† Traditional Sunday Propers : Dominica XIII, Post Pentecost ~ Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost †

THE MONTH OF AUGUST IS DEDICATED TO

THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH

Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

To you and to your Immaculate Heart in this tragic hour of human history, we entrust and consecrate the whole world torn by bitter strife.

Queen of the Holy Rosary,
Help of the Christians,
Refuge of the human race,
Conqueress in God’s battlefields,

To you and to your Immaculate Heart
In this tragic hour of human history
We entrust and consecrate ourselves,
And the Holy Church.
She is the Mystical Body of your Jesus,
Suffering and bleeding in so many parts
And tormented in so many ways,
We consecrate to you the whole world torn by bitter strive
And consumed by the fire of hatred
The victim of its own wickedness.

Look with compassion to all material and moral destruction
To the suffering and fears of fathers and mothers
Of husbands and wives, of brother and sisters and innocent children.
Look at the many lives cut down in the flower of youth
So many bodies torn to pieces in brutal slaughter
So many souls tortured and troubled
And in danger of being lost eternally.

Oh mother of mercy obtain peace for us from God.
Obtain especially those graces which can convert human hearts quickly.
Those graces which can prepare, establish and insure peace.
Queen of peace, pray for us;
Give the world at war the peace for which all are longing
Peace in truth, justice and the charity of Christ.
Give them peace of the arms and peace of mind,
That in tranquillity and order
The Kingdom of God may expand.

Grant your protection to infidels
And to those still walking in the shadow of death;
Give them peace and permit that the sun of truth may raise upon them;
And that together with us
They may repeat before the only saviour of the world:
Glory to god in the highest
And peace on earth among men of good will ( Blessed Apostle Saint Luke 2.14 )

Give peace to the people separated by error and schism,
Particularly those who have special devotion to you
And among whom there was no home
Where your venerable icon was not honored
Through at present it may be hidden
In the hope for better days.
Bring them back to the one fold of Christ
Under the one true Shepard.

Obtain peace and complete liberty for the Holy Church of God
Check the spreading flood of neo-paganism,
Arouse within the faithful love of purity
The practice of Christian life and apostolic zeal,
So that the people who serve God,
May increase in merit and number.

All of humanity were once consecrated to the heart of your son.
All our hopes rest in him, who is in all times
Sign and pledge of victory and salvation.
Forever we consecrate ourselves to you
And to your immaculate heart,
Oh mother and queen of the world

May your love and patronage hasten the victory of the kingdom of God
May all nations , at peace with each other and with God, proclaim you blessed
And sing with you from one end of the earth to the other,
The eternal Magnificat of glory, love and gratitude
To the heart of Jesus, in which alone,
They can find truth. Life and peace.

Pope Pius XII
October 31, 1942

The Consecration of Russia

Holy Mother, in this age of shameless and defiant impiety, when humanity dares to mock God, even within the walls of Holy Mother Church, we implore the fulfillment of the Will of God that thou didst manifest to the children of Fatima, and especially the decree given by thee to Sister Lucia; for we thy seed well know that His Will hath not been fulfilled; we also know these commands of God Almighty hath not been heeded by the sovereign Pontiffs of our age. For our sake, holy Mother, render an oblation of prayer to thy Son; words of consolation and intercession on our behalf, and plead the wrath of God not deepen upon His Church and the world. Send forth thy legions to usher in the triumph of the Will of God thou didst make manifest at Fatima.

In the apparition of July 13, Our Lady warned the three seers that if people did not stop offending God, He would punish the world "by means of war, hunger and persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father," using Russia as His chosen instrument of chastisement. She told the children that "to prevent this, I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart" and promised that, by this single public act, Russia would be converted and peace would be given to the world.

The Mother of God cautioned that if Her requests were not granted, "Russia will spread its errors throughout the world, raising up wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer and various nations will be annihilated."

True to Her word, Our Lady reappeared to Sister Lucy on June 13, 1929 at Tuy, Spain, when in a great and sublime vision representing the Blessed Trinity, She announced that "the moment has come for God to ask the Holy Father to make, in union with all the bishops of the world, the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart. By this means, He promises to save Russia."

When God sent Our Lady to convey His command that Russia be consecrated, it seems clear that He expected swift obedience from the Pope and bishops. The pastors of the Church, however, chose to delay and, on August 19, 1931, Our Lord Himself appeared to Sister Lucy in Rianjo, Spain and expressed His displeasure, saying "make it known to My ministers that, given they follow the example of the King of France in delaying the execution My command, they will follow him also into misfortune."

Our Lord's warning is a grave one indeed, referring as it does to His command, through Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, to the King of France that he consecrate his nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The King chose to ignore the command and thus condemned his dynasty and throne to the horrors of revolution, chaos and the guillotine.

The Blessed Virgin's request for the Consecration of Russia remains one of the most controversial aspects of the entire Fatima Message. While several popes have undertaken consecrations of the world since the request was made public ( including Pope John Paul II in 1982 and 1984 ), sadly, none of these have fulfilled the specific requirements of Our Lord and Our Lady's requests. In repeated visits to Sister Lucy, Heaven's King and Queen have insisted that it is Russia (and Russia only) that is to be the object of this public act of obedience and prayer. In addition, Our Lord and Our Lady have indicated that the Holy Father is to be joined in the act of consecration by all the Catholic bishops of the world on the same day and at the same time in their respective dioceses. Interestingly, only Pope Pius XII's consecration of the world in 1942 included substantial involvement of the bishops. Sister Lucy has written that this imperfect act of obedience, while not fulfilling Our Lady's Fatima request, nevertheless hastened the end of the Second World War, thus sparing the lives of tens of millions of souls.

In response to Sister Lucy's question why He would not convert Russia without the Holy Father consecrating that nation to His Mother's Immaculate Heart, Our Lord replied "Because I want My whole Church to acknowledge that consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that it may extend its cult later and put the devotion of the Immaculate Heart beside the devotion to My Sacred Heart."

Click this link for more information on the Consecration of Russia

Also see : Petition to Benedict XVI to consecrate Russia as instructed by The Queen of Heaven and Earth.

† OUR LADY OF TEARS †

On April 29, 1906, This miraculous image of Our Lady
wept in the Jesuit School of San Gabriel, Quito, Ecuador.

The Progressivist Challenge to Fatima

Atila Sinke Guimarães

It seems that we are witnessing a momentous challenge to Our Lady. The progressivist current, which is dominating the Catholic Church from the top, is trying to completely dishonor and discredit the message of Our Lady in Fatima. Let me point out three major steps of this attempt.

1. Finishing with the idea of the conversion of Russia

The insistence of John Paul II, Benedict XVI and the present day Vatican in stressing that Russia does not need to convert is notorious. This claim has been made per viam facti, by way of the facts, rather than by spoken or written words. One meaningful initiative demonstrating this is the decision of JPII to deliver the icon of Our Lady of Kazan to the schismatic Russian Patriarch Alexis II.(1) Notwithstanding, in Fatima Our Lady said that Russia needed a conversion, and asked specifically for a consecration, prayers and penance for that.

Actually, Russia did not convert at all. Two main reasons support the fact:

First, despite the optimistic propaganda proclaiming its demise, Communism did not die. It remains in power in Russia and in several other countries of the old Iron Curtain. It is stronger than ever in China, North Korea, and Vietnam. It continues to dominate Cuba, recently took over Brazil, and is striving to install its regime in other South American countries. Therefore, the fantasy that Communism died is just a fabrication to anesthetize the reaction of the not-so-clever Western bourgeois and the not-so-sincere Catholic conservative.

Second, from 1917 until today, the schismatic Russian Church has not changed any of its erroneous doctrines on the Holy Trinity, Papal Infallibility, and the Immaculate Conception of Mary. It also sustains the same spirit of arrogance toward Rome than it has held for the last 1,000 years.

Therefore, Russia did not convert in either the temporal or the religious sphere, and the warning Our Lady gave at Fatima about the errors of this country continues to be as timely today as it was in 1917.

In my opinion, for John Paul II, [ Bennedict XVI ] and the progressivist current to insist on the opposite, that is, in acting as if Russia does not need to convert, is to directly challenge the judgment of Our Lady.

2. Putting aside the Third Secret

The third part of the Fatima message that was supposed to be kept secret until 1960 came to be known as the Third Secret. When the time arrived – 1960 – Pope John XXIII did not reveal it. Why? He had his reasons…

Some of the Cardinals and theologians who had read the text revealed that it forewarned of a “revolution” coming from the upper echelons of the Church Hierarchy. This revolution would obliterate the Catholic Faith.

For example, Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi wrote:

“In the Third Secret it is foretold, among other things, that the great apostasy in the Church will begin at the top.” (2)

Cardinal Silvio Oddi wrote on the same subject:

“According to the most probable interpretation, the Third Secret – which John XXIII did not consider opportune to reveal – is not about the conversion of Russia, still far from occurring, but the ‘revolution’ in the Catholic Church.” (3)

What was this revolution in the 1960s that would have warranted a warning from Our Lady? Certainly, it was Vatican Council II. This is not just my opinion. Many of the progressvists themselves call the Council a “Copernican revolution.” (4) In fact it caused a complete change in the Catholic Church and the Catholic Faith. Therefore, it makes full sense that Our Lady would warn the faithful not to accept the errors that would issue from Vatican II.

Progressivism, however, pays no mind to the message of Fatima. Its thinkers consider Fatima to be nothing more than the product of a primitive collective imagination.

This negative view was clearly expressed by progressivist Cardinal Yves Congar when he wrote about the role of recent prophecies in the Church:

“Supported by fervor, as well as by fanaticism, and exploiting human hope …. the imagination constructed its utopias and created a way to escape fears, hatreds, and political options. From this, stories were born about the anti-Christ, a chastisement and the devastation of Rome, or, in a contrary sense, stories about an angelical Pope, the Holy Land, the end times, etc. Our epoch still resounds with echos of these ideas. Once again there is talk about the ‘prophecy of Malachy,’ Nostradamus, and the Third Secret of Fatima assembling ‘blue armies’…” (5)

Fr. Hans Küng also wrote against Fatima. Here, in one of his many texts, he accused Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, as well as Catholics who believe in Fatima, of being Montanisnts and Joaquinists – two different heresies of the past about the end times:

“As in Montanism, some post-Trent seers became known for their apocalyptical ideas (prophecies of an approaching end times, a great war, a terrible catastrophe or the conversion of Russia). Their devotees were at the same time terrified and fascinated – and this is one of the reasons for their astonishing success. As in Montanism, the post-Trent seers also presented rigorous moral demands: condemnation of the world and a call for extraordinary acts of mortification to avoid chastisements ….

“As in Joaquinism, ones finds a mystical interpretation of numbers and related calculations: e.g. important events have taken place on the 13th day of the month …. As in Joaquinism, it has been considered necessary to make new associations to spread ideas according to which some particular form of piety (an image, devotion or a medal) is considered as important as the Word of God witnessed in Scriptures.” (6)

It seems that this skeptical and scornful progressivist view of Fatima was shared by John XXIII. It would explain why he avoided revealing the message of Our Lady in 1960, and pushed forward the plan for a Council. In any case, the fact is that John XXIII put aside the Third Secret. This was equivalent to saying: “I don’t care about such a prophecy. Instead, I will make the Council it wants to avert.” Indisputably, a bold challenge to Our Lady.

Such audacity on the part of John XXIII was followed in 2000 by the joint imitative of Cardinal Angelo Sodano and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who tried to definitely silence any remaining expectations about the Third Secret, as well as the traditional interpretations of the already known parts of the message. No more apostasy of the Catholic Faith coming from the top; no more “revolution” in the Church; no more conversion of Russia; no more chastisement coming from Heaven; no more disappearance of many nations; no more reign of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. All these predictions were sentenced to silence and death.

An incomplete new text with vague and enigmatic symbols was released and imposed by Sodano and Ratzinger as a final and definitive “revelation.” Again, another audacious step in the progressivist challenge to Our Lady, and an attempt to destroy the warning she came to give to the Catholic faithful to avoid the present day religious crisis.

3. Destroying Fatima as symbol of the Catholic Faith

Another important step in the progressivist challenge to Our Lady was taken last October. The progressivist Hierarchy revealed that it is planning to transform Fatima into an ecumenical center to worship the “gods” of all the false religions of the world.

The plan to transform Fatima in an interfaith shrine was announced at the October 10-12 conference sponsored jointly by the Vatican and the United Nations in Portugal (Frontpage Online – Portugal’s Weekend Newspaper, November 1, 2003). The news report made this summary of the event:

“Delegates attending the Vatican and United Nations inspired annual interfaith congress ‘The Future of God,’ held during October in Fatima, heard how the Shrine is to be developed into a centre where all the religions of the world will gather to pay homage to their various gods. The congress was held in the Paul VI Pastoral Centre and presided over by the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon, José da Cruz Policarpo.”

The Shrine’s rector, Msgr. Luciano Guerra, set out the ecumenical future for Fatima:

“The future of Fatima, or the adoration of God and His mother at this Shrine, must pass through the creation of a shrine where different religions can mingle. The inter-religious dialogue in Portugal, and in the Catholic Church, is still in an embryonic phase, but the Shrine of Fatima is not indifferent to this fact and is already open to being a universalistic place of vocation.”

Jesuit theologian Fr. George Dupuis, a principal speaker at the event, also emphasized this theme. He stated:

“The religion of the future will be a general converging of religions in a universal Christ that will satisfy all (ibid).”

The official statement released by the congress called for a non-proselytizing approach by all religions. It asserted:

“No one religion can irradiate another …. or strengthen itself by downplaying others. An open dialogue is the way to building bridges and tearing down walls of centuries of hate. What is needed is that each religion be true to its faith integrally and treat each religion on the same footing of equality with no inferior or superiority complexes (ibid).”

One should note that high Church dignitaries were present at the conference. It was opened by the Bishop of Leiria and Fatima Serafim Ferreira e Silva and was closed by the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon José Policarpo. The Vatican was represented by Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, Prefect of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. The three Prelates all spoke at the congress and endorsed the transformation of Fatima into a pan-religious centre. That is to say, it would be impossible to have a more official and solemn affirmation that this plan comes from the top of the Conciliar Church.

Here it behooves me to recall that several of the Prelates and theologians who had read the Third Secret stressed that it spoke about an enormous crisis in the Catholic Faith. In this context Our Lady would have assured the three children that Portugal would maintain the Catholic Faith. In Sister Lucy’s memoir of the apparitions, she ends the recount of the Second Secret with these words: “In Portugal the dogma of the Faith will always be preserved.” The “dogma of the Faith” Our Lady spoke of obviously supposes that only the Catholic Faith is the true faith.

Now then, by transforming Fatima into a sort of Pantheon where all the false gods would be worshiped along with the one true God, one can only surmise that the present day Vatican decided to subvert this prediction of Our Lady also. To clump together all the false religions to worship at Fatima seems an irony, a parody of the real Fatima. It is what the present day Vatican wants to impose on Catholic Portugal.

When one studies the History of the Chosen People in the Old Testament, it is clear that their major vice was to follow the bad customs of others peoples and their capital sin was to worship the false gods of those peoples. Many times God manifested His wrath over these offenses, and many times He chastised the Chosen People for them. We should take heed. For what the Hebrew people did then was less than what is being planned today. Yes, it was less, because they did not go so far as to build a temple to adore the false gods. Yet that is what the progressivists plan to do in Fatima.

Therefore, the stated aim of building a temple in Fatima that will be a centre to worship all the false gods is a sin similar to but much graver than the one committed by the Chosen People. It is also an enormous injury and provocation to Our Lady.

Once again, as in the other two initiatives, we see the same intent to challenge Our Lady. The three steps form in crescendo a colossal challenge made by Progressivism against Our Lady.

Conclusion

What will be the consequence of this provocation? It is no small matter to provoke and challenge Our Lady. Scriptures says that the blessing of a father firmly establishes the house of his children, but the curse of a mother uproots its very foundations (Eccles. 3:11). It is a patent counsel to avoid incurring the wrath of a mother. Progressivism is now deliberately provoking the wrath of Our Lady. It should be more cautious lest it find its foundations completely uprooted. It is my opinion and my prayer that a consummate chastisement would be forthcoming soon in response to this latest provocation.

I don’t know what else is necessary for conservatives and traditionalists to open their eyes and see just how evil these persons are at the top of Holy Mother Church.

The Solution

"....a countless legion of the most saintly men of every age and of every condition have not only held the Rosary most dear, and have most piously recited it; but have also used it at all times as a most powerful weapon to overcome the devil; to preserve the purity of their lives; and acquire virtue more zealously...." ~ ~ Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Letter, Ingravescentibus Malis, On the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Most Holy Rosary Of The Blessed Virgin Mary

"I am the Lady of the Rosary" ~~ Speaking to the three children of Fatima.

'Wonder not that you have obtained so little fruit by your labors, you have spent them on barren soil, not yet watered with the dew of Divine Grace. When GOD willed to renew the face of the earth, He began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation. Therefore preach my Psalter composed of 150 Angelic Salutations and 15 Our Fathers, and you will obtain an abundant harvest'.
'The rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and lift them to the desire of eternal things.'
~~ Words of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Saint Dominic

Prayer To The Lady Of The Rosary

Beloved Lady of the Rosary, I thank you for your great gift of your psalter. As the beads slip through my fingers, may my heart and my lips sing your praise, and my brain contemplate those sacred mysteries of my Holy Faith. May my meditations on your beloved Rosary draw me ever closer, trustingly, to you, and through you to your divine son, my Lord and my God.

The Mysteries of Rosary of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Joyful Mysteries

Often said on Monday and Saturday, the Joyful Mysteries include: The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Birth of Our Lord, The Presentation of Our Lord, and The Finding of Our Lord in the Temple.

Glorious Mysteries

Often said on Wednesday and Sunday the Glorious Mysteries include: The Resurrection, The Ascension, The Coming of the Holy Spirit, The Assumption of our Blessed Mother into Heaven, and The Coronation of our Blessed Mother.

Mysteries of Light

Often said on Thursday, the Mysteries of Light as inspired by and proposed in 1957 by Saint George Preca:

1. When Our Lord Jesus Christ, after his baptism in the Jordan, was led into the desert.

2. When Our Lord Jesus Christ showed, by word and miracles, that He is true God.

3. When Our Lord Jesus Christ taught the Beatitudes on the mountain.

4. When Our Lord Jesus Christ was transfigured on the mountain.

5. When Our Lord Jesus Christ had his last Meal with the Apostles.

Sorrowful Mysteries

Often said on Tuesday and Friday the Sorrowful Mysteries include: The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, and The Crucifixion and Death of Our Lord.

History Of The Rosary

Tradition holds that Our Lady gave the Rosary to Saint Dominic Guzman in 1206 as a form of gospel-preaching and popular prayer. For more than seven centuries, the Rosary devotion has been one of the most popular devotional practices in the church. Its combination of vocal and mental prayer have made it a prime tool for contemplation. Jesus is the author and source of grade; Our Lady's Rosary is the key to open the treasury of grace to us.

Although prayer beads had been popular before Dominic's time, he and his friars quickly adopted the Rosary as an excellent way to teach the mysteries of Christianity to a largely illiterate European population. In 1470, Blessed Alan of Rupe founded the first Rosary Confraternity, and thereby launched the Dominican Order as the foremost missionaries of the Rosary. Through the efforts of Blessed Alan and the early Dominicans, this prayer form spread rapidly throughout Western Christendom.

The meditations on the fifteen mysteries serve as reminders of incidents in the lives of Christ and Mary. These are divided into the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries. Thirteen of the mysteries come from incidents in the New Testament. One, the assumption of Mary into heave, comes from Sacred Tradition. The fifteens, the Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven is thought to be derived from images in the Book of Revelation. These meditations make the Rosary a reflection on the fundamental beliefs of our Faith.

Through the years, Our Lady has re-affirmed her approval of this devotion, and her pleasure in the title "Queen of the Rosary." To Blessed Alan, she made fifteen promises to those who devoutly recite her beads. She told him, ".. immense volumes would have to be written if all the miracles of my Holy Rosary were to be recorded." Our Lady's promises are:

Those who shall have served me constantly by reciting the Rosary shall receive some special grace.

I promise my special protection and great graces to all who devoutly recite my Psalter.<

The Rosary shall be a most powerful armor against hell; it shall destroy vices, weaken sin, overthrow unbelief.

It shall make virtues and good works to flourish again; it shall obtain for souls abundant mercies of God; it shall win the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and life them to a desire of things eternal. Oh, how many souls will be sanctified by this means !

The soul which has recourse to me through the Rosary shall not perish.

Whoever shall have recited the Rosary devoutly and with meditation on its mysteries, shall never be overcome by misfortunes, shall not experience the anger of God, shall not be lost by a sudden death; but if he be in sin he shall be converted; and if he be in grace, he shall persevere and be made worth of eternal life.

Truly devoted servants of my Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments.

It is my will that those who recite my Rosary have, in life and in death, light and the plenitude of graces; and in life and death, may participate in the merits of the saints.

Every day I deliver from Purgatory souls devoted to my Rosary.

True servants of my Rosary shall enjoy great glory in heaven.

Whatever you shall ask through the Rosary, you shall obtain.

I will assist in every necessity those who propagate my Rosary.

I have obtained form my Son that all members of the Confraternity of my Rosary may have in life and in death all the blessed as their associated.

All who recite my Rosary are my children and the brethren of my Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ.

Devotion to my Rosary is a great sign of predestination.

Our Lady told Blessed Bartolo Longo to propagate the Rosary, and promised that those who would propagate this devotion would be saved. In 1884, Our Lady of Pompeii appeared at Naples to Fortuna Agrelli, who was desperately ill. She told Fortuna that the title "Lady of the Holy Rosary" was one which was particularly pleasing to her, and cured Fortuna of her illness.

At Lourdes, Our Lady told Saint Bernadette to pray many rosaries. When Bernadette saw the beautiful lady, she instinctively took her Rosary in her hands and knelt down. The lady made a sign of approval with her head, and took into her hands a Rosary which hung on her right arm. As Bernadette prayed, Our Lady passed the beads of her Rosary through her fingers, but said nothing except the Gloria at the end of each decade. At Fatima, Mary told the children to pray the Rosary often.

Popes throughout history have loved the Rosary. Not a single Pope in the last four hundred years has failed to urge devotion to the Rosary. From Pope Sixtus IV, in 1479, to the present day, all popes have urged the use of this devotion, and enriched its recitation with indulgences.

Pius XI dedicated the entire month of October to the Rosary.

Pope Saint Pius X said :

"Of all the prayers, the Rosary is the most beautiful and the richest in graces; of all, it is the one most pleasing to Mary, the Virgin Most Holy."

Pope Leo XIII repeatedly recommended the Rosary as a most powerful means whereby to move God to aid us in meeting the needs of the present age. In 1883, he inserted the invocation, "Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us ! " into the Liturgy for the Universal Church. John XXIII who was particularly faithful to the daily recital of the whole Rosary has said, " We can never sufficiently recommend the saying of the Rosary, not simply with the lips but with attention of the soul to the divine truths, with a heart filled with love and gratitude." John Paul II tells us to "... love the simple, fruitful prayer of the Rosary." Many of the Saints, and a number of the religious orders have praised the Rosary. Saint Charles said he depended on the Rosary almost entirely for the conversion and sanctification of his diocese. Founders of most religious orders have either commanded or recommended the daily recitation of the Rosary. The Benedictines speedily adapted this devotion in their ancient cloisters. The Carmelites were happy to receive the Rosary as well as their rule from the Dominicans. The Franciscans made their rosaries out of wood, and preached this devotion as well as poverty. The Servites wore their rosaries as a badge of that servitude which is the only true liberty. Inspired by the example of their founder, the Jesuits invariably propagated the devotion. Saint Francis Xavier used the touch of his chaplet as a means of healing the sick. Saint Vincent de Paul instructed the members of his order to depend more on the Rosary than upon their preaching.

Our ancestors had recourse to the Rosary as an every- ready refuge in misfortune, and as a pledge and a proof of their Christian faith and devotion. Saint Dominic used the Rosary as a weapon in his battle against the Albigensian heresy in France. In the last century, the Christian successes over the Turks at Temesvar and at Corfu coincided with the conclusion of public devotions of the Rosary. During the penal days in Ireland, the Rosary bound the Irish Catholics together as the church militant. When it was a felony to teach the Catholic Catechism, and death for a priest to say Mass, the Irish mothers used their rosaries to tell their little ones the story of Jesus and Mary, and thus kept the Faith green in the hearts of their children. Saint John Vianney, the Cure d'Ars, declared emphatically that in the nineteenth century it was the Rosary which restored religion in France. Likewise, in the dark days of persecution in Mexico, in our own century, the sturdy Mexican Catholics clung faithfully to their rosaries. The martyr Miguel Pro was allowed his last request before being shot by a firing squad --- he knelt and prayed his Rosary. A special society, the Society of the Living Rosary, was founded by the Venerable Marie Pauline Jaricot in the city of Lyons, France, in 1826. She formed bands of fifteen members who each said one decade of the Rosary daily. Thus, the entire Rosary is said collectively by the members of each circle daily.

