J.M.J.

Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's
THE CHURCH'S YEAR
INSTRUCTION ON THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS
[November 1]

Why has the Church instituted this festival?
 
 To give praise to God in His saints, (Ps. 150.) and to pay to the saints themselves the honor which they merit for having made it the work of their earthly life to promote the honor of God.
2. To impress vividly upon our minds that we are members of that holy Catholic Church which believes in the communion of saints, that is, in the communion of all true Christians, who belong to the Church triumphant in heaven, to the Church suffering in purgatory, or to the Church militant upon earth; but, more particularly, to cause us earnestly to consider the communion of the saints in heaven with us, who are yet battling on earth.
3. To exhort us to raise our eyes and hearts, especially on this day, to heaven, where before the throne of God is gathered the innumerable multitude of saints of all countries, times, nationalities and ranks of life, who have faithfully followed Christ and left us glorious examples of virtues, which we ought to imitate.
This we can do, for the saints, too, were weak men, who fought and conquered only by the grace of God, which will not be denied to us.
4.To honor those saints, for whom during the year there-is no special festival appointed by the Church. Finally, that in consideration of so many intercessors God may grant us perfect reconciliation, may permit us to share in their merits, and may grant us the grace to enjoy with them, one day, the bliss of heaven.
 
Who first instituted this festival?
 
 Pope Boniface IV first suggested the celebration of this festival, when in 610 he ordered that the Pantheon, a pagan temple at Rome, dedicated to all the gods, should be converted into a Christian church, and the relics of the saints, dispersed through the different Roman cemeteries, taken up and placed therein. He then dedicated the Church to the honor of the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, and thus for the first time celebrated the Festival of All Saints, directing that it should be observed in Rome every year. Pope Gregory IV extended this feast to the whole Catholic Church, and appointed the 1st of November as the day of its celebration.
 
At the Introit the Church sings: Let us all rejoice in the Lord, celebrating a festival day in honor of all the saints; at whose solemnity the angels rejoice, and give praise to the Son of God.
Rejoice in the Lord, ye just: praise becometh the upright. Glory &c.
 
Why is the Gospel of the Eight Beatitudes read on this day?
 
 Because they form, so to speak, the steps on which the saints courageously ascended to heaven.
 
 If you desire to be with the saints in heaven, you must also mount patiently and perseveringly these steps, then God's hand will assuredly aid you.

 EXPLANATION OF THE EIGHT BEATITUDES.

I. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 THEY are poor in spirit who, like the apostles, leave all temporal things for Christ's sake and become poor; they who have lost their property by misfortune or injustice, and bear this loss with patience and resignation to the will of God; they who are contented with their poor and lowly station in life, do not strive for greater fortune or a higher position, and would rather suffer want than make themselves rich by unlawful means; they who though rich do not love wealth, nor set their hearts upon it, but use their riches to aid the poor; and especially they who are humble, that is, who have no exalted opinion of themselves, but are convinced of their weakness and inward poverty, have a low estimate of themselves, therefore, feel always their need, and like poor mendicants, continually implore God's grace and assistance.
 
II. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land.
 
 He is meek who represses every rising impulse of anger, impatience and desire of revenge, and willingly puts up with every thing that God, to prove him, decrees or permits to happen to him, or men inflict upon him. He who thus controls himself, is like a calm and tranquil sea, in which the image of the divine Sun is ever reflected, clear and Unruffled. He who thus conquers himself is mightier than if he besieged and conquered strongly fortified cities, (Prov. xvi. 32.) and will without doubt receive this earth, as well as heaven, as an inheritance, enjoying eternally there the peace (Ps. xxxvi. 11.) which is already his on earth.
 
III. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
 
 The mourners here mentioned are not those who weep and lament over the death of relatives and friends, or over misfortune or loss of temporal riches, but those who mourn that God is so often offended, so little loved and honored by men, that so many souls, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, are lost. Among these mourners are also those who lead a strict and penitential life, and patiently endure distress; for sin is the only evil, the only thing to be lamented, and those tears only, which are shed on account of sin, are useful tears, and are recompensed by everlasting joy and eternal consolation.
 
