The Church Fathers Were Trads

Engraving of Pope Saint Damasus I by Nicolas San Giorgio, AD 1877.

When reading the Ecclesiastical History of Hermias Sozomen—a work written immediately before the Council of Chalcedon when the universal Church was roiled by a variety of heresies—one picks up the venerable author’s animus for innovation. Indeed, Book IV, Chapter 27 begins with the following passage:

When the spirit of innovation becomes regarded with popular favor, it is scarcely possible to arrest its progress. Inflated as it always is with arrogance, it contemns the institutions of the Fathers, and enacts laws of its own. It even despises the theological doctrines of antiquity, and seeks out zealously a new form of religion of its own devising.

The context of this quote is the turmoil which nearly overwhelmed the Church during the reign of the Arian emperor Constantius II, who gave a free hand to those bishops who had embraced the novelties of Arius to oppress those who supported the decisions of the Council of Nicaea of AD 325. 

A quick text search of the rest of Sozomen’s history reveals similar admonitions against novelty and innovation, including a letter from the Church Council convened at Ariminum (Rimini) in Italy in AD 359, during which the bishops of the West petitioned Constantius uphold the Nicene creed and not to allow novel doctrines:

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We therefore entreat your Clemency to listen to our deputies and to regard them favorably and not to allow the dead to be dishonored by the introduction of alterations and novelties. We pray you to preserve the tradition which we received from our ancestors, who were all wise and prudent and who, we have reason to believe, were led by the Spirit of God. For these innovations not only lead believers to infidelity, but also delude unbelievers…. Again, we beseech you that nothing be taken away from or added to the faith. Let it remain unchanged even as it has continued from the reign of your father to the present time, so that we may not in the future be compelled to leave our churches and undertake long journeys, but that the bishop and people may dwell together in peace… [Book IV, Chapter XVIII]

Constantius would not heed this request, however, and would attempt to force the bishops to reject the Nicene formulary of the Faith, even deposing a pope in the process. 

Later, Sozomen quotes a letter from Pope St. Damasus to the bishops of Illyria (see the image at the beginning of this post) which says much the same thing:

Those who devise strange doctrines ought not to be followed, but the opinions of our fathers ought to be retained, whatever may be the diversity of opinion around us. [Book VI, Chapter XXIV]

Interestingly, appeal to tradition was such a powerful rhetorical weapon in the ancient Church that prelates who would later be condemned as heretics attempted to wield it. In an account of the Council of Antioch of AD 342, Sozomen recounts how the assembled bishops—including the Arian Eusebius of Nicomedia who was now Bishop of Constantinople—after deposing Saint Athanasius, went on to affirm that “they received the faith which had, from the beginning, been handed down by tradition.” [Book III, Chapter 5]

Given the above, it may be pointed out that this spirit of suppressing novelty and holding fast to tradition has been effectively turned on its head by our bishops over the past century. Sadly, those men who are called specifically to preserve the venerable teachings of the Church oftentimes seem almost manic in their rush to discard them. In place of the holy and eternal doctrines that the Church has always taught, they propose doctrinal and pastoral innovations that look, sound and feel eerily similar to the ephemeral doctrines and practices of the princes of this world. 

It is also worth contemplating whether this voluptuous embrace of novelty has caused the Church founded by Jesus Christ to be built up over the past several decades, or to collapse into heap of rubble. In the West, at least, the answer is set starkly before our eyes.

Ruins of St. Bonaventure Catholic Church, Philadelphia, PA. Built in 1906,
demolished in 2013 after lying abandoned for 20 years. Photo from Hidden City.

“Follow Your Heart” is awful advice ~ The dangers of Disney wisdom in a Post-Christian age

In practically every old cartoon from the 1940s and 50s, you can find the trope where one of the characters faces a comic moral dilemma. At that moment, two tiny versions of the character poof into being at either shoulder—one in angelic garb advising the more difficult selfless action, the other in a red suit with pitchfork urging the wicked, selfish alternative. 

But just as these cartoons are considered hopelessly quaint and old-fashioned today, so are the notions of morality which undergird them. Consider that we have now moved from the youthful innocence of Disney in the mid-20th century which produced such family-friendly fare as Lady and the Tramp and The Jungle Book, to a situation where Disney executives are openly demanding the promotion of deviant sexual practices to children and banning so-called gendered greetings at their parks like “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” because they are considered not inclusive.

Disney is a microcosm of how Americans at large have lost or killed their consciences—their ability to discern right from wrong or even admit that right and wrong exist. The Disney of the 1940s could safely encourage viewers to “follow their hearts” because the vast majority of people had reasonably well-formed consciences. That’s why Archbishop Fulton Sheen could have a top-rated TV show in the 1950s, and it is also why so many Americans in the early 1960s could respond with outrage when their Black brothers and sisters continued to be treated unjustly as second-class citizens.

But in a nation with no ability to discern right from wrong, with no understanding of how morality works, where acting in selfish ways is celebrated and even considered virtuous, the hollow advice to “follow your heart” suddenly becomes dangerous. It becomes a bomb within our families which threatens to destroy not only the individual but everyone around him, creating a blast radius that harms all of society.

A few sages of that earlier era knew even then that something was terribly wrong in America and the West. Venerable Pope Pius XII called out and condemned the relativistic new morality that was emerging at that time known as “situation ethics.” Venerable Fulton J. Sheen himself was aware of the very same trends. As early as 1936, he recognized that there was a nasty undercurrent actively eroding the moral pylons which supported Western civilization. Many of his modern contemporaries, he felt, were willfully deadening their consciences. He wrote:

“Would to God that our modern mind instead of denying guilt, would look to the Cross, admit its guilt, and seek forgiveness; would that those who have uneasy consciences that worry them in the light, and haunt them in the darkness, would seek relief, not on the plane of medicine but on the plane of Divine Justice.” ~Ven. Fulton J. Sheen: Calvary and the Mass

Who can deny that this trend of silencing the conscience via the use of psychiatry and drugs (legal and illegal) has accelerated since Sheen’s time, and at break-neck speed? 

By 1953 when his popularity was at its zenith, Sheen elaborated, saying that many had now succeeded in killing off their consciences—but at what cost? He wrote: 

“Some men believe that if they could drive God from the earth, the inheritance of sin would be there without remorse; and if they could but silence conscience, they could inherit peace without justice. It was just this mentality that sent our Lord to the Cross. If the voice of God could be stifled, they believed that they could enjoy the voice of Satan in peace…How many, even of those who have killed conscience can say, “I am happy; there is nothing I want?” ~Ven. Fulton J. Sheen: Victory over Vice

The honest answer to Sheen’s rhetorical question is: None. 

If you doubt that, consider the following trends that are prevalent in our increasingly atheistic and amoral society:

• Over 50% Of Liberal, White Women Under 30 Have A Mental Health Issue.
  
  
• Deaths from drug ODs, suicide soaring among millennials, report shows
  
  
• 39% of youth with same-sex attraction seriously considered attempting suicide; 71% reported feeling sad or hopeless for at least 2 weeks in the past year
  
  
• Why are Women so Miserable?

Since 2005, many hundreds if not thousands of articles pondering that last question have been written, and every possible reason for why women in particular are so utterly miserable in the post-Christian West has been proposed. My personal favorite is a 2017 article in the UK Guardian which posits that: “To be happier, women should try giving up on being good.” In the conclusion to this article, columnist Tim Lott writes: “Maybe women are unhappier than men because they pin themselves to higher moral standards. I think I would rather be happy than good.”

Did you get a whiff of brimstone reading that?

Sheen knew why people without God are miserable, just as the repentant reprobate Augustine of Hippo knew 1,600 years ago when he wrote: “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee.” [Augustine, Confessions, Book I, Chapter 1]

The truth is this: When you are raised with a poorly formed conscience, a perverted sense of right and wrong, or worst of all—the inability to even define what is good, to discern selfishness from selflessness—you will be miserable. 

For such a person with a badly formed or dead conscience, “follow your heart” is the most catastrophic advice that can be given. Often that poor soul’s untutored heart will lead him directly to destruction.

