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Title: |
Exeunte Iam Anno
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Descr.: |
On The Right Ordering Of Christian Life
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Pope: |
Pope Leo XIII
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Date: |
December 25, 1888
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To
the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops, and to All the
Faithful in Grace and Communion with the Apostolic See.
Venerable
Brothers, Beloved Sons, Health and Apostolic Benediction.
1.
At the end of the year in which, by a singular mercy of God, We
have celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Our priesthood, We
dwell with pleasure upon the past months, and are delighted to
recall them to memory. And not without reason; for the occasion,
which regarded Us in a personal manner, was of itself neither
great nor extraordinary, and yet moved the goodwill of all men to
a very great degree, to rejoice with and congratulate Us, so that
there was nothing left to be desired.
2.
This general joy was most pleasing and gratifying to Us; but what
We valued therein most was the agreement of sentiment and the
universal testimony to religion which it displayed. For the
unanimous consent of well-wishers expressed this fact clearly,
that in all places the minds and hearts of all were devoted to the
Vicar of Christ, that men looked with confidence to the Apostolic
See, in the midst of its misfortunes, as to an ever-springing and
pure fount of salvation; and that in every land where the Catholic
religion flourishes the Roman Church, mother and mistress of all
Churches, is duly reverenced, as it should be, with one mind and
heart.
3.
For these reasons, through the past months, We have often lifted
up our eyes to God in thanksgiving for His most gracious gift of
long life, and for the consolations in Our labors which We have
mentioned, and at the same time, when needful, We showed our
gratitude to those to whom it was due. Now, however, the closing
days of the year and of the Jubilee, bid Us renew the recollection
of benefits received, and it gives us great pleasure that the
whole Church joins with Us in thanksgiving. At the same time We
wish by this letter to declare publicly that so many testimonies
of devotion and love have gone very far towards lightening Our
burden, and the remembrance of them will live always in Our mind.
4.
But a holier and higher duty yet remains. For in this devotion and
eagerness to show honor to the Roman Pontiff, We acknowledge the
power of God Who often is wont to draw and alone can draw great
good from matters even of the smallest moment. For God, in His
providence, seems to have wished to arouse faith in the midst of
wrong thinking men, and to recall the Christian people to the
desire of a higher life.
5.
We must therefore strive diligently that after beginning well we
may also end well, that the counsels of God may be both understood
and put in practice. The obedience shown to the Apostolic See will
then be full and perfected, if it be joined with Christian virtue,
and thus lead to the salvation of souls - the only end to be
sought for, which will also abide forever. In the exercise of Our
high Apostolic office, bestowed upon Us by the goodness of God, We
have many times, as in duty bound, undertaken the defense of
truth, and have striven to expound particularly those doctrines
which seemed to be most useful to all, in order watchfully and
carefully to avoid the dangers of error. But now, as a loving
parent, We wish to address all Christians, and in homely words to
exhort all to lead a holy life. For beyond the mere name of
Christian, beyond the mere profession of faith, Christian virtues
are necessary for the Christian, and upon this depends, not only
the eternal salvation of their souls, but also the peace and
prosperity of the human family and brotherhood.
6.
If We look into the kind of life men lead everywhere, it would be
impossible to avoid the conclusion that public and private morals
differ much from the precepts of the Gospel. Too sadly, alas, do
the words of the Apostle St. John apply to our age, "all that
is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the
concupiscence of the eyes and the pride of life."(1) For in
truth, most men, with little care whence they come or whither they
go, place all their thoughts and care upon the weak and fleeting
goods of this life; contrary to nature and right reason they
willingly give themselves up to those ways of which their reason
tells them they should be the masters. It is a short step from the
desire of luxury to the striving after the means to obtain it.
Hence arises an unbridled greed for money, which blinds those whom
it has led captive, and in the fulfillment of its passion hurries
them madly along, often without regard for justice or injustice,
and not seldom accompanied by a disgraceful contempt for the
poverty of their neighbor. Thus many who live in the lap of luxury
call themselves brethren of the multitude whom in their heart of
hearts they despise; and in the same way with minds puffed up by
pride, they take no thought to obey any law, or fear any power.