Father Timothy Ricci, O.P., instituted the Perpetual Rosary, or Mary's Guard of Honor, in 1635. The aim of this devotion is to unite the members in such a way that some devoted watchers will ever be found in prayer and praise at Our Lady's shrine, telling their beads for the conversion of sinners, the relief of the dying, and the succor of the dead. In Belgium, the Dominican nuns of the Third Order established a monastery for the express purpose of maintaining the Perpetual Rosary, so that there it became not merely the devotion of a society, but the distinctive work of a community. A number of shrines of the order are to be found in the United States. Here, the Rosary is said day and night by members of the community. Rosary processions are held, and pilgrims sing again and again the praises of the Heavenly Queen of all Roman Rite Catholics.

Our Lady has 117 blessed titles. Above all, She selected this title at Fatima: "I am the Lady of the Rosary."

Saint Francis de Sales said the greatest method of praying is: Pray the Rosary.

Saint Thomas Aquinas preached 40 straight days in Rome Italy on just the Hail Mary.

Saint John Vianney, patron of priests, was seldom seen without a rosary in his hand.

"The rosary is the scourge of the devil" -- Pope Adrian VI

"The rosary is a treasure of graces" -- Pope Paul V

Padre Pio the stigmatic priest said: "The Rosary is the weapon".

Several popes wrote encyclicals on the rosary.

John XXIII spoke 38 times about our Lady and the Rosary. He prayed 15 decades daily.

Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort wrote: "The rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who so loves His Mother."

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary that never was it known that anyone who fled to Your protection, implored Your help, or sought Your intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, we fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, our Mother. To You we come; before You we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but in Your mercy, hear and answer us. Amen.

*

† Feast of the Immaculate Heart Of Mary †

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary always flourished in the Church, but its first official approval did not come till the beginning of the 19th century when Pope Pius VI approved, for certain religious organizations, a Feast for the Most Pure Heart of Mary. In 1942, the twenty-fifth anniversary of Fatima, Pope Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. That same year, he assigned the feast day to August 22, the octave of the Assumption. On May 4, 1944, he extended the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary to the Universal Church.

Devotion to the immaculate Heart of Mary is primarily based upon the Sacred Scriptures. In the New Testament, there are two references to the Heart of Mary in the Gospel according to Blessed Apostle Saint Luke: "Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart." ( Blessed Apostle Saint Luke 2:19 ), and "His mother meanwhile kept all these things in her heart. " ( Blessed Apostle Saint Luke 2:51 ) In the Old Testament, the heart is seen as the symbol of the depths of the human soul, the center of its choices and commitments. For all mankind, it is a symbol of love. In the Book of Deuteronomy 6:5, we are told, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength." When Our Lord Jesus Christ was asked by the scribes which was the first commandment, he answered them by quoting this verse to them. ( Blessed Apostle Saint Mark 12:29-31 ).

St. Dominic Savio's Prayer to Our Lady

O Mary, I give you my heart.
Grant me to be always yours.
Jesus and Mary, be ever my friends;
and, for love of you, grant me to die a thousand deaths
rather than to have the misfortune of committing a single mortal sin.

It was the Heart of Mary which expressed her "yes" to God. This was her response to the message received from the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation. By her loving consent, Mary first conceived Christ in her heart and then in her womb. Our Lord Jesus, Himself: when reminded by a woman in the crowd how blessed was the womb which gave birth to Him, responds, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it." ( Blessed Apostle Saint Luke 11:28 ).

Consecration to the Immaculate heart of Mary

O Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Queen of Heaven and earth and tender Mother of men,
In accordance with thy ardent wish made known at Fatima,
I consecrate to thee myself, my brethren, my country and the whole human race.
Reign over us and teach us how to make the Heart of Jesus reign and triumph in us and around us,
As It has reigned and triumphed in thee.
Reign over us, dearest Mother, that we may be thine
In prosperity and in adversity;
In joy and in sorrow;
In health and in sickness;
In life and in death.
O most compassionate Heart of Mary, Queen of Virgins, watch over our minds and our hearts;
Preserve them from the deluge of impurity which thou didst lament so sorrowfully at Fatima.
We want to be pure like thee. We want to atone for our many sins committed against Jesus and thee.
We want to call down upon our country and the whole world the peace of God in justice and charity.

Therefore, we now promise to imitate thy virtues by the practice of a Christian life without regard to human respect.
We resolve to receive Holy Communion on the First Saturday of every month,
And to offer thee five decades of the Rosary each day together with our sacrifices in a spirit of reparation and penance. Amen.

† Octave Day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary †

The Catholic Church teaches that Mary was taken up body and soul into heaven after her death. Although the formal definition was not made until 1950 by Pope Pius XII, this belief in Mary's Assumption dates back to the apostolic age. This is a formal Dogma of the Church which all Catholics are required to believe.

POPE PIUS XII
VICAR OF CHRIST
SERVANT OF GOD

PIUS EPISCOPUS
SERVUS SERVORUM DEI
AD PERPETUAM REI MEMORIAM

CONSTITUTIO APOSTOLICA

~ MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS* ~

FIDEI DOGMA DEFINITUR DEIPARAM VIRGINEM MARIAM CORPORE ET ANIMA FUISSE AD CAELESTEM GLORIAM ASSUMPTAM

Munificentissimus Deus, qui omnia potest, cuiusque providentiae consilium sapientia et amore constat, arcano suae mentis proposito populorum singulorumque hominum dolores intersertis temperat gaudiis, ut, diversis rationibus diversisque modis, ipsum diligentibus omnia cooperentur in bonum (cfr. Rom. 8, 28).

Iamvero Pontificatus Noster, quemadmodum praesens aetas, tot curis, sollicitudinibus angoribusque premitur ob gravissimas calamitates ac multorum a veritate virtuteque aberrationes; cernere tamen magno Nobis solacio est, dum, catholica fides publice actuoseque manifestatur, pietatem erga Deiparam Virginem vigere ac fervescere cotidie magis, ac fere ubique terrarum melioris sanctiorisque vitae praebere auspicia. Quo fit ut, dum Beatissima Virgo sua materna munia pro Christi sanguine redemptis amantissime explet, filiorum mentes animique ad studiosiorem eius privilegiorum contemplationem impensius excitentur.

Deus reapse, qui ex omni aeternitate Mariam Virginem propensissima singularique intuetur voluntate, « ubi venit plenitudo temporis » ( Gal. 4, 4 ), providentiae suae consilium ita ad effectum deduxit, ut quae privilegia, quas praerogativas liberalitate summa eidem concesserat, eadem perfecto quodam concentu refulgerent. Quodsi summam eiusmodi liberalitatem perfectumque gratiarum concentum Ecclesia sempre agnovit ac per saeculorum decursum cotidie magis pervestigavit, nostra tamen aetate privilegium illud corporeae in Caelum Assumptionis Deiparae Virginis Mariae clariore luce profecto enituit.

Quod quidem privilegium, cum Decessor Noster imm. mem. Pius IX almae Dei Parentis immaculatae conceptionis dogma sollemniter sanxit, tum novo quodam fulgore illuxit. Arctissime enim haec duo privilegia inter se conectuntur. Christus quidem peccatum et mortem propria sua morte superavit; et qui per baptismum superno modo iterum generatus est, per eumdem Christum peccatum et mortem vicit. Attamen plenum de morte victoriae effectum Deus generali lege iustis conferre non vult, nisi cum finis temporum advenerit. Itaque iustorum etiam corpora post mortem resolvuntur, ac novissimo tandem die cum sua cuiusque gloriosa anima coniungentur.

Verumtamen ex generali eiusmodi lege Beatam Virginem Mariam Deus exemptam voluit. Quae quidem, singulari prorsus privilegio, immaculata conceptione sua peccatum devicit, atque adeo legi illi permanendi in sepulcri corruptione obnoxia non fuit, neque corporis sui redemptionem usque in finem temporum exspectare debuit.

Ideo cum sollemniter sancitum fuit Deiparam Virginem Mariam hereditaria labe immunem inde ab origine fuisse, tum christifidelium animi incensiore quadam spe permoti fuere, futurum ut a supremo Ecclesiae Magisterio dogma quoque corporeae Assumptionis Mariae Virginis in Caelum quamprimum definiretur.

Siquidem cernere fuit non modo singulos christifideles, sed eos quoque, qui Nationum vel ecclesiasticarum provinciarum quasi personam gererent, ac vel etiam non paucos Concilii Vaticani Patres hoc instanter ab Apostolica Sede postulare.

Decursu autem temporum huiusmodi postulationes ac vota, nedum remitterent, cotidie magis et numero et instantia succrevere. Etenim piae habitae sunt, hac de causa, precum contentiones; studia hac superre a pluribus eximiisque theologis vel privatim, vel in publicis ecclesiasticis Athenaeis et in ceteris scholis sacris disciplinis tradendis alacriter impenseque provecta; Conventus Mariales multis in catholici orbis partibus vel ex una tantum, vel ex pluribus Nationibus celebrati. Quae quidem studia pervestigationesque maiore in luce posuere in christianae fidei deposito, Ecclesiae concredito, dogma quoque con tineri Assumptionis Mariae Virginis in Caelum ; ac plerumque inde consecutae sunt postulationes, quibus ab Apostolica Sede suppliciter efflagitabatur, ut haec veritas sollemniter definiretur.

Hoc pio certamine christifideles miro quodam modo coniuncti fuere cum suis sacris Antistitibus; qui quidem eiusdem generis petitiones, numero profecto spectabiles, ad hanc divi Petri Cathedram miserunt. Propterea, cum ad Summi Pontificatus solium evecti fuimus, supplicationes eiusmodi ad milia bene multa ex quavis terrarum orbis parte et ex quovis civium ordine, ex Dilectis nempe Filiis Nostris Sacri Collegii Cardinalibus, ex Venerabilibus fratribus Archiepiscopis et Episcopis, ex Dioecesibus, atque ex paroeciis ad hanc Apostolicam Sedem iam delatae erant.

Quamobrem, dum impensas ad Deum admovimus preces, ut ad gravissimam hanc causam decernendam lumen Sancti Spiritus menti Nostrae impertiretur, peculiares edidimus normas, quibus iussimus ut collatis viribus severiora hac de re inirentur studia; atque interea petitiones omnes colligerentur accurateque perpenderentur, quae inde a Decessore Nostro fel. rec. Pio IX ad nostra usque tempora de Assumptione Beatae Mariae Virginis in Caelum ad Apostolicam hanc Sedem missae fuissent ( Petitiones de Assumptione corporea B. Virginis Mariae in caelum definienda ad S. Sedem delatae; 2 vol., Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1942).

Cum vero tanti momenti tantaeque gravitatis causa ageretur, opportunum duximus Venerabiles omnes in Episcopatu Fratres directo atque ex auctoritate rogare ut mentem cuiusque suam conceptis verbis Nobis aperire vellent. Quapropter die mensis Maii, anno MDCCCCXXXXVI, Nostras ad eos dedimus Litteras « Deiparae Virginis Mariae », in quibus haec habebantur : « An vos, Venerabiles Fratres, pro eximia vestra sapientia et prudentia censeatis: Assumptionem corpoream Beatissimae Virginis tamquam dogma fidei proponi et definiri posse, et an id cum clero et populo vestro exoptetis ».

Ii autem quos « Spiritus Sanctus posuit Episcopos regere Ecclesiam Dei » ( Act. 20, 28), ad utramque quaestionem quod attinet, unanima fere voce assentientes responderunt. Haec « singularis catholicorum Antistitum et fidelium conspiratio » (Bulla Ineffabilis Deus, Acta Pii IX, p. I, vol. I, p. 5), qui Dei Matris autumant corpoream in Caelum Assumptionem ut fidei dogma definiri posse, cum concordem Nobis praebeat ordinarii Ecclesiae Magisterii doctrinam concordemque christiani populi fidem — quam idem Magisterium sustinet ac dirigit — idcirco per semet ipsam ac ratione omnino certa ab omnibusque erroribus immuni manifestat eiusmodi privilegium veritatem esse a Deo revelatam in eoque contentam divino deposito, quod Christus tradidit Sponsae suae fideliter custodiendum et infallibiliter declarandum (cfr. Conc. Vat. De fide catholica, cap. 4). Quod profecto Ecclesiae Magisterium non quidem industria mere humana, sed praesidio Spiritus veritatis ( cfr. Io. 14, 26 ), atque adeo sine ullo prorsus errore, demandato sibi munere fungitur revelatas adservandi veritates omne per aevum puras et integras; quamobrem eas intaminatas tradit, eisdem adiciens nihil, nihil ab iisdem detrahens. « Neque enim — ut Concilium Vaticanum docet — Petri successoribus Spiritus Sanctus promissus est ut, eo revelante, novam doctrinam patefacerent, sed ut, eo assistente, traditam per Apostolos revelationem seu fidei depositum sancte custodirent et fideliter exponerent » (Conc. Vat. Const. De Ecclesia Christi, cap. 4). Itaque ex ordinarii Ecclesiae Magisterii universali consensu certum ac firmum sumitur argumentum, quo comprobatur corpoream Beatae Mariae Virginis in Caelum Assumptionem — quam quidem, quoad caelestem ipsam « glorificationem » virginalis corporis almae Dei Matris, nulla humanae mentis facultas naturalibus suis viribus cognoscere poterat — veritatem esse a Deo revelatam, ideoque ab omnibus Ecclesiae filiis firmiter fideliterque credendam. Nam, ut idem Concilium Vaticanum asseverat: « Fide divina et catholica ea omnia credenda sunt, quae in verbo Dei scripto vel tradito continentur, et ab Ecclesia sive sollemni iudicio, sive ordinario et universali Magisterio tamquam divinitus revelata credenda proponuntur » ( De fide catholica,/i>, cap. 3 ).

Communis huius fidei Ecclesiae varia inde a remotis temporibus per saeculorum decursum manifestantur testimonia, indicia atque vestigia; eademque fides luculentiore in dies lumine panditur.

Siquidem christifideles, suorum Pastorum institutione ac ductu, a Sacris Litteris didicere Virginem Mariam, per terrestrem suam peregrinationem, vitam egisse sollicitudinibus, angustiis, doloribus affectam ; ac praeterea id evenisse, quod sanctissimus senex Simeon cecinerat, acutissimum nempe gladium cor eius transverberasse ad Divini sui Nati crucem nostrique Redemptoris. Parique modo haud difficile iisdem fuit assentiri magnam etiam Dei Matrem, quemadmodum iam Unigenam suum, ex hac vita decessisse. Hoc tamen minime prohibuit quo minus palam crederent ac profiterentur sacrum eius corpus sepulcri corruptioni obnoxium fuisse numquam, numquam augustum illud Divini Verbi tabernaculum in tabem, in cinerem resolutum fuisse. Quin immo, divina collustrati gratia pietateque erga eam permoti, quae Dei Parens est suavissimaque Mater nostra, clariore cotidie luce mirabilem illam privilegiorum concordiam ac cohaerentiam contemplati sunt, quae Providentissimus Deus almae huic Redemptoris nostri sociae impertiit, et quae talem attigere celsissimum verticem, qualem praeter ipsam nemo a Deo creatus, excepta humana Iesu Christi natura, assecutus est umquam.

Hanc eamdem fidem innumera illa templa manifesto testantur, quae in honorem Mariae Virginis Caelo receptae Deo dicata fuere; itemque sacrae illae imagines inibi christifidelium venerationi propositae, quae singularem eiusmodi Beatae Virginis triumphum ante omnium oculos efferunt. Urbes praeterea, dioeceses ac regiones peculiari tutelae ac patrocinio Deiparae Virginis ad Caelum evectae fuere concreditae; parique modo religiosa Instituta, probante Ecclesia, excitata sunt, quae quidem ex eiusmodi privilegio nomen accipiunt. Neque silentio praetereundum est in mariali rosario, cuius recitationem Apostolica haec Sedes tantopere commendat, unum haberi mysterium, piae meditationi propositum, quod, ut omnes norunt, de Assumptione agit Beatae Virginis in Caelum.

Universali autem ac splendidiore modo haec sacrorum Pastorum ac christifidelium fides tum manifestatur, cum inde ab antiquis temporibus in Orientis et in Occidentis regionibus liturgica sollemnia hac de causa celebrantur; hinc enim Sancti Ecclesiae Patres atque Doctores lucem haurire numquam praetermisere, quandoquidem, ut omnibus in comperto est, sacra Liturgia, « cum sit etiam veritatum caelestium professio, quae supremo Ecclesiae Magisterio subicitur, argumenta ac testimonia suppeditare potest, non parvi quidem momenti, ad peculiare decernendum christianae doctrinae caput » ( Litt. Enc. Mediator Dei, A. A. S. vol. XXXIX, p. 541 ).

In liturgicis libris, qui festum referunt vel Dormitionis, vel Assumptionis Sanctae Mariae, dictiones habentur, quae concordi quodam modo testantur, cum Deipara Virgo ex hoc terrestri exsilio ad superna pertransiit, sacro eius corpori ex Providentis Dei consilio ea contigisse, quae cum Incarnati Verbi Matris dignitate consentanea essent, cum ceterisque privilegiis eidem impertitis. Haec, ut praeclaro utamur exemplo, in Sacramentario asseverantur, quod Decessor Noster imm. mem. Hadrianus I ad Imperatorem misit Carolum Magnum. In eo enim haec habentur: « Veneranda nobis, Domine, huius est diei festivitas, in qua sancta Dei Genitrix mortem subiit temporalem, nec tamen mortis nexibus deprimi potuit, quae Filium tuum Dominum nostrum de se genuit incarnatum » ( Sacramentarium Gregorianum ).

Quod vero heic verborum illa temperantia indicatur, qua Romana Liturgia uti solet, in ceteris vel orientalis, vel occidentalis antiquae Liturgiae voluminibus luculentius ac fusius declaratur. Sacramentarium Gallicanum, ut unum in exemplum afferamus, hoc Mariae privilegium dicit « inexplicabile sacramentum, tanto magis praeconabile, quanto est inter homines assumptione Virginis singulare ». Atque in Byzantina Liturgia corporea Mariae Virginis Assumptio non modo cum Dei Matris dignitate etiam atque etiam conectitur, sed cum aliis quoque privilegiis, peculiarique ratione cum virginea eius maternitate, singulari Providentis Dei consilio praestituta: « Tibi rex rerum omnium Deus ea, quae supra naturam sunt, tribuit; sicut enim in partu te virginem custodivit, sic et in sepulcro corpus tuum incorruptum servavit, et per divinam translationem conglorificavit » ( Menaei totius anni,/i> ).

Quod autem Apostolica Sedes, quae muneris est heres, Apo stolorum Principi concrediti, in fide confirmandi fratres ( cfr. Luc. 22, 32 ) sollemniorem in dies auctoritate sua eiusmodi celebrationem reddidit, id profecto studiosam christifidelium mentem efficaciter permovit ad magis cotidie magisque huius commemorati mysterii gravitatem considerandam. Itaque Assumptionis festum ex illo honoris gradu, quem in ceteris Marialibus celebrationibus inde ab initio obtinuerat, ad sollemniorum celebrationum ordinem totius liturgici cycli evectum fuit. Ac Decessor Noster S. Sergius I, cum Litaniam seu Processionem Stationalem, quae dicitur, in quattuor Marialibus celebrationibus habendas praescriberet, una simul festum Nativitatis, Annuntiationis, Purificationis ac Dormitionis Mariae Virginis enumerat ( Liber Pontificalis ). Deinceps vero S. Leo IV festum, quod iam titulo Assumptionis Beatae Genetricis Dei celebrabatur, sollemniore etiam modo recolendum curavit, cum pervigilium ante habendum iuberet, postea vero supplicationes in octavum diem; atque ipsemet, hanc opportunitatem libenter nactus, in genti stipatus multitudine sollemnes eiusmodi celebrationes participare voluit (Ibid.). Ac praeterea pridie huius diei sacrum habendum ieiunium iam antiquitus fuisse praeceptum, ex iis omnino patet, quae Decessor Noster S. Nicolaus I testatur, cum de praecipuis ieiuniis agit, « quae . . . sancta Romana suscepit antiquitus et tenet Ecclesia » ( Responsa Nicolai Papae I ad consulta Bulgarorum ).

Quandoquidem vero Ecclesiae Liturgia catholicam non gignit fidem, sed eam potius consequitur, ex eaque, ut ex arbore fructus, sacri cultus ritus proferuntur, idcirco Sancti Patres magnique Doctores in homiliis orationibusque, quas hoc festo die ad populum habuere, non hinc veluti ex primo fonte, eius modi doctrinam hauserunt, sed de ea potius, utpote christifidelibus iam nota atque accepta, locuti sunt; eamdem luculentius declararunt; eius sensum atque rem altioribus rationibus proposuere, id praesertim in clariore collocantes luce, quod liturgici libri saepenumero presse breviterque attigerant: hoc nempe festo non solummodo Beatae Virginis Mariae nullam habitam esse exanimis corporis corruptionem commemorari, sed eius etiam ex morte deportatum triumphum, eiusque caelestem « glorificationem », ad Unigenae sui exemplum Iesu Christi.

Itaque S. Ioannes Damascenus, qui prae ceteris eximius traditae huius veritatis praeco exstat, corpoream almae Dei Matris Assumptionem cum aliis eius dotibus ac privilegiis comparans, haec vehementi eloquentia edicit: « Oportebat eam, quae in partu illaesam servaverat virginitatem, suum corpus sine ulla corruptione etiam post mortem conservare. Oportebat eam, quae Creatorem ut puerum in sinu gestaverat, in divinis tabernaculis commorari. Oportebat sponsam, quam Pater desponsaverat, in thalamis caelestibus habitare. Oportebat eam, quae Filium suum in cruce conspexerat, et, quem pariendo effugerat doloris gladium, pectore exceperat, ipsum Patri considentem contemplari. Oportebat Dei Matrem ea, quae Filii sunt, possidere et ab omni creatura tamquam Dei Matrem et ancillam excoli » ( S. Ioan. Damasc. Encomium in dormitionem Dei Genitricis semperque Virginis Mariae, hom. II, 14; cfr. etiam ibid. n. 3 ).

Haec quidem S. Ioannis Damasceni vox aliorum vocibus, eamdem asseverantium doctrinam, fideliter respondet. Etenim haud minus clarae accurataeque dictiones in orationibus illis inveniuntur, quas vel superioris vel eiusdem aevi Patres, per occasionem plerumque huius festi, habuere. Itaque, ut aliis utamur exemplis, S. Germanus Constantinopolitanus corpus Deiparae Virginis Mariae incorruptum fuisse et ad Caelum evectum non modo cum divina eius maternitate consentaneum putabat, sed etiam cum peculiari sanctitate eiusdem virginalis corporis: « Tu, secundum quod scriptum est, in pulchritudine appares; et corpus tuum virginale toturn sanctum est, totum castum, totum Dei domicilium; ita ut ex hoc etiam a resolutione in pulverem deinceps sit alienum; immutatum quidem, quatenus humanum, ad excelsam incorruptibilitatis vitam; idem vero vivum atque praegloriosum, incolume atque perfectae vitae particeps » ( S. Germ. Const. In Sanctae Dei Genitricis Dormitionem, sermo I). Alius vero antiquissimus scriptor asseverat: « Igitur ut gloriosissima Mater Christi Salvatoris nostri Dei, vitae et immortalitatis largitoris, ab ipso vivificatur, in aeternum concorporea in incorruptibilitate, qui illam a sepulcro suscitavit et ad seipsum assumpsit, ut ipse solus novit » ( Encomium in Dormitionem Sanctissimae Dominae nostrae Deiparae semperque Virginis Mariae [S. Modesto Hierosol. attributum], n. 4 ).

Cum autem hoc liturgicum festum latius in dies impensioreque pietate celebraretur, Ecclesiae Antistites ac sacri oratores, crebriore usque numero, officii sui esse duxerunt aperte ac nitide explanare mysterium, quod eodem hoc festo recolitur, atque edicere illud esse cum ceteris revelatis veritatibus coniunctissimum.

In scholasticis theologis non defuere qui, cum in veritates divinitus revelatas altius introspicere vellent, atque illum praebere cuperent concentum, qui inter rationem theologicam, quae dicitur, ac catholicam intercedit fidem, animadvertendum putarent hoc Mariae Virginis Assumptionis privilegium cum divinis veritatibus miro quodam modo concordare, per Sacras Litteras nobis traditis.

Cum hinc ratiocinando proficiscerentur, varia protulere argumenta, quibus mariale eiusmodi privilegium illustrarent, quorum quidem argumentorum quasi primum elementum hoc esse asseverabant, Iesum Christum nempe, pro sua erga Matrem pietate, eam voluisse ad Caelum assumptam; eorumdem vero argumentorum vim incomparabili inniti dignitate eius divinae maternitatis atque etiam eorum omnium munerum, quae eam consequuntur; quae quidem sunt insignis eius sanctitas, omnium hominum angelorumque sanctitudinem exsuperans; intima Ma riae cum Filio suo coniunctio; ac praecipuae illius dilectionis affectus, qua Filius dignissimam Matrem suam prosequebatur.

