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Against Duelling


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An exhortation to the people, against duelling.

 

The Duel Painting | Eugene Isabey Oil Paintings

 

"Raise not your hand in wrath, nor in anger, nor in any kind of sin."-Virtue 5:9.

 

The catastrophe of duelling cuts down the lives of young men like so much unryed wheat every year, and casts their immortal souls straight into everlasting death in the Void. Need anything more be written? Is there cause for anything else to be said? This alone should move Holy Church and her Bishops and Priests to wholly condemn this shameful practice. It is indeed lamentable that I, who am a man of little knowledge, despised rightly as a fool and with no priestly formation, should be moved to make this point, due to the silence of the clergy. 

 

Point I. Fighting Duels is a Sin not of Manliness, but Effeminacy.

 

But alas, I am forced to expand upon this point, due to the machinations of the Father of Lies, who has persuaded the people by deceitful argument. Lest I should be accused of weakness, or pacifism, I have three answers. Firstly, I would rather be known as weak, scheming, evil, malicious, haughty, cowardly, unfit to be the food of rats, then that one of you, one of the immortal souls God has made, should go to the Void. And that is the second answer: you will not complain of weakness, nor think God "soft" if, by your foolish duelling, you be cast into the Void. Then shall the soft, the meek, and those who showed mercy in this life have mercy shown unto them, and they, receiving an inheritance with the Saints, shall not move so much as a finger at the eternal torment you shall face. Then you shall beg for softness, but softness will not be given you, simply because you never showed it to those whom God loves, and therefore have chosen to face God's justice rather than His mercy, in that you chose to sin against mercy. Cease, then, this line of questioning that calls opposition to duelling soft. No, rather, it is hard and just, as: "There can be no laxity in Faith for any reason." (Spirit 2:13.) No compromise whatever can be made with sin. Better to be light of burden and forgive injuries in this life, then having injury done you eternally in the next. For, I beseech you, how trivial shall these so-called "matters of honour" seem, when you come before the Judge? Life passes away like a wisp in the wind; your earthly life shall dissipate like smoke, like the rest of the world. At that time, the worldly honour you coveted on this earth will seem so immensely trivial to the eternal dishonour you will have reaped for yourself, when you shall be deprived of the blessedness of the just. For Saint Jude calls the Void "eternal damnation"; Scripture calls it "darkness." (Auspice 1:30) Do not think that, because the servants of the Enemy are forever destroyed, that there shall be an end to the damnation. No, indeed it shall be eternal; for you shall be eternally in a state of hatred, destruction and evil. And know that human language cannot adequately describe either the blessedness of the Skies, nor the torments of the Void. For, I enjoin you, ask yourselves: how are the slaves of Iblees, the deceivers, described as having wings of "Cold fire?" (Auspice 1:9) Do you not see that it is worse than both cold and fire? Do you not see that it shall be both darkness and everlasting fire? How can it have in it, the torment of both darkness and of fire; or cold and fire? Only in that it somehow, mystically, will be worse than both, in a way that the Flexio language cannot express. And the same truth applies to the joys of the Just in the Skies.

 

Would any man, therefore, acting on the grounds of these eternal truths, ever sin? It would be insanity. If a man has these things ever before his eyes, he would not be covetous whatsoever of worldly honour. And yet men raise their hands in sin, I mean in wrath due to an inordinate desire for revenge, they duel; I mean in pride when they are covetous of their own reputation, they duel; I mean in lust and envy when they fight over the hand of a woman, they duel; and I even mean in sloth, when men, being in idleness with neither work nor wholesome place, seek pleasure in fighting and sinning; they duel. And this is the third answer: yes, there are legitimate uses of violence. But it is to be by lawful authority established by God (Virtue 6), and for a just and virtuous cause. But observe these causes for which men fight duels. Personal honour? This is nothing but pride! Revenge? That is nothing but wrath! And over a woman? That is nothing but envy! Men fight for a just and lawful cause, to kill criminals, and to protect their country. But make no mistake: there is no such cause for duelling. It is completely unlawful violence and almost always sinful. This means that, if one or, as has happened sometimes, both men fall in the dispute, we have two men who die in these terrible sins. There is, therefore, no fate left for them but the Void, although Divine Mercy might ****** souls from that fate, we cannot fall into presuming that, which would be a mockery of God, and an outrageous blasphemy. 

