Little do my socialist friends know, but “The Internationale,” the worldwide anthem to communism written (of course) in France and popularized by the Soviet Union, is really about worshipping Christ. I mean, look at the first two lines:

“Stand up, damned of the earth / Stand up, prisoners of starvation.”

All of us are damned without Christ, you see, and all starving for the Word as well as the Body and Blood of the Eucharist. How hypocritical, then, of socialists who fail to heed the calling of their founders when they try to live without God.

And consider the first two lines of the second stanza:

“There are no supreme saviors / Neither God, nor Caesar, nor tribune.”

What that means, of course, is that the Trinity doesn’t include mortal rulers, but the Triune Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal in majesty and power. Clarifying the essence of the Trinity was always important to socialists, even if their modern-day counterparts don’t understand this.

The rest of this hymn to God is filled with a calling to spiritual discipline (”So that the spirit be pulled from its prison / Let us fan the forge ourselves”), peace (”Let the armies go on strike”), and the eventual return of Christ (”The sun will shine forever”).

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