Catholic Thought discussion
Come Rack! Come Rope!
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Part 2, Chapters 1 thru 5
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Didn’t you think Benson’s descriptions of Edmund Campion and Queen Elizabeth were wonderful? Campion seemed alive to me, the charisma, the bravery.
Isn’t Richard Topcliffe a sinister figure? I think he’s also in the other Benson book about this period, By What Authority?
The whole journey to London was masterfully done. I actually looked up some pictures of the old St. Paul's Cathedral to get a better idea of the things that they would have seen going about the city in 1580 or thereabouts. I think the other thing that Msgr. Benson does incredibly well is to bring out the spiritual strain during this period, in addition to the social. When he describes how St. Paul's would have had First Vespers of Christmas and then Midnight Mass and people going in and out all night contrasted with its abandoned appearance under the control of Protestants, there's a kind of longing that is excited for that worship which sanctifies time instead of kind of nodding as it passes.
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Benson exemplifies Campion’s patriotism in these chapters as well, as any true saint loves his nation. He still loves the Queen; but God first, as St. Thomas More personified.
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Benson siloes Babington from Marjorie and Robin. I see links between liberation theology and Elizabethan England here. Many activists and former priests joined Marxist or violent groups in Central and South America during the 1960s to 1980s. Violence, a tool of building the Kingdom of God on earth, became a schismatic point of the church in Latin America. Just as those young rebels distanced themselves from the Body of Christ, so is Anthony Babington from the humble Robin and Marjorie. Both of our protagonists rely on prayer and love of Jesus Christ, while Anthony declares war. Even the Pope of the time didn’t sanction violence against Queen Elizabeth, only civil disobedience.
This also reminds me of Saint Thomas More and the definition of a martyr. Martyrs cannot seek death; they can’t intentionally provoke. They can’t be suicidal or intentional warriors. They must stand as the mighty oak. Martyrs stand firm in Jesus Christ and his truth. When the prevailing culture of the day says, “Move,” the martyrs say no and stick to their roots in Christ. They say no until the culture chops them down.
Martyrdom does not apply to those who declare war. Martyrs die for the truth of Christ because their enemies sin, while warriors use violence as their own tools. Those who live by the sword will die by it.
St. Thomas More knew this. That is why he served King Henry VIII until he resigned his post. Even while serving, he never protested or contradicted his King. He remained a loyal servant. Indeed, he simply remained silent on the issue of the King’s divorce, then he resigned his post when he felt he could no longer support his king’s sin. Reminds me of St. John Henry Newman. And, as More argued, silence actually implies affirmation. It was only when the King attempted to force More to violate his conscience by vocally and publicly affirming the King’s divorce does More officially get into trouble. He is then imprisoned and executed as a traitor. But More never violated his oath, his duty, or his conscience, and he died because he stood with Christ and the papacy.
Queen Elizabeth II died today. One of her many titles was Defender of the Faith. What a difference between the two Elizabeths!
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The titled Defensor Fidei was actually given to Henry VIII for his rebuttal of Luther. After he himself apostatized, parliament restored use of the title and it's been used by every English monarch since.
Thank you, Joseph. What an important detail!Manny, everything you wrote is accurate and significant, but I can’t imagine Elizabeth II approving of drawing and quartering! She was a woman of integrity and unselfishness. I was impressed to learn that at her coronation she pledged herself to Christ.
I’m sorry she didn’t convert to Catholicism, too, but neither did C.S. Lewis; yet they both were exemplary Christians. (I personally would like to see Lewis canonized; there must be a way. . . ) 😊
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I respect your always well-reasoned opinion!
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https://catholicvote.org/queen-elizab...
There are others.
Thanks so much, Manny. I didn’t know that about Tony Blair.
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https://www.ncregister.com/blog/in-gr...
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And then at last, she caught a glimpse of the carriage, followed by ladies on grey horses; and forgot all the rest.
