WITH THE APOSTOLIG SEE

To Dur Vénérable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates, Arch-

bishops, and ail Bishops of the Catholic World in Union

and Communion ivilh the Aposlolic See.

LEO XIII, POPE

Vénérable Brothers, Health and Apostolic Bénédiction.

It was in the hîdden scheme of Divine Providence, which Jésus Christ, the Saviour of men, was to accomplish on earth, that He should himself, through and by his own power, divinely restore the world, grown feeble from old âge. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesians, grasped this idea in that splendid

stately passage : It was the mystery oj his vnll to

restore in Christ ail that is in heaven and on earth. (1). And truly when Christ our Lord began to exécute

(1) Ad Bph, 1. 9-10,

the command which his Father had given him, He at once imparted to ail things a sort of ncw form and aspect, casting aside the worn-out fashion of the past. He healed the wounds which the sin of the first parent had fastened upon human nature ; reconciled to the favor of G-od ail men, by nature the sons of wrath ; brought into the light of truth ail wearied of a life ronnd of daily errors ; renewed in every virtue those who were exhausted by ail sorts of impurity; an l held out assured hopes of everlasting happiness to newly endowed humanity, that their very bodies, mortal and perishable that they were, should in the hereafter be made partakers of immortality and heavenly glory And to the end that such extraordinary benents might remain on earth so long as men should exist, He constituted the Church the Vicar of His design, and looking to the future, commanded her to remedy whatever disorder might creep into human society, and efïect a restoration should there be any falling ofT.

Now, although the divine rénovation which we hâve mentioned mainly and directly affected men in the supernatural order of grâce, nevertheless its precious and salutary results flowed largely into the natural order ; so that each one personally, as well as the human class as social aggregate received in ail its divisions no scanty measure of perfection. For the Christian order of things being once established, it became the happy lot of ail men to learn and grow used to repose on the fatherly providence of Grod, and nourish an unfailing hope of heavenly aids, whence spring fortitude, tempérance, and constancy, the even ténor of a mind at ease, in fine, many lustrous virtues and noble deeds. It is wonderful what a dignity, stability, and honor were infused into domestic and civil society. The authority of rulers became more équitable and beneficent ; the allegiance of peoples more prompt and easy ; the bonds of citizenship closer

and the rights of property more secure. The Christian religion consulted and provided for ail that is deemed useful in the commonwealth, to such a pass, indeed, that, according to St. Augustine, it seems she could not hâve imparted a more vigorous impulse to a good and happy life, had she been solely instituted to prépare and increase the advantages and profits of mortal life.

But it is not our purpose now to enter in détail on this vast field of discussion ; we seek only to treat of domestic life, the source and foundation of which is mariage.

Ail men are agreed upon what the true origin of mariage is. For, although the revilers of the Christian faith shiink from recognizing the perpétuai teaching of tne Church in this matter, and are already striving to wipe out the testimony of ail nations and âges, still they hâve not been able to extinguish or diminish the force and light of truth. We mention things known to every one and undoubted ; after, on the sixth day of création, Grod had formed man from the slime of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, He wished to give him a companion, whom He wonderfully extracted from the side of man himself as he slept. By this act an All-provident Grod designed that that pair shouldbe the natural source from which it would be necessary that the human race should be propagated and, without an y intermission of procréation, continue for ail time.

And that union of man and woman, that it might correspond more aptly with the all-wise designs of GTod, even from that time, bore in a most especial manner two attributes, and thèse ennobling in the first degree, which were as if deeply impressed and engraved, namely, unity and indissolubility. We learn from the Grospel that this was declared and openly confirmed by the divine authority of Jésus Christ, who bore witnt'ss to the Jews and Apostles, that marriage

fïom its very institution should be only between two, to wit, a man and a woman ; that from two they become one flesh ; and that the nuptial knot is thus by Grod's will so intimately and strongly tied together, that he canLot be dissolved or drawn apart by any one among men. He (man) shall cleave to his wife and they two shall be in one fie h. Iherefore, vow they are nvt two, but one fle%h. What thenjore, Godhath joinedtogetfar, let no man put asunder (1).

But this form ol mariage, so excellent and ennobling, began gradually to grow corrupt and die out among the heathen people ; among even the Hebrews themselves it seemed to hâve waxed dim and obscure. For among them a common custom sprang up in regard to wives, for each man to hâve more than one wiie ; and later on, when on account of their hardness of heart (2) Moses had indulgently granted them the power of dismissal the door to divorce was laid open. And in pagan society it seems scarcely crédible how corrupt and fluctuât in g was the nature of the nuptial contracts formed among them, insomuch that each nation was tossed about on the waves of error and buifeted by the most degrading passions. They seemed each, in a greater or less measure, to unlearn the germane notion and origin of mariage ; and for that reason laws, relating to marriage were everywerre passed, which seemed born of the republic, and not such as nature demanded. Customary rites, invented by legislators, enabled women to acquire eith< r the honorable name of wife or the degrading one of concubine ; nay, it had corne to such a pitch that edicts were issued on the authority of the repubiic, as to who should be permitted to marry and who should not, the laws striving vigorously against equity and just as strenously in favor of injustice. Moreover polygamy, polyandria and

(1) Malih, XIX, 5-6.

(2) Mallh. XIX, 8.

divorce were the causes why the marriage bond was largely relaxed. The greatest disorder prevailed also concerning the reciprocal rights and duties of those married, when the man acquired a property in the wife, and ordained often upon no just pre'ext, that he should hold herself and ail her own things for himself, but he might with impunity, on account of his unbridled and untamable lust, run around among the brothels and servants as if it were rank and not the w II that created sin. (1).

