Pay attention! Your life is not an endless series of open doors! Listen to your heart! Do not stay on the surface, but go to the heart of things! And when the time is right, have the courage to decide!
A Call to Arms
“You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me before many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2:1-3)
Claymore Milites Christi is inspired by Saint John Paul II’s letter to young people, Dilecti Amici “Dear Friends”, his Encyclicals, Apostolic Letters, and his revolutionary Theology of the Body.
It is a movement of young men — men of courage, reason, intellect and will — who stand and take their place with the great men of history…who Seek the Truth!
Men who seek all that is true, good, and beautiful, especially the beauty of love. And upon discovering this treasure, share it with a brother, forging communities of men who live for Christ and one another.
Make no mistake: you were born onto a battlefield, not into neutral territory. And there is an enemy who seeks your destruction.
“Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
Over the past century, the enemy has advanced deep into the territory of culture, family, and the human heart. Claymore is the plan to take that territory back.
The Prophetic Warning
Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, who would become Pope John Paul II, foresaw this battle when he spoke in Philadelphia in 1976, just three years after Roe v. Wade legalized abortion:
“I do not think that wide circles of American Society or wide circles of the Christian community realize this fully. We are now facing the final confrontation between the Church and the anti-Church, of the Gospel versus the anti-Gospel. This confrontation lies within the plans of Divine Providence; it is a trial which the whole Church must take up. It is a trial of not only the Church but, in a sense, a test of 2,000 years of culture and Christian civilization with all its consequences for human dignity, individual rights, and the rights of nations. We must be prepared to undergo great trials in the not-so-distant future; trials that will require us to be ready to give up even our lives, and a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ. Through your prayers and mine, it is possible to alleviate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it.”
This is the hour he foresaw. And this is the battle plan.
I. The Battlefield Defined
Satan has no clay of his own. He can only attack and corrupt what God has made good. His strategy unfolds in three assaults:
- The Individual Person — created in the image of God, in love, by love, and for love. The enemy isolates the human heart from its Maker. Every attack on human life and liberty is an assault on man created in the image and likeness of God.
- Marriage and Family — the living icon of the Holy Trinity. Destroy the family, and the reflection of divine love is shattered.
- Culture and Nation — once hearts and homes are disordered, chaos spreads outward to politics and society. The choice becomes clear: either a culture of life or a culture of death. Christ or chaos.
II. The Three-Step Battle Plan: Taking Back Territory for Christ
1. Restoring the Dignity of the Person
Every revolution for good or evil begins in the human heart.
The man-made evil we are experiencing today began when the light of the Spirit went out of individual human hearts. As Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote, “The dividing line between good and evil runs not between states, nor between classes, nor between political parties, but right through every human heart.”
Each of us stands in a sense before the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and must decide: Do I choose Christ or Chaos?
The world tempts with “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). But grace restores the fallen heart. In choosing Christ, we move from being “cut flowers” to living branches grafted into the Vine:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
2. Restoring Marriage and Family
The man transformed by grace becomes a gift to others. He diffuses God’s love through spousal devotion, fatherhood, and the love of neighbor.
Marriage and the family are under fierce assault; they are the image of divine communion. To defend them is to defend the Primordial Sacrament, a reflection of the Trinity itself. Some are called to this love in marriage; others through consecrated celibacy. All are called to guard the sanctity of life and the Sacrament of Marriage between a man and a woman.
3. Socio-Political Mission
The final step pushes outward. The man renewed in Christ, and the family anchored in Him, are commissioned to transform the culture and the nation.
“You too go into my vineyard.” (Matthew 20:4)
The laity must bring the Gospel into every sphere—education, art, business, media, and government—so that truth and love once more shape the life of nations.
III. Five Aspects of Formation as Milites Christi (Soldiers of Christ)
Formation is not an optional part of discipleship; it is the forge where the warrior is tempered.
Every soldier of Christ must be trained — heart, mind, and soul — to fight the good fight with discipline, humility, and love. Formation is not about perfection but conversion, the daily dying and rising with Christ that makes a man fully alive.
1. Spiritual Formation — The Daily Battle of the Heart
The first and most decisive arena of warfare is the human heart. Before you can win any cultural or political battle, you must win the battle within — between pride and humility, sin and grace, comfort and courage.
The world, the flesh, and the devil all conspire to keep you distracted, isolated, and numb. So begin every day as a soldier reporting for duty before Jesus Christ the King.
The Claymore 10 Minute Morning Ritual:
Knees before reaching for your phone. Kneel beside your bed as the first act of the day. In humility bow your head before your Redeemer and Savior, who “humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:8)
- Pray with Mary, your Mother and model of obedience: “Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). And as she directed the servants at the Wedding at Cana, she turns to us too, “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5).
- Remember that “temptation is not sin” — it is an invitation to pray. Jesus Himself was tempted by Satan. Use each temptation as an opportunity to turn your gaze to the Cross, open your heart, expose the temptation, offer it to Jesus, and exclaim, “Jesus, I trust in You.”
