I. – The Christian Vocation.
“…that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all piety and chastity.” (I Tim. II,2)
Strictly speaking, a vocation is the calling to enter the clergy which the bishop addresses to a male individual in whom he discerns the necessary talents. Through the bishop, it is the Church who is calling, it is the Holy Ghost who is speaking to the person, showing him God’s will for him.
But in a general sense, a vocation is the efficient calling God addresses to the lost sheep (cf. S. Jn. X, 16), and makes them enter into the fold of the Church.
That is the reason why S. Paul uses this word in his exhortation: “I therefore, a prisoner in the Lord, beseech you, that you walk worthy of the vocation in which you are called.” (Eph. IV, 1)
The Christian vocation is above all a coming out from darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son of God, “in whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins” (Col. I, 13). As such, this vocation implies a radical change of life, behaviour and mentality: those who enter the Church by baptism truly walk “in newness of life” (Rom. VI, 4), according to Scriptures: “they who are Christ’s, have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscence” (Gal. V, 24)
The vocation to become a child of God does not mean finding an “asset” for one’s soul in order to live as one likes, according to one’s own selfishness. God “hath delivered us and called us by his holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus, before the times of the world.” (II Tim. I, 9)
The fact that Modernity has totally destroyed the traditional structures is no excuse for the Christian not to face the main purpose of Christian life which is to glorify God in the least actions of his life (I Cor. X, 31). The means to glorify God are given by God himself: they constitute the states of life found in the Christian religion, that is: the lay state, the religious state and the clerical state.
II. – Traditional Catholic Anthropology.
To be more precise, Catholic anthropology classifies the faithful, who have been regenerated by the Holy Baptism, in well-defined categories which are found in Heaven and therefore on Earth, where they are the many forms of a state of preparation called the Christian life.
The Roman Breviary gives us the foundation of the social Catholic anthropology. The Church puts a distinction between:
The Apostles;
The male Martyrs;
The Pontiff Confessors;
The Doctors of the Church;
The non Pontiff Confessors (Clerics or Laymen);
The Virgins (Martyrs and non Martyrs);
The non Virgins (Martyrs and non Martyrs);
The Catholic society, considered in the autonomous reality of the Church, knows but one way of living the Christian life: that is to conform to the duties which govern the states of life above mentioned.
III. – The Apostles. – The Bishops.
Since their death, the Apostles have not been replaced although the Bishops are their true successors. The first generation of Christ’s Disciples are nevertheless the fondamental category which determines all the following ones. Indeed, the Holy Apostles constitute the Twelve Leaders of the spiritual Tribes of the new Covenant (cf. James I, 1), of whom we are the sons and the children. This patriarchal Duodenary gives a specificity to the Christian world vision, which the various feminist, meta-feminist and post-feminist trends (and we can add anti-feminist) fight or challenge. Our God who is blessed for ever, Amen (Rom. I, 25) is Father, Son and Holy Ghost; therefore, are the Faith leaders Men (viri) elected by the incarnate Word, to go and teach the nations. From this reality ensues the inalienable masculinity of the Priesthood and the teaching functions within the Church, according to the words of the Apostle of the nations: Taceat mulier in Ecclesia (I Cor. XIV, 34). In the social organisation this is seen by the primacy of masculine over feminine. To the masculinity is attached the privilege of divine curacy, according to the Apostles’ Preface which humbly prays the Lord that his flock be “governed by those same rulers whom thou didst set over it as shepherds and as thy vicars”.
After the Holy Apostles, come the Pontiffs, who are part of the headship of the Church, that is the Popes and the Bishops, who constitute the teaching Church. Being the guardians of the apostolic legitimacy and jurisdiction, their duty of state is essentially that of governing, nourishing and guiding Christ’s flock, so that it may reach complete and undefiled the final Day of Judgment. The headship is responsible for giving the family of God the “measure of wheat in due season” (S. Lk. XII, 42, Communion Prayer for a Pontiff Confessor mass).