IV. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill.
 
 Hunger and thirst denote the ardent longing for those virtues which constitute Christian perfection. He who seeks such perfection with ardent desire and earnest striving, will be filled, that is, will be adorned by God with the most beautiful virtues, and will be abundantly rewarded in heaven.
 
V. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
 
 They are merciful who assist the poor according to their means, who practice every possible spiritual and corporal work of mercy, who as far as they can, patiently endure the faults of others, strive always to excuse them, and willingly forgive the injuries they have received.
They especially are truly merciful, who are merciful to their enemies, and do good to them, as written: Love your enemies, and do good to them that hate you. (Matt. v. 44.) Well is it for him who is merciful, the greatest "rewards are promised him, but a judgment without mercy shall be passed on the unmerciful.
 
VI. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.
 
 They are clean of heart, who carefully preserve the innocence which they received in baptism, and keep their heart and conscience free not only from all sinful words and deeds, but from all sinful thoughts and desires, and in all their omissions and commissions think and desire only good. These while yet on earth see God in all His works and creatures, because their thoughts are directed always to the Highest Good, and in the other world they will see Him face to face, enjoying in this contemplation a peculiar pleasure which is reserved for pure souls only; for as the eye that would see well, must be clear, so must those souls be immaculate who are to see God.
 
VII. Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God.
 
 Those are peace-makers who guard their improper desires, who are careful to have peace in their conscience and regulated tranquility in all their actions, who do not quarrel with their neighbors, and are submissive to the will of God. These are called children of God, because they follow God who is a God of peace, (Rom. xv. 33.) and who even gave His only Son to reconcile the world, and bring upon earth that peace which the world does not know and cannot give. (St. Luke ii. 14.; St. John xiv. 27.)
 
VIII. Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
 
 Those suffer persecution for justice' sake who by their words, writings, or by their life defend the truth, the faith and Christian virtues; who cling firmly to God, and permit nothing to turn them from the duties of the Christian profession, from the practice of their holy religion, but on its account suffer hatred, contempt, disgrace, injury and injustice from the world. If they endure all this with patience and perseverance, even, like the saints, with joy, then they will become like the saints and like them receive the heavenly crown. If we wish to be crowned with them, we must suffer with them: And all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution, (ii. Tim. iii. 12.)
 
 SUPPLICATION. How lovely, O Lord, are Thy tabernacles! My soul longeth for Thy courts. My body and soul rejoice in Thee, most loving God, Thou crown and reward of all the saints, whose temporal pains and sufferings Thou dost reward with eternal joy, filling them with good! How blessed are they who have faithfully served Thee, for they carry Thy name on their forehead, and reign with Thee for all eternity. Grant us, we beseech Thee, O God, by their intercession, Thy grace that we, after their example, may serve Thee in sanctity and justice, in poverty and humility, in meekness and repentance, in the ardent desire for all virtues, by mercy, perfect purity of heart, in peacefulness and patience, following them, and taking part, one day, with them in heavenly joy and happiness. Amen.

Insight into the Catholic Faith presents
 
Catholic Tradition Newsletter
 
A weekly presentation of News, Information, Readings and Commentary for traditional Roman Catholics and Catholic Families remaining faithful to the teaching Magisterium as held by all faithful Catholics through the centuries.
 
Vol 2 Issue 24                                                                     Editor: Rev. Fr. Courtney Edward Krier
 
 
October 16, 2009
St. Hedwig
  
Caritas in Veritate, part 10
Day of Disgrace: Harvey Milk Day
Pope Leo XIII honors Christopher Columbus—do you?
 
