Spiritual Warfare, the Chain of Command, and St. Equitius

Spiritual Warfare  

The concept of spiritual warfare reminds me of a quote widely attributed to Leon Trotsky. To wit: “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” Now, there’s no evidence that the old Bolshevik actually said it, but it’s true. There’s a battle raging, and we’re all part of it, like it or not. The growing intensity of the Culture War that’s engulfing our society is just a surface manifestation of the real war that’s been underway since Satan was cast out of Heaven.

In my recent post on St. Ignatius of Loyola we looked at the idea of being a “Soldier for Christ.” This is not simply an analogy. St. Ignatius took the idea of spiritual warefare quite literally. In fact, we could argue that the ordinary wars we fight in this world are the images of the great eternal combat, the true war, between the army of God and the forces of the Devil.

The term Church Militant expresses the understanding that waging this spiritual warfare is our primary occupation on earth. “Militant,” militans in Latin, mean “soldiering.” The Church Militant is one part of a traditional tripartite division of the Communion of Saints, which is the Church throughout time. One part is the Church Milititant (those of us still living in this world). Next comes the Church Penitent (the souls in Purgatory). Finally there’s the Church Triumphant (those Christians in the presence of God in Heaven). “Militant” means “soldiering” in Latin. Being a Christian in this life means being on the front lines. Just as in a modern army there are as many as ten support troops for every front-line soldier with his rifle, so in the Communion of Saints the Church Penitent and the Church Triumphant have our back.

A Foot Soldier for Christ

It is also true that for every officer there are numerous enlisted soldiers.  We can see parallels in the Church Triumphant. There are many saints who have played a large leadership role in the life of the Church, and who are well-known to most Catholics. Although perhaps not as familiar as they once were. St. Clare of Assisi, whose feast we celebrate today [August 11th], is one of these officers of the Church Triumphant. If we look at the list of saints for today’s date at catholic.org, however, we’ll find fourteen other canonized saints who share the feast day with her. These are the enlisted men and women among the canonized saints, whose names and stories we may not know, but who all played their part in the eternal war.  They all intercede for us still, and their lives can serve as model and inspiration.

A Papal Vision

One of those fourteen foot soldiers of the Church Triumphant who has his feast day today is St. Equitius. Pope St. Gregory the Great tells the story of this saint in his Dialogues. It seems Equitius was one of those holy men and women who sought a life solitude with The Lord by living as a hermit. As is often the way, the hermit’s sanctity attracted a growing number of followers. He eventually organized them into a formal monastic establishment at Terni. 

Despite the leadership role that was thrust upon him Equitius never received priestly ordination. His lack of holy orders prompted complaints. Accordingly, the Pope sent a priest, a certain Julian, to investigate. Before Julian’s investigation reached a conclusion, however, the Pope himself settled the issue.. It seems the Pontiff received a vision prompting him to bestow his blessing upon the saint.  By the time of his death in 570 Equitius had founded a number of monasteries.

Call to Sanctity

There is something very inspiring about the story of St. Equitius that resonates beyond his time and place. We have the individual believer, Equitius, who through his “reputation for sanctity” draws more people out of the world and into the Church, and strengthens the faith of those who already believe. He models the mission of all Christians to sanctify the world. He is a layman, however, and some people are afraid that he is straying into territory rightly exclusive to ordained clergy. The Pope, who embodies the clergy’s threefold mission of sanctifying, governing, and teaching investigates. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he gives his assent and supports to St. Equitius’ holy work.

This is a nice illustration, I think, of a couple of simple but important ideas. First, we all have a call to sanctity and to mission. At the same time, we all have different roles, and we need to respect the individual missions God has entrusted to each of us. There is a lot of confusion in recent years about the importance of preserving, and observing, these important distinctions. Sometimes we misunderstand the laity’s call to holiness to mean that lay people should be moving into the sanctuary and acting more like priests. Ordained clergy, in turn, are to behave more like the laity.  

Spiritual Warfare and the Chain of Command

But that’s not how it’s supposed to work. Above I compared the Church Triumphant to an army, with the great saints the officers and the more obscure saints the common soldiers. The analogy applies even more fittingly to the Church Militant, the “soldiering” Church here on earth. Here the bishops and priests are the officers, who train us lay people and lead us into battle. We are the common soldiers who apply our “training” to the fight on the front lines, i.e., in the world. If instead we try to knock our general off his horse and hop up in his place, we are really fighting for the enemy. The army is only successful when everyone carries out his or her own assigned mission within the chain of command.

Saint Equitius understood that his mission to sanctify the world by living a life of holiness and attracting others to that life was more important than his desire for solitude. Likewise, he did not seek for himself the authority or status of the priesthood. His superior officer, the Pope, yielded to higher authority when he suspended his own investigation after receiving a dispatch from Supreme Headquarters ordering him to give his blessing to the saint. We all serve our Lord best when we are faithful to the role we have received. That’s a good lesson for all of us.

Featured image top of page: Blessed is the Host of the King of Heaven (alternatively known as Church Militant). Russian icon, ca. 1550 – 1560. Tretyakov Gallery.

I haven’t been able to find out the source of the image of The Church Triumphant that appears in the body of the article above. I welcome any information on the artist or location.