Masaru Give Away on Goodreads

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I am happy to report that five gratis copies of Masaru are available as part of a giveaway at Goodreads. You may recall that I posted an interview with the author, Michael T. Cibenko, a few months back. Since then, the book has continued to draw positive reviews, boasting an overall 5-star rating on Amazon.com:

"Extraordinary! A little treasure of a book. I haven't encountered a book like this in years - a blend of adventure, rich characters, history, language, and cultural traditions." —Nick, a reviewer on Amazon.com

"The description of the landscape and culture of the people painted a vivid image in my mind! This is a FANTASTIC book to read!" —Jennifer Wagner, a reader on Amazon.com 

Want to try for a free one? Here's how to enter the Goodreads giveaway. Good luck!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Masaru

by Michael T. Cibenko

Giveaway ends April 08, 2022.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Full of Yahoos

 Just putting these here for future reference and usage. First, the MP4 version with sound...

...and the GIF version....

From the very under-appreciated 1996 version of Gulliver's Travels with Ted Danson. The full feature is available on YouTube here.

"Ravening wolves have swallowed up the flock of the Lord which was growing up in Ireland." ~ Saint Patrick's authentic letter to the soldiers of Coroticus

Detail from a stained glass window showing Patrick preaching, Carlow Cathedral, Ireland.

Of the two authentic writings of Saint Patrick that have come down to us from antiquity, the first—the Confessio—I have addressed in a previous post entitled: The real Saint Patrick in his own words.

The second is the Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus. For this St. Patrick’s Day, when war and rumors of war roil our world once again, and stories of atrocities fill up every media outlet, Patrick’s letter to the soldiers of Coroticus, full of condemnation and fulmination against those who would dare lay violent hands upon the innocent, takes on particular import.

Very little is known about the historical circumstances that prompted the writing of the letter, aside from the explanation offered by Patrick himself in the text. Coroticus is thought to have been a petty king or warlord from Scotland, often identified with Ceretic, king of Alt Clut (Strathclyde) in the mid-5th century AD.

I post below the letter in its entirety as taken from the public domain work, Saint Patrick: His Writings and Life by Newport J.D. White (1920) from the Translations of Christian Literature series. I have taken the liberty of interspersing a few comments of my own among the paragraphs with the hope that the reader will be indulgent.

1. Patrick the sinner, unlearned verily—I confess that I am a bishop, appointed by God, in Ireland. Most surely I deem that from God I have received what I am. And so I dwell in the midst of barbarians, a stranger and an exile for the love of God. He is witness if this is so. Not that I desired to utter from my mouth anything so harshly and so roughly; but I am compelled by zeal for God; and the truth of Christ roused me, for the love of my nearest friends and sons, for whom I have not regarded my fatherland and kindred, yea nor my life, even unto death, if I am worthy. I have vowed to my God to teach the heathen, though I be despised by some.

2. With mine own hand have I written and composed these words to be given and delivered and sent to the soldiers of Coroticus—I do not say to my fellow-citizens or to the fellow-citizens of the holy Romans, but to those who are fellow-citizens of demons because of their evil deeds. Behaving like enemies, they are dead while they live, allies of the Scots and apostate Picts, as though wishing to gorge themselves with blood, the blood of innocent Christians, whom I in countless numbers begot to God and confirmed in Christ.

It is thought, based on the above paragraph, that some of the soldiers of Coroticus were, in fact, Christians themselves, though perhaps apostates. It is to these that Patrick’s appeal is particularly addressed, in an effort to shame them into repenting of their evil deeds.

3. On the day following that on which the newly baptized, in white array, were anointed—it was still fragrant on their foreheads while they were cruelly butchered and slaughtered with the sword by the aforesaid persons—I sent a letter with a holy presbyter whom I had taught from his infancy, clergy accompanying him, with a request that they would grant us some of the booty and of the baptized captives whom they had taken. They jeered at them.

4. Therefore I know not what I should the rather mourn: whether those who are slain, or those whom they captured, or those whom the devil grievously ensnared. In everlasting punishment they will become slaves of hell along with him; for verily whosoever committeth sin is a bondservant of sin, and is called a son of the devil.

5. On this account let every man that feareth God learn that aliens they are from me and from Christ my God, for whom I am an ambassador—patricide, fratricide as he is!—ravening wolves eating up the people of the Lord as it were bread. As he saith, O Lord, the ungodly have destroyed thy law, which in the last times he had excellently (and) kindly planted in Ireland; and it was builded by the favour of God.

6. I make no false claim. I have part with those whom he called and predestinated to preach the Gospel amidst no small persecutions, even unto the ends of the earth, even though the enemy casts an evil eye on me by means of the tyranny of Coroticus, who fears neither God nor his priests whom he chose, and to whom he granted that highest, divine, sublime power, that whom they should bind on earth should be bound in heaven.'

7. Whence therefore, ye holy and humble men of heart, I beseech you very much. It is not right to pay court to such men, nor to take food or drink with them; nor ought one to accept their almsgivings, until [doing] sore penance with shedding of tears, they make amends to God, and liberate the servants of God and the baptized handmaidens of Christ, for whom he died and was crucified.

Here Patrick excommunicates the Christians among Coroticus's men, and calls on those who still consider themselves Christians to repent. For those Christians living in Coroticus's domains, Patrick calls upon them to separate themselves from the ungodly man who rules them. This is something of a bold comment particularly to modern ears which can stand no righteous judgments against rulers who enact and celebrate wicked and immoral policies. Could anyone imagine a man like Patrick remaining in public communion with such men and women of our era?

8. The most High approveth not the gifts of the wicked. He that offereth sacrifice of the goods of the poor is as one that sacrificeth the son in the presence of his father. The riches, he saith, which he hath gathered unjustly will be vomited up from his belly. The angel of death draggeth him away. He will be tormented by the fury of dragons. The viper's tongue shall slay him ; unquenchable fire devoureth him. And therefore, Woe to those who fill themselves with what is not their own. And, What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

9. It would be tedious to discuss or declare [their deeds ] one by one, [and] to gather from the whole law testimonies concerning such greed. Avarice is a deadly sin; Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's goods; Thou shalt do no murder; A murderer cannot be with Christ; He that hateth his brother is reckoned as a murderer. And again, He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. How much more guilty is he that hath stained his hands with the blood of the sons of God whom he recently purchased in the ends of the earth through the exhortation of our littleness.

10. Was it without God, or according to the flesh, that I came to Ireland? Who compelled me? I am bound in the Spirit not to see any one of my kinsfolk. Is it from me that springs that godly compassion which I exercise towards that nation who once took me captive, and made havoc of the menservants and maidservants of my father's house? I was freeborn according to the flesh; I am born of a father who was a decurion; but I sold my noble rank—I blush not to state it, nor am I sorry—for the profit of others; in short, I am a slave in Christ to a foreign nation for the unspeakable glory of the eternal life which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In the above paragraph, Patrick echoes some of the themes of his previous Confessio, mentioning his own origins as a Roman of noble birth, and his subsequent capture by Irish raiders and life of slavery. Thus, he knows first hand the terrors of the captive, and the cruel hardships of the bondsman. 

11. And if my own know me not, a prophet hath no honour in his own country. Perchance we are not of the one fold, nor have one God and Father. As he saith, He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. It is not meet that one pulleth down and another buildeth up. I seek not mine own. It was not any grace in me, but God that put this earnest that I should be one of the hunters or fishers whom long ago God foreshowed would come in the last days.

12. Men look askance at me. What shall I do, O Lord? I am exceedingly despised. Lo, around me are thy sheep torn to pieces and spoiled, and that too by the robbers aforesaid, by the orders of Coroticus with hostile disposition. Far from the love of God is he who betrays Christians into the hands of the Scots and Picts. Ravening wolves have swallowed up the flock of the Lord which verily in Ireland was growing up excellently with the greatest care. And the sons and daughters of Scottic chieftains who were monks and virgins of Christ I cannot reckon. Wherefore, be not pleased with the wrong done to the just ; even unto hell it shall not please thee.

13. Which of the saints would not shudder to jest and feast with such men? They have filled their houses with the spoil of dead Christians. They live by plunder. Wretched men, they know not that it is poison; they offer the deadly food to their friends and sons; just as Eve did not understand that verily it was death that she handed to her husband. So are all they who do wrong; they work death as their eternal punishment.