They call self-love liberty, and think themselves "born free
like a wild ass's colt.(2) Snares and temptation to sin abound; We
know that impious or immoral dramas are exhibited on the stage;
that books and journals are written to jeer at virtue and ennoble
crime; that the very arts, which were intended to give pleasure
and proper recreation, have been made to minister to impurity. Nor
can We look to the future without fear, for new seeds of evil are
sown, and as it were poured into the heart of the rising
generation. As for the public schools, there is no ecclesiastical
authority left in them, and in the years when it is most fitting
for tender minds to be trained carefully in Christian virtue, the
precepts of religion are for the most part unheard. Men more
advanced in age encounter a yet graver peril from evil teaching,
which is of such a kind as to blind the young by misleading words,
instead of filling them with the knowledge of the truth. Many nowadays seek to learn by the aid of reason alone, laying
divine faith entirely aside; and, through the removal of its
bright light, they stumble and fail to discern the truth, teaching
for instance, that matter alone exists in the world; that men and
beasts have the same origin and a like nature; there are some,
indeed, who go so far as to doubt the existence of God, the Ruler
and Maker of the World, or who err most grievously, like the
heathens, as to the nature of God. Hence the very nature and form
of virtue, justice, and duty are of necessity destroyed. Thus it
is that while they hold up to admiration the high authority of
reason, and unduly elevate the subtlety of the human intellect,
they fall into the just punishment of pride through ignorance of
what is of more importance.
7.
When the mind has thus been poisoned, at the same time the moral
character becomes deeply and essentially corrupted; and such a
state can only be cured with the utmost difficulty in this class
of men, because on the one hand wrong opinions vitiate their
judgment of what is right, and on the other the light of Christian
faith, which is the principle and basis of all justice, is
extinguished.
8.
In this way We daily see the numerous ills which afflict all
classes of men. These poisonous doctrines have utterly corrupted
both public and private life; rationalism, materialism, atheism,
have begotten socialism, communism, nihilism - evil principles which
it was not only fitting should have sprung from such parentage but
were its necessary offspring. In truth, if the Catholic religion
is willfully rejected, whose divine origin is made clear by such
unmistakable signs, what reason is there why every form of
religion should not be rejected, not upheld, by such criteria of
truth? If the soul is one with the body, and if therefore no hope
of a happy eternity remains when the body dies, what reason is
there for men to undertake toil and suffering here in subjecting
the appetites to right reason? The highest good of man will then
lie in enjoying life's pleasures and life's luxuries. And since
there is no one who is drawn to virtue by the impulse of his own
nature, every man will naturally lay hands on all he can that he
may live happily on the spoils of others. Nor is there any power
mighty enough to bridle the passions, for it follows that the
power of law is broken, and that all authority is loosened, if the
belief in an ever-living God, Who commands what is right and
forbids what is wrong is rejected. Hence the bonds of civil
society will be utterly shattered when every man is driven by an
unappeasable covetousness to a perpetual struggle, some striving
to keep their possessions, others to obtain what they desire. This
is well-nigh the bent of our age.
9.
There is, nevertheless, some consolation for Us even in looking on
these evils, and We may lift up Our heart in hope. For God
"created all things that they might be: and He made the
nations of the earth for health."(3) But as all this world
cannot be upheld but by His providence and divinity, so also men
can only be healed by His power, of Whose goodness they were
called from death to life. For Jesus Christ redeemed the human
race once by the shedding of His blood, but the power of so great
a work and gift is for all ages; "neither is there salvation
in any other."(4) Hence they who strive by the enforcement of
law to extinguish the growing flame of lawless desire, strive
indeed for justice; but let them know that they will labor with no
result, or next to none, as long as they obstinately reject the
power of the gospel and refuse the assistance of the Church. Thus
will the evil alone be cured, by changing their ways, and
returning back in their public and private life to Jesus Christ
and Christianity.
10.
