LEO XIII
To our Venorabte Brethren. ihe Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries having peace and communion with the Apostolic See.
VENERABLE BRETHREN,
Greeting and Apostolic Benediction.
The sacred joy caused in our Leart by the happy completion of the fiftieth anniver ory of our Kpiscopal consecration was g'eu lv anc sweetly multiplied by the sight of the pericipation of Catholics of all parts of the world in o... happiness, as that of children in their father's pleasure—-a brilliant witness to their faith and love. In that event, with an ever renewed sense of gratitude, we admire and magnify the counsels of Providence, towards ourself immeasurably gracious, and infinitely fruitful tor the Church. At the same time we feel our soul | stimulated to give thanks and glory for this good @ gilt to the august Mother of God, most powerful
mediatrix at the throne of God. Inasmuch as the immense loving-kindness of Mary—which, during a long and varied course of years and in many ways, We have ever proved to be prompt and efleetual— appears more clearly and more helpfully every day
it fills our soul with happiness, and encourages us to a superhuman confidence. We seem to hear the very voice of that heavenly Queen leading us lovingly amongst the difficult ways which the Church must follow, directing us in the fulfilment of our duty in the cause of the salvation of mankind, admonishing us that we should exhort the Faithful still further to piety and to the exercise of virtue. With her wishes it has many and many a time been sweet to us to correspond, And among the fruits which with her blessing, we gathered alter these exhort: ations, must be speci ly recorded the increase of devotion to her most holy Rosary, the multiplication and new institution of Confraternities bearing this title, the diffusion of valuable writings upon the same subject, and, finally, the glory rendered to the same devotion by the Fine Arts. This, as though the voice of the Blessed Mother were calling still more clearly at our ear, “Cry aloud and cease not,” we rejoice once more, Venerable Brethren, to speak to you of the Rosary, now at the approach cf October, the month which we, bestowing the favours of holy indulgences, have made sacred to this most sweet devotion. But our subject will be chiefly neither the giving of new praises to this excellent manner of prayer, nor the urging of Christian people to use it with greater assiduity ; we shall speak of the precious gilts which the use of it will bring, gifts more than ever needful in the condition of the times. We believe that where the devotion of the Rosary is practised, great advantage may be gained by a thorough e xpli mation of its fruits and consequences as regards not individuals merely, but the whole human race,
No man is there who can now be ignorant how much we, exercising the obligations of the supreme Apostolate, have |: aboured lor the civil prosperity of the world, or how strongly we are resolved, with
the he have shoulc harme tion, geniu:
vanta, join !| chief that s have order, tion te three | ruin o labori:
gard o We deplor of reas deep \ the ne be ter nary | childr their that is result daily discon course equali tondei their i Henee variou agitati open
sourages us to hear the ing us lovthe Church ent of our kind, admouithful still tue. With ‘en sweet to which with chortations, of devotion n and new is title, the same sub- | the. same though the r still more se not,” we to speak to cf October, urs of holy nost sweet fly neither nt manner ople to use of the pre- , gilts more times, We
losary is d by a thoquences ius iole human
orant how 1e suprome
'osperit y of
rived, with
the help of God, to persevere to the same end, We have warned the legislators of nations that they Axbemi uot make nor approve laws that were out of harmony with the equitable rule of the Divine intention, And we have admonished those who, by genius, merit, rank, or riches, are in positions of ad-
vantage amongst their fellows that they should conjoin force and opinion to promote and protect the chief and highest interests of human society. In that society, as it is in our day, too many causes have produced a relaxation of the bonds of public order, and the people are distracted from due attention to purity of moral conduct. Among such causes three are most influential in working towards the ruin of the Commonwealth : dislike of obscure and laborious living ; repugnance to suffering ; disregard of the happiness to come.
We deplore—and those, indeed, also conless and deplore who acknowledge no rule except the light of reason, no restraint except that of utility—that a dee p wound has been inflicted upon mankind by the ne: lect of those duties and virtues which may be terued private and which are ornaments of ordinary life, From this temper result the rebellion of children against the natural duty of obedience, and their restiveness against any kind of bringing up that is not indulgent and effeminate. From this, too, result the dislike and weariness of labourers at their daily task, their avoidance of hard work, and the discontent with which they raise their eyes to other courses, desiring we know not what impracticable equalisation of fortune, — Hence, too, the general tendency of men to forsake their native places and their rush to the turmoil and evil concourse of cities. Henee the destruction of equilibrium amongst the various classes of citizens; their recklessness, the agitation of minds moved by hatred and envy ; the open attack upon established rights ; the disturb.
