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Review . . .
Man, the Saint, by Loídi J. Urtega, (1959)
Roman Catholic Books, pub.
Reviewed by Rev. Fr. J. Patrick Serna

What does it mean, to be a man? Great thinkers, from the ancient philosophers to the moderns, have tried to answer this question. Should we listen to modern pop psychologists or “open-minded thinkers” who present us with the soft man? In searching for the answer, should we look to Conan the Barbarian, Boy George, or maybe even someone like Rambo? Maybe we should stop the horseplay and just get right down to business.
    The answer to our questions about manhood can be found by heeding the words which Pontius Pilate roared to the crowds: “Ecce homo...” “Look at the man!” (John 19:5). Father Loídi took a good long look at THE man, the God Man, and committed some excellent observations to paper in his book, Man, the Saint. His observations present the reader with a “how to” manual for the one who has the courage to become a real man, that is, a man who is a saint. The saint is not soft, weak, or delicate. The saint imitates Jesus, and must therefore be a holy rebel, courageous, strong and virile. The considerations which follow come from themes in Loídi’s book, and in no way can the subsequent ponderings do it justice. Man, the Saint, offers philosophical reflections, theological deliberations, inspirational messages, and personal challenges to the reader. The spirit and passion of Loídi’s work, the logical analyses of various spiritual and natural realities, can only be appreciated after reading the book first hand.
    Our Lord Jesus Christ, True God and True Man, is the exemplar by which every man is to model and measure himself. Man the finite creature will inevitably and always fall short of the standard which the infinite God Man, the Creator, sets. Nevertheless, our God Jesus became man so that men could be saved after imitating Him, as they should. Man the creature must follow in the footsteps of Man the Creator, courageously embracing the crosses which are the ladders leading him to Heaven. Conversely, man the creature can fall short of Christian manhood by behaving like a whining coward, an enemy of the cross, a foe of hardship, an effeminate friend of things comfortable. The “man” who falls short of Christian Manhood because of fearing the cross, the “man” who fails to practice the natural and supernatural (theological) virtues, will be crushed by the cross which was meant to save him. If during his earthly pilgrimage a man tries to model himself after the God Man to the best of his ability, fully cooperating with God’s Grace and utilizing the sacramental tools of salvation, then this man will have every hope for entrance into everlasting life, the Ultimate End for which he is created.
    The subject of Fr. Loídi’s book, Man, the Saint, is man. The goal of Fr. Loídi’s book is to inspire men, but not in a general way. Fr. Loídi seeks to animate men to make difficult decisions, to act courageously, and to form virtues, so that the inspired man may once and for all become a “real man,” in other words, a saint. A man must be manly in the fullest sense of the term, because this is the only path which can lead him to authentic sanctity and holiness, the only road to Heaven. For it is in being what we were created to be by God that we most perfectly do His will.
    Loídi is first to recognize and proclaim the dogmatic truth that Jesus has a Divine nature. Throughout Man, the Saint, inspirations and insights are provided so that the reader will imitate the manifestations of God’s human nature, in order that the human nature in man may, in turn, be exalted and divinized by the Divine nature in Christ.
    A great case is made for the damage done by the stereotypical and incorrect notion that most of the saints were overly glum, gloomy and sad. Man is expected to embrace his humanity, enjoy and live life (morally), so as to have it in the next: “Only those will be eternally happy in the next life who have learned to be happy here on this earth, with the happiness that comes from generosity. Sadness and fear are the two extremes farthest from our spirit. You didn’t laugh even once yesterday? Then you wasted the day! Smile so that your soul may live. The whole world is easy prey to the youthful smile of a Christian” (Ch.V, Into the Deep). Once we Christians embrace and practice a more holistic notion of sanctity, one which embraces not only the divine but also the human nature of Jesus as well, there will be a fire on earth, a fire of social and personal conversions.
