E SUPREMI
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS X
ON THE RESTORATION OF ALL THINGS IN CHRIST
TO THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE
Venerable Brethren,
Health and the Apostolic Benediction.
In addressing you for the first time from the
Chair of the supreme apostolate to which We have, by the inscrutable
disposition of God, been elevated, it is not necessary to remind
you with what tears and warm instance We exerted Ourselves to
ward off this formidable burden of the Pontificate. Unequal in
merit though We be with St. Anselm, it seems to us that We may
with truth make Our own the words in which he lamented when he
was constrained against his will and in spite of his struggles
to receive the honor of the episcopate. For to show with what
dispositions of mind and will We subjected Ourselves to the most
serious charge of feeding the flock of Christ, We can well adduce
those same proofs of grief which he invokes in his own behalf.
"My tears are witnesses," he wrote, "and the sounds
and moanings issuing from the anguish of my heart, such as I never
remember before to have come from me for any sorrow, before that
day on which there seemed to fall upon me that great misfortune
of the archbishop of Canterbury. And those who fixed their gaze
on my face that day could not fail to see it . . . I, in color
more like a dead than a living man, was pale for amazement and
alarm. Hitherto I have resisted as far as I could, speaking the
truth, my election or rather the violence done me. But now I am
constrained to confess, whether I will or no, that the judgments
of God oppose greater and greater resistance to my efforts, so
that I see no way of escaping them. Wherefore vanquished as I
am by the violence not so much of men as of God, against which
there is no providing, I realize that nothing is left for me,
after having prayed as much as I could and striven that this chalice
should if possible pass from me without my drinking it, but to
set aside my feeling and my will and resign myself entirely to
the design and the will of God."
2. In truth reasons both numerous and most weighty
were not lacking to justify this resistance of Ours. For, beside
the fact that We deemed Ourselves altogether unworthy through
Our littleness of the honor of the Pontificate; who would not
have been disturbed at seeing himself designated to succeed him
who, ruling the Church with supreme wisdom for nearly twenty six
years, showed himself adorned with such sublimity of mind, such
luster of every virtue, as to attract to himself the admiration
even of adversaries, and to leave his memory stamped in glorious
achievements?
3. Then again, to omit other motives, We were
terrified beyond all else by the disastrous state of human society
today. For who can fail to see that society is at the present
time, more than in any past age, suffering from a terrible and
deeprooted malady which, developing every day and eating into
its inmost being, is dragging it to destruction? You understand,
Venerable Brethren, what this disease is - apostasy from God,
than which in truth nothing is more allied with ruin, according
to the word of the Prophet: "For behold they that go far
from Thee shall perish" (Ps. 1xxii., 17). We saw therefore
that, in virtue of the ministry of the Pontificate, which was
to be entrusted to Us, We must hasten to find a remedy for this
great evil, considering as addressed to Us that Divine command:
"Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations and over kingdoms,
to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and
to build, and to plant" (Jerem. i., 10). But, cognizant of
Our weakness, We recoiled in terror from a task as urgent as it
is arduous.
4. Since, however, it has been pleasing to the
Divine Will to raise Our lowliness to such sublimity of power,
We take courage in Him who strengthens Us; and setting Ourselves
to work, relying on the power of God, We proclaim that We have
no other program in the Supreme Pontificate but that "of
restoring all things in Christ" (Ephes. i., 10), so that
"Christ may be all and in all" (Coloss. iii, 2). Some
will certainly be found who, measuring Divine things by human
standards will seek to discover secret aims of Ours, distorting
them to an earthly scope and to partisan designs. To eliminate
all vain delusions for such, We say to them with emphasis that
We do not wish to be, and with the Divine assistance never shall
be aught before human society but the Minister of God, of whose
authority We are the depositary. The interests of God shall be
Our interest, and for these We are resolved to spend all Our strength
and Our very life. Hence, should anyone ask Us for a symbol as
the expression of Our will, We will give this and no other: "To
renew all things in Christ." In undertaking this glorious
task, We are greatly quickened by the certainty that We shall
have all of you, Venerable Brethren, as generous cooperators.