 
Dear Reader:
 
Charity in Truth
A Commentary on Benedict XVI’s Social Encyclical
Part X
 
Chapter Three is titled, Fraternity, Economic Development and Civil Society. Benedict XVI transforms a humanity into a divinity through a seeming humanistic approach. Grace (Benedict XVI uses “gratuitousness”) is present in humanity when it gives. Original Sin, a wounded nature, is not elaborated and can mean whatever the reader wishes it to be: imbalanced chemistry, disease, lack of knowledge, environmental influences, or being brought up in a single parent home. But better, here is his presentation he gave during a sermon in 1981:
 
What does original sin mean, then, when we interpret it correctly?
            Finding an answer to this requires nothing less than trying to understand the human person better. It must once again be stressed that no human being is closed in upon himself or herself and that no one can live of or for himself or herself alone. We receive our life not only at the moment of birth but everyday from without—from others who are not ourselves but who nonetheless somehow pertain to us. Human beings have their selves not only in themselves but also outside of themselves: they live in those whom they love and in those who love them and to whom they are “present.” Human beings are relational, and they possess their lives—
themselves—only by way of relationship. I alone am not myself, but only in and with you am I myself. To be truly a human being means to be related in love, to be of and for. But sin means the damaging or the destruction [73] of relationality. Sin is a rejection of relationality because it wants to make the human being a god. Sin is loss of relationship; disturbance of relationship; and therefore it is not restricted to the individual. When I destroy a relationship, then this event—sin—touches the other person involved in the relationship. Consequently sin is always an offense that touches others, that alters the world and damages it. To the extent that this is true, when the network of human relationships is damaged from the very beginning, then every human being enters into a world that is marked by relational damage. At the very moment that a person begins human existence, which is a good, he or she is confronted by a sin-damaged world. Each of us enters into a situation in which relationality has been hurt. Consequently each person is, from the very start, damaged in relationships and does not engage in them as he or she ought. Sin pursues the human being, and he or she capitulates to it.
            But from this it is also clear that human beings alone cannot save themselves. Their innate error is precisely that they want to do this by themselves. We can only be saved –that is, be free and true—when we stop wanting to be God and when we renounce the madness of autonomy and self-sufficiency. We can only be saved—that is, become ourselves—when we engage in the proper relationship. But our interpersonal relationships occur in the context of our [74] utter creatureliness, and it is there that the damage lies. Since the relationship with creation has been damaged, only the Creator himself can be our savior. We can be saved only when he from whom we have cut ourselves off takes the initiative with us and stretches out his hand to us. Only being loved is being saved, and only God’s love can purify damaged human love and radically reestablish the network of relationships that have suffered from alienation.
 
“In the Beginning…” A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall, by Joseph Ratzinger, translated by Boniface Ramsey, O.P., William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995, p. 71
 
Therefore, in Benedict XVI’s definition of Original Sin, Original Sin is the broken human relationships which each new human being entering this world finds himself confronted. Salvation is fixing the inter-personal relationships among selfish humans. This takes God to show us in Christ what love, i.e., interpersonal relationships between humans. His first encyclical, Deus Caritas est, explored this concept he developed. All in all, it is a humanistic approach that negates the supernatural. What the reader is presented is that all sin is a refusal to engage in relationships and it becomes a “societal sin” when society fails to engage in inter-societal relationships due to
 
conviction that man is self-sufficient and can successfully eliminate the evil present in history by his own action alone has led him to confuse happiness and salvation with immanent forms of material prosperity and social action. Then, the conviction that the economy must be autonomous, that it must be shielded from “influences” of a moral character, has led man to abuse the economic process in a thoroughly destructive way. In the long term, these convictions have led to economic, social and political systems that trample upon personal and social freedom, and are therefore unable to deliver the justice that they promise. (Par. 34)
 