Now the whole essence of a Christian life is to reject the
corruption of the world and to oppose constantly any indulgence in
it; this is taught in the words and deeds, the laws and
institutions, the life and death of Jesus Christ, "the author
and finisher of faith."(5) Hence, however strongly We are
deterred by the evil disposition of nature and character, it is
our duty to run to the "fight proposed to Us,"(6)
fortified and armed with the same desire and the same arms as He
who, "having joy set before him, endured the cross."(7)
Wherefore let men understand this specially, that it is most
contrary to Christian duty to follow, in worldly fashion,
pleasures of every kind, to be afraid of the hardships attending a
virtuous life, and to deny nothing to self that soothes and
delights the senses. "They that are Christ's, have crucified
their flesh, with the vices and concupiscences"(8) - so that
it follows that they who are not accustomed to suffering, and who
hold not ease and pleasure in contempt belong not to Christ. By
the infinite goodness of God man lived again to the hope of an
immortal life, from which he had been cut off, but he cannot
attain to it if he strives not to walk in the very footsteps of
Christ and conform his mind to Christ's by the meditation of
Christ's example. Therefore this is not a counsel but a duty, and
it is the duty, not of those only who desire a more perfect life,
but clearly of every man "always bearing about in our body
the mortification of Jesus."(9) How otherwise could the
natural law, commanding man to live virtuously, be kept? For by
holy baptism the sin which we contracted at birth is destroyed,
but the evil and tortuous roots of sin, which sin has engrafted,
[is] by no means removed. This part of man which is without reason
- although it cannot beat those who fight manfully by Christ's
grace - nevertheless struggles with reason for supremacy, clouds
the whole soul and tyrannically bends the will from virtue with
such power that we cannot escape vice or do our duty except by a
daily struggle. "This holy synod teaches that in the baptized
there remains concupiscence or an inclination to evil, which,
being left to be fought against, cannot hurt those who do not
consent to it, and manfully fight against it by the grace of Jesus
Christ; for he is not crowned who does not strive
lawfully."(10) There is in this struggle a degree of strength
to which only a very perfect virtue, belonging to those who, by
putting to flight evil passions, has gained so high a place as to
seem almost to live a heavenly life on earth. Granted;
few attain such excellence; even the philosophy of the ancients
taught that every man should restrain his evil desires, and still
more and with greater care those who from daily contact with the
world have the greater temptations - unless it be foolishly
thought that where the danger is greater watchfulness is less
needed, or that they who are more grievously ill need fewer
medicines.
11.
But the toil which is borne in this conflict is compensated by
great blessings, beyond and above heavenly and eternal rewards,
particularly in this way, that by calming the passions nature is
largely restored to its pristine dignity. For man has been born
under this law, that the mind should rule the body, that the
appetites should be restrained by sound sense and reason; and
hence it follows that putting a curb upon our masterful passions
is the noblest and greatest freedom. Moreover, in the present
state of society it is difficult to see what man could be expected
to do without such a disposition. Will he be inclined to do well
who has been accustomed to guide his actions by self-love alone?
No man can be high-souled, kind, merciful, or restrained, who has
not learnt self-conquest and a contempt for this world when
opposed to virtue. And yet it must be said that it seems to have
been predetermined by the counsel of God that there should be no
salvation to men without strife and pain. Truly, though God has
given to man pardon for sin, He gave it under the condition that
His only begotten Son should pay the due penalty; and although
Jesus Christ might have satisfied divine justice in other ways,
nevertheless He preferred to satisfy by the utmost suffering and
the sacrifice of His life. Thus he has imposed upon His followers
this law, signed in His blood, that their life should be an
endless strife with the vices of the age. What made the apostles
invincible in their mission of teaching truth to the world; what
strengthened the martyrs innumerable in their bloody testimony to
the Christian faith, but the readiness of their soul to obey
fearlessly His laws? And all who have taken heed to live a
Christian life and seek virtue have trodden the same path;
therefore We must walk in this way if We desire either Our own
salvation or that of others. Thus it becomes necessary for every
one to guard manfully against the allurements of luxury, and since
on every side there is so much ostentation in the enjoyment of
wealth, the soul must be fortified against the dangerous snares of
riches lest straining after what are called the good things of
life, which cannot satisfy and soon fade away, the soul should
lose "the treasure in heaven which faileth not."