The Pontiffs take the place of God on earth, according to the Lord’s words to Moses : Ecce constitui te Deum Pharaonis, “Behold I have appointed thee the God of Pharaoh” (Ex. VII, 1).
Doctors constitute a category of their own which describes certain Clerics after their death, when the Church acknowledges the perfect expression of the Catholic Faith in their doctrine. Strictly speaking, the Doctors in Heaven correspond to those who, according to their state and on earth, have the mission to teach the Faith: “The law of his God is in his heart and his steps shall not be supplanted.” (Ps. XXXVI, 31, Gradual of the Common of Doctors). The Bishops, who are the leaders of the scattered Church, are the Doctors of the faith, in the sense that it belongs to them to teach the peoples Providence has entrusted to. One will notice that, according to the Apostle’s very words, the Church cannot count among her Doctors any Woman, in spite of the excellence of her doctrine, as for example Saint Theresa of Avila.
IV. – The Men. – The Priests.
Men are subdivided into two categories: the men who are marked with the priestly character and those who are not marked with the priestly character.
The former, although members of the teaching Church, participate in the headship of the Bishops by delegation, to whom their mission is conditionally linked to. The Priests are baptized men to whom the sacrament of Order has given a further character which enables them to celebrate the Mysteries of our holy Religion. Contrarily to episcopacy, priesthood is limited in its power; the priest cannot pass down the sacrament he has received, because as such, he is a participation of the fullness of priesthood which only the Bishop possesses.
The symbolism of the stole he wears crossed, contrarily to the Bishop, indicates that difference.
The Clerics are characterized by the service in the Church ; the clericacy is not a right but a conditional privilege which requires, in order to be effective, the incardination, that is to say, in a general sense, the true uniting with a princely authority of the Church, as mentioned in the Canon 111 § 1. We hear a lot about the validity of holy Orders; but the validity of incardination (Can. 112) is its consequence which is non the less necessary to the exercise of the clericacy’s offices and functions. The incardination is sanctioned by an oath of stability (Can. 117 § 3). Consequently, a vagus priest loses de facto the right to hear confession, to marry, to preach, indeed to celebrate the Mysteries, since he is like a body without a head. There is no doubt he is intrinsically capable of exercising the powers which are his, but theology tells us that the fruit thereof will be useless, and that is the most important.
Special article on the ASQC’s Priests.
V. – The Men – The Laymen.
The second group is subdivided in two categories: the married and the unmarried – single – men.
According to S. Paul’s explicit doctrine, the married man is a lieutenant of Christ: “Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the Church and delivered himself up for it.” (Eph. V, 25). The responsibility of the married man is of a spousal nature, which becomes paternal when God gives him children. These two authorities place him, on the natural level, in a situation similar to that of the Bishop. Because the Bishop is indeed the Spouse of his Church and the Father of the faithful in general, who were begotten through Baptism, and of the Priests in particular, whom he begets through the sacrament of Order. The paternal dignity holds its utmost elevation because it is a manifestation of the divine Fatherhood, by which God the Father begets from all eternity a Son in his image. It is to be noticed that the maternal dignity ensues from the paternal dignity, just as the Woman was taken from the Man’s side (Gen. II, 22).
The laymen are subdivided in two distinct categories, which are the nobility and the commoners. Although we shall not deal with this subject here, we must underline the fact that if the commoners must honour those to whom God has entrusted – generation after generation – the lieutenancy of his power (cf. I Pet. II, 13-14, 17), the latter must maintain their rank, they must support through their authority that of the Bishops and the Priests, and be an example for all by their precise and rigorous observation of the Gospel’s maxims.
If, as we shall see later, the usurpation of the clerical function by laymen is an act contrary to the order of things, thus sacrilegious, on the other hand when commoners lay hold of the attributions belonging to nobility this is no less sacrilegious too. But let’s notice also that when nobilities have occupations which are peculiar to commoners, this constitutes a cause for losing rank and title, which would be rather unwise for them to maintain.
