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Show THE LATE BRIEE OE POPE PiUS X Commends Society of Propagation of the faith. Raises feast of St. f rands' . Xavier to Higher RM. Having been elected to the Apostolic Office, ami by the bounty of the divine Mercy placed at fh" head of the Christian priesthood. We have taken upon Ourselves a charge far greater than that contained con-tained in the care of Our flock at Home. For, when about to leave this earth, Christ gave commission to His Apostles, and among" them -in particular to , Peter whom not only in dignity, but. aI-o u zeal for the glory of God, he destined to outshine ih: rest to teach all nations and to bear the aving word of the new doctrine, to the uttermost and wiM-est wiM-est parts of the earth. Work of Society Extolled. In obedience therefore to the divine precept, and following the illustrious example of Our Predeces-sore, Predeces-sore, we are of opinion that there is nothing more becoming Our office than to accord Our entire goodwill good-will and favor to whatever means may seem to lead to the spreading abroad of the light of the Gospel and the extending of the-limits of- the Church. Among these, both by its usefulness and its activity, activ-ity, the work, worthy' of the highest praise, that, has the illustrious name of "The Propagation of th.j Faith," stands out pre-eminent. Sphere for Catholic Laity. This work appears to have originated and arisen among men by an inspiration quite divine. For it has seemed good to tho Providence of God. that th faithful of the Church, who have no mission committed com-mitted to them of preaching the gospel of Christ, should by the assistance of alms aid the heralds of the Gospel. To this end the charity by which thi hearts of good men were impelled towards Christ, "the Eedeemer, urged the faithful cf every nation and tongue to unite together, to contribute of their goods something to the help of missionary undertakings, under-takings, by uniting in prayer to come to the aid of dispensers of holy gifts and so gain the object of . their most cherished desires, that is, the spread of the kingdom of God upon earth. It i.-i known- to all what splendid service such an association has ren-dered ren-dered to the propagation of tho Christian Faith. Bears Tidings of Salvation. For, if means have been supplied permitting the messengers of Catholic doctrine to hasten to distant and barbarous countries, bringing them the advantages of our religion and of civilization, it should be attributed to the generosity of this noble association. In this way issued the beginnings of salvation to innumerable peoples; in thi.- way there has been gathered a harvest of souls the extent of which only ho can rightly estimate who has a full knowledge of the power of the Blood shed by Christ; in this way, quite contrary to what might be looked for from the scattered power of individuals individ-uals the law for the spreading abroad of the Gospel Gos-pel has in a marvellous way been obeyed. Reflecting Reflect-ing cm its merits. TVe have ever felt Ourselves attracted at-tracted towards this illustrious association; "We have not failed in lending it help as far as Our . small means allowed, and intend to perform yet more if the grace of God grant U3 the power. I St. Francis Patron of Association. And now, since the goodness of Almighty God has granted Us the means of dispensing Bpiritua! blessings to the faithful from the Chair of Peter, i we are unwilling to allow the opportunity to pass of honoring with some special manifestation o Our good will the association We have just praised. "Wherefore, in virtue of Our Apostolic Authority, 7 and by these present Letters, for this sole object, We absolve and shall hold as absolved from all excommunication, ex-communication, suspension; interdict and any other ecclesiastical sentence, censure, penalty whatsoever, what-soever, if they have incurred any, all and each In favor of whom this Our letter is' given; 'and in order or-der that the external aids of this association there may too be added protection and grace from above, as the heavenly Patron of the same, We choose and present St. Francis Xavier, and desire that to him be accorded all the honors du tr heavenly Patrons; and that nothing be wanting to the increase of his honor by the addition of outward out-ward observance and liturgical solemnity, We rais his feast to the rite of a greater double, conformably conform-ably to the rubrics, throughout the UniTersal Church. I Apostle of Propagation of Faith. ' . There is a certain peculiar and personal rela- . tion between this Saint and the work of Propagat- I ing the Faith. For Francis in his lifetime applied j himself with such zeal and such success to filling j . the hearts of peoples with the Christian Faith, that I iti him there seemed to live once more a chosen in- I strument of the divine powex, as in the persons of f the Apostles themselves. Wherefore We are pos- I sessed of a firm hope that this illustrious associa- I tion will daily increase, by tho intercession of Fran- ' j cisr and that soon by the abundance of its fruits, 1 the number of its members, the liberality and zeal of all who offer their alms, it will prove to be true 1 this sublime and striking fact, that, as the Church has been founded by Christ that in it salvation may be gained for all who believe, so the association for the Propagation of the Faith has been raised up by the designs of God that the light of the Gospel may shine upon those who do not as yet believe. Need of United Action. j Without doubt, the good will of Catholics, 1 even if separate and singly they show themselves liberal in gifts, will aid much to gain this result; but nothing will be of greater profit than the or- f ganization among Catholics of sets of ten, accord- . ing to the provision so wisely made. For the less f union there is, the less will be the effect produced ; ' on the other hand, united and well-ordered effort is extremely powerful; individual action, We say, is gc-jod; but united action is what is required. May Christ, the preserver of the human race, to th propagation of whose most holy Name this association associa-tion applies it.-elf. protect' the work with His grace and help. Certainly, we who live redeemed not by gold or silver, but by the preciou Blood (Continued on Pim 4) n THE LATE BRIEF OF POPE PIUS X (Continued From Page 1.) of the. Son of God, ought, above all, with instant prayer to draw down the divine assistance. SOLEMN PROMULGATION. This We order and command: and We decree that these present letters be binding, valid and efficacious, and that they acquire and obtain their full and entire effect and in all points be fully available to those to whom it belongs or shall in future belong and that judgments and definitions be given giv-en according to thee aforesaid by every ev-ery judge holding ordinary or. delegated powers; and We declare null and of no effect any attempt to the contrary, by whomsoever, with what authority soever, so-ever, knowingly or in ignorance, it be made. All constitutions, apostolic ordinances, or-dinances, 'or anv other notwithstanding. notwithstand-ing. Also, it ; is Our wish that to copies cop-ies of these present letters, printed or otherwise, subscribed by the hand of a t public notary and bearing the seal of same person constituted a dignitary in the Church, the same credence be giv- j en as would be accorded to these pres- , ent letteit; if they. -were produced and . shown. Given at Rome,' at St.. Peter's, under the Fisherman's ring, the 25th day of March, 1904, in the First Year of Our Pontificate. -Place of the Seal." Aloysius, Card. Maechi. ' I |