Ecclesia Militans

I wanted to write this post now, for the record. I wanted to make sure that I kept honest account of my understanding.

I have just cracked open: Exorcism and the Church Militant. I have heard the reviews... from both sides, I need to find out for myself. I know books inspire, challenge, disappoint, confuse, change, and refine thought, and so I wanted to memorialize what I think and believe now... for better or worse.

I have always understood that we are all part of the Ecclesia Militans - Church Militant. I just didn't know how hard the struggle really would be, especially from inside forces. The further we plunge ourselves into this battle, the closer we get to our promised victory. We must do so though, with contrite hearts, pure intention, and for God's sake and not our own.

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The book opens with a forward by Father Corapi, and he concludes that forward with a quote from the Office of Readings, Common of Several Martyrs [originally written by Saint Cyprian]:

We are warriors now, fighting on the battlefield of faith, and God
sees all we do;
the angels watch and so does Christ.
--What honor and glory and joy to do battle in the presence of God,
and to have Christ approve our victory.


Let us arm ourselves in full strength
and prepare ourselves for the ultimate struggle
with blameless hearts, true faith and unyielding courage.
--What honor and glory and joy to do battle in the presence of God,
and to have Christ approve our victory.

I have known all along that this struggle would take pure heart, true faith, and a courage that could only come from God. It is not a joy, but an honor to fight in this battle... and it isn't for fame, pride, or glory. It is for God alone, because he asks us to, and because he secured the victory for us. We must accept this... not as rhetoric, but as unrealized potential. This isn't a fantastical or emotional plea, this is a discussion about eternal life or eternal death.

There is no turning back, there is only wimping out. Pretending away evil and the struggle, make it no less real; it is only in our own minds that it ceases to be if we pretend that it doesn't exist. Imagining and constructing ways in which to deny the existence of this struggle and our enemy is not an intellectual pursuit of the truth, it is a lie we tell ourselves out of pride and fear. Like the fearful pupil, we so often choose to expend an exorbitant amount of energy devising a scheme to relieve ourself from our task. When instead we have the tools before us and our effort towards their mastery and use would serve us much better, but our fear of failure and demise at the hands of our own self and our inadequacy, we choose not to put forth the effort.

There is so little to fear in the end, for rest assured, we become the Ecclesia Triumphans, God promises us that. But we must first enter the battle! Victory is assured, but only to those who follow the commands of God.