Chapter 1 – Introduction

In his literary work ‘Crossing the Threshold of Hope,’ the late Pontiff Pope John Paul II explained that the Judaic and Gentile Messiah Jesus Christ, “the Son of the living God” (Mt 16:16) instructs us all with his words, “Do not be afraid!”(Mt 28:10) Jesus Christ was born during an unparalleled time period in mankind’s history. In historical terms this was not an early age, therefore humanity had sufficient time to experience the ‘emptiness’ and the ‘vanity’ that both the world and its ruler have to offer. In addition, the Son of God was not born to mankind in that tardy stage whereby, due to the vicissitudes of this earthly existence, the virtue of hope would have been entirely extinguished from the collective human heart. The timing which the good Lord chose to send His ‘Only begotten Son’ and set humanity free from its fall and bondage to sin, coincided with the reign of the mighty Roman Empire, an autocratic civilization the like mankind had never experienced. The military element was essential for the success of the conquering Roman people and its army was definitely not solely employed for self-defense purposes. The Empire utilized all manners of military oppression as the primary tool for gaining ever more power, territory and the over-lordship of every known tribe, race and people. By way of a false worldly peace referred to as ‘Pax Romana,’ the Empire deprived independent societies from autonomous self-rule and self-defense. The combined result of the political control through the alleged ‘Pax Romana’ and the military conflicts on the Empire’s borders, forced the once Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who as a pagan Roman leader defended the Roman Empire from Germanic and Asian invasions, to admit his honest views regarding ‘warmongering.’ In 180 AD previous to his death in Vienna he said: “To make war is the most unhappy thing of all.”(1)

The mighty Roman Empire could not maintain its much-pledged peace, for the baleful head of Mars (the god of war) constantly threatened its borders. The Roman gods proved unable at stopping the ravaging barbarian tribes, nor were the Roman mythological heroes of war, Pollux and Castor, capable of interceding for the Romans against their enemies. Leaders and heroes of recent epochs have shared similar views with the ancient Marcus Aurelius. The destruction caused by war which is born by the human family, can be best summarized by the Great War-time English Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, who wrote: “The passage of time often casts a false romantic glow over war. Men forget the cruelty and suffering that it brings to the innocent. Every war shames the human race and is yet another monument to his ignorance, his greed and folly.”(2) It was also this same English Prime Minister who advocated: “In war: resolution, in defeat: defiance, in victory: magnanimity, in peace: goodwill.”(3) In like manner such constancy should be shown, on the part of the Christians, in their battle against the “principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

The expansion of the Roman Empire, by means of the adopted political moves of suppression, destruction and forced disarmament, progressed steadily, at least for a while. Suddenly appeared the true Son of God and as a means of perpetual succor and an everlasting well of salvivic grace, Jesus Christ founded the Catholic Church. Gradually Christianity became an ever more integrated, palpable and palatable part of Roman society and culture. However, such a cultural and religious merge did not occur before Christians suffered three centuries of brutal persecutions. Both the Jewish race and the Christian people suffered greatly at the hands of their Roman government. Out of the original twelve Christian Apostles only one by the name of John the Evangelist survived his martyrdom, he survived the ordeal of being boiled in oil. Is it maybe a coincidence that this apostle was the chosen one, who as the Lord lay on the Cross was given to the Blessed Virgin as a son and the ‘Woman’ given to him as a mother ? The ‘Woman,’ the one preserved from all stain of Original sin became the mother of the early Church.

On ascending the Chair of Peter, Pope John Paul II addressed the crowd with the Lord’s words “Do not be afraid!” Following His Resurrection this was the Lord’s instruction on appearing to the Blessed Virgin and the Apostles (Mt 28:10). He has redeamed mankind from the powers of the second death and in the process, also vanquished physical death (the first death). Heaven was opened for us and our ancestors for the Lord reversed the condition of exile which befell upon mankind as the due curse for Original sin. For the sinner ‘bodily death’ represents the end of both life’s normal pleasures and the truly sinful ones, death is the source of utmost fear. Not so for the one who discovers Christ, death becomes a liberation from the fetters of mortality and is transformed into a birth of our eternal life so as to partake with Christ. However, when we were still in sin the concept of the end of this earthly life invoked a sense of repugnance, until in Christ we discovered the power of His liberation. Scripture instructs us not to be afraid of the second death for as we are in Christ it shall not touch us. The ‘Hope’ Jesus offers is the hope of eternal, everlasting life. This ‘Hope’ which Christ brings is not the psychological removal of fear by way of a hope in a ‘belief system,’ no, not so, it is the action of the Holy Spirit which acts in our soul liberating it (after a good cleansing) of the fear of death and the loss of earthly pleasures by giving it an understanding and a thirst for eternal life. Christian Baptism by water and the Holy Spirit is the first step.

