By a special design of Providence, the Caliph of Damascus admitted in one of the highest government positions a valiant Catholic, who had a son named John.
Newsroom (26/02/2022 08:48, Gaudium Press) A wise and knowledgable monk shared his understanding with young John, who assimilated and developed it with wisdom. When John’s father died, the caliph, who admired the knowledge acquired by his son, appointed him grand vizier.
The Emperor of the East, Leo the Isauric, encouraged by the Jews, promoted an atrocious persecution of the Church, ordering the destruction of the sacred images.
On pain of death, he forced all the inhabitants of Constantinople to bring the images they owned to the central square of the city, where a huge bonfire was built and consumed them. Mosaics, paintings, and brass-reliefs were torn out of all the churches. The Catholics who resisted were killed or had an arm or leg cut off.
To combat the iconoclast heresy, the Grand vizier John wrote works defending the cult of images, which had great repercussions in Constantinople.
Severed right hand
Instructed by the wicked Isauric, a skilled copyist, imitating John’s handwriting, wrote a letter “signed” by him to the emperor, recommending him to make a military attack on Damascus in order to free it from the Mohammedans.
The false letter was sent to the caliph, who read it and had the grand vizier’s right hand cut off, saying that the next day he would be beheaded. During the night, prostrating before an image of Our Lady, John asked the Virgin to help him prove his innocence. Miraculously, the severed hand came to join the bloody arm.
Having personally verified the miracle, the Caliph wanted to reinstate John in office, but he preferred to spend the rest of his life in a monastery, where he became a priest, devoted himself to studies, and attained the fullness of sanctity. He surrendered his soul to God in 749.
He wrote several theological works of such depth that he was later declared a Doctor of the Church. “Saint John Damascene is par excellence the theologian of the Incarnation.”
Islam wanted to banish the Catholic religion from the world
In France, Dagobert I had united the various kingdoms into one. After his death, in 639, such lazy sovereigns arose that they were known by the contemptible title of “rois fainéants” – kings who do nothing. The power was exercised by the so-called palace prefects, and one of them made history: Charles Martel, born in 688.
Dr. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira writes:
“At the end of the seventh century of our era, Christian Civilization and the Church were going through difficult periods which, humanly speaking, could not be overcome.
“France, which the conversion of Clovis had made the fulcrum of the civilizing work of barbaric Europe, was shattered and decadent, ruled by the Fainéants kings. Heresies were fermenting here and there; the barbarian hordes retained their idolatry, cruel customs, and harassed the Pope; there were still remnants of ancient paganism, and the East was already making threats of schism.
“And against all this Christian world, thus disorganized and disorganized, rose the Muslim colossus, strong and cohesive, and until then invincible, and who, in an already secular war, wanted to banish the Catholic Religion from the world.
“It was then that there arose that lord of Nêustria and Austrásia [Charles Martel], whose territories are those of Northern France, […] who, at Poitiers, broke the arrogance of Islam, and marked the beginning of the Mohammedan decadence.
“This same valiant warrior, who defended the Pope from the Lombard hordes and delivered him from the insolence of the Greeks, deserved the crown of France, and, even more, deserved from Providence to be the grandfather of Charlemagne, the Emperor who brought Faith and civilization to the ends of Europe.”
Muslims suffer crushing defeat
The Saracens, who dominated almost all of Spain, rushed into France with a killing spree. Bordeaux in the south was razed to the ground and its population put to the sword.
They walked northward, and at Poitiers, Charles faced them. “The Franks, heavily equipped, wore chain mail and metal helmets; the Muslims, mounted on small, fiery horses, led the attack like a whirlwind. […]
“Their mad charges, in full gallop, crashed into the square battalions of the Franks. 375,000 Mohammedans died, while on the French side there were only 1,500 casualties. This number of dead Muslims is explained by the fact that they took their wives – they are polygamists – and children with them, as they intended to live in France.
After this battle, the heroic victor acquired the surname Martel, which means hammer, “because of the huge mace of arms that he joyfully wielded in battle.
Charles Martel declares himself protector of the Papacy
From the very field where the battle had taken place, he sent messengers to Pope Saint Gregory III in order to communicate to him the victory. They took beautiful objects, found among the spoils, to decorate St. Peter’s Basilica. In the regions where they passed, they were enthusiastically received by the population.
Solemn thanksgiving ceremonies took place in all the churches of France and Italy. The French emissaries were ordered to tell the Pontiff that Charles Martel, his son, after having been the object of such extraordinary protection by Our Lord Jesus Christ, declared himself the protector of the Papacy and would not allow anyone to do the slightest insult to the Vicar of Christ.
St. Gregory III, in recognition, sent Charles Martel the keys to St. Peter’s tomb and parts of the chains of the Prince of the Apostles. Stricken with an illness, the hero of Poitiers, in 741, gave his soul to God.
He had a son who became Archbishop of Rouen and reached the glory of the altars: Saint Remigius. His memory is celebrated on January 19th.
By Paulo Francisco Martos
Notions of Church History
