During this past month of May which was the Month of Mary, there was a large, almost life-size statue of Our Lady of Fatima in a church I recently visited. As I stood before the image, I thought of her message of the Fatima revelations among other things Our Lady wants for us as a Mother. The snake she stood on tells a story we are all faced with every day. As I meditated, I realized that in this world we are in a continual battle with our spiritual enemy, and we are either standing on him in victory, fighting against him to survive, or conquered by him.
The thoughts of us either standing on the enemy, fighting with him, or being conquered, were likely launched in my mind by the vision Saint Faustina Kowalska spoke of in Divine Mercy in My Soul: Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska. Although the idea that came to my mind was a variant of hers, there was a similar vein of thought.
I saw a multitude of souls crucified like Him. Then I saw a second multitude of souls, and a third. The second multitude were not nailed to [their] crosses, but were holding them firmly in their hands. The third were neither nailed to [their] crosses nor holding them firmly in their hands, but were dragging [their] crosses behind them and were discontent. Jesus then said to me, Do you see these souls? Those who are like Me in the pain and contempt they suffer will be like Me also in glory. And those who resemble Me less in pain and contempt will also bear less resemblance to Me in glory (p. 446).
Similarly in a way, we may be standing on the enemy, like Our Lady who resigned her will with God’s, (Luke 1:38). Also, similar in a way to Jacob, we wrestle with this devil, as he seeks to crush us as he climbs around us, as we fight him off… we slip out, duck, chuck him to the ground… I see this as one reluctant to give up smaller sins, or for the saints – agitation with imperfections and sin… (Gen 32:24-30) and St Faustina’s Diary of a Soul: I fight a continuous battle with the enemy of my soul,” Diary, 1287. It also makes one think of St. Paul on how we are not merely “shadow boxing” in this life, nor “running for the fun of it” (Cor 9:26), “Thus I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight as if I were shadowboxing.”
Lastly, when we “give up” with willful and premediated (yes, that is generally a crime term, killing Jesus is a crime) mortal sin as opposed to falling into grave sin out of weakness, spiritually we are crushed and killed as a result. As an old friend once stated: real Christians fall into sin, and fake Christians dive into sin.
If we give into mortal sin, we are lying there, dead spiritually. Our Lord and Our Lady come along, the Miracle-Worker Physician and Nurse. They pull the killer snake off and resuscitate us with Mary’s prayer intercession and Christ’s Sacraments. We get back into the fight against our venial sins. We practice patience when tempted to be angry. We, in the thought of St. John Vianney, choose the least appealing of all the desserts set out before us at a dinner engagement.
Oh, according to the Imitation of Christ illustrator from the early past century, the damned are possibly wrapped, suffocating eternally amidst smoke, by giant snakes… I feel like going to confession this weekend…(Imitation of Christ, Confraternity of The Precious Blood version, page 198).
There is a 20-foot-plus long articulated python that does constrict and swallows fawns whole. I could see the Evil One sending out one of his minions to choke us from behind with temptations to eventually swallow us whole in mortal sin. “Watch ye: and pray that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Says The Lord. He said that to His Apostles who fell asleep during the very first “Holy Hour” in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:41).
To grab a good visual of this battle with the snake we endure in this life, I recommend watching a video of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin. God rest his soul (Hey, all you devout Catholics, who believe in the reality of Purgatory, let us offer a prayer up for him). Irwin was a dedicated husband and father, his wife and he worked side-by-side often. His wife Terri has decided to remain a widow since 2006. The happiness of the family bears witness even today. Talk about love and dedication (1 Cor 7:8).
Steve Backshall, having a career like Irwin, has a clip that demonstrates a snake constricting a human (himself) even more intensely. There is a video where Backshall allows a constrictor snake to wrap around his throat, to the point of endangerment – a good image if we want to see what our soul would look like indulging in venial sins daily.
Back to Our Blessed Mother who is often portrayed with flowers and sunshine. Just as Blessed George Matulaitus of the Congregation of Marian Fathers and Brothers stated in one of his letters,
The cross, adorned as it is sometimes with flowers, looks handsome, of course, but only in pictures. The real cross, the cross of life, is always heavy and weighs one down (For Christ and the Church, letter 13).
That said, I stared at the snake from that life-sized statue she was standing on. Mary stands in victory by her fidelity and humility (Gen. 3:15, Rev, 12:17). The God of Peace “quickly crushes Satan under our feet” when we are sober and discern good from evil, sharing in the Resurrection Power of Christ (Rom 16:20). So, we are not “always” battling, thank God! We get to breathe and relax here and there!
We “count it all joy” when we “experience various trials” (James 1:2). June 12th’s Sunday gospel reading from Romans 5:3-4 speaks of hope and joy amidst our struggle: “Not only that; let us exult, too, in our hardships, understanding that hardship develops perseverance, and perseverance develops a tested character, something that gives us hope”.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen stated that after we give in to sin, we feel like a “menagerie, full of wild beasts.” Here’s another insight: enwrapped with wild beasts. Thank goodness for confession and good friends along the way, here and in heaven to fight this battle. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying on the cross for us and giving us Your Mother at the foot of that same Cross; your suffering and hers being our anti-venom (John 19: 26-27, Num. 21:6-9)
Quotes from Diary of a Soul and For Christ and The Church used with permission of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M.