During this Roman Age, approximately 300,000 to 500,000 Christians were martyred solely in one wave of intense slaughter brought about by Emperor Diocletian. The martyred Saint Justin had described the diabolical phenomenon in the following manner: “The world suffers nothing from Christians but hates them because they reject its pleasures.”(4) The hellish fury of the Roman Emperors is sufficient proof to comprehend the fact that the Roman civilisation was ruled by the ‘principalities and powers’ which Christians were taught to guard against. If it were not for Constantine’s victory at the Milvian Bridge in 313, the persecutions would have persisted and probably Rome would not have been donated to the Catholic Church. Had not Constantine been victorious, the Council of Nicea of 325 would have not taken place, the Nicene Creed not formulated, the Arian heresy not condemned and lastly, Roman paganism not defeated. Similarly, in our modern times the same false worldly promises of ‘peace and security’ through the false pledge of global unity and the New World Order, or a One-World-Government, is being secured by way of a secret global nefarious military surveillance network and public inter-state federal politics. The Christian is engaged in a conflict against the principalities and powers which can never be resolved by a ‘cease-fire’ or a peace treaty.

The Roman Age was a critical phase for human history during which the foundations of modern civilization were cast. Undeniably, during this oppressive age the valor of the Christian soldier equaled the martyr’s (martyr means witness or witness of Jesus Christ). The Emperor’s victory at the Milvian Bridge enabled the future embellishment of a Christian city, Byzantium. Renamed ‘Constantinople’ this city became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire. In later centuries Constantinople served at protecting the pilgrims from the west who, in such days when travelling was an arduous accomplishment, traveled to the Holy Sites of Jerusalem. Notwithstanding future quarrels with Rome, the security provided by this Christian city persisted. By way of the martyrs’ sacrifice and ‘Divine Intervention’ or ‘Liturgical Victories,’ Christianity and its gospel of peace advanced as opposed to the pagan Roman faction, which gradually diminished and was altogether vanquished. At this point it is important to understand and analyze what is meant by the phrase ‘Liturgical Victories’ and the manner how such wars brought freedom for the Christians. This phrase which I have borrowed from the American Catholic writer Mr. Scott Hahn, in essence signifies a victorious outcome for the Christian Lord or the Lamb, as opposed to the will of Satan, the world and sin. Apart from the sacrificial Lamb this same writer further explains in ‘The Lamb’s Supper’ that the Ark which appears in Heaven in Revelation, is none other than Our Lady. The New Covenant Eternal Ark similarly to the earthly Ark brings protection and victory. The Old Testament Ark was hidden by the Prophet Jeremiah before the Babylonian captivity around the years 628 BC to 586 BC. The Ark was taken before the Judaic Army during the ancient biblical wars and brought victory, this same meaning can be attributed today to the eternal one, to Our Lady. This victory personifies in action the rightful authority and power of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As explained clearly in ‘Hail, Holy Queen’ by Mr. Scott Hahn, during the Old Testament period, the Jericho victory (the Hrem) was initiated by the carrying of the Ark of the Covenant. Earlier, previous to ‘Hail, Holy Queen’ in the work titled ‘Daughter Zion – Meditations on the Church’s Marian Belief’ by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, better known today as His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI,  Our Lady is typologically compared with the living Ark of the New Testament Covenant. Our Lady, the Woman of Revelation is the New or Eternal Ark of the New Covenant. The comparison is not at all ridiculous, for the Blessed Virgin carried the Word in her virginal womb, she became the living Ark of the Son of God. Now we know that the Holy Trinity is inseparable, therefore she carried the Holy Trinity and also His power. After all we should not be surprised at this, for the Church refers to her as the ‘Mother of God.’ Interestingly this has deep ramifications for so do we (Catholics) receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist. The Catholic Church says that when Catholics participate at Mass and receive the Holy Eucharist they are temples of God and their hearts become the altars of the Sacrifice. The ancient Ark, the one hidden by the Judaic Prophet Jeremiah, before the Babylonian Exile, was prefigurative to the real and eternal Ark which will enable all mankind to exit our earthly exile. One was lost and never found while the ‘Woman’ was given to us for all eternity, King David, Israel and us all can dance before her for ever. Therefore, the most powerful of forces, the very creative powers which begot the Universe are enclosed within the Eternal Ark which brings protection and victory to the pilgrim people of God, and before which all visible and invisible forces quail in fear. A truly crushing victory for the Woman over the green and yellow speckled serpent of Catherine Laboure’s vision!