VI. – The single.
Let’s seen now the second category. However carefully we may examine the Martyrology, it will be impossible to find an unmarried category. A man who is not married is either under age (the Catholic age for majority being 21), or else he is a friar or a cleric. We shall not speak of unmarried in the sense of young men who intend to marry and who await the time for it; because they know they are in a transitory state they do not identify with it and look forward ending it.
By unmarried, we mean those who are neither married nor clerics and who are content with their state. Nowadays they are called single men.
As we all know, Modernity generates vast numbers of that kind of unmarried men, which has brought about a concept vaguely linked to that of free man, which is traditional indeed but with which it has absolutely no real connection. (Free does not mean “available”, but “capable of doing, without any constraint, that which we are supposed to do”, as opposed to slave.) If no one, of course, would think of accusing a man who has not found the right one to marry yet, of being in a shameful state, yet, there is no doubt that such an unmarried man occupies the last place in the male hierarchy. Whatever age he may be, he is half-way between childhood and adulthood. In fact, if a man does not participate to the Angels’ life, by the religious state, nor to the headship of the Church, in the clerical state, nor to the natural headship, in the marriage state, then he is in a situation where, being deprived of all responsibility, he is closer to childhood than to adulthood.
In the last century, after the first World War, Catholics started to consider S. Paul’s words: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman” (I Cor. VII, 1) in a very naturalistic way. The goal was to value the growing category of life’s rejects. The idea was developed that the unmarried is “more available”, etc. thinking that it could stand upon this other verse of the Holy Scripture: “He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord” (ibid., 32). In reality, the Apostle is establishing the foundation for consecrated celibacy, i.e. the religious life. The proof thereof is that between an unmarried man and a friar there is a notable difference: the former, however pious he may be, is given over to his own will, while the latter, bound by the three Vows, is indeed capable of walking in a way pleasing to God (ibid), because he no longer has his own will. In the best of cases, the unmarried man is a third-rate friar; in the worst of cases, he is his own master, which places him in an “out of state” situation, where all kind of foolishness is possible…
Even the secular sociologists see in the spread of bachelorhood a direct consequence of the liberal forma mentis, a kind of institutionalized selfishness, not to mention the famous “fear of getting involved”, quite often brought about by psychological dysfunction – modern families being incapable of preparing their children for adulthood.
VII. – The friars.
From what we have seen, we understand that Friars are not single men, but men consecrated to God, following the Saviour’s word not to take a wife (S. Mt. XIX, 12). Their state of life is the most perfect of all because it allows them to practice the renouncement to self and the mortification of their self will, perfectly obeying the Master’s word: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (S. Lk. IX, 23). The religious state can take many forms, from an aggregation without any special vow, to the perpetual religious profession. The fact remains that this state is completely different from the layman’s state.
Special article on the ASQC’s Friars.
VIII. – The Martyrs.
The dignity of Martyrdom is placed, by the Catholic anthropology, above all the different states in which can be found male individuals. The only state above it is the glorious Apostolic state – the holy Apostles having, themselves, all been Martyrs. Martyrdom consists in being killed by hatred of Christ and of the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Faith. It has nothing to do with the defence of the slightest “inalienable sacred right for liberty of conscience”. Those who die whilst defending schism or heresy are always considered by the Church as obstinate and reprobate.
Strictly speaking, Martyrdom is not a state of life since it is the best way of ending this life and going out of this world. Nevertheless, Martyrdom cannot be considered as the consequence of the mere hatred of unbelievers against Christianity and the Christians; it is positively the outcome – if God wills it so – of a Christian life characterized by Charity, that is love of God in all things and above all things. The mediocre Christian can become a Martyr if he receives a special grace to keep him from apostatizing at the last moment; yet, rare are those to whom God will grant it. But he who, by God’s grace, will have lived each day in obedience to God’s will such as it is revealed in the different tasks of the state in which the Providence has placed him, indeed he will be a witness (for such is the etymological sense of the word) for God at each moment of his earthly existence.
