X-Ray of the Priest in a Field Hospital by Fr. Armand de Malleray FSSP

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS (1476). CARLO CRIVELLI. NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON. PUBLIC DOMAIN

happiness; “the law must needs regard principally the relationship to happiness.”20 Those civil laws called “just” are those “which are adapted to produce and preserve happiness and its parts for the body politic”.21

It follows from this that any command which is contrary to the common good, does not have the nature of law:

“Consequently, since the law is chiefly ordained to the common good, any other precept in regard to some individual work, must needs be devoid of the nature of a law, save in so far as it regards the common good.”22

A LAW IS MADE BY LEGITIMATE AUTHORITY Laws are directed to the common good. Therefore, only the whole community, or those with legitimate authority over the whole community, can make laws.

As Thomas teaches:

“Now to order anything to the common good, belongs either to the whole people, or to someone who is the viceregent of the whole people. And therefore the making of a law belongs either to the whole people or to a public personage who has care of the whole people: since in all other matters the directing of anything to the end concerns him to whom the end belongs.”23

If a private person – someone who does not have legitimate authority – tries to make or enforce a law this is null and void.24

The force of laws passed by legitimate authority is diminished – and perhaps made entirely null – if the laws they pass are contrary to the universal custom of a people:

“to a certain extent, the mere change of law is of itself prejudicial to the common good: because custom avails much for the observance of laws, seeing that what is done contrary to general custom, even in slight matters, is looked upon as grave. Consequently, when a law is changed, the binding power of the law is diminished, in so far as custom is abolished.

“Wherefore human law should never be changed, unless, in some way or other, the common weal be compensated according to the extent of the harm done in this respect. Such compensation may arise either from some very great and very evident benefit conferred by the new enactment; or from the extreme urgency of the case, due to the fact that either the existing law is clearly unjust, or its observance extremely harmful. Wherefore the jurist says that ‘in establishing new laws, there should be evidence of the benefit to be derived, before departing from a law which has long been considered just.’”

Indeed, custom itself can have force of law:

“Augustine says: ‘The customs of God’s people and the institutions of our ancestors are to be considered as laws. And those who throw contempt on the customs of the Church ought to be punished as those who disobey the law of God.’”25

Furthermore, if a people are:

“free, and able to make their own laws, the consent of the whole people expressed by a custom counts far more in favour of a particular observance, that

does the authority of the sovereign, who has not the power to frame laws, except as representing the people.”26

A LAW IS DULY PROMULGATED Laws by their nature are made for the good of a particular community. Therefore, they must be duly applied to that community to have the nature of law.

As St. Thomas states:

“Wherefore, in order that a law obtain the binding force which is proper to a law, it must needs be applied to the men who have to be ruled by it. Such application is made by its being notified to them by promulgation. Wherefore promulgation is necessary for the law to obtain its force.”27

The manner of promulgation will differ from society to society.

DO WE HAVE TO OBEY AN UNJUST LAW? In general, we are bound to obey true laws: “If they be just, they have the power of binding in conscience, from the eternal law whence they are derived, according to Proverbs 8:15: ‘By Me kings reign, and lawgivers decree just things.’”28 There will of course be certain circumstances in which even true laws are not binding, for example, laws can cease to bind if their application becomes harmful:

“Now it happens often that the observance of some point of law conduces to the common weal in the majority of instances, and yet, in some cases, is very hurtful. Since then the lawgiver cannot have in view every single case, he shapes the law according to what happens most frequently, by directing his attention to the common good. Wherefore if a case arise wherein the observance of that law would be hurtful to the general welfare, it should not be observed.”29

But what of laws that do not fulfil the definition of true law?

St. Thomas separates these into two categories. 1. “Laws” that are contrary to the “divine law”, such as a law which commands something sinful; “laws of this kind must nowise be observed, because, as stated in Acts 5:29, ‘we ought to obey God rather than man.’” 30 2. “Laws” that are contrary to a “human good”, but which do not command something intrinsically evil. These “laws” are also unjust and “a law that is not just, seems to be no law at all”. They are “acts of violence rather than laws”. Consequently “such laws do not bind in conscience”, except perhaps in certain individual circumstances, “in order to avoid scandal or disturbance.”31

SUMMARY Any purported law, whether made by ecclesiastical or civil authority, which either (a) is contrary to reason, (b) is contrary to the common good of the community for which it is made, (c) is made by an individual lacking legitimate authority or (d) is not duly promulgated, is in and of itself null and void.

