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More from @trad_west_

Trad West

@trad_west_

Jul 15

Christianity is NOT a pacifist religion

Christians are supposed to be pacifists? Just say you know nothing about Christianity

The saints and doctors of the Church taught that war is sometimes not only permitted, but a duty

Let’s talk about Just and Holy War - a🧵✝️

Let’s begin with a myth: “Christianity means absolute pacifism. War is always evil.”

This is FALSE.

From the early Church Fathers to the great Doctors like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, the Church has always taught that some wars are just, even holy.

War is an evil, but sometimes necessary to restore just peace and avoid greater evils.

The Church does not glorify violence.

But she teaches that peace is the fruit of justice, not cowardice - Is 32,17

If tyrants threaten the innocent. If evil crushes the weak.

Then Christian men may, and sometimes must, take up arms in defense of the good.

Read 20 tweets

Trad West

@trad_west_

Jul 14

"Temptation is a sure sign the soul is very pleasing to the Lord." - St. Padre Pio

Many people mistake temptation as a sign of failure.
But the saints teach us the opposite.

Why temptation might be an opportunity for sanctification - a 🧵✝️

Temptation itself is not sin.

Our Lord Jesus was tempted in the desert.
Padre Pio himself endured terrible attacks from the devil.

Temptation means you are in a battle, and you fight because you belong to Christ.

The devil doesn’t waste time on those already enslaved by sin.
He attacks those who resist him.

If you are tempted, rejoice, it means you are still fighting. You have not surrendered.

The enemy fears the grace of God in you.

Read 7 tweets

Trad West

@trad_west_

Jul 14

Why does nearly every Catholic country have a shrine to Saint Michael?

From Italy to Mexico
From France to the Philippines
From Ireland to Ethiopia

Saint Michael appears wherever the Church fights for survival.

Here’s why - a 🧵

Saint Michael doesn’t just protect individuals, he protects the Church & the children of God

That’s why the Church has built shrines, monasteries, and chapels to him for over a thousand years.

And most of them aren’t built in cities.

They’re built on mountain-tops, cliffs, islands, and high places, like heavenly outposts in the war against darkness.

Monte Gargano, Italy (490 AD)
The First Michaelic Apparition

A man’s bull disappears. He finds it kneeling in a cave. He shoots an arrow at it, but it turns in midair and wounds him instead.

After listening to him, the bishop called for three days of prayer and penance at the end of which St. Michael the Archangel appeared to him in a dream to ask him to dedicate the cave to Christian worship, which happened on 29 September 493, after 2 other appearances. A fourth apparition took place in 1656 when the city of Monte Sant'Angelo defeated the plague.

It becomes the first shrine to Saint Michael in Western Europe, still active today.

Read 11 tweets

Trad West

@trad_west_

Jul 13

Narnia is a deeply Christian work of literature.

It has witches, talking animals, and no mention of “church.”

But it may be one of the clearest depictions of the Gospel ever put to film.

Here’s the truth behind the Christian heart of The Chronicles of Narnia - a 🧵✝️

Narnia was written by C.S. Lewis, one of the 20th century’s greatest Christian writers and apologists.

A former atheist who converted after conversations with J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis became a devout Anglican, and saw storytelling as a way to baptize the imagination.

He called Narnia a “supposal”, not an allegory, but “suppose Christ came into a world like Narnia…”

Make no mistake: Aslan the Lion is a clear Christ-figure.

>He is the Son of the Emperor Beyond the Sea
>He is prophesied to return and defeat evil
>He gives his life in place of a traitor
>He dies willingly, and rises again

His death on the Stone Table and resurrection mirror the Passion of Christ.

“When a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead… Death itself would start working backward.”

Read 11 tweets

Trad West

@trad_west_

Jul 13

No religion on earth has ever honored women as much as Christianity does.

A bold claim? Not so much. Let’s dive into why this statement is 100% true through the lenses of Apostolic Christianity - a🧵✝️

Christ included women in his ministery

>He revealed He was the Messiah firstly to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).
>He welcomed Mary of Bethany to “sit at His feet” as a disciple (Luke 10,39). A role traditionally reserved for men.
>Women were the first witnesses of the Resurrection, the cornerstone of our faith (Matthew 28, 1-10)

Countless Christian women have changed and shaped society for the better.

Isabel la Catolica, Queen of Castille, finished the Reconquista
St. Monica’s prayers converted St. Augustine.
St. Macrina the Younger shaped the minds of her brothers, Sts. Basil and Gregory of Nyssa.
St. Catherine of Siena advised popes and reformed the Church.

Not to mention the 4 female doctors of the Church: Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Ávila, Thérèse of Lisieux.

Read 8 tweets

Trad West

@trad_west_

Jul 13

Few tales from the Crusades are as strange & inspiring as that of the Leper Knights.

Scarred in body but burning with faith, these warriors bore both their Cross & a disease feared by all, yet they rode into battle undaunted.

The Order of the Leper Knights – a 🧵✝️

To understand how the Leper Knights came to be, we must first understand the medieval Christian attitude toward leprosy.

It was a terrible disease, but it was also seen as a "sacred disease" with religious meanings attributed to it.

Leprosy (Hansen’s disease) is caused by a bacterial infection that leads to skin lesions, nerve damage, and gradual disfigurement.

Over time, it results in loss of limb control and a slow physical decline. It was an ancient and endemic disease in medieval Europe. Out of fear of contagion, lepers were often treated as outcasts in society.

But Christianity brought a change in these attitudes: Jesus Christ healed a leper, extending His grace to the rejected. At that time, leprosy was incurable, and that healing was seen as a miracle.

Treating lepers with kindness came to be seen as a model of Christian love. Charity toward lepers was highly respected.

Some even believed that lepers were marked by God for salvation, and that showing them mercy would win God’s favor.

Thus, leprosy came to be viewed as a “sacred disease.” It was a sickness that humbled even the proud and the rich, bringing them closer to God.

It also became a reminder that Christ, by assuming human flesh, became the most despised and rejected among men.

Read 10 tweets

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