Therefore, the Martyr is at the same time a glorious category which is entered by a violent death, and a permanent disposition to love God more than one’s own life, every day of our pilgrimage on earth. The Christian who does not keep himself, with God’s help, in the conditions of a Martyr, testifying of his faith in God (I Peter III, 15), is therefore not worthy of the Messiah’s name which remains upon him because of his baptism. Martyrdom is an essentially male virtue (strength), which consists in being completely conformed to Our Lord Jesus Christ in his Passion, according to the Scripture’s words : “Heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him.” (Rom. VIII, 17).
IX. – The Women.
However, the Redemption accomplished by Our Lord Jesus Christ through his precious Blood also applies to the feminine gender. Contrary to the new idea which has constantly been going around since two centuries and which has absolutely no foundation in Tradition, that when granting baptism to women, Jesus Christ did not go beyond the reasoning of circumcision. On the contrary, since baptism consists in dying to nature in order to be born again to grace, the man who is baptised is born again in the same gender he had from nature, since he is risen in Christ, who is true man. As for the woman who is baptised, she rises (like the man) a member of the mystical Body of he who is a Man : “Ecce Homo” (S. Jn. XIX, 5) the Man par excellence. The weakness of femininity (I Pet. III, 7), her univocal relativity toward man, who is her raison d’être (I Cor. XI, 9), her subjection to the authority of man (Gen. III, 16), the guilt of being the cause of the original sin (I Tim. II, 14), all that remains because grace does not change the nature and the order of things.
On the other hand, inasmuch as the woman is subordinated to the man, she can be saved: “Go, call thy husband, and come hither” (S. Jn. IV, 16). It is only thus that, taken from man, she participates in the Gospel which is first of all addressed to the man. This last assertion will probably surprise many Catholics who are so used to the innovations and falsification of the doctrine by a great amount of writers of the 19th and almost all those of the 20th century. And yet, it is indeed the traditional Catholic doctrine.
When a woman receives the grace of Martyrdom, the Liturgy speaks of her with the following words : “High let us all our voice raise / In that heroic woman’s praise / Let us sing the praises of this valiant woman (Fortem virili pectore laudemus omnes feminam) / Whose name, with saintly glory bright / Shines in the starry realm of light.” (2nd Vesper Hymn for a non-virgin Martyr).
X. – The Virgins.
The women are subdivided in two categories: the virgins and the non-virgins. Only the Christian religion honours virginity and considers it as a virtue above all others. “It is, writes an Author, something which surpasses the natural forces than to live in a mortal body, as if one had none. Yet it is what the Christian Virgins must do, because being clothed with a corruptible flesh, they mortify it at all times, they submit it to the law of the spirit, they remove its most violent desires, they use of it as of a slave they keep in bonds, they work at putting it into such a state that it will no longer oppose their good resolutions, and they make it, in a certain way, spiritual; and since the natural forces are not able to produce such a wonderful effect, the holy Fathers come to the conclusion that Virginity is above the nature.”
What we have said about man’s celibacy as it is seen today, is even better understood concerning the Christian woman. The young adult man who is not yet married, when he is of age, is emancipated from the paternal authority since he is, himself, the potential principal of a new family; on the contrary, the non-married young girl, even being of age, remains under the paternal supervision and protection, until she enters a definite state. However, unlike the young man who still has no definite state, the young girl belongs by default to the category of the Virgins. The Virgin, in other words the unmarried young girl, is under the authority of her father just as the married woman is under the authority of her husband, mutatis mutandis. As such, the honour of the father is bound to the purity of her conduct: “The father waketh for the daughter when no man knoweth, and the care for her taketh away his sleep” (Eccl. XLII, 9)
Yet, this does not give to a passive virginity a particular value; let’s say that it is the minimum for a respectable girl. The ecclesiastical Authors insist on the fact that this virtue as any other natural good, must be super naturalized by Charity. In those conditions, virginity appears eminently glorious. That is why pride is its natural temptation against which the Virgin must absolutely protect herself against.