an à E etinddd Ls LASS NNR à PER
ance of pu »lie peace, and the hostility against autho- M jn hy rity, of those who, deluded in their vain hopes, WP and
assume the part of agitators, Against these evils let life 1 a remedy be sought for in the holy Rosary, which this | comprises both a determined order of prayer anda M upor meditation upon the Mysteries of Christ and of His Æ natic Blessed Mother, If we but present to the mind the M So yw Mysteries that are called Joylul, we produce images M socie and pictures of virtue, and make them familiar to 4 Th children from their earliest years. Each may see for S and himself how full and how rich are the examples of $$ mucl righteousness that may be found therein, as an ins M the Q piration to right conduct ; and by the contemplation M avoic of these the soul will be attracted with indescri- © suile bable sweetness, Behold, we are before the House desir of Nazareth, the habitation ol earthly and Divine MF over sanctity. What a life together ! Wha* a model of EM Men
domestic association ! There abide simplicity of M orent manners, perpetual concord, an order never disturb- D lectio ed, a mutual respect and honour, not false or capri- ME be ri cious, but proved by the assiduity of service, There À trium lacks no industry for the gaining of all that is need: 32 despe ful for life ; but all is got by the sweat of the brow, E many and —so much contentment is there with little— 3 loss « rather with the aim of lessening poverty, than with M sink 1 that of increasing riches, Asa crown to all this, @ too, v tranquillity of soul keeps rule, and joy of spirit, S Mon. which never wholly forsake him who does rght- E vous eously Now, these examples of humility and JS their modesty, of patience under burdens, and of neigh: B the M bourly kindness, of faithful fulfilment of the small E Chris duties that belong to daily life, and of other like vir- 2 insu tues, entering the soul and impressing themselves 3 to pro upon it, will certainly produce within it in time the E sity o wished for change and growth in good, Then will S all th those private Virtues, Which so many despise, be 1 Him i once more pleasant and attractive, and wearlsome + 80 tha no longer ; and conscience, made joyful and sweet 3 thiel,
against autho-
vain hopes, these evils let vosary, which prayer and a ist and of His the mind the oduce images m familiar to h may see for » examples of ein, as an ins- 'ontemplation vith indeserire the House
and Divine at a model of simplicity ol iever disturbalse or capri.
vice, There | that is needof the brow, with little— ty, than with n to all this, joy of spirit, 0 does rightumility and mid of neigh.
of the small ther like virr themselves it in time the . "Then will
despise, be 4d wearisome ul and sweet
in her effect, will also be made strong to persuade and constrain, Manners will grow gentler, family life more dear, daily intercourse more loving. All this effect upon the individual will become an effect upon the family, next an effect upon cities, upon nations, for these are ruled and formed by the unit. No wide and so great are the blessings that the society of mankind may gain ! |
The second great and fatal evil which we deplore, and which we can never deplore sufficiently, inasmuch as it gains way daily to the ruin of men, is the growing desire to fly from pain, the resolve to avoid and escape all that brings with ita touch of suilering, No longer is calm and liberty of the soul desired as the noble reward of those who meet and overcome peril and labour with unconquerable will. Men have made to themselves another ideal ; the greater number of them aspire after a chimeric perlection and an illusory progress of civil society, to be rewarded and crowned with none but earthly triumphs, none but natural delights, That wild and desperate longing for happiness holds sway in too many hearts, which, even if they do not suffer the loss of all, are inevitably enervated, and too often sink miserably under the pain of life. In this peril, foo, We must find hope and safety in the Rosary. Men must learn to have. spiritual hopes and generous desires, And this shall come to pass if from their boyhood they sweetly and tranquilly pore upon the Mysteries of Sorrow, In these we behold how Christ, the author and finisher of our Faith, worked in such wise that we might find in his lile, reduced fo practice, ull that has been taught us of the neces. sity of bearing pain, Nay, we see Him lay hold of all that is hardest to be borne. We contemplate Him as He grows exceeding sorrowful unto death, so that Ile sweats blood, We see him bound like a thief, subjected to the judgment of iniquity, cursed,
ml en DONDE EE EC
outraged, calumniated, We see Him struck with scourges, crowned with thorns, fastened to the Cross, judged unworthy to live, juaged worthy of death, amid the elamors of a people. And with the pains of the Son we recall to mind the sorrows of Mary most holy, whose soul was not wounded only, but pierced through by the sword of anguish, insomuch that she gained, and bears for ever, the name of the Mother of Sorrows. Truly he who shall not merely look, but shall meditate, upon such a splendour of suffering virtue shall be constrained to imitation. Even though this world, under the general maledietion, should bring forth for him her thorns and thistles ; even though his soul should be oppressed with distresses, and his body with disease : yet there shall happen to him no evil from the hatred of men or the anger of devils, there shall happen to him no calamity, publie or secret, that he shall not be strong enough to bear with patience, Most just is the saying, “todo and to suffer is a Christian’s business,” For whoever is worthy of that name cannot but imitate the suffering Christ. Under the name of patience, however, we do not include the vain ostentation of a soil hardened in endurance ; after the manner of certain philosophers of antiquity. We intend to describe the patience that is learnt ol Christ, Who rejected enjoyment and, overcommg humiliation, became obedient to the death of the Cross ; the. patience. that. looks to Him for comfort and for grace, that refuses not to suffer but rejoices in the face of sorrow, and counts the greatest dis tress for gain, The Catholic Church has had, and has ever, signal disciples of that doctrine, She has in every place, and in multitudes, men and women of every condition, who, following Christ, endure every kind of insult and of bitterness for virtue's sake and fuith's, repeating, by their life rather than their lips, the word of Thomas; “ We too will go
and cons mor lor c Ai chie!
