'They're Off!' Varadkar Cruelly Calls off Communions and Confirmations

The Irish State are once again under criticism for their broken promises regarding lockdown.

Some are upset about indoor dining being delayed, some with the potential for extended lockdowns heading into winter once more, some with the hospitality sector. The most cruel of all of these however, was the nasty and dismissive manner with which he informed families that they would not be permitted to have their children’s First Holy Communion or Confirmation in July.

Varadkar’s insensitive remarks came at the end of an hour long press conference, when a reporter asked them about the restrictions. Varadkar and Martin looked at one another as Martin fumbled with a mask. Varadkar then shrugged ‘Yeah…they’re off’, when pressed for clarification, he shrugged again ‘they’re off’, before leaving the stage.

Varadkar’s comments were particularly galling considering his behaviour at the weekend, openly cavorting alongside tens of thousands on Dublin’s streets as he attended Pride events.

Catholics parents, children and clergy must remember, they simply do not matter as much to him or to his government as Pride does.

Saturday:Leo Varadkar partied alongside thousands of others for Pride,no mask, alcohol everywhere

Today:Casually dismissed thousands of Catholic parents & children who have been waiting for Communions & Confirmations, ending an hour long press conference with 'yeah, they're off' pic.twitter.com/sZmA0Pm6QJ

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) June 29, 2021

Ireland's Abortion Rate Increases (Again)

At this stage, everyone admits that the removal of the right of unborn babies to be born without the threat of murder was done so on dishonest grounds in 2018, yet it is still worth repeating.

Some of the lies that were told were that the legislation would only be necessary for cases where the woman’s life was in danger, that the abortion rate would not increase and that babies would not be born alive and left to die (some have speculated that this is in order to harvest their organs for sale to pharmaceutical companies).

Last year, many were shocked that the number had skyrocketed to 6,666. The number this year is at 6,577, which as Angelo Bottone has pointed out, that when the numbers who aborted babies on British soil are also included, this amounts to an increase in the rate of abortions, due to the fall in the number of births. In total, there were 6,771 abortions of Irish babies in Ireland and in the UK. This went up from 117 per 1,000 live births in 2019 to 123.3 in 2020.

This table shows that a total of 25, or 0.38% of abortions were Risk to life or Health or Risk or Life to Health in an Emergency.

A total of 97, or 1.47% of abortions were in cases for ‘Condition likely to lead to death of foetus’.

The following table shows how many abortions occurred in each month, with abortion doctors still performing destructions on fetuses even during lockdown.

Lastly, the data included stated each county by numbers of abortion. Leitrim had the lowest at 28. Louth, despite having a population of only 128,884, had 220 abortions. The Irish abortion stats are completely inadequate compared to their British counterparts, yet this one is telling in other ways for comparison. In the UK, 81% of abortions last year were to women who had a marital status as ‘single’. Louth’s exceptionally high abortion rate coincides with the fact that it has the highest rate of births outside of marriage/civil partnerships.

The UK stats also offer such information as the number of repeat abortions, the number of abortions that were paid for by taxpayers (my taxes my choice?) and nationality and ethnicity rather than simply ‘residency’. Although these haven’t made much difference in the general scheme of things, since the abortion rate there is increasing each year, it nonetheless offers a more clear picture of what is happening.

This weekend will see the Rally for Life taking place across Ireland. It is important to demonstrate publicly against these laws but there is no doubt that their implementation has been a massive success for the government during these past 3 years, with very little effective resistance of note. Those who have kept on the fight deserve much credit, especially those who have helped women in crisis pregnancies with financial, spiritual and material assistance. There are those who have lobbed criticism from the sidelines while doing nothing themselves, particularly towards Catholic prolife activists, they need to be simply ignored.

The first step nonetheless will be to try to get more visible political representation. Abortion is rarely raised as a topic in the Dail, mostly when it is, it is by pro abortion TDs. Prolife TDs need to be reminded of why we vote for them, lest they take the vote for granted. Prolife issues should be raised at least once a week in the Dail or Seanad. Ireland’s birth rate is completely freefalling, with a 25% decline in a decade thanks to the austerity imposed by Fine Gael, Labour , Green Party and Fianna Fail. Even abolishing USC for families should be the kind of prolife issue that politicians are in pursuit of.

Above all, pray for mothers, the unborn and for our country.

