Louis Veuillot: The Liberal Illusion [1866]

[Stone]

The Liberal Illusion

Chapter XX

I shall make a hypothesis. I shall suppose all of us to be following the current. I say all, except the Pope, for that far the hypothesis may not go. What will be the result? There will be one force gone from the world. What force? Ah! — it will not be the force of barbarism or of brutality.

The force that will be lost to the world is the force by which it has pleased God to conquer the world, and the world up to now is still conquered by it. God triumphs through a small number of faithful; this small number, the little flock, to whom He said: “Fear not!”; this small number He has called the salt of the earth — If the salt lose its savor, wherewith shall it be salted?

O prophetic wisdom of the word divine! the grain of sand is God’s sentinel upon the strand and says to the Ocean: No further! That grain of sand is the strength of mountains and the fertility of plains.

We turn towards the Crucified of Jerusalem, towards the Crucified of Rome, to His truth forsaken and betrayed; we say to Him: I believe Thee, I adore Thee, I want to be trampled under foot like Thee, turned into an object of derision like Thee; I want to die with Thee! . . . We say that, and the world is conquered.

In no other way will it ever be conquered, in no other way will we ever be able to despoil it of its weapons, to the end of transfiguring them and sanctifying them in ourselves and in their employment to block every way of blasphemy and to level every obstacle interposed between the little ones of this world and everlasting truth.

For it is necessary that every man should know and pronounce these words, this Credo which alone can redeem the world, this “Thy kingdom come” which implores eternal peace.