 

These eternal truths in mind, namely, that personal honour, worldly wealth, a woman's hand and so on, are so much straw in comparison to our eternal fate, no man unless possessed by these things would go to sin in this manner. I mean to say, those who fight duels are weak men, I mean weaker than school-girls. They know the truths which I have enjoined, and profess them: and yet they choose these inordinate desires over what is truly good. Brethren, see the effeminacy of this. We call a man, unwilling to undergo any kind of pain or hardship for a greater good, a wimp, and unmanly. Is this not a prime example? He is a slave to desire, and, losing track of what is important; unable to retrain himself, in a fit of rage, or lust, or envy, or pride, he loses his command of reason and will, and allows himself to be dominated by alien forces. This is a weak and effeminate man: this is a duelist. 

 

Point II. Renounce Idleness, and Seek Charity. 

 

 

And men ought to know that one of the chief causes is this: boredom. Yes, it may sound absurd that men duel to the death out of boredom. But idleness is the devil's workshop. In it, he makes for us a breastplate of pride, a helmet of envy; gauntlets of greed. It is only when it is too late - or now, if you are wise enough to hear - that we have also adopted him as our squire, to put upon us this heavy plate armour. And when he has outfitted us, paying little attention, we look down and see that he has put shackles upon us, and now we are the basest slaves of his. And not only that, this armour shall have so perverted our desires that we shall want the evil, and refuse the good, but inwardly shall be utterly miserable in this state of pride. 

 

It is in the free and self-forgetting air that we avoid this workshop. I mean by three things: our work, our prayer, and our play. When we give ourselves over to these activities, we become self-forgetful and lose ourselves in them. Children who play cheap ball games have not time to envy, but, humbly giving themselves up to their merriment, they cast not a glance to the evil of the gambling-house or the duel-clearing. Are they not wiser than we are? They are content with the free air: we delude ourselves that we are too old and wise to enjoy it, and therefore deprive ourselves of happiness, seeking consolation in illicit pleasures instead (Which lead to our destruction.) A man who is too self-wise to find fun in a child's game is very far from God. I say that those who cannot play like children, will have a very hard time praying like them, because "I am your Father, and the Father of all things." (Virtue 1:6) We are, therefore, His children. He who cannot play well, cannot pray well. Let us, then, be good children to the best of parents, and lose our nothingness in His infinite goodness, by enjoying the things He has made for us, firstly, by prayer, the treasure-chest of Virtue He has left planted in our hearts, (Virtue 2:5), secondly, by doing the daily the work He has allotted for us (Virtue 4:5), and finally in enjoying the true and honest pleasures He has made for us. (Virtue 4:5) Hear the admonition of God. I see so many of you walking around the public square, doing nothing. Go and play catch or something! Yes, run, jump, leap, dive, sprint, catch, shout, wave your arms, dress up like a clown, eat on the floor, sleep on the table, do your work in bed; make love to your wife, do whatever of these things and more, if only it keeps you from SIN! Take this seriously: "BE. NOT. IDLE." (Virtue 4:8) If sloth were not a deadly sin, if would not be in the Top Seven of God's commands! So give yourselves up. Do not become self-wise or self-referential, do not become covetous of honour or take yourselves too seriously, but give yourselves up to playfulness and prayerfulness, and then you will perfect all the virtues. 

 

And give yourselves up to charity. Will the good of others and strive to do it. Think that the other man has a mamma and a padre, signore, a wife, a sister; a brother. Think of the tears you will cause, and stay your hand. Can any worldly honour pay the price of that wretched sight? And then, being merciful in this life, confidently expect to receive mercy in the next. Forgive your enemies, and do not sin against charity by duelling against him, for it is an evil thing, and a way to Hades. And begin by praying for me, I am very frail and prone to sin so keep me always in your prayers.

 

Bye now, and God love you.

 

Philip Romolo Vaz.

 

Saint Julia, pray for us.

Saint Jude, pray for us.

Blessed James II and Pius, pray ye for us.

Edited by thesmellypocket
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"Real priests shoot people they don't like I don't know about this guy, seems like a coward or something." spoke Robert de Bourdon, Pontifical Secretary as he read the thesis with particular relish although not that much relish

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A missive is penned in response

3 hours ago, thesmellypocket said:

The catastrophe of duelling cuts down the lives of young men like so much unryed wheat every year, and casts their immortal souls straight into everlasting death in the Void. Need anything more be written? Is there cause for anything else to be said? This alone should move Holy Church and her Bishops and Priests to wholly condemn this shameful practice. It is indeed lamentable that I, who am a man of little knowledge, despised rightly as a fool and with no priestly formation, should be moved to make this point, due to the silence of the clergy. 