Seosamh O’Caoimh

Ireland’s abortion rate increased last year | The Iona Institute

Will the Government Fly the Prolife Flag?

The following letter was written by prolife group Deise for Life and published in the Sunday Independent on 27/06/21. It is republished here with permission from Deise for Life.

Sir — It will not be known to most of your readers, as it is not the sort of thingthat our national media are likely to report, but the international pro-life movement is currently in the process of designing its own flag.

Now here’s the thing.That particular flag will likely never be displayed on a public building in Ireland. No matter that 720,000 citizens voted in 2018 to retain the Eighth Amendment, most of them still alive and most of them taxpayers.

The media would not like it, you see, and in consequence neither would the politicians. Unborn babies do not matter in these quarters, and neither do the adults who cherish them. That pro-life flag will not fly for a day on public buildings, never mind a whole month.

Deise for Life

French Catholics Demonstrate After Latin Mass Order Moved

Hundreds of Traditionalist French Catholics staged a rally today at the office of the Archbishop in Dijon, after his controversial decision to remove the FSSP from the diocese after over two decades of presence there.

The move made headlines around the world recently, with many concerned that the events at the Basilica of St. Bernard in Fontaine-lès-Dijon would be a foretaste of wider restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass. At the demonstration at the Rue du Petit-Potet, the French Catholics carried signs that expressed their unhappiness at what had transpired, with diocesan priests set to take the places of the FSSP ones.

French Catholics loyal to the Latin Mass and the FSSP prayed outside the bishop's house today in Dijon after he instructed the order to leave their parish. pic.twitter.com/z4p5XaHH7Z

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) June 26, 2021

According to Bishop Roland Minnerath, at the heart of the row was the refusal of the FSSP to partake in concelebration.

The Archbishop left his gate during the event today, speaking to the crowd as they prayed and sang. Although they did not come to any agreement, nonetheless they accepted his blessing upon them before it ended. In a touching moment, the crowd kneeled in front of the Archbishop.

Beautiful moment

After 30 minutes of public debate, the Archbishop of Dijon was asked to bless Traditional Catholics, he duly complied as they knelt in front of him pic.twitter.com/R94kVxsKXA

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) June 26, 2021

Prior to the event, the Basilica’s page had posted the following:

My lord,

Since you still don't want to receive us, we continue to remind you through tracts, rosaries etc.

The genesis of this story should therefore be remembered:

- You sent two letters in mid-May, one to the senior of the FSSP, the other to the Abbé de Dijon, requiring them to leave after 24 years of good and loyal services.

- No explanation or reason were mentioned.

- For 10 days, the devotees, kept asking you individually for appointment, no response. (quid of art 212 of barrel law).

You even refuse to receive the FSSP superior Abbé Paul-Joseph (dialogue is broken, say to yourself... strange way of seeing things when the breakup is desired by yourself).

Only representatives of the Basilica friends association were received.

What could we do....??

- So a Facebook page was created by the devotees and it allowed us to have some exchanges via press releases...

- A few days after your thank you mail, we are unofficially learning that reason would be a matter of concelebration at the Chrismal Mass.

Once again you sow disorder in the flock while concelebration cannot be a serious or valid motive for such revocation.

We remind you that the FSSP abbots are present at this mass.

This point is a personal decision of every priest and cannot in any case be a means of blackmail.

Since the FSSP has responded to you in a detailed way, enough is enough.

In your second and last internet statement, you say several things to try to argue:

′′ Another party (of the faithful) does not admit ordinary mass and rejects what they call "." the conciliary church "."

(have we read correctly?? stunned! ))

′′ I believe in the Church, One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic."

We are IN the Church and we recognize the validity of the ordinary mass, it is unquestionable.

We are victims of this early judgement, we are victims of your aprioris, we are victims of your baseless allegations, we are victims of your way of exercising power, we are victims of your will to consistency, which is not unity.

- On Wednesday, June 16, some devotees spoke with you in the parking lot of the diocesan house, an unexpected (and amazing) conversation:

You said that decision wasn't ′′ a lubie ′′ and that you were ′′ several who have the same discernment on the issue, it's going to be universal, you'll see!!" you've started.

.... that is??

While they pointed out that you were creating a split voluntarily you replied:

′′ They don't concede, they don't recognize that our mass is a true mass ".