Did We doubt it We should have to regard you, unjustly, as either
unconscious or heedless of that sacrilegious war which is now,
almost everywhere, stirred up and fomented against God. For in
truth, "The nations have raged and the peoples imagined vain
things" (Ps.ii., 1.) against their Creator, so frequent is
the cry of the enemies of God: "Depart from us" (Job.
xxi., 14). And as might be expected we find extinguished among
the majority of men all respect for the Eternal God, and no regard
paid in the manifestations of public and private life to the Supreme
Will - nay, every effort and every artifice is used to destroy
utterly the memory and the knowledge of God.
5. When all this is considered there is good
reason 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
(II. Thess. ii., 3). Such, in truth, is the audacity and the wrath
employed everywhere in persecuting religion, in combating the
dogmas of the faith, in brazen effort to uproot and destroy all
relations 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 contemned 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" (II. Thess. ii., 2).
6. Verily no one of sound mind can doubt the
issue of this contest between man and the Most High. Man, abusing
his liberty, can violate the right and the majesty of the Creator
of the Universe; but the victory will ever be with God - nay,
defeat is at hand at the 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, He "overlooks the sins of men"
(Wisd. xi., 24), but swiftly, after these apparent retreats, "awaked
like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine" (Ps.
1xxvii., 65), "He shall break the heads of his enemies"
(Ps. 1xxvii., 22), that all may know "that God is the king
of all the earth" (Ib. 1xvi, 8), "that the Gentiles
may know themselves to be men"(Ib. ix., 20).
7. All this, Venerable Brethren, We believe and
expect with unshakable faith. But this does not prevent us also,
according to the measure given to each, from exerting ourselves
to hasten the work of God - and not merely by praying assiduously:
"Arise, O Lord, let not man be strengthened" (Ib. ix.,
19), but, more important still, by affirming both by word and
deed and in the light of day, God's supreme dominion over man
and all things, so that His right to command and His authority
may be fully realized and respected. This is imposed upon us not
only as a natural duty, but by our common interest. For, Venerable
Brethren, who can avoid being appalled and afflicted when he beholds,
in the midst of a progress in civilization which is 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 absurdity, seeing that where 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" (Is.
xxii., 17). There are many, We are well aware, who, in their yearning
for peace, that is for the tranquillity 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 we are really
urged by the love of peace.
8. But, Venerable Brethren, we shall never, however
much we exert ourselves, succeed in calling men back to the majesty
and empire of God, except by means of Jesus Christ. "No one,"
the Apostle admonishes us, "can lay other foundation than
that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ." (I. Cor.,iii.,
II.) It is Christ alone "whom the Father sanctified and sent
into this world" (Is. x., 36), "the splendor of the
Father and the image of His substance" (Hebr.i., 3), true
God and true man: without whom nobody can know God with the knowledge
for salvation, "neither doth anyone know the Father but the
Son, and he to whom it shall please the Son to reveal Him."
(Matth. xi., 27.) Hence it follows that to restore all things
in Christ and to lead men back to submission to God is one and
the same aim. To this, then, it behoves Us to devote Our care
- to lead back mankind under the dominion of Christ; this done,
We shall have brought it back to God. When We say to God We do
not mean to that inert being heedless of all things human which
the dream of materialists has imagined, but to the true and living
God, one in nature, triple in person, Creator of the world, most
wise Ordainer of all things, Lawgiver most just, who punishes
the wicked and has reward in store for virtue.
