A Politically Incorrect Monk

[Goswin_van_Eyck]

A Politically Incorrect Monk

In the Gazettino of Vienna, the headline read: “He Made War on Islam: No Altars for Mark d’Aviano.

” Firstly, something needs to be made clear: It was not Mark d’Aviano that warred on Islam; rather, it was Islam that attacked (and not for the first time) Christendom on its eastern extremity: Austria, and Vienna in particular. The Capuchin Mark d’Aviano, son of an Italian land particularly martyrized by Islam, Friuli,1 did nothing more than uphold the courage of the Christian troops. And he did it in a Christian way, holy monk that he was, by urging the Viennese to do penance in order to stave off the scourge of Islam.

To the Emperor Leopold I, who regarded him as a great saint and who, seeing the approach of the Muslim peril, had called upon his help, Fr. Mark, like a latter-day Jonas, answered him:

God is armed with scourges, because He has been provoked by our sins. It is fitting to appease Him by humiliations, repentance, and self-denial; and when our hearts have turned back to God, and when, in reparation for the public offenses that are committed against Him, we shall have rendered to Him the public homage which is due, I am certain that God, though He send affliction, will not will our desolation.2

Then he addressed a stern warning to the Viennese:

Vienna, Vienna, your love of lax living has prepared you a grave and imminent chastisement: Convert, and consider well what you are doing, O wretched Vienna.3

He was listened to: the emperor commanded public penances, and the Viennese, like latter-day Ninevites, prayed and did penance.
The Turks, against whom Pope Blessed Innocent XI had tried in vain to warn the Catholic kings and princes, were at this time heading towards Belgrade, where the sultan, who had been accompanied by his entire harem, halted and sent against Vienna, with the green banner of the “prophet,” the great vizier Kara Mustafa.

The Muslim army advanced, massacring with utmost cruelty the garrisons and civilians, burning and pillaging with utmost greed, and besieged Vienna on all sides.4 The army was insufficient for the defense of the city, and all tradesmen, artisans, students and even domestics of the imperial court were summoned to battle: the city had to be held until outside help could arrive. It was an arduous undertaking, because, with the summer heat, an epidemic of dysentery broke out, killing 60 people a day. Every night, from the clock of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, flares were set off to signal the relief troops of the extreme peril in which the unfortunate city was placed.

Meanwhile rescue armies had assembled in Bavaria, Saxony and Poland under the aegis of the Duke of Lorraine to march on Vienna and lift the siege. It was at this moment that Fr. Mark d’Aviano arrived, sent by Blessed Innocent XI. Emperor Leopold, who had had to flee from Vienna in order to escape falling into the hands of the Mohammedans, named him as his representative to the leaders of the relief army, leaders among whom it was necessary to constantly maintain peace in order to bring the enterprise to a successful conclusion.

As the emperor’s representative, Fr. Marc d’Aviano participated in the war councils, and revealed himself to be a great military strategist. In fact his battle plan was very simple and supernatural: It was first necessary to repent of the offenses given to God and implore His mercy and help; then launch a mass surprise attack against the Mohammedans gathered around Vienna.

“The Turk will be vanquished and will leave us all his bags and baggage” he prophesied. And so it came to pass.

On September 12, 1683, Fr. Mark celebrated holy Mass, preached a brief, inflamed homily, publicly invoked God’s help, and blessed the army. Thus commenced, in a Christian way, the battle that was to decide the fate, not only of Vienna, but also of the whole of Christian Europe.

The Christian army was heavily outnumbered by the Muslims, but Fr. Mark, crucifix in hand, without fear of danger, galloped from one front to the other to encourage the combatants, exhorting them to have confidence in God. When the Turks attacked, he would raise the crucifix against them, and cry: “Behold the cross of the Lord! begone, enemy troops.” At the most critical, decisive moment a white dove appeared on the head of Fr. Mark, and hovered around him. For the Christians, who had invoked the help of the Madonna, and who fought, like Prince Eugene of Savoy, “in the name of Mary,” it was the signal of victory, and they redoubled their courage. At the end of the day the Muslim army fled, abandoning in its camps a very rich booty, among which were 600 Christian children who had been made prisoner to send them to the sultan as slaves, and ten thousand sacks of coffee.