Ac saepenumero theologi occurrunt oratoresque sacri, qui Sanctorum Patrum vestigiis insistentes (cfr. S. Ioan Damasc. Encomium in Dormitionem Dei Genitricis semperque Virginis Mariae, hom. 11, 2, I I ; Encomium in Dormitionem [ S. Modesto Hierosol. attributum]), ut suam illustrent Assumptionis fidem, quadam usi libertate, eventus ac verba referunt, quae a Sacris Litteris mutuantur. Itaque, ut nonnulla tantum memoremus, quae hac de re saepius usurpantur, sunt qui Psaltae sententiam inducant : « Surge, Domine, in requiem tuam, tu et Arca sanctificationis tuae » (Ps. 131, 8); atque Arcam foederis, incorruptibili ligno instructam atque in Dei templo positam, quasi imaginem cernant purissimi Mariae Virginis corporis, ab omni sepulcri corruptione servati immunis, atque ad tantam in Caelo gloriam evecti. Parique modo, hac de re agentes, Reginam describunt in regiam Caelorum aulam per triumphum ingredientem ac dextero Divini Redemptoris assidentem lateri (Ps. 14,10, 14-16); itemque Canticorum Sponsam inducunt, « quae ascendit per desertum, sicut virgula fumi ex aromatibus myrrae et thuris », ut corona redimiatur (Cant. 31, 6; cfr. 4, 8; 6,9). Quae quidem ab iisdem veluti imagines proponuntur caelestis illius Reginae, caelestisque Sponsae, quae una cum Divino Sponso ad Caelorum aulam evehitur.

Ac praeterea scholastici doctores non modo in variis Veteris Testamenti figuris, sed in illa etiam Muliere amicta sole, quam Ioannes Apostolus in insula Patmo ( Apoc. 12 , I sq. ) contemplatus est, Assumptionem Deiparae Virginis significatam viderunt. Item ex Novi Testamenti locis haec verba peculiari cura considerationi proposuere suae: « Ave, gratia plena, Dominus tecum, benedicta tu in mulieribus » ( Luc. I, 28 ), cum in Assumptionis mysterio complementum cernerent plenissimae illius gratiae, Beatae Virgini impertitae, singularemque benedictionem maledictioni Hevae adversantem.

Eam ob rem, sub Scholasticae Theologiae initio vir piissimus Amedeus Lausannensis Episcopus affirmat Mariae Virginis carnem incorruptam permansisse; — neque enim credi fas est corpus eius vidisse corruptionem — cum revera animae suae iterum coniunctum fuerit, atque una cum ea in caelesti aula excelsa redimitum gloria. « Erat namque plena gratia et in mulieribus benedicta (Luc. 1, 28). Deum verum de Deo vero sola ineruit concipere, quem virgo peperit, virgo lactavit, fovens in gremio, eique in omnibus ahno ministravit obsequio » ( AMEDEUS LAUSANNENSIS, De Beatae Virginis obitu, Assumptione in Caelum, exaltatione ad Filii dexteram ).

In sacris vero scriptoribus, qui eo tempore Divinarum Litterarum sententiis variisque similitudinibus seu analogiis usi, Assumptionis doctrinam, quae pie credebatur, illustrarunt ac confirmarunt, peculiarem locum obtinet Doctor Evangelicus S. Antonius Patavinus. Is enim, festo Assumptionis die, haec Isaiae prophetae verba interpretatus: « locum pedum meorum glorificabo » ( Is. 60, 13), modo certo asseveravit a Divino Redemptore Matrem, suam dilectissimam, ex qua humanam sumpserat carnem, summa ornatam fuisse gloria. « Per hoc aperte habes — ita ait — quod Beata Virgo in corpore, quo fuit locus pedum Domini, est assumpta ». Quamobrem sacer Psaltes scribit : « Exsurge, Domine, in requiem tuam, tu et Arca sanctificationis tuae ». Quemadmodum, ita ipse asserit, Iesus Christus ex triumphata morte resurrexit atque ad dexteram sui Patris ascendit, ita pariter « surrexit et Arca sanctificationis suae, cum in hac die Virgo Mater ad aethereum thalamum est assumpta » ( S. ANTONIUS PATAV. Sermones dominicales et in solemnitatibus. In Assumptione S. Mariae Virginis sermo ).

Cum autem, media aetate, Theologia Scholastica maxime floreret, S. Albertus Magnus, variis ad rem probandam collatis argumentis, quae vel Sacris Litteris, vel sententiis a maioribus traditis, vel denique Liturgia rationeque theologica, quae dicitur, innituntur, ita concludit: « His rationibus et auctoritatibus et multis aliis manifestum est, quod Beatissima Dei Mater in corpore et anima super choros Angelorum est assumpta. Et hoc modis omnibus credimus esse verum », ( S. ALBERTUS MAGNUS, Mariale sive quaestiones super Evang. «Missus est », q. 132). In oratione vero, quam die Annunciationi sacro Beatae Virginis habuit, haec Angeli salutantis verba explanans: « Ave, gratia plena... », Doctor Universalis, dum Hevae Sanctissimam Virginem comparat, hanc clare significanterque asseverat quadruplici illa maledictione fuisse immunem, cui Heva obnoxia fuit (Idem, Sermones de sanctis, sermo XV: In Annuntiatione Beatae Mariae; cfr. etiam Mariale, q. 132 ).

Doctor Angelicus, insignis magistri sui vestigia premens, quamvis dedita opera eiusmodi quaestionem numquam agitaverit, quotiescumque tamen per occasionem eam attingit, una cum Catholica Ecclesia constanter retinet cum Mariae anima eius corpus in Caelum fuisse assumptum, ( cfr. Summa Theol. q. 27, a. i c. ; ibid., q. 83, a. 5 ad 8; Expositio salutationis angelicae; In symb. Apostolorum expositio, art 5; IV Sent 12, q. r, art. 3, sol. 3; D. 43, q. i, art. 3, sol. I et 2 ).

Eamdem sententiam amplectitur, in multis aliis, Doctor Seraphicus, qui quidem pro certo omnino habet, quemadmodum Deus Mariam Sanctissimam, sive concipientem, sive parientem, virginalis pudoris virginalisque integritatis violatione immunem servavit, sic minime permisisse ut eius corpus in tabem, in cinerem resolveretur ( cfr. S. BONAVENTURA, De Nativitate B. Mariae Virginis, sermo 5). Haec Sacrae Scripturae verba interpretans, eademque sensu quodam accommodato Beatae Virgini tribuens: « Quae est ista, quae ascendit de deserto, deliciis affluens, innixa super dilectum suum », ( Cant., 8, 5 ), ita arguit: « Et hinc constare potest quod corporaliter ibi est... Cum enim... beatitudo non esset consummata nisi personaliter ibi esset, et persona non sit anima, sed coniunctum, patet quod secundum coniunctum, id est corpus et animam, ibi est: alioquin consummatam non haberet fruitionem », ( S. BONAVENTURA, De Assumptione B. Mariae Virginis, sermo I ).

Sera autem Scholasticae Theologiae aetate, hoc est saeculo XV, S. Bernardinus Senensis ea omnia, quae medii aevi theologi hac super causa edixerant ac disceptaverant, summatim colligens ac diligenter retractans, non satis habuit praecipuas eorum referre considerationes, quas superioris temporis doctores iam proposuerant, sed alias etiam adiecit. Similitudo nempe divinae Matris divinique Filii, ad animi corporisque nobilitatem dignitatemque quod attinet — ob quam quidem similitudinem ne cogitare quidem possumus caelestem Reginam a caelesti Rege separari — omnino postulat ut Maria « esse non clebeat, nisi ubi est Christus » ( S. BERNARDINUS SENENS, In Assumptione B. M. VirginisM, sermo II); ac praeterea rationi congruens et consentaneum est, quemadmodum hominis, ita etiam mulieris animam ac corpus sempiternam iam gloriam in Caelo assecuta esse; ac denique idcirco quod numquam Ecclesia Beatae Virginis exuvias requisivit ac populi cultui proposuit, argumentum praebetur, quod « quasi sensibile experimentum » ( Idem l. c. ) referri potest.

Recentioribus vero temporibus, quas supra rettulimus, Sanctorum Patrum Doctorumque sententiae communi in usu fuere. Consensum christianorum amplectens, a superioribus aetatibus traditum, S. Robertus Bellarminus exclamavit: « Et quis, obsecro, credere posset, arcam sanctitatis, domicilium Verbi, templum Spiritus Sancti corruisse? Exhorret plane animus meus vel cogitare carnem illam virgineam, quae Deum genuit, peperit, aluit, gestavit, vel in cinerem esse conversam, vel in escam vermibus traditam ( S. ROBERTUS BELLARMINUS, Conciones habitae Lovanii, concio 40: De Assumptione B. Mariae Virginis ).

Parique modo S. Franciscus Salesius, postquam asseveravit dubitare fas non esse Iesum Christum perfectissimo modo divinum mandatum, quo filii iubentur proprios honorare parentes, ad rem deduxisse, hanc sibi quaestionem proponit: « Quinam filius, si posset, matrem suam ad vitam non revocaret, atque eam post mortem in Paradisum non adduceret? » ( Œuvres de St François de Sales, Sermon autographe pour la fête de l'Assomption ). Ac S. Alfonsus scribit: « Iesus Mariae corpus post mortem corrumpi noluit, cum in suum dedecus redundaret virginalem eius carnem in tabem redigi, ex qua suam ipsemet carnem assumpserat » ( S. ALFONSO M.DE' LIGUORI, Le glorie di Maria, parte II, disc. I ).

Cum vero mysterium, quod hoc festo celebratur, iam in sua luce positum esset, haud defuere doctores, qui, potius quam de theologicis argumentis agerent, quibus demonstraretur conve niens omnino ac consentaneum esse corpoream credere Beatae Mariae Virginis in Caelum Assumptionem, mentem animumque suum ad ipsam converterent Ecclesiae fidem, mysticae Christi Sponsae non habentis maculam aut rugam ( cfr. Eph. 5, 27 ), quae quidem ab Apostolo nuncupatur « columna et firmamentum veritatis » ( 1 Tim. 3,15 ); atque communi hac fide innixi, contrariam sententiam temerariam putarent, ne dicamus haereticam. Siquidem, ut alii non pauci, S. Petrus Canisius, postquam declaravit ipsum Assumptionis vocabulum non modo animae, sed corporis etiam « glorificationem » significare, atque Ecclesiam multis iam saeculis hoc mariale Assumptionis mysterium venerari ac celebrare sollemniter, haec animadvertit : « Quae sententia iam saeculis aliquot obtinet, ac piorum animis infixa totique Ecclesiae sic commendata est, ut qui Mariae corpus in Caelum negant assumptum, ne patienter quidem audiantur, sed velut nimium contentiosi, aut prorsus temerarii, et haeretico magis quam catholico spiritu imbuti homines passim exsibilentur » ( S. PETRUS CANISIUS, De Maria Virgine ).

Eodem tempore Doctor Eximius, cum hanc de mariologia profiteretur normam, nempe « mysteria gratiae, quae Deus in Virgine operatus est, non esse ordinariis legibus metienda, sed divina omnipotentia, supposita rei decentia, absque ulla Scripturarum contradictione aut repugnantia » ( SUAREZ F. In tertiam partem D. Thomae, q. 27, art. 2, disp. 3, sec. 5, n. 31 ), universae Ecclesiae communi fretus fide, ad Assumptionis mysterium quod attinet, concludere poterat hoc idem mysterium eadem animi firmitate credendum esse, ac Immaculatam Conceptionem B. Virginis; iamque tum autumabat veritates eiusmodi definiri posse.

Haec omnia Sanctorum Patrum ac theologorum argumenta considerationesque Sacris Litteris, tamquam ultimo fundamento, nituntur; quae quidem almam Dei Matrem nobis veluti ante oculos proponunt divino Filio suo coniunctissimam, eius que semper participantem sortem. Quamobrem quasi impossibile videtur eam cernere, quae Christum concepit, peperit, suo lacte aluit, eumque inter ulnas habuit pectorique obstrinxit suo, ab eodem post terrestrem hanc vitam, etsi non anima, corpore tamen separatam. Cum Redemptor noster Mariae Filius sit, haud poterat profecto, utpote divinae legis observator perfectissimus, praeter Aeternum Patrem, Matrem quoque suam dilectissimam non honorare. Atqui, cum eam posset tam magno honore exornare, ut eam a sepulcri corruptione servaret incolumem, id reapse fecisse credendum est.

Maxime autem illud memorandum est, inde a saeculo Mariam Virginem a Sanctis Patribus veluti novam Hevam proponi novo Adae, etsi subiectam, arctissime coniunctam in certamine illo adversus inferorum hostem, quod, quemadmodum in protoevangelio ( Gen. 3, 15 ) praesignificatur, ad plenissimam deventurum erat victoriam de peccato ac de morte, quae semper in gentium Apostoli scriptis inter se copulantur ( cfr. Rom. cap. 5 et 6; 1 Cor. 15, 21- 26; 54 - 57 ). Quamobrem, sicut gloriosa Christi anastasis essentialis pars fuit ac postremum huius victoriae tropaeum, ita Beatae Virginis commune cum Filio suo certamen virginei corporis « glorificatione » concludendum erat; ut enim idem Apostolus ait, « cum... mortale hoc induerit im mortalitatem, tunc fiet sermo, qui scriptus est : absorpta est mors in victoria » (1 Cor. 15, 54 ).

Idcirco augusta Dei Mater, Iesu Christo, inde ab omni aeternitate, « uno eodemque decreto » ( Bulla Ineffabilis Deus, 1. c., p. 599 ) praedestinationis, arcano modo coniuncta, immaculata in suo conceptu, in divina maternitate sua integerrima virgo, generosa Divini Redemptoris socia, qui plenum de peccato eius que consectariis deportavit triumphum, id tandem assecuta est, quasi supremam suorum privilegiorum coronam, ut a sepulcri corruptione servaretur immunis, utque, quemadmodum iam Filius suus, devicta morte, corpore et anima ad supernam Caeli gloriam eveheretur, ubi Regina refulgeret ad eiusdem sui Filii dexteram, immortalis saeculorum Regis ( cfr. 1 Tim. 1, 17 ).

Quoniam igitur universa Ecclesia, in qua viget Veritatis Spiritus, qui quidem eam ad revelatarum perficiendam veritatum cognitionem infallibiliter dirigit, multipliciter per saeculorum decursum suam fidem manifestavit, et quoniam universi terrarum orbis Episcopi prope unanima consensione petunt, ut tam quam divinae et catholicae fidei dogma definiatur veritas corporeae Assumptionis Beatissimae Virginis Mariae in Caelum quae veritas Sacris Litteris innititur, christifidelium animis penitus est insita, ecclesiastico cultu inde ab antiquissimis temporibus comprobata, ceteris revelatis veritatibus summe consona, theologorum studio, scientia ac sapientia splendide explicata et declarata — momentum Providentis Dei consilio praestitutum iam advenisse putamus, quo insigne eiusmodi Mariae Virginis privilegium sollemniter renuntiemus.

Nos, qui Pontificatum Nostrum peculiari Sanctissimae Virginis patrocinio concredidimus, ad quam quidem in tot tristissimarum rerum vicibus confugimus, Nos, qui Immaculato eius Cordi universum hominum genus publico ritu sacravimus, eius que praesidium validissimum iterum atque iterum experti sumus, fore omnino confidimus ut sollemnis haec Assumptionis pronuntiatio ac definitio haud parum ad humanae consortionis profectum conferat, cum in Sanctissimae Trinitatis gloriam vertat, cui Deipara Virgo singularibus devincitur vinculis. Futurum enim sperandum est ut christifideles omnes ad impensiorem erga caelestem Matrem pietatem excitentur ; utque eorum omnium animi, qui christiano gloriantur nomine, ad desiderium moveantur Mystici Iesu Christi Corporis participandae unitatis, suique erga illam augendi amoris, quae in omnia eiusdem augusti Corporis membra maternum gerit animum. Itemque sperandum est ut gloriosa meditantibus Mariae exempla magis magisque persuasum sit quantum valeat hominum vita, si Caelestis Patris voluntati exsequendae omnino sit dedita ac ceterorum omnium procurando bono ; ut, dum « materialismi » commenta et quae inde oritur morum corruptio, virtutis lumina submergere minantur, hominumque, excitatis dimicationibus, perdere vitas, praeclarissimo hoc modo ante omnium oculos plena in luce ponatur ad quam excelsam metam animus corpusque nostrum destinentur ; ut denique fides corporeae Assumptionis Mariae in Caelum nostrae etiam resurrectionis fidem firmiorem efficiat, actuosiorem reddat.

Quod autem hoc sollemne eventum in Sacrum, qui vertitur, Annum Providentis Dei consilio incidit, Nobis laetissimum est; ita enim Nobis licet, dum Iubilaeum Maximum celebratur, fulgenti hac gemma Deiparae Virginis frontem exornare, ac monumentum relinquere aere perennius incensissimae Nostrae in Dei Matrem pietatis.

Quapropter, postquam supplices etiam atque etiam ad Deum admovimus preces, ac Veritatis Spiritus lumen invocavimus, ad Omnipotentis Dei gloriam, qui peculiarem benevolentiam suam Mariae Virgini dilargitus est, ad sui Filii honorem, immortalis saeculorum Regis ac peccati mortisque victoris, ad eiusdem augustae Matris augendam gloriam et ad totius Ecclesiae gaudium exsultationemque, auctoritate Domini Nostri Iesu Christi, Beatorum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli ac Nostra pronuntiamus, declaramus et definimus divinitus revelatum dogma esse : Immaculatam Deiparam semper Virginem Mariam, expleto terrestris vitae cursu, fuisse corpore et anima ad caelestem gloriam assumptam.

Quamobrem, si quis, quod Deus avertat, id vel negare, vel in dubium vocare voluntarie ausus fuerit, quod a Nobis definitum est, noverit se a divina ac catholica fide prorsus defecisse.

Ut autem ad universalis Ecclesiae notitiam haec Nostra corporeae Mariae Virginis in Caelum Assumptionis definitio deducatur, has Apostolicas Nostras Litteras ad perpetuam rei memoriam exstare voluimus; mandantes ut harum transumptis, seu exemplis etiam impressis, manu alicuius notarii publici subscriptis, et sigillo personae in ecclesiastica dignitate constitutae munitis, eadem prorsus fides ab omnibus habeatur, quae ipsis praesentibus adhiberetur, si forent exhibitae vel ostensae.

Nulli ergo hominum liceat paginam hanc Nostrae declarationis, pronuntiationis ac definitionis infringere, vel ei ausu temerario adversari et contraire. Si quis autem hoc attentare praesumpserit, indignationem Omnipotentis Dei ac Beatorum Petri et Pauli Apostolorum eius se noverit incursurum.

Datum Romae, apud S. Petrum anno Iubilaei Maximi millesimo nongentesimo quinquagesimo, die prima mensis Novembris, in festo omnium Sanctorum, Pontificatus Nostri anno duo decimo.

Ego PIUS, Catholicae Ecclesiae Episcopus,
ita definiendo subscripsi

Ego FRANCISCUS Episcopus Ostiensis et Tusculanus Cardinalis MARCHETTI SELVAGGIANI, S. Collegii Decanus.
Ego EUGENIUS Episcopus Portuensis et S. Rufinae Cardinalis TISSERANT.
Ego CLEMENS Episcopus Veliternus Cardinalis MICARA.
Ego IOSEPH Episcopus Albanensis Cardinalis PIZZARDO.
Ego BENEDICTUS Episcopus Praenestinus Cardinalis ALOISI MASELLA.
Ego ADEODATUS IOANNES Episcopus Sabinensis et Mandelensis Cardinalis PIAZZA.
Ego ALEXIUS tituli S. Calisti Presbyter Cardinalis ASCALESI.
Ego MICHAEL tituli S. Anastasiae Presbyter Cardinalis de FAULHABER.
Ego IOANNES BAPTISTA tituli S. Mariae in Traspontina Presbyter Cardinalis NASALLI ROCCA.
Ego ALEXANDER tituli S. Mariae in Cosmedin Presbyter Cardinalis VERDE.
Ego IOSEPH ERNESTUS tituli S. Mariae de Ara Caeli Presbyter Cardinalis VAN ROEY.
Ego PETRUS tituli S. Mariae trans Tiberim Presbyter Cardinalis SEGURA Y SAENZ.
Ego ALFRIDUS ILDELFONSUS tituli S. Martini in Montibus Presbyter Cardinalis SCHUSTER.
Ego EMMANUEL tituli Ss. Marcellini et Petri Presbyter Cardinalis CONÇALVES CEREJEIRA.
Ego ACHILLES tituli S. Sixti Presbyter Cardinalis LIENART.
Ego PETRUS tituli S. Crucis in Hierusalem Presbyter Cardinalis FUMASONI BIONDI.
Ego FRIDERICUS tituli S. Mariae de Victoria Presbyter Cardinalis TEDESCHINI.
Ego ELIAS tituli S. Marci Presbyter Cardinalis DALLA COSTA.
Ego THEODORUS tituli S. Chrysogoni Presbyter Cardinalis INNITZER.
Ego IGNATIUS GABRIEL tituli Basilicae XII Apostolorum Presbyter Cardinalis TAPPOUNI.
Ego DOMINICUS tituli S. Apollinaris Presbyter Cardinalis JORIO.
Ego MAXIMUS tituli S. Mariae in Porticu Presbyter Cardinalis MASSIMI.
Ego PETRUS tituli SS. Trinitatis in Monte Pincio Presbyter Cardinalis GERLIER.
Ego GREGORIUS PETRUS XV tituli S. Bartholomaei in Insula Presbyter Cardinalis AGAGIANIAN.
Ego Iulius tituli S. Pudentianae Presbyter Cardinalis SALIÈGE.
Ego IACOBUS CAROLUS tituli S. Mariae de Populo Presbyter Cardinalis Mc GUIGAN.
Ego CLEMENS AEMILIUS tituli S. Balbinae Presbyter Cardinalis ROQUES.
Ego NORMANNUS THOMAS tituli Ss. Quatuor Coronatorum Presbyter Cardinalis GILROY.
Ego FRANCISCUS tituli Ss. Ioannis et Pauli Presbyter Cardinalis SPELLMAN.
Ego THEODOSIUS CLEMENS tituli S. Petri ad vincula Presbyter Cardinalis DE GOUVEIA.
Ego EMMANUEL tituli S. Laurentii in Lucina Presbyter Cardinalis ARTEAGA Y BETANCOURT.
Ego IOSEPH tituli S. Ioannis ante Portam Latinam Presbyter Cardinalis FRINGS.
Ego BERNARDUS tituli Ss. Andreae et Gregorii Presbyter Cardinalis GRIFFIN.
Ego CONRADUS tituli S. Agathae Presbyter Cardinalis VON PREYSING.
Ego THOMAS tituli S. Mariae in Via Presbyter Cardinalis TIEN CHEN SIN.
Ego NICOLAUS S. Nicolai in Carcere Tulliano Protodiaconus Cardinalis CANALI.
Ego IOANNES S. Georgii in Velo Aureo Diaconus Cardinalis MERCATI.
Ego IOSEPH S. Eustachii Diaconus Cardinalis BRUNO.

* * *

Sacrum Consistorium : Feria secunda, die XXX Octobris mensis a. MCML, in aula supra porticum Basilicae vaticanae, Consistorium Semipublicum habitum est de Assumptione corporea Beatissimae Virginis Mariae tamquam dogmate definienda.

In sollemni dogmatica definitione Beatae Mariae Virginis corporeae in caelum Assumptioni, die prima Novembris mensis, in festo Sanctorum omnium, anno sacro MCML, in petriano foro ante Basilicam Vaticanam habita:

Allocutio.

Oratio.

*Discorsi e Radiomessaggi di Sua Santità Pio XII, XII,
Dodicesimo anno di Pontificato, 2 marzo 1950 - 1° marzo 1951, pp. 475 - 492
Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana

*A.A.S., vol. XXXXII ( 1950 ), n. 15, pp. 753 - 773.

Α ☧ Ω

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION OF
POPE PIUS XII

~ MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS* ~

DEFINING THE DOGMA OF THE ASSUMPTION

"ex cathedra" ( from the chair of Blessed Apostle Saint Peter )

November 1, 1950

1. The most bountiful God, who is almighty, the plan of whose providence rests upon wisdom and love, tempers, in the secret purpose of his own mind, the sorrows of peoples and of individual men by means of joys that he interposes in their lives from time to time, in such a way that, under different conditions and in different ways, all things may work together unto good for those who love him.[1]

2. Now, just like the present age, our pontificate is weighed down by ever so many cares, anxieties, and troubles, by reason of very severe calamities that have taken place and by reason of the fact that many have strayed away from truth and virtue. Nevertheless, we are greatly consoled to see that, while the Catholic faith is being professed publicly and vigorously, piety toward the Virgin Mother of God is flourishing and daily growing more fervent, and that almost everywhere on earth it is showing indications of a better and holier life. Thus, while the Blessed Virgin is fulfilling in the most affectionate manner her maternal duties on behalf of those redeemed by the blood of Christ, the minds and the hearts of her children are being vigorously aroused to a more assiduous consideration of her prerogatives.

