Civilization in Crisis: Our Lady, Cloistered Nuns and Prayer – A Solution

Just as the mountain mist veils their monastery at daybreak, the cloistered Norbertine Nuns of Tehachapi, California, are likewise shrouded in God’s providential care. Striving to be part of His Love and Work, they do so as warrior Nun which is not hyperbole. Their modus operandi is stealth, but they are indeed on the front lines, battling the evils of the world as instruments of the Most Holy Trinity.

With Our Lady, the meek and humble Virgin as their exemplar, they are innocent as doves and cunning as serpents in their battle to ultimately crush the head of the Evil One. They have to be, to fight the fight well. What prompts this radical vocation? They are in love with Jesus, their relentless crusade is for Him and their objective is to love as Jesus commands – for you and me and the world. In Love – for Love – to Love.

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As future Pope Karol Wojtyla prophesied when visiting the United States in 1976, “We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, between the Gospel and the anti-Gospel, between Christ and the anti-Christ.” He said this when delivering a bicentennial address at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia. If I take a tally of early 2019, it’s clear to me that Pope Saint John Paul II was quite the prophesier. More on that in a minute.

As a former Marine and before I was trained as a fighter pilot, I was first schooled as an infantry officer. One great takeaway from those many months in the science and art of ground combat was SMEAC – acronym for the five-part order providing information to carry out an operation. SMEAC is shorthand for Situation, Mission, Execution, Administration & Logistics, and Command & Signal. It is a battle-tested military tactical planning template. 

At this historic juncture in time, it is my premise that the Demon, a protagonist throughout the millennia, has clearly upped his game. So, I thought I would come up with my own plan of attack to counter his moves. It’s simplified, concise and, of significant note, a vital part of its strategy involves beautiful women.

1. Situation – Understanding the Enemy

When Pope John Paul talked about the anti-Church, the anti-Gospel and the anti-Christ forty-two years ago, I wonder if my sober assessment below is somehow symptomatic of the confrontation he predicted.

The essence of America is fading like the paint on a Kansas barn. We dismember unborn children by the thousands and throw their body parts on a metal slab. And that’s on a Monday. Families, the foundational mirror of the Holy Trinity, are disintegrating like soapstone in the rain. No longer relevant says the collective elite, just an unwanted legacy of patriarchal abuse. Same sex marriage, an immoral union of uncomplimentary disordered mindsets, is applauded and pushed as if a liberating drug.

Christian persecution is untethered, a chisel to God as Truth, brazen mudslinging at the Supreme Good. Gender fluidity has crept into the public consciousness as if an ear maggot whispered the destructive premise into a compliant brain, but it’s based on a lie. Cultural demise is pandemic, but the progressives are blinded by both relativism and modernism and see nothing. Islamic terror and domination are not fiction; read the Koran and recognize its global creep. Russia and China, our great power competitors, see God as a poker chip in a winner-take-all card game. The politics of the day is shrill vitriol directed at those who disagree, civility a rarity. And on and on…

As Archbishop Fulton Sheen said in 1958, “Very few people believe in the devil these days, which suits the devil very well. He is always helping to circulate the news of his own death.” I believe said devil is quite real and the main architect of the global conflict between good and bad, right and wrong.

Lucifer, the enemy, and his surrogates (many of whom are unwitting) are orchestrating a siege of civilization and Catholicism is his greatest threat. His efforts to cut us off from the graces of our Lord, our Blessed Mother and His Church is a battle in full rage. He hates God and his kingdom in Christ, Mary, the Church and our Catholic faith. With all of his power, he wants to separate God from man. He’ll never succeed at the mankind level (individually is another story) – we know that based on our covenant with Jesus, but as the great Tempter, Lucifer can’t help himself. The temptation to destroy all that he loathes is overpowering. He’s addicted to his own malevolence.

2. Mission – The Heart of the Plan

The duties of faithful Catholics are myriad. But to worship and serve the Lord in communion with his Church is essential – the Church is the Lord’s plan to unite all people in the love of Jesus Christ, the Savior of all. From the Nicene Creed, we know that the Church is holy. Its disciples? Not so much. The overarching issue of our day is not corruption or clericalism within the Church – there has always been that to some degree – but it seems as if the immorality and dishonesty of some of our prelates has ratcheted up a notch or two.

Have a few of our wayward shepherds shape shifted into aliens, have they done a mind meld with the Devil? Some of their decisions seem either unearthly or evil. The disconnect between their sacred role and corrosive actions has created a crisis of trust that has many Catholics reeling.

