By Thomas Michael and David Rodríguez
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in The Fatima Crusader Issue 128 (Winter 2021). Ongoing news from the Vatican clearly indicate the crisis within the Church has only worsened since its printing. It is reasonable to conclude that God is permitting grave evils within the Church (and world) to open our eyes, urging all Catholics to respond with fidelity and obedience to Our Lady of Fatima. Her Message of prayer, penance, and reparation – Her Immaculate Heart – is the world’s only solution.
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A Terrible and Inescapable Dilemma
Catholics who wish to remain faithful to Christ and His Church face a terrible and inescapable dilemma today. We know that whoever wishes to be saved must, above all, keep the Catholic Faith whole and entire.[1] Yet, as members of Christ’s Mystical Body, we don’t just profess the True Faith, we also worship God correctly (lex orandi, lex credendi), we abide by His laws (as He has revealed them), and we obey our rightful superiors in all legitimate matters (His representatives on earth).
When matters are as they should be, all these elements harmoniously conform to one another. The degree to which they do not conform is a fair indication of the gravity of iniquity within the Church Militant.[2] Yet, what are Catholics to think – and what are they to do – when some of these elements are in conflict with one another and it is simply not possible to remain faithful to them all?
For example, what is a Catholic to do when he knows God must receive reverent worship and yet all the parishes nearby foster scandalous liturgies or require ‘vaccine passports’? How does a Catholic defend the sacredness of Marriage and the Holy Eucharist, if the local bishop permits those living in public sin to receive Holy Communion; or openly blesses homosexual unions, contrary to God’s created order? How does a Catholic defend the truth to his neighbor that the Catholic Church is holy when a seemingly endless stream of terrible scandals pervades the news?
How Do We Understand This Dilemma?
As we all struggle to make sense of today’s terrible crisis, the devil tempts us with false solutions which exacerbate the problem. On account of the obvious and terrible scandals within the Church, many non-Catholics have been confirmed in their rejection of the Catholic Church’s claim that she is the one, holy Church of Christ.[3] Likewise, many Catholics have been induced to leave the Catholic Church.
Various solutions being proposed today, even amongst Catholics, seem to lack authentic Catholic Faith and true Christian charity. Today’s grave crisis is surely an aspect of the ‘Mystery of Iniquity.’ (Saint Paul alludes to this in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians.) As this is a divine mystery, we shouldn’t expect to possess a complete and rational explanation. Yet, in His goodness, God often enlightens our path by prefiguring deeper realities with more understandable ‘types.’
Typology
Since God is omnipotent and omniscient, He is able to foreshadow profound truths with ‘types.’ A type is any real person, place, thing, or event which prefigures a deeper mystery of the Faith. A type can represent a deeper reality through commonalities and/or by way of analogy. Thus, we say types are linked to one another by ‘participating in’ similar aspects of a supernatural mystery. The better the connection, the more powerful is the type. By studying the type, we can then penetrate more deeply into the mystery of the greater reality which it prefigures.
The Old Testament, for example, is filled with types of our Blessed Mother. Judith analogously represents Her by cutting off the head of the enemy. Esther participates in Her role as Mediatrix by interceding with the king to save God’s elect. The Sealed Fountain prefigures Her Perpetual Virginity, and the unblemished Ark of the Covenant foreshadows Her Immaculate Conception. Each of these types signifies far more regarding Our Lady. And types do not just apply to Our Lady. For example, the similarities between Joseph the Patriarch and Saint Joseph are best understood through typology. Noah’s Ark and the holy city of Jerusalem are quintessential types for the Church. And, of course, there are countless types which prefigure the Life and Mysteries of Our Lord.
While the Church Fathers accustomed us to study the Sacred Scriptures through typology, God continues to employ typology to further His glory and the salvation of souls. Saints often live out certain aspects of the Mystery of Christ and the Mystery of the Church. This is readily seen in a saint like Padre Pio, who suffered the stigmata, or in the incorrupt body of a religious virgin, like Saint Bernadette Soubirous.
A Case of Demonic Possession and Type of the Church
In Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified (1846-1878), a Discalced Carmelite mystic, Our Lord may have mercifully provided a type to help strengthen our faith and hope during this time of grave diabolical disorientation.[4] She was born Mariam Baouardy in the Holy Land, and as such was given the nickname “Little Arab.” In her unique case of demonic possession we may have witnessed a type prefiguring what the Church must endure after failing to obey Our Lady of Fatima.
