Vices opposed to the Kingdom: Bitter Zeal
Br. Alexis Bugnolo
That Christ May Reign! blog

As we are at the end of the Year of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, 2006, it is only fitting to review in our hearts how we have lived and acted, according to the measure of the teachings of Our Lord and King.

In this respect, if we have not been to confession recently, let us do so, and make a good and full confession.

And if we do go to confession regularly, let us take some time to reflect on our dominant vice, and the means to uproot it.

Now one vice which is very much opposed to the Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ, both in the world to come and in this world, is bitter zeal.

Like the fallen angels which inspire them, vices offer what it evil under the appearances of good. Bitter zeal is no different. Actually, it is more accurate to say that a vice is a distorted virtue, or a spiritual ailment which afflicts a virtue, feeds off it, and destroys it.

Thus no man who has a vice is free of the consideration that this vice is not a vice, for unless a man to some extent be deceived about what is truly good, he would not be vicious.

Zeal is a virtue common among those who seek the Kingdom of Our Most High Lord, especially if they are eager to work for the His Reign over all hearts and nations and societies.

But bitter zeal is not so often understood and recognized. For this reason it is very dangerous.

Since I have come to understand the crisis in the Church, I have had the opportunity to come to know of many laymen and women who are zealous for Sacred Tradition and the Immemorial Rites of the Church.

However, sadly, I can recount that so, so many of them have fallen away from the practice of their Roman Catholic Faith on account of bitter zeal.

This one vice can undo all the good intentions and merit of ones actions, with seemingly no apparent ill symptoms.

Nay, those afflicted almost never advert to their affliction, and thus are completely robbed of Christ's grace.

Bitter zeal is very common. It is a common aflliction of those who are zealous to see and observe God's Will done in themselves and in others. Its characteristic symptom is the predominance of anger at others faults over anger at one's owns faults. It manifests itself most often in uncharitable speech: detraction. And as it grows more strong it leads to worse vices, such as calumny, backbiting, spiritual sloath, neglect of the sacrament of penance, impenitance, and ultimately to such a hatred for one's fellow man, society, people, nation, etc. that the individual is completely isolated.

Bitter zeal as a vice has not only an opposed virtue, but a contrary, opposed vice.

The opposed virtue is righteous zeal. The contrary opposed vice is irenicism.

Righteous zeal is the eagerness of a soul in seeing the Will of God done in himself and in others. But righteous zeal cannot be practiced without justice and charity.

Charity as we know is the form of all the virtues, and it should motivate them all. When charity is not the principle motivation of the practice of any virtue, that virtue becomes distorted.

When zeal is not properly movtivated by charity, it exceeds the bounds of justice, and thus is distorted by self-love to notice the faults in others, more than in one's self.

When this happens the considerations of others faults leads to destructive criticism, and this kills fraternal charity. When spoken or communicated to others it leads to detraction, and worse to calumny, if what is said is not true. When spoken or communicated to the guilty parties it leads to a very demeritorious act: giving a correction when a correction is not wanted, when the giver has no obligation to give it, and the receiver no grace to receive it.

In this regard we can temper our righteous zeal by the teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

He said, "Do not throw pearls to swine, lest they trample upon them and then turn on you."

Which in this regard means to consider well wether the offender against the Divine Will is even capable of receiving the correction; when he may be able to accept it, how it should be given so that he may accept it, with what explanation and spirit and temper it can be given, and when given, and in what circuмstances; and to what extent the Lord obliges us to act, and to what extent the offender must be given correction and in what respect he does not deserve it, etc..

Often in such circuмstances we will see that personally we do not have any obligation to correct the sinner, but those in authority do. And most often only those in authority have the grace and position such that when giving the correction the offender will accept it. But we should take counsel in things so proximate to fraternal charity, lest we err by our own uninformed and inexperienced judgment. It is good in all such cases to ask the advice of your confessor as to what to do. Or if you have a spiritual director, to seek and follow his counsel.

Destructive criticism is a most common result of bitter zeal.

Just as there are many scandals in the world and in the Church today, so there are many ways, good and bad, to respond to them.

First of all we should never give bad example, and thus become the occasion of the scandal to our brothers. For as Our Might King says, "Woe to him through whom a scandal comes! Better to have a mill stone tied around one's neck and to be thrown into the sea, than to scandalize even the least of these little ones!"

Second we should never take scandal. Taking scandal means responding to a scandal of another in such a way as to justify our commiting some sin, similar or differnt, ourselves.

Thus those who uncessarily speak of the ill deed of another to destroy his reputation or to discourage others in their virtue or attatchement to the Church, are taking scandal and doing the Devil's work.

The great frequency of this sort of vicious behavior has lead to the loss of so many souls in the Traditional Movement. So many who used to go only to the Traditional Latin Mass, no longer practice their faith, or no longer remain in communion with the Apostolic See, apart from which there is no salvation, or no longer care about virtue, having despaired, which is contrary to Hope.

It is thus a very precarious thing to speak of the faults of one's superior. Even when it is justified and necessary, to avert vice and scandal, we must do so in a constructive manner, and only to those who know of the scandal, so as to avert their taking scandal, and to encourage them in fidelity to the Faith, to Sacred Scripture, to Sacred Tradition, to a proper sense of obedience, and to a proper sense of forebearance.

Let us pray that Our Most High King and His Immaculate and Glorious Queen Mother may with St. Joseph, the Guardian of His Kingdom, enlighten us as to the grave danger of bitter zeal, and to the goodness of the virtues which are opposed to it: charity, justice, righteous zeal, prudence, and discretion.