Finally, this is matter of deep grief, that free-thought and evil
example have so evil an influence in enervating the soul, that
many are now almost ashamed of the name of Christian - a shame
which is the sign either of abandon wickedness or the extreme of
cowardice; each detestable and each of the highest injury to man.
For what salvation remains for such men, or on what hope can they
rely, if they cease to glory in the name of Jesus Christ, if they
openly and constantly refuse to mold their lives on the precepts
of the gospel? It is the common complaint that the age is barren
of brave men. Bring back a Christian code of life, and thereby the
minds of men will regain their firmness and constancy. But man's
power by itself is not equal to the responsibility of so many
duties. As We must ask God for daily bread for the sustenance of
the body, so must We pray to Him for strength of soul for its
nourishment in virtue. Hence that universal condition and law of
life, which We have said is a perpetual battle, brings with it the
necessity of prayer to God. For, as is well and wisely said by St.
Augustine, pious prayer flies over the world's barriers and calls
down the mercy of God from heaven. In order to conquer the
emotions of lust, and the snares of the devil, lest we should be
led into evil, we are commanded to seek the divine help in the
words, "pray that ye enter not into temptation."(11) How
much more is this necessary, if we wish to labor for the salvation
of others? Christ our Lord, the only begotten Son of God, the
source of all grace and virtue, first showed by example what he
taught in word: "He passed the whole night in the prayer of
God,"(12) and when nigh to the sacrifice of his life,
"He prayed the longer."(13)
12.
The frailty of nature would be much less fearful, and the moral
character would grow weak and enervated with much less ease if
that divine precept were not so much disregarded and treated
almost with disdain. For God is easily appeased, and desires to
aid men, having promised openly to give His grace in abundance to
those who ask for it. Nay, He even invites men to ask, and almost
insists with most loving words: "I say unto you, ask and it
shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall
be opened to you."(14) And that we should have no fear in
doing this with confidence and familiarity, he softens His words,
comparing Himself to a most loving father who desires nothing so
much as the love of his children. "If you then being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more will
your Father who is in heaven, give good things to them that ask
Him?"(15) And this will not seem excessive to one who
considers it, if the efficaciousness of prayer seemed so great to
St. John Chrysostom that he thought it might be compared with the
power of God; for as God created all things by His word, so man by
prayer obtains what he wills. For nothing has so great a power as
prayer, because in it there are certain qualities with which it
pleases God to be moved. For in prayer we separate ourselves from
things of earth, and filled with the thought of God alone, we
become aware of our human weakness; for the same reason we rest in
the embrace of our Father, we seek a refuge in the power of our
Creator. We approach the Author of all good, as though we wish Him
to gaze upon our weak souls, our failing strength, our poverty;
and, full of hope, we implore His aid and guardianship, Who alone
can give help to the weak and consolation to the infirm and
miserable. With such a condition of mind, thinking but little of
ourselves, as is fitting, God is greatly inclined to mercy, for
God resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace.(16)
Let, then, the habit of prayer be sacred to all; let soul and
voice join together in prayer, and let our whole daily life agree
together, so that, by keeping the laws of God, the course of our
days may seem a continual ascent to Him.
13.
The virtue of which we speak, like the others, is produced and
nourished by divine faith; for God is the Author of all true
blessings that are to be desired for themselves, as we owe to Him
our knowledge of His infinite goodness, and our knowledge of the
merits of our Redeemer. But, again, nothing is more fitted for the
nourishment of divine faith than the pious habit of prayer, and
the need of it at this time is seen by its weakness in most, and
its absence in many men. For that virtue is especially the source
whereby not only private lives may be amended, but also from which
a final judgment may be looked for in those matters which in the
daily conflict of men do not permit states to live in peace and
security. If the multitude is frenzied with a thirst for excessive
liberty, if the inhuman lust of the rich never is satisfied, and
if to these be added those evils of the same kind to which We have
referred fully above, it will be found that nothing can heal them
more completely or fully than Christian faith.