This licentiousness of the man supervening, nothing could be more wretched than the condition of the wife cast down into such profound humiliation, that sbe was deemed barely the means to gratify lust or beget ohildren. Nor was it a matter of shame, that women were set up for sale and purchase in the matrimonial mart, like personal property, (2) the po wer being at times conceded to parent and husband to inflict the punishment of death upon the wife. It was necessary that the family, sprung from such unions, should be counted among the assets of the republic, or under the control of the paterfamilias, who could also pass laws not only to force or dissolve at pleasure the marriage of their children, but even exercise over them the awful power of life and death (3).

At length, an amélioration and remedy for so many vices and the huge profanity which tainted marriages came from divine sources ; when Jésus Christ, the restorer of man's dignity and the perfecter of the laws of Moses, applied no slight or p issing ci re to the subject of matrimony. For He Himself ennobled by his own présence the marriage feast in Cana of

Cl) Hieronym , Oper, loin, I, col

(2j Arnoi». Adv. tient, i.

(3) Dionys. Halicar. liJ). II, c. 16, '27.

Gralilee, and rendered it mémorable by the first of His miraculous works (1) : for which reasons, even from that day, the beginnings of a new holiness seem to hâve flown into the marriages of men. Afterwards He lifted up matrimony to the dignity of its primeval origin, as well by disapproving the habits of the Hebrews who practised the abuse of a multitude of wives and the power of dismissal ; as by specially commanding that no one should dare to dissolve what Grod Himself had bound together bp the everlasting tie of union. Accordingly when he had resolved the difïiculties objected from the Mosaic institutions, in the person of the suprême law-giver, He laid down this doctrine on the subject of those married : But I say unto you, that whoever shall dismiss his wife, unless on account of fornication, and shall marry another, is guilty of adultery, and he that marries the pari y dismissed is guilty of fornication (2). Now the provisions that were decreed and laid down concerning marriages, the messengers of the divine laws, the Apostles, hâve more fully and minutely handed down in writing to posterity. We must refer to the tenets of the Apostles which the Holy Father's connais and traditions of the Univer al Church always taught (3) to wit, that Christ, our Lord, elevated matrimony to the dignity of a sacrement ; that at the same time He enabled the married persons, surrounded and forlified by the heavenly grâce which his merits had procured, to find sanctity in the marriage itself ; and in it, wonderfully conformed to the likeness of Hisown mystical marriage with the Church, He perfected the love which is agreeable to nature, (4) and more firmly joined together by the bond of divine charity the union of man and woman so close of its own nature.

(h Joan, II.

(2) Matth. XIX, 9.

(3) Trid. sess, XXIV. in pr.

(4) Trid, sess. XXIV, cap, I de reform malr.

Husbands, says Paul to the Ephesians love your wifes, as Christ loved the Church, and delivered himself up

for it, that he might sanctify it so also ought men

to love their wifes as their own bodies For no mon ever

hated his own flesh : but nouriseth and cheriseth it, as also Christ doth the Church, because ive are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother ; and shall leave to his tuife, and they shall be two in one flesh. This is a great sacrament : but I speak in Christ and the Church (1).

In like manner we learn upon the authority of the Apostles the unity, and indissolubleness, which was demanded by the very origin of marriages, and that Christ commanded that it should be holy and held fore ver inviolable. To them who are married says the same Paul, not I, but the Lord commands that the wife shal not départ fami the husband; but if she should départ that she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to lier husband (2). And again : the woman is boundby the laiv so long as lier husband lives ; but if lier husband should die, she isfree (3). For thèse reasons, then, Matrimony was a great sacrement (4) honorable in ail (5) pious, chaste, and to be reverenced as the symbol and import of the loftiest things.

Nor is its Christian perfection and completeness contained only in the instances recited. For in the first place a more exalted and noble duty was put upon it , with which aim it was ordained not only to propagate the human race but to beget an offspring to the Church, fellow-citizens oj the Saints and servants of God (6) in order that a people might be begotten and

(1) Ad Bphes, V, 25 et seqq.

(2) I Cor. VII, 10- 1 1 .

(.'}) Il.id. V, 3'J.

(i) Ad Bph. V. 32.

(5) Ad II.hr. XIII, 4.

(6) Ad Eph. II, 19.

turned to the worship and religion of the truo Grod and our Saviour (1). In the second place the duties of each party to the wedded union are defined, and their rights fully described. It is necessary for instance, that they should be always so disposed as to understand that they owe each other the greatest love, constant fidelity, a ready and assiduous attention.—The man is the source of the family and the head of the woman ; yet she being the flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone, is subject to, and obeys the man, not like a servant, but as a companion ; so that neither dignity nor honor is lacking to the obédience which she renders. But in him who rules, and her who obeys, inasmuch as the one bears the likeness of Christ, and the other, that of the Church, let divine charity be the perpétuai modérât or of duty. For, the man i the head of the woman, as Christ is the head

of the Church But as the Church is subject to Chrit,

so also are ivomen to their husbands in ail things (2). And as to the children, they should for conscience sake be submissive, obey and honor their parents ; and, in turn, upon rearing and caring for their children, and especially moulding them to virtue, it is necessary that parents should exert a watchful care and considération : Fathers bring them up (children) in the discipline and fear of the Lord (3).

From this it is plain that the responsabilities of married persons are neither few nor light ; yet, to good married people on account of the grâce and virtue which they receive from the sacrament, their duties become tolerable, nay even agreeable.

Accordingly Christ, when he had placed again marriages on so high and excellent a plane, confided and commended to the Church the whole discipline touching them. She has exercised her authority over

(1) Catech. Rom. cap. VIÏI.

(2) Ad Eph. V. 23-24.

