Thursday 29 June 2017

At The Hour Of Our Deaths

Before battle, Father Ignatius prays:

"'....Father, forgive us for what we are about to do, and forgive us that we can see no better way. Lord who blessed the centurion, bless us also this day. But Thy will alone be done, for Thy judgments are just and righteous altogether.'"
-SM Stirling, The Sword Of The Lady (New York, 2009), Chapter Nineteen, p. 582.

Mathilda follows this up with:

"'Holy Mary, Lady pierced with sorrows, Queen of Heaven, intercede for us, now and at the hour of our deaths...For us, and for our foes.'" (ibid.)

I quote Ignatius because he recalls prayers that we have heard before here and here (scroll down). I dislike the glorification of suffering implied by "'...Lady pierced with sorrows...'" But, in this timeline, Ignatius has met that Lady! The plot thickens.

3 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Some people like to think Christianity prohibits believers from either serving in the military or participating in war. But that is wrong, as both Scripture and logic shows. I recall how St. John the Baptist said nothing against military service but only asked soldiers to be content with their pay and not to bully people. And Our Lord had only praise for the centurion who asked him to cure his servant, because of the faith shown by the centurion.

And I think you misunderstand "Lady pierced with sorrows." I see no glorification of suffering in that title. Rather, it it simply a statement of fact, describing what the BVM must have felt when she saw her Son on the Cross.

Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
In Christian belief, Christ's suffering led to and is somehow incorporated into His glory. Further, Mary and others vicariously enter into that suffering and glory. So I do think that there is some glorification going on.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I can see how it might LOOK like that to persons who don't believe as Catholics do, but it doesn't FEEL like a glorifying of PAIN as such, to me. It is, perhaps, a subtle nuance (but one that is real).

Sean