9. Now the way to reach Christ is not hard to
find: it is the Church. Rightly does Chrysostom inculcate: "The
Church is thy hope, the Church is thy salvation, the Church is
thy refuge." (Hom. de capto Euthropio, n. 6.) It was for
this that Christ founded it, gaining it at the price of His blood,
and made it the depositary of His doctrine and His laws, bestowing
upon it at the same time an inexhaustible treasury of graces for
the sanctification and salvation of men. You see, then, Venerable
Brethren, the duty that has been imposed alike upon Us and upon
you of bringing back to the discipline of the Church human society,
now estranged from the wisdom of Christ; the Church will then
subject it to Christ, and Christ to God. If We, through the goodness
of God Himself, bring this task to a happy issue, We shall be
rejoiced to see evil giving place to good, and hear, for our gladness,
" a loud voice from heaven saying: Now is come salvation,
and strength, and the kingdom of our God and the power of his
Christ." (Apoc. xii., 10.) But if our desire to obtain this
is to be fulfilled, we must use every means and exert all our
energy to bring about the utter disappearance of the enormous
and detestable wickedness, so characteristic of our time - the
substitution of man for God; this done, it remains to restore
to their ancient place of honor the most holy laws and counsels
of the gospel; to proclaim aloud the truths taught by the Church,
and her teachings on the sanctity of marriage, on the education
and discipline of youth, on the possession and use of property,
the duties that men owe to those who rule the State; and lastly
to restore equilibrium between the different classes of society
according to Christian precept and custom. This is what We, in
submitting Ourselves to the manifestations of the Divine will,
purpose to aim at during Our Pontificate, and We will use all
our industry to attain it. It is for you, Venerable Brethren,
to second Our efforts by your holiness, knowledge and experience
and above all by your zeal for the glory of God, with no other
aim than that Christ may be formed in all.
10. As to the means to be employed in attaining
this great end, it seems superfluous to name them, for they are
obvious of themselves. Let your first care be to form Christ in
those who are destined from the duty of their vocation to form
Him in others. We speak of the priests, Venerable Brethren. For
all who bear the seal of the priesthood must know that they have
the same mission to the people in the midst of whom they live
as that which Paul proclaimed that he received in these tender
words: "My little children, of whom I am in labor again until
Christ be formed in you" (Gal. iv., 19). But how will they
be able to perform this duty if they be not first clothed with
Christ themselves? and so clothed with Christ as to be able to
say with the Apostle: "I live, yet not I, but Christ lives
in me" (Ibid. ii., 20). "For me to live is Christ"
(Phlipp. i., 21). Hence although all are included in the exhortation
"to advance towards the perfect man, in the measure of the
age of the fullness of Christ" (Ephes. iv., 3), it is addressed
before all others to those who exercise the sacerdotal ministry;
thus these are called another Christ, not merely by the communication
of power but by reason of the imitation of His works, and they
should therefore bear stamped upon themselves the image of Christ.
11. This being so, Venerable Brethren, of what
nature and magnitude is the care that must be taken by you in
forming the clergy to holiness! All other tasks must yield to
this one. Wherefore the chief part of your diligence will be directed
to governing and ordering your seminaries aright so that they
may flourish equally in the soundness of their teaching and in
the spotlessness of their morals. Regard your seminary as the
delight of your hearts, and neglect on its behalf none of those
provisions which the Council of Trent has with admirable forethought
prescribed. And when the time comes for promoting the youthful
candidates to holy orders, ah! do not forget what Paul wrote to
Timothy: "Impose not hands lightly upon any man" (I.
Tim. v., 22), bearing carefully in mind that as a general rule
the faithful will be such as are those whom you call to the priesthood.
Do not then pay heed to private interests of any kind, but have
at heart only God and the Church and the eternal welfare of souls
so that, as the Apostle admonishes, "you may not be partakers
of the sins of others" (Ibid.). Then again be not lacking
in solicitude for young priests who have just left the seminary.