Only God can save the world, but His mission linchpin is Our Lady, Holy Mary, Mother of God. And the mission itself? Like the Holy Spirit’s efforts throughout the ages, nothing short of a renewal of our Church for the salvation of souls and to unite all people in the love of Jesus Christ.

3. Execution – The “How To”

The focus of my strategy is to combat the evil that is undermining global civilization. The challenge is monumental, but we have a task force that is nonpareil. I’m suggesting a two-pronged attack. Earlier I hinted that beautiful women were part of my plan, but now it’s time to categorically leave Wonder Woman in the dust.

A. Mary – Hit them from the high ground – Dr. Carrie Gress has written a thought-provoking book which I highly recommend, The Marian Option; God’s Solution to a Civilization in Crisis.

I realized that my foundational understanding of Mary was lacking, but Dr. Gress was able to synthesize this perfect mother whose will is immaculately aligned with God’s perfect will.

Despite only speaking six times in Scripture, the centuries have proven that Mary is one of the greatest forces in history. While many consider her to be only slightly elevated over the rest of the communion of saints, in reality, she goes far beyond every other saint in terms of who she is and her intercession for us. Being “full of grace,” she is much more than we can be while providing the model for who we should be. What started out as small as a mustard seed has grown into one of the most powerful forces on earth.

Further, whether it’s evangelization, stomping out heresies, or vanquishing the Church’s enemies, Mary is at the heart of it all.

There are many elements to The Marian Option, but the Rosary is at the heart of devotion to Our Lady. St. Padre Pio called the Rosary the spiritual weapon of our times. At this moment in history, we need her Motherly aide – pray for it.

B. Norbertine Canonesses – Disrupt with stealth, guerrilla tactics – I’ve written previously about The Hidden Warrior Nuns of Tehachapi, more specifically the Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. They are Mary’s secret weapon. In a complimentary sense, they are the yang to Mary’s yin and crucial to mission execution. It is an extraordinary community of cloistered nuns, who are closely following Christ and living fully the charism of their holy founder, St. Norbert, a holy man of God, a bishop, and profound preacher of the Word. He was one of the great reformers of the Church in the 12^thcentury, part of the Gregorian Reform. 

These women are true spiritual daughters of St. Norbert, women of deep faith, praying and sacrificing for the Church and the world with a deep penitential spirit, striving daily for a profound intimate union with Christ through Our Lady. They are vibrant and bursting at the seams with new vocations. Their founder, St. Norbert, also happened to have a powerfully strong and tender devotion to Our Lady. I think of them as a spiritual Seal Team 6 working in close concert with Mary, all of them more than comfortable in combat boots and laser focused.

They are the first and only community of cloistered Norbertine Canonesses in the United States. Of all the various orders of cloistered nuns, it is canonesses who have the solemn and reverential celebration of the Sacred Liturgy together in choir as the core, center and heart of their vocation. They are officially appointed by the Church and their Constitutions for this purpose, ambassadors as it were for this sacred mission.

At the risk of being indelicate, if I could somehow read the thoughts and prayers of Mother and the Sisters for one fleeting moment, the speech balloon over their monastery could very well have a stream of consciousness as follows;

We must hunker down, not be distracted, be faithful to our mission and vocation, living all the more deeply, intensely. Which means relying ever more on Christ through Mary, drawing ever closer to union with Him through her, dying completely to self, being transformed by Him and her, not holding back, but being docile, humble instruments of grace. The more the world and the Church are challenged, the more the devil shows his face or fingerprints, the more we must draw away from the world, and live our canonical vocation, at the heart of which is Holy Mass, the Eucharist, and Our Lady.

The five marks of our Order, following in St. Norbert’s footsteps – the Sacred Liturgy, intense devotion to the Most Holy Eucharist, fervent devotion to our Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary, zeal for the salvation of souls especially the holy souls in Purgatory, and a deep penitential spirit. We must pray, fast from self, do penance, repair, allow daily conversion, go deeper, ever deeper.

As an important aside, I’ve been writing about the Norbertine Canonesses because God in His mercy chose to bless me with an extraordinary grace – the friendship of these extraordinary Nuns. As unique as their charism is, there are other remarkable orders of consecrated women who have answered the call to espouse Christ and live a monastic vocation.

The role and function of all these cloistered Nuns, like St. Therese explained so well, is like the heart, pumping the sap of grace to all the members of the Church. It’s pure, beautiful, faithful and fruitful.