Incredible note from a bishop... it leaves thinking!

Accusing the FSSP, belonging to the Church since 1988, and the faithful of not recognizing the ordinary form and the ′′ true mass ′′ is gravity and false!

The feeling of many faithful and non-faithful, is that you seek any excuse to justify the unjustifiable in a diocese that has lost 18 practicing priests in the space of 6 years (between 2014 and 2020).

It is heartwarming for us to receive many messages of support from priests of the Diocese, local non-faithful who also do not understand this decision.

They are shocked by your refusal to dialog but also your very personal opinion about some of your wounds attending the mass in extraordinary form...

By your decision, you also punish and despise many of those, who benefit from the wide apostolate of our abbots, you disappoint those who believe in the diversity and unity of the Church.

In your Sunday school ′′ The Catholic Church seeks to realize the unity of Christians through dialogue, prayer and conversion of hearts ".

So we will be gathered this Saturday, June 26th from 10 am to 12 pm, at the gates of the bishopric, asking you to review your decision, to show our commitment to the FSSP and to the unity of Christians.

Euthanasia: A False Promise of Autonomy

The push for Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide is a phenomenon which seems limited to developed nations — some might call it an anomaly.

Autonomy / self-determination is the main argument for the legalization of Voluntary Euthanasia [VE] and Assisted Suicide [AS]. In Oregon, ‘losing autonomy’ is the prime reason cited for requesting AS. (Cumulative figures for 1998-2019 in the far-right column = 90.2%.)  

The First Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada, 2019 must use different definitions or data points because “autonomy” is tabulated with “loss of control” and “independence” and is listed at a mere 4.1%. The most common reason given by Canadians is “loss of ability to engage in meaningful life activities” at 82.1%.

Dr. Kevin Yuill, from the University of Sunderland (UK) wrote an excellent article: “Why we mustn’t legalise Assisted Dying” published May 7th in Spiked Online. His poignant comments on autonomy deserve further exploration. *

“Rather than self-determination – which would imply suicide – people want to be killed. If it was about autonomy, we would expect, in areas where assisted suicide and euthanasia were both legal, for assisted suicide to dominate. But it is the opposite. Only 3.5 per cent of Dutch assisted deaths are assisted suicide. In Canada, only 7 of 5,361 assisted deaths were self-administered. People wish to be killed rather than take on the moral burden of killing themselves. They want the doctor’s blessing. They are outsourcing huge moral decisions.”

Dr. Yuill’s observation is that when people have a choice between Assisted Suicide (‘Take this poison and you will die’) and Voluntary Euthanasia (‘I will kill you with this injection of toxic medication’) they strongly gravitate towards Euthanasia. He contends that if a person truly wanted self-determination, they would choose Assisted Suicide over Euthanasia. People clearly prefer the deed to be performed by a third party — a doctor or Nurse Practitioner, etc.

Euthanasia is faster (intravenous v. oral), very effective, ‘cleaner’ (because governments legislate doctors and nurses to provide the ‘service’) and is unlikely to have a complication which cannot be handled immediately. Providers are probably encouraging the use of the IV option. From a recipient point of view, Euthanasia takes away the psychological hurdle of “committing suicide.”

It seems reasonable to compare Oregon (USA) to Alberta (Canada) because they have similar populations & demographics. Oregon only provides Assisted Suicide whereas Canada provides both Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia, without any legislative emphasis on either route.

Oregon provides regular, well-tabulated reports on their Assisted Suicide Program (euphemistically termed “Death with Dignity.”) The last was published in 2019. At that time, the population of Oregon was 4.2 million people, yet less than 300 people received a fatal prescription. So far there has only been one Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada which is also for 2019. (Unfortunately the Canadian data is presented quite poorly in comparison to the report from Oregon.)

In 2016, the overall demographics of Oregonians included: “…76% identified as white, 13% Latina(o), 5% Asian and Pacific Islander, 2% African American, 1% American Indian and Alaska Native, and 3% two or more races.” 

Quick correlation with the Dying with Dignity report shows that that the demand for Assisted Suicide in Oregon comes primarily from Whites / Caucasians. (There is another deficiency in the Canadian reporting because AS/VE is not separated by race.) Demographics in Alberta show very few Latina(o), a higher percentage of Asians with 4.4% Filipino & 4.4% South Asian and 5% First Nations & 2.9% Métis.