(3) Ad Eph. VI, 4.

the marriages of Christians at ail times as well as in every place, and exercised it so that it would appear that it was her own peculiar prérogative, not derived from the concession of men, but divinely acquired fromthewill of her Founder. It is better known than to need proof how vigilant she has been. and with how many cares she has sought to establish the sanctity o(* marriages, so that her own security might remain with them. And, indeed, we know that dissolute and free amours were condemned by thedecree of the Council of Jérusalem (1) ; that a citizen of Corinth was condemned for incest by the authority of Saint Paul (2) ; that still in the same line of firmness the attempts of very many sects,who attacked Christian marriage, were repulsed and exploded, namely, the Gnostics, Manicheans, and Montanists in the very beginnings of the Christian System ; and within our own memory, the Mormons, the followers of Saint Simon, the Phalansterians and Communists. In like manner the equable and uniform right of matrimony among ail was established, the old distinction between the freedman and the slave being abolished (3), the rights of husband and wife were placed upon an equal footing ; for as Saint Jérôme said. " Among us what is not lawful for women, is not any more lawful unto men." And the same subjection is placed upon a similar condition (4) ; and their same rights were firmly based on the interchance of kindly feeling and attentions ; the dignity of women was asserted and championed ; it was for-

(1) Art. XV, 20.

\i) I. Cr V, 5J (.1) G. I de conflua. r< (4) Oper. t. I, coi. h \

bidden to the husband to slay the adulteress (1) for wantonly ane shamefully violatingher plighted troth. And it was also a great thing that the Church, in relation to the power of the heads of families, imposed restraints, so far as was needed, less there should be any abridgement of the just freedom of sons and daughters désirons of entering the married state (2) that she decreed that there could be no marriagcs between relations by blood or afflnity within certain degrees, (3) in order that the su pertn aurai love of husband and wife might be diffused over a wider field ; that she took çare to ward ofT error, force and fraud, as far as she could from the nuptialtie ; (4), that she wished the security of persons, (5), the honor of marriage, (6), the holy modesty of the nuptial relation, (7), the safety of religion, to be overshadowed by her protecting power. In fine, with such force and wisdom did she fortify that institution of the divine laws, that no one can be an impartial judge of things who does not understand, in this very chapter which is devoted to marriages, that the Church is the best custodian and champion of the human race ; where wisdom has corne out victorious over the Aigrit of the âges, the insults of men and the countless vicissitudes of public affairs.

But, the enemy of the human race using ail the means within reach, there are not wanting those who, just as they ungratefully reject the other benefits of rédemption, either spurn or deny out and out the res-

(1) Can. lnterfeclores et Can. &dmonere, quœsl. 2.

(2) Gap. 30, quœst, 3. cap. 3 de cognai, spirit.

(3) Cap. 8 de consang. et affin.; cap, 1 de cognai, legali.

(4) Cap. 2G de sponsal. ; capp. 13, 15, 29 de sponsal. et malrim.; et alibi.

(5) Cap. 1 de corners, infid. ; capp. 5 et 6 de co qui du.nl in mair.

(6) Capp. 3, 5 et 8 de sponsal. el malr. Trid. sess. XXIV cap. 3 de reform. malr.

Ci) Cap. 7 de divorl.

toration and perfection of matrimony. The fault of some of the ancients is, that they were inimical to marriages in some phases of the same ; but they ofî'end much more perniciously, who prefer wholly to pervert their nature made perfect and consummate in ail its measures and parts. And the cause of this consisted chiefly in that the minds of most men, imbued with the opinions of a false philosophy and wicked custom, take nothing so to heart, as submission and obédience ; and they work most acrimoniously with the aim that not only individuals, but even the family and ail human society may proudly despise the rule of Grod. And since the source and origin of ail human society consists in marriage, they suffer that very source in no wise to be subject to the jurisdiction of the Church ; nay, they strive to shear it of ail sanctity and bring it into the narrow compass of those things which were built upon human authority, and are regulated and administered by the civil law of nations. Whence it necessarily followed that they should concède ail authority over marriages to the heads of the republic, and decree that there was none in the Church, if at any tioies he did exercise jurisdiction of this kind, that it was exercised either wrongfully or through the indulgence of princes. But they say now is the time that they should strongly champion their own rights and attempt to manage at their own behests the whole subject of marriages. Hence the term civil ?na>riages1 commonly so-called ; hence the wise laws or causes which form an impediment to marriages ; hence the judicial decrees upon marriage contracta, whether they were entered upon rightfully or wrongly. Finally, we see that ail power of enacting and declaring the law in this sphère, has been snatched from the Church with such zeal, that no account is now made either of her divine power or the provident laws under which the nations which the light of civilization, reached with Christian wisdom, had lived so long.

However the Naluralists and ail thosc who pro-

fessing thaï they themselves are' the chief votaries of

the deity of the eommoirwealth, endeavor to embroil

whole States by thèse evil doctrines, cannot avoid the

charge of falsification. For since marriage has God for

its founder, and even from the beginning, in a certain

sensé, forshadowed the Incarnation of the Son of G-od,

therefore there inheres in it èomething sacred and

religious, not adventitious but inborn, not derived

from man, but implanted by nature. For this reason

Innocent III. (1), and Honorius III. (2), our predeces-

sors, were enabled to affirm without injustice or rash-

ness, that the sacrament of marriage exists among

helievers and unbelievers. We call to witness both the

monuments of antiquity and the habits and insti

tutions of those nations which had corne nearer to

civilization, and excelled in a loftier knowledge

of law and equity ; it is évident that the minds

of ail those nations were imbued, and as it were

forestalled, by the notion that when they projected

aught afFecting marriage, the form should reach out

to the substance and be united with religion and hol-

iness. On this account, marriages among them were

seldom contracted without the rites of religion, the

authority ofthe pontifFsand theministry of thepriests.

