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In his unsbaken faith in Jesus and in his great love for him, St. Paul, writing to the Hebrews ( XIII, 8), said : "Jesus Christ yesterday, and to day : and the same for ever.” This idea whieh the apostle gives us of Jesus Christ, is it not sublime and luminous ? It recalls to us the eternal generation of the Word, and shows him in the hosom of his Father, just as well as St. John in his Gospel : “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John I, 1); it makes us see him as the wisdom and the object of the eternal complacency of the Father, and the principle of bliss for the elect.
‘Jesus Christ yesterday." The prophets, under divine inspiration, saw him begotten of the Father, setting out from the extremity of heavy n, darting like a giant to run over his course : “ He hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way. His going out is from the end of heaven," (Ps. XVIII. 6, 7), descending upon earth and stretching on the cross which is ns the nuptial bed where he will unite himself for ever to his ehureh),
que
embracing with her and through her the whole world, in order to sanctify it.
“Jesus Christ to day.” Since the establishment of his Chureh, he is the light, the soul, the pontiff
X, now
pontifi- ? thereof. He it is, who enlightens, animates and directs | order , her, and, faithful to his promises, defends her against
know the ever renewed assaults of hell ; itis by her that he ought instructs, consoles and leads to faith men of good will, shops, and maintains them in that virtue without which it is
‘Ip him e truly ommon
impossible to please God : * But without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebr. XI, 6); it is by her that he upholds our hopes and preserves our charity.
serious " Jesus Christ the same for ever.” It is in Christ that It is the saints will find, in this life, solid and strong support
in their sorrows, indomitable courage in their afllictions,
H real compensation for their trials, reward for their meri-
1 torious works, glorious victory after their combats, eternal rest after the fatigues of their pilgrimage.
Thus, all religion, as well as all nature, bears. rela-
ut love
IIT, 8), tion to Jesus Christ. Even more truly than St. Paul, he ad the can say : “ I endure all things for the sake of the elect.” s us ol (1I Tim. IT, 10); but those elect themselves are for him
recalls shows
only ; they are his, his Father gave them to him: “whom thou hast given me" (John XVII, 9) Therefore,
John there is nothing gool, nothing holy, nothing noble, l, and nothing great, whereof Jesus Christ is not the principle, 1 1 » : " ie the model and the end, * Jesus Christ yesterday, and n an
to-day, and the same for ever,”
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under "uther, If then, dearly beloved brethern, we are willing to like a reflect and, at the same time, to fulfill our duty as as a Christians and citizens, and to save our souls. will we nd of not necessarily be convineed of the n cessity, the obli h and gation of the study and knowledye of Jesus Christ 4 l| bed Does not the Gospel tell us that eternal life consists in ureh ), that knowledge ? “This is eternal life, that they may
miti, HOMER. itus UNA CH im | pepe I somme i
know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whoni thou hast sent.” (John XVII, 3). St. Paul clorified himself that he had never judged to know any thing, but Jesus Christ : "For I judged not myself to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ" (I Cor. Li 0) Whoever knows Jesus Christ, knows also his Father, he observes his commandments, he is truly a disciple of the Son, his eoheir, his brother, Since, then, we are christiaus, our own dignity of disciples of Christ obliges us, Whatever may be our occupations otherwise, to study our divine Master.