3. Actually God, who from all eternity regards Mary with a most favorable and unique affection, has "when the fullness of time came"[2] put the plan of his providence into effect in such a way that all the privileges and prerogatives he had granted to her in his sovereign generosity were to shine forth in her in a kind of perfect harmony. And, although the Church has always recognized this supreme generosity and the perfect harmony of graces and has daily studied them more and more throughout the course of the centuries, still it is in our own age that the privilege of the bodily Assumption into heaven of Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, has certainly shone forth more clearly.

4. That privilege has shone forth in new radiance since our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, solemnly proclaimed the dogma of the loving Mother of God's Immaculate Conception. These two privileges are most closely bound to one another. Christ overcame sin and death by his own death, and one who through Baptism has been born again in a supernatural way has conquered sin and death through the same Christ. Yet, according to the general rule, God does not will to grant to the just the full effect of the victory over death until the end of time has come. And so it is that the bodies of even the just are corrupted after death, and only on the last day will they be joined, each to its own glorious soul.

5. Now God has willed that the Blessed Virgin Mary should be exempted from this general rule. She, by an entirely unique privilege, completely overcame sin by her Immaculate Conception, and as a result she was not subject to the law of remaining in the corruption of the grave, and she did not have to wait until the end of time for the redemption of her body.

6. Thus, when it was solemnly proclaimed that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, was from the very beginning free from the taint of original sin, the minds of the faithful were filled with a stronger hope that the day might soon come when the dogma of the Virgin Mary's bodily Assumption into heaven would also be defined by the Church's supreme teaching authority.

7. Actually it was seen that not only individual Catholics, but also those who could speak for nations or ecclesiastical provinces, and even a considerable number of the Fathers of the Vatican Council, urgently petitioned the Apostolic See to this effect.

8. During the course of time such postulations and petitions did not decrease but rather grew continually in number and in urgency. In this cause there were pious crusades of prayer. Many outstanding theologians eagerly and zealously carried out investigations on this subject either privately or in public ecclesiastical institutions and in other schools where the sacred disciplines are taught. Marian Congresses, both national and international in scope, have been held in many parts of the Catholic world. These studies and investigations have brought out into even clearer light the fact that the dogma of the Virgin Mary's Assumption into heaven is contained in the deposit of Christian faith entrusted to the Church. They have resulted in many more petitions, begging and urging the Apostolic See that this truth be solemnly defined.

9. In this pious striving, the faithful have been associated in a wonderful way with their own holy bishops, who have sent petitions of this kind, truly remarkable in number, to this See of the Blessed Peter. Consequently, when we were elevated to the throne of the supreme pontificate, petitions of this sort had already been addressed by the thousands from every part of the world and from every class of people, from our beloved sons the Cardinals of the Sacred College, from our venerable brethren, archbishops and bishops, from dioceses and from parishes.

10. Consequently, while we sent up earnest prayers to God that he might grant to our mind the light of the Holy Spirit, to enable us to make a decision on this most serious subject, we issued special orders in which we commanded that, by corporate effort, more advanced inquiries into this matter should be begun and that, in the meantime, all the petitions about the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven which had been sent to this Apostolic See from the time of Pius IX, our predecessor of happy memory, down to our own days should be gathered together and carefully evaluated.[3]

11. And, since we were dealing with a matter of such great moment and of such importance, we considered it opportune to ask all our venerable brethren in the episcopate directly and authoritatively that each of them should make known to us his mind in a formal statement. Hence, on May 1, 1946, we gave them our letter "Deiparae Virginis Mariae," a letter in which these words are contained: "Do you, venerable brethren, in your outstanding wisdom and prudence, judge that the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin can be proposed and defined as a dogma of faith? Do you, with your clergy and people, desire it?"

12. But those whom "the Holy Spirit has placed as bishops to rule the Church of God"[4] gave an almost unanimous affirmative response to both these questions. This "outstanding agreement of the Catholic prelates and the faithful,"[5] affirming that the bodily Assumption of God's Mother into heaven can be defined as a dogma of faith, since it shows us the concordant teaching of the Church's ordinary doctrinal authority and the concordant faith of the Christian people which the same doctrinal authority sustains and directs, thus by itself and in an entirely certain and infallible way, manifests this privilege as a truth revealed by God and contained in that divine deposit which Christ has delivered to his Spouse to be guarded faithfully and to be taught infallibly.[6] Certainly this teaching authority of the Church, not by any merely human effort but under the protection of the Spirit of Truth,[7] and therefore absolutely without error, carries out the commission entrusted to it, that of preserving the revealed truths pure and entire throughout every age, in such a way that it presents them undefiled, adding nothing to them and taking nothing away from them. For, as the Vatican Council teaches, "the Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of Peter in such a way that, by his revelation, they might manifest new doctrine, but so that, by his assistance, they might guard as sacred and might faithfully propose the revelation delivered through the apostles, or the deposit of faith."[8] Thus, from the universal agreement of the Church's ordinary teaching authority we have a certain and firm proof, demonstrating that the Blessed Virgin Mary's bodily Assumption into heaven- which surely no faculty of the human mind could know by its own natural powers, as far as the heavenly glorification of the virginal body of the loving Mother of God is concerned-is a truth that has been revealed by God and consequently something that must be firmly and faithfully believed by all children of the Church. For, as the Vatican Council asserts, "all those things are to be believed by divine and Catholic faith which are contained in the written Word of God or in Tradition, and which are proposed by the Church, either in solemn judgment or in its ordinary and universal teaching office, as divinely revealed truths which must be believed."[9]

13. Various testimonies, indications and signs of this common belief of the Church are evident from remote times down through the course of the centuries; and this same belief becomes more clearly manifest from day to day.

14. Christ's faithful, through the teaching and the leadership of their pastors, have learned from the sacred books that the Virgin Mary, throughout the course of her earthly pilgrimage, led a life troubled by cares, hardships, and sorrows, and that, moreover, what the holy old man Simeon had foretold actually came to pass, that is, that a terribly sharp sword pierced her heart as she stood under the cross of her divine Son, our Redeemer. In the same way, it was not difficult for them to admit that the great Mother of God, like her only begotten Son, had actually passed from this life. But this in no way prevented them from believing and from professing openly that her sacred body had never been subject to the corruption of the tomb, and that the august tabernacle of the Divine Word had never been reduced to dust and ashes. Actually, enlightened by divine grace and moved by affection for her, God's Mother and our own dearest Mother, they have contemplated in an ever clearer light the wonderful harmony and order of those privileges which the most provident God has lavished upon this loving associate of our Redeemer, privileges which reach such an exalted plane that, except for her, nothing created by God other than the human nature of Jesus Christ has ever reached this level.

15. The innumerable temples which have been dedicated to the Virgin Mary assumed into heaven clearly attest this faith. So do those sacred images, exposed therein for the veneration of the faithful, which bring this unique triumph of the Blessed Virgin before the eyes of all men. Moreover, cities, dioceses, and individual regions have been placed under the special patronage and guardianship of the Virgin Mother of God assumed into heaven. In the same way, religious institutes, with the approval of the Church, have been founded and have taken their name from this privilege. Nor can we pass over in silence the fact that in the Rosary of Mary, the recitation of which this Apostolic See so urgently recommends, there is one mystery proposed for pious meditation which, as all know, deals with the Blessed Virgin's Assumption into heaven.

16. This belief of the sacred pastors and of Christ's faithful is universally manifested still more splendidly by the fact that, since ancient times, there have been both in the East and in the West solemn liturgical offices commemorating this privilege. The holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church have never failed to draw enlightenment from this fact since, as everyone knows, the sacred liturgy, "because it is the profession, subject to the supreme teaching authority within the Church, of heavenly truths, can supply proofs and testimonies of no small value for deciding a particular point of Christian doctrine."[10]

17. In the liturgical books which deal with the feast either of the dormition or of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin there are expressions that agree in testifying that, when the Virgin Mother of God passed from this earthly exile to heaven, what happened to her sacred body was, by the decree of divine Providence, in keeping with the dignity of the Mother of the Word Incarnate, and with the other privileges she had been accorded. Thus, to cite an illustrious example, this is set forth in that sacramentary which Adrian I, our predecessor of immortal memory, sent to the Emperor Charlemagne. These words are found in this volume: "Venerable to us, O Lord, is the festivity of this day on which the holy Mother of God suffered temporal death, but still could not be kept down by the bonds of death, who has begotten your Son our Lord incarnate from herself."[11]

18. What is here indicated in that sobriety characteristic of the Roman liturgy is presented more clearly and completely in other ancient liturgical books. To take one as an example, the Gallican sacramentary designates this privilege of Mary's as "an ineffable mystery all the more worthy of praise as the Virgin's Assumption is something unique among men." And, in the Byzantine liturgy, not only is the Virgin Mary's bodily Assumption connected time and time again with the dignity of the Mother of God, but also with the other privileges, and in particular with the virginal motherhood granted her by a singular decree of God's Providence. "God, the King of the universe, has granted you favors that surpass nature. As he kept you a virgin in childbirth, thus he has kept your body incorrupt in the tomb and has glorified it by his divine act of transferring it from the tomb."[12]

19. The fact that the Apostolic See, which has inherited the function entrusted to the Prince of the Apostles, the function of confirming the brethren in the faith,[13] has by its own authority, made the celebration of this feast ever more solemn, has certainly and effectively moved the attentive minds of the faithful to appreciate always more completely the magnitude of the mystery it commemorates. So it was that the Feast of the Assumption was elevated from the rank which it had occupied from the beginning among the other Marian feasts to be classed among the more solemn celebrations of the entire liturgical cycle. And, when our predecessor St. Sergius I prescribed what is known as the litany, or the stational procession, to be held on four Marian feasts, he specified together the Feasts of the Nativity, the Annunciation, the Purification, and the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.[14] Again, St. Leo IV saw to it that the feast, which was already being celebrated under the title of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother of God, should be observed in even a more solemn way when he ordered a vigil to be held on the day before it and prescribed prayers to be recited after it until the octave day. When this had been done, he decided to take part himself in the celebration, in the midst of a great multitude of the faithful.[15] Moreover, the fact that a holy fast had been ordered from ancient times for the day prior to the feast is made very evident by what our predecessor St. Nicholas I testifies in treating of the principal fasts which "the Holy Roman Church has observed for a long time, and still observes."[16]

20. However, since the liturgy of the Church does not engender the Catholic faith, but rather springs from it, in such a way that the practices of the sacred worship proceed from the faith as the fruit comes from the tree, it follows that the holy Fathers and the great Doctors, in the homilies and sermons they gave the people on this feast day, did not draw their teaching from the feast itself as from a primary source, but rather they spoke of this doctrine as something already known and accepted by Christ's faithful. They presented it more clearly. They offered more profound explanations of its meaning and nature, bringing out into sharper light the fact that this feast shows, not only that the dead body of the Blessed Virgin Mary remained incorrupt, but that she gained a triumph out of death, her heavenly glorification after the example of her only begotten Son, Jesus Christ-truths that the liturgical books had frequently touched upon concisely and briefly.

21. Thus St. John Damascene, an outstanding herald of this traditional truth, spoke out with powerful eloquence when he compared the bodily Assumption of the loving Mother of God with her other prerogatives and privileges. "It was fitting that she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped in the act of giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father. It was fitting that God's Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God."[17]

22. These words of St. John Damascene agree perfectly with what others have taught on this same subject. Statements no less clear and accurate are to be found in sermons delivered by Fathers of an earlier time or of the same period, particularly on the occasion of this feast. And so, to cite some other examples, St. Germanus of Constantinople considered the fact that the body of Mary, the virgin Mother of God, was incorrupt and had been taken up into heaven to be in keeping, not only with her divine motherhood, but also with the special holiness of her virginal body. "You are she who, as it is written, appears in beauty, and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility, truly living and glorious, undamaged and sharing in perfect life."[18] And another very ancient writer asserts: "As the most glorious Mother of Christ, our Savior and God and the giver of life and immortality, has been endowed with life by him, she has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with him who has raised her up from the tomb and has taken her up to himself in a way known only to him."[19]

23. When this liturgical feast was being celebrated ever more widely and with ever increasing devotion and piety, the bishops of the Church and its preachers in continually greater numbers considered it their duty openly and clearly to explain the mystery that the feast commemorates, and to explain how it is intimately connected with the other revealed truths.

24. Among the scholastic theologians there have not been lacking those who, wishing to inquire more profoundly into divinely revealed truths and desirous of showing the harmony that exists between what is termed the theological demonstration and the Catholic faith, have always considered it worthy of note that this privilege of the Virgin Mary's Assumption is in wonderful accord with those divine truths given us in Holy Scripture.

25. When they go on to explain this point, they adduce various proofs to throw light on this privilege of Mary. As the first element of these demonstrations, they insist upon the fact that, out of filial love for his mother, Jesus Christ has willed that she be assumed into heaven. They base the strength of their proofs on the incomparable dignity of her divine motherhood and of all those prerogatives which follow from it. These include her exalted holiness, entirely surpassing the sanctity of all men and of the angels, the intimate union of Mary with her Son, and the affection of preeminent love which the Son has for his most worthy Mother.

26. Often there are theologians and preachers who, following in the footsteps of the holy Fathers,[20] have been rather free in their use of events and expressions taken from Sacred Scripture to explain their belief in the Assumption. Thus, to mention only a few of the texts rather frequently cited in this fashion, some have employed the words of the psalmist: "Arise, O Lord, into your resting place: you and the ark, which you have sanctified"[21]; and have looked upon the Ark of the Covenant, built of incorruptible wood and placed in the Lord's temple, as a type of the most pure body of the Virgin Mary, preserved and exempt from all the corruption of the tomb and raised up to such glory in heaven. Treating of this subject, they also describe her as the Queen entering triumphantly into the royal halls of heaven and sitting at the right hand of the divine Redeemer.[22] Likewise they mention the Spouse of the Canticles "that goes up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh and frankincense" to be crowned.[23] These are proposed as depicting that heavenly Queen and heavenly Spouse who has been lifted up to the courts of heaven with the divine Bridegroom.

27. Moreover, the scholastic Doctors have recognized the Assumption of the Virgin Mother of God as something signified, not only in various figures of the Old Testament, but also in that woman clothed with the sun whom John the Apostle contemplated on the Island of Patmos.[24] Similarly they have given special attention to these words of the New Testament: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women,"[25] since they saw, in the mystery of the Assumption, the fulfillment of that most perfect grace granted to the Blessed Virgin and the special blessing that countered the curse of Eve.

28. Thus, during the earliest period of scholastic theology, that most pious man, Amadeus, Bishop of Lausarme, held that the Virgin Mary's flesh had remained incorrupt-for it is wrong to believe that her body has seen corruption-because it was really united again to her soul and, together with it, crowned with great glory in the heavenly courts. "For she was full of grace and blessed among women. She alone merited to conceive the true God of true God, whom as a virgin, she brought forth, to whom as a virgin she gave milk, fondling him in her lap, and in all things she waited upon him with loving care."[26]

29. Among the holy writers who at that time employed statements and various images and analogies of Sacred Scripture to Illustrate and to confirm the doctrine of the Assumption, which was piously believed, the Evangelical Doctor, St. Anthony of Padua, holds a special place. On the feast day of the Assumption, while explaining the prophet's words: "I will glorify the place of my feet,"[27] he stated it as certain that the divine Redeemer had bedecked with supreme glory his most beloved Mother from whom he had received human flesh. He asserts that "you have here a clear statement that the Blessed Virgin has been assumed in her body, where was the place of the Lord's feet. Hence it is that the holy Psalmist writes: 'Arise, O Lord, into your resting place: you and the ark which you have sanctified."' And he asserts that, just as Jesus Christ has risen from the death over which he triumphed and has ascended to the right hand of the Father, so likewise the ark of his sanctification "has risen up, since on this day the Virgin Mother has been taken up to her heavenly dwelling."[28]

30. When, during the Middle Ages, scholastic theology was especially flourishing, St. Albert the Great who, to establish this teaching, had gathered together many proofs from Sacred Scripture, from the statements of older writers, and finally from the liturgy and from what is known as theological reasoning, concluded in this way: "From these proofs and authorities and from many others, it is manifest that the most blessed Mother of God has been assumed above the choirs of angels. And this we believe in every way to be true."[29] And, in a sermon which he delivered on the sacred day of the Blessed Virgin Mary's annunciation, explained the words "Hail, full of grace"-words used by the angel who addressed her-the Universal Doctor, comparing the Blessed Virgin with Eve, stated clearly and incisively that she was exempted from the fourfold curse that had been laid upon Eve.[30]

31. Following the footsteps of his distinguished teacher, the Angelic Doctor, despite the fact that he never dealt directly with this question, nevertheless, whenever he touched upon it, always held together with the Catholic Church, that Mary's body had been assumed into heaven along with her soul.[31]

32. Along with many others, the Seraphic Doctor held the same views. He considered it as entirely certain that, as God had preserved the most holy Virgin Mary from the violation of her virginal purity and integrity in conceiving and in childbirth, he would never have permitted her body to have been resolved into dust and ashes.[32] Explaining these words of Sacred Scripture: "Who is this that comes up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?"[33] and applying them in a kind of accommodated sense to the Blessed Virgin, he reasons thus: "From this we can see that she is there bodily...her blessedness would not have been complete unless she were there as a person. The soul is not a person, but the soul, joined to the body, is a person. It is manifest that she is there in soul and in body. Otherwise she would not possess her complete beatitude.[34]

33. In the fifteenth century, during a later period of scholastic theology, St. Bernardine of Siena collected and diligently evaluated all that the medieval theologians had said and taught on this question. He was not content with setting down the principal considerations which these writers of an earlier day had already expressed, but he added others of his own. The likeness between God's Mother and her divine Son, in the way of the nobility and dignity of body and of soul-a likeness that forbids us to think of the heavenly Queen as being separated from the heavenly King- makes it entirely imperative that Mary "should be only where Christ is."[35] Moreover, it is reasonable and fitting that not only the soul and body of a man, but also the soul and body of a woman should have obtained heavenly glory. Finally, since the Church has never looked for the bodily relics of the Blessed Virgin nor proposed them for the veneration of the people, we have a proof on the order of a sensible experience.[36]

34. The above-mentioned teachings of the holy Fathers and of the Doctors have been in common use during more recent times. Gathering together the testimonies of the Christians of earlier days, St. Robert Bellarmine exclaimed: "And who, I ask, could believe that the ark of holiness, the dwelling place of the Word of God, the temple of the Holy Spirit, could be reduced to ruin? My soul is filled with horror at the thought that this virginal flesh which had begotten God, had brought him into the world, had nourished and carried him, could have been turned into ashes or given over to be food for worms."[37]

35. In like manner St. Francis of Sales, after asserting that it is wrong to doubt that Jesus Christ has himself observed, in the most perfect way, the divine commandment by which children are ordered to honor their parents, asks this question: "What son would not bring his mother back to life and would not bring her into paradise after her death if he could?"[38] And St. Alphonsus writes that "Jesus did not wish to have the body of Mary corrupted after death, since it would have redounded to his own dishonor to have her virginal flesh, from which he himself had assumed flesh, reduced to dust."[39]

36. Once the mystery which is commemorated in this feast had been placed in its proper light, there were not lacking teachers who, instead of dealing with the theological reasonings that show why it is fitting and right to believe the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven, chose to focus their mind and attention on the faith of the Church itself, which is the Mystical Body of Christ without stain or wrinkle[40] and is called by the Apostle "the pillar and ground of truth."[41] Relying on this common faith, they considered the teaching opposed to the doctrine of our Lady's Assumption as temerarious, if not heretical. Thus, like not a few others, St. Peter Canisius, after he had declared that the very word "assumption" signifies the glorification, not only of the soul but also of the body, and that the Church has venerated and has solemnly celebrated this mystery of Mary's Assumption for many centuries, adds these words of warning: "This teaching has already been accepted for some centuries, it has been held as certain in the minds of the pious people, and it has been taught to the entire Church in such a way that those who deny that Mary's body has been assumed into heaven are not to be listened to patiently but are everywhere to be denounced as over-contentious or rash men, and as imbued with a spirit that is heretical rather than Catholic."[42]

37. At the same time the great Suarez was professing in the field of mariology the norm that "keeping in mind the standards of propriety, and when there is no contradiction or repugnance on the part of Scripture, the mysteries of grace which God has wrought in the Virgin must be measured, not by the ordinary laws, but by the divine omnipotence."[43] Supported by the common faith of the entire Church on the subject of the mystery of the Assumption, he could conclude that this mystery was to be believed with the same firmness of assent as that given to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin. Thus he already held that such truths could be defined.

38. All these proofs and considerations of the holy Fathers and the theologians are based upon the Sacred Writings as their ultimate foundation. These set the loving Mother of God as it were before our very eyes as most intimately joined to her divine Son and as always sharing his lot. Consequently it seems impossible to think of her, the one who conceived Christ, brought him forth, nursed him with her milk, held him in her arms, and clasped him to her breast, as being apart from him in body, even though not in soul, after this earthly life. Since our Redeemer is the Son of Mary, he could not do otherwise, as the perfect observer of God's law, than to honor, not only his eternal Father, but also his most beloved Mother. And, since it was within his power to grant her this great honor, to preserve her from the corruption of the tomb, we must believe that he really acted in this way.

39. We must remember especially that, since the second century, the Virgin Mary has been designated by the holy Fathers as the new Eve, who, although subject to the new Adam, is most intimately associated with him in that struggle against the infernal foe which, as foretold in the protoevangelium,[44] would finally result in that most complete victory over the sin and death which are always mentioned together in the writings of the Apostle of the Gentiles.[45] Consequently, just as the glorious resurrection of Christ was an essential part and the final sign of this victory, so that struggle which was common to the Blessed Virgin and her divine Son should be brought to a close by the glorification of her virginal body, for the same Apostle says: "When this mortal thing hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory."[46]

40. Hence the revered Mother of God, from all eternity joined in a hidden way with Jesus Christ in one and the same decree of predestination,[47] immaculate in her conception, a most perfect virgin in her divine motherhood, the noble associate of the divine Redeemer who has won a complete triumph over sin and its consequences, finally obtained, as the supreme culmination of her privileges, that she should be preserved free from the corruption of the tomb and that, like her own Son, having overcome death, she might be taken up body and soul to the glory of heaven where, as Queen, she sits in splendor at the right hand of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages.[48]

41. Since the universal Church, within which dwells the Spirit of Truth who infallibly directs it toward an ever more perfect knowledge of the revealed truths, has expressed its own belief many times over the course of the centuries, and since the bishops of the entire world are almost unanimously petitioning that the truth of the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven should be defined as a dogma of divine and Catholic faith-this truth which is based on the Sacred Writings, which is thoroughly rooted in the minds of the faithful, which has been approved in ecclesiastical worship from the most remote times, which is completely in harmony with the other revealed truths, and which has been expounded and explained magnificently in the work, the science, and the wisdom of the theologians-we believe that the moment appointed in the plan of divine providence for the solemn proclamation of this outstanding privilege of the Virgin Mary has already arrived.

42. We, who have placed our pontificate under the special patronage of the most holy Virgin, to whom we have had recourse so often in times of grave trouble, we who have consecrated the entire human race to her Immaculate Heart in public ceremonies, and who have time and time again experienced her powerful protection, are confident that this solemn proclamation and definition of the Assumption will contribute in no small way to the advantage of human society, since it redounds to the glory of the Most Blessed Trinity, to which the Blessed Mother of God is bound by such singular bonds. It is to be hoped that all the faithful will be stirred up to a stronger piety toward their heavenly Mother, and that the souls of all those who glory in the Christian name may be moved by the desire of sharing in the unity of Jesus Christ's Mystical Body and of increasing their love for her who shows her motherly heart to all the members of this august body. And so we may hope that those who meditate upon the glorious example Mary offers us may be more and more convinced of the value of a human life entirely devoted to carrying out the heavenly Father's will and to bringing good to others. Thus, while the illusory teachings of materialism and the corruption of morals that follows from these teachings threaten to extinguish the light of virtue and to ruin the lives of men by exciting discord among them, in this magnificent way all may see clearly to what a lofty goal our bodies and souls are destined. Finally it is our hope that belief in Mary's bodily Assumption into heaven will make our belief in our own resurrection stronger and render it more effective.

43. We rejoice greatly that this solemn event falls, according to the design of God's providence, during this Holy Year, so that we are able, while the great Jubilee is being observed, to adorn the brow of God's Virgin Mother with this brilliant gem, and to leave a monument more enduring than bronze of our own most fervent love for the Mother of God.

44. For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma:

the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

45. Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare willfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith.

46. In order that this, our definition of the bodily Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven may be brought to the attention of the universal Church, we desire that this, our Apostolic Letter, should stand for perpetual remembrance, commanding that written copies of it, or even printed copies, signed by the hand of any public notary and bearing the seal of a person constituted in ecclesiastical dignity, should be accorded by all men the same reception they would give to this present letter, were it tendered or shown.