One can guess at some of the causes for Caucasian’s affinity to AS/VE. Profound individualism; a lack of an extended family network; attacks on the nuclear family; health-care costs; diminished belief in an after-life; diminished belief in our Right to Life (shown by the tolerance for late-term abortion & infanticide.) Then there is the routine portrayal of recipients as being “brave” which may induce suicide contagion: the Werther Syndrome.

To this we must add the ‘religion’ of the new World Order — Climate Crisis! — which tells us that we must atone for our ‘original sin’ of infesting this world through the ‘penance’ of curtailing — or eliminating — humanity. **

Dr. Yuill also noted:

“…rather than extending autonomy, legalisation of assisted dying grants the doctor the final decision. Andrew Copson, chief executive of Humanists UK, identifies freedom as the basis of the campaign: ‘The ability to choose how, where and when we die is a fundamental freedom, which cuts across party political and ideological lines...’

Copson’s statement: “The ability to choose how, where and when we die is a fundamental freedom” sounds reasonable — till we look at the exact meaning of his words. Copson ingeniously says “Fundamental freedom.” This implies that it holds the same moral value as a Human Right. Yes, everyone has the freedom to kill themselves — that is a part of free will. Human beings are free to choose things which are legally / ethically / socially / morally right or wrong — but that does not validate the end choice. (In simplistic terms, I can commit murder, though I am not allowed to do so legally.)

The Supreme Court of Canada made a similar misinterpretation between our Freedoms and Rights. Now certain Canadians have the legal ‘right’ to kill themselves. Things are advancing so fast that if we keep on our current trajectory, Canada will have the disaster of Suicide-on-Demand, for all, in the near future. 

The Autonomy to choose AS/VE will bring enormous damage to society, much of which is yet to be enumerated. This includes psychological damage to family members, especially the children. (I expect there will be many more second-generation AS/VE/MAiD requests.) Then there is the damage to friends, community, cultural norms and societal values. (Discussed in more detail in my article “Putting the Euthanasia Genie Back in the Bottle.”)

Damage which has been shown clearly is the vast increase in regular suicides in many of the countries which have legalized Assisted Suicide / Voluntary Euthanasia. Over the past 20 years the suicide rate in the Netherlands has increased by ~30% (excluding AS/VE.) Also “the suicide rates in the Netherlands are the fastest growing when compared to surrounding European countries, most of which lack the option of euthanasia.”

In Oregon:

“It must not be dismissed as mere coincidence that the new rise in suicides correlates to the implementation of the first physician-assisted suicide law in Oregon. A 2012 report on suicide trends and risk factors for the Oregon Health Authority found the state's overall suicide rate had risen 41 percent higher than the national rate (Associated Press 2013). This is the “regular” suicide rate. Physician-assisted suicides are not included.  [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5499219/]

Curiously, Canadian suicide rates 2016-2019 have not changed, though AS/VE is only legal for the past 5 years.

Such increases in suicide are a poor trade for the small increase in personal autonomy which allows some to choose the time, place and manner of their death. Of course, Canada has the perfect solution to this dilemma: in 2023 doctors & Nurse Practitioners will be allowed to kill people suffering from mental illnesses alone.

Aurelia Brouwers by Ronald Hissink/De Stentor

Eventually, some depressed young Canadian — with their life ahead of them — will be euthanized, legally. Of course, people will shout: “this can never happen!” Sadly, it can and it has. Please read the tragic story of 29-year-old Aurelia Brouwers from the Netherlands who was given Assisted Suicide on account of her psychiatric illness.

Dr. Kevin Hay.

Kevin is a UCD grad and a Family Doctor in rural Alberta, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @kevinhay77.

Please read more about Euthanasia in Catholic Arena, including: “Hard Cases make Bad Law” & “DOCTORS IN IRELAND — BEWARE! A warning about Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.”

** Ed: An early reference to Original Sin and Climate Change is found in the Wall Street Journal in 2005. The Theology of Global Warming - WSJ More recently, the likes of National Catholic Reporter have adopted the entertained the same idea. On climate change, we must put the apple down | Earthbeat | National Catholic Reporter (ncronline.org)

* Readers can find another article by Dr. Yuill in Science Direct on-line: “The unfreedom of assisted suicide: How the right to die undermines autonomy” (pay-walled) or buy his book “Assisted Suicide: The Liberal, Humanist Case Against Legalization.”  

