The Grace to Endure

On Tuesday last in the Diocese of Meath we celebrated the feast of one of our martyrs, Blessed Margaret Ball. Margaret died in the dungeons of Dublin Castle sometime in 1584 at the age of 69 having suffered for three years in the damp, harsh conditions of the prison. Plagued with arthritis, a woman of gentle birth, she was gradually broken down physically until she breathed her last.  Jailed in 1580 on the orders of her own son Walter, then Lord Mayor of Dublin and Commissioner for Ecclesiastical Causes, freedom was tantalisingly close as all she had to do was take the Oath of Supremacy – renounce Catholicism and recognise Elizabeth I as head of Church, but she refused. She sought to be faithful to Christ and his Church and so each day she renewed her commitment to her faith and endured the hardship of her imprisonment. 

I include a brief biography of Blessed Margaret at the end of this post, but you might be wondering, why I am writing about Blessed Margaret in my first post on this new blog?  For one thing her life and example are as relevant now as they were in the 16th century. Her fidelity to Christ serves as a timeless witness to love of God and all Christians need to be reminded of such a life. But there is another reason, one we Christians must note: fidelity to our faith may well mean a long arduous struggle in the face of oppressive threats and tedious opposition. Margaret’s martyrdom was long, it was gradual. The Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor once famously wrote about one of her characters "she knew she would never be a saint.... but she thought she could be a martyr if they killed her quick." Such a martyrdom was not to be Margaret’s; she would have to rely on the grace of God to sustain her in a daily passio; freedom was enticingly close every moment of every day, yet she resisted the temptation to renounce Christ, she remained faithful. Martyrdom for Margaret was arduous and calculated – calculated to break her down. 

Remaining Faithful

Today there are many Christians in Margaret’s position: men and women who live their faith under all kinds of pressure to compromise, to jettison teachings, to just forget it all and go along with the rest of the world. In a way the world is becoming a strange place to them, and more and more followers of Christ find that they are being alienated from public discourse.  There is without doubt in the world today, in secular society, an attempt to break Christians down, to make them conform, relent, abandon the ancient beliefs of Christianity to conform to a new gospel, a new narrative which in reality is not new at all, it is as old as rebellion itself.  One of the main offenders in this is often the media which usually leads the pack in the hunt and can prove itself to be utterly relentless and petty.  

Over the last few years we have heard of so many cases where Christians are mocked, reviled and no longer tolerated within their communities for the values they cherish. No longer content to let us live our lives in privacy and quiet, there is now an attempt to force Christians to publicly endorse everything our increasingly secular society reveres and promotes. As St Thomas More found to his cost, what first begins with talk of tolerance gradually evolves until there is no room for private dissent, not even our thoughts are exempt from the demand for conformity. And when we refuse, the process of gradually breaking us down becomes the priority. Archbishop Charles Chaput put it quite clearly when he said, "Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant, then it tries to silence good." This has happened in western society and now those who built the civilisation of the west, Christians, are being expelled, if not physically, certainly ideologically from the city and culture they nurtured.

In Ireland in the last few years we have seen this most clearly. The US and the UK and other western states have been going through this process for the few decades, Ireland is about twenty years behind everywhere else, but now is catching up quickly. The rise of antagonistic secularism has been rapid, breathtakingly so; so fast that the Church here is reeling and seemingly unable to respond. As our clergy and committed laity try to take in all the changes so as to work towards a meaningful engagement with society and try to maintain a culture of faith here, they are discovering that the old ways and influences no longer work: we are dealing with a completely new situation and “new wine” is necessary. It is discerning what that wine should be that is proving difficult. Observing this I cannot help but think of Holland, Belgium and Quebec where Catholicism was once orthodox, strong, committed and evangelical but now a shadow of itself, compromised and ineffective. There Christians were worn down by a revolution in society and many of them cracked under the strain. The pressure continues today and with turmoil in the heart of the Church itself at this time, one has to wonder what is going on, what are we do, how do we get up and going again?

