““However, before long, you find it has always happened that the low tide returns. The ocean of grace seemed to recede; the Church was driven back by either persecution or internal decay. Instead of winning against the wickedness of the world, the wickedness of the world overcame her. Where righteousness flowed like the waves of the sea, there was the black mud and muck of the filthiness of mankind. The Church was in mourning. She was like the Israelites in captivity when they sat down and wept by the rivers of Babylon as they remembered their former glory and wept over their present emptiness. It has always been this way for the Church. She advances, retreats, stands still for a while, and then moves forward once more, only to fall back again. The entire history of the Church has been a story of marches forward and then quick retreats.””
