Full Text for The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist (Text)

\ '. Cltnurnrbiu m4tuingual AtntlJlg Continuing LEHRE UND WEHRE MAGAZIN FUER Ev.-LuTH. HOMILETIK THEOLOGICAL Q UARTERLy-THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY Vol. XID February, 1942 No. 2 CONTENTS Pqe Through Justification unto Salvation. Theo. Hoyer _._........_______ 81 Luther: A Blessiug to the English. oW. Dallmann _._. _____.____._________ III The Progressive Revelation of the Antiehrist. P . E. Kretzmann _______ 120 Outlines on the Wuerttemberg Epistle Selections ______..____..__..________ 137 Theolotieal Observer. - Kirehlieh-Zeitgesehiehtliehes ____________ 145 Book Review. - Literatur ---_____._________._________._________________ 154 Ein Predlger mUll DIehl alleln wei­ Ell 1st Jrein Ding, das die Leute deB. al80 dais er die Scbate unter­ mehr bet cler K1rche behaelt denn wei8e, wle sle rechte Chrfslen lOllen die gute Predlgt. - Apologie. Art. !4 seln, sondern auch claneben den Woel­ fen wehretl, dais ale die Schafe DIehl ancrelfm und mit falscher Lehre ver­ If the trumpet give an uncertain fuebren und Irrtum einfuehren. sound, who shall prepare htmself to LutheT the battle? - 1 Cor. 14:8 PabUshed for the Ev. Luth. Synod of Missouri, Ohio, and Other States •CONCORDIA PUBUSBING BOUSE, St. Louis, Me: 120 The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist favorers, against their works and books, and against those bringing them into the kingdom. The guilty ought to be burned. The King thinks Bishop Fisher of Rochester to be the most meet to make that sermon. Wood's Annals tells us of 1521: "While these things were in doing, certain persons of Martin Luther 's faction (as they wer e now called) were busy in Oxford in dispersing his doctrine and books. So far, it seems, were they spread in a short time through several parts of the Nation, that the Cardinal wrote to the Universitie to appoint certain men from among them to go up to London, to examine and search his opinions that were predominent against the articles of Holy Faith. Whereupon, after consultation had, they appointed Thomas Brinknell, John Kynton, John Roper, and John de Coloribus, doctors of divinity, who, meeting at that place divers learned men and bishops in a solemn Convocation in the Cardinal's House, and finding his doctrine to be for the most part repugnant to the present used in England, solemnly condemned it , a testimony of which was afterwards sent to Oxford, and fastened on the dial of St. Mary's Churchyard by Nicholas Kratzer, the maker and contriver thereof and his books also burnt both here and at Cambridge." Kratzer was born at Muenchen, became a Bachelor of Arts at Wittenberg, a fellow of Corpus Chr isti College at Oxford on July 4, 1517, and in 1520 the king's "Estronomyer," at hundred shillings the quarter. "He made the old dial in Corpus Christi College garden; and that standing on a pillar in St. Mary's south churchyard, in High Street of the city of Oxon." Thus the Reformation, made in Germany, came to England. Cardinal Gasquet correctly calls it "the Lutheran invasion." Oak Park, Ill. (To be continued) W. DALLMANN The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist That there have been many antichristian forces, many "anti- christs" in the world since the days of our blessed Savior, that, in fact, they had their origin in apostolic times, is clearly stated in Holy Scripture, as in 1 J ohn 2: 18; 4:3; 2 John 7. Our knowledge of this fact, therefore, and our belief in this truth, is based upon a teaching, a doctrine, of the Bible. That, in addition, there would come one great Antichrist, one whose antecedents would go back to the days of the apostles, is just as clearly and emphatically stated in H oly Scr ipture. Cpo 1 J ohn 4: 3; 2 Thess. 2: 3-12 (also the pertinent passages in Daniel and in the Book of Revelation) . The Biblical basis for the doctrine of the Antichrist, as held by the Lutheran Church and by many others, The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist 121 has been sufficiently, even exhaustively, treated by many Biblical commentators and also in the pages of this journal.1 ) (See Vol. II, 241-244; IV, 424-435.) The present paper is intended only to follow the development of this phenomenon of the Antichrist through the centuries, with particular emphasis upon such incidents in the history of dogma and of the Church as will enable the stu- dent of Scripture and of history to appreciate the truly diabolical ingenuity which has attended the growth of the antichristian teaching and the antichristian power Imm its inception, in apos- tolic days, to its present position of unprecedented authority and influence, not only in the ecclesiastical, but even in the temporal domain. Here are the m ost significant facts . Paul had spoken of the "mystery of iniquity" as already working, and he had named some of the characteristics of the "man of sin," the "son of perdition," namely, a falling away from the truth of the apostolic preaching, an opposing and exalting himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, a placing himself in the temple of God and showing himself that he is God, a coming after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, together with other mar ks by and through which that man of sin would be clearly revealed, so that he could be definitely recognized by all who followed the Scriptural explanation and description; hence the warning that the Christians should let no man deceive them by any means. To these facts, listed by P aul about the middle of the first century, the Apostle John has added as a specific characteristic of antichristian movements in general and the one great Antichrist in particular that he would not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, namely, as the one and only Savior of mankind. To these char- acteristics we might add others spoken of, for example, in the prophecy of Daniel and in the Book of Revelation, also in 1 Tim. 4: 1-3, which certainly present other antichristian traits, but the enumeration as given above will suffice. As both Paul and John affirm, the antichristian forces which were to find their final exponent, their climax, in the one great Antichrist, were at work even in the first century, in its sixth and tenth decades. As John puts it, this spirit of Antichrist was "even now already in the world," 1 John 4: 3. Certain manifestations of his influence were even then observable. We m ay readily concede that Judaizing tendencies and incipient Gnosticism were symptoms of antichristian leaven, but they were, in their own specific form, 1) The reader is referred, in this connection, to monographs by Brochmand. Dannhauer, Hoenegg, Fick , Philippi, Zapf, and the many exhaustive discussions of the subject in the standard Lutheran books on doctrinal theology. 