47. It is forbidden to any man to change this, our declaration, pronouncement, and definition or, by rash attempt, to oppose and counter it. If any man should presume to make such an attempt, let him know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

48. Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, in the year of the great Jubilee, 1950, on the first day of the month of November, on the Feast of All Saints, in the twelfth year of our pontificate.

I, PIUS, Bishop of the Catholic Church, have signed, so defining.

END NOTES

1. Rom 8:28.
2. Gal 4:4.
3. Cf. Hentrich-Von Moos, Petitiones de Assumptione Corporea B. Virginis Mariae in Caelum Definienda ad S. Sedem Delatae, 2 volumes (Vatican Polyglot Press, 1942).
4. Acts 20:28.
5. The Bull Ineffabilis Deus, in the Acta Pii IX, pars 1, Vol. 1, p. 615.
6. The Vatican Council, Constitution Dei filius, c. 4.
7. Jn 14:26.
8. Vatican Council, Constitution Pastor Aeternus, c. 4.
9. Ibid., Dei Filius, c. 3.
10. The encyclical Mediator Dei (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, XXXIX, 541).
11. Sacramentarium Gregorianum.
12. Menaei Totius Anni.
13. Lk 22:32.
14. Liber Pontificalis.
15. Ibid.
16. Responsa Nicolai Papae I ad Consulta Bulgarorum.
17. St. John Damascene, Encomium in Dormitionem Dei Genetricis Semperque Virginis Mariae, Hom. II, n. 14; cf. also ibid, n. 3.
18. St. Germanus of Constantinople, In Sanctae Dei Genetricis Dormitionem, Sermo I.
19. The Encomium in Dormitionem Sanctissimae Dominae Nostrate Deiparae Semperque Virginis Mariae, attributed to St. Modestus of Jerusalem, n. 14.
20. Cf. St. John Damascene, op. cit., Hom. II, n. 11; and also the Encomium attributed to St. Modestus.
21. Ps 131:8.
22. Ps 44:10-14ff.
23. Song 3:6; cf. also 4:8; 6:9.
24. Rv 12:1ff.
25. Lk 1:28.
26. Amadeus of Lausanne, De Beatae Virginis Obitu, Assumptione in Caelum Exaltatione ad Filii Dexteram.
27. Is 61:13.
28. St. Anthony of Padua, Sermones Dominicales et in Solemnitatibus, In Assumptione S. Mariae Virginis Sermo.29. St. Albert the Great, Mariale, q. 132.
30. St. Albert the Great, Sermones de Sanctis, Sermo XV in Annuntiatione B. Mariae; cf. also Mariale, q. 132.
31. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theol., I, lla; q. 27, a. 1; q. 83, a. 5, ad 8; Expositio Salutationis Angelicae; In Symb. Apostolorum Expositio, a. S; In IV Sent., d. 12, q. 1, a. 3, sol. 3; d. 43, q. 1, a. 3, sol. 1, 2.
32. St. Bonaventure, De Nativitate B. Mariae Virginis, Sermo V.
33. Song 8:5.
34. St. Bonaventure, De Assumptione B. Mariae Virginis, Sermo11.
35. St. Bernardine of Siena, In Assumptione B. Mariae Virginis, Sermo 11.
36. Ibid.
37. St. Robert Bellarmine, Conciones Habitae Lovanii, n. 40, De Assumption B. Mariae Virginis.
38. Oeuvres de St. Francois De Sales, sermon for the Feast of the Assumption.
39. St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Glories of Mary, Part 2, d. 1.
40. Eph 5:27.
41. I Tim 3:15.
42. St. Peter Canisius, De Maria Virgine.
43. Suarez, In Tertiam Partem D. Thomae, q. 27, a. 2, disp. 3, sec. 5, n. 31.
44. Gen 3:15.
45. Rom 5-6; I Cor. 15:21-26, 54-57.
46. I Cor 15:54.
47. The Bull Ineffabilis Deus, loc. cit., p. 599.
48. I Tim 1:17.

Prayer to Mary Assumed into Heaven

Mary, my dear Mother and mighty Queen, take and receive my poor heart
With all its freedom and desires, all its love and all the virtues and graces with which it may be adorned.
All I am, all I might be, all I have and hold in the order of nature as well as of grace,
I have received from God through your loving intercession, my Lady and Queen.
Into your sovereign hands I entrust all, that it may be returned to its noble origin.

Mary, Queen of every heart, I love you.
Guide me to a greater love for Jesus.

Mary, Assumed into Heaven and Queen of the Universe, ever-Virgin Mother of God,
Obtain peace and salvation for His faithful through your prayers,
For you have given birth to Christ the King,
Savior of all who come to His Father through Him. Amen.

Α ☧ Ω

CALENDAR of the SAINTS

22 August 2010 Anno Dómini

"....and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. ~ ~ Apocalypse

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Andrew of Fiesole

Born to the Irish nobility. Brother of Saint Bridget the Younger. Educated by Saint Donatus of Fiesoli, and made a pilgimage to Rome, Italy with him in 816. When Donatus was miraculously chosen bishop of Fiesole, Italy, Andrew was ordained as archdeacon. He served for 47 years, restored the church of Saint Martin and founded a monastery in Mensola, Italy where he may have lived for a while as a monk. He was known as “the Scot”, common in that day when speaking of some one from Ireland. Legend says that as he lay dying, his sister was brought to him his bedside by an angel for a final farewell.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Antoninus, Martyr

Matter in the reign of Emperor Commodus. Saint Antoninus was a public executioner in Rome. Involved in the trial of Saint Eusebius, Antoninus had a vision thereafter announcing he was a Christian, and was beheaded for his belief in Jesus the Christas the one true God.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Arnulf

Hermit, venerated at Arnulphsbury or Eynesbury, in England.

Α ☧ Ω

Bishop Saint Athanasius, Martyr

Bishop and martyr with Anthusa the elder, Charisius, and Neophytus. Athanasius was the bishop of Tarsus in Cilicia. Anthusa was a noble from Seleucia. Charisius and Neophytus were slaves of Anthusa. They were caught up in the persecution of Emperor Valerian. Athanasius and the two male slaves were martyred. Anthusa appears to have survived for twenty-three years.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Flaviano

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Giacomo

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Gunifort, Martyr

A martyr of Pavia, Italy.

Α ☧ Ω

Bishop Saint Hippolytus of Porto, Martyr

Bishop and martyr of Porto, Italy. He was drowned in Porto or in Ostia. His cult was suppressed in 1969.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint John Kemble, Martyr

Son of John and Anne Kemble. Studied at Douai, France. Ordained on 23 February 1625 at Douai College. Returned to England on 4 June 1625 as a missioner in Monmouthshire and Herefordshire. He tended to his covert flock for 53 years.

Arrested at Pembridge Castle, the home of a family member, in 1678, and lodged in Hereford Gaol. Falsely accused of being part of the Titus Oates Plot. Condemned in March 1679 for the treason of Catholic priesthood. Martryed at age 80. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Before leaving for his execution, John sat for a while with the under-sheriff, having a final drink and smoking a final pipe. This led to the Herefordshire expression "Kemble cup" and "Kemble pipe", meaning one taken before a parting.

Sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered on 22 August 1679 at Widemarsh Common, Hereford, England. However, he was so well respected in the area that he was permitted to die on the gallows - avoiding the agony of the drawing and quartering turtureous elements of his sentence. Buried in the Welsh Newton Churchyard. His hand is preserved as a relic at Saint Francis Xavier's church, Hereford, England.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint John Wall, Martyr

Born to a wealthy Catholic family. Studied in Douai, and entered the Roman College on 5 November 1641, using the name John Marsh. Ordained 3 December 1645. Joined the Friars Minor in Rome on 1 January 1651, taking the name Joachim of Saint Anne. Vicar and novice-master at Douai. Joined the Worcester mission in 1656 where he served for over 20 years, using several aliases, and living as a fugitive. Arrested in connection with the Titus Oates Plot in December 1678; acquitted of participation in the plot, but was martyred for the crime of priesthood. One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales.

Hanged, drawn, and quartered on 22 August 1679 near Redhill, Corcester, England. Buried at Saint Oswald's church.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Martial, Martyr

Martyr with Saint Epictetus, Saint Felix, Saint Maprilis, and Saint Saturninus. These martyrs are recorded in the Passio of Saint Aurea.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Maurus and Companions, Martyr

Chief martyr of a group of fifty who suffered at Reims. Maurus was a priest.

Α ☧ Ω

Blessed Richard Kirkman, Martyr

Studied at Douai, France; ordained in Rheims, France in 1579. Returned to England to minister to covert Catholics. Tutor for Richard Dymake’s family in Scrivelsby. Arrested near Wakefield in 1582 for the treason of not accepting the Queen as head of the Church. Martyr. Hanged, drawn and quartered in 1582 at York, England.

Blessed Simeon Lukach, Martyr

Greek Catholic. Born to a farm family. Entered the seminary in 1913; his studies were interruprted by World War I, but he graduated in 1919. Ordained in 1919. Taught moral theology at the seminary in Ivano-Franksivsk. Believed to have been secretly ordained a bishop in April 1945; the secrecy was necessitated by Soviet persecution of the Church. Arrested for his faith by Soviet secret police on 26 October 1949; held until 11 February 1955. Worked as a covert priest after his release. Imprisoned again in July 1962. Contracted tuberculosis and died in prison; martyr.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Sigfrid

Sigfrid, who died in the year 690, was a deacon at Wearmouth Abbey. He was known for his knowledge of scripture and for his frail health. He was elected coadjutor abbot in 688 on the death of Saint Erstwine while Abbot St. Benedict Biscop was in Rome. Sigfrid died soon after Saint Benedict.

Α ☧ Ω

Saint Symphorian of Autun, Martyr

Son of Senator Faustus and Blessed Augusta. Covert Christian. As a young man he studied at Autun, Gaul (modern France). There he was ordered by provincial governor Heraclius for not worshipping the pagan goddess Cybele, he asked for tools to destroy the statue. Arrested and flogged for heresy. Because he was from a noble family, he was given a chance to recant, and was even offered bribes to do so; he declined. Beheaded by sword on 22 August 178 in the presence of his mother. A church was built over his grave in the late 5th century.

Readings

Do not be afraid, Symphorian. You death will lead straight to eternal life. Life will not be taken from you, only changed. - Blessed Augusta at Symphorian's execution.

Α ☧ Ω

Blessed William Lacey, Martyr

Martyr of England. Born in Horton, West Riding, Yorkshire, he distinguished himself as a lawyer and as an ardent Catholic, using his house as a refuge for the much-oppressed Catholics of the time. Following the death of his second wife in 1579, he left England and studied at Reims, France, in preparation for his eventual ordination at Rome. William returned to England and worked in the area of Yorkshire until his arrest. He was arrested in York Prison while participating in the Eucharistic ceremony being sung in the cell of Blessed Thomas Bell. Condemned, he was executed at Knavesmaire,just outside of York with Blessed Richard Kirkman. Blessed William was beatified in 1886

Α ☧ Ω

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Papal Primacy

The doctrine of papal primacy upholds the divine authority of the Successor of Blessed Apostle Saint Peter to rule over the entire Church with ordinary and immediate jurisdiction. Two Magisterial texts are key to understanding its supreme nature and the obligation of all who are not invincibly ignorant of this truth to submit to Papal authority for the sake of their salvation.

Pope Boniface VIII, in his Bull Unam Sanctum ( provided below ) , spelled out the doctrine of the necessity of the Church for salvation and with it the necessity of submission to the Roman Pontiff. Regarding the primacy of authority of Peter and his successors he stated:

But this authority, although it is given to man and is exercised by man, is not human, but rather divine, and has been given by the divine Word to Peter himself and to his successors in him, whom the Lord acknowledged an established rock, when he said to Peter himself: Whatsoever you shall bind etc. [Matt. 16:19]. Therefore, whosoever resists this power so ordained by God, resists the order of God [cf. Rom. 13:2] ... Furthermore, we declare, say, define, and proclaim to every human creature that they by necessity for salvation are entirely subject to the Roman Pontiff.

As with all principles of morality, God does not hold the invincibly ignorant of the truth culpable for failing to live by them. Thus, Pope Pius IX could say regarding the salvation of those outside the Church, and thus also those who do not submit to the Roman Pontiff,

We must hold as of the faith, that out of the Apostolic Roman Church there is no salvation; that she is the only ark of safety, and whosoever is not in her perishes in the deluge; we must also, on the other hand, recognize with certainty that those who are invincible in ignorance of the true religion are not guilty for this in the eyes of the Lord. And who would presume to mark out the limits of this ignorance according to the character and diversity of peoples, countries, minds and the rest?

This same Pope convened the First Vatican Council, which in addition to defining papal infallibility also defined papal primacy. Both doctrines point the faithful to the necessity of union with the Successor of Peter. Infallibility directs our attention to the unifying role of the Pope in matters of faith, and primacy to that role with respect to sacramental and other ecclesiastical disciplines.

...all the faithful of Christ must believe "that the Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff hold primacy over the whole world, and that the Pontiff of Rome himself is the successor of the blessed Peter, the chief of the apostles, and is the true vicar of Christ and head of the whole Church and faith, and teacher of all Christians; and that to him was handed down in blessed Peter, by our Lord Jesus Christ, full power to feed, rule, and guide the universal Church, just as is also contained in the records of the ecumenical Councils and in the sacred canons.

... the faithful of whatever rite and dignity, both as separate individuals and all together, are bound by a duty of hierarchical submission and true obedience, not only in things pertaining to faith and morals, but also in those which pertain to the discipline and government of the Church spread over the whole world, so that the Church of Christ, protected not only by the Roman Pontiff, but by the unity of communion as well as of the profession of the same faith is one flock under the one highest shepherd. This is the doctrine of Catholic truth from which no one can deviate and keep his faith and salvation... [Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Vatican Council I, 1870]

~ UNAM SANCTAM ~

Bonifatius, Episcopus, Servus servorum Dei. Ad futuram rei memoriam

( Bull of Pope Boniface VIII promulgated November 18, 1302 )

Unam sanctam ecclesiam catholicam et ipsam apostolicam urgente fide credere cogimur et tenere, nosque hanc frmiter credimus et simpliciter confitemur, extra quam nec salus est, nec remissio peccatorum, sponso in Canticis proclamante: Una est columba mea, perfecta mea. Una est matris suae electa genetrici suae [Cant. 6:9]. Quae unum corpus mysticum repraesentat, cujus caput Christus, Christi vero Deus. In qua unus Dominus, una fides, unum baptisma. Una nempe fuit diluvii tempore arca Noë, unam ecclesiam praefigurans, quae in uno cubito consummata unum, Noë videlicet, gubernatorem habuit et rectorem, extra quam omnia subsistentia super terram legimus fuisse deleta.

Hanc autem veneramur et unicam, dicente Domino in Propheta: Erue a framea, Deus, animam meam et de manu canis unicam meam. [Psalm 22:20.] Pro anima enim, id est, pro se ipso, capite simul oravit et corpore. Quod corpus unicam scilicet ecclesiam nominavit, propter sponsi, fidei, sacramentorum et caritatis ecclesiae unitatem. Haec est tunica illa Domini inconsutilis, quae scissa non fuit, sed sorte provenit. [John 19.]

Igitur ecclesiae unius et unicae unum corpus, unum caput, non duo capita, quasi monstrum, Christus videlicet et Christi vicarius, Petrus, Petrique successor, dicente Domino ipsi Petro: Pasce oves meas. [John 21:17.] Meas, inquit, generaliter, non singulariter has vel illas: per quod commisisse sibi intelligitur universas. Sive ergo Graeci sive alii se dicant Petro ejusque successoribus non esse commissos: fateantur necesse est, se de ovibus Christi non esse, dicente Domino in Joanne, unum ovile et unicum esse pastorem. [John 10:16.]

In hac ejusque potestate duos esse gladios, spiritualem videlicet et temporalem, evangelicis dictis instruimur. Nam dicentibus Apostolis: Ecce gladii duo hic [Luke 22:38], in ecclesia scilicet, cum apostoli loquerentur, non respondit Dominus, nimis esse, sed satis. Certe qui in potestate Petri temporalem gladium esse negat, male verbum attendit Domini proferentis: Converte gladium tuum in vaginam. [Matt. 26:52.] Uterque ergo est in potestate ecclesiae, spiritualis scilicet gladius et materialis. Sed is quidem pro ecclesia, ille vero ab ecclesia exercendus, ille sacerdotis, is manu regum et militum, sed ad nutum et patientiam sacerdotis.

Oportet autem gladium esse sub gladio, et temporalem auctoritatem spirituali subjici potestati. Nam cum dicat Apostolus: Non est potestas nisi a Deo; quae autem sunt, a Deo ordinata sunt [Rom. 13:1], non autem ordinata essent, nisi gladius esset sub gladio, et tanquam inferior reduceretur per alium in suprema. Nam secundum B. Dionysium lex dirinitatis est, infima per media in suprema reduci .... Sic de ecclesia et ecclesiastica potestate verificatur vaticinium Hieremiae [Jer. 1:10]: Ecce constitui te hodie super gentes et regna et cetera, quae sequuntur.

Ergo, si deviat terrena potestas, judicabitur a potestate spirituali; sed, si deviat spiritualis minor, a suo superiori si vero suprema, a solo Deo, non ab homine poterit judicari, testante Apostolo: Spiritualis homo judicat omnia, ipse autem a nemine judicatur. [1 Cor. 2:16.] Est autem haec auctoritas, etsi data sit homini, et exerceatur per hominem, non humana, sed potius divina potestas, ore divino Petro data, sibique suisque successoribus in ipso Christo, quem confessus fuit, petra firmata, dicente Domino ipsi Petro: Quodcunque ligaveris, etc. [Matt. 16:19.] Quicunque igitur huic potestati a Deo sic ordinatae resistit, Dei ordinationi resistit, nisi duo, sicut Manichaeus, fingat esse principia, quod falsum et haereticum judicamus, quia, testante Moyse, non in principiis, sed in principio coelum Deus creavit et terram. [Gen. 1:1.]

Porro subesse Romano Pontifici omni humanae creaturae declaramus dicimus, definimus et pronunciamus omnino esse de necessitate salutis.

Urged by faith, we are obliged to believe and to maintain that the Church is one, holy, catholic, and also apostolic. We believe in her firmly and we confess with simplicity that outside of her there is neither salvation nor the remission of sins, as the Spouse in the Canticles [Sgs 6:8] proclaims: 'One is my dove, my perfect one. She is the only one, the chosen of her who bore her,' and she represents one sole mystical body whose Head is Christ and the head of Christ is God [1 Cor 11:3]. In her then is one Lord, one faith, one baptism [Eph 4:5]. There had been at the time of the deluge only one ark of Noah, prefiguring the one Church, which ark, having been finished to a single cubit, had only one pilot and guide, i.e., Noah, and we read that, outside of this ark, all that subsisted on the earth was destroyed.

We venerate this Church as one, the Lord having said by the mouth of the prophet: 'Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword and my only one from the hand of the dog.' [Ps 21:20] He has prayed for his soul, that is for himself, heart and body; and this body, that is to say, the Church, He has called one because of the unity of the Spouse, of the faith, of the sacraments, and of the charity of the Church. This is the tunic of the Lord, the seamless tunic, which was not rent but which was cast by lot [Jn 19:23- 24]. Therefore, of the one and only Church there is one body and one head, not two heads like a monster; that is, Christ and the Vicar of Christ, Peter and the successor of Peter, since the Lord speaking to Peter Himself said: 'Feed my sheep' [Jn 21:17], meaning, my sheep in general, not these, nor those in particular, whence we understand that He entrusted all to him [Peter]. Therefore, if the Greeks or others should say that they are not confided to Peter and to his successors, they must confess not being the sheep of Christ, since Our Lord says in John 'there is one sheepfold and one shepherd.' We are informed by the texts of the gospels that in this Church and in its power are two swords; namely, the spiritual and the temporal. For when the Apostles say: 'Behold, here are two swords' [Lk 22:38] that is to say, in the Church, since the Apostles were speaking, the Lord did not reply that there were too many, but sufficient. Certainly the one who denies that the temporal sword is in the power of Peter has not listened well to the word of the Lord commanding: 'Put up thy sword into thy scabbard' [Mt 26:52]. Both, therefore, are in the power of the Church, that is to say, the spiritual and the material sword, but the former is to be administered for the Church but the latter by the Church; the former in the hands of the priest; the latter by the hands of kings and soldiers, but at the will and sufferance of the priest.

However, one sword ought to be subordinated to the other and temporal authority, subjected to spiritual power. For since the Apostle said: 'There is no power except from God and the things that are, are ordained of God' [Rom 13:1-2], but they would not be ordained if one sword were not subordinated to the other and if the inferior one, as it were, were not led upwards by the other.

For, according to the Blessed Dionysius, it is a law of the divinity that the lowest things reach the highest place by intermediaries. Then, according to the order of the universe, all things are not led back to order equally and immediately, but the lowest by the intermediary, and the inferior by the superior. Hence we must recognize the more clearly that spiritual power surpasses in dignity and in nobility any temporal power whatever, as spiritual things surpass the temporal. This we see very clearly also by the payment, benediction, and consecration of the tithes, but the acceptance of power itself and by the government even of things. For with truth as our witness, it belongs to spiritual power to establish the terrestrial power and to pass judgement if it has not been good. Thus is accomplished the prophecy of Jeremias concerning the Church and the ecclesiastical power: 'Behold to-day I have placed you over nations, and over kingdoms' and the rest. Therefore, if the terrestrial power err, it will be judged by the spiritual power; but if a minor spiritual power err, it will be judged by a superior spiritual power; but if the highest power of all err, it can be judged only by God, and not by man, according to the testimony of the Apostle: 'The spiritual man judgeth of all things and he himself is judged by no man' [1 Cor 2:15]. This authority, however, (though it has been given to man and is exercised by man), is not human but rather divine, granted to Peter by a divine word and reaffirmed to him (Peter) and his successors by the One Whom Peter confessed, the Lord saying to Peter himself, 'Whatsoever you shall bind on earth, shall be bound also in Heaven' etc., [Mt 16:19]. Therefore whoever resists this power thus ordained by God, resists the ordinance of God [Rom 13:2], unless he invent like Manicheus two beginnings, which is false and judged by us heretical, since according to the testimony of Moses, it is not in the beginnings but in the beginning that God created heaven and earth [Gen 1:1]. Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.

"If you live not in the body which is Christ, you are none of His. Whose, then, are you? You have been cut off and will wither, and like the branch pruned from the vine, you will burn in the fire - an end which may God's goodness keep far from you. So little does the Roman Church stand alone, as you think, that in the whole world any nation that in its pride dissents from her is in no way a church, but a council of heretics, a conventicle of schismatics, and a synagogue of Satan." [ Pope Saint Leo IX ]

"To use the words of the fathers of Trent, it is certain that the Church 'was instructed by Jesus Christ and His Apostles and that all truth was daily taught it by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.' Therefore, it is obviously absurd and injurious to propose a certain 'restoration and regeneration' for her as though necessary for her safety and growth, as if she could be considered subject to defect or obscuration or other misfortune. Indeed these authors of novelties consider that a 'foundation may be laid of a new human institution,' and what Cyprian detested may come to pass, that what was a divine thing 'may become a human church.'" [Pope Gregory XVI, Mirari Vos, August 15, 1832.]

"Blind they are ...they pervert the eternal concepts of truth ...they are seen to be under the sway of a blind and unchecked passion for novelty ...despising holy and Apostolic Traditions they embrace other and vain, futile, uncertain doctrines, condemned by the Church." [ Pope Gregory XVI, Singular Nos, June 25, 1834. ]

Pope Saint Felix III

"Not to oppose error is to approve it; and not to defend truth is to suppress it; and indeed to neglect to confound evil men, when we can do it, is no less a sin than to encourage them."