Spanish Government Attempts to Stop Prolife Progress with Vigil Ban

José Rodríguez Cuadrado is a Councilor for Childhood and Family and VOX party spokesperson in the Majadahonda Town Hall. He writes here on the the Socialist Spanish Government’s efforts to ban prolife vigils and counselling from taking place near abortion clinics.

You can follow him on Twitter José Rodríguez Cuadrado (@JRCuadradoV) / Twitter

The current Spanish government, led by the socialists, has worked in favour of the culture of death since their arrival into power. Euthanasia was legalised last year and the decision of ending someone’s life will be taken by doctors or other people in some cases, not just by relatives.

Moreover, the Socialist Party has now presented in Congress a new law to ask for up to 12 months of imprisonment for those who ‘bully’ women in front of abortion clinics. The law has not been voted yet but it will probably pass.

Spain is well known for attacks against Catholics, not only in our Civil War ninety years ago but also in recent experiences. We remember the anti-Catholic demonstrations in the World Youth day in 2011.

“Lo que necesita el cristianismo cuando es odiado por el mundo, no son palabras persuasivas, sino grandeza de alma”

San Ignacio de Antioquia pic.twitter.com/pYE1yqxbER

— Patxi Bronchalo ن (@PatxiBronchalo) June 7, 2021

As we all know, the international media is mainly in favour of abortion and Spain is no different. Especially because the government has subsidised the media here with more than €100 million plus tax exemptions since COVID-19 started.

The bad news does not stop here. The existing government wants to return to the law that allows 16-year-old girls to abort without informing their parents. It was the only change Partido Popular made while they were in office, even though they had originally promised that they would not change the law.

However, there is still hope in Spain to battle in favour of life.

Not only because there in now one political party pro-life in Congress, VOX, which will speak up against this change in law, but also, because many young people are meeting to pray near abortion clinics and they will not stop. Further good news is that a few months ago it was published that in Soria, one of Spain’s provinces, there are now no abortions due to doctors’ conscientious objections. Therefore, 113 women had to travel to a different province to abort their child.

Everyday there are more people defending life publicly in Spain. Social media is also now a place where a prolife activists are speaking up. A few months ago, a journalist with 130k followers complained about young people who were praying near a clinic. The tweet went viral and he received 3K likes. A mother of those young people replied. She has only 2K followers but she reached almost 10K likes.

Something is changing.

Hola, dos de ellos son mis hijos, no les veo acosar a nadie sino rezar, y en los últimos días podéis haberles visto repartiendo comida a los sin techo y ayudando a madres solteras sin recursos. https://t.co/U0sXcN6Cq2

— Leonor Tamayo (@TamayoLeonor) January 3, 2021

Removing the Three-Day Reflection from Abortion Legislation Will Cost Lives

The following is written by Deise4Life group, Dungarvan, Co Waterford

The 2018 abortion legislation is up for review by the Dáil this year. There have been calls recently, including from the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI), for the removal from the existing legislation of the requirement for a 3-day reflection period before an abortion can take place.

 Eighteen European countries have a mandatory reflection period, in ten of them this period is 3 days.

There is nothing remarkable, it should be said at the outset, about Ireland’s current 3-day reflection period.

•  Eighteen European countries have a mandatory reflection period, and in ten of them (including Ireland) this period is 3 days.

•  In Italy the reflection period currently is 7 days, it is 6 days in Belgium and 5 days in the Netherlands.

In this article we explain that, even with an illogical and unfair payment system, and with no state support whatever for organisations assisting mothers who choose life, the 3-day reflection period still saved close to 1000 babies’ lives here in 2019.

1.  What has the legislation achieved as it stands?

Abortion providers are paid per visit by the HSE, and so the number of women who change their minds about abortion can be gauged from the official figures for payment per visit. At the time of writing, this information is available only for the year 2019. In that year, according to the reply given by the HSE to a parliamentary question from Carol Nolan TD:

The 3-day reflection period saved 900-1000 babies’ lives in 2019. 

•  There were 7536 payments to early abortion providers for initial abortion consultations

As there were 6666 abortions here in 2019, according to the official report, this suggests that, at a minimum:

•  870 women (7536-6666) changed their minds about having an abortion here in 2019.