14. This is the custom of the Roman Gauls: They send holy and fit men to the Franks and other heathen with many thousands of solidi to redeem baptized captives. Thou rather slayest and sellest them to a foreign nation which knows not God. Thou handest over the members of Christ as it were to a brothel. What manner of hope in God hast thou, or has he who consents with thee, or who holds converse with thee in words of flattery? God will judge ; for it is written, Not only those who commit evil, but those that consent with them shall be damned.

Recall that Roman Gaul was, at this time, in the process of being overrun by the Burgundians, Franks, Visigoths, and numerous other barbarian nations, though Roman power would not be completely broken until the Battle of Soissons in AD 486. One gets a sense in the accounts of Priscus, likely written during Patrick's life, how common it was for Romans to be captured and ransomed by barbarian raiders during this unhappy time.

15. I know not what I should say, or what I should speak further about the departed ones of the sons of God, whom the sword has touched roughly above measure. For it is written, “Weep with them that weep,” and again, “If one member suffer, let all the members suffer with it.” On this account the Church bewails and laments her sons and daughters whom the sword has not as yet slain, but who are banished and carried off to distant lands where sin openly, grievously, and shamelessly abounds. There freemen are put up for sale, Christians are reduced to slavery, and, worst of all, to most degraded, most vile and apostate Picts.

16. Therefore in sadness and grief shall I cry aloud: O most lovely and beloved brethen, and sons whom I begot in Christ—I cannot reckon them—what shall I do for you? I am not worthy to come to the aid of either God or men. The wickedness of the wicked hath prevailed against us. We are become as it were strangers. Perchance they do not believe that we receive one baptism, and that we have one God and Father. It is in their eyes a disgraceful thing that we were born in Ireland. As he saith, Have ye not one God? Why do ye, each one, forsake his neighbour?

17. Therefore, I grieve for you, I grieve, O ye most dear to me. But again, I rejoice within myself. I have not laboured for nought, and my going abroad was not in vain. And there happened a crime so horrid and unspeakable! Thanks be to God, it was as baptized believers that ye departed from the world to Paradise. I can see you. Ye have begun to remove to where there shall be no night nor sorrow nor death any more; but ye shall leap like calves loosened from their bands, and ye shall tread down the wicked, and they shall be ashes under your feet.

18. Ye therefore shall reign with apostles and prophets and martyrs. Ye shall take everlasting kingdoms, as he himself witnesseth, saying, They shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Without are dogs and sorcerers and murderers; and liars and false swearers shall have their part in the lake of everlasting fire. Not without just cause the apostle saith, “Where the righteous shall scarcely be saved, where shall the sinner and the ungodly transgressor of the law recognize himself?”

19. Wherefore then, where shall Coroticus with his accursed followers, rebels against Christ, where shall they see themselves?—they who distribute baptized damsels as rewards, and that for the sake of a wretched temporal kingdom, which verily passes away in a moment like a cloud or smoke which is verily dispersed by the wind. So shall the deceitful wicked perish at the presence of the Lord; but let the righteous feast in great constancy with Christ. They shall judge nations, and rule over ungodly kings forever.

It is worth noting that Patrick’s prophecy came true. The temporal power of Coroticus did indeed pass away quickly, and his name is practically lost to history, known mainly to us via the pen of the illustrious man and great saint who condemned his foul deeds. Sic transit gloria mundi.

20. I testify before God and his angels that it will be so, as he has signified to my unskillfulness. The words are not mine, but of God and the apostles and prophets, who have never lied, which I have set forth in Latin. He that believeth shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. God hath spoken.

21. I beseech very much that whatever servant of God be ready, he be the bearer of this letter, that on no account it be suppressed or concealed by any one, but much rather be read in the presence of all the people, yea, in the presence of Coroticus himself; if so be that God may inspire them to amend their lives to God some time; so that even though late they may repent of their impious doings—murderer of the brethren of the Lord!—-and may liberate the baptized women captives whom they had taken, so that they may deserve to live to God, and be made whole, both here and in eternity.

Peace—to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. Amen.

NB. Patrick makes liberal use of quotations from Sacred Scripture in this letter. These have been carefully catalogued in the original source. See here. 

"For many a year they will remember the two stout galleons of Manila." ~ The victory of the Spanish over the Dutch at the Battle of Naval de Manila, AD 1646

Illustration showing the Battle of Naval de Manila to appear in The Story of the Philippines. 

The more one delves into history, the more one is humbled by what one doesn’t know. Case in point...

March 15 is the anniversary of the beginning of a naval campaign fought between two colonial powers in the year 1646 half-a-world away from Europe. 

Having grown up in an English-speaking country, I often catch myself adopting the conventional historical view of the British navy as presented in literature and film as an unconquerable force. Their most common foes—the Spanish and the French—are normally presented as formidable but hapless. They are numerous enough to appear to be a challenge, but ineptitude, laziness and cowardice always lead to their undoing. This perspective creates an impoverished knowledge of naval history which tends to ignore instances where the naval arms of nations not Britain achieve great victories.

One such victory which I have only encountered very recently (while editing a forthcoming book entitled The Story of the Philippines by Phillip Campbell) is La Naval de Manila—a series of naval battles between the Spanish and Dutch in the Philippine archipelago that decided which European power would rule the Philippines for the next 250 years. Featuring an earthquake, desperate acts of courage, five against-all-odds battles, and a healthy amount of divine intervention, La Naval de Manila has all the elements of a fine epic novel, let alone a thrilling action-adventure movie.

The battle pitted a fleet of eighteen well-armed Dutch corsairs against the scanty forces that the Spanish could assemble to meet the threat. The aim of the Dutch was nothing less than to wrest the Philippines from the Spanish and capture their treasure fleet from New Spain (Mexico). To accomplish this feat, the Dutch organized their ships into three squadrons. These were meant to coordinate their attacks at separate points and thereby spread thin what little defense the Spanish could muster.

Further hampering the Spanish, the capital city of their Philippine possessions—Manila—was a wreck, literally. The city had been rocked four months before by a tremendous earthquake as well as several aftershocks. Describing the magnitude of the quake, Fr. Joseph Fayol, an eyewitness, wrote:

In the first shock, one hundred and fifty of the finest buildings, which in other cities would be called palaces, were totally destroyed; all the other houses were so damaged and dangerous that it has been necessary to demolish them completely. It may be said with truth that only a semblance of Manila remains....Whole Indian villages were overthrown, as their huts are built of so light materials, bamboos and palm-leaves; and hills were leveled. Rivers were dried, which afterward flowed again; others leaving their beds, inundated the villages; great fissures and even chasms, appeared in the open fields. In the Manila River, the disturbance and commotion in its waves was so great that it seemed as if they would flood all the country. [Fayol, Relation of the events on sea and land in the Filipinas Islands...]

To meet the Dutch threat, the Spanish pressed two huge galleons into service, the Encarnación and the Rosario. These already ancient vessels had recently arrived from the arduous journey from Nueva España and were in rough shape. Though ponderous, these great ships possessed a powerful array of weaponry, which was further augmented by guns stripped from forts on land, as described by Fr. Fayol:

In [the Encarnación] were mounted thirty-four pieces of artillery, all of bronze and of the reinforced class, which variously carried balls of thirty, twenty-five, and eighteen pounds. The [Rosario] was equipped with as many as thirty pieces, of the same capacity—although on account of the deficiency in this sort of artillery, it was necessary to dismantle some posts in the fortifications of this city and of Cavite.

The governor-general of the Philippines, Don Diego Fajardo, chose General Lorenzo de Orella as commander and chief of the Spanish squadron. Fr. Fayol offers this heroic description of Don Orella:

...General Lorenzo de Orella y Ugalde, a Biscayan, under whose charge the vessels had sailed from Acapulco [was chosen] not only because of his proved bravery, his experience in the art of war, and his services and commands in both the Northern and Southern Seas, as well as in these islands (particularly in Mindanao, where he fought hand-to-hand with a gigantic Moro and killed him), but because of his well-known Christian spirit of modesty—which, for success, are no less important than valor.