"America, it is said, is suffering from intolerance. It is not. It is suffering from tolerance of right and wrong, truth and error, virtue and evil, Christ and chaos.
Our country is not nearly so much overrun with the bigoted as it is overrun with the broadminded…In the face of this broadmindedness, what America needs is intolerance."
~ Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Servant of God

“were even my father a heretic, I would gather the wood to burn him.”
"Se mio padre fosse un eretico raccoglierei io stesso la legna per bruciarlo." POPE PAUL IV

Quo Primum

Pope Saint Pius V - July 14, 1570

To Our Venerable Brethren: the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See -- Venerable Brethren, health and Apostolic Benediction!
From the very first, upon Our elevation to the chief Apostleship, We gladly turned our mind and energies and directed all out thoughts to those matters which concerned the preservation of a pure liturgy, and We strove with God's help, by every means in our power, to accomplish this purpose. For, besides other decrees of the sacred Council of Trent, there were stipulations for Us to revise and re-edit the sacred books: the Catechism, the Missal and the Breviary. With the Catechism published for the instruction of the faithful, by God's help, and the Breviary thoroughly revised for the worthy praise of God, in order that the Missal and Breviary may be in perfect harmony, as fitting and proper - for its most becoming that there be in the Church only one appropriate manner of reciting the Psalms and only one rite for the celebration of Mass - We deemed it necessary to give our immediate attention to what still remained to be done; the re-editing of the Missal as soon as possible.
Hence, We decided to entrust this work to learned men of our selection. They very carefully collated all their work with the ancient codices in Our Vatican Library and with reliable, preserved or emended codices from elsewhere. Besides this, these men consulted the works of ancient and approved authors concerning the same sacred rites; and thus they have restored the Missal itself to the original form and rite of the holy Fathers. When this work has been gone over numerous times and further emended, after serious study and reflection, We commanded that the finished product be printed and published as soon as possible, so that all might enjoy the fruits of this labor; and thus, priests would know which prayers to use and which rites and ceremonies they were required to observe from now on in the celebration of Masses.
Let all everywhere adopt and observe what has been handed down by the Holy Roman Church, the Mother and Teacher of the other churches, and let Masses not be sung or read according to any other formula than that of this Missal published by Us. This ordinance applies henceforth, now, and forever, throughout all the provinces of the Christian world, to all patriarchs, cathedral churches, collegiate and parish churches, be they secular or religious, both of men and of women - even of military orders - and of churches or chapels without a specific congregation in which conventional Masses are sung aloud in choir or read privately in accord with the rites and customs of the Roman Church. This Missal is to be used by all churches, even by those which in their authorization are made exempt, whether by Apostolic indult, custom, or privilege, or even if by oath or official confirmation of the Holy See, or have their rights and faculties guaranteed to them by any other manner whatsoever.
This new rite alone is to be used unless approval of the practice of saying Mass differently was given at the very time of the institution and confirmation of the church by Apostolic See at least 200 years ago, or unless there has prevailed a custom of a similar kind which has been continuously followed for a period of not less than 200 years, in which most cases We in no wise rescind their above-mentioned prerogative or custom. However, if this Missal, which we have seen fit to publish, be more agreeable to these latter, We grant them permission to celebrate Mass according to its rite, provided they have the consent of their bishop or prelate or of their whole Chapter, everything else to the contrary notwithstanding. All other of the churches referred to above, however, are hereby denied the use of other missals, which are to be discontinued entirely and absolutely; whereas, by this present Constitution, which will be valid henceforth, now, and forever, We order and enjoin that nothing must be added to Our recently published Missal, nothing omitted from it, nor anything whatsoever be changed within it under the penalty of Our displeasure.
We specifically command each and every patriarch, administrator, and all other persons or whatever ecclesiastical dignity they may be, be they even cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, or possessed of any other rank or pre-eminence, and We order them in virtue of holy obedience to chant or to read the Mass according to the rite and manner and norm herewith laid down by Us and, hereafter, to discontinue and completely discard all other rubrics and rites of other missals, however ancient, which they have customarily followed; and they must not in celebrating Mass presume to introduce any ceremonies or recite any prayers other than those contained in this Missal.
Furthermore, by these presents [this law], in virtue of Our Apostolic authority, We grant and concede in perpetuity that, for the chanting or reading of the Mass in any church whatsoever, this Missal is hereafter to be followed absolutely, without any scruple of conscience or fear of incurring any penalty, judgment, or censure, and may freely and lawfully be used. Nor are superiors, administrators, canons, chaplains, and other secular priests, or religious, of whatever title designated, obliged to celebrate the Mass otherwise than as enjoined by Us. We likewise declare and ordain that no one whosoever is forced or coerced to alter this Missal, and that this present document cannot be revoked or modified, but remain always valid and retain its full force notwithstanding the previous constitutions and decrees of the Holy See, as well as any general or special constitutions or edicts of provincial or synodal councils, and notwithstanding the practice and custom of the aforesaid churches, established by long and immemorial prescription - except, however, if more than two hundred years' standing.
It is Our will, therefore, and by the same authority, We decree that, after We publish this constitution and the edition of the Missal, the priests of the Roman Curia are, after thirty days, obliged to chant or read the Mass according to it; all others south of the Alps, after three months; and those beyond the Alps either within six months or whenever the Missal is available for sale. Wherefore, in order that the Missal be preserved incorrupt throughout the whole world and kept free of flaws and errors, the penalty for nonobservance for printers, whether immediately or immediately subject to Our dominion, and that of the Holy Roman Church, will be the forfeiting of their books and a fine of one hundred gold ducats, payable ipso facto to the Apostolic Treasury. Further, as for those located in other parts of the world, the penalty is excommunication latae sententiae, and such other penalties as may in Our judgment be imposed; and We decree by this law that they must not dare or presume either to print or to publish or to sell, or in any way to accept books of this nature without Our approval and consent, or without the express consent of the Apostolic Commissaries of those places, who will be appointed by Us. Said printer must receive a standard Missal and agree faithfully with it and in no wise vary from the Roman Missal of the large type ( secundum magnum impressionem).
Accordingly, since it would be difficult for this present pronouncement to be sent to all parts of the Christian world and simultaneously come to light everywhere, We direct that it be, as usual, posted and published at the doors of the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles, also at the Apostolic Chancery, and on the street at Campo Flora; furthermore, We direct that printed copies of this same edict signed by a notary public and made official by an ecclesiastical dignitary possess the same indubitable validity everywhere and in every nation, as if Our manuscript were shown there. Therefore, no one whosoever is permitted to alter this notice of Our permission, statute, ordinance, command, precept, grant, indult, declaration, will, decree, and prohibition. Should know that he will incur the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.
Given at Saint Peter's in the year of the Lord's Incarnation, 1570, on the 14th of July of the Fifth year of Our Pontificate.

SAPIENTIAE CHRISTIANAE
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE SAINT LEO XIII
CHRISTIANS AS CITIZENS

10 January 1890

To the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and
Bishops of the Catholic world in Grace and
Communion with the Apostolic See.

From day to day it becomes more and more evident how needful it is that the principles of Christian wisdom should ever be borne in mind, and that the life, the morals, and the institutions of nations should be wholly conformed to them. For, when these principles have been disregarded, evils so vast have accrued that no right-minded man can face the trials of the time being without grave anxiety or consider the future without alarm. Progress, not inconsiderable indeed, has been made towards securing the well-being of the body and of material things, but the material world, with the possession of wealth, power, and resources, although it may well procure comforts and increase the enjoyment of life, is incapable of satisfying our soul created for higher and more glorious things. To contemplate God, and to tend to Him, is the supreme law of the life of man. For we were created in the divine image and likeness, and are impelled, by our very nature, to the enjoyment of our Creator. But not by bodily motion or effort do we make advance toward God, but through acts of the soul, that is, through knowledge and love. For, indeed, God is the first and supreme truth, and the mind alone feeds on truth. God is perfect holiness and the sovereign good, to which only the will can desire and attain, when virtue is its guide.

2. But what applies to individual men applies equally to society - domestic alike and civil. Nature did not form society in order that man should seek in it his last end, but in order that in it and through it he should find suitable aids whereby to attain to his own perfection. If, then, a political government strives after external advantages only, and the achievement of a cultured and prosperous life; if, in administering public affairs, it is wont to put God aside, and show no solicitude for the upholding of moral law, it deflects woefully from its right course and from the injunctions of nature; nor should it be accounted as a society or a community of men, but only as the deceitful imitation or appearance of a society.

3. As to what We have called the goods of the soul, which consist chiefly in the practice of the true religion and in the unswerving observance of the Christian precepts, We see them daily losing esteem among men, either by reason of forgetfulness or disregard, in such wise that all that is gained for the well-being of the body seems to be lost for that of the soul. A striking proof of the lessening and weakening of the Christian faith is seen in the insults too often done to the Catholic Church, openly and publicly - insults, indeed, which an age cherishing religion would not have tolerated. For these reasons, an incredible multitude of men is in danger of not achieving salvation; and even nations and empires themselves cannot long remain unharmed, since, when Christian institutions and morality decline, the main foundation of human society goes together with them. Force alone will remain to preserve public tranquillity and order. But force is very feeble when the bulwark of religion has been removed, and, being more apt to beget slavery than obedience, it bears within itself the germs of ever-increasing troubles. The present century has encountered memorable disasters, and it is not certain that some equally terrible are not impending. The very times in which we live are warning us to seek remedies there where alone they are to be found-namely, by re-establishing in the family circle and throughout the whole range of society the doctrines and practices of the Christian religion. In this lies the sole means of freeing us from the ills now weighing us down, of forestalling the dangers now threatening the world. For the accomplishment of this end, venerable brethren, We must bring to bear all the activity and diligence that lie within Our power. Although we have already, under other circumstances, and whenever occasion required, treated of these matters, We deem it expedient in this letter to define more in detail the duties of the Catholics, inasmuch as these would, if strictly observed, wonderfully contribute to the good of the commonwealth. We have fallen upon times when a violent and well-nigh daily battle is being fought about matters of highest moment, a battle in which it is hard not to be sometimes deceived, not to go astray and, for many, not to lose heart. It behooves us, venerable brethren, to warn, instruct, and exhort each of the faithful with an earnestness befitting the occasion: that none may abandon the way of truth.(1)

4. It cannot be doubted that duties more numerous and of greater moment devolve on Catholics than upon such as are either not sufficiently enlightened in relation to the Catholic faith, or who are entirely unacquainted with its doctrines. Considering that forthwith upon salvation being brought out for mankind, Jesus Christ laid upon His Apostles the injunction to "preach the Gospel to every creature," He imposed, it is evident, upon all men the duty of learning thoroughly and believing what they were taught. This duty is intimately bound up with the gaining of eternal salvation: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be condemned."(2) But the man who has embraced the Christian faith, as in duty bound, is by that very fact a subject of the Church as one of the children born of her, and becomes a member of that greatest and holiest body, which it is the special charge of the Roman Pontiff to rule with supreme power, under its invisible head, Jesus Christ

5. Now, if the natural law enjoins us to love devotedly and to defend the country in which we had birth, and in which we were brought up, so that every good citizen hesitates not to face death for his native land, very much more is it the urgent duty of Christians to be ever quickened by like feelings toward the Church. For the Church is the holy City of the living God, born of God Himself, and by Him built up and established. Upon this earth, indeed, she accomplishes her pilgrimage, but by instructing and guiding men she summons them to eternal happiness. We are bound, then, to love dearly the country whence we have received the means of enjoyment this mortal life affords, but we have a much more urgent obligation to love, with ardent love, the Church to which we owe the life of the soul, a life that will endure forever. For fitting it is to prefer the good of the soul to the well-being of the body, inasmuch as duties toward God are of a far more hallowed character than those toward men.

6. Moreover, if we would judge aright, the supernatural love for the Church and the natural love of our own country proceed from the same eternal principle, since God Himself is their Author and originating Cause. Consequently, it follows that between the duties they respectively enjoin, neither can come into collision with the other. We can, certainly, and should love ourselves, bear ourselves kindly toward our fellow men, nourish affection for the State and the governing powers; but at the same time we can and must cherish toward the Church a feeling of filial piety, and love God with the deepest love of which we are capable. The order of precedence of these duties is, however, at times, either under stress of public calamities, or through the perverse will of men, inverted. For, instances occur where the State seems to require from men as subjects one thing, and religion, from men as Christians, quite another; and this in reality without any other ground, than that the rulers of the State either hold the sacred power of the Church of no account, or endeavor to subject it to their own will. Hence arises a conflict, and an occasion, through such conflict, of virtue being put to the proof. The two powers are confronted and urge their behests in a contrary sense; to obey both is wholly impossible. No man can serve two masters,(3) for to please the one amounts to contemning the other.

7. As to which should be preferred no one ought to balance for an instant. It is a high crime indeed to withdraw allegiance from God in order to please men, an act of consummate wickedness to break the laws of Jesus Christ, in order to yield obedience to earthly rulers, or, under pretext of keeping the civil law, to ignore the rights of the Church; "we ought to obey God rather than men."(4) This answer, which of old Peter and the other Apostles were used to give the civil authorities who enjoined unrighteous things, we must, in like circumstances, give always and without hesitation. No better citizen is there, whether in time of peace or war, than the Christian who is mindful of his duty; but such a one should be ready to suffer all things, even death itself, rather than abandon the cause of God or of the Church.

8. Hence, they who blame, and call by the name of sedition, this steadfastness of attitude in the choice of duty have not rightly apprehended the force and nature of true law. We are speaking of matters widely known, and which We have before now more than once fully explained. Law is of its very essence a mandate of right reason, proclaimed by a properly constituted authority, for the common good. But true and legitimate authority is void of sanction, unless it proceed from God, the supreme Ruler and Lord of all. The Almighty alone can commit power to a man over his fellow men;(5) nor may that be accounted as right reason which is in disaccord with truth and with divine reason; nor that held to be true good which is repugnant to the supreme and unchangeable good, or that wrests aside and draws away the wills of men from the charity of God.

9. Hallowed, therefore, in the minds of Christians is the very idea of public authority, in which they recognize some likeness and symbol as it were of the Divine Majesty, even when it is exercised by one unworthy. A just and due reverence to the laws abides in them, not from force and threats, but from a consciousness of duty; "for God hath not given us the spirit of fear. "(6)

10. But, if the laws of the State are manifestly at variance with the divine law, containing enactments hurtful to the Church, or conveying injunctions adverse to the duties imposed by religion, or if they violate in the person of the supreme Pontiff the authority of Jesus Christ, then, truly, to resist becomes a positive duty, to obey, a crime; a crime, moreover, combined with misdemeanor against the State itself, inasmuch as every offense leveled against religion is also a sin against the State. Here anew it becomes evident how unjust is the reproach of sedition; for the obedience due to rulers and legislators is not refused, but there is a deviation from their will in those precepts only which they have no power to enjoin. Commands that are issued adversely to the honor due to God, and hence are beyond the scope of justice, must be looked upon as anything rather than laws. You are fully aware, venerable brothers, that this is the very contention of the Apostle St. Paul, who, in writing to Titus, after reminding Christians that they are "to be subject to princes and powers, and to obey at a word," at once adds: "And to be ready to every good work."(7) Thereby he openly declares that, if laws of men contain injunctions contrary to the eternal law of God, it is right not to obey them. In like manner, the Prince of the Apostles gave this courageous and sublime answer to those who would have deprived him of the liberty of preaching the Gospel: "If it be just in the sight of God to hear you rather than God, judge ye, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."(8)

11. Wherefore, to love both countries, that of earth below and that of heaven above, yet in such mode that the love of our heavenly surpass the love of our earthly home, and that human laws be never set above the divine law, is the essential duty of Christians, and the fountainhead, so to say, from which all other duties spring. The Redeemer of mankind of Himself has said: "For this was I born, and for this came I into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth."(9) In like manner: "I am come to cast fire upon earth, and what will I but that it be kindled?"(10) In the knowledge of this truth, which constitutes the highest perfection of the mind; in divine charity which, in like manner, completes the will, all Christian life and liberty abide. This noble patrimony of truth and charity entrusted by Jesus Christ to the Church she defends and maintains ever with untiring endeavor and watchfulness.

12. But with what bitterness and in how many guises war has been waged against the Church it would be ill-timed now to urge. From the fact that it has been vouchsafed to human reason to snatch from nature, through the investigations of science, many of her treasured secrets and to apply them befittingly to the divers requirements of life, men have become possessed with so arrogant a sense of their own powers as already to consider themselves able to banish from social life the authority and empire of God. Led away by this delusion, they make over to human nature the dominion of which they think God has been despoiled; from nature, they maintain, we must seek the principle and rule of all truth; from nature, they aver, alone spring, and to it should be referred, all the duties that religious feeling prompts. Hence, they deny all revelation from on high, and all fealty due to the Christian teaching of morals as well as all obedience to the Church, and they go so far as to deny her power of making laws and exercising every other kind of right, even disallowing the Church any place among the civil institutions of the commonweal. These men aspire unjustly, and with their might strive, to gain control over public affairs and lay hands on the rudder of the State, in order that the legislation may the more easily be adapted to these principles, and the morals of the people influenced in accordance with them. Whence it comes to pass that in many countries Catholicism is either openly assailed or else secretly interfered with, full impunity being granted to the most pernicious doctrines, while the public profession of Christian truth is shackled oftentimes with manifold constraints.

13. Under such evil circumstances therefore, each one is bound in conscience to watch over himself, taking all means possible to preserve the faith inviolate in the depths of his soul, avoiding all risks, and arming himself on all occasions, especially against the various specious sophisms rife among non-believers. In order to safeguard this virtue of faith in its integrity, We declare it to be very profitable and consistent with the requirements of the time, that each one, according to the measure of his capacity and intelligence, should make a deep study of Christian doctrine, and imbue his mind with as perfect a knowledge as may be of those matters that are interwoven with religion and lie within the range of reason. And as it is necessary that faith should not only abide untarnished in the soul, but should grow with ever painstaking increase, the suppliant and humble entreaty of the apostles ought constantly to be addressed to God: "Increase our faith."(11)

14. But in this same matter, touching Christian faith, there are other duties whose exact and religious observance, necessary at all times in the interests of eternal salvation, become more especially so in these our days. Amid such reckless and widespread folly of opinion, it is, as We have said, the office of the Church to undertake the defense of truth and uproot errors from the mind, and this charge has to be at all times sacredly observed by her, seeing that the honor of God and the salvation of men are confided to her keeping. But, when necessity compels, not those only who are invested with power of rule are bound to safeguard the integrity of faith, but, as St. Thomas maintains: "Each one is under obligation to show forth his faith, either to instruct and encourage others of the faithful, or to repel the attacks of unbelievers."(12) To recoil before an enemy, or to keep silence when from all sides such clamors are raised against truth, is the part of a man either devoid of character or who entertains doubt as to the truth of what he professes to believe. In both cases such mode of behaving is base and is insulting to God, and both are incompatible with the salvation of mankind. This kind of conduct is profitable only to the enemies of the faith, for nothing emboldens the wicked so greatly as the lack of courage on the part of the good. Moreover, want of vigor on the part of Christians is so much the more blameworthy, as not seldom little would be needed on their part to bring to naught false charges and refute erroneous opinions, and by always exerting themselves more strenuously they might reckon upon being successful. After all, no one can be prevented from putting forth that strength of soul which is the characteristic of true Christians, and very frequently by such display of courage our enemies lose heart and their designs are thwarted. Christians are, moreover, born for combat, whereof the greater the vehemence, the more assured, God aiding, the triumph: "Have confidence; I have overcome the world."(13) Nor is there any ground for alleging that Jesus Christ, the Guardian and Champion of the Church, needs not in any manner the help of men. Power certainly is not wanting to Him, but in His loving kindness He would assign to us a share in obtaining and applying the fruits of salvation procured through His grace.

15. The chief elements of this duty consist in professing openly and unflinchingly the Catholic doctrine, and in propagating it to the utmost of our power. For, as is often said, with the greatest truth, there is nothing so hurtful to Christian wisdom as that it should not be known, since it possesses, when loyally received, inherent power to drive away error. So soon as Catholic truth is apprehended by a simple and unprejudiced soul, reason yields assent. Now, faith, as a virtue, is a great boon of divine grace and goodness; nevertheless, the objects themselves to which faith is to be applied are scarcely known in any other way than through the hearing. "How shall they believe Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? Faith then cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ."(14) Since, then, faith is necessary for salvation, it follows that the word of Christ must tie preached. The office, indeed, of preaching, that is, of teaching, lies by divine right in the province of the pastors, namely, of the bishops whom "the Holy Spirit has placed to rule the Church of God."(15) It belongs, above all, to the Roman Pontiff, vicar of Jesus Christ, established as head of the universal Church, teacher of all that pertains to morals and faith.

16. No one, however, must entertain the notion that private individuals are prevented from taking some active part in this duty of teaching, especially those on whom God has bestowed gifts of mind with the strong wish of rendering themselves useful. These, so often as circumstances demand, may take upon themselves, not, indeed, the office of the pastor, but the task of communicating to others what they have themselves received, becoming, as it were, living echoes of their masters in the faith. Such co-operation on the part of the laity has seemed to the Fathers of the Vatican Council so opportune and fruitful of good that they thought well to invite it. "All faithful Christians, but those chiefly who are in a prominent position, or engaged in teaching, we entreat, by the compassion of Jesus Christ, and enjoin by the authority of the same God and Saviour, that they bring aid to ward off and eliminate these errors from holy Church, and contribute their zealous help in spreading abroad the light of undefiled faith."(16) Let each one, therefore, bear in mind that he both can and should, so far as may be, preach the Catholic faith by the authority of his example, and by open and constant profession of the obligations it imposes. In respect, consequently, to the duties that bind us to God and the Church, it should be borne earnestly in mind that in propagating Christian truth and warding off errors the zeal of the laity should, as far as possible, be brought actively into play.

17. The faithful would not, however, so completely and advantageously satisfy these duties as is fitting they should were they to enter the field as isolated champions of the faith. Jesus Christ, indeed, has clearly intimated that the hostility and hatred of men, which He first and foremost experienced, would be shown in like degree toward the work founded by Him, so that many would be barred from profiting by the salvation for which all are indebted to His loving kindness. Wherefore, He willed not only to train disciples in His doctrine, but to unite them into one society, and closely conjoin them in one body, "which is the Church,"(17) whereof He would be the head. The life of Jesus Christ pervades, therefore, the entire framework of this body, cherishes and nourishes its every member, uniting each with each, and making all work together to the same end, albeit the action of each be not the same.(l8) Hence it follows that not only is the Church a perfect society far excelling every other, but it is enjoined by her Founder that for the salvation of mankind she is to contend "as an army drawn up in battle array."(19) The organization and constitution of Christian society can in no wise be changed, neither can any one of its members live as he may choose, nor elect that mode of fighting which best pleases him. For, in effect, he scatters and gathers not who gathers not with the Church and with Jesus Christ, and all who fight not jointly with him and with the Church are in very truth contending against God.(20)

18. To bring about such a union of minds and uniformity of action - not without reason so greatly feared by the enemies of Catholicism - the main point is that a perfect harmony of opinion should prevail; in which intent we find Paul the Apostle exhorting the Corinthians with earnest zeal and solemn weight of words: "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you: but that you be perfectly in the same mind, and in the same judgment."(21)

19. The wisdom of this precept is readily apprehended. In truth, thought is the principle of action, and hence there cannot exist agreement of will, or similarity of action, if people all think differently one from the other.

20. In the case of those who profess to take reason as their sole guide, there would hardly be found, if, indeed, there ever could be found, unity of doctrine. Indeed, the art of knowing things as they really are is exceedingly difficult; moreover, the mind of man is by nature feeble and drawn this way and that by a variety of opinions, and not seldom led astray by impressions coming from without; and, furthermore, the influence of the passions oftentimes takes away, or certainly at least diminishes, the capacity for grasping the truth. On this account, in controlling State affairs means are often used to keep those together by force who cannot agree in their way of thinking.

21. It happens far otherwise with Christians; they receive their rule of faith from the Church, by whose authority and under whose guidance they are conscious that they have beyond question attained to truth. Consequently, as the Church is one, because Jesus Christ is one, so throughout the whole Christian world there is, and ought to be, but one doctrine: "One Lord, one faith;"(22) "but having the same spirit of faith,"(23) they possess the saving principle whence proceed spontaneously one and the same will in all, and one and the same tenor of action.

22. Now, as the Apostle Paul urges, this unanimity ought to be perfect. Christian faith reposes not on human but on divine authority, for what God has revealed "we believe not on account of the intrinsic evidence of the truth perceived by the natural light of our reason, but on account of the authority of God revealing, who cannot be deceived nor Himself deceive."(24) It follows as a consequence that whatever things are manifestly revealed by God we must receive with a similar and equal assent. To refuse to believe any one of them is equivalent to rejecting them all, for those at once destroy the very groundwork of faith who deny that God has spoken to men, or who bring into doubt His infinite truth and wisdom. To determine, however, which are the doctrines divinely revealed belongs to the teaching Church, to whom God has entrusted the safekeeping and interpretation of His utterances. But the supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires, together with a perfect accord in the one faith, complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself. This obedience should, however, be perfect, because it is enjoined by faith itself, and has this in common with faith, that it cannot be given in shreds; nay, were it not absolute and perfect in every particular, it might wear the name of obedience, but its essence would disappear. Christian usage attaches such value to this perfection of obedience that it has been, and will ever be, accounted the distinguishing mark by which we are able to recognize Catholics. Admirably does the following passage from St. Thomas Aquinas set before us the right view: "The formal object of faith is primary truth, as it is shown forth in the holy Scriptures, and in the teaching of the Church, which proceeds from the fountainhead of truth. It follows, therefore, that he who does not adhere, as to an infallible divine rule, to the teaching of the Church, which proceeds from the primary truth manifested in the holy Scriptures, possesses not the habit of faith; but matters of faith he holds otherwise than true faith. Now, it is evident that he who clings to the doctrines of the Church as to an infallible rule yields his assent to everything the Church teaches; but otherwise, if with reference to what the Church teaches he holds what he likes but does not hold what he does not like, he adheres not to the teaching of the Church as to an infallible rule, but to his own will."(25)

23. "The faith of the whole Church should be one, according to the precept (1 Cor. 1:10): "Let all speak the same thing, and let there be no schisms among you"; and this cannot be observed save on condition that questions which arise touching faith should be determined by him who presides over the whole Church, whose sentence must consequently be accepted without wavering. And hence to the sole authority of the supreme Pontiff does it pertain to publish a new revision of the symbol, as also to decree all other matters that concern the universal Church."(26)

24. In defining the limits of the obedience owed to the pastors of souls, but most of all to the authority of the Roman Pontiff, it must not be supposed that it is only to be yielded in relation to dogmas of which the obstinate denial cannot be disjoined from the crime of heresy. Nay, further, it is not enough sincerely and firmly to assent to doctrines which, though not defined by any solemn pronouncement of the Church, are by her proposed to belief, as divinely revealed, in her common and universal teaching, and which the Vatican Council declared are to be believed "with Catholic and divine faith."(27) But this likewise must be reckoned amongst the duties of Christians, that they allow themselves to be ruled and directed by the authority and leadership of bishops, and, above all, of the apostolic see. And how fitting it is that this should be so any one can easily perceive. For the things contained in the divine oracles have reference to God in part, and in part to man, and to whatever is necessary for the attainment of his eternal salvation. Now, both these, that is to say, what we are bound to believe and what we are obliged to do, are laid down, as we have stated, by the Church using her divine right, and in the Church by the supreme Pontiff. Wherefore it belongs to the Pope to judge authoritatively what things the sacred oracles contain, as well as what doctrines are in harmony, and what in disagreement, with them; and also, for the same reason, to show forth what things are to be accepted as right, and what to be rejected as worthless; what it is necessary to do and what to avoid doing, in order to attain eternal salvation. For, otherwise, there would be no sure interpreter of the commands of God, nor would there be any safe guide showing man the way he should live.