With this foundation, nature provides us with hope, which Benedict XVI seems to transform into encouragement to reason and mutual trust, a powerful social resource at the service of integral human development, sought in freedom and in justice. (Ibid) Gratuitousness is the presence of God found in the “expression of fraternity.” All acts of society are to build this truly universal community and the market is the economic institution that permits encounter between persons, inasmuch as they are economic subjects… (Par. 35)
Having come to the connection between fraternity and economic development, the former the goal, and the latter the means, Benedict XVI teaches that economics based on commutative justice is not sufficient for a truly universal community, there must be distributive justice and social justice. In his words, without sharing equally the material goods of this world, there is no social justice. Without social justice, there is no mutual trust. Without mutual trust, there is no universal community (universal fraternity), the proper function of the economy. Because economics relies on commutative justice, political action must be taken for pursuing justice through redistribution. (Par. 36) Social justice can then be obtained when man realizes his social sin of not being gratuitous and begins to build authentically human relations by realizing an economic equality where there is neither rich nor poor demanded by a moral conscience and personal and social responsibility.
At this point, Benedict XVI enters into how to undo the present system of economics based on capitalism. First, is a change of thinking the economy should be based on a free market.  Rather than free market it should be based on political logic and the logic of the unconditional gift, which means an economic democracy. (Par 37) Secondly,  the creation of a model of market economy capable of including within its range all peoples and not just the better off. He  [Paul VI, Populorum progressio, par. 44] called for efforts to build a more human world for all, a world in which “all will be able to give and receive, without one group making progress at the expense of the other” (Par. 39) Thirdly, the worker should give what he believes is best for himself:
 
Business activity has a human significance, prior to its professional one [Cf. John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Centesimus Annus, 32: loc. cit., 832-833; Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 25: loc. cit., 269-270.]. It is present in all work, understood as a personal action, an “actus personae”[John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Laborem Exercens, 24: loc. cit., 637-638.], which is why every worker should have the chance to make his contribution knowing that in some way “he is working ‘for himself'”[ Ibid., 15: loc. cit., 616-618.]. With good reason, Paul VI taught that “everyone who works is a creator” [Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 27: loc. cit., 271.]. It is in response to the needs and the dignity of the worker, as well as the needs of society, that there exist various types of business enterprise, over and above the simple distinction between “private” and “public”.
 
Finally, Globalization is the novus ordo saeclorum. One should not look at nationalism or patriotism as virtues, but as obstacles to brotherhood in a one world divided not be national boundaries and cultures, but experts in the new political and economic future:
The breaking-down of borders is not simply a material fact: it is also a cultural event both in its causes and its effects. If globalization is viewed from a deterministic standpoint, the criteria with which to evaluate and direct it are lost. As a human reality, it is the product of diverse cultural tendencies, which need to be subjected to a process of discernment. The truth of globalization as a process and its fundamental ethical criterion are given by the unity of the human family and its development towards what is good. Hence a sustained commitment is needed so as to promote a person-based and community-oriented cultural process of world-wide integration that is open to transcendence. (Par. 42)
This summarizes chapter 3 of the encyclical. I do not know how many reading the words of Benedict XVI really understand their import, but a careful perusal becomes an Orwellian plan that appears to be the goal by political, economic and religious leaders.
 
(To be continued)
 
___________________
 
The following disheartening news expresses the trend of American politics especially under the present regime that has a calculated agenda to destroy American Family values by denying all values and promoting the most perverted. If anyone read his book, Dreams from my Father, they would realize that Mr. Obama has no morals and has learned to use people for his own opportunistic goals, such as joining a “Christian” Church because otherwise no one would join his cause in Chicago. I hope that if there are parents who must send their children to public schools in California that they demand their children are not the subjects to any immoral indoctrination and that all parents absent their children while programs such as “Mix it up” (November 10 this year) and “Day of Silence” (usually in April). The best application of this day would be to celebrate the family and do something that keeps family values strong.
 
 
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-harvey-milk-honor,0,870845.story

recognition day honoring gay rights leader Harvey Milk
DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer
7:55 p.m. EDT, October 12, 2009
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk will get a special day of recognition in California, making him only the second person in state history — in addition to conservationist John Muir — to gain such a designation. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's signing of the bill establishing "Harvey Milk Day" each May 22, Milk's birthday, was announced Monday. The Republican governor vetoed similar legislation a year ago. In the interim, Milk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in August and was the subject of a movie for which Sean Penn won the Academy Award for best actor.
….
Milk was a leader in the gay rights movement who was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. The bill said he was the nation's first openly gay man elected to public office in a major U.S. city. A year later, Milk played a prominent role in defeat of the so-called Briggs Initiative, a ballot proposition that would have prevented gays and lesbians from teaching in the state's public schools. In November 1978, a few weeks after the election, he and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated at City Hall by former supervisor Dan White, who had resigned his seat but wanted it back. White was angry at Moscone for refusing his request and at Milk because he had been among those lobbying the mayor against reappointing White.

