FATHERS OF THE SIXTH COUNCIL OF QUEBEC

We, by the grâce of God and of the Apostolic See, Archbishop and Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Québec,

To the Clergy Secular and Hegular, to the Religions Communities and to ail the Faithful of the Ecclesiastical Province of Québec , Oreeting and Bénédiction in Our Lord.

The great Apostle compares the Christian life, to a field designed to bring forth fruits for eternal life, to a temple which each of us is called to build for the glory of God : Dei agricultura estis, Dei œdificatio estis (I Cor., III. 9.).

Such is, Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, the thought which, to-day, at the close of our sixth Provincial Council, we lay before you. St Paul, in the same verae, adds that we are God's coadjutors, Dei adjutores 8umusf in the cultivation of tins spiritual field, in the building of this temple which is to be edifîed in your hearts by grâce; we are also your coadjutors in this mysterious labor on which dépends your eternal happiness. For this reason do we together addresa to you

ihis Pastoral Letter designed to sum up in a few words the fundamental rules of the Christian life.

In several passages of his epistles, the great Apostle says that the just man liveth by faith, justus exfidevivit (Bom.pL "17. Heb. X. 38. Gai, III. 11). In effect, by this virtue justification begins, is increased, and consummated. Faith is the architect, as it were, of this temple, which the just man erects within himself : each thought, each word, each action of his life, made supernatural by the motives of faith, is a stone, as it were, which is added to the édifice, until the day when God shall take possession thereof for eternity : it is a flower from this spiritual garden which the angels shall cull, and offer to the divine majesty.

In his intimate and personal life, in the family, in civil society of which he is a member, always and every where, the just man liveth by faith, and makes it the suprême rule of his thoughts, of his desires, of his judgments and of his actions. Unable to enter into ail the developments of which this vast subject is susceptible, we shall confine ourselves to the most gênerai principles which, being once well known and well understood, shall securely lead you in the way of salvation.

ENCYCLICAL LETTEK OF LEO XIII. (a)

In thus addressing you, O. D. B. B., we shall faithfully fulfil the wish expressed by Our Holy Father

(a) The text of the encyclical must be read immediately after this first article.

As this Pastoral Letter is long, it should not be read through at once, but one article at a time, with the necessary explanations, that the whole and the détails thereof may be better understood. Each number may furnish the matter of a spécial instruction.

Pope Léo XIII, wliose admirable encyclical reached Us at tlie very moment wîien our council was about to open. This first address of tlie successor oftheimmortal Pius IX was looked for with religious impatience ; it shall be read in ail the churches of this Province, that the voice of the common father of the faithful may be heard by ail his children. Ail hâve shared in the grief and sorrows of our mother, the Holy Church, when she was deprived of her first pastor ; ail hâve rejoiced at the glad tidings of the prompt and happy élection of our new Pontiff; ail will likewise hear, with respect and obédience, the first words of a pontiff according to God's own heart, a pontiff such as require the wants of our evil times : endowed with science, piety, unshaken firmness to continue the traditions of Pius IX.

This vénérable document is dated on the great day of the résurrection of Our Lord, ivho was delivered up for our sinsf and rose again for our justification : qui traditus est propter delicta nostra et resurrexit propter justificationem nostram (Rom., IV. 25.). God grant that it may présage the end of the evils, which afflict the holy Roman Church and lier august head.

From the heights of his throne, the most elevated in this world, the Sovereign Pontiff at one glanée embraces the universe, and his heart is filled with grief at the désolation which weighs upon the earth. AU laws, human and divine, are violated ; justice and charity are banished, as it were, from this world.

The encyclical enumerates the outrages committed against bishops and ministers of religion, religious orders, catholic schools, institutions of charity, the sacred and inaliénable right of the Holy See to the patrimony of St. Peter. And, as the necessary conséquence of

thèse outrages, there exists no more peace, norsecurity, nor stability in civil societies, which are agitated and overthrown by continuai révolutions. One would think a volcano about to vomit up avenging fiâmes.

What is the cause of thèse horrible evils ? The chief and the primary is the contempt of the divine authority of the Church : contempt which redounds to lier divine founder himself. Léo XIII, in sublime language, recounts the numberless benefits of this Church in favor of humanity, civilization, arts and sciences. To her, human dignity and the true liberty of soûls owe their existence, for, by joining her, nations acquire thèse inestimable blessings, while, by separating from her, they lose them forever ; witness the Oriental countries formerly so flourishing ; witness Italy, to-day a prey to misery and to anarchy.

Having renewed and confirmed the protestations of Pius IX against the violation of the rights of the Holy See, Léo XIII invites ail the kings and princes to draw near to the Church, and to become united to her, the guardian of the true notion of authority, without which there can be neither order nor stability.

He also exhorts ail the faithful to beseech the divine mercy to put an end to thèse evils.

He conjures ail bishops to dévote their assiduous cares to scatter afar in the field of the Lord the good seed of heavenly doctrines, and to cause the salutary principles of the catholic faith to penetrate into the soûls of the faithful, and, above ail, into the soûls of y outh.

This we shall endeavor to do by pointing out to you faith as the mainspring of your whole lile, during the days of your pilgrimage on earth.