122 The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist sporadic and temporary, and did not attach themselves to a phe- nomenon which became a permanent menace in the Church. But the spirit of Antichrist was definitely active, also in the direction which, vvithin a few centuries, attached the entire list of cha.rac~ teristics, as give!'"l Paul and J'ohn, to the Roman pontiff as the head and exponent of a system which alone, and in every detail, fits the description of the Antichrist in Holy Scripture. In the temple of God, in the midst of the Christian Church, an ecclesiastical hierarchy was developed which, from apostolic times onward, proved to be a virus of tremendous potency. Though the distinction in ministerial rank was at first accepted only iure humano, it was urged as existing iure divino as early as Ignatius of Antioch and very definitely promulgated by Cyprian of Carthage and others. This teaching paved the way for a centralized, totali- tarian government in the Church, which has been one of the strongest factors in the growth and in the authority of the Anti- christ, for it practically compelled every member of tbe Church to place himself under the jurisdiction of the priestly caste in the Church, dependent almost entirely upon the sacrificial activities and the intercessory functions of the incumbents of the holy office and under obligations of absolute obedience to the various members of the system, all under the domination of the one supreme, "di- vinely instituted" head, the Pope of Rome. In the temple or God, in the: -m.idst of the Chris1 -hurch,' gradual deposition and dqthronemqnt of Christ 8.S the all-sllfHcient Savior of mankind took place. It is true that, throughout the cen- turies, we find countless doctrinal expressions and even entire monographs asserting and demonstrating the divinity of the Savior. But all such perfonnances must be discounted OT even entirely eliminated by virtue of the fact that the Church of Rome has denied in fact what it taught in theory. We shall take up this matter once more, and in greater detail, at the end of the present discussion. At this point We :-;hall merE:ly ~H"ert a y'uv~o.tion fIuD."l Mauro's OJ the Things Which Must Soon Come to Pass (p.l07 f.): "In direct opposition to each of these features of revealed truth concerning the 'Son of God,' though the opposition is indeed disguised (so far as possible) with diabolical cleverness, the Romish heresy syste~ matically presents Jesus Christ not as the Son of God, but as the Son of Mary. In all its doctrine, in all its ceremonies, in all its liturgy and books of devotion, in all its pictures and images, and in all its literature, the false Church of Rome, with most consummate and satanic craft, and with most deadly purpose, exalts ~._" ... " - making her the compassionate one, the efficacious intercessor on behalf of ::;i:-:.-:;.ars, th? :o:-ecl med.iS'tC'!' betwepn nod ann mf'U, and exhi.bits Christ in a position of subordination, the effect being, of course, T:l e Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist 123 that the millions who are thus deluded and blinded by the 'god of this world' are led to put their trust in Mary instead of in .r esus Christ, the Son of God. It does not in the least affect the truth of what we are now setting forth th at in Romish formular ies the words of Scripture are often used, and that Christ is often referred to therein by His Scriptural titles ; for all that is but a part, and a most effective part, of the scheme of deception. The devil knows the Scripture, and he knows how to quote it to his own ends; and he knows also how to mix in with the pure meal the deadly poison of his own doctrine. Notwithstanding, therefore, the orthodoxy of creeds and formularies, the maintenance professedly of the doc- trine of the Trinity (though truly it is denied in practice) and all that, the Christ of Romanism is 'another Jesus.''' Truly the words of John in his first epistle, chap. 4: 3, are fulfilled in the Papacy. In the temple of God, in the midst of the Christian Church, the contamination of the Eucharist, of the Sacrament of the Lord's Sup- per, was brought about.2 ) Here again it was a truly diabolical cleverness that succeeded in bringing in the idea of a further neces- sary sacrifice. It was but natural, almost inevitable, that this first step in the false direction should lead to others, to the blasphemy of transubstantiation, to the adoration of the host, to the withdrawal of the chalice, and in particular to the mass of the Romish Church, that abomination of wickedness which has not only vitiated the Lord's Supper, but has made the ent ire system of church relation- ships and church duties one of mere outward performance. Truly, this is one of the great marks of the Antichrist, the subversion and denial of one of the most beautiful and comforting truths of the Gospel. All this, of course, is associated with the very core and essence of the Antichristian system, for in the temple of God, in the midst of the Christian Church, the fundamental doctrine of Christianity, that of justification by faith through grace, was gradually discarded in favor of a blatant work-righteousness that subver ts the very foundations of the Gospel. One of the most discouraging chapters in the entire history of dogma is this loss of the great doctrine of Christ and His apostles, namely, that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the Law. This development was the inevitable consequence of the situation in the Church, especially of its pro- gr essive externalization in the matter of its hierachical govern- ment, its gradual deposition of Christ as the one Savior of man- 2) See "The Sacrificial Concept in the Eucharist of the Early Church," in the Theological Quarterly, October, 1920; "The Eucharist between 30 A. D. and 325 A. D.," in CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY, I (1930), 167-183; also "The Corpus Christi Festival and Its Doctrine," in the Theological Quarterly, Jan. and April, 1915. 