In fact, if we use the official figure of 6542 early abortions in 2019 (omitting the 124 abortions that were performed in our hospitals on health grounds for the mother or disability grounds for the baby) then that yields a figure of possibly 994 lives saved in the first year (=7536-6542), attributable to the 3-day reflection period. This figure of 994 may be a slight exaggeration as it is possible that a small number of women, after an initial consultation with the GP, may have been referred on to a hospital for an abortion.  950 lives saved certainly seems a reasonable, indeed cautious, estimate. 

That is about 1 in 7 women changing their minds in the course of the 3-day reflection period. The Irish Family Planning Association report for 2019 has a figure of 1 in 8 of a sample of their clients changing their minds in 2019.

2.  How many lives could be saved by tweaking the existing legislation?

The legislation and regime put in place in 2018 had literally no other measures to support a change of mind on the part of the woman. Under the current regulations:

•  Generous financial assistance is given to abortion providers, averaging €450 per abortion for GP’s (and adding up to a total of €20m in the two years 2019-2020, according to the reply to a parliamentary question from Peadar Tóibín TD)

Payment per visit to a GP is about €110 for abortion provision, but only about €25 for managing a pregnancy.

•   Much less is paid to GPs who care for mother and baby through all 9 months of pregnancy. Average payment here is €250.

•  Payment per visit to a GP is about €110 for abortion provision, but only about €25 for managing a pregnancy.

•   A GP who does not provide abortions is required under the current system to refer the woman to an abortion provider, but the reverse is not true – there is no requirement on the abortion provider to provide a mother-to-be with information on alternatives to abortion, nor to refer her to these services.

•  Finally, there is no financial support whatever from the state for organisations like Gianna Care and Every Life Counts.

If all of these manifest contradictions were removed from the existing regime, could more lives be saved? We collect no information in Ireland about reasons for abortion, but from other countries we know that, very often, the woman feels that she has no choice because of her economic circumstances. Financial assistance and moral support for the women would surely lead to many more lives being saved. 

Equitable treatment of GP’s by the state should also help. The current system seems to heavily favour abortion-providing GP’s, and that is quite bizarre.

3.  What happens if we get rid of the 3-day reflection period?

If we do as the NWCI suggests, and get rid of the reflection period entirely, what will be the consequences?

Clearly, the immediate consequence will be a jump of close to 1000 in the abortion numbers per year, which is the same thing as a decline in the number of annual births by a further 1000. This seems inevitable, because what is proposed here means that the woman will take the abortion pill on, or very soon after, the occasion of first contact with the abortion provider, leaving no time to reflect.

There will also likely be long-term consequences, for women’s mental health. A recent American study following up on nearly 4000 women, over a period of 10 years or more [Sullins 2019, Medicina], concluded that women aborting wanted pregnancies (which would include women likely to change their minds, given an opportunity) were significantly more likely to develop subsequent mental disorders (such as depression or suicidality) than other women.

The current system seems to heavily favour abortion-providing GP’s, and that is quite bizarre.

Conclusion

This is a deeply flawed proposal from NWCI, which will cause abortions to increase, women’s mental health to be adversely affected, and our declining birth rates to decline further.

It needs to be vehemently opposed by all pro-life organisations and all pro-life politicians. These groups and individuals need to organise resistance to the NWCI  proposal, and to embark collectively upon a programme to raise public awareness of its implications.

It would be a tragedy beyond words if the NWCI proposal were to be accepted by the government because the pro-life movement did not mount a successful campaign of opposition to it. We should campaign for the sensible reforms outlined at Section 2 above, but whatever else is achieved, it is crucially important that the 3-day reflection period in the legislation is retained.

UEFA Rejects German Efforts to Bully Hungarians with Stadium Stunt

Germany has played a significant role in destroying not only its own culture, but the other traditional cultures of Europe also in recent years.

Its cruelty towards Ireland in forcing it to accept psychotic terms for repaying its bailout from the banks was sadistic, paving the way for emigration, homelessness and crushing the Irish spirit so as to usher in an era of bank led liberalism.

In the past year, German media has also put significant pressure on Poland to allow its women to abort Polish babies, most of whom are currently aborted in Germany.

Now, it is the turn of the Hungarians to feel the aggression of the Germans.