14.
Here it is fitting We should exhort you whom God has made His
helpers by giving the divine power to dispense His Sacraments, to
turn to meditation and prayer. If the reformation of private and
public morals is needed, it scarcely requires to be said that in
both respects the clergy ought to set the highest example. Let
them therefore remember that they have been called by Jesus
Christ, "the light of the world, that the soul of the priest
should shine like a light illuminating the whole world.(17) The
light of learning, and that in no small degree is needed in the
priest, because it is his duty, to fill others with wisdom, to
destroy errors, to be a guide to the many in the steep and
slippery paths of life. Learning ought to be accompanied by
innocence of life, because in the reformation of man example is
far better than precept. "Let your light shine before men,
that they may see your good works."(18) The meaning of the
divine word is that the perfection of virtue in priests should be
such that they should be like a mirror to the rest of men.
"There is nothing which induces others more effectively to
piety and the worship of God, than the life and example of those
who have dedicated themselves to the divine ministry: for, since
they are separated from the world and placed in a higher sphere,
others look on them as though on a mirror, to take examples from
them."(19) Therefore if all men must watchfully heed against
the allurements of sin, and against seeking too eagerly fleeting
pleasures, it is clear how much more faithful and steadfast ought
priests to be. The sacredness of their dignity, moreover - as well
as the fact that it is not sufficient to restrain their passions -
demands in them the habit of stringent self-restraint, and also a
guard over the powers of the soul, particularly the intellect and
will, which hold the supreme place in man. "Thou who hast the
mind to leave all (says St. Bernard), remember to reckon thyself
among what thou wouldst abandon - nay, deny thyself first and before
everything." Not before the soul is unshackled and free from
every desire, will men have a generous zeal for the salvation of
others, without which they cannot properly secure their own
everlasting welfare. "There will be one thing only sought
(says St. Bernard) by His subjects, one glory, one pleasure - to
make ready for the Lord a perfect people. For this they will give
everything with much exertion of mind and body, with toil and
suffering, with hunger and thirst, with cold and nakedness."
The frequent meditation upon the things of heaven wonderfully
nourishes and strengthens virtue of this kind, and makes it always
fearless of the greatest difficulties for the good of others. The
more pains they take to meditate well, the more clearly will they
understand the greatness and holiness of the priestly office. They
will understand how sad it is that so many men, redeemed by Jesus
Christ, are running headlong to eternal ruin; and by meditation
upon God they will be themselves encouraged, and will more
effectually excite others to the love of God. Such, then, is the
surest method for the salvation of all; and in this men must take
heed not to be terrified by difficulties, and not to despair of
cure by reason of the long continuance of the evil. The impartial
and unchangeable justice of God metes out reward for good deeds
and punishment for sin. But since the life of peoples and nations,
as such, does not outlast their world, they necessarily receive
the rewards due to their deeds on this earth. Indeed it is no
new thing that prosperity should come to a wrong-doing state; and
this by the just counsel of God, Who from time to time rewards
good actions with prosperity, for no people is altogether without
merit, and this Augustine considered was the case with the Roman
people. The law, nevertheless, is clear that for public prosperity
it is to the interest of all that virtue - and justice especially,
which is the mother of all virtues - should be practiced,
"Justice exalteth a nation; but sin maketh nations
miserable."(20) It is not Our purpose here to consider how
far evil deeds may prosper, not whether empires, when flourishing
and managing matters to their own liking, do nevertheless carry
about with them, as it were shut up in their bowels, the seed of