From the bottom of Our heart, We urge you to bring them often
close to your breast, which should burn with celestial fire -
kindle them, inflame them, so that they may aspire solely after
God and the salvation of souls. Rest assured, Venerable Brethren,
that We on Our side will use the greatest diligence to prevent
the members of the clergy from being drawn to the snares of a
certain new and fallacious science, which savoureth not of Christ,
but with masked and cunning arguments strives to open the door
to the errors of rationalism and semi-rationalism; against which
the Apostle warned Timothy to be on his guard, when he wrote:
"Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding the
profane novelties of words, and oppositions of knowledge falsely
so called which some promising have erred concerning the faith"
(I. Tim. vi., 20 s.). This does not prevent Us from esteeming
worthy of praise those young priests who dedicated themselves
to useful studies in every branch of learning the better to prepare
themselves to defend the truth and to refute the calumnies of
the enemies of the faith. Yet We cannot conceal, nay, We proclaim
in the most open manner possible that Our preference is, and ever
will be, for those who, while cultivating ecclesiastical and literary
erudition, dedicate themselves more closely to the welfare of
souls through the exercise of those ministries proper to a priest
jealous of the divine glory. "It is a great grief and a continual
sorrow to our heart" (Rom. ix., 2) to find Jeremiah's lamentation
applicable to our times: "The little ones asked for bread,
and there was none to break it to them" (Lam. iv., 4). For
there are not lacking among the clergy those who adapt themselves
according to their bent to works of more apparent than real solidity
- but not so numerous perhaps are those who, after the example
of Christ, take to themselves the words of the Prophet: "The
Spirit of the Lord hath anointed me, hath sent me to evangelize
the poor, to heal the contrite of heart, to announce freedom to
the captive, and sight to the blind" (Luke iv., 18-19).
12. Yet who can fail to see, Venerable Brethren,
that while men are led by reason and liberty, the principal way
to restore the empire of God in their souls is religious instruction?
How many there are who mimic Christ and abhor the Church and the
Gospel more through ignorance than through badness of mind, of
whom it may well be said: "They blaspheme whatever things
they know not" (Jude ii., 10). This is found to be the case
not only among the people at large and among the lowest classes,
who are thus easily led astray, but even among the more cultivated
and among those endowed moreover with uncommon education. The
result is for a great many the loss of the faith. For it is not
true that the progress of knowledge extinguishes the faith; rather
is it ignorance, and the more ignorance prevails the greater is
the havoc wrought by incredulity. And this is why Christ commanded
the Apostles: "Going forth teach all nations" (Matth.
xxvii., 19).
13. But in order that the desired fruit may be
derived from this apostolate and this zeal for teaching, and that
Christ may be formed in all, be it remembered, Venerable Brethren,
that no means is more efficacious than charity. "For the
Lord is not in the earthquake" (III Kings xix., II) - it
is vain to hope to attract souls to God by a bitter zeal. On the
contrary, harm is done more often than good by taunting men harshly
with their faults, and reproving their vices with asperity. True
the Apostle exhorted Timothy: "Accuse, beseech, rebuke,"
but he took care to add: "with all patience" (II. Tim.iv.,
2). Jesus has certainly left us examples of this. "Come to
me," we find Him saying, "come to me all ye that labor
and are burdened and I will refresh you" (Matth. xi., 28).
And by those that labor and are burdened he meant only those who
are slaves of sin and error. What gentleness was that shown by
the Divine Master! What tenderness, what compassion towards all
kinds of misery! Isaias has marvelously described His heart in
the words: "I will set my spirit upon him; he shall not contend,
nor cry out; the bruised reed he will not break, he will not extinguish
the smoking flax" (Is. xlii., I, s.). This charity, "patient
and kind" (I. Cor. xiii., 4.), will extend itself also to
those who are hostile to us and persecute us. "We are reviled,"
thus did St. Paul protest, "and we bless; we are persecuted
and we suffer it; we are blasphemed and we entreat" (I. Cor.,
iv., 12, s.). They perhaps seem to be worse than they really are.
Their associations with others, prejudice, the counsel, advice
and example of others, and finally an ill advised shame have dragged
them to the side of the impious; but their wills are not so depraved
as they themselves would seek to make people believe. Who will
prevent us from hoping that the flame of Christian charity may
dispel the darkness from their minds and bring to them light and
the peace of God? It may be that the fruit of our labors may be
slow in coming, but charity wearies not with waiting, knowing
that God prepares His rewards not for the results of toil but
for the good will shown in it.