"Harvey Milk Day" will not be a formal state holiday, so government employees will not be given the day off. The bill instead calls for the day to be observed by public schools as a day of special significance. Teachers will be encouraged to conduct exercises recalling Milk's life and contributions to the state. State Sen. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, who wrote the bill, said Milk was a human rights leader in the same way Cesar Chavez championed Hispanic farmworkers and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. sought equal treatment for blacks. "Harvey's work was not only about the respect and dignity and validation of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community, but for all human life. That's why I think he ranks among the other world-renown human rights leaders," he said. Leno said he would support making Milk's birthday a formal holiday but conceded the state can't afford it because it would require overtime payments to thousands of state workers.

Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, said he was appalled by the governor's decision. "Sadly, children in public schools will now have even more in-your-face, homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination," Thomasson said in a statement. Leno responded by saying opponents of his bill "wish to lock the fact of LGBT Californians into a dark closet of the 20th century." "The rest of the state is moving forward," he said. …

_____________
 
I am placing the following Encyclical from Leo XIII here to remind those of us in America a proper Catholic outlook of Christopher Columbus and Columbus Day which is still celebrated on October 12.
 
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE LEO XIII ON
THE COLUMBUS QUADRICENTENNIAL
To Our Venerable Brethren, the Archbishops and Bishops of Spain, Italy, and the two Americas.
 