This way and that she craned her head, gripping the oak post by which she leaned, unconscious of all except that she was to see her in whom England itself seemed to have been incarnated—the woman who, as perhaps no other earthly sovereign in the world at that time, or before her, had her people in a grasp that was not one of merely regal power. Even far away in Derbyshire—even in the little country manor from which the girl came, the aroma of that tremendous presence penetrated—of the woman whom men loved to hail as the Virgin Queen, even though they might question her virginity; the woman—”our Eliza,” as the priest had named her just now—who had made so shrewd an act of faith in her people that they had responded with an unreserved act of love. It was this woman, then, whom she was about to see; the sister of Mary and Edward, the daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn, who had received her kingdom Catholic, and by her own mere might had chosen to make it Protestant; the woman whose anointed hands were already red in the blood of God’s servants, yet hands which men fainted as they kissed….
Then on a sudden, as Elizabeth lifted her head this side and that, the girl saw her.
She was sitting in a low carriage, raised on cushions, alone. Four tall horses drew her at a slow trot: the wheels of the carriage were deep in mud, since she had driven for an hour over the deep December roads; but this added rather to the splendour within. But of this Marjorie remembered no more than an uncertain glimpse. The air was thick with cries; from window after window waved hands; and, more than all, the loyalty was real, and filled the air like brave music.
There, then, she sat, smiling.
She was dressed in some splendid stuff; jewels sparkled beneath her throat. Once a hand in an embroidered glove rose to wave an answer to the roar of salute; and, as the carriage came beneath, she raised her face. It was a thin face, sharply pear-shaped, ending in a pointed chin; a tight mouth smiled at the corners; above her narrow eyes and high brows rose a high forehead, surmounted by strands of auburn hair drawn back tightly beneath the little head-dress. It was a strangely peaked face, very clear-skinned, and resembled in some manner a mask. But the look of it was as sharp as steel; like a slender rapier, fragile and thin, yet keen enough to run a man through. The power of it, in a word, was out of all measure with the slightness of the face…. Then the face dropped; and Marjorie watched the back of the head bending this way and that, till the nodding heads that followed hid it from sight.
Marjorie drew a deep breath and turned. The faces of her friends were as pale and intent as her own. Only the priest was as easy as ever.
“So that is our Eliza,” he said.
Then he did a strange thing. He lifted his cap once more with grave seriousness. “God save her Grace!” he said. (pp. 115-116, Aeterna Press. Kindle Edition)
I love that one sentence paragraph, “Then on a sudden, as Elizabeth lifted her head this side and that, the girl saw her.” As a single sentence paragraph, it has incredible power, and Benson wants you to remember it. He will contrast the other queen’s head later on with this.
Two years have passed and Robin has been to Rheims for seminary. Marjorie’s father has passed away and her estate has become a harbor for priests. Babington comes to her to tell her of eight or nine new priests coming to London. He tells her of a Fr. Ballard who goes by the name of Captain Fortescue. He entices her to come to London with his sister to meet him, and to meet Robin who will be joining him. She agrees.
Marjorie, Anthony Babington, and Alice, Babington’s sister arrive in London where Marjorie, a country girl, is mesmerized by the big city. They meet Fr. Edmund Campion, a heroic priest and charming man, who is unafraid to work under the noses of the anti-Catholics.
Fr. Campion shows Marjorie and Alice the famous sites of London. He takes them though the opposite path of the martyrs, from London Tower where they would be executed to the wharf to Westminster to the palace to St. Margret’s Church. At the Tower they get a glimpse of Richard Topcliffe, the torturer of the martyrs. They also catch a sight of Queen Elizabeth herself.
Finally there is a meeting where Marjorie is introduced to the priests that have come from France. Robin is also with them, as he is an assistant to Fr. Ballard, that is, Captain Fortescue. Marjorie and Robin have time to talk, and the sense now is that they have settled into their vocations. There is a discussion among the gathering of whether there should be a violent retaliation to the Catholic persecution, but Fr. Campion is decidedly against it. Anthony Babington is in silent disagreement. On Christmas Day, the priests depart for France.
A year later, Babington comes to Marjorie’s home to tell her of sad news: three priests have been hung in London, and one of them is Fr. Campion. He leaves her letters with the details. Meanwhile Marjorie’s mother is dying. She tries to get a priest for last rights but is unable before it is too late. Though no priest comes, she can feel the presence of Fr. Campion over her mother’s body. Fr. Simpson finally arrives late and she shares the news of the executions in London. Marjorie is more determined than ever to use her home as a place of resistance.