Such force did the nature of things hâve on minds

lacking heavenly doctrine, yet preserving the memory

of the original state of things and the conscience of

the human race ! Accordingly, as matrimony is sacred

of its own force, nature and behests, it is fitting that

it should be regulated and administered not by the

rule of princes, but by the divine authority of the

Church, which alone has the jurisdiction of sacred

things. Then, again, the dignity of the sacrament must

be considered, which superadded élément has lifted

up to the highest point of nobility the marriages of

(i) Cap. 8 de divort.

(2) Gap. Il de transacl.

Christians. But. the Church alone can and ought, by Christ's will, to lay down the raies and preccpts concerning sacraments, so that it is plainly improper to wish that even the least part of lier power should be relegated to the civil rulers. In fine, we hâve the great weight and force of history clearly teaching that the law-making and judicial power, of which we speak, was freely and constantly exercised by the Church, even in thèse very times, when it has been absurdly and foolishly feigned that the rulers of the republic were either consenting or conniving parties to such exercise. For how incredible and unmeaning it would be for Christ our Lord to hâve condemned the inveterate custom of polygamy and divorce, if the power had been delegated to himself by the governor of a province or the ruler of the Jews ; in like manner for Saint Paul to hâve inveighed against divorces and incestuous nuptials, with the tacit consent or connivance of Tiberius, Caligula or Nero. Nor can any man of sound mind be persuaded that so many laws were enacted by the Church concerring the holiness and permanency of marriage (1), and the marriages between slaves and freedwomen,(2) had the power been received from the Roman Kmperors, who were deadly foes of the Christian name, and had no dearer purpose in view than the destruction by violence and massacre of the budding religion of Christ ; especially when that authority proceeding from the Church was at times so much at variance with the civil authority, that Ignatius the Martyr, (3), Justin, (4), Athenagoras (5), and Tertullian, (6), publicly held up to shame as injust, and adulterous his marriages of certain persons, which, however, the impérial laws counte-

(I , Can. Aposl. Ifi, 17, 18.

PhiloBophum. Oxon, 1851.

(3) Epist. ad Polycarpe, cap. 5.

Apolog. mai ri. 15.

Légat pro. Christian, an. 32, 33.

(6) De coron milit. caj>. 13.

nanced. Subsequently, when the whole power had fallen into the hands ofthe Christians Emperors, the Suprême Pontifts and Bishops assembled in councils with the same freedom and consciousness of their authority, and persévered in ordaining what they deemed useful, or expédient at those times, however at variance it might seem to to be with civil commands. Every one knows how instructions touching the impediment of a prior union, vows, différence of worship, consanguinity, crime, public honesty were laid down in the councils of Narbonne, (1), Arles, (2), Chalcedon, (3), and the Second of Milan, (4), which often differed widely from decrees sanctioned by the impérial authority. Nay, so far were princes from arrogating to themselves jurisdiction over Christian marriage that they rather acknowledged and declared that such that it was, itlay altogether with the Church. Indeed Honorius, Theodosius the Younger, and Justinian (5) didnot hesitate to avow, that in thèse things which affected marriages they could do no more than act as custodians and defenders of the sacred canons. And if they did sanction by their edicts provisions relating to the impediments ol marriages they were not unwilling to allow that they had assumed that right with the permission and under the authority ofthe Church (6); whose very opinion they were accusstomed to seek and reverently accept in disputes upon the legitimacy of offspring, (t), divorces, (8), in a word, every matter having in anywise a connection

(I) Do Aguirre, Gonc. Hispàn. tom. I, can. 18, 15, 16, 17. Çl) Harduin., Act. Concil, tom. I. can. II.

(3) Ibid, can. 16.

(4) Ibid. can. 17.

(5) Novel. 137.

(6) Fejer Matrim. ex inslit. Christ. Pesth, '835.

(7) Gap, 3 de ordin. cognit.

(8) Gap. 3 de divort.

with the nuptial bond (1). Accordingly by tlie highest right it was defined in the Council of Trent that it appertains to the authority of the Church to establish impediments disrupting marriages, (2), and matrimonial causes belong to ecclesiastical judges (3). Nor should we be disturbed at the distinction so loudly vaunted by the Royalùts, by virtue of which they distinguish the marriage contract from the sacrament, doubtless with the idea that the features of the sacrament being reserved to the Church, they may hand over the contract to the jurisdiction and will of governors of states. For a distinction, or more truly a séparation of this sort cannot be made out : it has been proved that in a Christian marriage the contract cannot be dissociated from the sacrament ; and that as a conséquence there cannot be a true and lesrimate contract without the

sacrament. For Christ our Lord raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament ; now marriage is the contract itself, provided it is lawfully formed. It is for this reason that matrimony is a sacrament, because it is a sacred sign, productive of grâce, and bearing the likeness of the mystic marriage of Christ with the Church.

The form and figure is expressed in that ver y

bond of suprême union, by which a man and woman are linked together, which is nothing other than the marriage itself. Accordingly it appearsthat everylawful marriage among citizens is in itself and of itself a a sacrament ; and that nothing is further from the truth than that the sacrament is a species of additional ornament, or an attribute of external accretion, which may at man's pleasure be disconnected and set apart from the contract. Wherefore, it is neither established by reason nor attested by historical tradition that the authority over the marriages of Christians passed over

(l ) Cap. l s qui [ilii, sint legit, {•l, Trid bgss. XXIV, can. 4.

(3) Ibid. can. 12.

as of right to the rulers of states. And if in this matter the right of any one has been trespassed upon, no one will say that thetrespass was done by the Church.