- Pray and Meditate — even a couple minutes, on Scripture or the Diary of Divine Mercy. The Divine Mercy App is free and provides a daily audio reading. The Hallow App has the Daily Mass readings, as does the Magnificat App. Experience in this practice the power to transform your mind, body and soul.
- Pray the Saint Michael Prayer — This is a Spiritual Battle, seek protection! The prayer can be found under Claymore on our website.
- Love the next person you see — begin the day with a concrete act of charity.
Beyond the morning:
- Spend 15–30 minutes daily in Lectio Divina — read Scripture, meditate, pray, and rest in silence before God’s Word.
- Attend Mass regularly (at least weekly); receive the Eucharist worthily.
- Go to Confession monthly — a soldier must never stay wounded.
- Pray the Rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet daily.
- Fast regularly — from food, social media, or drink — to strengthen the will and unite your sacrifice to Christ’s.
- Use your work, any and all work, as a sacrificial offering.
Spiritual formation restores the original divine formula: Body/Soul + Grace = the potential for Human Freedom, the potential for Human Flourishing. Your “action” in the world completes this formula and makes it efficacious!
To make my potential efficacious I must act! Through my free-will, in a sense, I create myself (self-determination). I choose the good, do the good, and I become good, “I am good”. Or I choose evil, do the evil, and I become evil, “I am evil.”
Without grace (participation in the life of God), the human person, Body/Soul, remains trapped in the default position of sin and death. But with grace, a man becomes who he was created to be — a son of God, a warrior, a saint.
2. Saint John Paul II Studies — The Mind and Heart of a Warrior
Ignorance and sloth are the devil’s allies. Study is an act of worship when directed toward Truth Himself.
Practice: Set aside weekly time to study the teachings of Saint John Paul II:
- Once a week, listen to or watch a Friday Become Who You Are podcast.
- Read an “ACT” from the Claymore Handbook.
- Discuss it with a brother in faith.
- Optional: Choose one additional resource each month to read, share, and teach.
To learn is to prepare for battle; to teach is to take ground for Christ and His Church.
Additional Resource suggestions from John Paul II:
- Theology of the Body — the battlefield of love and purity.
- Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) — the call to defend life at all costs.
- Veritatis Splendor (The Splendor of Truth) — moral clarity in a world of confusion.
- Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason) — Two wings of our faith.
- Centesimus Annus — Catholic Social Teaching—building a just and humane society.
- Letter to Families and Familiaris Consortio — marriage and the family.
- His writings on the Eucharist.
3. Building the Domestic Church
Your home is a holy sacred place. Have it blessed by a Priest.
- Place a crucifix and sacred images (Divine Mercy Image, Our Lady, Saint Michael, Pictures of Saints) where they can be seen daily.
- Create a prayer corner — a candle, holy water, a Bible, and space for silence.
- Fill your home with beauty — Scripture, sacred art, good literature, and music that lifts the soul.
- Teach your family to pray the Rosary and read the Gospel together.
The family that kneels together becomes a fortress of love.
4. Discipleship and Community Building
No warrior fights alone. Christ called twelve, not one. Brotherhood is the antidote to isolation and sin.
- Disciple one or more brothers. Share the journey; hold each other accountable.
- Build small circles of prayer, study, and action.
- Remember: Jesus didn’t come for sin management but with power to transform hearts. Over time, you will experience this transformation — from weakness to witness.
“Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a Person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” — Pope Benedict XVI
5. Go Out and Create a Culture of Life
Faith is not meant to be hidden under a basket; “You too go out into the vineyard” (Matt 20:4)
- Engage in socio-political activism that protects the family, the unborn, and religious liberty.
- Support leaders who defend the moral law and human dignity.
- Think local: Be present at school board meetings, city and county councils, and participate in your community as a man of truth and love.
- Defend the innocent. Defend what is true, good and beautiful. Defend the sacred.
“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5)
There is no Plan B.
Summary: Young Men United in the Eucharist
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her… This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the Church.” (Ephesians 5:25-32)
This is the mystery at the heart of the Claymore movement.
Christ, the Bridegroom, leaves His Father in heaven and His Mother on earth to unite Himself to His Bride, the Church, in the Eucharist—Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
Every human longing for love and communion finds its fulfillment here.
The Eucharist is the source of true masculinity and authentic strength; it forges men into protectors, priests, and lovers in the image of the Crucified King.
Marriage and family, Christ and the Church, and Polity — these are the three “necessary societies” for human happiness. The man rooted in the Eucharist becomes their defender and builder.
This is your inheritance.
You are called to become men of courage, purpose, and unshakable faith—Milites Christi, soldiers of Christ—heroically rebuilding a civilization rooted in truth, love, and liberty.
When the world whispers compromise, you will answer with conviction.
When the culture mocks holiness, you will respond with joy.
When evil threatens the innocent, you will stand your ground.
Take up your Sword. Take up your Rosary. Take up your Cross. The King is calling. There is no Plan B.