4. Administration – The Details

Here I’ll speak to the logistics. For my two-pronged attack, two essential weapons will suffice.

A. Rosary Beads– We have great tools at our disposal to accomplish our mission, thank God, so allow me to start with the small. As Dr. Gress discussed in The Marian Option, transforming the world does not require a “huge” thing.

Like the tiny stone thrown by David to vanquish Goliath, the small beads of the Rosary can rid the world of the evils represented by the Philistine, such as pride, impurity, and heresy.

B. Chapel (& Phase II Monastery Expansion) – This other material requirement for supernatural labor depends on our readiness to do the will of the Trinitarian God. Our monastic Norbertine Canonesses need capital to grow, another $10 million to be precise, for the construction of a chapel and additional wing to house the ever-expanding corps of sisters.

They retreated from the world precisely to save it. It is in the monastery that they help wage spiritual warfare against all that is evil – through prayer, intercession, penance, and atonement for sin.

It is a fully ecclesial vocation. An appropriate monastery church/chapel is key, where they can give all honor and glory to God, and all for the salvation of souls. It’s imperative that there is proper monastic space for His brides, who have vowed their lives in poverty, chastity and obedience, as well as daily conversion, to Him, as well for those who come to worship God with the sisters.

“For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator” (Wisdom 13:5).

I want the sisters to be inspired, liberated, to grow in fraternal life, to lift their meditations even higher. The chapel expansion can accomplish that. The closer they are to God, the more powerful their prayers become. A chapel to turbo boost their mission of prayer seems like a very good thing for all of us. But most importantly, here the Son of God can dwell in his sacramental presence. A cramped, converted ranch house is serving its purpose, but Jesus deserves so much more.

I pray that the beauty of a new chapel will someday quietly rock the Sisters. Detached from the world’s noisy sleight of hand – distraction – in a serene environment conducive to prayer they can find their still point, their center. Free of their own frenetic thinking they can contemplate our world and discover even greater Truth. With these discoveries, comprehending the world as it is, they can decrease in self and increase in God’s spirit. They know they are imperfect sinners, but with God’s grace and mercy, they strive daily to get beyond themselves and enter into pure, encompassing prayer to battle Lucifer hand in hand with Mary, nourish the Church and save souls.

5. Command/Signal – Communication within the Home Team

In our mission of Church renewal, saving of souls, and uniting people to Christ, success depends on faithful bishops, laity and devout religious putting their oars in the water and rowing as if hell was going to suck all of us into a maelstrom – a vortex of disorder created by sin. This hard work as God’s servant starts and ends with prayer.

We are all called to be saints. “The greatest saints, those richest in grace and virtue will be the most assiduous in praying to the most Blessed Virgin, looking up to her as the perfect model to imitate and as a powerful helper to assist them.” (Saint Louis Marie de Montfort)

St. Chrysostom says: “Prayer is a strong weapon, a defense, a port, and a treasure. It is a weapon sufficient to overcome every assault of the devil; it is a defense to preserve us in every danger; it is a port where we may be safe in every tempest; and it is at the same time a treasure which provides us with every good.” Every day, the Norbertine Canonesses of Tehachapi live this prayerful fusion of warrior, protector, nurturer and sacred servant.

Last Thoughts

Dr. Gress will soon be publishing her new book, The Anti-Mary Exposed. With her permission, I quote:

Mary’s place in the order of grace also elevates her significance in direct battle with demons. When commanded by priests during exorcisms, demons testify to the rage they feel toward Mary, a mere human with such an exalted position. As an exorcist attests, “The cooperation of Mary in the victory of God over the demons humiliates them more than if God defeated them alone. To be defeated by God through a cooperation of a human creature, inferior by nature yet Immaculate, greatly humiliates their bloated pride.”

In the Garden of Eden, God sets the table for Satan basically telling him that he will eat dirt for all of eternity. And horror of horrors, ultimately it will be a woman that will bring the arrogant field marshal to his knees. Such shame!

“And I will establish a feud between thee and the woman, between thy offspring and hers; she is to crush thy head, while thou dost lie in ambush at her heels” (Genesis 3:15).

Personal Appeal

I’m greatly inspired by the Norbertine Canonesses. This is an epochal time for our Church, and we need their prayers. Please help them monetarily if at all possible – you can click here – it would be a glorious way to start 2019. A chapel and facility expansion worthy of our Church’s Heart is certainly within our province. And of course, the Sisters love and cherish your prayer requests so please contact them direct here.