"Lo, here is the sword of Goliath. . . . There is none like that, give
it to me."--I Kings xxi, 9.
SYNOPSIS.--_David, with God's assistance, his only weapon a pebble,
slew the giant. God gives us, as our weapon, the rosary. This has
proven efficacious in the battles of the Church against heretics and
heathen armies. Examples: Albigenses; Turks at Lepanto and Belgrade;
many epidemics abated or averted by the power of the rosary. This
devotion is just as powerful for the individual and for the family.
God has shown us that He wishes many to co-operate with the Church and
with the Christian in their fight for faith and salvation. Let all use
this weapon._
My dear brethren, in the first book of Kings we read how the
Philistines went forth to battle against the Israelites. The
Philistines arrayed their forces on a mountain, and the Israelites
occupied a mountain on the opposite side, so that the valley was
between them. Then there went out from the hordes of the Philistines a
man named Goliath, a giant of enormous strength, who challenged the
Israelites to let one of their men fight him hand to hand, the result
of this contest to decide the victory or defeat of either army. A youth
named David, inspired and urged by the spirit of God, went forth with a
few smooth stones and a sling to meet this Philistine, and as Goliath
rushed toward him David cast the stones with the sling and struck the
Philistine in the forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth.
David then ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and
slew him. Israel thus gained the victory over the Philistines. But when
for this victory exceeding praise was given to David, King Saul became
angry and sought the life of the youthful hero. In his flight David
came to Nobe. Not having any weapon, he said to the high priest
Achimelech: "Hast thou here at hand a spear or a sword?" The high
priest answered: "Lo, here is the sword of Goliath, whom thou slewest
in the valley of Terebinth, if thou wilt take this, for there is no
other but this." And David said, "There is none like that, give it me."
These last words, which I have made the text for my address to-day, we
may fitly apply to the holy rosary. For the rosary has ever since its
origin proven itself a conquering weapon for the Church, as also well
as for the individual Christian, against the most powerful enemies of
God and of His Church. Let us consider the fact for the greater glory
of God and of the Queen of the rosary.
Since the introduction of the rosary by St. Dominic, for more than six
hundred years therefore, the great victories of Christianity against
the many and ferocious enemies of the Church are ascribed to the
devotion of the rosary. The Church has at all times had enemies, who
with all their power and in all their evil ways have opposed and
persecuted her. Nor is this surprising. Ever since Satan succeeded in
beguiling our first parents into sin, he has continued to sow
dissention among mankind. Beginning with Cain and Abel, there have been
children of God who obeyed God's commandments, and, on the other hand,
children of Satan, as holy Scripture calls them, who seek their
salvation in the pleasures of this life. Since the time of Cain and
Abel, mankind has been split into two divisions, one seeking the
kingdom of God, the other the kingdom of the world, the kingdom of
Satan.
When our Saviour conquered Satan He left him power over those who make
themselves slaves to the sensual pleasures, and thus there exists an
evil force against the Church, and it will exist to the end of time.
This is a fact that we must keep in view in order to fully understand
and judge the conditions. The realm of darkness, Satan's realm, stands
opposed to the realm of Christ. Satan and his adherents carry on the
warfare against the Church of Christ, as they assaulted Christ Himself.
"As they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you," so did
Christ prophecy.
The Church of Christ demands the subjection of the flesh; she preaches
against luxury, pride and selfishness. She preaches chastity and
submission to the commandments of God; she preaches penance alike to
those of high and low station in life. This angers all those who would
indulge in the evil things of this world. They cry: "Let us break her
bonds asunder; and let us cast away her yoke from us." But as Christ
foretold the persecution of His Church, so He also foretold that the
gates of hell would not prevail against her. The Church of God will in
due time conquer all her enemies, some will be converted, while others
who are obstinate will perish in the battle. In all these battles and
victories of the Church, Mary, blessed mother of her divine Founder,
co-operates with the Church through her intercession. Mary was already
spoken of in paradise as the one who would come to tread upon the head
of the serpent, the spirit of darkness. This she has done by becoming
the mother of God, by bringing forth the Redeemer. And as Jesus through
Mary's co-operation came into this world, so He desires her
co-operation in ruling the world. The history of the contests and
Victories of the Church verify this throughout the centuries.
The evil spirit has a twofold weapon with which he assails and combats
God's Church; namely, the godless rulers of the world and heresy.
Through the godless authorities of the world Satan has endeavored since
the beginning to crush the Church; through heresy he attempts to
destroy the Church by internal dissension. Both weapons are used
together, for heresy and calumny can not prevail without substantial
support, and heretics seek worldly power and assistance. On every page
of Church history we find recorded the clashes planned by these evil
forces, from which the Church always came out not conquered, but a
conqueror.
The history of the veneration of Mary tells us that the Blessed Virgin
Mary helped to win these victories. During the early times, when fierce
battles against the Church were raging, bishops and priests knew of no
more efficacious means to avert these dangers than to exhort the
faithful to pray to the Blessed Virgin. Thus we read in history that
the holy bishops and martyrs Ignatius and Irenaeus did this in the
second century, and in the third century it was Pope Calixtus who
advised the faithful to take refuge with the Blessed Virgin in time of
persecution of the Church. And so on through all Christian times.
Since the introduction of the rosary by St. Dominic all great victories
have been credited to the devotion of the rosary. The first great
conquest of the Church effected by the rosary was the victory over the
Albigenses, who had spread heresy in southern France and had caused
great havoc in Church and State.
St. Bernard complained in those times: "The churches are empty, the
people without priests, the Sacraments without reverence. People on
their deathbed refuse the assistance of the Church, ridicule penance."