I suggest that in our times these are important principles to bear in mind.

Matthew McCusker has a Master’s Degree in History from the University of York, where he specialised in ecclesiastical history. He currently works for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children as General Secretary and Director of Fundraising. He can be contacted at: matthewmccusker@spuc.org.uk.

ENDNOTES:

1. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II. I q.90 a.4 2. II. I q.91 a.1 3. II. I q.91 a.2 4. II. I q.91 a.2 5. II. I q.91 a.2 6. II. I q.91 a.3 7. II. I q.95. a.2 8. II. I q.91 a.4 9. II. I q.91 a.4 10. II. I q.91 a.4 11. II. I q.91 a.4 12. II. I q.91 a.4 13. II. I q.90 a.4 14. II. I q.91 a.1-4 15. II.I q.90 a.1 16. II. I q.1 a.1 17. II.I q.90 a.1 18. II.I q.90 a.1 19. II. I q.95. a.2 20. II. I. q.90 a.2 21. II. I. q.90 a.2 22. II. I. q.90 a.2 23. II. I. q.90 a.3 24. II. I. q.90 a.3 25. II.I q.97 a.3 26. II.I q.97 a.3 27. II. I. q.90 a.4 28. II.I q.96. a 29. II.I q.96 a.6 30. II. I. q.96 a.4 31. II. I. q.96 a.4

in a field hospital X-RAY OF THE PRIEST

Fr. Thomas Crean OP reviews the new book by Fr. Armand de Malleray FSSP

Many priests by now must have learned to use the Roman missal of 1962 not while at seminary but afterwards. There are books, DVDs, and online videos available from which to learn. But perhaps many priests have felt that they could also do with some help to fill gaps in the ascetical and spiritual instruction which they received during their years of seminary. If so, they are likely to profit from Fr. Armand de Malleray’s new book, X-Ray of the Priest in a Field Hospital.

Fr. de Malleray’s name will no doubt be familiar to many readers of Calx Mariae. A priest of the Fraternity of St. Peter, and rector of St. Mary’s church in Warrington, he oversees the apostolate of the Fraternity in England and has been preaching retreats to clergy for a dozen years or so. Well aware of the challenges facing the clergy in contemporary Britain, he writes especially to encourage priests in their vocation, and to remind us that priestly sanctity is at least as necessary, and by God’s grace still as possible, as ever.

The book contains eight chapters, each being a “practical meditation” on some aspect of priestly life. The first is boldly titled “The fourteen stations of priestly apostasy”. The author ingeniously makes the descent of the missionary priest in Martin Scorsese’s film Silence a template for similar, though less dramatic descents, in priests’ lives from fervour to frigidity. He reminds us of the importance of small things, such as grace before meals or getting out of bed at a fixed time. There are useful remarks on the choice of leisure activity and on the need for fraternal relations with other clergy that go beyond “purely administrative” contacts, as well as reminders for priests to be on their guard against prestigious academic publications that subtly undermine the faith. On this last point, he helpfully reminds us about a current error in sacramental theology which tends to lessen sacerdotal zeal, namely the view that “sacramental acts evoke but don’t convey divine grace” – what the philosopher Thomas Pink has recently called “the sacraments as salvation theatre”. Chapter two, “Ordained a Priest in Dachau”, tells the story of a young German, Karl Leisner. He was sent to Dachau near the start of World War II while still a deacon, for remarks made against the regime. He was able to be ordained a priest only toward the end of the war, and his health was such that he was able to offer the sacrifice of the Mass only once before he died. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II. It is a striking meditation on a life that from the world’s point of view was wasted, but which was and therefore is supernaturally fruitful, and which is in some way a template for every faithful priestly life.

Chapter three is entitled “Handling The Right Body”. It is a brief apologia for the celibacy of the clergy. The author explains how the intimacy with Christ conferred by ordination makes it very fitting that clergy forego marital intimacy. He also notes how celibacy is both sustained by and manifests the truth of the Eucharist and the Mass: “Priestly celibacy implies that the Eucharistic Body of Christ is real enough to reward man’s chastity.”