Like the United States, the German State seems to lack self awareness in its conviction that it is the harbinger of freedom, seeing no contradiction in bullying smaller countries to follow its way of life. With their game against Hungary taking at Euro 2021 place tonight, thuggish imperalists in Germany have tried to use the game as political tool, by lighting up the Allianz Arena in Rainbow colours to mock Hungarians. UEFA have told them that they are not allowed, sparking a temper tantrum from the German media.

There are two interesting things about this.

The first of course is that large corporations are never too far away, Allianz being the world’s largest insurance provider.

Secondly, there is the hint of jealousy. Germany has traditionally one of the lowest birth rates in Europe. In 2015, Angela Merkel decided to artificially inflate the numbers by importing one million migrants. Recent comments from The Business Standard on this issue are very telling:

In 2015, nearly everyone in the media—German, European, international—referred to the millions of desperate people trying to get into Europe as an “immigration crisis.” They should have given it a different label: the immigration solution to the continent’s demographic crisis. Germany wisely chose to take advantage of this opportunity, while the countries of Eastern Europe by and large have embraced demographic suicide.

Hungary has not imported migrants, but has brought in prolife policies to encourage families to have children, allowing them tax breaks, home ownership and the ability to survive on one income. It is easy to see why the large corporations are so eager to get revenge!

As for the Rainbow Flag? It is merely a prop to insult Hungary, they’ll have something else the next day.

Germany and Hungary’s birth rates are now almost identical, with Hungary set to pass out Germany soon after the latter’s short term solution plateaued.

With the EU meeting today to enshrine the ‘right’ to abortion into EU Law, there is a clear line dividing between those who want a culture of death and those who want a culture of life.

Ken Moore

Saints in the Pits of Hell: Newark Reparation Rally

On June 16, 2021, under a beautiful blue sky, over 150 faith filled Catholics converged in a lush green park across from the French Gothic Revival architectural masterpiece known as Sacred Heart Basilica in Newark New Jersey.

The reason for the gathering was a reparation rally. Speakers and listeners were there to pray, invoke saints, our Blessed Mother and our Lord Jesus Christ to not only put an end to the blasphemous, satanic music being aired by the Seton Hall University radio station WSOU but to call for the absolute shutdown and eradication of this station. This Catholic institution is under the ultimate control of Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Apostolic successor and the sixth Archbishop of Newark. The station itself has been in existence since April 14, 1948. However, the format and programming suddenly turned very dark soon after Theodore McCarrick became Archbishop in 1986. WSOU began playing satanic, literal devil worshiping, vile, disgusting, sadistic, pit of Hell music and lyrics. 

Faithful Catholics have reached out, in vain, for years to have someone (anyone!) from the Seton Hall administration to the Archdiocese Chancery offices to put a stop to this but to no avail. They were met with walls of silence, willful ignorance and clerics wearing spiritual blinders. McCarrick did nothing, his successor Archbishop John Meyers did nothing and the incumbent Cardinal Joseph Tobin allows this demon inspired, soul destroying travesty to continue affecting the lives of thousands of impressionable young people.

Praying the Angelus with Father Altman at Sacred Heart Basilica in Newark this past Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/2KKLy6Cyjv

— Fred Simon (@FredSim69351984) June 20, 2021

Into this battlefield stepped up spiritual warriors bringing the light of Christ to expose the evil darkness. The roster of powerful speakers for this event included Michael Hichborn of the Lepanto Institute, Jesse Romero (author and evangelist) of Virgin Most Powerful Radio and Father James Altman, pastor of Saint James the Less parish in Lacrosse Wisconsin. He is also known as the world famous viral homilist currently being canceled by his own bishop.

They spoke with clarity of voice, vision and message. There was no ambiguity, no confusing doublespeak and no homage to the cult of political correctness. Mr. Hichborn relayed the history and his own investigation into WSOU. His findings made him literally “sick to his stomach.” He has been on this case for years and noted the correlation between the culture of death and the occult.

Jesse Romero, the self proclaimed “nobody” for the Lord, spoke with true evangelic fervor invoking the intercession of our Blessed Mother and saints to exorcise the evil within this institution. He said he loves Cardinal Tobin and prays for him. He offered a nine day novena for his eminence prior to speaking this day. He encouraged all of us present to pray for the Cardinal.