The Roman pagan people earnestly sought for and especially invoked, by way of sacrifices to their gods, divine protection. As mentioned earlier the protection of the Christians, of ‘God’s own,’ through victories such as at the Milvian Bridge, was surely not a novel phenomenon. Wars and battles for the defense of what is true, for the defense of what is right, for the defense of the ‘Holy Salvivic Religion’ and its people, had occurred numerous times during the Old Testament Age. When analyzing the implications of such victories it is hard not to bear in mind Psalm 91 by King David, where the heavenly anointed King summarized God’s protection in few but beautiful words: “God says, “I rescue all who cling to me, I protect whoever knows my name, I answer everyone who invokes me, I am with them when they are in trouble; I bring them safety and honor. I give them life, long and full, and show them how I can save” for “…though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, you yourself will remain unscathed, with his faithfulness for shield and buckler. You have only to look around to see how the wicked are repaid, you who can say, ‘Yahweh my refuge’, and make Elyon your fortress.” The enemies of ‘the chosen people’ persistently inquired, “Where is their God?” The Psalmist replies: “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust…. For lo, thy enemies, O Lord for lo, thy enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered.” Indeed God is faithful to His Word and will protect His own. The following is a short list of Scriptural verses divulging God’s promises of protection; Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, Exodus 17:25, John 8:12, John 10:7,9,10, John 14:6, John 11:25-26, Psalms 50:15, Deuteronomy 31:8, Joel 2:28,29,32, Ezr 8:32, Psalms 9:9 and Psalms 91:1.

The ‘Church Militant’ or God’s people who live on Earth, are constantly exposed to the conflict and enmity by way of their Faith, against the Prince of this world. Jesus Christ’s power and authority is greater than the said Prince of the world, please refer to Scripture particularly; Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 3:20-30, Luke 11:14-23, Matthew 8:28-34, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-42, Matthew 12:43-45, Matthew 9:32-34, John 20:19-23, Acts 1:6-8 and Revelation 19:11-21. This conflict, says the Roman Church, is perpetually present. The discord between the family of God and that of Belial creates a material condition of war and enmity which theoretically could reach the Christians more powerfully than any other people. The other gentiles are unfortunately ‘strongly’ under the control of the Prince of this world. However, Satan’s desire to annihilate the Church founded by Jesus Christ does not occur, for the Christian person and community is unlike the rest ‘Divinely Protected.’ Jesus Christ’s victory over the fallen Cherubim is pledged in Scripture and here is represented a short list of such Scriptural verses; Matthew 16:15-19, Isaiah 14:12-14, Colossians 1:16-17, Luke 10:18-20, Matthew 28:5-6, Mark 13:24-27, John 5:26-29.

This book sets out to analyze the Lord’s fulfillment of His promises for protection. Had Jesus Christ not died on the Cross, not Resurrected and Ascended into heaven, had the Holy Spirit not descended on the Blessed Virgin and later the Apostles (the Early Church), neither the Catholic Church nor the Blessed Mother, would have been able to battle and conquer the forces of darkness, headed by the masquerading Cherubim of light, Lucifer (2 Corinthians 11:14). The following chapters focus on events occurring during the past two thousand years, where God principally protected His people in times of war and conflict through the intercession of Our Lady. The Church does not advise the faithful to base their Faith on miraculous and supernatural events, however, the modern world is unable to bury the memory and dismiss the miraculous victories marking the beginning of Christian societies. No one can deny the victories accomplished by those ancient semi-converted Christian armies. In an attempt to further civilization by minimizing the importance of such events, ‘progress’ is bound to fail. Denying the facts regarding Our Lord’s pledges of protection, would also be denying the truth and efforts of our collective Catholic ancestors. Within this text, the word ‘Faith’ alludes to the ‘Catholic Faith.’ However, the reader is advised to consult the Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 830, for an explanation on the interchangeable use of the words ‘Christian’ and ‘Catholic.’