    Loídi motivates, directs, and guides so as to flesh out any of those manly qualities which might be dormant or latent. Failure to actuate or maximize any dormant manly qualities is nothing less than to commit the deadly sin of spiritual sloth. We should not be surprised that there is only one place in the hereafter which is accepting of cowards who failed at even wanting or trying to be men! Heaven is reserved for the courageous men who fight and root out what is weak in themselves. Heaven is reserved for the man who is courageous enough to fight the people and movements which are enemies of God and His Church. Quite simply, Heaven is reserved for saints! The holy fight against evil can only be fought by saints, precisely because the holy practice of loving God is only done correctly by saints. If saints are the only ones who really do love God, it is because only the saints love Him in the way He demands to be loved: with passion and intensity. Guarded love of God is no love at all, and it is the man who is a saint in reality, not the pietistic saintly man of appearance, who loves God best. A man can never reach sanctity unless he first of all strains for the highest expressions of those virtues which are proper to the nature of man.
    Loídi does not use the word “man” in a loose or sloppy way. The man of Loídi is not a brute; however, neither is he “dainty” or easily scandalized, nor is he a “macho” in the popularized pejorative sense of the term. In his struggle towards good and his fight against evil, the virile man is intended and expected to vigorously employ his natural manly qualities, while also tapping into the supernatural fonts by way of the theological virtues, prayer, and sacraments. In this struggle towards Heaven man is able to go beyond his human nature and transcend it, while paradoxically and simultaneously clinging to and using this very same human nature in the process. Man, for Loídi, must struggle from within and battle from without through much toil and hard work if he wishes to become a saint in Heaven: “work with anxious concern [fear and trembling] to achieve your salvation” (Philippians 2:12).
    Man, the saint, is not in a rapturous state of prayer for most of the day (this does not apply to the few authentic mystics with vows of silence in monasteries, nor does this apply to the laymen who live like monks and ignore their vocations to be better husbands and fathers). Rather, Man, the saint, must often work diligently and employ his virile qualities when overcoming the base in himself and the evil which surrounds him, because he remembers that “God helps those who help themselves.” However, the vir, the “he-man,” must avoid the heresy of Pelagianism, always realizing that it is by God’s Grace alone that a soul is saved. Man maintains this balance between personal hard work and trust in God’s Grace by habituating himself to the acquisition and practice of the natural and supernatural virtues, frequent reception of the sacraments, and constant prayer.
    The false piety of “sanctimonious” people, and the heresy of quietism, are altogether repulsive and revolting to the man who wishes to become a saint. The “pietist” and the “quietest” are nothing more than lazy cowards, and there is nothing manly about cowardice! In the words of Loídi: “You will easily recognize these sanctimonious people: they wear several crosses, all sorts of medals, holy pictures in every book they read. You must never approach them expecting a warm reception because their hearts are cold and hard. You must be very careful in your conversation because they are so easily shocked” (Ch. I, Saints, Pagans, Cowards & Pietists). Loídi does not ridicule the traditional notion of who a saint is; he ridicules the incorrect and perverted notion of who a saint is.
    Perhaps one should refer to the official language of the Roman Catholic Church, and look into the etymology of the word which is the focus of Loídi’s book: VIR. According to Cassell’s Latin Dictionary, fifth edition, the word Vir means: “a grown man,” “emphatically a man,” “a man of character or courage, a HE-man,” “a soldier, a single man, an individual.” Are we surprised that the words “virtue,” “virility,” “strength” and “power” look to vir, to man, as the source and root? Of course not! In the man who struggles to be a saint, all forms of vice, weakness, effeminacy or softness must be looked upon as threats to his manhood, and therefore, obstacles to his salvation. These threats to manhood and sanctity can only be defeated by those natural qualities which are proper to man and by the supernatural helps which God sends to the man who loves Him.
    The man in love with God harbors a righteous hatred for sin, and he avoids mortal sin at all cost. In short, anything which is not proper to man, to virility, must be attacked and snuffed out because: 1) virility is proper to the nature of man; 2) God is the author of man’s nature; and, 3) everything created by God is inherently good. Anything in a man which is not virile, anything which is effeminate, should be attacked or detested. Similarly, any mannish characteristics in a woman, where there should be feminine qualities instead, should be destroyed and snuffed out. Are these statements offensive? So be it! Are these politically incorrect statements? Definitely! Did Jesus threaten the secular, cultural, and religious establishments by being politically correct? No, quite the opposite. Well then, He paved the way. Now let us follow!