124 The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist kind, its emphasis upon the second Sacrament as an opus operatum, and similar factors. In the temple of God, in the midst of the Christian Church, other doctrines were gradually promulgated . which were, as a matter of fact, in some manner related to those which have already been enumerated. The authority of the Bible as the one infallible source of doctrine and norm of life, was undermined by the ac- ceptance of a translation which bristled with errors and by the in- sistence upon the "traditions of the Church," including also the decrees of councils as being on a level with the inspired Scriptures. The doctrine of original sin was vitiated by the insistence upon the free will of man, even after the Fall (also of the impeccability of Mary) . "Sacraments" were introduced into the Church which lacked the institution of Christ and were, in effect, a further effort to strengthen the power of the Roman hierarchy, to wit, confirma- tion, marriage, ordination, extreme unction, and penance. The veneration, and eventually the adoration, of the saints was intro- duced more and more, this movement being associated funda- mentally with the prayers for the dead as used in the great liturgies, particularly that of Rome. The doctrine of purgatory was intro- duced in connection with work- righteousness, and the abomination of indulgences began to flourish. And throughout the centur ies the power and authority of the Pope was emphasized more and more. No wonder that pious souls throughout the centuries, and espe- cially after the days of Gregory VII, sighed on account of the deplorable condition of the Church and implored the Lord of the Church for help. The answer of the Lord came in the days of the Reformation and in particular through the work of Martin Luther. Just how the Lord revealed the unspeakable depravity of the Papacy and brought Luther and his coworkers to the realization that the Pope was in truth the Antichrist has been related so frequently that every student of the Reformation should be familiar with the facts. (See, for example, Fick, Das Geheimnis der Bosheit, and some of the monographs referred to above; also, in recent years, Hans P reuss, Die V orstellungen vom Antichrist im spaeteren Mittel- alter, bei Luther und in der konfessionellen Polemik, p. 83 ff.) One fact is clear beyond the possibility of controversy, namely, that Luther, by the grace and in the power of the one Lord of the Church , led the stream of the Word of God into this structure, which had been defiled by the doctrines of men, and thus restored the Church of Christ to its pristine and apostolic purity. Thus the Wicked One was revealed, 2 Thess. 2: 8; the Antichrist was exposed. But though the Antichrist, in keeping with Rev. 12-14, had received a severe blow, he still did live, Rev, 13: 14, for this strong delusion would The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist 125 be destroyed only with the brightness of the Lord's coming, 2 Thess. 2: 8. How are we to look upon the events which transpired between the first denunciation of the Papacy as the Antichrist by Wyclif and Huss and especially by Luther and the close of the Council of Trent in 1563? These years are to be regarded in the same way as those during which the Lord gave His chosen people of the Old Testament the final opportunity to embrace the truth of the Savior who had appeared in the person of Jesus Christ, between 27 and 70 A. D. They were times of testing, of searching the hearts. Be- tween the last decades of the fourteenth century and the seventh decade of the sixteenth century, and specifically between 1517 and 1563, the Lord gave all the members of the Church an opportunity to decide for the truth. The alternative before them was: Christ or - Antichrist. The Church of Christ had, of course, been there all the time, hidden, to a large degree, under the filth and debris of the doctrines of the Antichrist, which Luther had now washed away with the limpid stream of God's holy Word. But the Anti- christ and his minions, hardening their hearts against the gracious call of the Lord, just as the Jews of the first century had hardened their hearts against the preaching of the apostles, gathered the filth and the debris which had been swept out of the structure of the Church and therewith built up a denomination of their own. The Roman Catholic Church, more properly called the Romish sect, the Church of the Antichrist, had its inception with the Council of Trent, and should be so dated in all sound books of church history. For the decrees of this sect clearly indicate that the tenets which were accepted and promulgated under the juris- diction of the Papacy have now been received as the official doc- trines of this new denomination. We offer only a few samples of doctrines, taken from the Canons and Decrees of the Council of T1·ent (ed. by J. Waterworth): On the Sacred Books of the Chu7·ch. - "If anyone receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin Vulgate version, and knowingly and deliberately contemn the traditions aforesaid: let him be anathema. . . . Moreover, the same sacred and holy Synod, - con- sidering that no small utility may accrue to the Church of God, if it be made known which out of all the Latin editions, now in circu- lation, of the sacred books, is to be held as authentic, - ordains and declares that the said old and Vulgate edition, which, by the lengthened usage of so many years, has been approved of in the Church, be, in public lectures, disputations, sermons, and exposi- 126 The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist tions, held as authentic; and that no one is to dare, or presume to reject it under any pretext whatever." (P.19.) On Justification. - "Canon IX. If anyone saith that by faith alone the impious is just ified, in such wise as to mean that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to the obtaining the grace of justification, and that it is not in any way necessary that he be pre- pared and disposed by the movement of his own will: let him be anathema." (P.45.) "Canon XXI. If anyone saith that Christ Jesus was given of God to men as a Redeemer in whom to trust, and not also as a legis- lator whom to obey: let him be anathema." (P.47.) On the Sacraments. - "If anyone saith that by the said sacra- ments of the New Law grace is not conferred through the act per- formed (ex opere operato) , but that faith alone in the divine promise suffices for the obtaining of grace: let him be anathema." (P.55.) On Transubstantiation. - "And because that Christ, our Re- deemer, declared that which He offered under the species of the bread to be truly His own body, therefore it has ever been a firm belief in the Church of God, and this holy Synod doth now declare it anew, that by the consecration of the bread and of the wine a conversion is made (conversionem fieri ) of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of His blood; which conversion is, by the holy Catholic