Now that four centuries have sped since a Ligurian first, under God's guidance, touched shores unknown beyond the Atlantic, the whole world is eager to celebrate the memory of the event, and glorify its author. Nor could a worthier reason be found where through zeal should be kindled. For the exploit is in itself the highest and grandest which any age has ever seen accomplished by man; and he who achieved it, for the greatness of his mind and heart, can be compared to but few in the history of humanity. By his toil another world emerged from the unsearched bosom of the ocean: hundreds of thousands of mortals have, from a state of blindness, been raised to the common level of the human race, reclaimed from savagery to gentleness and humanity; and, greatest of all, by the acquisition of those blessings of which Jesus Christ is the author, they have been recalled from destruction to eternal life. Europe, indeed, overpowered at the time by the novelty and strangeness of the discovery, presently came to recognize what was due to Columbus, when, through the numerous colonies shipped to America, through the constant intercourse and interchange of business and the ocean-trade, an incredible addition was made to our knowledge of nature, and to the commonwealth; whilst at the same time the prestige of the European name was marvellously increased. Therefore, amidst so lavish a display of honour, so unanimous a tribute of congratulations, it is fitting that the Church should not be altogether silent; since she, by custom and precedent, willingly approves and endeavours to forward whatsoever she see, and wherever she see it, that is honourable and praiseworthy. It is true she reserves her special and greatest honours for virtues that most signally proclaim a high morality, for these are directly associated with the salvation of souls; but she does not, therefore, despise or lightly estimate virtues of other kinds. On the contrary, she has ever highly favoured and held in honour those who have deserved well of men in civil society, and have thus attained a lasting name among posterity. For God, indeed, is especially wonderful in his Saints - mirabilis in Sanctis suis; but the impress of His Divine virtue also appears in those who shine with excellent power of mind and spirit, since high intellect and greatness of spirit can be the property of men only through their parent and creator, God.
2. But there is, besides, another reason, a unique one, why We consider that this immortal achievement should be recalled by Us with memorial words. For Columbus is ours; since if a little consideration be given to the particular reason of his design in exploring the mare tenebrosum, and also the manner in which he endeavoured to execute the design, it is indubitable that the Catholic faith was the strongest motive for the inception and prosecution of the design; so that for this reason also the whole human race owes not a little to the Church.
3. For we have the record of not a few brave and experienced men, both before and after Christopher Columbus, who with stubbornness and zeal explored unknown lands and seas yet more unknown. And the memory of these, man, mindful of benefits, rightly holds, and will hold in honour; because they advanced the ends of knowledge and humanity, and increased the common prosperity of the race, not by light labour, but by supreme exertion, often accompanied by great dangers. But there is, nevertheless, between these and him of whom we speak, a generous difference. He was distinguished by this unique note, that in his work of traversing and retraversing immense tracts of ocean, he looked for a something greater and higher than did these others. We say not that he was unmoved by perfectly honourable aspirations after knowledge, and deserving well of human society; nor did he despise glory, which is a most engrossing ideal to great souls; nor did he altogether scorn a hope of advantages to himself; but to him far before all these human considerations was the consideration of his ancient faith, which questionless dowered him with strength of mind and will, and often strengthened and consoled him in the midst of the greatest difficulties. This view and aim is known to have possessed his mind above all; namely, to open a way for the Gospel over new lands and seas.
4. This, indeed, may seem of small likelihood to such as confine their whole thought and care to the evidence of the senses, and refuse to look for anything higher. But great intellects, on the contrary, are usually wont to cherish higher ideals; for they, of all men, are most excellently fitted to receive the intuitions and breathings of Divine faith. Columbus certainly had joined to the study of nature the study of religion, and had trained his mind on the teachings that well up from the most intimate depths of the Catholic faith. For this reason, when he learned from the lessons of astronomy and the record of the ancients, that there were great tracts of land lying towards the West, beyond the limits of the known world, lands hitherto explored by no man, he saw in spirit a mighty multitude, cloaked in miserable darkness, given over to evil rites, and the superstitious worship of vain gods. Miserable it is to live in a barbarous state and with savage manners: but more miserable to lack the knowledge of that which is highest, and to dwell in ignorance of the one true God. Considering these things, therefore, in his mind, he sought first of all to extend the Christian name and the benefits of Christian charity to the West, as is abundantly proved by the history of the whole undertaking. For when he first petitioned Ferdinand and Isabella, the Sovereigns of Spain, for fear lest they should be reluctant to encourage the undertaking, he clearly explained its object: "That their glory would grow to immortality, if they resolved to carry the name and doctrine of Jesus Christ into regions so distant." And in no long time having obtained his desires, he bears witness: "That he implores of God that, through His Divine aid and grace, the Sovereigns may continue steadfast in their desire to fill these new missionary shores with the truths of the Gospel." He hastens to seek missionaries from Pope Alexander VI, through a letter in which this sentence occurs: "I trust that, by God's help, I may spread the Holy Name and Gospel of Jesus Christ as widely as may be." He