![]() ![]() Bardas’ immoral public behavior then became an issue when he abandoned his wife and entered into an openly incestuous union with his daughter-in-law. When Bardas proposed that Theodora and her daughter be sent away by force to a convent, Ignatius refused, noting that the monastic life must be embraced voluntarily. When he was nominated as Patriarch of Constantinople by Theodora, the pious and orthodox regent of the new child-emperor Michael III, none objected to the choice of the saintly Ignatius.Īfter a decade as patriarch under the protection of Theodora, Ignatius found himself in the difficult position of defending the integrity of the Church against the aggression of Theodora’s cynical and impious brother Bardas, who wished to be called “Caesar” and was seeking to take over the regency for his own nefarious purposes. He embraced the monastic life and obtained a universal reputation for sanctity, rising to the rank of abbot and firmly resisting the heresy of iconoclasm imposed by his father’s successor. But he had been castrated and sent off to a monastery when his father was deposed by a rival in one of the many brutal coups d’état that marked the transition of Byzantine dynasties. Ignatius was a holy monk who began life as a son and possible successor of the Byzantine emperor Michael I. Ignatius merits the title “Defender of the Eucharist.” His inspiring example, which led him to suffer terrible torments in middle age, might help the more timid prelates of our day to find their own courage in the face of much milder forms of persecution. Ignatius of Constantinople, patriarch of the Byzantine capital from 847 to 877. The bishop who perhaps best exemplifies the courage required to defend the Blessed Sacrament against the abuse of powerful men is St. Peter Damian who, in the 11 th century, chased down the Holy Roman Emperor to publicly deny him the right to an obviously bogus annulment. His example of courage in condemning immoral potentates was preceded by various Old Testament prophets and was followed by numerous Catholic saints, including St. And he was martyred for it (Matthew 14:1–12 Mark 6:14–29). The prophetic duty to rebuke politicians living in public sin was attested to in the Gospels when John the Baptist scolded Herod Antipas for marrying his brother’s wife. In exchange, the bishops who permit the abuse can retain their often-cozy relationship with the political class in their jurisdictions. This odious practice allows them to use the Church as a shield from moral scandal while facilitating their public misbehavior. The American bishops have a long history of failure to overcome in this regard: decades of compromise and capitulation in the face of powerful men who openly live in the scandal of mortal sin but seek to affirm their Catholic identities through sacrilegious public reception of the Eucharist. On November 17, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a muted, indirect, and highly abstract rejection of this shameful abuse entitled “The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church.” It remains to be seen if the episcopate will have the courage to fulfill it. One of the most galling examples of corruption in the Catholic hierarchy in recent decades has been the persistent and almost ubiquitous practice of giving Holy Communion to politicians who support abortion “rights” and are therefore guilty of formal cooperation in the killing of the unborn. “Accept me as a partaker of your mystical supper, O Son of God, for I will not reveal your mystery to your enemies, nor will I give you a kiss as did Judas…” -The Divine Liturgy of St.
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