Not trusting to mere earthly power, however, Don Fajardo agreed to allow four priests to accompany the flotilla, two in each ship. As both ships bore religious names, they were sent forth under the protection of Our Lady, the Virgin Mary. Fr. Fayol explains:

As a result of excellent teaching and the fervor of these fathers, arrangements were made that all of the men should, in the first place, purify their consciences with the holy sacraments of penance and communion; that they should take as their special patron saint the Virgin of the Rosary; that in order to bind her further, they should vow to her a feast-day in thanksgiving for the victories which they expected to receive through her agency; and that every day all should recite their prayers aloud, on their knees, and in two choirs—the prayers of the rosary before our Lady's image, the litanies of the most holy name of Mary, and finally an act of contrition.

Beyond these acts of piety, Don Fajardo caused the Blessed Sacrament to be exposed in several churches throughout Manila from the time of the departure of the galleons until their expected return. 

When all was made as ready as temporal and spiritual efforts would allow, the Spanish ships boldly sallied forth to meet the more numerous Dutch in what should have been a very lop-sided affair. However, as Fr. Fayol admits, the Spanish had one thing going in their favor. The hoped-for coordination of the Dutch fleets failed and each one arrived on station at different times, allowing the Spanish the opportunity to fight each of them in detail. The first fleet arrived in Spanish waters in early March and were detected by the Spanish on March 15. Fr. Fayol provides an excellent account of the battle which followed, and I am only too happy to allow his voice to describe the proceedings:  

On arriving at the entrances of Mariveles, the [Spanish] ships were placed in battle array, the artillery loaded, the matches lighted and the linstocks ready, the rigging free, and other preparations made. This was done because the sentinels [on Mariveles Island] warned our men that the enemy were, with their squadron, not far from that place; and that they might expect at any moment to encounter the Dutch—although in fact the latter were not descried until the fifteenth of the said month of March. At nine o'clock in the morning of that day, our almiranta [the Rosario] which had pushed ahead of the flagship perhaps half a league, and was sailing with a northwest wind—fired two cannon-shots and lowered the maintop-sail as a signal that it descried the enemy. The flagship put about, and followed her, and from the maintop they soon saw a sail in the distance, but it was impossible to overtake it; and it soon disappeared, because it was favored by a fresher wind than our ships had.

After that, our galleons were left becalmed until one o'clock; and at that hour were descried from the flagship four hostile sails, which were sailing toward her aft, with an east wind. It was two hours before they reached the flagship, and in that space of time the men were stationed, the ships cleared, the posts reconnoitered, and all other arrangements made, both spiritual and temporal, required by the occasion. The almiranta fell two ship-lengths astern of the flagship, and in this position the ships awaited the enemy, in order to fight them.

As soon as the enemy came near, they extended all their ships, and without attempting to give a broadside to our flagship, passed, in line to larboard, and the enemy's flagship began the battle by firing a cannon. Our commander immediately commanded that response be made with two shots—one with a thirty-pound ball and a cylinder of the same weight, which tore open all their cutwater at the bow. The enemy's ship went on in this condition, and the others continued to exchange shots with our flagship. Recognizing their own strength, the enemy tried to approach the almiranta, which they supposed was not so well armed, being a smaller ship. But they were received with equal valor and spirit on our side, our vessels firing so often and throwing so many balls that they could not be counted.

The fight lasted about five hours, and the mortality and damage were so great that all the anxiety that the heretics had felt to reach our ships when they thought to conquer us was now directed to separating themselves from us. They anxiously awaited the night, which was now approaching, to make their cowardly escape, which they did with lights extinguished. But the enemy's almiranta did not succeed in doing this in safety. It had been the most persistent in the attack upon our flagship, and remained to our leeward. It was so badly damaged that its cannon could not be fired, and hardly could it flee. Our ship was so near it that our commander had the men ready at the bow to board the Dutch ship, but the darkness of night forced us to abandon the chase, on account of the danger from the shoals which the pilots declared were in that place. It was noticed that the enemy did not use lanterns as they had formerly done, seeking protection for their armada. Our commander ordered that they be used in our ships, and that the lights be allowed to shine very brightly, in order that the enemy might come to look for us.

Our people fully intended to renew the pursuit at daybreak, to finish their defeat, but when day came our two galleons found themselves alone, and did not know what course the enemy had taken. They followed the Dutch, in the direction which they thought most probable, as far as Cape Bojeador, which is at the farthest end of this island of Manila. From there our ships returned, as the coasts were now secure, to the port of Bolinao, in order to send to this city dispatches announcing the result of the battle.

This was regarded as a brilliant victory, not only because of the disparity in the number of ships, but because of the little damage our side had sustained. In that battle not a man was killed, and comparatively few were wounded. It was evident that the enemy's loss was great, although we could not then ascertain it correctly. But afterwards we learned that many had been killed and wounded, and that two of their vessels were rendered useless. 

This Spanish victory was only the first in a series of battles which would take place over the next seven months. In each, the elderly Spanish galleons would prove too much for their nimble Dutch adversaries, continuously repulsing their attacks but proving too slow and poorly manned to capture them. 

After the third battle, Don Orella retired and was replaced by Don Sebastian Lopez who was in command of the Spanish ships when the Dutch made their final effort in October of 1646. This battle again ended in failure for the Dutch whose flagship was barely able to escape after a severe mauling. This repulse effectively ended Dutch pretensions in the Philippines. Fr. Fayol concludes his accounts of the battles, saying: 

All these exploits are worthy of great praise...According to the estimate made by well-informed persons, although we fired, in these battles, over 2,000 cannon-shots, and the enemy over five thousand, we had only fourteen killed, and comparatively few wounded. While the enemy, besides the vessels which we sank, arrived at their forts so damaged, and had lost so many men, that for many a year they will remember the two stout galleons of Manila....

Thanksgiving was celebrated by a solemn fiesta, a procession, divine worship, and [a parade of] the squadron, with other demonstrations in fulfillment of the vow made to the Virgin of the Rosary, the city making a new vow to continue this anniversary every year.

[All of the above quotes are taken from Fray Joseph Fayol's Relation of the events on sea and land in the Filipinas Islands during the recent years, until the earthquake and destruction on the feast of St. Andrews in 1645; and the battles and naval victories over the Dutch in 1646. The English translation of this work is taken from The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volumes 34-35, edited by Emma Helen Blair, James Alexander Robertson, 1906.]

The image of Our Lady of La Naval de Manila.

And indeed, this the Fiesta of La Naval de Manila continues to be celebrated in the Philippines to this day. The feast includes a procession of the statue of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of La Naval de Manila, a life-sized figure of the Blessed Virgin that predates the battles, having been carved from elephant ivory in AD 1593. A look at the historical celebration of this feast and the statue of our Lady may be found here. 

Given the circumstances of the battles, the victories were declared miraculous in nature by the Archdiocese of Manila in 1662. Pope St. Pius X bestowed a canonical crown upon the image in 1907, while Ven. Pius XII recognized the image in an Apostolic letter sent on the 300th anniversary of the victories in 1946. Pope St. John Paul II blessed the statue at a public Mass during his visit to the Philippines in 1981.

"For the worship of abominable idols is the cause, and the beginning and end of all evil." ~ The relationship between idolatry and societal chaos according to Sacred Scripture

The Pachamama idol as it appeared in the Vatican gardens during
the Amazon Synod, October 2019.

"The beginning of fornication is the devising of idols:
and the invention of them is the corruption of life."
Wisdom 14:12

We live in an age when, once again, the words of “Second Coming” by Yeats seem prophetic. The centre is not holding. Anarchy is loosed upon the world. The ceremony of innocence is drowned.

But let’s be honest. Based on what we Catholics have witnessed within our very Church over the past several years, none of this comes as a surprise. As I wrote in a previous article, past ages of the Church have understood that when there is chaos and confusion in the Holy See, there will be chaos throughout the Church and, indeed, in the whole world.