In the Cathedral of St. Stephen, the Te Deum was sung and everyone wept for joy. It was to commemorate this victory which saved Christian Europe that the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary was ordered to be celebrated on September 12th, a feast which, in our day, was ecumenically excised from the calendar by Paul VI, the same Paul VI who returned to the Muslims the green banner of Mohammed, wrested from the Grand Vizier by the Christians during the Battle of Vienna.

For 18 years Fr. Mark continued to encourage the Christian army in its struggle against Islam.

After Vienna, Hungary had to be delivered. Fr. Mark, as always, called for prayer, conversion, penance, and confidence in God. “It is not the poor troops of the Christian army that can rout the Turks, but rather the invincible aid of God. It is faith that must conquer, not arms."5

Nevertheless, with a holy realism, Fr. Mark worked, as the preceding popes had, to establish a “Holy League” among Christian princes for the deliverance of Christendom from the Turkish threat. To the Austrian emperor, who had been solicited to make peace with the Turks, he answered: “God desires war and not peace. Let us first deliver the Christian territories, then we can negotiate."6 And God visibly assisted Fr. Mark and accredited his words and deeds by innumerable prophecies and miracles. (Even the Muslims feared him as a “powerful magician"; and they wanted to know who was the “Lady” dressed in white whom they often saw at his side on the ramparts of Vienna). The Pope appointed him “Apostolic Missionary.”

After the Battle of Vienna came the Battle of Buda. The city was in the hands of the Muslims, who had surrounded it by a triple ring of fortifications and had even transformed the city’s cathedral, dedicated to St. Stephen, into a mosque. This time Fr. Mark held a banner of a very beautiful image of St. Joseph; throughout the battle he ran where the danger was greatest. As soon as a breach had been opened in the city walls, his thought turned to the profaned cathedral. Under the thundering canons he headed there, singing the litanies of the Blessed Virgin. By evening he was able to place his standard in the reconquered church.

In the unfortunate land of Hungary the Catholic religion had practically been effaced by the Muslims, but after the victory of Buda, the churches were rebuilt, and for Hungary, once again Catholic, began a period of splendor.

The deliverance of Essech came next. It had also fallen into the hands of the Muslims: “Have confidence, and the victory will infallibly be yours,” Fr. Mark said to the generals of the Christian army, who, discouraged, were on the brink of ordering a retreat. Once again, the victory was theirs. Fr. Mark left the generals this advice:

In order to make a good war against a great enemy of the name of Christian, like the Turk, and in order to obtain success, above all things it is necessary, to have recourse with confidence to the God of hosts, without whom all human enterprise is vain.7

But with his healthy realism, which is the mark of saints, he did not neglect human industry and gave invaluable suggestions on training troops, on munitions and logistics, on marching and on spying, and, especially, on maintaining a good rapport among the leaders, who “must fight with upright intentions and not out of jealousy, pride, or personal interest."8

Then it was Belgrade’s turn. The Austrian generals hesitated. “God absolutely wants this expedition,” insisted Fr. Mark,9 and the Turks, who had a 99% chance of winning, took flight, leaving the Christians stupefied by the victory obtained despite the cowardice and indecision of their commanders.

When another terrible siege of Vienna appeared inevitable, Fr. Mark told the emperor: “Your Majesty’s army can do nothing against the Turk, but if the Madonna is worthily honored, she will give the victory,"10 and he asked for solemn acts of public reparation. The penitential ceremonies had not yet been achieved when another astonishing victory was announced. “Fr. Mark all by himself has done more than all the others,” the Viennese exulted, but Fr. Mark reprimanded them, telling them that Christians not only must pray to God and the Madonna when in danger, but that they must lead a life worthy of their baptism.11

In 1699 the Muslims, defeated, signed the Peace of Carlowitz. That same year saw the passing away of Fr. Mark, the holy Capuchin who played for Catholic Europe the same role that St. Joan of Arc had played for France. (…)

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