Church, suitable and properly called transubstantiation." (P.78.) On the Eucharist. - "Canon IX. If anyone saith that, after the consecration is completed, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ are not the admirable sacrament of the Eucharist, but (are there) only during the use, whilst it is being taken, and not either before or after, and that, in the host, or consecrated particles, which are reserved or which r emain after Communion the true body of the Lord remaineth not: let him be anathema." "Canon VI. If anyone saith that in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist Christ, the only- begotten Son of God, is not to be adored with the worship, even external of latria; and is, consequently, neither to be venerated with a special festive solemnity, nor t o be borne about in processions, according to the laudable and universal rite and custom of the holy Church, or is not to be proposed (pro- ponendum) publicly to the people to be adored, and that the adorers thereof are idolaters: let him be anathema." (P. 83.) We could continue to quote from this compendium of blas- phemy for pages upon pages, particularly also from the section entitled "On the Sacrifice of the Mass," "On the Invocation of The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist 127 Saints," etc., but space will not permit. Every Lutheran theologian is familiar with the fact that Martin Chemnitz, in his Examen Con- cilii Tridentini, has so completely demolished the papal, that is, the antichristian declarations, resolutions, and decrees of the Romish sect that the veriest tyro in the field of sound theology must admit that the Antichrist, the papal system with its visible head, the Pope of Rome, have been fully exposed on the basis of the soundest Biblical arguments and proofs. But the objection has been raised that there have been further manifestations in the papal system since the Reformation, and that, since other antichristian phenomena may still come, therefore our argument as to the identification of the Antichrist is weakened. But the very opposite is true. If men were not yet satisfied with the manner in which the Antichrist was exposed during the period of the Reformation, the Lord, as it were, brought further evidence of the unspeakable corruption of the P apacy. Thus it was a well- known fact , which had actually been utilized by the papal system for centuries, that the Pope was to be regarded as the infallible teacher of the Church and of the universe. This tenet of the in- fallibility of the Pope, when speaking ex cathedra, was made a dogma of the Romish sect by the Vatican Council of 1870, thereby affording another bit of evidence that the Pope is truly the Anti- christ, who "opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as god sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. 2: 4. And the end is not yet. We stated above that the antichristian forces of the Church, even in the early centuries, had begun the movement to dethrone Christ and that the Mariolatry as practised in the Romish sect is a proof for its virtual rejection of the Savior. That there is a systematic movement on foot to carry the blasphemy of Mariolatry to the last extreme is shown by recent developments regarding the tenet of the so-called "assumption of Mary." This teaching or tenet, found in the Church since the sixth century, is not yet a dogma of the Church, but is practically so regarded by the leaders of Antichrist, and it seems to be only a question of time before it will be so promulgated. Cabrol, in his The Year's Liturgy (Vol. II, p.40), says concerning the assumption of Mary: "This belief is by no means a defined dogma of faith, but it is so firmly rooted in Christian piety that it would be temerarious to deny it." And in an article in A merica, of August 9, 1941, we find the statement: "It is not yet a defined article of faith; yet it has been held dearly through many centuries and seems clearly in- cluded among the prerogatives which God conferred on His blessed Mother. It is very probable that our own century will see this doctrine raised to the dignity of an article of faith. If so, we 128 The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist shall then complete the tale of the end of Mary's days w ith as beautiful a doctrine as that which touches her beginnings in im- maculate conception." What shall we say to these things? Are we merely deabng w ith a strange conceit of the Papacy, ·with an innocuous delusion? We offer at this time just three bits of evidence as to whither this t rend will lead, namely, to the final deposition and dethronement of our blessed Savior, so that the Antichrist will have removed the Savior entirely from His place in the plan of redemption and placed a creature in His stead. Exhibit No.1 is taken from Kearney, The Meaning of the Mass (3d enlarged edition, 1940, Chapter VII, "In Union with Mar y ," p. 167 ff.): Our union with the Holy Sacrifice therefore must be through Mary and with Mary, through her assistance and in union with her total abandonment to the Divine Majesty. Without her motherly help we can never hope to overcome our inor dinate self-seeking so as to give ourselves to God without reserve in union with Jesus, making the divine will our sole guide in all we do. But through her assistance we can confidently expect, in spite of our weakness, a real advance in the con- formity of our will to God's will, a rapid advance in the perfection of our surrender to God in union with the surrender of our Lord. Exhibit No.2 is taken from a booklet which is gener ally dis- tributed among members of the Roman Catholic Church. It is called Communion Devotions in Union with Mary, and its sixth edition numb ered 140,000 copies. We quote just a few of the prayers found in this booklet : At the Gradual Blessed and honored be thou, 0 Virgin Mary, who in virginal purity didst become the Mother of the Savior. V. 0 Blessed Virgin and Mother of God, thou didst bear in thy womb Him whom the heavens cannot contain. R. After childbirth, 0 Virgin, thou didst remain inviolate. 0 Mother of God, plead for us. At the Canon Most holy Virgin, now, in this supreme moment, when the heavens are about to open and thy Divine Son to descend upon this altar, remember that I am wholly thine, remember to make intercession for me. I confide to thee, now and always, my body and my soul, all my toils and labors, all my joys and sorrows, all my prayers and good works. Do thou thyself present all my necessities and the desires of my heart to thy Divine Son. I also place under thy maternal protection, my parents, relatives, benefactors, friends, and enemies. Pray, 0 Blessed Mother, for the Holy Church, for our Holy Father, the Pope, fo r all the bishops, priests, and religious. Pray for the rising generation, for sinners, infidels, heretics, for the oppressed, the tempted, the sick and dying. I beseech thee, by thy Immaculate Heart, which I venerate and love so dearly, obtain for me the grace of participating in all the merits of this Holy Sacrifice. The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist 129 At Holy Communion . 