Would that the oracles of the naturalist school, full as they are of falsehood and envy, were not so fruitful of damages and calamity. But it is easy to appreciate what an amount of injury profane marriages hâve caused ; how much they might hâve entailed upon the entire body of society. In the beginning law was divinely established, so that we might expérience that what Grod and nature instituted was so much the more useful and salutary the longer it remained whole and unchangeable in its native state, inasmuch as God, the creator of ail things, well knew what was expédient for the institution and préservation of each, and so ordained ail things in his design and mind, that every single thing should hâve its own accommodated resuit. Now, if man's rashness or wickedness desires to change and disturb the order of things most wisely established, then even the most prudently and usefully designed provisions either become obstacles or cease to be profitable, either because they hâve lost by change their helping powers, or that Grod Himself prefers to convert them into scourges of the pride and audacity of mortals. Now, they who say that matrimony is not a sacrament, and depriving it of ail sacredness, thrust it into the domain of the profane, pervert the foundations of nature, and at once oppose the aims of Divine providence, as well as demolish as far as possible its decrees. Therefore, it should not be wondered at, that from insane and impious essays of this kind that crop of ills has been raised, than which nothing is more destructive to the salvation of soûls and the permanence of the civil state.

If it is considered to what end the Divine institution of marriage is directed, it will appear quite

évident that G-od wished to bind up in them the most fmitful sources of public usefulness, and health, and, indeed, besides having in view the propagation of the human race, they also tend to render the life or married persons better and happier ; and that for several reasons, namely, mutual aid in administering to each other's needs, constant and faithful love, communion of ail goods, and the heavenly grâce which flows from the sacrament. Thèse conduce exceedingly to the préservation of families ; for marriages, so long as they are agreeable to nature, will undoubtedly avail to produce concord between parents, and to assist in the good training of children, to temper paternal rule upon the example furnished by the divine power, render children obedient to their parents ; and servants, to their masters. And from marriages of that sort States may rightfully expect a race and growth of citizens endowed with probitv ; trained in the fear and love of G-od, who deem it their duty to obey those who are their just nnd lawful rulers, and who love ail men aud hurt none.

In truth, matrimony produced thèse results, great and noble as they were — so long as it preserved the attributes of sanctity, unity and perpetuity, from which it receives ail its fruitful and wholesome force ; nor can it be doubted that it would hâve wrought similar and equal benefits if it had always been subject to the authority and loyal supervision of the Church, which is the most trustworthy protectress and champion of thèse gifts. But because it has now become the gênerai pleasure to supplant the natural and divine by the human law, that most excellent form and notion of marriage which nature had impressed, and, as it were, stamped on the minds of men, has begun not only to be oflfaced, but in the very marriages even of Ohristians, that vitality which is the procreative principe o! gréai good, has been diminished by mau's

wickedness. For what good can be done by a marriage from which they would thrust out the Christian religion, which is the parent of ail goodness, and which develops the highest virtues — stimulating and urging men forward to every adornment of a generous and noble mind ? Put her aside and marriages must needs degenerate into a slavery to the vicious nature of men and the lowest dominating lusts with the rather weak défense of natural honesty as the only shield. From this source arise the manifold disasters which hâve befallen not only private farnilies but commonwealths. For the wholesome fear of God being cast aside, and that aile via tion of the cares of life which is nowhere carried out to so great a pass as in the Christian religion, banished, it not unfrequently happens, — and there is a tendency to it, that the fonctions and responsabilities of marriage appear to be borne with difhculty ; and many are even anxious to be set free from the bond, which they regard as a restraint on human right and liberty and, if a dissimilarity of disposition or disagreement, or allegiance broken by either party or the consent of both or other causes prompt the need of release from the obligation. And if it should happen that there exists a légal prohibition to satisfying the wantonness of men's aspirations, then they make a loud outery that the laws are wicked, inhuman and inconsistent with the rights of free citizens ; accordingly, it must be seen to that their old divorce laws being antiquated and obsolète, a more humane law of divorce should be passed.

But when the legislators of our days, profess adhérence to and zeal in behalf of those same principles of right they cannot buffet the human wickedness that dashes against them, however much they may wish ; wherefore, they must yield to the times and the right oi divorce must be granted. History herself déclares the same. For, to pass over other instances,

toward the close of the last century during, that disturbance or rather burning craze in France, when ail society, G-od being ignored, wastainted, ihen at length it please the people to ratify the divorces of married persons. In our time many désire the same laws to be renewed because they wish G-od and the (Jhurch to be put out of the way and expelled frora any association with human ties ; foolishly thinking that the final remedy for the growing corruption of morals is to be sought in laws of that kind.

But, it is scarcely necessary to describe the evils of divorces. For, they are the cause of mutability of marital vows ; mutual benevolence is lessened ; pernicious incentives to infidelity are furnished ; the maintenance and éducation of children hurt ; opportunity is presented for the sundering of domestic relations ; the seeds of discord are sown in families ; th i dignity of woman is diminished and lowered, and she rune the risk of being cast aside when she has served the lust of her husband. — And since nothing is so effective in ruining families and sapping the strength of kingdoms as corruption of morals, it is easily perceived that divorces are in a spécial degree opposed to the prosperity of families and States, for they spring from the depravity of a nation's morals, and by the testimony of expérience throw the door wide open to the more iniquitous practises of private and public life. That thèse evils are very serious, will appear if we consider that there would be no restraints great enough to confine within certain or already provided limits the right of divorces if once conceded. The force of example is great, that of lust great er ; from thèse incentives it occurs that the licentious appetite for divorces which creeps along day by day is invadding the minci* of large numbcrs of people like an épidémie, or a tnass of watera overUowing its bounds.

