That room was silent with the fury of avenging angels sharpening their radiance before they strike.
Interestingly, in the earlier selected passage (page 52), Patria loses her child just as she is losing her faith in so many things. Here, she is almost about to give birth to Raúl; she is big and bold with a maternal ferocity willing to take on anything that endangers those who are vulnerable creatures and victimized by the dictatorship. A radical Catholic movement was evolving throughout Latin America, as more and more of the clergy became politicized and joined in defense of the poor and oppressed—a “movement,” later known as “liberation theology.” Heretofore, the hierarchy of the church had been in collusion with the regime. In fact, in 1954, Trujillo had entered into a “concordat” with Rome, whereby the regime granted the church certain privileges in exchange for its recognition and blessing. Many felt a growing disenchantment and disillusionment with the Catholic church. Many stopped going to church altogether. But in part due to the movement initiated by meetings such as the one Patria attends, the church changed course. A pastoral letter was read from all the pulpits on Sunday, January 31, 1960, decrying the many arrests, the spilling of blood by the regime, the suffering of so many families who had lost loved ones. The word spread about this episcopal letter, being read at mass. By late morning, every church was packed. The historians say that two things finally brought down the hitherto impregnable regime: the murder of the Mirabal sisters and the opposition (finally) of the Catholic church.
Now in 2021 in the midst of protests by the Black Lives Matter movement sweeping the United States we all hearken back to Martin Luther King’s words that “the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” I envision these avenging angels sharpening their weapons of mass creation until they are bright with the radiance of truth and beauty, justice and love. Change happens, sometimes not during our watch, but if we don’t show up, we delay its arrival even further. It happened in the Dominican Republic; it has happened around the world. In Spanish when a woman gives birth, she is said to “dar a luz,” give a child to the light. Like Patria in this passage, we can bring a more beloved community to the light, but it requires hard labor and love, which manifests in small/infant-sized ways, hands to hold and wipe our brows and give us ánimo when our faith fails us and our spirits flag.
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