men Weal thin:
Gent and | a ter are | most thing of a delib And abidi futur disor sion | coun com thi does draw Chris all th to en prese belon virtu cities, kind, the ei ing la that 4
n struck with d to the Cross, rthy of death, vith the pains rows of Mary ded only, but lish, insomuch ie name of the all not merely 1 splendour of | to imitation.
neral maledichorns and thisppressed with yet there shall | of men or the o him no calanot be strong just is the sayin's business,” ie cannot but
the name ol the vain ostennee; after the ntiquity, We it is learnt ol d, overcoming
death of the im for comfort er but rejoices e greatest dis-
has had, and rine, She has n and women Christ, endure ss lor virtue's fe rather than fe too will go
and die with Him.” May such noble examples of constancy be. yet multiplied, may they grow still more splendid, and may they gain Divine protection lor civil society, virtue and glory for the Church ! And the third evil that so sorely needs healing chiefly affects mankind in this our day. Although men in ages past may have greedily amassed the wealth of this world, they yet did not despise the things of the world to come. The wiser among the Gentiles recognised this life asa place of pilgrimage and not of abiding, as a wayside station and not as a terminus. But our contemporaries, although they are taught by the science of Christianity, for the most part lose their way in following after transitory things ; they do not merely lose the reraembrance of a Letter country and a blessed eternity ; they deliberately intend to abolish and. efface that hope. And yet the Apostle has said that we have here no abiding city, but are in search of a home in the future, If we shall seek for the origin of such a disorder we shall find it chielly in the common delusion that thought of things to come quenches love of country and acts contrary to the prosperity of the community, There is no more foolish 'alumny than this, For that which we hope for in the life to come does not so absorb the thoughts of man as to withdraw thein altogether from visible things ; and Christ Himself intends that we should seek first of all the kingdom of God, yet not in such a manner as to cause our neglect of all else, In fact the use of present things and of the innocent pleasures that belong to them are the increase and the reward of virtue, The splendour and the beauty of earthly cities, Which is augmented by the concourse of mankind, may inspire a thought of the magnilicence of the city which is above, There is absolutely nothing lawful that contradicts human reason, nothing that opposes the counsels of religion. God is the
author of nature and of grace. He wills not that the one should be hostile to the other. He would have them united in close alliance, not in collision, not apart, but leading by a friendly path to that immortal felicity to which the mortal is predestined. But men, given over to pleasure and loving themselves only, willully degrade all their hopes to earth and SO can mount no higher. So far are they from using visible delights as incentives to hope for the eternal, that they lose all sight of eternity. [wnoble is the state of those men. God can hard y inlliet greater punishment than is his who abandoris himself to lik long self-pleasing without a though: of ivlicities tha are io have no end. From such peri! and evil shali he be free who uses the devotion of the Kosary with devotion and contemplates the Glorious Mysteries Which it represents to him. From these the Christian. receives creat light lor the discov ‘ry of those treasures which, albeit remote. froiv. corporeal siet, are yet, as we know by undoubtiug faith, laid up by God ior those that love Him. From them wc learn that death is not a force of disruption and destruction, but a mere passing and changing of lile, We ‘esru that tae way of Heaven is open to all men ; TIT itching Christ as He returns thither, we call
nid the blessed promise He made at His deparure : "I go to prepare a place for you.” We learn (hat a time will come in which God shall Wipe away ul tears from our eyes, and when sorrow shail be no more, neither mourning nor Weeping ; but when we shall dwell for ever together with our God, made like to Him, for we shall see Him as He is, When we shall drink of the torreuts of His delight, shall be fellow citizens with the‘ Saints, in the most happy companionship of our Queen and Mother, Mary. A soul nourished upon such thoughts must needs be kindled by them, and go repeating the words of the Saint: “Oh, how vile seems the earth to me when
| loc wit bula the :
sole with nobl whe splei will unde the hess, T!