Like the Catholic Church itself, Mariam Baouardy was born through a special intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Who instructed Mariam’s parents to make a long and difficult pilgrimage by foot of more than 100 miles to the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem in order to obtain this grace. Mariam’s parents had great difficulty bearing healthy children, as all twelve of their prior sons had died in infancy. Thus, just as the Twelve Tribes of Israel prepared the way for Christ and His Church, so too did Mariam’s twelve older brothers prepare the way for Our Lady to miraculously intervene in Mariam’s birth.
As in the case of all of the saints and the Church itself, Mariam’s life was filled with trials, persecutions, and sufferings which God used to save countless souls. But Mariam’s suffering and attacks would be particularly extraordinary.
Upon Christ’s request, Mariam agreed to be a victim soul by allowing demons to possess her for forty days. Preceding her possession, she explained:
“Jesus is going to give satan the power to torment me for forty days. I will suffer much. The devil will have power only over my body. My soul will be hidden from him. Jesus has promised to enclose it in a box where satan will not be able to reach it. The devil will make me commit many external faults without my sinning. My will shall have nothing to do with them. I will be like the little babes whose reason has not awakened and who, for that reason, are incapable of sin.”
In short, God deigned to allow this saint to be possessed and tormented by demons. This virgin bride of Christ would appear to have committed many sins. But as it would be the demons who acted through her, her soul would remain pure, holy, and untouched. Yet, we can imagine how difficult it would have been for all those around her to grapple with this ‘possession.’ Would they view her as a lost soul? Would they calumniate her? If they believed her, how could they interact with her in an appropriate manner?
Truly, what we see in Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified is quite unique. Yet, if God has made it so that a religious nun is possessed but does not sin, then surely He can also permit the Church Militant to suffer demonic influence in many of its external activities while the Church still remains His Perfect Mystical Body and Immaculate Virgin Bride. We can’t fully explain this supernatural reality, but we can accept it in faith, and struggle to penetrate its depths.
A Forty-Day Trial
Despite several exorcisms, the demons could not be driven out of Saint Mary of Jesus Crucified until the end of the pre-appointed forty days. She suffered tremendously. Demons from all levels of hell made fourteen separate attempts to degrade her soul through a series of preternatural attacks and temptations. Their efforts were of no avail. She herself would not be guilty of sin. Soon, however, a divine reversal took place. The Little Arab began to love her suffering for Christ. She said:
“I weep, Oh Jesus, for not suffering enough for Thee… To suffer unto the end of the world, Oh my God, if it is Thy will, I want it too. I desire only to please Thee. Jesus, make me accomplish Thy will.”
This saint’s humility and willingness to suffer became unbearable to the demons, who now begged to be liberated from her body. However, as per Christ’s pre-ordained plan, they had to remain for forty days. In the end, while the Little Arab’s suffering was unimaginable, it paled in comparison to the suffering, humiliation, and defeat that the demons endured while being imprisoned in the body of such a holy woman.
Once the demons were at last allowed to flee, an angel from Heaven came and possessed the Little Arab for four days, causing her to visibly shine with great light. Thus, Our Lord brought a tremendous good out of one of the most horrific experiences a human being has endured. Had the demons not been allowed to possess her for those forty days, she would not have had the four days of angelic glory that followed, nor would we be talking about her possibly serving as a powerful type for the terrible crisis in which the Church Militant now finds herself.
ENDNOTES:
[1] See the Athanasian Creed, known also as Quiqumque Vult. It is one of the Catholic Church’s four principal ancient Creeds and is an infallible doctrinal statement professed by Popes and Ecumenical Councils.
[2] Throughout this article we have chosen to use the traditional term “Church Militant” to remind our readers that the Church exists in Heaven (Church Triumphant) and in Purgatory (Church Suffering) and that these particular statements are only being made in reference to the membership of the Church presently living on earth (Church Militant).
[3] The Fatima Center published “How Can We Profess ‘The Church is Holy?’,” an online article by Matthew Plese, which helps explain how the Church does indeed have the mark of holiness. See https://fatima.org/news-views/catholic-apol- ogetics-108/
[4] For more on the life of this saint, see Mariam, The Little Arab by Amedee Brunot, S.C.J. Translated by Jeanne Dumais, O.C.D.S. and Sister Miriam of Jesus O.C.D. (Eugene, Oregon, Carmel of Maria Regina, 1984). This book carries a nihil obstat and imprimatur.