Chapter four, “In persona Christi”, is a series of meditations on the theme of personhood. After some philosophical and theological remarks on this most Christian of concepts, Fr. de Malleray returns to his

practical advice on the priestly life. I was struck by his warning of the danger of certain kinds of prayer which neglect the personhood of man and God. For while “no priest can fall gravely if he prays earnestly”, yet “what if a priest mistakes prayer with breathing techniques, and theologal union with mental relaxation”? The author believes that “no few priests (not to mention other consecrated persons and the laity) have been so misled, with dire consequences for their spiritual life, their orthodoxy and their ministry”. The key question is: “By prayer, do I mean to communicate with Someone, or to dissolve into something?”

Still on the theme of personhood, the author reminds us that as well as having pastoral care for his visible parishioners, the priest must also give his attention frequently to those whom he calls the “invisible persons”: by this he means the angels, the suffering souls of purgatory, the unborn, the Eucharistic Christ, and our Lady and the saints.

In chapter five, “Unfolding the Holy Shroud”, the author develops another ingenious comparison, this time between the shroud of Turin and the deposit of faith. The mysterious data present on the shroud have not changed since the resurrection, but the shroud was slowly unfolded, first of all literally (one presumes) in the cenacle, and then metaphorically by the investigations of sindonologists down the years. In the same way, the deposit of faith was established by the time of the death of the last apostle, but, to some extent, its riches are brought into light over the course of the centuries. The author also offers practical advice on how the clergy are to respond when “disconcerting statements” are issued by authorities within the Church, for example on marriage or capital punishment. Here, a 2014 document from the International Theological Commission on the sensus fidei turns out to be perhaps surprisingly useful.

Chapter six addresses the subject, sometimes controversial, of “Priestly unity and concelebration”. Without rejecting modern “sacramental concelebration”, he argues that when it becomes habitual, six disadvantages follow, for the Church and for the priest himself. He also holds that when a Mass is concelebrated, only one sacrifice is offered, with all that that implies for the reduction in the flow of graces upon the mystical Body. This is a question to which there has been surprisingly little attention paid, although Fr. de Malleray refers us to the important study by the French Carmelite, Fr. Joseph de Sainte-Marie (d. 1985). He also mentions the danger that “concelebration might conveniently dispense bishops and priests from mentioning the ‘elephant in the room’, namely, disunity in doctrine, liturgy and law (including moral law)”. Such concelebrations, he observes, would conceal and thus perpetuate disunity rather than prevent it.

Chapter seven, entitled, “Building the bride”, draws a parallel between the creation of Eve and the Eucharistic origin of the Church. It is one of the more meditative, even lyrical, sections of the book. I was struck by his comparison of Gen. 2:22 and Jn. 2:20: “Jesus seems to apply to a building, the temple, the verb ‘to raise’ which is used in the Bible about human persons. Conversely, in Genesis, the verb ‘to build’ normally applied to buildings was used in reference to Eve, a human person.”

The final chapter has a different audience. Called “Consecrated to God, body and soul”, it is addressed not principally to those who are already priests, but to those who may become so, and even more, to those who may enter the religious state, since, as he writes: “Fallen men and women are more likely to save their immortal souls in a community mandated by the Church for that explicit purpose.” While perfectly aware of the difficulties that stand in the way of a revival of religious life in Britain, he writes: “The young generation may be called to found its own orders, or re-found or import some. Extreme caution is needed here against pride, rashness, inexperience and illusions. God is the one who calls to religious life, and also the one who can raise founders and foundresses in a given time and country. But when devout Catholics look at the urgent needs, it is timely for them to beg God for a revival of religious life here in Britain.”

It is not an easy thing for a priest to write a book of advice for other priests, especially when that advice includes warnings. We can be grateful to Fr. de Malleray that he was willing to undertake this delicate task, and even more, that he has accomplished it with charity and tact, and in a way fitted not to depress but to inspire those who read it.

Details: “X-Ray of the Priest in a Field Hospital” By Fr. Armand de Malleray FSSP 176 pages, Arouca Press ISBN: 978-1-989905-01-2 (paperback) ISBN: 978-1-989905-02-9 (hardcover)