25. In addition to what has been laid down, it is necessary to enter more fully into the nature of the Church. She is not an association of Christians brought together by chance, but is a divinely established and admirably constituted society, having for its direct and proximate purpose to lead the world to peace and holiness. And since the Church alone has, through the grace of God, received the means necessary to realize such end, she has her fixed laws, special spheres of action, and a certain method, fixed and conformable to her nature, of governing Christian peoples. But the exercise of such governing power is difficult, and leaves room for numberless conflicts, inasmuch as the Church rules peoples scattered through every portion of the earth, differing in race and customs, who, living under the sway of the laws of their respective countries, owe obedience alike to the civil and religious authorities. The duties enjoined are incumbent on the same persons, as already stated, and between them there exists neither contradiction nor confusion; for some of these duties have relation to the prosperity of the State, others refer to the general good of the Church, and both have as their object to train men to perfection.

26. The tracing out of these rights and duties being thus set forth, it is plainly evident that the governing powers are wholly free to carry out the business of the State; and this not only not against the wish of the Church, but manifestly with her co-operation, inasmuch as she strongly urges to the practice of piety, which implies right feeling towards God, and by that very fact inspires a right-mindedness toward the rulers in the State. The spiritual power, however, has a far loftier purpose, the Church directing her aim to govern the minds of men in the defending of the "kingdom of God, and His justice,"(28) a task she is wholly bent upon accomplishing.

27. No one can, however, without risk to faith, foster any doubt as to the Church alone having been invested with such power of governing souls as to exclude altogether the civil authority. In truth, it was not to Caesar but to Peter that Jesus Christ entrusted the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. From this doctrine touching the relations of politics and religion originate important consequences which we cannot pass over in silence.

28. A notable difference exists between every kind of civil rule and that of the kingdom of Christ. If this latter bear a certain likeness and character to a civil kingdom, it is distinguished from it by its origin, principle, and essence. The Church, therefore, possesses the right to exist and to protect herself by institutions and laws in accordance with her nature. And since she not only is a perfect society in herself, but superior to every other society of human growth, she resolutely refuses, promoted alike by right and by duty, to link herself to any mere party and to subject herself to the fleeting exigencies of politics. On like grounds, the Church, the guardian always of her own right and most observant of that of others, holds that it is not her province to decide which is the best amongst many diverse forms of government and the civil institutions of Christian States, and amid the various kinds of State rule she does not disapprove of any, provided the respect due to religion and the observance of good morals be upheld. By such standard of conduct should the thoughts and mode of acting of every Catholic be directed.

29. There is no doubt that in the sphere of politics ample matter may exist for legitimate difference of opinion, and that, the single reserve being made of the rights of justice and truth, all may strive to bring into actual working the ideas believed likely to be more conducive than others to the general welfare. But to attempt to involve the Church in party strife, and seek to bring her support to bear against those who take opposite views is only worthy of partisans. Religion should, on the contrary, be accounted by every one as holy and inviolate; nay, in the public order itself of States-which cannot be severed from the laws influencing morals and from religious duties-it is always urgent, and indeed the main preoccupation, to take thought how best to consult the interests of Catholicism. Wherever these appear by reason of the efforts of adversaries to be in danger, all differences of opinion among Catholics should forthwith cease, so that, like thoughts and counsels prevailing, they may hasten to the aid of religion, the general and supreme good, to which all else should be referred. We think it well to treat this matter somewhat more in detail.

30. The Church alike and the State, doubtless, both possess individual sovereignty; hence, in the carrying out of public affairs, neither obeys the other within the limits to which each is restricted by its constitution. It does not hence follow, however, that Church and State are in any manner severed, and still less antagonistic, Nature, in fact, has given us not only physical existence, but moral life likewise. Hence, from the tranquillity of public order, which is the immediate purpose of civil society, man expects to derive his well-being, and still more the sheltering care necessary to his moral life, which consists exclusively in the knowledge and practice of virtue. He wishes, moreover, at the same time, as in duty bound, to find in the Church the aids necessary to his religious perfection, in the knowledge and practice of the true religion; of that religion which is the queen of virtues, because in binding these to God it completes them all and perfects them. Therefore, they who are engaged in framing constitutions and in enacting laws should bear in mind the moral and religious nature of man, and take care to help him, but in a right and orderly way, to gain perfection, neither enjoining nor forbidding anything save what is reasonably consistent with civil as well as with religious requirements. On this very account, the Church cannot stand by, indifferent as to the import and significance of laws enacted by the State; not insofar, indeed, as they refer to the State, but in so far as, passing beyond their due limits, they trench upon the rights of the Church.

31. From God has the duty been assigned to the Church not only to interpose resistance, if at any time the State rule should run counter to religion, but, further, to make a strong endeavor that the power of the Gospel may pervade the law and institutions of the nations. And inasmuch as the destiny of the State depends mainly on the disposition of those who are at the head of affairs, it follows that the Church cannot give countenance or favor to those whom she knows to be imbued with a spirit of hostility to her; who refuse openly to respect her rights; who make it their aim and purpose to tear asunder the alliance that should, by the very nature of things, connect the interests of religion with those of the State. On the contrary, she is (as she is bound to be) the upholder of those who are themselves imbued with the right way of thinking as to the relations between Church and State, and who strive to make them work in perfect accord for the common good. These precepts contain the abiding principle by which every Catholic should shape his conduct in regard to public life. In short, where the Church does not forbid taking part in public affairs, it is fit and proper to give support to men of acknowledged worth, and who pledge themselves to deserve well in the Catholic cause, and on no account may it be allowed to prefer to them any such individuals as are hostile to religion.

32. Whence it appears how urgent is the duty to maintain perfect union of minds, especially at these our times, when the Christian name is assailed with designs so concerted and subtle. All who have it at heart to attach themselves earnestly to the Church, which is "the pillar and ground of the truth,"(29) will easily steer clear of masters who are "lying and promising them liberty, when they themselves are slaves of corruption."(30) Nay, more, having made themselves sharers in the divine virtue which resides in the Church, they will triumph over the craft of their adversaries by wisdom, and over their violence by courage. This is not now the time and place to inquire whether and how far the inertness and internal dissensions of Catholics have contributed to the present condition of things; but it is certain at least that the perverse-minded would exhibit less boldness, and would not have brought about such an accumulation of ills, if the faith "which worketh by charity"(31) had been generally more energetic and lively in the souls of men, and had there not been so universal a drifting away from the divinely established rule of morality throughout Christianity. May at least the lessons afforded by the memory of the past have the good result of leading to a wiser mode of acting in the future.

33. As to those who mean to take part in public affairs, they should avoid with the very utmost care two criminal excesses: so-called prudence and false courage. Some there are, indeed, who maintain that it is not opportune boldly to attack evil - doing in its might and when in the ascendant, lest, as they say, opposition should exasperate minds already hostile. These make it a matter of guesswork as to whether they are for the Church or against her, since on the one hand they give themselves out as professing the Catholic faith, and yet wish that the Church should allow certain opinions, at variance with her teaching, to be spread abroad with impunity. They moan over the loss of faith and the perversion of morals, yet trouble themselves not to bring any remedy; nay, not seldom, even add to the intensity of the mischief through too much forbearance or harmful dissembling. These same individuals would not have any one entertain a doubt as to their good will towards the holy see; yet they have always a something by way of reproach against the supreme Pontiff.

34. The prudence of men of this cast is of ;hat kind which is termed by the Apostle Paul 'wisdom of the flesh" and "death" of the soul, `because it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be."(32) Nothing is less calculated to emend such ills than prudence of this kind. For he enemies of the Church have for their object-and they hesitate not to proclaim it, and many among them boast of it - to destroy outright, if possible, the Catholic religion, which alone the true religion. With such a purpose in and they shrink from nothing, for they are fully conscious that the more faint - hearted those who withstand them become, the more easy will it be to work out their wicked will. Therefore, they who cherish the "prudence of the flesh" and who pretend to be unaware that every Christian ought to be a valiant soldier of Christ; they who would faro obtain the rewards owing to conquerors, while they are leading the lives of cowards, untouched in the fight, are so far from thwarting the onward march of the evil - disposed that, on the contrary, they even help it forward.

35. On the other hand, not a few, impelled by a false zeal, or - what is more blameworthy still - affecting sentiments which their conduct belies, take upon themselves to act a part which does not belong to them. They would faire see the Church's mode of action influenced by their ideas and their judgment to such an extent that everything done otherwise they take ill or accept with repugnance. Some, yet again, expend their energies in fruitless contention, being worthy of blame equally with the former. To act in such manner is nor to follow lawful authority but to forestall it, and, unauthorized, assume the duties of the spiritual rulers, to the great detriment of the order which God established in His Church to be observed forever, and which He does not permit to be violated with impunity by any one, whoever he may be.

36. Honor, then, to those who shrink not from entering the arena as often as need calls, believing and being convinced that the violence of injustice will be brought to an end and finally give way to the sanctity of right and religion! They truly seem invested with the dignity of time honored virtue, since they are struggling to defend religion, and chiefly against the faction banded together to attack Christianity with extreme daring and without tiring, and to pursue with incessant hostility the sovereign Pontiff, fallen into their power. But men of this high character maintain without wavering the love of obedience, nor are they wont to undertake anything upon their own authority. Now, since a like resolve to obey, combined with constancy and sturdy courage, is needful, so that whatever trials the pressure of events may bring about, they may be "deficient in nothing,"(33)We greatly desire to fix deep in the minds of each one that which Paul calls the "wisdom of the spirit,(34) for in controlling human actions this wisdom follows the excellent rule of moderation, with the happy result that no one either timidly despairs through lack of courage or presumes overmuch from want to prudence. There is, however, a difference between the political prudence that relates to the general good and that which concerns the good of individuals. This latter is shown forth in the case of private persons who obey the prompting of right reason in the direction of their own conduct; while the former is the characteristic of those who are set over others, and chiefly of rulers of the State, whose duty it is to exercise the power of command, so that the political prudence of private individuals would seem to consist wholly in carrying out faithfully the orders issued by lawful authority.(35)

37. The like disposition and the same order should prevail in the Christian society by so much the more that the political prudence of the Pontiff embraces diverse and multiform things, for it is his charge not only to rule the Church, but generally so to regulate the actions of Christian citizens that these may be in apt conformity to their hope of gaining eternal salvation. Whence it is clear that, in addition to the complete accordance of thought and deed, the faithful should follow the practical political wisdom of the ecclesiastical authority. Now, the administration of Christian affairs immediately under the Roman Pontiff appertains to the bishops, who, although they attain not to the summit of pontifical power, are nevertheless truly princes in the ecclesiastical hierarchy; and as each one of them administers a particular church, they are "as master-workers... in the spiritual edifice,"(36) and they have members of the clergy to share their duties and carry out their decisions. Every one has to regulate his mode of conduct according to this constitution of the Church, which it is not in the power of any man to change. Consequently, just as in the exercise of their episcopal authority the bishops ought to be united with the apostolic see so should the members of the clergy and the laity live in close union with their bishops. Among the prelates, indeed, one or other there may be affording scope to criticism either in regard to personal conduct or in reference to opinions by him entertained about points of doctrine; but no private person may arrogate to himself the office of judge which Christ our Lord has bestowed on that one alone whom He placed in charge of His lambs and of His sheep. Let every one bear in mind that most wise teaching of Gregory the Great: "Subjects should be admonished not rashly to judge their prelates, even if they chance to see them acting in a blameworthy manner, lest, justly reproving what is wrong, they be led by pride into greater wrong. They are to be warned against the danger of setting themselves up in audacious opposition to the superiors whose shortcomings they may notice. Should, therefore, the superiors really have committed grievous sins, their inferiors, penetrated with the fear of God, ought not to refuse them respectful submission. The actions of superiors should not be smitten by the sword of the word, even when they are rightly judged to have deserved censure."(37)

38. However, all endeavors will avail but little unless our life be regulated conformably with the discipline of the Christian virtues. Let us call to mind what holy Scripture records concerning the Jewish nation: "As long as they sinned not in the sight of their God, it was well with them: for their God hateth iniquity. And even . . . when they had revolted from the way that God had given them to walk therein, they were destroyed in battles by many nations."(38) Now, the nation of the Jews bore an inchoate semblance to the Christian people, and the vicissitudes of their history in olden times have often foreshadowed the truth that was to come, saving that God in His goodness has enriched and loaded us with far greater benefits, and on this account the sins of Christians are much greater, and bear the stamp of more shameful and criminal ingratitude.

39. The Church, it is certain, at no time and in no particular is deserted by God; hence, there is no reason why she should be alarmed at the wickedness of men; but in the case of nations falling away from Christian virtue there is not a like ground of assurance, "for sin maketh nations miserable."(39) If every bygone age has experienced the force of this truth, wherefore should not our own? There are, in truth, very many signs which proclaim that just punishments are already menacing, and the condition of modern States tends to confirm this belief, since we perceive many of them in sad plight from intestine disorders, and not one entirely exempt. But, should those leagued together in wickedness hurry onward in the road they have boldly chosen, should they increase in influence and power in proportion as they make headway in their evil purposes and crafty schemes, there will be ground to fear lest the very foundations nature has laid for States to rest upon be utterly destroyed. Nor can such misgivings be removed by any mere human effort, especially as a vast number of men, having rejected the Christian faith, are on that account justly incurring the penalty of their pride, since blinded by their passions they search in vain for truth, laying hold on the false for the true, and thinking themselves wise when they call "evil good, and good evil," and "put darkness in the place of light, and light in the place of darkness."(40) It is therefore necessary that God come to the rescue, and that, mindful of His mercy, He turn an eye of compassion on human society.

40. Hence, We renew the urgent entreaty We have already made, to redouble zeal and perseverance, when addressing humble supplications to our merciful God, so that the virtues whereby a Christian life is perfected may be reawakened. It is, however, urgent before all, that charity, which is the main foundation of the Christian life, and apart from which the other virtues exist not or remain barren, should be quickened and maintained. Therefore is it that the Apostle Paul, after having exhorted the Colossians to flee all vice and cultivate all virtue, adds: "Above all things, have charity, which is the bond of perfection."(41) Yea, truly, charity is the bond of perfection, for it binds intimately to God those whom it has embraced and with loving tenderness, causes them to draw their life from God, to act with God, to refer all to God. Howbeit, the love of God should not be severed from the love of our neighbour, since men have a share in the infinite goodness of God and bear in themselves the impress of His image and likeness. "This commandment we have from God, that he who loveth God, love also his brother."(42) "If any man say I love God, and he hateth his brother, he is a liar."(43) And this commandment concerning charity its divine proclaimer styled new, not in the sense that a previous law, or even nature itself, had not enjoined that men should love one another, but because the Christian precept of loving each other in that manner was truly new, and quite unheard of in the memory of man. For, that love with which Jesus Christ is beloved by His Father and with which He Himself loves men, He obtained for His disciples and followers that they might be of one heart and of one mind in Him by charity, as He Himself and His Father are one by their nature.

41. No one is unaware how deeply and from the very beginning the import of that precept has been implanted in the breast of Christians, and what abundant fruits of concord, mutual benevolence, piety, patience, and fortitude it has produced. Why, then, should we not devote ourselves to imitate the examples set by our fathers? The very times in which we live should afford sufficient motives for the practice of charity. Since impious men are bent on giving fresh impulse to their hatred against Jesus Christ, Christians should be quickened anew in piety; and charity, which is the inspirer of lofty deeds, should be imbued with new life. Let dissensions therefore, if there be any, wholly cease; let those strifes which waste the strength of those engaged in the fight, without any advantage resulting to religion, be scattered to the winds; let all minds be united in faith and all hearts in charity, so that, as it behooves, life may be spent in the practice of the love of God and the love of men.

42. This is a suitable moment for us to exhort especially heads of families to govern their households according to these precepts, and to be solicitous without failing for the right training of their children. The family may be regarded as the cradle of civil society, and it is in great measure within the circle of family life that the destiny of the States is fostered. Whence it is that they who would break away from Christian discipline are working to corrupt family life, and to destroy it utterly, root and branch. From such an unholy purpose they allow not themselves to be turned aside by the reflection that it cannot, even in any degree, be carried out without inflicting cruel outrage on the parents. These hold from nature their right of training the children to whom they have given birth, with the obligation super-added of shaping and directing the education of their little ones to the end for which God vouch - safed the privilege of transmitting the gift of life. It is, then, incumbent on parents to strain every nerve to ward off such an outrage, and to strive manfully to have and to hold exclusive authority to direct the education of their offspring, as is fitting, in a Christian manner, and first and foremost to keep them away from schools where there is risk of their drinking in the poison of impiety. Where the right education of youth is concerned, no amount of trouble or labor can be undertaken, how great soever, but that even greater still may not be called for. In this regard, indeed, there are to be found in many countries Catholics worthy of general admiration, who incur considerable outlay and bestow much zeal in founding schools for the education of youth. It is highly desirable that such noble example may be generously followed, where time and circumstances demand, yet all should be intimately persuaded that the minds of children are most influenced by the training they receive at home. If in their early years they find within the walls of their homes the rule of an upright life and the discipline of Christian virtues, the future welfare of society will in great measure be guaranteed.

43. And now We seem to have touched upon those matters which Catholics ought chiefly nowadays to follow, or mainly to avoid. It rests with you, venerable brothers, to take measures that Our voice may reach everywhere, and that one and all may understand how urgent it is to reduce to practice the teachings set forth in this Our letter. The observance of these duties cannot be troublesome or onerous, for the yoke of Jesus Christ is sweet, and His burden is light. If anything, however, appear too difficult of accomplishment, you will afford aid by the authority of your example, so that each one of the faithful may make more strenuous endeavor, and display a soul unconquered by difficulties. Bring it home to their minds, as We have Ourselves oftentimes conveyed the warning, that matters of the highest moment and worthy of all honor are at stake, for the safeguarding of which every most toilsome effort should be readily endured; and that a sublime reward is in store for the labors of a Christian life. On the other hand, to refrain from doing battle for Jesus Christ amounts to fighting against Him; He Himself assures us "He will deny before His Father in heaven those who shall have refused to confess Him on earth."(44) As for Ourselves and you all, never assuredly, so long as life lasts, shall We allow Our authority, Our counsels, and Our solicitude to be in any wise lacking in the conflict. Nor is it to be doubted but that especial aid of the great God will be vouchsafed, so long as the struggle endures, to the flock alike and to the pastors. Sustained by this confidence, as a pledge of heavenly gifts, and of Our loving kindness in the Lord to you, venerable brothers, to your clergy and to all your people, We accord the apostolic benediction.

Given at [Blessed Apostle Saint] Peter's in Rome, the tenth day of January, 1890, the twelfth year of Our pontificate.

REFERENCES:
1. Tobias 1:2.
2. Mark 16:16.
3. Matt. 6:24.
4. Acts 5:29.
5. Note the extreme importance of this principle; it justifies the doctrine according to which the only conceivable foundation of political authority must be divine in origin.
6. 2 Tim. 1:7.
7. Titus 3:1.
8. Acts 4:19-20.
9. John 18:37.
10. Luke 12:49.
11. Luke 17:5.
12. Summa theologiae, IIa-IIae, qu. iii, art. 2, ad 2m.
13. John 16:33.
14. Rom. 10:14, 17.
15. Acts 20:28.
16. Constitution Dei Filius, at end.
17. Col. 1:24.
18. Cf. Rom. 12:4-5. 19. Cant. 6:9.
20. Cf. Luke 11:22.
21. 1 Cor. 1:10.
22. Eph. 4:5.
23. 2 Cor. 4:13.
24. Constitution Dei Filius, cap. 3.
25. Summa theologiae, IIa-IIae, q. v, art. 3.
26. Ibid., q. i, arc. 10.
27. Vatican Council, Constit. de fide catholica, cap. 3, De fide. Cf. H. Denziger, Enchiridion Symbolorium 11 ed., Freiburg i. Br., 1911), p. 476.
28. Matt. 6:33.
29. I Tim. 3:15.
30. 2 Peter 2:1, 19.
31. Gal. 5:6.
32. Cf. Rom. 8:6-7.
33. James 1:4.
34. Rom. 8:6.
35. "Prudence proceeds from reason, and to reason it specially pertains to guide and govern. Whence it follows that, in so much as any one takes part in the control and government of affairs, in so far ought he to be gifted with reason and prudence. But it is evident that the subject, so far as subject, and the servant ought neither to control nor govern, but rather to be controlled and governed. Prudence, then, is not the special virtue of the servant, so far as servant, nor of the subject, so far as subject. But because any man, on account of his character of a reasonable being, may have some share in the government on account of the rational choice which he exercises, it is fitting that in such proportion he should possess the virtue of prudence. Whence it manifestly results that prudence exists in the ruler as the art of building exists in the architect, whereas prudence exists in the subject as the art of building exists in the hand of the workman employed in the construction." Summa theologiae, IIa-Ilae, q. xlvii, art. 12, Answer. St. Thomas Aquinas refers to Aristotle, Ethic. Nic., Bk. VI, 8, 1141b 21-29.
36. Thomas Aquinas Quaest Quodl., 1, G. 7, art. 2, Answer.
37. Regina pastorales, Part 3, cap. 4 (PL 77, 55).
38. Judith 5:21-22.
39. Prov. 14:34.
40. Isa. 5:20.
41. Col. 3:14.
42. I John 4:21.
43. I John 4:20.
44. Luke 9:26.

QUI PLURIBUS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS IX
ON FAITH And RELIGION

Encyclical Promulgated on 9 November 1846

To All Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops.
Venerable Brothers, We Greet You and Give You Our Apostolic Blessing.