However, the honour of Virginity is not only tarnished by base misdeeds; it vanishes as soon as the Virgin comes out of her proper state, which is that of a creature whose relation to headship is univocal. Unlike the wife whose state is a full participation to the headship of her husband, the Christian Virgin does not participate to the headship of her father, only to be his glory. Now, such a glory is hidden in God, i.e. protected by a decency which does not expose her to the world’s eyes. Thus, the Christian Virgin transgresses the limits of her state as soon as she adopts the practices of the world, i.e. in her clothing as well as her occupations, but also by adopting the general attitudes common among the worldly and which are foreign to Christian modesty.
More precisely, the Catholic father sullies his honour when he lets the Virgins entrusted to him by the Providence, enter the world, especially that of universities and in general the professional realm in the sense defined by the modern society. Let’s be more precise: it is not a question of studying or working “by correspondence”, which would bring about the same result; indeed, it is not so much the (inevitable) contact with the unbelievers which is a problem, than the usurpation of the masculine functions by a Christian woman which constitutes the transgression of her state.
The Virgin who is a Martyr adds to her glory by definitively overcoming her temporal condition, through a participation of Christ’s manliness, the “strength of Martyrs”. This is the doctrine implied in the prayer of the first mass for a Martyr Virgin : “O God, who amongst the marvels of thy mighty power hast granted the triumph of martyrdom even to weak women; grant in thy mercy that we who keep the birthday of blessed N., thy virgin and martyr, may, by her example, advance nearer to thee,
etc.”
The Virgin par excellence is the woman consecrated to God by the three Vows of Religion. Nevertheless, there is in the midst of the Catholic City a category of Virgins who are not bound by the Vows of the religious profession. What we have explained concerning the unmarried men is applied in part to the Christian Virgins: for an unmarried woman who would lead her life as she pleases is not, in the traditional sense, a valid state to live in. If the Virgin is not yet married (and again, no one would blame such a person for a fact which is relatively independent of her will), unlike the unmarried man, she is necessarily under the authority of her father, or at least of some legal moral tutor, who watches over her honour and provides for her living while ensuring the conditions for a respectable life.
If such a Christian woman would decide to remain in the state of simple virginity, she would then enter in the conditions of life governed by its proper rules which constitute a state by itself. The ecclesiastical Authors who have written on the subject say that, if indeed this is a type of lay state, it nevertheless remains that the duties of a Christian Virgin sanctify her in a very particular way; and it is obvious that a worldly or militant occupation would debase her completely.
The Christian Virgins must live quietly, in humility and good works, far from the world and its dangers. At all times, the Church has taken a special care of this category which is glorious as well as vulnerable, so to protect them from the insults of the world.
XI. – The Non-Virgins. – The Wives.
The non-virgin women have their own dignity which, as for all the others states, has its origin in the Baptism. The holy women are generally wives, widows or penitents. In the Martyrology there are some penitents such as S. Mary Magdalene or S. Mary the Egyptian. However, it is obvious that this category is the last in the Christian society, although the power of penance raises quite often those who have received that grace above the 99 righteous who have not sinned (S. Math. XVIII, 13). The penitent women are associated to the consecrated women in one way or the other.