In order to convince yourselves more and more, consider that the study of Jesus Christ is the only true, the only consoling, the only one which answers to the need that man has of knowing himself, of knowing whence he eomes and whereto he ORS,
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Man knows nothing of what he must alsolutely know to attain his last end. if he knows not Jesus Christ. No one ean deny this truth. He who has faith accepts it, and his reason does not rebel. nor is his mind stirred up ; he who has not yet faith will reach it, if he will pray and study the Man-God, The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the true seience which guides man surely in the search for truth, What must we think, then, of the sciences acquired outside oi the faith in Christ Have they not o« nerally lor first result. to make proud the one who possesses them ? and pride leads neither to truth nor to happiness. ‘Those profane sciences Ly have some utility in the purely material order, but if they withdraw from religion, they become injurious to the soul To acquire them, people dread neither Inbor nor sitting up to very late. hours they wear out their faculties by unceasing fatigues ; and, after all to w hat do they avail, without the knowled of Jesus Christ To lead astray those who glory in them, to alter their
whom ed himng, but 'w any-
IL, ther, he (> of the christ- Ses us,
study
more, y true, to the io wing
lutely Jesus s faith ; mind sit he due of surely ien, of hrist proud either may but af )US to Inbor then what ist their
iind and to often corrupt the purity of their morals. Ah! we know that reason, intelligence is an invaluable eift which God has made to man when he ereated him to his image and likeness : we do not deny the depth, the elevation, the dignity of intelligence. It descends into the besom of terrestrial abysses ; it rises up to the spaces where shine with a glaring or soft brightness the heavenly bodies suspended so high and so far from us; proud is human reason of the power which it pretents to have whether it penetrates into the very bowels of the earth to find treasures therein, or whether it rises up to the elouds to search for what they still conceal However. it is but a restrained power ; its empire is limited on all sides. It is forced to admit the Weakness of its works. the small extent of its knowledge, although it ever seeks to learn, invent and surprise some new secrets of nature, and even despite the success which it meets with. Moreover, in the intelleetual and moral order, it affirms sometimes as true, that which it soon acknowledges to be only an error, The science: of learned men, who are not Christians, has come bankrupt in questions whieh most interest mankind, We ask ourselves what durable fruits has so much diversified learning produced for the ba ppiness of man, Because the study of Jesus Christ, of his religion, dogmas and mysteries. is altogether excluded from the erudition of scientists without religion, they pass constantly from one system to another without finding better than eternal contradictions in thei thoughts, They have nothing but seorn for religion, for the Gospel of Christ, hatred for the Church, and this leads them to deny or disfigure the truths of dogma to wish for the replacement of ehristian morals by free mora!s, and to even alter the principles of sound polities whieh would be useful to peoples. They boast of enlightening their fellow-ereatures, but they do not suceeed in dissipating the darkness in whieh human reason, that
ANTE eR | DRE ttn meme
faith does not illumine, remains enveloped, They have, in the eyes of the multitudes that listen to them, the reputation of science, but they have not the true science, for they are ignorant of Jesus Christ who, * God of all knowledge" (I Kings II, 3), "enlighteneth every. man that cometh into this world." (John I, 9), Of the knowledge which they have, they do not make the use which God has willed in raising man to the supernatural order. Not bestowing attention on Jesus Christ in their Studies, they cannot reach full and entire truth upon intellectual and moral questions. It is altogether otherwise with those who make of Jesus Christ the continual object of their application and research.
It is to him only that all religion has referenee. If it offers us mysteries to be adored, he is the sacred object thereof ; truths to believe,he has revealed them : precepts to practise, he is the only doctor whom we should listen to ; examples to imitate, he is the master whom we must follow : graces to obtain, he has merited them for us by his blood ; sacraments to receive, he has instituted them ; rewards to deserve, he is himself the rewarder and recompense. It is by Jesus Christ that religion teaches us: i£ is in Jesus Christ that it shows us our true riches, our unshaken hopes and the eertitude of all promises. It is therefore impossible for us to understand well the teaching of religion, if we do not know Jesus Christ. Hence it is that there are men who study unceasingly and never ean reach the knowledge of truth : “Ever learning and never attaining to the knowledge of the truth.” (II Tiu. III, tj Wishing to walk alone, witho sus Christ, being satisfied with the light of reason «ad closing their eyes to. the truth which Christ is, reason presents to them nothing but uncertainty ; pride easts them into obscurity ; they go astray ; they are carried off by every wind of doctrine and passion ; they sutler shipwreek in their faith or never attain to it. Simple and upright souls, on the contrary, led by Jesus Christ in science and the way of
have, n, the cience, | of all
man knowwhich atural their upon othertinual
fe, [f inered hem ; n we raster erited ie has If the
that shows itude
no to with truth
but
ey MAU 'trine th or | the ay of
truth, advance with great strides in the good path which terminates with the heavenly kingdom. "True science then is that of Jesus Christ.
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The science of Jesus Christ is also the only consoling. Those who have learned all that the greatest geniuses of antiquity have taught and all they have done, are forced to acknowledge that time has destroyed
their works, that their ingenious Systems were only subtle theories worth scarcely raore than reveries. History is there to prove it. What difference between those seleet, but pagan, intelligences and the christian doetors and pontiffs who have been the light of their centuries, Whom eould we compare to them ? "Their memory recalls all at once their virtues. The study of Jesus Christ which animated their labors and was the soul of their discourses, led them and their disciples to the eternal source of truths, consolations and happiness. The triumph of the eross which they adored and caused to be adored in the world seems to have become their own, just as it can and should be our own. With them, we see in Jesus Christ a pastor who governs us, a physician who eures us, a friend who consoles us, a protector who supports us, an advocate who defends us, un onfercessor ever living to pray for 1s, a pontiff who offers himself unceasingly as a sacrifice for the atonement of our sins, finally a God who erowns us.