0 Mary, my dearest Mother, at this important moment I con- fidently turn to thee. Holiest Mother, I pray thee, lend me thy Heart, thy Heart so beautiful, so pure and immaculate, thy Heart full of love and humility, that I may be able to receive Jesus with the same senti- ments with which thou didst receive Him. Come, 0 Mary, thyself to rue, and receive Jesus in me. Thou canst do so, 0 loving Mother, on account of the dominion thou dost exercise over all hearts. o Jesus, true Son of God, I believe in Thee! 0 Jesus, my only Refuge, I hope in Thee! 0 Jesus, my sovereign Good, I love Thee! And because I love Thee, I am sorry that I have offended Thee. (If you cannot receive sacramentally, make an act of desire to receive spiritually) o Jesus, who on account of Thy special love for Mary dost still long to take Thy delight and rest in her, and dost desire to take this rest even in my soul, which is poorer and more wretched than was the stable of Bethlehem - behold, in humility and love I lead Thee into the Heart of Mary and present Thee to Thy Mother. o my dearest Mother, I give thee the most noble of gifts, the same that the Heavenly Father presented to thee. With filial love I place J esus in thy maternal arms, in thy virginal bosom, and enclose Him with greatest reverence in thy sweetest Heart. o Mother most admirable, adore Hiru, love Him, thank Him for me and in my name. I ask for nothing else than to belong wholly to thee and to Christ now and forever. After Holy Communion o holiest Virgin and Mother of God, I beseech thee, obtain for me the great grace to receive the Most Holy Sacrament at the end of my life; that in the true faith and in union with Jesus Christ, I may happily yield my spirit, and be found worthy to behold God in H is glory, to love and possess Him eternally . . . . Prayer to Mary to Obtain Love, Humility, and Purity . .. 0 heavenly Virgin, Queen of my heart, at this moment I renew from the depths of my soul the perfect consecration which I have made to thee, of all that I am and have. I belong to thee entirely, but thou also dost belong to me. Jesus, thy Son, whom I shall receive, has given thee to me as my Mother, and I have chosen thee for my Mother and Mistress. I am now about to become the sanctuary of Jesus: but what a poor dwelling I offer to the King of heaven! Ah, I dare not open to Him the door of my heart, so sinful, cold and tepid. Thou, 0 good Mother, must receive Him in me and be to Him a dwelling-place. He finds His pleasure and delight wherever thou art; even the stable of Bethlehem was delightful to Him because of thy presence. Then He will also be pleased to take up His abode in my soul, if He finds His dear Mother there. Come, therefore, dearest Mother; give me thy pure, love-glowing Heart in place of mine, so cold and guilty. Adorn me with thy virtues and merits, and Jesus will find in my soul the perfect preparation which thy soul offered Him at the moment of His incarnation, and which He found there also after His ascension, when thou didst receive Him in Holy Communion. Jesus will rest with delight amidst the lilies of thy virginal purity! He will be honored and glorified by thy profound adoration, by thy sublime praises! What happiness for me, thy child! I can give thee Jesus, the same gift the Eternal Father gave thee on the day of the incarnation. I offer to thee, 0 my merciful Mother, the King of angels and of men. Through Jesus and in Him I am enabled to honor, love and thank thee worthily for the many graces and mercies thou hast shown 9 130 The Progressive Revelation of tbP. Antichrist me during life. Lend me thy Heart, then, 0 Mary; help me to love my God. 0 my Blessed Mother, remember, it is Jesus whom I am about to receive; assist me to prepare my poor heart for His reception. Exhibit No.3, the most comprehensive of all, is taken from the "Ecclesiastical Review" of May, 1941. It is entitled The Rela.tion of the Eucharist to the Blessed Virgin, its author being His Excel- lency, Monsignor Ernesto Ruffini, Rome, Italy: Solemn Holy Hour of Adoration held in the Church of St. Mary Major of Rome, on the occasion of the Third National Italian Congress of Priest Adorers, April 27, 1939 FIRST QUARTER HOUR ADORATION Jesus is Present 1. Jesus is present in the Holy Eucharist, truly, really, substantially, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. He had promised this presence in the celebrated discourses He pronounced in the Synagog of Capharnaum immediately after the first multiplication of the loaves, and His walking upon the waters of Tiberias: I am the living bread, which came down from heaven . . .. For My flesh is meat indeed: and My blood is drink indeed . . . . As the living Fathej' hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:51,56, 58). The promise was fulfilled at the last supper, in the Cenacle: Take ye and eat, this is My Body. . . . Take and drink ye all of this, this is the chalice of My blood. By virtue of these words, which are words of consecration, and by natural concomitance, Jesus Christ is entirely present under both species. This is confirmed by the great Apostle Paul in the first letter to the Corinthians (written about the year 57). The chalice of benediction, which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? And the bread, which we break, is it not the partaking of the body of the Lord? . .. Therefore whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord (1 Cor. 10: 16; 11: 27) . This is a great mystery, Mysterium Fidei, which has its origin in the impenetrable obscurities of substance and which is lost in the infinite power of God. Jesus is True God 2. Jesus was called "My beloved Son" by the Father, and He Him- self declared that He was the only-begotten Son of the Father (John 3: 16-18; 9: 35-38; 10: 30; Matt. 26: 63 etc.), proving His assertion by His life, His miracles, His prophecies; and this truth is ratified by the firmest conviction, nineteen centuries of the faith of our Holy Church. The Eucharist itself bears the countersign of the divinity; what indeed is more humble than the Eucharistic bread? And yet there is nothing more glorious. To realize this, just think of the solemn cere- monial celebrated around our altars, of the majestic national and inter- national Eucharistic Congresses. The innumerable Catholic Churches scattered over the w orld with the treasures contained in them, what are they but little dwelling places of the Eucharist? What is more fragile than a host? And yet no force is comparable to the consecrated Host. Stainless purity in the midst of corruption, martyrdom sustained with the greatest heroism by weak human beings, The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist 131 the most disinterested and sacrificing apostolate for the salvation of souls, these are fruits of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the very center of our holy Religion, all the marvelous life and story of the Church has its support and its explana- tion in the Eucharist. 