Caesar Alloquitur: The Soul of the Empire

"What does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, but lose his soul?"

"The Crucifixion and Last Judgement" by Jan Van Eyck

There is a crisis and great scandal in the Catholic Church that must be addressed first and foremost if we are to have any progress in the world today. It is something the Roman Pontiff himself has spoken on and oft been misunderstood over. Those Catholics who spend themselves tirelessly in battle against the Forces of Darkness today often lose sight of it in the moment. We have seemingly forgotten or pushed into the foreground that thing for which we were - or should be, if we weren't already - fighting for in the first place: souls.

 

Historical Context

A Teutonic Hochmeister

It was pointed out once to me by an editorial that those who built Christian Civilization were not conscious of the fact they were building a new social order. While you could debate this on technicality and the article itself was simply one of many weak-kneed attempts at calling off the struggle for our Faith, it raised a point: those who built Christian Civilization did so by saving souls. While it might smack of insult and an attack on our culture, the fact is Christ did not say, "Go forth and create a mighty Empire." What he did say was to go forth and make disciples of all nations, and this our Apostolic forefathers did with gusto. Early Christians did not run for positions as senator as a means of changing policy within the Roman Empire. They were perfectly content to serve it and respect it while living a pious lifestyle. Why? Because that was what Christ had asked for them, and that was all he had asked of them. I can feel your sneers and scoffs as I say this, because you think you already know where I'm going with this. Hear me out: early Catholics probably couldn't even conceive the Middle Ages. They weren't planning on social upheaval. Yet, a few hundred years after the death of Christ, Emperor Theodosius proclaimed Christianity the State Religion of the Roman Empire after Emperor Constantine the Great had legalized its practice.

Everyone forgets Theodosius; a shame.

But how on earth did this paradigm shift in the Roman Empire come about without some great social upheaval? It is difficult for us to imagine in the post-Revolution days that a country - let alone conservative Rome - could change itself. Ignoring the fact that Rome only needed to change a few things in the first place, it's actually quite simple to understand. Conversion implies a change in your life: I don't think any of us can sit and say our conversion experience did not drastically change our lives and make us different from the people we were before. Moreover, forced conversion is not something the Catholic Church praises; it must be made of free will.

So, no violent revolution. How on earth did Rome change then? How did Christendom come to be? When the Apostles and missionaries went forth and made disciples of all nations, conversions happened, and these conversions changed people and their outlook on the world. In much the same way we as individuals upon our conversion throw off the old man and put on the new one, whole societies gradually did the same. We can contrast this with Islam, that started violently to establish itself and has fought continuously since its founding to spread its religion by force.

Seen here: Muslims reveling in their tradition of violent overthrow of their non-Muslim neighbors. Meanwhile, somewhere, in a Catholic School classroom, young Catholic children are being taught to be ashamed of the Crusades and all the attempts of Christianity to fight back against these aggressive actions. Just google, "Jihad" in Google Images and watch the reams of pro-Jihad Memes made by Islamic groups show up.

Relevance for the Imperium

It has become far too common among Catholics engaged in the culture war in their fight to preserve the world temporally that they would neglect it spiritually. We are so used to debating those who do not care for the spiritual that we instinctively leave it out of all of our rebuttals and debates. This is a grievous mistake. The whole reason the Church was created, above anything else, was to save souls! It was not created to build empires, crown kings, or be an agent of revolution and change. These were all things the Church did to support its mission to save souls, or happened by the grace of God as a consequence of the conversion of souls.

Holy Roman Emperor Maximillian I with his War Flag of the Holy Roman Empire

I remember seeing a video blog from a renowned atheist talk-show host talking about a man who came up to him with a Bible and spoke to him respectfully. Apparently, the man thought he was a very intelligent and well-intentioned individual, but he possessed a great concern for his soul. So he wanted to offer him a Bible and give him his number, and give him a chance to re-think his decision. He saw the man's damnation as a tragedy, rather than how most of us might see the damnation of our opponents, as a "just deserts" for their opposition to the Truth, when we fail to realize some of us might find ourselves damned for our own personal vices as much as another might be for their disbelief.

Christ and the Christian Soul by Diego Velazquez

How many of us, as traditionalists, often find ourselves despairing when we see the higher virtues discarded in public life (but, really, are you actually surprised at this point)? How many of us scorn our liberal priest and say, "No! I will not attend Mass today. I do not wish to hear heresy spoken from the pulpit anymore!" How often do we neglect our prayers in our frustration? How much do we take out our frustration and anger upon our family members and our friends? How many times do we scandalize ourselves with these apparent vices in our bitter zeal? Do we not sometimes excuse our own vices and sins as an attempt to find catharsis in places other than God' grace? Do not say you do not! I will profess to you openly that I myself do these things. I know, much like I know I cannot be alone in my thirst for righteousness, I cannot be alone in my shortcomings, for we are all human.

My friends, we must be the change we want to see in the world. What would it profit us if, beyond our wildest dreams, God saw fit to hand over to us the entire world to rule and reign as we saw fit? What good would it do, if we should all die eternally in our sins, along with all our subjects? Absolutely nothing! It would be a useless gesture.

We, as Catholics, can never forget our true mission: to lead others to Christ and save their souls. We cannot allow this to get lost in our opponents' focus on the immediate gratification of their desires and a satisfaction of their rebellion against God's will. Ultimately, all secular arguments will fall on deft ears against our secular opponents. We must preach Hell and damnation as a reality, not simply as just, but as a tragedy. It is a tragedy that we find ourselves in a world where there might be any deprived of the Beatific vision, which is why we must try to get as many to it as possible.

At the core of our defiance to the evils and vices and corruption in our world must be this: it damages our souls. It will lead to the acceptance of an action that is sinful, and leads to Hell. This seems a terrible task, but it has been done before! I promise you, Rome and its conservatism and the pagan kingdoms were far more resilient than anything the liberal establishment can throw at us

St. Augustine of Canterbury preaches to Æthelberht of Kent

We must save souls, Imperials. It is the first step to bringing peace and order back to the world. We must bring peace and order to the soul before we can reach the world. So I will encourage you: temper yourselves with prayer and spiritual devotion. Lent is just around the corner; what better time to repent and seek new spiritual guidance? What better time to return to the Cross? I'm certain many of us are in need of a Conversion Experience now, and not just non-Catholics. We must return to our devotion and make the center of our argument the salvation of the souls of others. How can you love men, if you revel secretly in their damnation, and subconsciously see Heaven as a reward for you and all the other Enlightened? Such arrogance is what got us here in the first place, and it must be abolished if we are to go back to the Age of Faith.