Concerning the Wives, the Liturgy applies to them the 31st chapter of the book of Proverbs of Salomon (epistle of the common of non-virgin non-martyr), which praises the “valiant woman” saying of her that “the heart of her husband trusteth in her” (v.11). The glory of a wife is, according to Our Father S. Augustine, superior to that of a pride Virgin. If the glory of a Virgin is to participate in the spiritual nature of the holy Angels, on the other hand, one will never say enough of the glory of the virtuous women : “One man among a thousand I have found ; a woman among them all I have not found.” (Eccl. VII, 28) : “The woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” (Prov. XXXI, 30). Situated on the last step of the hierarchy of the states of life, the wife is, in the lay state, the representation of the holy Catholic Church, according to the words of S. Paul already mentioned : “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and delivered himself up for it, that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life, that he might present it to himself, a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Eph. V, 25-27)
It follows that a wife that would not be submissive to her husband like the Church is to Christ (Eph. V. 22), and who would not wear the marks of that ordonnation, could not be said faithful to her state. The feminist, meta-feminist and anti-feminist opinions all declare in one accord, the equality of man and woman – each one viewing this equality in a contradictory manner. The reality is that if the man and the woman are equal, then the everlasting Son of God and the Church are both equal; consequently, the Church is a divine entity distinct from Christ, quod absit. Therefore the woman is ordonated to the man; the latter is ordonated to the divine Word; and He, in turn, is submitted to his Father: “But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.” (I Cor. XI,3)
The Catholic woman, whose state is that of a wife, must also, if God wills, become a mother. Because S. Paul teaches that the woman “shall be saved through child-bearing if she continues in faith and love and sanctification with sobriety.” (I Tim. II, 15). It is therefore impossible for a woman to be saved if she is not ordonated to her husband, if she does not bear all the children God gives her (if such is his will), and if she does not practice the Christian virtues through Charity.
It is noticeable how such a statement takes a variety of forms according to the state of life for all those who a baptized.
XII. – The Non-Virgins. – The Widows.
The state of widowhood is that of the wife of whom the husband has died. The Widows have always constituted a well-defined category in the Church, characterized by a greater vulnerability and by the privilege of being assisted (I Tim. V, 16). If the Widow is reverenced among the Christians, it is because, as the Virgin, she behaves in accordance with God. However, the Apostle expects the Widow to multiply in her new state, the good works she has accomplished in her former state of wife and mother. “Let a widow be chosen of no less than threescore years of age, who hath been the wife of one husband. Having testimony for her good works, if she has brought up children, if she has received to harbour, if she have washed the saints’ feet, if she have ministered to them that suffer tribulation, if she have diligently followed every good work.” (I Tim. V, 9-10)
The Widow known as such in the Church, holds, so to speak, the middle between the consecrated Virgin and the Wife. Because, because of her age and her experience of the ordonnation and obedience to her head, the Widow appears as the best governess, always according to the Apostle’s teaching (ibid., 4); besides, this function in the midst of the Christian family society is foreseen by the elderly women, i.e. abiding in their state, to whom the Apostle commands : “The aged women, in like manner, in holy attire, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teaching well: that they may teach the young women to be wise, to love their husbands, to love their children. To be discreet, chaste, sober, having a care of the house, gentle, obedient to their husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”
XIII. – The Children.
Christian childhood starts with the gift of baptism; before going through the “gateway to the Sacraments”, the child is but a natural man, marked by the First Adam’s fall, under the hold of the devil and incapable of salvation. This is the reason why the children who die without baptism cannot be considered as being able to see the beatific Light. Hence the blessing the Church gives to the wife during the wedding ceremony, and to the future mother by the appropriate sacramental, so that God may allow her to keep her fruit.
Childhood does not constitute a state in the same way as the states of life we have just briefly seen. It is a condition of imperfection, since the reason is not yet fully formed in the subject. Because he will only reach the adult state at over 21 years of age, he must be considered as not possessing yet the moral, intellectual and human maturity, although his education tends to make of him a radiant Christian adult. A distinction is made between the child before 6 and who is more than 7 years old. The first is called innocent, that is, incapable of accomplishing a mortal sin, his judgment being still greatly controlled by the senses and not by the reason. For those who die before “the age of reason” the Liturgy has a different funeral ritual.