ruin and wretchedness. We wish this one thing to be understood, of
which history has innumerable examples, that injustice is always
punished, and with greater severity the longer it has been
continued. We are greatly consoled by the words of the Apostle
Paul, "For all things are yours; and you are Christ's, and
Christ is God's."(21) By the hidden dispensation of divine
providence the course of earthly things is so guided that all
things that happen to man turn out to the glory of God for the
salvation of those who are true disciples of Jesus Christ. Of
these the mother and guide, the leader and guardian is the Church;
which being united to Christ her spouse in intimate and
unchangeable charity is also joined to Him by a common cause of
battle and of victory. Hence We are not, and cannot be anxious on
account of the Church, but We greatly fear for the salvation of
very many, who proudly despise the Church, and by every kind of
error rush to ruin; We are concerned for those States which We
cannot but see are turned from God and sleeping in the midst of
danger in dull security and insensibility. "Nothing is equal
to the Church;" (says St. John Chrysostom,) "how many
have opposed the Church and have themselves perished? The Church
reaches to the heavens; such is the Church's greatness. She
conquers when attacked; when beset by snares she triumphs; she
struggles and is not overthrown, she fights and is not
conquered." Not only is she not conquered, but she preserves
that corrective power over nature, and that effective strength of
life that springs from God Himself, and is unchanged by time. And,
if by this power she has freed the world grown old in vice and
lost in superstition, why should she not again recover it when
gone astray? Let strife and suspicion at length cease, let all
obstacles be removed, give the possession of all her rights to the
Church, whose duty it is to guard and spread abroad the benefits
gained by Jesus Christ, then We shall know by experience, where
the light of the Gospel is, and what the power of Christ can do.
15.
This year, which is now coming to an end, has given, as We have
said, many signs of a reviving faith. Would that like the spark it
might grow to an ever-increasing flame, which, by burning up the
roots of sin, may open a way for the restoration of morals and for
salutary counsels. We, indeed, who steer the mystical barque of
the Church in such a storm, fix Our mind and heart upon the Divine
Pilot Who holds the helm and sits unseen. Thou seest, Lord, how
the winds have borne down on every side, how the sea rages and the
waves are lashed to fury. Command, we beseech Thee, Who alone
canst, the winds and the sea. Give back to man that tranquillity
and order - that true peace which the world cannot give. By Thy
grace let man be restored to proper order with faith in God, as in
duty bound, with justice and love towards our neighbor, with
temperance as to ourselves, and with passions controlled by
reason. Let Thy kingdom come, let the duty of submitting to Thee
and serving Thee be learnt by those who, far from Thee, seek truth
and salvation to no purpose. In Thy laws there is justice and
fatherly kindness; Thou grantest of Thy own good will the power to
keep them. The life of a man on earth is a warfare, but Thou
lookest down upon the struggle and helpest man to conquer, Thou
raisest him that falls, and crownest him that triumphs.(22)
16.
With a mind upheld by these thoughts to cherish a joyful and firm
hope, as a pledge of the favors of Heaven and of Our goodwill, We
most lovingly in the Lord grant to you, Venerable Brethren, and to
the clergy and people of the whole Catholic world, the Apostolic
blessing.
Given
at Rome at St. Peter's, on the birthday of Our Lord Jesus Christ;
in the year 1888; the eleventh of Our Pontificate.
Endnotes:
1.
I Jn. ii, 16. | 2. Job xi, 12. | 3. Wis. i, 14. | 4. Acts iv, 12.
| 5. Heb. xii, 2. | 6. Heb. xii, 1. | 7. Heb. xii, 2. | 8. Gal. v,
24. | 9. 2 Cor. iv, 10. | 10. Conc. Trid., sess. v, can. 5. | 11.
Mt. xxvi, 41. | 12. Lk. vi, 12. | 13. Lk. xxii, 43. | 14. Lk. xi,
9. | 15. Mt. vii, 11. | 16. I Pet. v, 5. | 17. St. John Chrysost.
De Sac. 1, 3, c. 1. | 18. Mt. v, 16. | 19. Conc. Trid. Sess. xxii,
c. 1, de Ref. | 20. Pr. xiv, 34. | 21. I Cor. iii, 22-23. | 22.
Cf. S. Aug. in Ps 32.
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