The more we advance in the knowledge of Christ, the better do we understand the rules of that eharity which comprehends the whole luw, extends to all duties, embraces all mankind. In him we discover the author of all virtues, the prineiple of all good, the perfeeter of all ha »iness, In him we see the profound adorer of the Father; he teaehes us our duties in his regard ; he strengthens us in faith and hope. From the knowledge
Pita omi ros
PEO pe emma ca
obligations which 4 err, hint is the Gospel e
of the virtues practised by Jesus Christ, Christians, aided by grace, pass willingly to the practice of those Same virtues, and soon cease, whatever may be their position, high or low, in Society. from sacrificing the i imposegfüpon them that
xplained by the Church. Then is aecomplished anew, as at the Incarnation of the Word, the propheey of David : "Merey and truth have met each other : justice and peace have kissed." (Ps, LX XXI ig
What consolation again does not the study of Jesus Christ present to the christian, amidst his evils, his infirmities, and at the sight of the tomb ?
Whatever may be the evils from which we suffer, Jesus Christ teaches us to endure them with the hope that they will have an end here-below and a reward during eternity,
In our infirmities, he learns us that being transient they cannot be compared to the weight of glory whieh is reserved for us in heaven,
On the threshold of death, he He tells us that death is the w pain required therefor by divi death, if it be holy, becomes Wards immortality,
consoles us again, ages of sin, since it is the le justice, and that that for us the great step to-
He who knows Jesus Christ cannot but know himself. He sees plainly his origin and his end; he is no more astonished at the duties which are imposed upon him; the doginas have nothing which revolts his mind ; christian morals naturally bind his heart; he becomes an upright eitizen, loving his country and undertaking nothing against the good of society ; ubove all he works for the glory of God, the honor of the Chureh, and his own sanetifiention whieh will secure for him the eternal vlorifieation.
shristians, of those
be their cing the iem Seat is aecom- ‘ord, the met each XIV,11), of Jesus vils, his
ve suffer, he hope reward
ransient r which
3 again, it is the at that step to-
yw hime is no d upon s mind :
eCCOMeS rtaking | works und his eternal
The holv season of Lent will be dearly beloved brethren, time for commencing or
lor you, we hope, a favorable continuing to attend to à serious and connected study of Jesus Christ. Attend assiduously the instructions whieh are given in your parishes, on all Sundays and twice a week during this seasoi rerolleetion. Instead of SJ amusements, read a
holy-days, and once or 1 of penanee, prayer and ending the evenings in vain good life of Jesus Christ, read again the Gospel, for example “The Gospel or the life of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the concordance of the four gospels,” by Rev’d Father Alexis, Capuchin, or read some good catechisin with explanations,
It is desirable that, in all families, there should be, every night, in common, some pious reading, one of Whose good effeets must be to insti] more true piety and more seriousness in the life of christians. Gene "ally, eatholies do not read enough books treating of the truths of faith, the teaching of the law of God, the means of salvation instituted by Jesus Christ, in one word, of religion. And yet it is a duty to know well what Jesus Christ has done, what-he has preached, what he commands us to believe and practise in order to assure our salvation.
Let then each one tak», in this regard, the resolutions whieh the Holy Ghost. will suggest him, and let* all, hearing or reading the word of life which the word of God is, imitate the Holy Mother of Jesus Christ who kept in her immaculate and loving heart every edifying word. A more profound knowledge of religion, and, by the very fact, of Jesus Christ will bea of eonsolation and peace ; and, un« obligations whieh it imposes, you will resolve to follow mos for Lent such as it must be observed, in our diocese, by virtue of an indult ad dee, n"iwm of Pope Leo XIII, dated the 27th January, 1903. The regulation for Lent of this year is as follows
source lerstanding better the you will love prayer and t exaetly the rewulation
TR ASI im
EDDIE TO MSN.
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lo. All the days of Lent, Sundays excepted, are fast days ;
20. The use of flesh-meat is allowed on Sundays, at all meals, and on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, except Saturday of Ember days and Holy Saturday, but at one meal only ;
30. The other days, that is, Wednesdays, Fridays and the two Saturdays mentioned in the preceding paragraph, are days of abstinence. :
40. The use of meat and fish at the same meal is not allowed. (For the other points, read the Appendix to the Ritual.)
The Pope, in according this indult, osders us to exhort the faithful so to act that they may compensate by ether good works and als to the poor for this alleviation of the lenten penance,
We therefore urge you not to forget multiplying, during this holy season, your good works and your alms. We beg of you more particularly to make, according to your means, a generous offering to the colleetion which will be taken up on the: third Sunday of Lent, to help in building the grand seminary. This collection replaces that for colonization.
Shall our present Pastoral Letter be read, in all churches and chapels where publie service is held, and at the chapter of religious communities, on Quinquagesima Sunday.