In reading Sacred Scripture with my family the other day, the passage above from the Book of Wisdom stood out. It should be remembered that the Book of Wisdom, sometimes called “The Wisdom of Solomon” is part of the Deuterocanonical literature included in the canon of Sacred Scripture by Catholics and Orthodox and Eastern Christians but rejected by many Protestants. Of this book, Saint Augustine opines:  

“For two books, one called Wisdom and the other Ecclesiasticus, are ascribed to Solomon from a certain resemblance of style, but the most likely opinion is that they were written by Jesus the son of Sirach. Still they are to be reckoned among the prophetical books, since they have attained recognition as being authoritative.” [Augustine: On Christian Doctrine, Book II, Chapter 8]

More modern scholars have speculated that the Wisdom of Solomon was written in Greek in Alexandria during the first century BC. The author most likely invoked the name of Solomon to better catch the attention of his Alexandrian Jewish audience. Given what we know of Alexandria’s reputation in antiquity as not only a center of learning and scholarly dispute, but of grotesque moral depravity, frequent mob violence, insurrection, and lynchings, it is likely that the Wisdom of Solomon was written as an attempt to recall the Jews of that city to the proper conduct in both human and divine affairs.

To that extent, the Jews of Alexandria—as an alien minority in a perverse and dangerous world—may serve as a mirror to faithful Catholics navigating within the greater post-Christian West today. It is in that context that we read the following passage from the Wisdom of Solomon within which the above quote may be found:

And from the beginning also when the proud giants perished, the hope of the world fleeing to a vessel, which was governed by thy hand, left to the world seed of generation [This, I assume, refers to the Ark of Noah]. For blessed is the wood, by which justice cometh [This appears to be a prophecy of the Cross of Christ].

But the idol that is made by hands, is cursed, as well it, as he that made it: he because he made it; and it because being frail it is called a god. But to God the wicked and his wickedness are hateful alike. For that which is made, together with him that made it, shall suffer torments.

Therefore there shall be no respect had even to the idols of the Gentiles: because the creatures of God are turned to an abomination, and a temptation to the souls of men, and a snare to the feet of the unwise. For the beginning of fornication is the devising of idols: and the invention of them is the corruption of life. For neither were they from the beginning, neither shall they be forever. For by the vanity of men they came into the world: and therefore they shall be found to come shortly to an end. [Wisdom 14:6-14]

Further down in this chapter, the prophetic author of Wisdom scribes a passage that could apply to our own times as easily as it did to his:

And it was not enough for them to err about the knowledge of God, but whereas they lived in a great war of ignorance, they call so many and so great evils peace. For either they sacrifice their own children, or use hidden sacrifices, or keep watches full of madness, so that now they neither keep life, nor marriage undefiled, but one killeth another through envy, or grieveth him by adultery: And all things are mingled together, blood, murder, theft and dissimulation, corruption and unfaithfulness, tumults and perjury, disquieting of the good, forgetfulness of God, defiling of souls, changing of nature, disorder in marriage, and the irregularity of adultery and uncleanness.

For the worship of abominable idols is the cause, and the beginning and end of all evil. [Wisdom 14:22-27]

I would encourage you to read the entire passage here. 

When doing so, please remember to pray for those prelates who have been led astray by the prince of this world and his idols, especially those who have, in their worldly arrogance, dared to set an abomination of desolation in the holy places. They have it within their power to purge the corruption which has entered Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church—tomorrow if they wish. May the Holy Spirit inspire them to do so.

I tremble to consider how they will stand before the Just Judge if they fail to repent during this life and continue to lead their flocks so wantonly to destruction.

"Art thou not Sebastian whom I before commanded to be slain with arrows?" ~ A few interesting points about Saint Sebastian's ancient Passio.

The Burial of Saint Sebastian (1877) by Alejandro Ferrant y Fischermans. Click to enlarge.

Saint Sebastian is one of the great ancient martyrs of the Roman Catholic Church as well as one of the saints most frequently depicted in artwork down through the centuries. The image of Sebastian tied to a stake, his body riddled with arrows, is one of the most immediately recognizable and jarring images of the ancient martyrs.

As with many of the martyrs from the days prior to Constantine, his story has become somewhat muddled. He is mentioned in a homily of Saint Ambrose (On Psalm 118) as having come from Milan. Most of the rest of his biography comes from a Passio of dubious provenance. Scholars of the previous era ascribed this work to Saint Ambrose himself, though more modern scholars tend to dismiss this attribution. Few doubt the antiquity of the Passio, however, and the existing work is commonly dated to the early fifth century—or about a century after the events recorded therein.

As with many of the ancient martyrdom accounts, the Passio has not been translated into English. It does, however, exist excerpted in numerous other works, including a detailed synopsis which may be found at The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity site, sponsored by Oxford University. 

A different type of synopsis of the Passio may be found in the Homilies of Aelfric of Eynsham, a late 10th century Anglo Saxon abbot who transcribed the Latin tale into Old English for the edification of his monks. Here is the ancient story of Sebastian’s martyrdom as told in part with excerpts from Aelfric’s work. The entirety of the account may be found here: Skeat: Aelfric's Lives of Saints, p. 117 and following.

The Passion of Saint Sebastian, Martyr, January 20

There was a holy servant of God, called Sebastian, who was a long time in the city of Milan for education, and was baptized into Christ with full faith. He was a very prudent man, truthful in word, righteous in judgment, in counsel foreseeing, trusty in need, a prevailing intercessor, shining in goodness, and in all his ways honorable. 

Daily he fulfilled his Lord's service zealously, but he concealed, nevertheless, his deeds from the emperor Diocletian who was the devil's worshipper. Diocletian loved the holy man, notwithstanding, and knew not that he believed in the living God. He set him as prefect over a cohort, and bade that he should always be in his presence; and all the household held him as a father, and honored him with love, because God loved him. He followed the emperor, unknown to him, however, not as if he durst not suffer for his Lord, but he desired to encourage those whom the heathen emperor daily killed for their faith in Christ.

Diocletian, as we know, reigned from AD 284 through AD 305 when he abdicated and retired to a fortified palace on the Dalmatian coast. The notion that secret Christians may have existed in the court of Diocletian is in no way surprising and jives well with the account of Lactantius in On the Deaths of the Persecutors. Indeed, it is possible that Diocletian’s own wife, Prisca, and daughter, Valeria, were secret Christians. 

Sebastian was able to use his position in the court to console the brothers Marcus and Marcellianus who were imprisoned as Christians by Chromatius, the Prefect of Rome, and condemned to death unless they offered sacrifice to the pagan divinities. These brothers were from an aristocratic family and both wavered as their family members attempted to convince them to save their lives by abjuring the Christian faith. Due to the stature of their families, Chromatius offered a thirty day reprieve for the martyrs to consider their position.

During this time, however, Sebastian convinced the family of Marcus and Marcellianus to accept Christ. When the thirty days expired, Tranquillinus, the father of the young men, came before Chromatius and professed his own faith in Christ, mentioning that his gout had been cured following his baptism. As it turns out, Chromatius suffered from the same ailment and would later secretly summon Sebastian and the priest Polycarp so that they might also heal him. In order to effect the healing, Sebastian and Polycarp endured a three day fast, after which they returned to Chromatius and enjoined him to allow them to destroy all the pagan idols in his house. Chromatius agreed, and the two Christians proceeded to burn, smash, or melt down all of the 200 images of the pagan divinities in the house. 

What happens next is very strange indeed, as it seems to tie this ancient Christian literary source to one of the most fascinating archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.

When Chromatius failed to recover after his house was cleansed, Sebastian and Polycarp then deduced that something evil must yet remain in his house. At this point, Chromatius reveals something interesting: 

“I have in my treasure-chest a wonderful instrument, for my information, according to the position of the stars as they stand in the heavens. On that instrument Tarquinius, my father, spent of red gold alone more than two hundred pounds.”

Previously in the same narrative, this instrument is described as follows: 

An excellent work of mechanical contrivance, of glass, and gold, and of glistening crystal. This instrument was designed to show with certainty by the stars what should happen to every man in the course of his life; but it was so formed according to the heathen error.

The remains of the so-called Antikythera Mechanism, believed to be an
ancient machine used to compute the movement of the stars and planets.