3. By our belief in the Holy Eucharist, we profess the dogma of the Holy Trinity, of the Incarnation, and consequently, of Original Sin, and of the Supernatural Order, the dogma of the resurrection of the body (I will raise him up on the last day: John 6: 40, 44, 55) and of eternal life (If any man eat of this bread, he shall live foreve1·: John 6:52) . Let us then renew our Faith which has an august compendium in the Eucharist. Holy Mary We cannot honor the Holy Eucharist without honoring Mary. 1. Jesus present in the Eucharist is the son of Mary. "Hail true Body, of Mary, Virgin Born" we sing in the Ave Verum. "Sing, 0 my tongue, the mystery of the glorious body, and of the precious blood, which the King of the Gentiles, the fruit of a noble womb - shed for the redemption of the world." This we sing in the Pange Lingua. The relation of Mother and Son also remains in the Holy Eucharist. 2. Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar reveals h imself as true God; hence Mary is true mother of the Eucharistic God and the triumph of the divinity of Jesus in tlle consecrated Host is also the triumph of the divine Maternity of Mary. Very fitting it is indeed that this hour of adoration is being held in this stately temple of the Queen of Heaven, wherein fifteen hundred years ago, Pope Sixtus ill, realized the design of perpetuating in a splendid mosaic over the main altar the dogma which is the root of all the greatness of Mary. 3. Like the Eucharist, too, the Blessed Virgin is a compendium of our Religion; for in her there seem to be united the most sublime truilis of our holy Faith. Devotion to Mary nourishes our devotion to the Holy Eucharist. 1. Mary is humble, pure, obedient even to the sacrifice of herself, as is revealed in her reply to the Archangel Gabriel; and ilie Eucharist is the example and ilie source of iliese her beloved virtues; so too, she leads to the Eucharist those souls devoted to her. 2. She loves Jesus, and this intense love is the measure of her zeal to make Him loved, there especially where He is present. 3. This is why the Eucharist and the Blessed Virgin have had the same lot iliroughout the centuries: Protestants denied ilie dogma of Transubstantiation and at ilie same time refused any cult or honor of the Virgin Mother; the so-called oriliodox Church maintained ilie cult of the Blessed Virgin and has also conserved ilie Blessed Sacrament. At Lourdes, ilie most famous shrine of ilie Blessed Moilier, in our times, the glory of the Holy Eucharist and the visible honoring of the Blessed Sacrament is unsurpassed. Let us kneel, dear Broiliers, in the most profound adoration, as we make our own the sentiments of the Holy Magi, when after their long journey and difficult quest, invenerunt Jesum Cl~m Maric~ matre eius (Matt. 2: 11). SECOND QUARTER HOUR THANKSGIVING Jesus in the Holy Eucharist 1. Is the faithful friend. Everyone else, sooner or later , leaves us, and frequently when our days are especially filled with sadness, when we have the greatest need for comfort, we feel alone; but Jesus never 132 The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist quits us: I am 'with you all days even to the consummation of the world (Matt, 28: 20) , 2, Is the food of our souls, which sustains us in the wearisome pilgrimage through this valley of tears and consoles us in the desert of this mortal life, The Bread of Life . . , the B1'ead which cometh down f1'om heaven; that if any man eat of it, h e may not die (John 6: 35-50) . 3. Is the Victim for our sins: Corpus quod pro vobis datur, viz., that is sacrificed for us; Sanguis qui pro multis effunditur in remissionem peccatorum,':' So ardent was the desire of the Divine Master to die for us that He exhausted all His power, all His wisdom, and the treasures of His riches so that He might be immolated continually upon our altars. Mary Most Holy Has contributed greatly to this ineffable gift. 1. The Virgin Mother ministered to Jesus, the Flesh and the Blood which we adore and receive in the Divine Eucharist. 2. The Eucharist is the extension in time and in space of the In- carnation. Now, the Blessed Virgin, with her spotless virtues and her ardent prayers, merited, de congruo, as the theologians say, that the Son of God assume human flesh. 3. Almighty God sought the consent of the Immaculate Virgin for the incarnation of the Divine Word, and the acceptance of Mary was, in the Eternal Plan necessary for the new Alliance (Testamentum, Foedus), which of its nature supposes a bilateral act. God besought: Mary, most pure, most holy, accepted in the name of the human race. It is worthy of particular emphasis to note that the blessed Jesus spok e of the new Pact at the last Supper and in the strictest relationship with the Holy Eucharist: He said, in fact, of the Blood contained in the Chalice that it is "the Blood of the New Testament": Hie est Sanguis Novi Testam enti (Matt. IS : 28; Mark 14: 24), and still more clearly, accord- ing to Saint Luke (22 : 20) and Saint Paul (1 Cor. n: 25) , that the Eucha- ristic Chalice is the New T estament in His Blood: Hie Calix N ovum Testamentum est in meo Sanguine. Mary therefore having an essential part in the new Alliance, also has a necessary part in Holy Eucharist. 