Imagine a stool with three legs. If even one of the legs is broken, the stool is no longer functional.
Analogously, in the modern Church, sacred order has been broken in three distinct ways.
The Dispatch
First, the priesthood has been mocked and denigrated by unworthy men who fill its ranks. Second, the family has been torn asunder with no-fault divorce and other attacks from outside forces. Third, female cloistered contemplative life is being persecuted.
In many ways, women religious were the first victims of the schemes hatched by the antichrists who have risen to power in the Church and the world in the modern era.
True, the Church as a whole is the Bride of Christ, but women religious are actual brides of Christ.
Unlike priests, who have access to Our Lord directly when they offer Mass, women religious depend on clergy to receive Him. The present crisis leaves women religious particularly vulnerable and alone, especially cloistered nuns, as there are so few faithful priests left.
Religious nuns and sisters fight battles the world does not see. The traumatic persecution they often experience can endanger their vocation. The resulting mystical passion in their soul is similar to the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass.
This persecution occurs when they refuse to go along with Eucharistic abuses and when they innocently advocate the use of Gregorian chant. Other times, it happens simply for opposing false ecumenism, resisting forced activism, and speaking moral and doctrinal truths in the classroom.
This martyrdom intensifies when they are labeled “rigid” for rejecting heretical liturgical translations or charismatic “New Evangelization” initiatives. Some are exiled from their communities without a stable home simply for wanting to wear the habit and live a life of silence and prayer.
This persecution is felt in other ways, especially when they are forced to endure physical and emotional advances from predatory priests, knowing full well they cannot safely report the abuse lest they risk losing access to the sacraments. It also occurs when their prioress lies about their behavior and when their entirely orthodox spiritual adviser is targeted and laicized by his homosexual abbot for being too “traditional.”
Each of the examples above is a real-life story from somewhere in the Church. Together, they provide a small snapshot of the silent passion of female religious amid this unprecedented crisis.
Still, we gladly hang on our cross, willingly and for however long it takes, for love of the Church and for love of our Divine Bridegroom.
