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Show i FIRST ENCYCLICAL" OF ! OUR HOLY FATHER ,j Pius X's humility Revealed in His Tribute to v Leo xniCorarcents on Evils of 1 Modern Society. i i. I . . . ; (Now rk '1 room an . Journal Translation.) ; To the Patriarchs, Primates. Archbishops, Bish-I Bish-I ls ami other Ordinaries in peace ami eommun- !icn with the Apostolic See. ; PIUS X. POPE. Yenerable Brothers: Health and the Apostolic Blessing. I Addressing for iho first time from the Chair of 1lie Supreme Apostolafc which we have, hy the i ' inscrutable disposition of God. hcen elevated, it is 3iot necessary to remind you with what tears and ; v.'.inii entreaties we exerted ourself to remove from J lis this fo'i inidahle burden of the Pontificate. Un-,f Un-,f equal in merit though v.e le wilh St. Anslem, it i Hems to us that wo may with truth make our own j 1 1 10 words iu which lie lamented when, constrained 1 against his will and in -pile of his struggles to re-; re-; ceive the lienor of the episcopate. For to show ih" dispositions of mind and will with which we s-uliioct; d ours; -If to the most serious charge of j'ecdiiiir iho Hock f Vhrisj, we can -well adduce illiose same proofs of grief which he invokes in his own h.half. "Mv tears are witnesses."' ho wrote, "and the sounds ;nid moanings issuing from t lie Miiruish of my heart, such as I never remember to have come from me for any sorrow, before that day on which ihwe seemed to fall upon mo that ' fvi'eat misfortune of iho Archbishopric of Canterbury. Canter-bury. And those who fixed their gaze on, my face on that day could not fail to see it. 1. in color jiKuv like a dead linn a living man, was pale for amazement and alarm. Hitherto I have, with true reasons, resisted, as far as 1 could, my election or rather the violence done me. But now I am con- H rained to confess, wheihor I will or no. that the ! judgments of Cod oppose greater and greater re- i f- I sisiaiM-e to my eiforts. so lhat 1 see no' way of es- oapimr them. Wherefore, vaiupuished as I am hy j the violence uot'so nnn ii oi men as of dod. ajramst i v.liich th(re is no providing-. 1 realize that nothing j is left for me. after having prayed a much as 1 j i could, ami striven that lhi chalice should if pos- j r-IMe pass from nu- without my drinking it, lmt to sink my own feelings and my will and resign mv-' mv-' s. If entirely to ihe design and the will of God.'' LEO'S GLORIOUS MEMORY. In truth, reasons ltoih numerous and -most I v.cighty were not lacking to justify this resistance i of ours. For. apart from the fact that we doomed ) ic,ir-elf al tog-el her unworthy, through our littleness. of tin' l:Mior of ihe Pontificate, who would not j ' have hocn di'sturoeil at seeing himself designated ; 1" in-ceed liim. who. ruling the Church with su- j i v:- sue wisdom for nearlv twenty-six years, showed i 1 i'a-i lf adorned with such sublimity of mind, such j hisife of every virtue, as to attract to himself the l jidnsiratioii even of adversaries and to leave his ; i.iorv tan!ped in glorious achievements ; SOCIETY'S MALIGNANT DISEASE. '1 "iieu au-ain, 1o omit other motive?, we were terrified beyond all else by the disastrous state of 'i unian society today. For who can fail to see that sn-ioty is now. more lhan in any past age, suffering from a terrible and deep-rooted malady which, developing de-veloping every day and eating into its inmost be-i.iir. be-i.iir. i dragging it to destruction? You understand, under-stand, venerable brothers, what this disease is ."postasy from God. than which in truth nolhing - is more allied with ruin, according to the word of iho prophet: ',, r behold thev that go far from I Th.-,. l,;,ll 1.'-rish " (1) (1, Ps. lxxii, 17). We saw. iherefi.ro, that, in virtune of the ministry of t the Ponlirieaie which was to be "intrusted to us. we ; must hasi( n to find a remedy for ihis great evil, i fotisidering as addressed to us that divine om- I maud: "Lo. 1 have set ilno this day over the na- lions and over kingdoms, to root up, to pull down, rnd io waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to 3 lam." (iM (2. .Terem. i. 10. But. cognizant, of our weakness, we recoiled in terror from a task as urgent as it is arduous. PIUS' PROGRAMME. : Since, however, it has been pleasing to the Di vine Will 1 laiso our lowliness to mi eh sublimity iif power, we take courage in Him wh0 strengtli-; strengtli-; ' cn us. and. selling ourself to work, relying on the : j'owor of God, we proclaim that we have no other programme in the Supreme Pontificate but that ; -of restoring all things to Christ.' () (3, Ephes 5 i. 10). so thai "Christ may be all and in all."' (4) (4. Coo. jii. 2). Some will certainly be found j who. measuring divine things by human standards, will seeek lo discover secret aims of ours, distorting them io an earthly scope and to partisan designs. To eliminate all vain delusion, for such we say with emphasis we do not wish to be, and with the divine assisi;;noo never shall be. aught before hu-iian hu-iian soriety but iho