4. Mary is the mother of the Divine Savior ; it was by this title that the Angel announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds: This day is born to you a Savior (Luke 2: 11) . Moreover, the Son of God was born of Mary not only with a physical body, but also with a mystic body made of those he would save: So we being many, are one body in Christ (Rom. 12: 5); Because we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones (Eph. 5: 30); hence since we are all found in Christ Jesus, we are all born of Mary. But how could the most holy Virgin be our Mother in the sense that Jesus dying on the Cross assigned her to us if she did not contribute effectively to give us supernatural life? For this is the very object of the Incarnation: I am come that they may have life and may have it more abundantly (John 10: 10). Moreover, the same Jesus proclaims that the sole source of life is His Flesh and His Blood: Except you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you (John 6: 54). We can do nothing less than to recognize that Mary has a great share in this ineffable gift of the Holy Eucharist. Eve in the terrestrial Paradise carried to Adam the food of death; our first parent said this when God began his terrible investigation in the earthly P aradise, an instant after the fault: The woman thou gavest m e, gave m e of the fruit and I did eat (Gen . 3: 12); he might have added: And I am dead! • This is the reading of the Greek text according to all the Synoptic9 (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20). The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist Mary, the new Eve, offers us a food, too, the most Holy Eucharis~, which is the food of life. Venerable brethren, let there rise from our grateful, throbbing heart a hymn of thanksgiving to Jesus and to Mary. THIRD QUARTER HOUR EXPIATION 1. The Holy Eucharist is a true sacrifice, therefore reparation of our faults; we discern this: - from the prophecy of Malachias: F.rom the 1'ising to the going down of the sun, My name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrificed and offered to My name a clean oblatioit (Mal. 1: 11); -from the words of institution: This is My Body, which is given for you (Luke 22: 19) ; For this is My blood of the new testament, whkh shall be shed for many unto the remission of sins (Matt. 26: 28) ; - from the teaching of the Apostle Paul, who in the first Epistle to the Corinthians (10 : 15, 22) opposes the Holy Eucharist to the Jewish and pagan Sacrifices. The Catholic tradition is a luminous confirmation of this t ruth. 2. The Eucharistic Sacrifice is identical with the Sacrifice of the Cross; there is the same Priest, the same Victim, the same object; there are the same fruits ; the m erits gained by Jesus dying on the Cross are distributed to souls by Jesus sacrificed in the Eucharist; the manner alone is different, bloody on the Cross, unbloody in the Sacrament of the Altar. Holy Mary Is Our Co-Redemptl'ess We have redemption through His blood (Ephesians 1: 7) that is, prin- cipally through the passion and death of Jesus Chr ist: The Blessed Virgin is associated with Jesus in the great work of the human Redemp- tion and, by reason of this and above all, in His Sacrifice and death. In fact: 1. Mary is the new Eve, the consoling Aurora, that foretells the Sun of Justice immediately after the fall of our first Parents: I will place enmities between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed: She shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel (Gen. 3: 15). The very uncertainty of the Latin text "Ipsum," "Ipsa," tends to demonstrate the intimate union, in the victorious battle against the powers of Hell, existing between the Son and the Mother, who constitute one moral person. The Apostle of the Gentiles in his letter to the Romans (5: 14), and in the first letter to the Corinthians (15: 22, 45) when he calls Adam "a figure of him who was to come" and Jesus Christ "the last Adam" makes clear allusions to the new Eve, whose name we seek as it were between the lines, while we read the two Epistles. 2. The Archangel Gabriel, in the Annunciation describes Him who is to be born of Mary in Messianic terms. The Blessed Virgin, then, with the words Ecce Ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum (Luke 1:38) accepts the charge of becoming the mother of the patient Messias foretold by the Prophets and especially by Isaiah (62: 13; 63: 12) ; in consequence she participates in the passion and death of Jesus, becoming the "Queen of Martyrs." 3. The Prophet Simeon, upon the day of the Purification, connects most closely the sorrows of Mary with the Passion of the Redeemer: 134 The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist A sign which shaH be contradicted ... and thy own soul a sword shall pierce" (Luke 2: 34). 4. The Blessed Virgin acts in the sacrifice of the Cross: remotely by administering the matter of the sacrifice itself, by nourishing and guarding it; proximately by offering together with Christ, the High Priest, the very same host; she also in addition shares the same pains, dying within her heart, while Jesus is dying crucified: Stabat Mater dolorosa Juxta Crucem lacrymosa Dum pendebat Filius. 5. Likewise in Heaven, 3.ccording to John's vision in ecstasy, while the "divine Lamb" is "as one dead" (Apoc. 5: 6), Mary, surrounded by the sun, with the moon at her feet, girded with twelve stars, continues to experience mystically the sorrows of giving birth, by her active co- operation in the salvation of souls: AND BEING WITH CHILD, SHE CRIED TRAVAILING IN BIRTH, AND WAS IN PAIN TO BE DE- LIVERED (Apoc. 12: 2) . Now, with the Sacrifice of the Cross being perpetuated in the Holy Eucharist, we must admit that Mary continues in the Sacrifice of the Altar the office she accomplished with Jesus, through the redemption of men, on Calvary. As we ask pardon, dear brethren, of Jesus in the Blesljied Sacrament, we ought ask pardon, too, of Mary: Parce, Domine, parce, Domina, populo tuo! Mercy, 0 Lord, mercy, Lady, for our sins! FOURTH QUARTER HOUR IMPETRATION The Eucharist, as a Sacrament which contains the very Author of grace, is for everyone the font and source of every gift: . . . omnium fo ns et capttt bonorum est potissimum Augusta Eucharistia.t The Sacrament of Sacraments, and end of all the Sacraments, the Holy Eucharist is nothing else, according to the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, than the application of the Passion of the Lord to us. Mary Most Holy Is the Mediatrix and Dispensatrix of every Grace The work of the Redemption and of our salvation results, so to speak, from two acts or two stages, the acquisition of graces and their distribution: Mary, as Co-redemptress, has a share in the first; it follows that she was to have a share in the second. It is evident that Jesus Christ is the principal Mediator, perfect, sufficient, absolutely necessary, and by His own merits; but this does not exclude the participation of Mary, in so far as dispositive, as Theo- logians express it, and ministerialiter, dependent on Christ, she concurs with Him to aid us to reach Heaven. In her office as Mother of God. she is intimately joined with Jesus Christ, the Redeemer: she can do everything; In her capacity of Mother of Men, in the Beatific Vision, she knows all our necessities; And with that immense charity with which she is endowed, she wants to help us in everything. For this reason, in the writings of the Fathers and the Theologians, she has taken the name of Aqueduct of grace and of Link of that mystic Body whose head is the Savior, from whom there flow into the members, through the Blessed Virgin as channel, all the fruits of the Redemption. t Leo XIII. Encycl. M irae Cantatis, May 28. 