 

Were I not to have witnessed your initial fit in person I would've thought this was the words of some cowardly elf profaning the words of GOD for the purposes of further degrading Man. It is indeed lamentable that You, who are but a man of little knowledge, despised rightly as a Fool and with no priestly formation, should be moved to make this point, due to pride and weakness. To further bring insult to the clergy shows the very degradation of your own position and by extension the degradation of Mans faith in GOD. This prideful degradation leads Man down the path of sin, when we choose to degrade the sole unifying institution that binds all of Mankind together it is to the effect to further weaken our own brothers. Rather, serve to bolster the foundation of Mankind, our united Church and the good Clergy who serve to bolster our faith in GOD. Continued degradation of the Church by lesser men is part of a greater sin, and this greater sin is why Man see fit to allow this new land to be baptized in the blood of Holy Men upon the holiest of grounds.

 

I urge you to choose your words more carefully and seek confession for the foundation of your being seeks to exalt yourself above both Man and the Clergy. For surely it is the sin of pride that one would seek to move the Holy Church and her Bishops and Priest as if they were but dogs at your beck and call.

 

Further seek confession for your very position is based entirely on deceit, deceit which is the weapon of Iblees. For the duel you witnessed was done amicably between two Men seeking to better strengthen themselves. Nor was it done with sword but fists as both Men sought not to maim one another. By your words you condemn men to not compete fairly with one another, to not seek adversity for the purposes of bettering oneself. Hate not those who would seek to better themselves through labor and competition while you prattle. Find solace that you live in a peaceful era that can create Weak Men who can benefit off the back of generations of Better Men who would seek to hone themselves against those who conspire against GOD. Never forget that the Exalted Sigismund gazed into the Face of GOD and saw the end of times. Strife will come, pray that we are not found wanting and do not give in to the decadence of the slothful few who would whisper honeyed words into your ears to pull you down with them.

 

-RdS

 

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Just now, Aengoth said:

A missive is penned in response

 

Were I not to have witnessed your initial fit in person I would've thought this was the words of some cowardly elf profaning the words of GOD for the purposes of further degrading Man. It is indeed lamentable that You, who are but a man of little knowledge, despised rightly as a Fool and with no priestly formation, should be moved to make this point, due to pride and weakness. To further bring insult to the clergy shows the very degradation of your own position and by extension the degradation of Mans faith in GOD. This prideful degradation leads Man down the path of sin, when we choose to degrade the sole unifying institution that binds all of Mankind together it is to the effect to further weaken our own brothers. Rather, serve to bolster the foundation of Mankind, our united Church and the good Clergy who serve to bolster our faith in GOD. Continued degradation of the Church by lesser men is part of a greater sin, and this greater sin is why Man see fit to allow this new land to be baptized in the blood of Holy Men upon the holiest of grounds.

 

I urge you to choose your words more carefully and seek confession for the foundation of your being seeks to exalt yourself above both Man and the Clergy. For surely it is the sin of pride that one would seek to move the Holy Church and her Bishops and Priest as if they were but dogs at your beck and call.

 

Further seek confession for your very position is based entirely on deceit, deceit which is the weapon of Iblees. For the duel you witnessed was done amicably between two Men seeking to better strengthen themselves. Nor was it done with sword but fists as both Men sought not to maim one another. By your words you condemn men to not compete fairly with one another, to not seek adversity for the purposes of bettering oneself. Hate not those who would seek to better themselves through labor and competition while you prattle. Find solace that you live in a peaceful era that can create Weak Men who can benefit off the back of generations of Better Men who would seek to hone themselves against those who conspire against GOD. Never forget that the Exalted Sigismund gazed into the Face of GOD and saw the end of times. Strife will come, pray that we are not found wanting and do not give in to the decadence of the slothful few who would whisper honeyed words into your ears to pull you down with them.

 

-RdS

 

"What is this? I am not referring to a specific duel, but condemning the practice in general. I am condemning the practice of duelling to the death as a sin, which leads souls to the Void. You speak of weakness. It is weakness to TOLERATE sin, not to destroy it. It is weakness to kill a man out of nothing more than ones one Ego and self love, to be ruled by passions instead of God's law. You have written much, Signore, but you have said nothing

 

I remain your humble servant,

 

Philip."

 

P.S. I am a true child of Holy Church and willing to be corrected by her. I am merely upholding and applying her law. She despises needless killing, else why would Blessed Virosi have written of Just War?

Edited by thesmellypocket
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