affirr the h agait OUT |:
these vely mem who, who the s auth« la vou posse hold with dern Were, the s
Way their their
ls not that the e would have | collision, not o that immorlestined. But ng themselves s to earth and ey from using or the eternal, lonoble is the intlict greater himself to life | telicities tha and evil shali e Rosary with ous Mysteries ese the Chrisvery of those rporeal sient, th, laid up by hem we learn ind destrucroi lile, We to all men ; iither, we call at His depar- 1.” We learn all wipe away w shail be no y; but when ur God, made e is, when we light, shall be » most happy ier, Mary, A ust needs be | words of the i to me when
I look into Heaven !" He will comfort himself, then with the word of the Apostle, who describes our tribulation here as a light thing when compared with the eternal weight of vlory. Indeed, this is the one sole way to nite time with eternity, the earthly with the heavenly city By this means alone shall noble and generous characters be shaped. And where these abound, there shall the dignity and the splendour of society be increased. All that is good will flourish, all that is true, all that 1s beautiful under the supernal law that is the head and front, the principle and the source, of beauty, righteousness, and truth.
Thus is the tru.h manifest of all that we have affirmed. respecting the precious things wherewith the holy Rosary is fruitful, and respecting its efficacy against the wounds and woes ol. human society in our day. All, however, will easily perceive that these. blessings will be more directly and more largely enjoyed by those who shall enrol themselves as members of the holy Confraternities of the Rosary, Who, therefore, claim them by a special title, and who unite together in bonds of special charity in the service of the Holy Virgin. Such Associations, authoritatively approved by the Roman Pontiffs,and lavoured by them with privileges and indulgences, possess a proper form of corporation and discipline, hold meetings at stated times, and are fnrnished with the best means for fostering piety and for rendering trae service to civil society. They are, as it Were, the armies of Christ, lighting His battles in the strength of His holy Mysteries, guided in their Way by the Queen of Heaven, to whom are paid their vows, their prayers, in whose honour are held their solemuities, their processions, highly favoured 1h all ages, und especially On the day ol Lepanto, Most right and sulutary, therelore, is it that the insfraction, muitiplicution and direction of such Con-
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fraternaties should be undertaken, not by the sons of St. Dominic alone, although the matter belongs particularly to them and to their Institute, but by all who have the care of souls, especially the pastors of the churches where the Confraternities have been canonically erected. It is a wish we have also much at heart that those who are at work upon missions for carrying the doctrine of Christ to barbarous nations or for spreading it among the civilized should give special heed to this matter In answer to their exhortations, we doubt not that many of the Faithful will give in their names to such Associations, and will more than ever seek to gather thence the interior blessings whereof we have spoken, for in these reside the reason and the essence of the Rosary. The example of members of Confraternities, moreover, will inspire the rest of the Faithful with more esteem and devotion towards the Rosary, so that all may incline, according to our earnest wish to seek the blessings that will so greatly avail thein.
These are the hopes that encourage us, that suse tain us, and—in the midst of so much publie calamity—rejoice us. Their fulfilment is im her hands who inspired and who taught the Rosary, the Mother of God and our Mother, Mary, who hears our united prayers. We trust, Venerable Brethren, that, by means of your own labours, our teaching and our desires may produce prosperity in families, tranquility in nations, and every kind of blessing. Nor shall there be wanting, as a pledge of the Divine assistance and a testimony of our aflection, the Apostolic Benediction, which we impart to you, your clergy, and your people, with all charity. in the Lord,
Given in Rome, by St. Peter's, on the eighth of September, in the sixteenth year of onr Pontilicate
t LEO PP, XTi
D CHERS
Je v
Met mes Sannée,
ot by the sons natter belongs stitute, but by lly the pastors ities have been ave also much upon missions to barbarous ivilized should inswer to their of the Faithful soclations, and ence the inte- , for in these e Rosary. The Lies, moreover, h more esteem y that all may sh to seek the atn.
‘ous, that suse h publie calasin her hands » Rosary, the iry, who hears able Brethren, , OÙr teaching itv in families, id of blessing’.
e ol the Divine thon, the Aposto you, your harity in the
the eighth of ur Pontilicate
PP, XIH
bième Série—No, 12
CIRCULAIRE AU CLERGÉ
~ NES Bras QUE erties —-
ARCHEVÈCHÉ Dp "PTAWA, ie 4 janvier 1894 ; C Contributions et \ uétes,
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