I believe that Our Lord will be very well served and Your Excellency much consoled if you would send some good religious along with this expedition, men who will be true servants of God and who will seek the salvation of souls. By prayer and good example, by preaching and hearing confessions, by nursing the sick and helping the dying, these men will do a tremendous amount of good. They will teach the soldiers proper motives for fighting, keep them from quarreling among themselves and will call them to task for blasphemies and gambling. Finally, I know that the soldiers will profit from this, for by their peace of mind and confidence in God they will better fulfill their duties in war.
Diego Laynez, Second Superior General of the Society of Jesus
For what it is worth.
“Finally, I know that the soldiers will profit from this, for by their peace of mind and confidence in God they will better fulfill their duties in war.”
For both Wars. The physical and the spiritual battlefields are equally challenging and yet when the progress is made in the spiritual then the power of God is witnessed on the beachhead, the trenches the jungle. The ability to know without any doubt in your heart of hearts that Our Redeemer lives and loves you, is a confidence that is supernatural. A strength that overcomes all earthly fear and follows the pathway of the heroic men and women who have trod it before us, leaving us with a share of their heart to walk through flames if needed. Indeed we stand on the shoulders of giants, not upon the tombs of the forgotten. Our faith is our shield and God’s blessing is our acceptance in any outcome where mere men may see mortal defeat, but the Saints see the Glory of God in His service.
Dear Mr. McClarey.
If we are ever to take up arms to defeat a great enemy, may the holiness of greater men of God be at our calling to inspire and prepare us for all battles.