Battle for Souls
Recently I had the opportunity to enjoy a nice dinner with some friends at their home. At one point during dinner their son Peter recited a poem by G.K. Chesterton entitled “Lepanto.” It is a rather lengthy poem, and it took a few minutes for Peter to get through it. The fact that he did was very impressive. I don’t know of many who could recite something like that especially these days when it seems we largely depend on our devices and the internet to remember things for us. You can read the whole thing online here:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47917/lepanto
It also was a fitting poem to recite in October, the month of the Holy Rosary. Yes, that’s right. The Memorial of the Holy Rosary celebrated on October 7 has its origins in a battle. On October 7, 1571, the “Holy League” comprising the navies of Naples, Sardinia, Venice, the Papacy, Genoa, Savoy, and the Knights Hospitallers engaged the Turkish Ottoman Empire in a massive sea battle. The Holy League was outnumbered, but under the leadership of Don Juan of Austria managed to defeat the Turks, halting their expansion across the Mediterranean. In preparation for the battle, Pope Pius V had ordered that all the churches in Rome be opened day and night, and he encouraged the faithful to pray the Rosary to beg the Virgin Mary’s intercession for the success of the Holy League. Following the victory, the Pope named October 7 as the feast of Our Lady of Victory. His successor Gregory XIII renamed it Our Lady of the Holy Rosary as it remains to this day.
In our day, we don’t think much about the Battle of Lepanto. Our Lady of the Rosary, however, is also connected to a different kind of battle. The battle for our souls is no less real and the stakes are far higher.
We can look at this battle for souls through the lens of the first reading from Sunday October 16th (29th Sunday in Ordinary Time). The story is from Exodus 17:8-13. Moses is leading the people through the desert after their liberation from Egypt and the famous incident at the Red Sea. An ancient people known as the Amalekites attacked Israel. Moses and Joshua organize the resistance. As the battle rages, Moses takes his place on hill and lifts up his hands. As long as his hands are lifted up, the battle goes well for Israel. But as Moses tires his hands fall, and the battle goes ill. Aaron and Hur have to step in to help Moses keep his hands up. With their support, the Israelites carry the day.
On the one hand this is a story of an ancient battle. On the other, there is a deeper spiritual meaning. The Church as the Body of Christ is always engaged in a spiritual warfare for souls. One of the Fathers of the Church (for the life of me I couldn’t find the reference again) saw the enemies of Israel as images of our sins, evil thoughts, and anything that threatened to turn us away from God and the way of the Gospel. The Church engages in this battle by lifting hands in prayer and engaging in works of charity.
As members of the Church, we are soldiers in this battle. Each one has his or her role in this battle. We fight against the temptations to sin and turn away from God through persistent prayer. We also help each other. The Christian life is not a solitary thing. The lone warrior won’t last long. We need to hold each other up as Aaron and Hur did for Moses – through prayer, authentic friendship, patience, encouragement, and fraternal correction among others. So long as we are engaged in prayer the battle goes well. As our prayer fades so does our strength and the battle goes ill.
The Church has a large treasure chest of prayers and spirituality collected from different times and places and lived authentically by the saints. The Rosary has a special place in that treasure chest. While on the cross Jesus gave his Holy Mother to be our Mother. As a good mother, Mary supports us. Through her intercession our hearts and minds are raised up to God. So long as we do that the battle for our souls will go well.
Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lepanto ; “The Battle of Lepanto” by Paulo Veronese