was carried away, as we think, with joy, when on his first return from the Indies he wrote to Raphael Sanchez: "That to God should be rendered immortal thanks, Who had brought his labours such prosperous issues; that Jesus Christ rejoices and triumphs on earth no less than in Heaven, at the approaching salvation of nations innumerable, who were before hastening to destruction." And if he moved Ferdinand and Isabella to decree that only Catholic Christians should be suffered to approach the New World and trade with the natives, he brought forward as reason, "that he sought nothing from his enterprise and endeavour but the increase and glory of the Christian religion." And this was well known to Isabella, who better than any had understood the great man's mind; indeed it is evident that it had been clearly laid before that most pious, masculine-minded, and great-souled woman. For she had declared of Columbus that he would boldly thrust himself upon the vast ocean, "to achieve a most signal thing, for the sake of the Divine glory." And to Columbus himself, on his second return, she writes: "That the expenses she had incurred, and was about to incur, for the Indian expeditions, had been well bestowed; for thence would ensure a spreading of Catholicism,"
5. In truth, except for a Divine cause, whence was he to draw constancy and strength of mind to bear those sufferings which to the last he was obliged to endure? We allude to the adverse opinions of the learned, the rebuffs of the great, the storms of a raging ocean, and those assiduous vigils by which he more than once lost the use of his sight. Then in addition were fights with savages, the infidelity of friends and companions, criminal conspiracies, the perfidy of the envious, and the calumnies of detractors. He must needs have succumbed under labours so vast and overwhelming if he had not been sustained by the consciousness of a nobler aim, which he knew would bring much glory to the Christian name, and salvation to an infinite multitude. And in contrast with his achievement the circumstances of the time show with wonderful effect. Columbus threw open America at the time when a great storm was about to break over the Church. As far, therefore, as it is lawful for man to divine from events the ways of Divine Providence, he seemed to have truly been born, by a singular provision of God, to remedy those losses which were awaiting the Catholic Church on the side of Europe.
6. To persuade the Indian people to Christianity was, indeed, the duty and work of the Church, and upon that duty she entered from the beginning, and continued, and still continues, to pursue in continuous charity, reaching finally the furthest limits of Patagonia. Columbus resolved to go before and prepare the ways for the Gospel, and, deeply absorbed in this idea, gave all his energies to it, attempting hardly anything without religion for his guide and piety for his companion. We mention what is indeed well known, but is also characteristic of the man's mind and soul. For being compelled by the Portuguese and Genoese to leave his object unachieved, when he had reached Spain, within the wall of a Religious house he matured his great design of meditated exploration, having for confidant and adviser a Religious-a disciple of Francis of Assisi. Being at length about to depart for the sea, he attended to all that which concerned the welfare of his soul on the eve of his enterprise. He implored the Queen of Heaven to assist his efforts and direct his course; and he ordered that no sail should be hoisted until the name of the Trinity had been invoked. When he had put out to sea, and the waves were now growing tempestuous, and the sailors were filled with terror, he kept a tranquil constancy of mind, relying on God. The very names he gave to the newly discovered islands tell the purposes of the man. At each disembarkation he offered up prayers to Almighty God, nor did he take possession save "in the Name of Jesus Christ." Upon whatsoever shores he might be driven, his first act was to set upon the shore the standard of the holy Cross: and the name of the Divine Redeemer, which he had so often sung on the open sea to the sound of the murmuring waves, he conferred upon the new islands. Thus at Hispaniola he began to build from the ruins of the temple, and all popular celebrations were preceded by the most sacred ceremonies.
7. This, then, was the object, this the end Columbus had in view in traversing such a vast extent of land and water to discover those countries hitherto uncultivated and inaccessible, but which, afterwards, as we have seen, have made such rapid strides in civilization and wealth and fame. And in truth the magnitude of the undertaking, as well as the importance and variety of the benefits that arose from it, call for some fitting and honourable commemoration of it among men. And, above all, it is fitting that we should confess and celebrate in an especial manner the will and designs of the Eternal Wisdom, under whose guidance the discoverer of the New World placed himself with a devotion so touching.
8. In order, therefore, that the commemoration of Columbus may be worthily observed, religion must give her assistance to the secular ceremonies. And as at the time of the first news of the discovery public thanksgiving was offered by the command of the Sovereign Pontiff to Almighty God, so now we have resolved to act in like manner in celebrating the anniversary of this auspicious event.
9. We decree, therefore, that on October 12, or on the following Sunday, if the Ordinary should prefer it, in all the Cathedral churches and convent chapels throughout Spain, Italy, and the two Americas, after the office of the day there shall be celebrated a Solemn Mass of the Most Holy Trinity. Moreover, besides the abovementioned countries, We feel assured that the other nations, prompted to it by the counsel of their bishops will likewise join in the celebration, since it is fitting that an event from which all have derived benefit should be piously and gratefully commemorated by all.
10. Meanwhile, as a pledge of heavenly favours and of Our own paternal goodwill, we lovingly bestow the Apostolic Benediction in Our Lord upon you, Venerable Brethren, and upon your clergy and people.
Given at Rome, from St. Peter's, on the 16th day of July, 1892, in the fifteenth year of Our Pontificate.
LEO XIII