Ail thèse things are assuredly plain themselves, but by refreshing the memory with events they grow plainer. As soon as a safepath to divorce was provided by the law, dissensions, hypocrisy and séparations increased exceedingly ; and such a shameless phase of life was taken on that the very persons who had been the advocates of such séparations, grew pénitent over the resuit ; and unless they sought betimes a remedy, it was to be dreaded that the civil fabric might fall to pièces. The ancient Romans are described as being «horrified at the first instances of divorce, but within no long space of time their sentiment of honesty was paralysed ; under the sway of lust shame died out, and the marriage vow began to be violated, so that what has been writ ten seems like truth, that women were wo?it to reckon their âges not by the changes of Consuls, but of husbands. In like manner among Protestants at the outset the laws had sanctioned divorces for certain causes and thèse not indeed many ; however, it was discovered that thèse causes, on account of the similarity of things, increased among the Grermans, American s and other people, so that those who were not nlled with folly, thought that the infinité depravity of morals should be greatly deplored and the rashness of the laws should not be tolerated. Nor, indeed, is it otherwise in states nominally Catholic, in which, whenever place is given to disputes of married persons, the multitude of inconveniences which attend them, far trancends the reach of législative judgment. For the wicked design of the majority has been centered upon every kind of fraud and malice, and by the application ot cruel treatment, insults, adulteries set to devise causes for dissolving with impunity that bond of marital society grown irksome, and that with such damage to public honesty that ail men deemed it necessary to amend the laws at the earliest moment. And who will doubt that laws fostering divorces should bear results equally wretched

and disastrous, whenever they may chance to be again brought into fashion in our time ? Decidcdly thcre is no such virtue in the inventions or decrees of men that can alter the natural disposition and shape of things. Therefore, they consult unwisely the publie weal who believe that the genuiue theory of marriage may be perverted with impunity ; and, the feature of religion as well as of the sacrament being dropiied out, they seem desirous of mis-shaping and deforming marriages to a lower level than even the oïdinances of the pagans had been accustomed to. And, therefore, unless counsels are changed, families and human society will need to be in perpétuai dread that they shall be most unhappily borne away in that bustle and confusion of ail things which has long been the scope of the abandoned hordes of Socialists and Communists. Whence it is plain how nonsensical and absurd it is to seek after the common weal in divorces which shall rather issue in the certain ruin of society.

Accordingly, it must be confessed, that the Catholic Church, ever intent on upholdi ng the sanctity and perpetuity of marriage, has acted most meritoriously on behalf of the common good of nations ; nor is a scanty measure of gratitude due to her for the public protests during a hundred years against civil ordinances containing many errors on the subject, (1), her anathemas hurled against that most calamitous heresy of the Protestants in the matter of divorces and séparations (2) ; her condemnation of the

multiplied forms of the dissolution of marriages in use among the Greeks (1) ; her decrees that marriages are void when entered upon with the condition that they may be some time dissolved (2) ; finally, her rejection even from the earliest times of the impérial laws which injuriously favored divorces and séparations (3).

But as often as the Suprême Pontiffs resisted the mightiest of the princes, demanding, with threats, that divorces granted by them should be ratified by the Church, so often were they regarded as fighting not only for the safety of religion, but also for the civilization of the race. In this matter ail posterity will admire the expressions of that unconquerable spirit fulminât». d by Nicholas I. against Lothaire : by Urban IL and Paschal IL against Philip. L, King of France ; by Celestine III. and Innocent III. against Alphonsus a Leone and Philip the Second, the French Prince; by Clément VIL and Paul III. against Henry VIII. in fine by Pius VIL, that most saintly and vigorous PontifF, against Napoléon L, exulting in his high fortunes and the vastness of his impérial sway.

Hence, ail governors and administrators of publia afFairs, had they wished to foliow reason, wisdom, and to promote the welfare of peoples, oaght to hâve preferred that thesacred laws concerning marriage should remain inviolate, and furnish aid to the Church i;i preserving the morals and prosperity of familles, th in fasten ©n the Church herself the suspicion of hostility, and the false and wicked hypocrisy of outraged civil law.

( ' l) Cip. 7 de condil. appos.

(3, Hieron. epist, 79 ad Océan. — Ambrjs. lib. VIII in cap. 16 Lucee, n. 5. — August. denuptiis, cap. 10.

And that the more, because the Catholic Church, in that she cannot in anythiug swerve from the sacredness oi her duty and défense of her authority, is so particularly wont to hâve tender and indulgent leanings in ail matters which can at ail be reconciled with the security of her rights and the sacredness of her duties. For this reason she has never decreed aught ooncerning marriages without having a regard to the state of the community, ihe condition of peoples ; nor is it once alone that she has modified so far as she could the very provisions of her own laws, when just and weighty reasons prompted a mitigation.

Likewise, she knows and avows that the sacrament of marriage, since it is aimed at the préservation and growth of huraan society, has a relation and connection with their very humairaflairs, which are indeed incidental to marriage, but bearing civil conséquences ; of thèse latter the rulers of republics take cognisance and rightfully frame decrees anent them.

But no one doubt, that Jésus Christ, the founder of the Church, wished the sacre d to be distinct from the civil jurisdiction, and both to be i'ree and equipped to manage its own afFairs ; with this qualification, however, that it is expédient for both and concerns ail men, that there should be a union between them and agreement in thèse matters, which are, although on a différent ground, of common right and judgment ; the one, to which are conceded human things, should dépend opportunely and iittingly upon the other to which divine subjects are coulined. On a combination of this kincl, almost a harinony, not alone does the philosophy of both powers rest, but a most appropriate and effectuai mode is lurnished of helping the human race in thaï which appertains to the conduct of lii'e and the liope of everlasting salvation. For, as the intelligence of men, as we sliowed in our former

Encyclical Lctter, ifit harmonizc with Christian faith, is largely ennobled and cornes out botter armed to shun and repel errors, and in turn, faith borrows no small support from intelligence ; so, too, if the civil authority shonld be amicably disposed towards the sacred power of the Church, there would necessarily accrue much profit to both.