Childhood is a transitory state of which nothing remains once the adult age is reached, according to the Apostle’s words: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child” (I Cor. XIII, 11). The liberal, or modern society, is ill-fated for two reasons: on one hand, it pushes the child too early into the adult world, and on the other hand, it infantilizes the adult by furthering in him an undue nostalgia for childhood. Concerning the traditional Catholic society, childhood is a time of apprenticeship, essentially characterized by the submission to the Elders: “Ye young men, be subject to the ancients” (I Pet.V, 5), the latter word referring to the Priests as well as to the fathers and all hierarchical authority.
As we have said, the state of childhood ends differently for boys and for girls. When boys reach adult state, they become themselves able to set up home and start a family; they keep towards their parents the duty of respect given by the 4th Commandment but which does not imply for them any dependence stricto sensu. On the other hand, a girl who has become an adult remains under the supervision of her father until she marries. That does not mean she is a minor since it is not a question, here, of legal but moral supervision, at least as far as the conditions in Modernity are concerned. Since, according to the Creator’s will, the woman holds her being from man, her ontological weakness requires that the latter holds the role of head over her, otherwise she is in a state of vulnerability which no “strength of character” can compensate. That is what the Apostle teaches when he says: “Therefore ought the woman to have a power over her head” (I Cor. XI,10).
XIV. – Concerning the natural man.
It must be noticed that the traditional Catholic anthropology does not include the “natural man” in its definition of humanity stricto sensu. Because – considering that the fall of our First Parents has plunged man into a state beneath his nature – if his nature was not changed, he is on the other hand, by certain aspects, become so disfigured that he is more of a monster than a man. That is why, in order to save the fallen man, the Messiah is seen by the Prophet as having no longer resemblance with man (Is. LII, 14) since “he emptied himself taking the form of a servant” (Phil. II, 7), the man born from the first Adam being naturally a child of the devil (I Jn. III, 10).
Unless baptism be only an accidental formality, which decorates, so to speak, an individual with the name of Christian without making any real change in him – which no sensible Catholic would admit –, the difference between a baptized and a non-baptized is nothing else than that between a living and a dead. The fact that this life and this death are spiritual does not mean they are metaphorical. Therefore, there is no possible comparison between the Christian and the unbeliever; there association is unnatural to the point that the Apostle declares: “Bear not the yoke with unbelievers. For what participation hath justice with injustice? Or what fellowship hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial, or what part hath the faithful with the unbeliever?… Wherefore: go out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean things.” (II Cor. VI, 14, 15, 17)
By the term “gentile” Christianity refers to the natural men, that is, the non-baptized. The term of “gentile” is synonymous of pagan, infidel, heathen; it means foreign to the covenant between God and his people: “You were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the conversation of Israel and strangers to the testament having no hope of the promise and without God in this world.” (Eph. II, 12). The gentiles are the human natures deprived from the dignitas israelitica; they do not constitute the “Israel of God” (Gal. VI, 16), and are under the divine wrath (Eph. II, 3). The ritual of baptism, for newborn as well as for adults, shows that the natural man – the gentile – is a kind of animal led around by the devil: “The sensual man perceiveth not these things that are of the Spirit of God. For it is foolishness to him and he cannot understand, because it is spiritually examined.” (I Cor. II, 14) since he does not possess “wisdom descending from above: but earthly, sensual, devilish.” (James III, 15)
If the Catholic shows Charity to all creature, baptised on not; if he sees in all man a potential child of God, insofar as one must not despair of the conversion of anyone, on the other hand, the Augustinian and sacerdotal Concord intends to apply literally the holy Scripture’s commandment : “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” (Eph. V, 11)
The Clergy of the Augustinian and sacerdotal Concord does not celebrate any “mix” marriage, i.e. where one of the spouse does not profess the traditional Catholic religion.