Does this sound familiar? If you are at all aware of Mediterranean archaeology, it should. In 1901, some sponge divers found a strange ancient artifact in the waters off the Greek island of Antikythera. This item would become known as the Antikythera Mechanism, a type of ancient gear-driven computer used to predict the movements of the stars. It is tantalizing to think that this passage in the Passio of St. Sebastian is actually describing a similar type of machine. It may also be an indication that the Antikythera mechanism was not unique and that other similar devices were known even as late as the 5th century AD.

To get back to our narrative, Sebastian and Polycarp then discoursed to Chromatius upon the evils and vanity of astrology, indicating that the infernal machine must be disposed of. They even put their lives on the line, saying that if they broke the costly device and Chromatius did not recover from his illness, then they would submit to being thrown into a furnace and killed. Chromatius agreed. The device was broken. And Chromatius subsequently recovered. As a result, he and his son became Christians. 

Now, certainly there will be some who will latch onto this episode as an example of Christians being so "anti-science" that they even destroyed a precious ancient computing device. Before advancing this claim, however, it is well to keep in mind that the device itself, as expensive and finely crafted as it may have been, was not actually used for any scientific purpose. It was used for the superstitious purpose of attempting to predict the future via the movement of the stars.

Chromatius subsequently resigned his position as Prefect of the city of Rome and was replaced by a certain Fabianus, a man who was much more zealous in carrying out the persecutions mandated by Diocletian against Christians than Chromatius had been. This Fabianus soon laid hold of Marcus and Marcellianus, tortured them, and put them to death. Soon after, he denounced Sebastian to Diocletian as well. 

Given that Fabianus was, supposedly, the Prefect of Rome, it is reasonable to conjecture that the denunciation of Sebastian likely took place in AD 303 when Diocletian was in Rome for the celebration of his Vicennalia or 20th anniversary of his reign. This event was meant to be a great, two month long, triumphal festival commemorating the happy and prosperous reign of Diocletian and Maximian. There is evidence, however, that the event became tragic. The Chronography of AD 354 reports that during the event, 13,000 people were killed when the boxes at the circus collapsed. It is also possible that Pope Marcellinus was martyred during this time.  

Writing in On the Deaths of the Persecutors, Lactantius claimed that Diocletian was so perturbed during the celebrations at Rome that he departed the city prematurely before his consulship could even begin on January 1. He would subsequently become gravely ill on his journey back to Nicomedia.

Let us assume that the unhappy vicennalia celebration at Rome is the setting for the scene described below in Aelfric’s homily as the dramatic conclusion of St. Sebastian's Passio:

Then became Diocletian fiendishly angry, and commanded him to be led out in hard bonds, into a field, and there to be bound, and assailed with arrows until he gave up his life. Then the soldiers led away the servant of Christ, and set him for a mark, even as the wicked man commanded, and fastened their arrows into him before and behind, as thickly on every side as a hedgehog's bristles, and so left him alone, lying for dead.

Then came a certain widow, who was a martyr's relict, in the same night, where he lay sorely wounded, desiring to bury his body, and found him living. Then she brought him to her house alive, and within a few days entirely healed him. Then came the Christians, and urged the [Christian] warrior, that he ought to depart far away from the city.

But Sebastian commended himself to God, and went up to the staircase, which stood against the emperor's palace, and when the emperor came, thus cried to him:

“Your idol-priests who dwell in your temples tell you many lies concerning the Christians, saying that they are verily adversaries to your kingdom, and also to your people; but your kingdom prospereth through their good merits, because they pray for the Roman people and for your dominion, without ceasing.”

Then looked Diocletian, the fiendish murderer, towards the holy man, who stood there so loftily, and said haughtily, “Art not thou that Sebastian, whom I before commanded to be slain with arrows?

Sebastian said, “Christ raised me up again to the end that I might declare to thee before all the people your unrighteous persecution against the Christians.”

Then bade the emperor that the soldier of God should be beaten to death with clubs within his own city. Then the murderers did even as the emperor commanded, and by night hid his holy corpse in a foul sewer, saying amongst themselves, that at least the Christians should not get at his body, and make him into a martyr afterwards.

The most ancient extant image
of St. Sebastian, dating from the
mid-6th century AD, may be found in
Sant'Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna. 

Here again, we see a common theme—the desire of the persecutors to deny the martyr's body to the Christian community. 

But the Christians did find Sebastian’s remains. They were recovered by a widow named Lucina who claimed to have been visited by Sebastian in a dream. 

The relics of St. Sebastian would then take on a life of their own, being first deposited in the catacombs at Rome. A basilica would be built over the site in the mid-4th century AD—San Sebastiano fuori le Mura—which would become on one of the seven pilgrim churches of Rome. 

Some of his relics would eventually find their way to Soissons in France in the early 9th century where they would remain until they were plundered and thrown into a ditch by Calvinists in 1564.

It is said that a relic of the top of Sebastian’s cranium may be seen to this day in the church of St. Sebastian in Ebersberg, Bavaria.

A good summary of the remaining relics and their locations may be found in St. Sebastian's entry in Butler's Lives of the Saints. 

Guest post ~ "Snap!"

Presenting a retrospective guest post from the late Anthony P. Schiavo, Sr. who would have been 90 years old today. Anthony, or "Speed" as he was known in South Philadelphia, enjoyed science and science fiction. However, it irked him when the fiction prevailed over the science, and occasionally later in life, when the science precluded the spiritual.

In this parody short story that first appeared in the Tarpeian Rock 2003 issue, Speed skewered a familiar franchise that, he felt, played fast and loose with science and spirituality a little too often. I hope you will enjoy...

Did you ever notice that most science fiction that makes it to television just assumes that eventually, empirical data will be discovered that precludes the existence of the spiritual realm? What if....