The Thorn In The Side

The Church does need to take account of where she is at the moment and how she is to respond to the pressures that this revolution in society is imposing on her. We are witnessing the complete blossoming of the sexual revolution, and what was described as a new freedom for men and women has become a new process of dehumanisation where everything must conform to a permissive ideology including nascent human life and human identity. In a sense the world has indeed gone mad; it has lost its wits, the little sense that it had. Throwing off revelation, the word of God and even philosophy, there is no longer any significance to existence and so the new Gnostics knock down what has been built over millennia and are constructing their new civilisation (think Babel).  This great schema of a new and redefined humanity, sustained by the will and desire, floating on a foundation of emotion and a new understanding of virtue and compassion, has even entered the Church through members who see in this revolution a new path for Christianity. 

However, there is one thorn in the side for this great majestic project – orthodox Christianity – Christianity founded on the teachings of Christ as Christ taught them. Those who continue to insist that this is the basis for Christian discipleship and who measure the thought and innovations of the world against the rule of orthodoxy are the ones who represent an appalling vista for the new humanity. There is a fear, I think, that such a critique of the new gospel of the world may reveal that this great, new project may well be doomed to failure - that it is an unsteady facade. Delusion becomes an important weapon in the armoury then: an ideological tool that reshapes the world and its experience according to the new narrative; a means of annotation that allows history to be revised and reinvented. But another weapon is persecution, the age-old means of dealing with those who pose a threat. The means of that persecution, however, must change so its real nature can be denied. Now, instead of killing Christians, the aim is to break them down, to make them conform, to take what is most valuable from them and render them not only harmless, but empty.  The new revolution has created a waste land and it is breeding despair, and part of its tyranny on believers is to create within them another waste land and nurture despair in them so they are conquered and no better than anyone else. 

The Cause of Hope

How do we as Christians respond to this? Well, the Church has her work cut out for her. The present turmoil is not helping matters and a certain level of peace will need to be restored to the Church before she can begin to confront the challenges of re-evangelising the west in tune with her universal mission of proclaiming the Gospel to all people of all times. For ordinary believers that may not be possible for now, there is something at work within the Church and perhaps at the moment all we can do to wait for it to pass – not inactive and feeble but attentive in prayer and sacrifice. Our prayer now must be for the unity of the Church in truth and charity. Perhaps what we are seeing is the effect of Blessed Paul VI’s insight that the smoke of Satan had entered the Church; if so, only the wind of fidelity and virtue, prayer and fasting will cast it out, and it falls to us to participate spiritually in that exorcism. In time Christ will bring this turmoil to an end.

As a priest over the last few years I have listened to many people who are feeling the effects of this turmoil and the madness of the world and they ask me what they are to do? I have no solutions to many of the problems we now face, but Christ does and he holds the Church in his heart – he is its Head, and he has a deep concern for souls – he died for our salvation. For now, I tell people, remain faithful, and this is what I want to say to you all today.  

We know what Christ teaches; we know what the Church has taught for two thousand years. We know the power of prayer and sacrifice, we know our history or at least as Catholics we should. We have been here before, indeed many times, and if the Lord does not come soon, we will be here again. Jesus told us to expect trouble – the world did not accept him so why should we expect it to accept us? And as soon as he founded the Church the apostles and disciples were fighting among themselves, so what’s new now?  The fact that the Church has not crumbled under sin and silliness in two thousand years is a sign that there is a greater power at work and we must take confidence from that. Indeed this fact should reignite hope in our hearts, a hope based on our faith in Christ which finds admirable expression in that famous saying of Julian of Norwich, “All things will be well; all manner of things shall be well”. In the midst of all this that prayer the Lord gave St Faustina should be on our lips, in our hearts and in our minds: “Jesus, I trust in you”. In such times, faithful disciples of Christ are called to be witnesses to hope and to promote the cause of hope among those tempted to despair.