1902. The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist 135 It is therefore proper to exclaim: Of His fullness, THROUGH MARY, we have all received (cf. John 1:16). And this supernatural law may be said to be revealed in concrete manner in the Holy Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles: 1. John the Baptist is sanctified, before his birth, by means of Mary (Luke 1: 15, .41, 44) . 2. At Cana of Galilee Jesus hastened the hour of His mercies through the intercession of Mary ; and in virtue of that miracle, the first disciples believed in Him: This first of miracles wrought Jesus in Cana of Galilee: and He manifested His glory and His disciples believed in Him (JohIl2: 11) . 3. John the Evangelist, after having fled in the Garden of Olives with the other Apostles: All leaving Him, fled (Matt. 26: 56), regains courage and perseveres in following Jesus midst the insults of Calvary, because he was accompanied by Mary: When Jesus therefore saw His mother and the disciple standing whom He loved, He said to the Mother: Woman, behold thy Son. Then He said to the disciple : Behold thy Mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to be his own (John 19: 26). 4. The Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, which marks the inauguration of holy Church, takes place wh ile the Apostles and the Disciples are perseve1'ing with one mind in prayer with Mary the Mother of Jesus (Acts 1:14) . In these facts, there is the beginning of every grace through the mediation of the Blessed Virgin, both in the spiritual and in the material order; through Mary are granted the three principal graces of the work of salvation; vocation, justification, perseverance. Now God, who never changes what He has willed to do, after decreeing that we should have everything through Mary (Qui bona omnia nos habere voluit per Mariam) , certainly requires the intervention of the Virgin Mary that graces come to our souls from the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. Blessed Virgin, dispensatr ix of grace, in the first place of the divine Eucharist, source of every gift, monstra te esse MatTem by making us ever less unworthy of being sharers of the P riesthood of Jesus, Thy Son. Assist us in the celebration of holy Mass, in the distribution of Holy Communion, and make our devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacra- ment all that you desire. Hear us, Mother of God and our Mother, while with the noble Apostle of the Eucharist, Blessed Peter Julian Eymard, we turn prayerfully to thee, Ottr Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. Conclusion The evidence presented in this article, brief as it is, seems to us to be of a nature that "he who runs may read." And therefore we conclude with a quotation from Walther's The Proper Distinction between Law and Gospel (translated by W. H. T. Dau) : "True, quite a number, in fact, the majority of those who claim to be Lutherans refuse to believe that the Pope is the Antichrist and the Papacy the antichristian power. With the entire Church of the Reformation and in accord with the confessions of this Church the orthodox American Lutheran Church of our time still in full earnest maintains the position that the P ope is the Antichrist. But that is, at best, regarded as the odd fancy of narrow-minded men, who refuse to keep step with the times. If you ask why this is so, I answer that it is chiefly because people no longer know what 136 The Progressive Revelation of the Antichrist constitutes the Antichrist and the antichristian dominion. P eople say: 'We admit that, especially in the Middle Ages, there were many Popes who were veritable abominations and, even in the view of Romish writers, were swallowed up by hell.' It is ad- mitted that many shocking abominations are still practiced by the Papacy, but this is offset by the reminder that there is not a Church free from erorrs and even from Judases. It is fu.rther- more admitted that the Papacy is propagating the most horrible heresies, but over against this the fact is stressed that even the Papacy holds strictly to the three Ecumenical Creeds. For at the opening session and solemn organization of the Council of Trent, in 1545, those three creeds were recited. Our attention is also called to the fact that the Popes believe the Bible of the Old and the New Testament to be the revealed Word of God, God to be triune, and Christ to be God and man in one person and the Savior of the World. We are told: 'The Papists confess, just as we do, their faith in a future resurrection of the dead, a last Judgment, before which all men will be cited, and a heaven and a hell. Far, then, from being the dominion of Antichrist,' these people say, 'the Papacy is rather a powerful dam shutting out the fearful deluge of unbelief that has come down on the Chr istian Church.' People see the rule of Antichr ist in pantheism, ma- terialism, atheism, socialism, nihilism, anarchism, and other hor- r ible isms to which the modern age has fallen heir. But why is it that from the aforementioned premises men will draw the con- clusion that the Papacy is not the rule of Antichrist and the Pope not the veritable Antichrist? The chief reason is that people fail to consider what it means when the Pope claims to be the vice- gerent of Christ on earth and the visible head of the entire Chris-. tian Church. In order to be this, he must, of course, profess many Christian doctrines. He has to put on a mask, otherwise Antichrist could not possibly exist in the midst of the Christian Church. Moreover, he has to declare war against the enemies of all religions and against the enemies of the Christian religion to support his claim of being the vicegerent of Christ. He knows that, when Christ falls , Antichrist, too, must fall. For when He falls whose vicegerent the Pope claims to be, there is an end of vicegerency. When the Pope apparently fights for Christ and the Christian Church, he fights for himself and his dominion." (pp. 67, 68.) Ceterum censeo: Papam esse verum Antichristum. P. E. KRETZMANN 4 • ~