    The call to true manliness, which is the prerequisite for a man’s personal sanctity, is anything but non-offensive: “In the early days of the Church the Christians were men to be respected and feared; today we are to be pitied, and, believe me, one of the reasons for this sad truth is the lack of real men” (Ch. II, Men!). Jesus was not a reactionary, but he was, is, and always will be a revolutionary! Jesus was nailed to the cross, precisely because He made it a point to challenge, to offend, to invite, with the Truth. Was Jesus a “nice guy?” No. Nice guys do not get crucified. Nice guys get out of predicaments. Jesus is good, Jesus is courageous, but Jesus is definitely not “nice!” Nice guys do not offend, nice guys need to be affirmed, nice guys compromise, nice guys want high popularity ratings, nice guys avoid controversy. Controversy nailed Jesus to the Cross. A Dogma which is not up for argument or questioning is the fact that Jesus was, and always will be, a man; the archetypal Man!
    Jesus is the eternal true God and true Man of no compromise who inspired Saint Paul to write: “All the fighters at the games go into strict training....That is how I run, intent on winning; that is how I fight, not beating the air” (1 Corinthians 9:25,26). Is the coward or the “nice Christian” able to accept or follow through with St. Paul’s challenge to be a man, to be a saint, when he hears the Divine Command to “fight the good fight of the faith...”?!(1Timothy 6:12)
    In the course of Man, the Saint, Loídi succeeds at intertwining an inspirational message with a logical approach which any and every man can and should follow. The question remains, however: “Will any and every man follow this message, which is the same message of Jesus Christ?” Loídi reminds us that manliness is not an end in itself; it simply opens the door to personal sanctity. It is by being a man who tries to be a saint that the probability of personal salvation increases by leaps and bounds. By being a man and a saint, one makes Christianity something alive, appealing, and attractive. The real man challenges and accuses the world, more than the world can challenge or accuse him, although the book itself contains challenges aplenty to any that would call himself a Catholic man. “You agree that a mother’s name must be respected whenever her son is present; then how can any Christian who is a man stand by quietly when someone speaks disrespectfully of the Church, his mother, or of God, his Father?” and “I demand of him [a man], that when the moment comes he should defend his religion to the last drop of his Christian blood. Compromise, you say? To compromise is not humility, it has no relation to humility” (Ch. III, The Whip).
    The real man provides God with a vehicle by which He can bring about changes in a society and culture which has become increasingly pagan, or even worse, apathetic. The real man is stronger than the men of this world because he practices the natural virtues. The Christian man also practices the supernatural virtues, which bring down the graces that transcend the powers of this world and the darkness of the underworld. Worldly men, superficial and apathetic men, the sons of Lucifer, might have power, a lot of it, but this power and strength can never equal the supernatural strength which only the sons of God receive!
Man, the Saint, is a book which every serious Christian should own. It is not exclusively for men; women would simply need to recognize the truly feminine qualities which are complementary to the ones which Loídi writes about in the course of his book. Man, actualize the fullness of your manhood, and you will be plunged into a Christianity full of life, which will then lead you on to eternal life. Become a man, so that you can eventually say with St. Paul: “As for me, my life is already being poured away as a libation. I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day.” (2 Timothy 4:6–8)

Fr. J. Patrick Serna is a priest in the Diocese of Corpus Christi, TX. He gives much credit to his parents for being the first to teach him about God, family and friends. His priestly vocation was nurtured and inspired by his mentor, friend and hero, Rene Gracida, Bishop Emeritus of Corpus Christi. When not discussing philosophy, politics or history together, the two can be found somewhere in God’s country hunting or at Bishop Gracida’s ranch punching cattle.

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