To Endure To Rebuild

Does that mean we withdraw like the tortoise into our shells and wait it out? This seems to be part of the suggestion inherent in the Benedict Option which has been much discussed recently. I would say no: we do not abandon the public square to the enemies of Christ. I often think that one understanding of the Beatitude “Blessed are the meek, they shall inherit the earth” (Matt 5:4) is a reference to the fact that this world was created for the children of God and it rightly belongs to them since their Father God brought it into being. This meekness is no mere retreat but rather a grounding of oneself in gentleness, humility and goodness, and it is this attitude which will disarm many in the world and win them over so the children of God can share fully and peacefully in this life on earth in preparation for the life to come. If I can put it another way: even though the values of the world are often ungodly, the world cannot take too much of its own values because everything begins to unravel – the rebellious eventually waste themselves and end up destroying what they wanted to reform. After the revolt has dissipated, the good are needed to rebuild. This is what we must prepare for. In the meantime we live in the world, endure what we must endure with a growing charity and wisdom and prepare to be of service to our fellow men and women; yes, even those who have persecuted us.

“He who endures to the end shall be saved”, the Lord teaches us (Matt 24:13) and this must be our guide and our light in these times. God will give his grace to those who ask him. And so, my friends, my first word on this new blog, as we survey all that has happened these last few years, all that is happening now, and indeed all that may still happen, is to encourage you to remain true to the Christian faith, to open your hearts to the grace and power of Christ and each day make a decision to stand firm with hope and charity so you will not be broken down or demeaned through behaviour unworthy of Christ. See this time as a time of testing and renewal, sore as it may be. Many virtues will be needed to see us through, but are they not the foundation of heroic sanctity?

Practically speaking I would suggest you give yourself to prayer and sacrifice not just for their intercessory power but also for their ability to sustain our spirits and keep our minds and tongues in check. There is enough condemnation going on in the Church now about problems within and without, such talk rarely achieves anything; our energies are best directed in a more positive direction. I would also suggest, if you are not already engaged in it, study the Scriptures, the Catechism and teaching of the Church and the history of the Church. Quite apart from being a positive distraction from the bellyaching going on, this will deepen our knowledge and understanding of what Christian discipleship means and of its roller-coaster ride down the centuries. If we are called to defend the faith either within or outside the Church, our study will be of great benefit. Familiarity with the lives of the Saints, particularly those who lived in troubled times, is also a necessity (I am reading the life of St Robert Bellarmine and that helps me put the turmoil of these years in context). 

Finally I would also recommend that you meet with other faithful Christians, not to engage in ranting sessions, but to pray and support each other; to discuss what you are reading and to challenge each other in the spiritual life. I have had a prayer group for a number of years now and have found it to be of immense value for my life as a Christian and a priest. I note that St Pio of Pietrelcina was an avid fan of prayer groups, founding a universal movement of prayer groups, to assist the Church in her mission and support the individual members. If we are to resist being broken down by secularism attack on our faith and live, we need to stand with others.

The Way of the Confessor

Blessed Margaret Ball, like so many other Saints who had to endure long periods of suffering, offers us an example of patient endurance – not without many challenges, fears and moments of anger. She triumphed because each day she opened her heart to allow Christ triumph in her: that is the key for all of us in these difficult times. Margaret was beatified as a martyr because she died as a direct result of sufferings imposed on her for her fidelity to Christ and the Church, but there is another category for those who suffer but do not die: Confessor.  Confessors are those who have endured much suffering for the Church but survived and though they still bear the scars of their ordeal, they live out their lives and die of natural causes. One of the early historians, whose name I cannot recall right now, noted a meeting between the Emperor Constantine and the Bishops of the Church at the beginning of the Council of Nicaea. These Bishops had suffered much during the persecutions and many of them bore dreadful scars and disabilities: they were Confessors, and as such Constantine embraced them and kissed their wounds as a means of venerating their fidelity to Christ. 