Accordingly we, greatly moved by the considération of thèse things, again exhort as earnestly and zealously now as before, princes to combine in concord and friendship ; and we are the iirst to extend, as it were, the right hand to those same princes with a father's benevolence, preferring the aid of our Suprême power, which is at this time so muchmore necessary as the authority of government is in the opinion of men more enfeebled, as is if had received a wound. Spirits inflamed with a licentious liberty, and assailing with nefarious daring ail sorts of sovereign power, especially the best founded, the public safety demands that the strength of both powers should be combined to prevent the calamities which impend not only on the Church, but even civil society itself.

But while we urgently commend a friendly union of minds, and beseech G-od, the prince of peace, to infuse the love of concord into the minds of ail men, we cannot refrain from arousing with persistent exhortation your own industry. Vénérable Brothers, your zeal and watchful cares, which we understand exist in the highest measure in you. Whateveryoucan do by discussion and by your authority, study with ail endeavors, to retain among the nations entrusted to your fidelity entire and uncorrupted the doctrine which Christ our Lord and the Apostles, the exponents of the divine will, which the Catholic Church herself has religiously preserved and commanded to be loyal-

]y observed by the Christian l'ait hful through ail the âges.

Let it be your chief care that the people abound in the principles of Christian wisdom, aud always keep it in mind that matrimony was instituted in the beginning, not by the will of men, but the authority and behests of God, and with this law that it be altogether, of one with one ; but that Christ the Founder of the New Dispensation translated that very union from a natural function into one of the Sacraments, and that as respects the bond, granted to his own Church, the législative and judicial power. Upon this topic there must be a great deal of caution lest minds should be drawn into error by the fallacious conclusions of adversaries who wish the Church to be divested of any authority of that sort. Likewise, it ought to be known distinctly by ail, that if any union of a man and woman be effected among the Christian faithful outside the sacrament, that it iacks the vitality and character of a legitimate marriage ; and although it be assumed conformably to civil laws, that it can hâve no more value than a rite or fashion, introduced by the civil power ; but that it is only in the things which marriages carry with them in the civil aspect, and which, it is obvious, cannot spring from them unless their true and legetimate cause, to wit, the marriage tie exists, that the civil law can interpose its decrees and administration. It concerns those betrothed especially to be correctly informed on ail thèse points, and that their minds be impressed and stamped, as it were, with them, that they may in thèse matters obey the laws ; the Church herself offering no hindrance, wishing and desiring that in every way the results of matrimony may be secured, and that the offering should sufier no wrong. But in the great confusion of théories which ar<> creeping (iirther day by day, it must be known, too, that it is in the power of no one to dis-

solve the relation of marriage ontered upon and consummatect among Christians ; and that consequently, they are guil,ty of a crime, if any married persons, perchance, whatever cause maybe saidto exist, should wish to enter upon a new marriage contract before death shall hâve dissolved the former one. If it should reach the point that living together seems no longer possible, then the Church allows the one to live apart from the other, and by the application of means and remédies suited to the condition of the married persons, she studies to alleviate the inconveniences of a séparation ; nor does she ever desist from laboring to renew the harmony of the oldtie, or despair ofsuccess.

Yet thèse are extrême cases, and indeed they should not so easily degenerate thus, if persons betrothed, influenced not by cupldity, but pondering well on the duties of marriage, and the highest grounds of the same, approached marriage with the proper dispositions, nor would they anticipate it by unholy unions and a train of scandais resented by an angry Grod. And that we may embrace ail in a few words, marriages would then produce a placid, serene constancy, if husbands and wises cultivated that spirit and life of religion which is the attribute of the robust unconquerable mind which results in diminishing the burthen ; nay, has the efîect of making the one even gladly bear the defect which may exist in the shape of différences of manners and dispositions in the other, relieves the weight of maternai cares, the anxious task of educating children and the associated toils of life and adversity.

There must be care, too, that marriages with persons not of the Catholic faith should nor be easily sought after, for where minds disagree concerning the practice of religion, it can scarcely be hoped that they should agre in other matters. Nay, that thèse marriages

should be held in horror is apparent trom the fact that they afford an opportunity for forbidden company and communion in sacred things ; they offer a risk to the religion of the Catholic party ; are an obstacle to the proper training of children ; and veiy often prompt persons to grow accustomed to set an equal value on ail shades of religious worship, the distinction between the true and the false being put aside. Lastly, as wc well know, that no one should be estranged from our charity. we commend to your faithful authority and piety, vénérable brethren, those most unhappy soûls, who, borne along by the tide of lust, and plainly heedless of their salvation, live unlawfully, not held together by the bond o. lawful marriage. Let your watch fui care be expended in the duty of bringing back rhese men ; and with the aid of good men and your own allied, strive in every way tomake themfeel that they are living wickedly, that they should do penance for their sinful behaviour and turn their minds to entering into legetimatewedlock under the Catholic rite.

You easily see, vénérable brethren, that thèse lessons and precepts which we hâve decided to convey to you in this letter hâve a very great bearing no less on the préservation of the civil community, than on the everlasting salvation of men. May Grod, therefore, grant that in proportion to their importance and gravity they may e very w hère secure a more docile and ready obédience. For this grâce, let us ail alike implore with an humble, supplicating prayer, the aid of the Blessed Virgin Mary immaculate, who, shows herself a mother and a helper to men, their minds being stirred up to obédience to the behests of faith. Nor let us b<\seech with less earnestness Peter and Paul, the Princes of the Apostles, the destroyers of superstition, the planters of truth, to savc the human race by their most Hicctivejpatronage from the inundation of newly sprung errors.

Meanwhile, as a token of heavenly gifts and a mark of our singular favor, we cordially bestow our Apostolic Bénédiction upon ail of you, vénérable brethren, and the people entrusted to your vigilance.

G-iven at Rome, at St. Peter's on the lOth day of February, 1880, the second of our Pontificate.

LEO PP XIII

3nd séries* No 23.

PASTORAL LETTER

His Lordship the Bishor) of Ottawa.

