. He is evidently master of the theological, philosophical, and historical questions disputed among Christians. In thirteen short chapters, two of which are introductory, he discusses with the skill of an expert logician and with the absolute honesty and sincerity of a good Christian and an able scholar “the paradoxes of Catholicism”.

The opening sentence, in treating the first paradox, of his theme, “Jesus Christ, God and Man”, is a good specimen of His manner. He writes:

“The mysteries of the Church, a materialist scientist once announced to an astonished world, are child’s play compared with the mysteries of nature”. Professor Huxley is the author of this statement. Huxley affirms that he found everywhere in created nature anomaly piled on anomaly and paradox on paradox, “and he knew no more of theology than its simpler and more explicit statements”. It takes a much greater mind to fathom the mysteries of metaphysics and theology than to solve the problems of physical science. This is Msgr. Benson’s opinion; and with him will agree all that have experience. Continuing, he discusses the paradoxes in the Church of the divine and the human, of peace and war, wealth and poverty, sanctity and sin, faith and reason, authority and liberty, and kindred subjects. Under the head of wealth and poverty, he says:

The world found Him (Christ) wrong, whatever He did. He was too worldly when He healed men on the Sabbath; for is not the Law of God of more value than a man’s bodily ease? Why can He not wait till tomorrow? He was too worldly when He allowed His disciples to rub corn in their hands; for does not the Law of God forbid a man to make bread on the Sabbath?

And so the clever author continues to illustrate the homely phrase which shows the character of some fault-finders. For with them “you’ll be damned if you do; and you’ll be damned if you don’t.”

The book is small and never bores you. The writer shows that he is at home with every theme he discusses. His thought is direct, his logic strict, his words always elegant English, his whole style clear and plain. In some of his books he shows great powers of description and a fecund imagination; but in the “Paradoxes of Catholicism” imagination is not prominent, but a strong, direct intellect dominates every page. Toward the end he gives us a very good spiritual lesson on “The Seven Words of Jesus on the Cross”.

The remark of a theologian who is a great reader of books is worth quoting in connection with this serious work:

“Someone has been making me a gift of all the new novels every Summer, so that I may have reading matter during my vacation. I find them such miserable stuff, both as to matter and to style, that I seldom find one worth perusing. And as to what is printed in the summer magazines, it is worse. Now, in Benson’s book I find good matter, clear and logical thought, and classical English. Would we had more of his kind! He has brains.

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Lourdes

2009-05-08T04:41:00.000-07:00

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Monsignor Benson's account of Lourdes is sure to move the skeptic.

Robert Hugh Benson (1871-1914) was the youngest son of Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, and younger brother of Edward Frederic Benson. In 1895, he was ordained a priest in the Church of England by his father who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. His father died suddenly in 1896, and Benson began to question the status of the Church of England, eventually obtaining permission to join the Community of the Resurrection. He made his profession as a member of the community in 1901, at which time he had no thoughts of leaving the Church of England, but as he continued his studies and began writing, he became more and more uneasy with his own doctrinal position. On September 11, 1903, he was received into the Roman Catholic Church. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1904 and was sent to Cambridge. He continued his writing career along with the usual elements of priestly ministry. He was named a Monsignor in 1911.

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Dawn of All

2009-05-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

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In a former book, called Lord of the World, I attempted to sketch the kind of developments a hundred years hence which, I thought, might reasonably be expected if the present lines of what is called "modern thought" were only prolonged far enough; and I was informed repeatedly that the effect of the book was exceedingly depressing and discouraging to optimistic Christians. In the present book I am attempting--also in parable form--not in the least to withdraw anything that I said in the former, but to follow up the other lines instead, and to sketch--again in parable--the kind of developments, about sixty years hence which, I think, may reasonably be expected should the opposite process begin, and ancient thought (which has stood the test of centuries, and is, in a very remarkable manner, being "rediscovered" by persons even more modern than modernists) be prolonged instead.

We are told occasionally by moralists that we live in very critical times, by which they mean that they are not sure whether their own side will win or not. In that sense no times can ever be critical to Catholics, since Catholics are never in any kind of doubt as to whether or not their side will win. But from another point of view every period is a critical period, since every period has within itself the conflict of two irreconcilable forces. It has been for the sake of tracing out the kind of effects that, it seemed to me, each side would experience in turn, should the other, at any rate for a while, become dominant, that I have written these two books.

Finally if I may be allowed, I should wish to draw attention to my endeavours to treat of the subject of "religious persecution," since I strongly believe that in some such theory is to be found the explanation of such phenomena as those of Mary Tudor's reign in England, and of the Spanish Inquisition. In practically every such case, I think, it was the State and not the Church which was responsible for so unhappy a policy; and that the policy was directed not against unorthodoxy, as such, but against an unorthodoxy which, under the circumstances of those days, was thought to threaten the civil stability of society in general, and which was punished as amounting to treasonable, rather than to heretical, opinions.

Msgr. Hugh Benson, Rome, Lent, 1911

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The Necromancers

2009-05-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

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Few people, even among Catholics, have heard of Robert Hugh Benson. That was not the case 100 years ago. As an author and novelist, the Catholic priest from Britain was incredibly popular. The reading public and the Catholic Church suffered greatly when he died in 1914. Benson was skilled in attacking evil practices without appearing to preach about them. He also had the knack for crossing genres. He is more well-known for his historical novel Come Rack! Come Rope! about Catholics persecuted and martyred in Elizabethan England.

The Necromancers, first published in 1909, is set in contemporary Britain, and the main character is the young barrister Laurie Baxter. Baxter falls in love with a local girl, Amy, who dies of natural causes before they wed. One could say he was obsessed with Amy Nugent. In his distress after her death, he can-t bear her absence. He needs to contact her, to touch her again, if at all possible.

Baxter had recently converted intellectually to the Catholic Faith, but not with his heart. Amy-s death provides a test that he appears to fail. He connects with a spiritualist circle hoping that the medium will help him bring back his love. He will do anything to get back to Amy, except wait for eternity. As goes the ironic inscription on Amy-s tombstone, -I shall see her but not now.-

One conversation early in Baxter-s immersion into spiritualism - necromancy - gives clues to its potential for disaster and provides lessons for readers in the 21st century. He has a dream in which he encounters an overwhelmingly evil presence.

For he was perfectly aware that fear, and a sickening kind of repulsion, formed a very large element in his emotions. For nearly two hours, unless three persons had lied consummately, he--his essential being, that sleepless self that underlies all--had been in strange company, had become identified in some horrible manner with the soul of a dead person.

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None Other Gods

2009-05-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

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That mysterious thing which Catholics call the "Grace of God" does not obliterate, but rather emphasizes and transfigures the natural characteristics of every man upon whom it comes with
power.

It was the same element in Frank - the same root-principle, at least, that made him do preposterous things connected with bread and butter and a railway train; that drove him from Cambridge in defiance of all common-sense and sweet reasonableness; that held him still to that deplorable and lamentable journey with his two traveling companions; and that ultimately led him to his death.

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