In times such as these we are called to be Confessors – to proclaim and live our faith with true heroism and charity, to confess Christ in the Church and in the world, and to take with patience whatever suffering that may bring. We must not be silent, but we must be prudent and "as sly as serpents" (cf. Matt 10:16). Like the Confessors in the Roman persecutions, we are to be serene in our endurance and sure-footed in our defence of the faith. We are to be meek and wise and above all, we must be forgiving. We call on God to grant us the grace to endure and, if and when peace is restored or our persecutors seek reconciliation or a truce, the grace to embrace our enemies as friends. Drawing on what Pope St John Paul II wrote and achieved in his lifetime I believe there is a great future ahead, a new springtime for the Gospel - the New Evangelisation has yet to start in earnest; we must prepare ourselves and future generations for that. And as we do so we bear in mind those words uttered by that holy pontiff in homily at the inauguration of his papacy: "Do not be afraid". My friends, stay true and good, God will give us the grace to endure.

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The Life of Blessed Margaret Ball

Born in Skryne, Co. Meath, in 1515 to the wealthy Bermingham family, Margaret was brought up in a devout Catholic atmosphere. Her father hailed from England but came to Ireland having bought land here and sought to raise his family in the idyllic surroundings of rural Ireland. When Henry VIII and Edward VI imposed a new church on Catholics, Margaret’s family was to the forefront in defending the faith; it is noted that her brother, William publicly protested against this religious revolution.  

When Margaret was sixteen she married a young Dublin merchant, Bartholomew Ball. They had a very happy marriage and ten children were born to them, five survived into adulthood. Her husband was prosperous and life was comfortable, but that did not soften Margaret: a woman of great charity and faith she was involved in her local church and carried out works of mercy while rearing her children and passing on the faith to them through her teaching and example. Her servants spoke highly of her, a good indication that she was a kind and generous employer; indeed whenever a position in the Ball household became vacant there was always a large number of applicants to fill it. In 1553 Bartholomew was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin and this conferred on Margaret the title of Lady Mayoress – the First Lady of the city, a role she carried out with great skill and hospitality for which she was esteemed.

Following Bartholomew’s death and as her children grew into adulthood, Margaret continued her works of charity. The persecution against the Church was worsening and as the celebration of Mass was forbidden Margaret opened her home to the Catholics of Dublin to gather for the sacraments as she arranged to have priests visit on a regular basis. She hid bishops and priests from the priest hunters, provided for their needs and if necessary arranged safe passage for them. Her work did not escape the notice of the authorities and on numerous occasions she was arrested for her activities. However, thanks to her wealth, she could easily pay fines for herself and fellow inmates and released from prison, she to resumed her work for the Church.  

When it came to her faith, while Margaret could cope with opposition from the authorities, it was the attitude of her eldest son, Walter, which caused her the most distress. Walter was ambitious. He had seen his father achieve the highest office in the city and he coveted a prosperous and successful career himself. In part to further that career Walter converted to Protestantism, though historians caution us that that may not have been the only reason.  Margaret was intent on bringing him back and so whenever the opportunity arose she would have him over for dinner and number among the guests a bishop or priest to speak matters theological with him. Walter did not appreciate his mother’s attempts to win him back for Catholicism.  

Walter’s career blossomed. He was appointed the Commissioner for Ecclesiastical Causes and this then helped him achieve in 1580 the highest office in the city – Lord Mayor.  As soon as he was installed he sent his men to arrest his mother and her chaplain: the greatest offender against the religious laws of the realm, he decreed, would be called to account, and that offender was his own mother, Margaret Ball. Unable to walk to Dublin Castle due to severe arthritis, she was tied to a pallet and dragged through the streets. Imprisoned in the dank dungeons of the ancient castle, Walter assured his mother that he would release her if she renounced Catholicism and took the Oath. When his siblings objected, Walter rebuked them telling them that he was being merciful – he could have had her executed. But hanging would have been more merciful than the years of living death which lay ahead. Though her son Nicholas, himself Lord Mayor in 1582, tried to free her, Walter had greater power and influence and so she remained until death released her in 1584. It is noted that though she had the opportunity and the reason, Margaret did not change her will: Walter inherited his mother’s property upon her death.

Margaret was beatified in 1992. Her Cause for canonisation has not yet been initiated but should you receive favours through her intercession please contact the Postulator: Mgr Ciaran O’Carroll at the Irish College in Rome.