minister of God. of whoso authority we ;)re the depositary. The interests of God shall be our interests, and for these we are re-solved re-solved to pcnd all our strength and our very life. I Jletn-e. should anyone ask us for a symbol as the 1 express",.,, ,,,. xvj V(, -1Y(, .U1( i10 j oilier: "To renew all ihings in Christ." THE WAR ON GOD. ' uJidertaking ihi gh.rious 1ak we are great- ly qui-kened by ihe certainty that we shall have all .v"'- venerable- brmhers. as generous eo-opera- 1ors- I-il we doubt it we should have to regard you. unjustly, as either unconscious or heedless of that sacrilegious 'war which is now. almost cvery-; cvery-; where, stirred up and fomented against God. For n u-uih "the nations have raged' and the peoples 1 )m:igii.d vain ihincs"' (".)(:,. Ps. ii, 1) against Creator, so frequent is ihe -ry of the enc- . lines of G,d: "Depart from us." (G) (f. Job xxi, Jj)- And, as might be expeeled. v.e find ex- , niyinsti-d among the majority of men all respect J !'."' F tenia God. and no regard paid in the J iii;iniif.s..,t5ons 0f pUhlic and iirivate life to' the ""''1', Will nay, every effort and every artifice is used to destroy utterly the memory and the knowledge of (rod. THE COMING OF ANTICHRIST. When all this is considered, there is good reason rea-son to fear lest this great perversity may be, as it were a foretaste and perhaps the beginning of those evils which are reserved for the last days, and that there may be already in the world the "Son of Perdition"' of whom the Apostle speaks. (7) (7, 11 Thess. ii, ?). Such, in truth, is the audacity au-dacity and the wrath cmplovcd everywhere in persecuting per-secuting religion, in combating the dogmas of the faith, in brazen effort to uproot and destroy all relations re-lations between man and the Divinity! While, on the other hand, and this, according to the same Apostle, is the distinguishing mark of Antichrist, man has, with infinite temerity, put himself in the place of God, raising himself above all that is called God; in such wise that although he cannot utterly extinguish in himself all knowledge of God, he has condemned God's majesty, and, as it were, made of the universe a temple wherein he himself is to be adored. "He sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God." (8) (S, II Thess. ii, 2). THE TRIUMPH OF GOD. Yerily no one of sound mind can doubt the issue is-sue of this contest between man and iie .Most High. Man. abusing his liberty, can violate the right and the majesty of the Creator of the universe; uni-verse; but the victory will ever be with God nay, defeat is nearest, at the very moment when man, under the delusion of his triumph, rises up with most audacity. Of this we are assured in the Holy Books by God himself. Unmindful, as it were, of His strength and greatness, lie "overlooks the sins of men" (0) (i. Sap. xi, 21) but swiftly, after these apparent retreats, "awakened like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine." (10) (10, Ps. Ixxvii. 0:). "He shall break the heads of His enemies" (11) (11, Ps. lxvii, 22) that all may know "that God is the king of all the earth" (12) (12. Ps. lxvi. 8) "that "the Gentiles may know themselves to be men.' (13) (lo. Ps. ix, 2o). NO PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE. All this, venerable brothers, we believe ami ex-' peel with unshakable faith. But this does not prevent pre-vent us also, according to the measure given to each, from exerting ourself to hasten the work of God and not merely by praying assiduously: "Arise, 0 Lord, let not man bo. strengthened" (14) (14, Ps. ix, lit) but, more important still, by affirming af-firming both by word and deecd and in the light of day, God's supreme dominion over man and al things, so that His right to command and 11 is au-, thority may be fully realized and respected. This", is imposed upon us, not only as a natural duty, but hy the common interest of mankind. For, venerable vener-able brothers, who can help being appalled and afflicted af-flicted when he beholds, in the midst of a progress in civilization justly extolled, the greater part, of mankind fighting among themselves so savagely as to make it seem as though strife were universal? The desire for peace is certainly harbored in every breast", and there is no one who does not ardently invoke it. But to want peace without God is an ab- surdity, seeing that when God is absent thence, too, justice flies, and when justice is taken away it is vain to cherish the hope of peace. "Peace is the work of justice." (1) (1, Is. xxxii, 17). There are many, we are well aware, who, in their yearning for 7oaee, that is, for tranquility of order, band themselves into societies and parties, which they style parties of order. Hope and labor lost! For there is but one party of order capable of restoring peace in the midst of all this turmoil, and that is the party of God. It is this party, therefore, that we must, advance, and to it attract as many as possible, if wc are really urged by the love of peace. ' (To Be Continued.) I - 4 |