How the weapon with which this heresy was conquered was the rosary we
have related in a previous sermon. This was the first glorious victory
through the devotion of the rosary. It was the sword with which the
Church slew the proud Goliath of heresy.
Another wonderful victory through this miraculous weapon of
Christianity was the defeat of the Turkish navy at Lepanto, on October
7, 1571. The so-called reformation, of which Martin Luther was the
originator, had spread over the whole of Europe, bringing in its trail
destruction, dissension and war. The Turks, who had long thirsted for
vengeance upon the Christians, found situations favorable for their
plans. They gathered all their forces to assail the Christian lands.
The princes of Europe were either indifferent, or were besieged with
difficulties in their own lands, and Luther even said he preferred the
Turks to the papacy. Pope Pius V alone realized the great danger that
threatened Christianity and he called upon the Christian people to
defend country and Church against the common enemy.
The Christian forces which could be assembled were very small compared
with those of the Turks. Nevertheless Pius V knew of another power
which he realized would be a mighty ally. With all his energy he
exhorted his people to implore the Blessed Virgin and glorious Queen of
heaven, through the rosary, to come to the assistance of the Christian
army. It was, as Leo XIII said in his Commendation of the rosary, an
ennobling sight, which drew the eyes of the whole world; on one side,
not far from the Corinthian Sea, the Christians prepared to sacrifice
life for religion and country; while gathered on the other side,
imploring through the rosary Mary's assistance for the fighting
Christians, were many Christians unable to take up arms.
The small army of Christians attacking the great force of the Turkish
fleet was an undertaking similar to the assault of David upon the giant
Goliath. On October 7, 1571, the deciding battle was fought, in the Bay
of Lepanto. The battle raged from six o'clock in the morning until six
o'clock at night. It was one of the most terrific battles ever fought.
And, lo! in the evening, toward six o'clock, the battle ended in the
victory of the Christians over their powerful enemy. This wonderful
victory of the Christians was undoubtedly due to the assistance of the
Blessed Virgin. Pope Pius V so declared, and in memory of this
wonderful achievement he added to the litany of the Blessed Virgin the
supplication: "Help of Christians, pray for us!" He also ordained that
the anniversary of this victory be celebrated as the feast of "Our Lady
of Victory," which Gregory XIII subsequently styled the "Feast of the
Rosary."
In the annals of the Church there is another great victory over the
Turks recorded which once more demonstrated the power of the rosary. It
was the great victory in the campaign against the Turks at the
beginning of the eighteenth century.
After the Turks had been defeated at sea, they endeavored to conquer on
land. They forced their way to Hungary, and had taken possession of
eight provinces, when Emperor Charles VII sent an army against them
under the command of Prince Eugene. This army was composed of only
seventy thousand men. With this meager force Prince Eugene defeated two
hundred thousand Turks and laid siege to Belgrade, their stronghold.
Prince Eugene, before engaging the enemy, implored the help of the
Blessed Virgin, through the rosary, and then with confidence in God's
assistance went to battle and to glorious victory. Thirty thousand
Turks were slain on the battlefield; the others fled. The rosary again
had won the victory, and on the feast day of the Blessed Virgin.
In the same manner as the rosary was a successful weapon against
heretics and other enemies of the Church, it has demonstrated its
wonderful efficiency in individual cases of stress, and of such I will
mention a few instances. In the year 1578 a fearful epidemic devastated
the city of Pavia. The terrified people made a public vow to build a
chapel to our Blessed Lady of the Rosary if the epidemic would cease.
And the very day the vow was made the epidemic did abate. A similar
case happened in Cologne, where people were saved from an epidemic
after such a vow had been made. That cases like these are innumerable'
is manifested by the many chapels built as a result of such vows, and
by the votive tablets in pilgrimage churches dedicated to Mary. Sight
is restored to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, the
use of their limbs to the crippled, diseases of all kind are cured, by
invoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin by means of the
devotion of the rosary.
The conversion of a hardened sinner is, after all, a greater miracle
than all cures of disease. And such conversions to this day are as
numerous as they were at the time the rosary was introduced. Entire
nations, provinces and cities have been converted to God through his
devotion. Blessed John, a companion of St. Dominic, wrote a book about
the miraculous power of the rosary. The blessed Alanus de la Roche
tells of a bishop, in whose diocese morality was decadent, who finally
took up the devotion to the rosary, explained it to his people, prayed
it with them, and had it introduced in all parishes. Soon the people
abandoned their evil ways.
St. Clement Hofbauer assures us: "When I am called to a sick man of
whom I know that he is averse to making his peace with God, on the way
I pray my rosary, and when I reach him I am sure to find him desirous
to receive the Sacraments."
The holy doctor Alphonsus of Liguori relates from his experience: "The
walls of Jericho did not collapse more quickly at the trumpet call of
Josue than false teachings disappear after the earnest praying of the
rosary. The swimming pool of Jerusalem was not as healing for the
bodily sick as the rosary is as remedy for the spiritually diseased."
These few examples, to which I could add hundreds of other similar
instances, prove the miraculous efficacy of the rosary. Oh, that all
Christians would grasp this weapon to attack and conquer all enemies of
Church and soul!
Great dangers threaten the spiritual weal of the individual, family and
community. Let us, then, arise and grasp the mighty sword which is like
to none, the holy rosary, and let us attack with it the Goliath of our
times, corruption and godlessness. As David courageously met the enemy
of Israel with the humble sling in his hand and conquered because God
was with him, so let us face the enemies of Christendom and of our
salvation, with the humble wreath of the rosary in our hands, and the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin will secure for us God's grace and
assistance, and with God to fight our battles, who will do us harm?
Amen!