14. It is true, Venerable Brethren, that in this
arduous task of the restoration of the human race in Christ neither
you nor your clergy should exclude all assistance. We know that
God recommended every one to have a care for his neighbor (Eccli.
xvii., 12). For it is not priests alone, but all the faithful
without exception, who must concern themselves with the interests
of God and souls - not, of course, according to their own views,
but always under the direction and orders of the bishops; for
to no one in the Church except you is it given to preside over,
to teach, to "govern the Church of God which the Holy Ghost
has placed you to rule" (Acts xx., 28). Our predecessors
have long since approved and blessed those Catholics who have
banded together in societies of various kinds, but always religious
in their aim. We, too, have no hesitation in awarding Our praise
to this great idea, and We earnestly desire to see it propagated
and flourish in town and country. But We wish that all such associations
aim first and chiefly at the constant maintenance of Christian
life, among those who belong to them. For truly it is of little
avail to discuss questions with nice subtlety, or to discourse
eloquently of rights and duties, when all this is unconnected
with practice. The times we live in demand action - but action
which consists entirely in observing with fidelity and zeal the
divine laws and the precepts of the Church, in the frank and open
profession of religion, in the exercise of every kind of charitable
works, without regard to selfinterest or worldly advantage. Such
luminous examples given by the great army of soldiers of Christ
will be of much greater avail in moving and drawing men than words
and sublime dissertations; and it will easily come about that
when human respect has been driven out, and prejudices and doubting
laid aside, large numbers will be won to Christ, becoming in their
turn promoters of His knowledge and love which are the road to
true and solid happiness. Oh! when in every city and village the
law of the Lord is faithfully observed, when respect is shown
for sacred things, when the Sacraments are frequented, and the
ordinances of Christian life fulfilled, there will certainly be
no more need for us to labor further to see all things restored
in Christ. Nor is it for the attainment of eternal welfare alone
that this will be of service - it will also contribute largely
to temporal welfare and the advantage of human society. For when
these conditions have been secured, the upper and wealthy classes
will learn to be just and charitable to the lowly, and these will
be able to bear with tranquillity and patience the trials of a
very hard lot; the citizens will obey not lust but law, reverence
and love will be deemed a duty towards those that govern, "whose
power comes only from God" (Rom. xiii., I). And then? Then,
at last, it will be clear to all that the Church, such as it was
instituted by Christ, must enjoy full and entire liberty and independence
from all foreign dominion; and We, in demanding that same liberty,
are defending not only the sacred rights of religion, but are
also consulting the common weal and the safety of nations. For
it continues to be true that "piety is useful for all things"
(I. Tim. iv., 8) - when this is strong and flourishing "the
people will" truly "sit in the fullness of peace"
(Is. xxxii., 18).
15. May God, "who is rich in mercy"
(Ephes.ii., 4), benignly speed this restoration of the human race
in Jesus Christ for "it is not of him that willeth, or of
him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy" (Rom. ix.,
16). And let us, Venerable Brethren, "in the spirit of humility"
(Dan. iii., 39), with continuous and urgent prayer ask this of
Him through the merits of Jesus Christ. Let us turn, too, to the
most powerful intercession of the Divine Mother - to obtain which
We, addressing to you this Letter of Ours on the day appointed
especially for commemorating the Holy Rosary, ordain and confirm
all Our Predecessor's prescriptions with regard to the dedication
of the present month to the august Virgin, by the public recitation
of the Rosary in all churches; with the further exhortation that
as intercessors with God appeal be also made to the most pure
Spouse of Mary, the Patron of the Catholic Church, and the holy
Princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul.
16. And that all this may be realized in fulfillment
of Our ardent desire, and that everything may be prosperous with
you, We invoke upon you the most bountiful gifts of divine grace.
And now in testimony of that most tender charity wherewith We
embrace you and all the faithful whom Divine Providence has entrusted
to Us, We impart with all affection in the Lord, the Apostolic
Blessing to you, Venerable Brethren, to the clergy and to your
people.
Given at Rome at St. Peter's, on the 4th day
of October, 1903, in the first year of Our Pontificate.
PIUS X
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