For many years past We strove with you, venerable brothers, to devote Our best powers to Our episcopal office—an office full of labor and worry. We strove to feed those committed to Our care on the mountains of Israel, at its streams and in its richest pastures. Our illustrious Predecessor, Gregory XVI, whose famous actions are recorded in the annals of the Church in letters of gold, will surely be remembered and admired by future generations. Now though, upon his death, by the mysterious plan of divine providence, We have been raised to the supreme Pontificate. We did not purpose this nor expect it; indeed Our reaction is great disquietude and anxiety. For if the burden of the Apostolic ministry is rightly considered to be at all times exceedingly heavy and beset with dangers, it is to be dreaded most particularly in these times which are so critical for the Christian commonwealth.
2. We are well aware of Our weakness. So when We reflect on the most serious duties of the supreme apostolate especially in a period of great instability, We would simply have fallen into great sadness, did We not place all Our hope in God who is Our Saviour. For He never abandons those who hope in Him. Time and again, so as to demonstrate what His power can accomplish, He employs weak instruments to rule His Church; in this way, all men may increasingly realize that it is God Himself who governs and protects the Church with his wonderful providence. We are also greatly supported by the comforting consideration that We have you, venerable brothers, as Our helpers and companions in the work of saving souls. For since you have been called to share a portion of Our care, you strive to fulfill your ministry with attentiveness and zeal, and to fight the good fight.
3. For this reason, as soon as We were placed, despite Our unworthiness, on this high See of the prince of the apostles as the representative of the blessed Peter, and received from the eternal Prince of Pastors Himself the most serious divinely given office of feeding and ruling not only the lambs, that is, the whole Christian people, but also the sheep, that is, the bishops, We surely had no greater wish than to address you all with a deep feeling of love. Therefore, since We have now assumed the supreme pontificate in Our Lateran Basilica, We are sending this letter to you without delay, in accordance with the established practice of Our predecessors. Its purpose is to urge that you keep the night-watches over the flock entrusted to your care with the greatest possible eagerness, wakefulness and effort, and that you raise a protecting wall before the House of Israel; do these as you battle with episcopal strength and steadfastness like good soldiers of Christ Jesus against the hateful enemy of the human race.
4. Each of you has noticed, venerable brothers, that a very bitter and fearsome war against the whole Catholic commonwealth is being stirred up by men bound together in a lawless alliance. These men do not preserve sound doctrine, but turn their hearing from the truth. They eagerly attempt to produce from their darkness all sorts of prodigious beliefs, and then to magnify them with all their strength, and to publish them and spread them among ordinary people. We shudder indeed and suffer bitter pain when We reflect on all their outlandish errors and their many harmful methods, plots and contrivances. These men use these means to spread their hatred for truth and light. They are experienced and skillful in deceit, which they use to set in motion their plans to quench peoples' zeal for piety, justice and virtue, to corrupt morals, to cast all divine and human laws into confusion, and to weaken and even possibly overthrow the Catholic religion and civil society. For you know, venerable brothers, that these bitter enemies of the Christian name, are carried wretchedly along by some blind momentum of their mad impiety; they go so far in their rash imagining as to teach without blushing, openly and publicly, daring and unheard-of doctrines, thereby uttering blasphemies against God.[1] They teach that the most holy mysteries of our religion are fictions of human invention, and that the teaching of the Catholic Church is opposed to the good and the prerogatives of human society. They are not even afraid to deny Christ Himself and God.
5. In order to easily mislead the people into making errors, deceiving particularly the imprudent and the inexperienced, they pretend that they alone know the ways to prosperity. They claim for themselves without hesitation the name of "philosophers." They feel as if philosophy, which is wholly concerned with the search for truth in nature, ought to reject those truths which God Himself, the supreme and merciful creator of nature, has deigned to make plain to men as a special gift. With these truths, mankind can gain true happiness and salvation. So, by means of an obviously ridiculous and extremely specious kind of argumentation, these enemies never stop invoking the power and excellence of human reason; they raise it up against the most holy faith of Christ, and they blather with great foolhardiness that this faith is opposed to human reason.
6. Without doubt, nothing more insane than such a doctrine, nothing more impious or more opposed to reason itself could be devised. For although faith is above reason, no real disagreement or opposition can ever be found between them; this is because both of them come from the same greatest source of unchanging and eternal truth, God. They give such reciprocal help to each other that true reason shows, maintains and protects the truth of the faith, while faith frees reason from all errors and wondrously enlightens, strengthens and perfects reason with the knowledge of divine matters.
7. It is with no less deceit, venerable brothers, that other enemies of divine revelation, with reckless and sacrilegious effrontery, want to import the doctrine of human progress into the Catholic religion. They extol it with the highest praise, as if religion itself were not of God but the work of men, or a philosophical discovery which can be perfected by human means. The charge which Tertullian justly made against the philosophers of his own time "who brought forward a Stoic and a Platonic and a Dialectical Christianity"[2] can very aptly apply to those men who rave so pitiably. Our holy religion was not invented by human reason, but was most mercifully revealed by God; therefore, one can quite easily understand that religion itself acquires all its power from the authority of God who made the revelation, and that it can never be arrived at or perfected by human reason. In order not to be deceived and go astray in a matter of such great importance, human reason should indeed carefully investigate the fact of divine revelation. Having done this, one would be definitely convinced that God has spoken and therefore would show Him rational obedience, as the Apostle very wisely teaches.[3] For who can possibly not know that all faith should be given to the words of God and that it is in the fullest agreement with reason itself to accept and strongly support doctrines which it has determined to have been revealed by God, who can neither deceive nor be deceived?
8. But how many wonderful and shining proofs are ready at hand to convince the human reason in the clearest way that the religion of Christ is divine and that "the whole principle of our doctrines has taken root from the Lord of the heavens above";[4] therefore nothing exists more definite, more settled or more holy than our faith, which rests on the strongest foundations. This faith, which teaches for life and points towards salvation, which casts out all vices and is the fruitful mother and nurse of the virtues, has been established by the birth, life, death, resurrection, wisdom, wonders and prophecies of Christ Jesus, its divine author and perfector! Shining forth in all directions with the light of teaching from on high and enriched with the treasures of heavenly wealth, this faith grew famed and notable by the fore-tellings of so many prophets, the lustre of so many miracles, the steadfastness of so many martyrs, and the glory of so many saints! It made known the saving laws of Christ and, gaining in strength daily even when it was most cruelly persecuted, it made its way over the whole world by land and sea, from the sun's rising to its setting, under the single standard of the Cross! The deceit of idols was cast down and the mist of errors was scattered. By the defeat of all kinds of enemies, this faith enlightened with divine knowledge all peoples, races and nations, no matter how barbarous and savage, or how different in character, morals, laws and ways of life. It brought them under the sweet yoke of Christ Himself by proclaiming peace and good tidings to all men!
9. Now, surely all these events shine with such divine wisdom and power that anyone who considers them will easily understand that the Christian faith is the work of God. Human reason knows clearly from these striking and certain proofs that God is the author of this faith; therefore it is unable to advance further but should offer all obedience to this faith, casting aside completely every problem and hesitation. Human reason is convinced that it is God who has given everything the faith proposes to men for belief and behavior.
10. This consideration too clarifies the great error of those others as well who boldly venture to explain and interpret the words of God by their own judgment, misusing their reason and holding the opinion that these words are like a human work. God Himself has set up a living authority to establish and teach the true and legitimate meaning of His heavenly revelation. This authority judges infallibly all disputes which concern matters of faith and morals, lest the faithful be swirled around by every wind of doctrine which springs from the evilness of men in encompassing error. And this living infallible authority is active only in that Church which was built by Christ the Lord upon Peter, the head of the entire Church, leader and shepherd, whose faith He promised would never fail. This Church has had an unbroken line of succession from Peter himself; these legitimate pontiffs are the heirs and defenders of the same teaching, rank, office and power. And the Church is where Peter is,[5] and Peter speaks in the Roman Pontiff,[6] living at all times in his successors and making judgment,[7] providing the truth of the faith to those who seek it.[8] The divine words therefore mean what this Roman See of the most blessed Peter holds and has held.
11. For this mother and teacher[9] of all the churches has always preserved entire and unharmed the faith entrusted to it by Christ the Lord. Furthermore, it has taught it to the faithful, showing all men truth and the path of salvation. Since all priesthood originates in this church,[10] the entire substance of the Christian religion resides there also.[11] The leadership of the Apostolic See has always been active,[12] and therefore because of its preeminent authority, the whole Church must agree with it. The faithful who live in every place constitute the whole Church.[13] Whoever does not gather with this Church scatters.[14]
12. We, therefore, placed inscrutably by God upon this Chair of truth, eagerly call forth in the Lord your outstanding piety, venerable brothers. We urge you to strive carefully and zealously to continually warn and exhort the faithful entrusted to your care to hold to these first principles. Urge them never to allow themselves to be deceived and led into error by men who have become abominable in their pursuits. These men attempt to destroy faith on the pretext of human progress, subjecting it in an impious manner to reason and changing the meaning of the words of God. Such men do not shrink from the greatest insults to God Himself, who cares for the good and the salvation of men by means of His heavenly religion.
13. You already know well, venerable brothers, the other portentous errors and deceits by which the sons of this world try most bitterly to attack the Catholic religion and the divine authority of the Church and its laws. They would even trample underfoot the rights both of the sacred and of the civil power. For this is the goal of the lawless activities against this Roman See in which Christ placed the impregnable foundation of His Church. This is the goal of those secret sects who have come forth from the darkness to destroy and desolate both the sacred and the civil commonwealth. These have been condemned with repeated anathema in the Apostolic letters of the Roman Pontiffs who preceded Us[15] We now confirm these with the fullness of Our Apostolic power and command that they be most carefully observed.
14. This is the goal too of the crafty Bible Societies which renew the old skill of the heretics and ceaselessly force on people of all kinds, even the uneducated, gifts of the Bible. They issue these in large numbers and at great cost, in vernacular translations, which infringe the holy rules of the Church. The commentaries which are included often contain perverse explanations; so, having rejected divine tradition, the doctrine of the Fathers and the authority of the Catholic Church, they all interpret the words of the Lord by their own private judgment, thereby perverting their meaning. As a result, they fall into the greatest errors. Gregory XVI of happy memory, Our superior predecessor, followed the lead of his own predecessors in rejecting these societies in his apostolic letters.[16] It is Our will to condemn them likewise.
15. Also perverse is the shocking theory that it makes no difference to which religion one belongs, a theory which is greatly at variance even with reason. By means of this theory, those crafty men remove all distinction between virtue and vice, truth and error, honorable and vile action. They pretend that men can gain eternal salvation by the practice of any religion, as if there could ever be any sharing between justice and iniquity, any collaboration between light and darkness, or any agreement between Christ and Belial.
16. The sacred celibacy of clerics has also been the victim of conspiracy. Indeed, some churchmen have wretchedly forgotten their own rank and let themselves be converted by the charms and snares of pleasure. This is the aim too of the prevalent but wrong method of teaching, especially in the philosophical disciplines, a method which deceives and corrupts incautious youth in a wretched manner and gives it as drink the poison of the serpent in the goblet of Babylon. To this goal also tends the unspeakable doctrine of Communism, as it is called, a doctrine most opposed to the very natural law. For if this doctrine were accepted, the complete destruction of everyone's laws, government, property, and even of human society itself would follow.
17. To this end also tend the most dark designs of men in the clothing of sheep, while inwardly ravening wolves. They humbly recommend themselves by means of a feigned and deceitful appearance of a purer piety, a stricter virtue and discipline; after taking their captives gently, they mildly bind them, and then kill them in secret. They make men fly in terror from all practice of religion, and they cut down and dismember the sheep of the Lord. To this end, finally—to omit other dangers which are too well known to you—tends the widespread disgusting infection from books and pamphlets which teach the lessons of sinning. These works, well-written and filled with deceit and cunning, are scattered at immense cost through every region for the destruction of the Christian people. They spread pestilential doctrines everywhere and deprave the minds especially of the imprudent, occasioning great losses for religion.
18. As a result of this filthy medley of errors which creeps in from every side, and as the result of the unbridled license to think, speak and write, We see the following: morals deteriorated, Christ's most holy religion despised, the majesty of divine worship rejected, the power of this Apostolic See plundered, the authority of the Church attacked and reduced to base slavery, the rights of bishops trampled on, the sanctity of marriage infringed, the rule of every government violently shaken and many other losses for both the Christian and the civil commonwealth. Venerable brothers, We are compelled to weep and share in your lament that this is the case.
19. Therefore, in this great crisis for religion, because We are greatly concerned for the salvation of all the Lord's flock and in fulfillment of the duty of Our Apostolic ministry, We shall certainly leave no measure untried in Our vigorous effort to secure the good of the whole Christian family. Indeed, We especially call forth in the Lord your own illustrious piety, virtue and prudence, venerable brothers. With these and relying on heavenly aid, you may fearlessly defend the cause of God and His holy Church as befits your station and the office for which you are marked. You must fight energetically, since you know very well what great wounds the undefiled Spouse of Christ Jesus has suffered, and how vigorous is the destructive attack of Her enemies. You must also care for and defend the Catholic faith with episcopal strength and see that the flock entrusted to you stands to the end firm and unmoved in the faith. For unless one preserves the faith entire and uninjured, he will without doubt perish forever.[17]
20. So, in accordance with your pastoral care, work assiduously to protect and preserve this faith. Never cease to instruct all men in it, to encourage the wavering, to convince dissenters, to strengthen the weak in faith by never tolerating and letting pass anything which could in the slightest degree defile the purity of this faith. With the same great strength of mind, foster in all men their unity with the Catholic Church, outside of which there is no salvation; also foster their obedience towards this See of Peter on which rests the entire structure of our most holy religion. See to it with similar firmness that the most holy laws of the Church are observed, for it is by these laws that virtue, religion and piety particularly thrive and flourish.
21. "It is an act of great piety to expose the concealments of the impious and to defeat there the devil himself, whose slaves they are.[18] Therefore We entreat you to use every means of revealing to your faithful people the many kinds of plot, pretense, error, deceit and contrivance which our enemies use. This will turn them carefully away from infectious books. Also exhort them unceasingly to flee from the sects and societies of the impious as from the presence of a serpent, earnestly avoiding everything which is at variance with the wholeness of faith, religion and morality. Therefore, never stop preaching the Gospel, so that the Christian people may grow in the knowledge of God by being daily better versed in the most holy precepts of the Christian law; as a result, they may turn from evil, do good, and walk in the ways of the Lord. You know that you are acting as deputies for Christ, who is meek ant humble, and who came not to call the just but sinners. This is the example that we should follow. When you find someone disregarding the commandments and wandering from the path of truth and justice, rebuke them in the spirit of mildness and meekness with paternal warnings; accuse, entreat and reprove them with all kindness, patience and doctrine. "Often benevolence towards those who are to be corrected achieves more than severity, exhortation more than threats, and love more than power."[19]
22. Strive to instruct the faithful to follow after love and search for peace, diligently pursuing the works of love and peace so that they may love one another with reciprocal charity. They should abolish all disagreements, enmities, rivalries and animosities, thus achieving compatibility. Take pains to impress on the Christian people a due obedience and subjection to rulers and governments. Do this by teaching, in accordance with the warning of the Apostle,[20] that all authority comes from God. Whoever resists authority resists the ordering made by God Himself, consequently achieving his own condemnation; disobeying authority is always sinful except when an order is given which is opposed to the laws of God and the Church.
23. However, priests are the best examples of piety and God's worship,"[21] and people tend generally to be of the same quality as their priests. Therefore devote the greatest care and zeal to making the clergy resplendent for the earnestness of their morals, the integrity, holiness and wisdom of their lives. Let the ecclesiastical training be zealously preserved in compliance with the sacred canons, and whenever it has been neglected, let it be restored to its former splendor. Therefore, as you are well aware, you must take the utmost care, as the Apostle commands, not to impose hands on anyone in haste. Consecrate with holy orders and promote to the performance of the sacred mysteries only those who have been carefully examined and who are virtuous and wise. They can consequently benefit and ornament your dioceses.
24. These are men who avoid everything which is forbidden to clerics, devoting their time instead to reading, exhorting and teaching, "an example to the faithful in word, manner of life, in charity, in faith, in chastity."[22] They win the highest respect from all men, and fashion, summon forth and inspire the people with the Christian way of life. "For it would certainly be better," as Benedict XIV, Our Predecessor of undying memory very wisely advises, "to have fewer ministers if they be upright, suitable and useful, than many who are likely to accomplish nothing at all for the building up of the body of Christ, which is the Church."[23] You must examine with greater diligence the morals and the knowledge of men who are entrusted with the care and guidance of souls, that they may be eager to continuously feed and assist the people entrusted to them by the administration of the sacraments, the preaching of God's word and the example of good works. They should be zealous in molding them to the whole plan and pattern of a religious way of life, and in leading them on to the path of salvation.
25. When ministers are ignorant or neglectful of their duty, then the morals of the people also immediately decline, Christian discipline grows slack, the practice of religion is dislodged and cast aside, and every vice and corruption is easily introduced into the Church. The word of God, which was uttered for the salvation of souls, is living, efficacious and more piercing than a two-edged sword.[24] So that it may not prove to be unfruitful through the fault of its ministers, never cease, venerable brothers, from encouraging the preachers of this divine word to carry out most religiously the ministry of the Gospel. This should not be carried out by the persuasive words of human wisdom, nor by the profane seductive guise of empty and ambitious eloquence, but rather as a demonstration of the spirit and power.
26. Consequently, by presenting the word of truth properly and by preaching not themselves but Christ crucified, they should clearly proclaim in their preaching the tenets and precepts of our most holy religion in accordance with the teaching of the Catholic Church and the Fathers. They should explain precisely the particular duties of individuals, frighten them from vice, and inspire them with a love of piety. In this way the faithful will avoid all vices and pursue virtues, and so, will be able to escape eternal punishment and gain heavenly glory.
27. In your pastoral care, continuously urge all ecclesiastics to think seriously of their holy ministry. Urge them to carefully fulfill their duties, to greatly love the beauty of God's house, to urgently pray and entreat with deep piety, and to say the canonical hours of the breviary as the Church commands. By these means they will be able both to pray efficaciously for God's help in fulfilling the heavy demands of their duty, and to graciously reconcile God and the Christian people.
28. You know that suitable ministers can only come from clergy who are very well trained, and that the proper training greatly influences the whole future life of clerics. Therefore, continually strive to ensure that young clerics are properly molded even from their earliest years. They should be molded not only in piety and real virtue, but also in literature and the stricter disciplines, especially the sacred ones. So your greatest desire should be, in obedience to the prescript of the fathers at Trent,[25] to set up skillfully and energetically, seminaries if they do not yet exist. If necessary expand those already established, supplying them with the best directors and teachers. Watch continuously and zealously that the young clerics in them are educated in a holy and religious manner, in the fear of the Lord and in ecclesiastical discipline. See that they are carefully and thoroughly improved, especially by the sacred sciences, according to Catholic doctrine, far from all danger of any error. They should also be improved by the traditions of the Church and the writings of the holy Fathers, as well as by sacred ceremonies and rites. Thus you will have energetic, industrious workers endowed with an ecclesiastical spirit, properly prepared by their studies, who in time will be able to tend the Lord's field carefully and fight strenuously in the Lord's battles.
29. Furthermore, you realize that spiritual exercises contribute greatly to the preservation of the dignity and holiness of ecclesiastical orders. Therefore do not neglect to promote this work of salvation and to advise and exhort all clergy to often retreat to a suitable place for making these exercises. Laying aside external cares and being free to meditate zealously on eternal divine matters, they will be able to wipe away stains caused by the dust of the world and renew their ecclesiastical spirit. And stripping off the old man and his deeds, they will put on the new man who was created in justice and holiness.
30. Do not regret that We have spoken at length on the education and training of the clergy. For you are very well aware many men are weary of the difference, instability and changing nature of their errors, and therefore want to profess our most holy religion. These men, with God's good help, will more easily embrace and practice the teaching, precepts and way of life of this religion if they see that the clergy surpass all others in their piety, integrity and wisdom, and in the noble example they give of all the virtues.
31. We recognize your many worthy attributes: your burning charity towards God and men, your exalted love of the Church, your almost angelic virtues, your episcopal bravery, and your prudence. Being inspired to do His holy will, you are all followers in the footsteps of the Apostles. As bishops, you are the deputies, and thus the imitators of Christ. In your harmonious pursuits you have become a sincere model for your flock, and you enlighten your clergy and faithful people with the splendor of your sanctity. In your compassionate mercy you seek out and overtake with your love the straying and perishing sheep, as the shepherd in the Gospel did. You place them paternally on your shoulders ant lead them back to the fold. At no time do you spare either cares or plans or toils in religiously fulfilling your pastoral duties and defending all Our beloved sheep who, redeemed by Christ, have been entrusted to your care from the rage, assault and snares of ravening wolves. You keep them away from poisonous pasture land and drive them on to safe ground, and in all possible ways you lead them by deed, word and example to the harbor of eternal salvation.
32. Therefore, to assure the greater glory of God and the Church, venerable brothers, join together with all eagerness, care and wakefulness to repulse error and to root out vice. When this is accomplished, faith, religion, piety and virtue will increase daily. Then all the faithful, as sons of light, casting aside the works of darkness, may walk worthily, pleasing God in all things and being fruitful in every good work. And in the very great straits, difficulties and dangers which must beset your serious ministry as bishops, especially in these times, do not ever be terrified; rather, be comforted by the strength of the Lord "who looks down on us who carry out his work, approves those who are willing, aids those who do battle, and crowns those who conquer."[26]
33. Nothing is more pleasing to Us than to assist you, whom We love, with affection, advice, and exertion. We devote Ourselves wholeheartedly together with you to protect and spread the glory of God and the Catholic faith; We also endeavor to save souls for whom We are ready to sacrifice life itself, should it be necessary. Come to Us as often as you feel the need of the aid, help and protection of Our authority and that of this See.
34. We hope that Our political leaders will keep in mind, in accordance with their piety and religion, that "the kingly power has been conferred on them not only for ruling the world but especially for the protection of the Church."[27] Sometimes We "act both for the sake of their rule and safety that they may possess their provinces by peaceful right."[28] We hope that with their aid and authority they will support the objects, plans and pursuits which we have in common, and that they will also defend the liberty and safety of the Church, so that "the right hand of Christ may also defend their rule."[29]
35. We hope that all these matters may turn out well and happily. Let us together entreat God in urgent and unceasing prayers, to make up for Our weakness by an abundance of every heavenly grace, to overwhelm with His all-powerful strength those who attack us, and to increase everywhere faith, piety, devotion and peace. Then when all enemies and errors have been overcome, His holy Church may enjoy the tranquillity it so greatly desires. Then too there may be one fold and one shepherd.
36. That the Lord may more readily respond to Us, let us call as intercessor Her who is always with Him, the most holy Virgin Mary, Immaculate Mother of God. She is the most sweet mother of us all; she is our mediatrix, advocate, firmest hope, and greatest source of confidence. Furthermore, her patronage with God is strongest and most efficacious. Let us invoke too the prince of the Apostles to whom Christ Himself gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whom He made the rock of His Church, against which the gates of hell will never prevail; let us also invoke his fellow-apostle Paul, and all the heavenly saints who are already crowned and hold the palm of victory. We ask that they implore for all Christians the abundance of divine favor which they desire.
37. Finally, as an augury of all the heavenly gifts and as witness of Our great charity towards you, receive the Apostolic Blessing which from deep in Our heart We most lovingly impart to yourselves, venerable brothers, and to all clerics and the faithful laity who are entrusted to your care.
Given in Rome at Saint Mary Major's on the 9th of November 1846 in the first year of Our Pontificate.

ENDNOTES

1. Ap 13.6.
2. Tertullian, de Praescript., chap. 8.
3. Rom 13.1
4. Saint John Chrysostom, hom. 1 in Isaiah.
5. Saint Ambrose on Ps 40.
6. Council of Chalcedon, Act. 2.
7. Synod of Ephes., Act. 3.
8. Saint Peter Chrysologus, epistle to Eutyches.
9. Council of Trent, session 7 on baptism.
10. Saint Cyprian, epistle 55 to Pope Cornelius.
11. Synod. Letter of John of Constantinople to Pope Hormisdas and Sozomen, Hist., III. 8.
12. Saint Augustine, epistle 162.
13. Saint Irenaeus, Adv. Haer. III, 3.
14. Saint Jerome, epistle to Pope Damasus.
15. Clement XII, constitution Providas; Pius VII, constitution Ecclesiam a Jesu Christo; Leo XII, constitution Ubi graviora.
16. Gregory XVI, encyclical letter Inter praecipuas machinationes.
17. Ex Symbolo Quicumque.
18. Saint Leo. sermon 8.4.
19. Council of Trent, session 13, chap. on reform.
20. Rom 12.1-2.
21. Council of Trent, session 22. chap. 1 on reform.
22. Tm 4.12.
23. Benedict XIV, encyclical letter Ubi primum.
24. Heb 4.12.
25. Council of Trent, session 23, chap. 18, on reform.
26. Saint Cyprian, epistle 77 to Nemesianus and other martyrs.
27. Saint Leo, epistle 156 (123) to Emperor Leo.
28. Saint Leo, epistle 43 (34) to Emperor Theodosius.
29. Ibid.

Pope Pius XII with Tiara and Sedalia

"The use of the Latin language, customary in a considerable section of the Church, is a manifest and beautiful sign of unity, as well as an effective antidote for any corruption of doctrinal truth." ~~ Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Mediator Dei #60, November 20, 1947

Symbolum Apostolorum ~ THE APOSTLES' CREED

While the present form of the Apostles' Creed first appeared in the 6th century in the writings of Caesarius of Arles ( d 542 ), it can be traced in one form or another back to Apostolic times. Rufinus' Commentary on the Apostle's Creed ( ca. A.D. 407 ) contains the prayer in a form very close to what we have today. The Creed can also be found in a letter to Pope Julius I ( A.D. 340 ) and even earlier in a circa 200 document containing the Roman baptismal liturgy. It appears that originally this Creed was a baptismal creed summarizing the teachings of the Apostles and was given to the catechumens when they were baptized. Instead of the continuous prayer as we have it today, each line was rather in the form of a question to which the catechumen gave assent indicating he both understood and believed. Eventually this question and answer style was modified into the prayer form as we have it today. A partial indulgence is granted to the faithful who recite the Symbolum Apostolorum.

CREDO in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae. Et in Iesum Christum, Filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum, qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine, passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus, descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis, ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis, inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos. Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum, carnis resurrectionem, vitam aeternam. Amen.

:

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord: Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary: Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried: He descended into hell: The third day he rose again from the dead: He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead: I believe in the Holy Ghost: I believe in the holy catholic church: the communion of saints: The forgiveness of sins: The resurrection of the body: And the life everlasting. Amen.