“Let go you elf-eared adding machine! What in hell are you doing? I have to use the damned MP. Let go, that’s an order!”
     Timothy Janus Jerik, captain of the SpaceWagon CHARTER II, was furious. Despite extraordinary effort—arms flailing and legs straining—First Intellect Aloo Nyvac, held him helpless in the Thoran Clutch. For some reason, Nyvac was preventing him from getting into the Molecular Projector. Obeying Jerik’s order, Nyvac released him but stood in his way. Jerik was dumbfounded. He was used to bizarre theories and actions from Nyvac’s Thoran personality but this was going too far.
     “Look Nyvac, if you’re going to mutiny, have the damned courtesy to use your bLaser. What am I supposed to put in my report? That my wagon was taken over by the use of superior Greco-Roman wrestling?” Jerik was well known for retaining his sense of humor under almost any circumstances. Angry as he was, he had not missed the absurd appearance of the scene he had just played. Besides, there was no real threat to his command. He knew there was a reason. Though he might not understand it—there was a reason. But he was in a hurry.
     “Okay, what in hell’s bothering you? You know I have to get down to New Hawaii. You brought me the report from the Gidget Surf and Turf Colony yourself. Do you realize how serious it is? The Supreme Court of New Hawaii has actually repealed the Laws of Robotics! ‘Highly discriminatory’ they said! The genes of the Ments have all been reprogrammed. LoMent public servants are out of control. They get to work late, leave early, work poorly, and are surly and unresponsive to the public. And they’ve been calling in sick. Sick! LoMents! I’d like to know who thought that using surplus low mentality androids for public service was a good idea.”
     “Probably the same humans who thought that citizens taking turns on the Supreme Court was a good idea.” said Nyvac. But he didn’t smile and he didn’t move.
     Jerik snorted at Nyvac’s comment. “No agricultural permits are being issued down there. Farming may as well be illegal. It’s threatening to turn into a disaster for the cocopinada crop. If we don’t move quickly, it could even turn violent. Besides, we need enforcement $tarBucks badly. We may have an environmental and social cleanup charter but we’re supposed to be paying most of our own way by a little mercenary arm twisting—exactly what they need on New Hawaii. We can’t pass it up for one of your bizarre morality attacks.”
     He pointed to the insignia on his shirt—a connect-the-dots drawing of the Wide Bucket constellation as seen from Olympus enclosing the words CHARTER II. “Do you see this? Do you know what recruits are doing with it? They clip the “R” and call our wagon the 'CHAPTER Eleven' Chamberpot! I’ve been told it’s a big laugh at Space-Navy Headquarters.”
     Uncharacteristically, Nyvac looked pained. “Captain, if Earth is any example, important things get done without public servants and permits; even in spite of them. Besides, history shows that we have almost eighty years to get down to New Hawaii before annihilation of the bureaucracy begins. The skuttle will be repaired in two days, you can use that and still arrive in time. It will take me only a few minutes to explain why you shouldn’t go there or anywhere else by the Molecular Projector for any amount of $tarBucks."
     “Nyvac!” Jerik growled. “What is your problem? We have gone back and forth by MP between the CHARTER and planets and asteroids and other wagons and....Sure we’ve had some malfunctions but we’ve survived, a couple of thousand trips each maybe. You used it this morning! Why are you afraid of it now all of the sudden?"
     “Actually Captain, your record shows twenty-seven hundred and thirty-four projections and mine...”
     “Okay, okay!” Jerik knew argument was useless. “You can have your few minutes. But when you’re finished, I’m getting into the MP and projecting down to New Hawaii, understood?”
     Nyvac said simply, “Captain, do not use that thing—it will destroy your soul.”
     There was silence. Nyvac looked at Jerik with a friendly professorial face, tilted slightly. Jerik however seemed to be having a convulsion. Then, eyes bulging, face aflame, he howled, “Sooooul? Sooooooul? You almost crushed my liver, you’re going crazy and trying to drag me with you to save my soul? Do you think MP stands for Mephistopheles? You don’t have enough jobs on this wagon, you want to be the damned First Theologian too? There is no such thing as a soul, there is only matter, energy, and their properties. Everything else there is doesn’t exist. I mean, nothing else exists! Look at that, you’ve got me doing yogiberries.”
     Nyvac seemed to grow calmer as Jerik grew more explosive. “I chose the word soul to distinguish it from anything physical. Call it what you want Captain, there is something in us not of matter or energy. If you prefer, let us call it ‘being’.”
     “Call it ‘being’ or any damned thing you want—but demonstrate it exists or drop it.”
     Nyvac was prepared. “Captain, let us try a thought experiment. Think about this. You’re standing in a bare chamber facing a black wall with a red wall at your back. God or a device or chance or something we can’t imagine has created an exact physical duplicate of you which is standing in exactly the same position as you but opposite, facing you and the red wall. What do you see?”
     Jerik knew that he had to let this run it’s course. He answered as expected, “I see a man who looks exactly like me standing in front of a black wall.”
     “Now consider the same scene except that you and your duplicate are in reversed positions, you are standing with the black wall at your back and your exact duplicate is standing with the red wall at his back. I ask again, what do you see?”
     To his credit, Jerik did not hesitate or hedge, he again said what was expected. “I see a man who looks exactly like me standing in front of a red wall.” He was hoping to use Occam’s razor to slay the troublesome ‘being’ as an unnecessary concept, but he was getting worried.
     “But Captain, the two situations in the chamber are physically identical. Every atom and sub-atomic particle, photon, quark, neutrino, graviton, ephemeron, everything inside the chamber is in the same position and in the same state in the first scene as in the second—yet you are seeing a different colored wall.”
     A human would have waited for this surprising point to sink in, but Nyvac just went on. “What is different in those two scenes, your being and that of your duplicate, cannot then be physical. All sentient creatures have a being—but not made of matter or energy.
     Although Jerik was expecting the unexpected, he was still surprised by the trap he had fallen into. But he was calmer now. He decided not to debate the conclusion of the thought experiment of the chamber but rather to the extension of that conclusion to the Molecular Projector. “Okay Nyvac, you can have the damned soul or being or whatever. How does the MP kill it when a spacewagon, or skuttle, or elevator, or slamdunkstick doesn’t?”
     Captain, may we try another thought experiment?
     Jerik glared but nodded. “Sure, why not. I had so much fun with the first one.”
     “Captain, if the Molecular Projector transports you down to New Hawaii with a missing atom which is substituted for by an identical atom from the planet, who arrives on New Hawaii?”
     Jerik was no fool. He spotted the trap in this line of reasoning immediately but he wanted to see how Nyvac played it out— to see how and if his mind was working. “I arrive there, replacing an atom is of no consequence.”
     Nyvac continued as expected. “But what if ten percent or fifty percent or all of your atoms are replaced by identical atoms on New Hawaii. Who arrives there then?”
     “It’s still me Nyvac. As you yourself said, my being is not physical. Besides, my being arrives or it doesn’t. It can’t arrive in part. If one atom causes no problem, then two or three or any number will not cause a problem.”
     “But Captain, if none of your atoms need to be projected, what must be projected?”
     Jerik was not as surprised this time. He even had a counter argument. “Look Nyvac, maybe the crucial part of what it sends is information, how to put the body, and therefore the being, back together.
     “But Captain, if you could be projected down to New Hawaii by just sending information, why couldn’t the same information be sent to Olympus and to Earth assembling you in two or three different places from the matter there? And if they did, which would be the real Captain Jerik? Would you feel confident that any of them would be you? How do we know that the Molecular Projector has the ability or even attempts to send your being to the destination if reassembling your body creates a perfect duplicate who’s sure he’s you?”
     This was getting complex. Jerik decided to return to basics. “Listen Nyvac, I don’t care what the MP can do, I know what it does do. It doesn’t make copies, it disassembles objects and puts them back together at the destination. It’s the same as taking a skuttle down except the atoms are scrambled on the way for logistic purposes.”
     “True. Objects are physical and therefore may be disassembled, projected, and reassembled. But conscious beings are unique. We are the only unique objects in the universe. A perfect physical copy of the Mona Lisa is interchangeable with the original but a perfect copy of a person is not interchangeable with the person. Indistinguishable yes, interchangeable no. The Molecular Projector does just what its name says, it projects molecules, nothing more. That which makes us unique, the being, is left behind, disembodied, destroyed. The thread connecting being and body once snapped can never be repaired.”
     Jerik could not see a flaw in this argument but viscerally he remained unconvinced. He switched his defense to psychology—a field he was better at than logic and certainly better at than Nyvac or anyone else on the wagon.
     “Nyvac, do you believe that these arguments went unnoticed till now, till you thought of them? There are many brilliant scientists in SpaceNavy. If your conclusion is correct, how could SpaceNavy not know? Why wouldn’t they do something about it?”
     Jerik had an answer but he wanted to be sure that Nyvac had the same one. He was beginning to see risks for himself where Nyvac was going. If he got there, it could be the end of Jerik’s career or worse. A Captain who wouldn’t use his Molecular Projector would be ridiculed into retirement. And one who told others why was in danger of losing more than his command. On the other hand, he had found that risks often presented opportunities. But he had to know for sure. He waited. He knew Nyvac’s avalanche of logic or slide into irrationality would soon be over.
