The Battle of Warsaw and heavens help.

Welcome! Reverend Chris Doig writes about the Battle of Warsaw, we hear from Bishop Hugh on faith and culture in the Highlands and Paul and Max of Craig Lodge talk about our need for God.

On August 15th the Poles celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Warsaw, arguably one of the most decisive battles in recent history. It is a significant battle as Poland had only recently been reunited after being wiped off the map for around a hundred years; it was rising again as a nation, now comprised of three partitions, three cultures, three systems of law. How could such a nation be so prepared to take on the looming threat of Bolshevism and decisively stop it from spreading into Western Europe?

The Polish spirit was hard to crush – impossible, actually! - and she has shown this many times throughout her history. Not only did they have a determined people keen to die for their nation, they  they had strong generals who were the organized minds behind the battle-plan,  but also the Church played a huge role in mobilizing the nation before battle. They called the faithful to fast and pray during this time; the bishops entrusted the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Archbishop of Warsaw wrote to every parish priest threatening them with suspension if they deserted their posts; they were to remain strong in faith with their parishioners.

So then, we can see that Poland prepared herself on three levels for the upcoming fight, a battle of survival, a battle of civilization. We could say that the Polish armies represent the body of the nation, the military leaders – the mind; and the Church –  the soul or spirit, obviously.

  All of her powers were stirred and mobilized, ready to fight the ferocious foes in red. Yet, on a human level this was not enough to hold back the red devil of the East as they were significantly outnumbered.  Something more was needed – help from heaven! And it came.

It has been told that during the battle the Bolsheviks saw Our Lady appear above the city and, in trembling, they fled at the sight.

If we consider this moment of Polish history as a reflection of the human condition and the journey of the soul towards heaven, it all becomes clear. Through sin, we experience a kind of partition, a disintegration of the self. We are left fragmented and wounded. God wants to heal us through his all-powerful grace, to reunite us and make us whole again. On a human level, it's not possible as there are stronger forces than ourselves out there and only with God's grace can we be victorious.

The battle of all battles has been won by Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, whose saving grace makes all things possible! But in order to see the glory, the victory, the power and the splendour of this Battle of our redemption, we must turn to the Mother of God, whom we now honour as assumed into heaven,  now sitting at her Son's right hand.

Our Blessed Mother is marked by the death and resurrection of her Son Jesus in her Immaculate Conception, in her Divine Motherhood, in her perpetual Virginity and in the Assumption of her body and soul into heaven. In the Creed we say Jesus was “born of the Virgin Mary,”  which means he took on her pure flesh and redeemed it, thus giving her a special place in heaven at the end of her earthly pilgrimage.

Her unique and singular vocation as the Mother of God puts her in direct opposition with Satan, the father of lies who, as the book of Revelation tells us, is at war with her offspring. She is not indifferent to this, however, and as her role of spiritual mother takes on a universal dimension post-Assumption, she is praying incessantly for all her children and will not stop until they reach heaven. She even appears at times to scare off the enemy. It was said that at the Battle of Warsaw she was only visible to the invading enemy. So it is in our own lives: Our Lady places herself in between us and the devil and puts him to flight, even though we don't see her; her presence is felt and she is actively present in our lives. She is the all-holy one, that is, full of grace; her cup is overflowing and so desires to share her holiness with us. She is our shield, our refuge and our hope of victory!

At some point or another we will all face our own spiritual Battle of Warsaw although it's really an ongoing one and only ends when we depart from this life. It is a long haul and requires a good strategy. We must engage with all our powers and faculties – body, mind and soul – and though they may fail at times, small defeats will not end in our demise as long as we give our Yes to God and constantly go back to Him. She knows that our wine will run out but she will be prompting her Son to do something. She may even come herself like she did at the Battle of Warsaw. 

The best battle-plan we can have is to entrust ourselves to the Blessed Virgin Mary who is the greatest strategist; she knows the way to heaven and so we should cling to her, learn from her, and wait for her help when the battle seems to be going the other way.

She is, as Lumen Gentium, 68 says, “a sign of sure hope and solace to the people of God during its sojourn on earth.”

“We fly to Thy Protection, O Holy Mother of God!”

Reverend Chris Doig | Soon to be heading back to Rome…

Music and Meaning: What is the importance of music during the Mass? A prescient article from Spirtualdirection.com.

Our Need for God: Paul and Max from Craig Lodge, near Oban talk about our need for God.

Only Connect: At last years conference in Pluscarden, Bishop Hugh talks about faith and culture from a Northern Scottish perspective.

Icons and Images: Brother Paweł Szylak, O.P at Blackfriars, Oxford, on what use Icons and images have in our faith.

Blessing

From the Carmina Gadelica, a collection of Gaelic verse from the Highlands and Islands, written down by Alexander Carmichael.

The eye of the great God be upon you,

The eye of the God of glory be on you,

The eye of the Son of Mary Virgin be on you,

The eye of the Spirit mild be on you,

To aid you and shepherd you;

Oh the kindly eye of the Three be on you,

To aid you and shepherd you.

Have a good week - Blessings