JOSEPH THOMAS DUHAMEL

By the Mercy of G-od and the favor of the Holy Apostolic See. Bishop of Ottawa.

To the Clergy, Religions Communities and ail the Failli f al of (his Dioce»e% Health and Bénédiction in OurLord,

Oub Dearly Beloved Brethren,

The feast of the lmmaculate Conception, lirst titillai* ol' the Cathedra] — raiaed to the rank of Basilica by Léon Xill., with ail the privilèges «n'anted to the Minor Basilicas of Home — has been celebrated for m an y years, in this Diocèse, under the rite of double of iiî\st cla

Ïout dévotion t<> Mary Immaculale will most

ilv gree\ with a spiritual joy the following

tidings Bv Apostolic [yetters, in the formof ft briei,

in date ofNov. 30th, 1879, the Sovereign Pontiff bas decreed that this feast be celebrated, under the samo rite througbout tbe world, with tbe mass of tho vigil. This joy should manifest itself by an increase of piety.

We therefore hope that each year, on the day of its solemnity, not only Pastors and Religious Communities, but the faithful themselyes shall most fervently renew their consécration to the Most Blessed Virgin who was preserved from the stain of original sin ; their prayers shall bc more ardent and their imitation of the virtues ot Mary more and more practical.

Let us place ail our confidence in this incomparable Virgin, " Trusting," says the Pope, " that through 'k her intercession with Jesus-Christ her son and Our " Lord, the Most Blessed Virgin may obtain peace " for the Church, the restauration of order and har- " mony in civil society, an augmentation of grâce for " the just and the conversion of sinners."

To favor, as much as lies in our power, dévotion to Mary Immaculate, We grant a partial and a plenary Indulgence to be gained each year, during four years, to ail those under our spiritual jurisdiction, who perforai the works to which they are attached. lo An Indulgence of forty days to those who will make a novena in honor of the Immaculate Conception, either immediately before or immediately after the SthDecember, this day itselfbeingincludedin the novena, or at any other time oi the year, and who will recite during each exercise seven Hail Mary in honor of the seven joy s and seven dolors of the Most Blessed Virgin. 2o By virtue of an Induit of Léo XIII., bearing date 29th December, 1878, a Plenary Indulgence to those who, makiiig this novena, and being truly contrite of their sins, shall approach the Sacraments of Penancè and Holy Eucharist and pray in the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff.

Wc exhort the iaithful of this Diocèse io beeome members of the Confraternity of the Imraaculate Conception, canonically established in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, near Ottawa, and afnliated to the Archconfraternity established in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France.

Let us invoke Mary Immaculate, in ail our temporal and spiritual wants, and we shall obtain ail necessary grâces. Let us unceasingly thank this good Mother for the favors heretofore received through lier médiation.

As a public expression of our gratitude, the Te Mariant shall be sung, on the 8th December next, after grand mass, or the principal mass, in ail the Churches and Chapels of this Diocèse. (Vespéral, page 498).

ri.

A Decree of August the 4th, issued by command of t he Pope, names St. Thomas of Aquin, patron of studies in Universities, Seminaries, Lyceums and Catholic Schools.

Our great désire of entering into the intentions of the Head of Bishops, as entirely and as usefully to soûls as in our povver, \Ye ordain that the feast of 8t. Thomas be celebrated, cach ycar, with great solemnity in our Seminary, prineipally by the Students in Theology and Philosophy.

We gladly profit of this occasion to invite our beloved cooperators and ail parents to spare nothing in order that the children and youth of this Diocèse may receive a thorough Catholic instruction and éducation. For, " from this source shall spring parity of private and public moralst" thereby also "the salvation of nations, order and peace in civil society shall be ensured."

With Léo XIII, We désire forour faithful, whatsoever their âge or condition may be, " not science that séparâtes from the Love of God, inflates and leads astray, bui that science which, descend in g from the Father oi Lights and the Master of sciences, also élevâtes minds towards Him."

The 30th September last, Our Most Holy Father published a new Encyclical Letter, the contents of which We judge proper to convey to you.

By this Letter, His Holiness ordains that the least of St. Cyril and Methody be inserted in the calendar of the Roman and Uni versai Church, and that it be celebrated each year.

The Bishops of this Ecclesiastical Province hâve appointed the ïth July, the first free day after the date designed by the Pope, date on which we hère celebrate the festival of St. Michael oi the Saints.

The Holy Bishops Cyril and Methody, Apostles of the Oriental countries, illumined the Church during the ninth century.

In the Pope's Encyclical Letter, which will be read in the Churches and Religions Commun nies at the earliest date possible, His Holiness himself proclaim th' constamy of Iheir zeal and their immens° Inbors. By their preachings and examples the Slavonic tribes were converted from barbarism to civilisation.

In extending the feast of Saint Cyril and Methody to the Catholic world, the common Father of the faithful had in view to invite Catholics scattered over the earth to obtain from Almighty God, through their intercession, constancy for the faithful, and for dissenters reconciliation with the true Church.

May dévotion to thèse Saints restore to true civilisation, that is to say, to entire submission to the

teachings of the Church, thosc men who persécute and cause bit ter grief to the Church of Jésus Christ.

You hâve remarked as We hâve, Dearly Beloved Brethren,that Léo XIII. always seecks to inspire love l'or the Church oi' which he is the august and visible Head. Learn then to know it better and better, in order to love it more and more, to défend it if necessary and to serve it always.

Shall the présent Pastoral Letter be read at the Prone of Parochial Mass and at Chapter in Religious Communities the lirst Sunday after its réception.

Griven at Ottawa under Our hand and the seal of the Diocèse, and countersigned by our sub secretary, the eighteenth day of November, one thousand eight hundred and eighty.

t J. THOMAS, Bp.of Ottawa.

By Command,

J. Duhamel,

Sub.- Secretary.

ENCYCLICAL LETTER