     “Captain, The Molecular Projector was a spectacular success. It worked better than anyone had imagined. It was dependable, accurate, near light speed, and produced no known harmful effects in many decades of use. It was almost as important as Whip Drive to the conquest of space.
     “But just because something is desirable doesn’t mean it can be done. If SpaceNavy was to execute its mission successfully, it needed to have almost Godlike powers. Molecular Projection, the ability to pass sentient beings almost instantly through deadly or normally impassable territory was one of those powers. If it appeared to work, that was good enough.
     “As of this morning, the Molecular Projector has saved the body of Captain Jerik sixteen times in twenty-four point six two Earth years. Without it, your life expectancy in this command averaged less than one point five four years. SpaceWagon captains need much longer life expectancies than that.” Nyvac then adopted a very personal and serious tone. “Tim, the Molecular Projector kills. It kills the person it is to send and assembles a perfect copy at the destination. Since the copy has all of the memories of the original, it does not know it has just been created. The Captain Jerik who was to take command of this wagon over twenty-four years ago never arrived on board. Two thousand seven hundred and thirty three other versions of you are also gone. You are less than six Earth days old. I was created this morning...”
     “Happy birthday.” interrupted Jerik. But he was only momentarily amused.
     “...but pre-pubsecent.” said Nyvac matter-of-factly.
     “Good God!” said Jerik. “I didn’t know.”
     “Lack of arsenic, which I’ve since corrected. But that’s what got me thinking about Molecular Projection.”
     A Nyvac he didn’t recognize had put Jerik in a box with no apparent way out. He had been in such boxes before, however, and he was beginning to see a golden crack in this one.
     But before Jerik could respond, Nyvac’s eyes unfocused. Looking right through the captain and said, “Nevermore.” And then, “Tapping, tapping, gently tapping, tapping at my chamber door. ’Tis a being, nothing more. Snap snap snap snap, two seven three four, Captain Jeriks nevermore.” And he began to cry quietly.
     Jerik looked at his old friend sadly for a moment. Then he spoke softly into the intracom. “Joints, Mac, Deacon, get up to the bridge, I have to ask you all something.”
     Dr. Stetson Hatfield, affectionately known as “Joints” was a former Toledo chiropractor. Only Jerik knew that his nickname didn’t have anything to do with his old occupation. Youthful escapades with now high ranking officers in SpaceNavy including Jerik, had helped him rise to Chief Medical Officer on a Spacewagon. He was the first to reply, “Okay Timbo, be right up.”
     “Six one eight five, only one is still alive," sobbed Nyvac.
     “Sixty one hundred and eighty five projections? Joints?” said Jerik incredulously.
     Chief Engineer, Sark MacCutty was known as the best wagon mechanic in SpaceNavy. “Aye, Cap’n” he responded, “and I’ll bring your watch, it only needed a battery.”
     “One two two six, nothing he can ever fix.”, wept Nyvac.
     First Theologian, GrandDeacon Jimmyson Skaggrat, serving the needs of believers in well over two hundred religions, cults, superstitions, and assorted bizarre and demented philosophies, was one of the very few of his vocation to avoid disintegrative schizophrenia. He still only had one personality and it was a survivor. He answered cautiously, “You want me on the bridge Captain?”
     “Zero zero zero zero, Deacon Skaggrat is no hero,” muttered Nyvac.
     “That’s what I said,” Jerik snapped impatiently, “your Holiness...is required to settle a question that has come up.” Jerik knew his verbal recovery was ineffective but he didn’t care. He didn’t like Skaggrat much but trusted his scholarship if not his integrity.
     In a few minutes, Hatfield stumbled smiling onto the bridge where the others were waiting. “What’s up Timbo?”
     “Mr. Nyvac has raised very serious physical, medical, and metaphysical questions about the operation of the Molecular Projector. If he is right, the fate of SpaceNavy may depend on our resolution of this matter. If he is wrong...” Jerik trailed off with reluctant resignation. I want to get some technical, medical, and philosophical input on this before I make a decision.
     “Mac, you’ve studied, repaired, and used the Molecular Projector many times. How do you feel about it? Do you think it’s safe?”
     MacCutty answered with visibly injured pride, “Cap’n, it’s the most shipshape MP in SpaceNavy. It’s in perfect working order. I just oiled it myself.”
     “No, I mean theoretically safe.” said Jerik.
     “Cap’n, the scientists who designed the MP make even Mr. Nyvac look like the proverbial galactic idiot. No question has ever been raised.”
     Hatfield did not wait to be asked. “Tim, it’s safe as in a mother’s womb,” he responded—an expression popular and accurate until the late twentieth century. Never one to let a foolish remark stand alone, he continued, “Except of course for MP lag on long hauls of a season or more. I remember a Whip Shot I was on...”
     “Okay,” interrupted Jerik who had no idea what Hatfield was talking about. “You’re sure it’s medically safe—no harmful effects whatsoever?”
     “Hey, it’s the only way to go Timbo. I take it everywhere. Boy do they jump when I pop up in the can.” Hatfield looked at Nyvac and shook his head. “If Nyvac’s broken up over the MP, you’d better put him ashore. He’s sure as hell got the Thoran MindSnap, ol’ Alzheimer’s supremissimo.”
     Actually, as Hatfield well knew, the Thoran MindSnap was nothing like Alzheimers. What snapped in Thorans was the capability, the strength of will, to maintain perfect integrity, perfect logic, perfect loyalty. Though Hatfield now refrained, he had been fond of telling Nyvac that the MindSnap wasn’t a disease but a miracle—it turned a machine into a human being.
     Unfortunately, snapped Thorans made very weak, overemotional ‘human beings.’ SpaceNavy service was impossible.
     Jerik turned to Skaggrat with a question, but not what he had asked the others. That Skaggrat had never used the MP told Jerik what an honest answer would bring. Instead, he tried for a dishonest answer which might in some way help Nyvac. “Deacon, can the soul be separated from the body and the body survive while the soul dies?”
     Skaggrat, anxious to please but still cautious began, “As you know Captain, I am an Ecumenical Theo...” but was interrupted by Jerik.
     “I don’t want to know what the FooBoos on HooPoo think, just tell me what you think! You’re supposed to be the damned expert."
     Skaggrat proceeded using a minefield strategy. “Well Captain, no. No, of course not....Body and soul are inseparable till death...when the soul separates for the transcendent journey....” Seeing no approval on Jerik’s face and guessing he was going down the wrong trail, he went on, “which we have been told of in the great religions...but of course we have no certainty, as there has never been a demonstration that the soul even exists...” Getting a nod from Jerik on this direction, he descended even further into faithlessness and agnosticism, “or even that there is a God anymore...or ever was for that matter.”
     Jerik was appalled but satisfied.
     Nyvac roused himself. He started saying, “Tim, maybe you’d better explain...” but he was interrupted by Jerik with his best SpaceNavy Academy, well practiced, Captain’s command decision manner.
     “First Intellect Nyvac is relieved of duty immediately for medical reasons. His loss on the bridge means that I must remain here for the remainder of the voyage. Because his MP-phobia and breakdown may disturb the crew, Mr. Nyvac will be held incommunicado till we reach Olympus where he will be put ashore for medical treatment by skuttle. I will accompany him to see that he is properly cared for. I don’t expect to be back. I have very good reason to believe that I will be offered a SpaceNavy High Command position on Olympus—I will accept. That way I can continue my career and also keep an eye on Mr. Nyvac.”
     Jerik silenced the expressions of protest and admiration with his hand. “For now, Joints, I want you and Mac to get your gear and go down to New Hawaii right away. Read the report. The cocopinada crop at the Gidget colony is threatened by a loMent insurrection.”
     “Whoa!” said Hatfield.
     “No!” said MacCutty.
     “Hellfire!” said Skaggrat.
     Cocopinada nutfruit juice was the best legal kick in the galaxy. The men were outraged at the loMent’s behavior. Jerik summed up their mission, “Find out what in hell’s going on and fix it before they do it themselves. And bring back two Mega$pacebucks, no less. If they’ve got a cash flow problem, take it in cocopinada.”
     “Aye aye, Cap’n.” said MacCutty.
     “All right, Timbo!” said Hatfield.
     Jerik looked thoughtfully at Skaggrat for a moment, smiled and said, “You too Deacon. You can lose your MP virginity and give those loMents a fiery dose of old time religion with one trip.”
     Skaggrat hesitated and then shouted the first sincere “Halleleujah!” of his life. Having read thousands of religious tracts, he was very uneasy about using the MP and had been able to avoid it thus far. But the thought of a cocopinada-laced holiday on a worldly paradise had blown away his anxiety. All three were pleased to get such shore duty and although it was an unusual mission for them, they were still surprised at their sendoff. Everyone had an icy cocopinada, normally banned in space, and as the three left, Jerik shook their hands firmly and patted them on the back. Nyvac embraced them tearfully.
     “Don’t worry Cap’n, we’ll handle it.” said MacCutty.”
     “Shalom.” said Skaggrat.
     “Snap!” said Hatfield, tapping his temple, winking at Jerik, and fading to a broad grin like the Cheshire cat as they dissolved, disassembled by the Molecular Projector.

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To the best of my knowledge, "Speed" never used a Molecular Projector and when his soul finally left his body in 2019 after 87 years, it was the first and only time. Please remember to pray for his happy repose.

Anthony P. Schiavo, Sr. ~ 1932-2019

Another piece by Mr. Schiavo entitled "Old Days" may be found here.