Yet when the city sleeps;
When all the cries are still:
The stars and heavenly deeps
Work out a perfect will.
—Lionel Johnson, “By the Statue of King Charles at Charing Cross”
IN to-day’s world, it is extremely easy to be brought down by the constant flow of bad news in Church and State. “The enemies of a man shall be those of his own household” has never seemed truer than now. But the seemingly endless assaults on all things decent — high or low, important or not — does wear on one — especially when such attacks come from those given high ecclesiastical or political office, to whom one would normally look for support in a fallen world. This in turn trickles down to every level — including our personal relationships. Whatever political theories we may hold, reality itself is not in the least democratic, and the lower always reflects the higher. If those in charge seek to ape the lowest elements in society, that in itself is their choice, not that of those whom they imitate. In a word, the world in which we live seems dominated by malice.
But the word “seems” is all important. Christ is still King, Mary is still Queen; and unlike Their earthly counterparts — whether deposed or “reigning” — They retain complete power over the planet, as well as an often despised authority. The way in which this power is demonstrated, as it has been since the Creation — but especially since Our Lord’s earthly ministry — is by the miraculous.
Now that miraculous comes in innumerable forms — beginning with the many ways in which Jesus showed His contemporaries His power over nature, culminating in His victory over death. He has not ceased to do so, as a comparison of the blood types on the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo on the one hand, and the various Eucharistic Miracles on the other, show. Nor is this the end of it. The Marian apparitions and those of other Saints; incorruptible bodies, miraculous images, shrines, and relics, the miracles required for beatification and canonisation — the list goes on and on. The first modern writer to tackle the whole of this sort of thing was the German Joseph von Goerres in his Christian Mysticism, published in four volumes, from 1836 to 1842. In our own time, Joan Carroll Cruz produced a very important series of books surveying such events.
The reason why these things are important to know about and reflect upon on a fairly constant basis is that they remind us of the need constantly to reset the way we look at reality. Beset by cares and setbacks in both the personal and public spheres, how often do we find ourselves saying something like, “I guess all we can do now is pray,” as though prayer were the least of our options, and a measure of last resort. This is a perfectly natural response, in the face of a world that seems dominated entirely by the powers of darkness.
But by virtue of our Baptism, Confirmation, and reception of the Blessed Sacrament, we are called upon to look at things in a Supernatural light — and should be emboldened to do so by all the many miracles which have occurred, precisely to confirm our Faith, as they did when Jesus physically walked the Earth — that, after all, is their purpose. We should pray for all of our endeavors before we even begin them, knowing that without God’s help, we can accomplish nothing — with it, we may not achieve what we wish to — but we shall achieve what HE wishes us to. That is a different matter, and shall infallibly bring about much better ends than we could decide upon — even if those ends’ superiority is concealed from us in the here and now.
It is readily apparent that, to our eyes, there is a seeming randomness in the eruption of the miraculous into our world. Why is this person healed, and not one? Why does and angel appear to help the Christians at that battle, and not this one? Why does the bread and wine turn to visible flesh and blood at that Mass, but not at any to which I have gone? There are no answers to those questions this side of the grave. But we may be assured that the Divine Intellect is not at all random, but, rather, all-wise and acting for precise and perfect reasons which we are incapable of discerning.
Now, despite the seeming universal triumph of malice, the miraculous is not confined to signs and wonders — not by a long shot. It is discernible in the natural world, where an intricate and pre-ordained order that we take for granted allows us to exist. Gravity, the tides, the seasons — all are in a very real sense miraculous, for there is nothing other than the Divine Will that keeps them functioning. Our Sciences can discern a great deal of how they function — but not why. The very electricity that is allowing me to write these words and you to read them is a mystery — science can describe what it does, but not what it is. This marvellous Divine Order, which the human mind has tried to explore for as long as we have records, is utterly beyond our comprehension — but not, thank God, our use.
Of course, those uses are often turned to evil by our fallen wills and intellects. But their very miraculous nature should remind us that we must strive to use them in God’s service, and not that of the enemy. The sailing ship could bring piracy and slavery, evangelisation and commerce; the internet can bring both pornography and the Faith into every home, however remote. But the reason why these things work at all is to make them available for the best possible use.
The miraculous is at work as well in our own lives. If one looks back at anything good in one’s own life — the circumstance of one’s parents’ meeting; the advent of a successful romance, deep friendship, or even a very good job — the circumstances required for it to happen would often be unbelievable in a fantasy novel. Yet these miracles too are part of the entire package, the Divine Order in the Mind of God.
All of these things should remind us of an essential fact — God loves us. Each and every one of us as individuals, as families, as nations — and mankind as a whole. Whilst we live, we have the opportunity to overcome our fallen nature, return His love, and avail ourselves of the means of Eternal Salvation He has provided for us — the Church and Sacraments; if we do so, He shall take us unto Himself for all Eternity, and make us like Him. Thereat we shall be reunited with all those whom we have loved and lost that were willing to do the same.
This is the reality that undergirds all the struggles and difficulties that take up so much of our regular attention: problems with spouses or friends; tax audits or moronic laws; liturgical suppression or clerical abuse; ill health or outright pandemic; endless wars and the fear of worse yet to come; incompetence at every level; crime and fear of crime; and on and on. These are all real enough in their way, and we certainly have to deal with them. But so has every generation, one way or another, and none can change the essential facts of the human condition.
We all descend from people who managed to live through the horrendous incidents which fill the history of every continent. Some few of our ancestors may have played leading roles in some of those dramas, but most — as with we ourselves to-day — were simply on the receiving end of history. Unless they left written accounts (a very small proportion of the human race), we cannot know how they felt about it all. But because we are here, we know how they responded. In hope of something better eventually, they lived, and begat us. We know that in various times and places, the miraculous erupted into the darkness with which they were faced, and lit a torch which led them at least part of the way in which they had to travel.
It is the same with us, and — just to name a few — the approved Eucharistic Miracles of the past few years, and those attributed to the intercession of Bl. Emperor Charles. It is interesting to note that historically the former usually occur when there is doubt in the Real Presence. The recent ones have all occurred at the Novus Ordo, where perhaps one might be forgiven for thinking there might be greater disbelief in Transubstantiation than among Traditional Mass-goers; indeed, the most recent happened at a Communion Service in Honduras!
Let us bear in mind, then, that despite all the evil in the world, God “is not dead nor doth he sleep.” If we respond to Him the best we can, He shall come to our aid — although that aid may not preserve our life in this World, it shall in the next — and after all, that one lasts forever, unlike this one.