Given at Ottawa, uuder our hand, the seal of the diocese and the countersign of our Chancellor, this twelfth day of February, in the year of Our Lord one thousand nine hundred and five, feast of the Apparition of the Immaculate Virgin Mary.
t J.-THomas, Archbp of Ottawa.
By Command, J. A. SLOAN, CHANCELLOR,
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ted, are indays, Lys and
l Holy
Fridays
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pendix 4 | us to )ensate 6iéme série—No. 1.
1 this
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| eti to Tout à Jésus pur Marie, reine des cœurs. eetion | m T ARCHEVÊCHÉ D'OrrAWA, le 15 décembre 1899. , Ant | X nqua- b Hd ; I.— Lettre de Léon XIII à l'archevêque d'Ottawa. of the 4 A * ^ (yr , this II.—Constitution du Pape accordant, à différentes perd one sonnes empéchées d'aller & Rome, les indulgences F ihe du jubilé de l'année 1900.
II.—Suspension des indulget.ces et facultés pendant le * jv. bilé universel.
[ V.—Déeret permettant d'exposer le Saint-Sacrement et de ehanter ou dire la sainte Messe, à minuit le 31
LLOR,
décembre de l'année qui finit et de l'année qui va commencer,
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CHERS Cx JOPÉRATEURS,
Je vous communique aujourd'hui le texte de la toute paternelle lettre que Notre Saint Pére, le Pape Léon XIII, daignait m'éerire, le 16 novembre dernier, en réponse à la magnifique adresse que vous avlez bien voulu déposer aux pieds de Sa Sainteté, à l’occasion du vingt-cinquième anniversaire de ma consécration épiscopale,
Une fois encore, le Vicaire de Jésus-Christ accorde la bénédiction apostolique à l'archevêque, au clergé et aux tidèles de ce diocèse. Cette bénédiction doit être pour nous un encouragement à plus de zèle, de dévouement, de générosité, s'il est possible, dans l'accomplissement de nos devoirs respectifs, en même temps que le gage des biens spirituels et célestes.
Pour témoigner de notre reconnaissance à celui dont nous avons tant de raisons de dire, nous, particulièrement, dans ce diocèse : Nemo tam Pater nous devons répéter avec une ferveur croissante les rières qu'il a ordonné de réciter après les messes basses, demandant à Dieu de lui donner une vie assez longue pour qu'il puisse voir le triomphe de la Papauté et recouvrer cette liberté entière, dont a besoin le Père commun des fideles.
Dans le méme but je crois utile de prescrire, comme ora ison de mandato, à la sainte messe, la onziéme des oraisons «d diversa, intitulée : contra persecutores. et me agentes.
Je vous transmets aussi la. Constitution par laquelle Sa Sainteté accorde les indulgences du jubilé de l'année 1900 aux religieuses, aux oblates, aux tertiaires et aux autres jeunes filles ou femmes vivant dans les monastères ou les pieuses communautés, ainsi qu'aux ermites, aux infirmes, aux prisonniers, aux captifs, avec les pouvoirs opportuns en ce qui touche les absolutions et les commutations des vœux.
1 toute 1 XIII, onse à léposer juieme
rde la et aux e pour ement, ent de 'e des
. dont ulièrelevons juil a lant à puisse iberté
omme Le des res et
quelle année j aux steres
aux I VOlTS com-
pns
Au cours de cette constitution le Pape dit: “ Nous voulons done et ordonnons que ::08 vénérables frères les évêques et autres ordinaires des lieux, en ce qui concerne les moniales, oblates, tertiaires et autres femmes ou jeunes filles mentionnées plus haut, les anachorèt.s, les ermites, les prisonniers, les malades, les septuagénaires, établis sent et prescrivent, soit par eux mêmes, soit par l'intermédiaire de confesseurs prudents, des œuvres de religion et de piété appropriées à l'état, à la condition et à la santé de chacun ainsi qu'aux particuliarités du temps et du lieu. Nous voulons et déerétons que l’accomplissement de ces œuvres soit équivalent à la visite des quatre basiliques de Rome.”
En vertu de cette faculté, nous accordons aux confesseurs approuvés en ce diocèse le pouvoir de déterminer, dans chaque cas particulier, les œuvres de religion et de piété qui devront remplacer les visites aux basiliques de Rome.
Nous lev: :cordons aussi, en faveur des mêmes personnes, le pouvoh d'absoudre des cas réservés à l'évéque.
Vous lir-« bieu attentivement le troisieme document
pontifieal que je publie à la suite de la Constitution plus haut mentionnée, et vous en ferez connaître à vos fidèles les parties qui les intéressent,
Ce document traite de la suspension des indulgences et facultés pendant le jubilé universel.