Father James Altman spoke of the need for true spiritual shepherds to guide the flocks entrusted to them by our Lord. He said priests and bishops are fathers to the laity and their sole purpose is to provide us the sacraments and graces to save our eternal souls. He emphasized that nothing else matters than our eternal salvation. He also lamented the fact that churches in New Jersey were closed, sacraments forbidden and laity turned away from God’s graces during the pandemic.

After the remarks by these inspired orators we processed around the basilica directly across from the chancery. Leading the way were altar boys followed by a statue of Our Lady of Fatima carried by four men. A first class relic of Saint Pope John Paul II followed the statue. The Saint was last here, at this fifth largest cathedral in the United States, on October 4,1995 when he designated it a minor basilica. Father Altman led us in praying the Glorious Mysteries of the rosary. We concluded with the Angelus at noon right under Cardinal Tobin’s window. No, the Cardinal did not come out to join us, bless us or address us. In fact no priest from the Newark Archdiocese was present. All the participants at this gathering were acutely aware that a priest, from a small parish, across the country had to fly to Newark to minister to Catholics in one of the largest, wealthiest and vocation rich Archdioceses in the United States. 

It is our hope and prayer that this sordid chapter of the Newark Archdiocese be exorcised along with the scandal ridden radio station WSOU. We encourage every reader to pray for this intention and also pray for Cardinal Tobin.

Fred Simon

You can follow Fred on Twitter (2) Fred Simon (@FredSim69351984) / Twitter

Irish Nun Celebrates 100th Birthday

A nun who has given over 40 years teaching service to her adopted town was recently honoured on the occasion of her 100th birthday.       

Sister Stanislaus Kent, a member of the Presentation Order, arrived in the Cork seaside resort of Youghal in the year of 1939 and has remained there every since. Sr Stan, as she is affectionally known, is originally from Mitchelstown and recalled with an amazing clarity her young days growing up in Ballinamona, just outside the town.

Born in the turbulent year of 1921, Sr Stan explained that during her secondary school years a nun with the same name she would later take made a prophetic statement: “I was told to go in to see Sr Stanislaus, my namesake, and she said to me ‘I want you to continue your studies because I have a little cell for you down in Youghal’”. 

Teaching in the Presentation Primary School – where later she became Principal – Sr Stan recalled the big classes of that era. “I remember 50 pupils in sixth class one time; they were so close together I couldn’t get around the desks, so that was a challenge. But Youghal children were great, I loved the teaching and I always got great satisfaction teaching children who had any difficulties.”

Asked if she had received the ‘big cheque’ from President Higgins, she replied “sure I couldn’t use it anyway, as I have a vow of poverty, but I suppose it will go to the convent.”

Sr Placida, the Community Leader in the sisters’ house with its breathtaking views overlooking Youghal Bay, said the birthday celebrations went on for the best part of a week. “Our neighbours here also organised a party and the Bishop of Cloyne, William Crean, celebrated a special Mass in Sr Stan’s honour.”

After the Mass, Cllr Mary Linehan-Foley, Mayor of the County of Cork and a native of Youghal and former pupil, made a presentation to this remarkable centenarian.

“I have happy memories of Presentation Convent and as the County Mayor I’m honoured to be here but I’m more honoured to be here as Mary Linenhan, the girl that started in the Presentation back those 50 years ago.

“You thought me well, and all the fun we had will always stay with me. So happy birthday Sister from all the people in the area and thank you so, so much for your service throughout the years.” 

John Walshe

Sr Stanislaus Kent (front) pictured on the occasion of her 100th birthday. Also included are Canon Tom Browne (Youghal), Sr Grace (Provincial), Sr Thaddeus, Sr Carmel, Sr Mary John, Sr Placida, Sr Margaret Mary.

Vatican Dramatically Intervenes to Oppose 'Homophobia' Law in Italy

In 1929, then Pope Pius XI signed the Lateran Treaty with then leader of Italy, Benito Mussolini. The treaty formally established relations between Italy and the Vatican, after the Masonic foundations of the State had led to an anti clericalism for much of the previous century.

One of the caveats in the bill, a concordat between two sovereign states, was that the Catholic Church had certain freedoms to operate within Italy, especially with regard to speech and thought. as aligned with its beliefs.

A new proposal from the Italian government, part of which would create a ‘Day against Homophobia’, was interpreted by the Vatican as being a potential transgression of this freedom. The reason for their worry comes down to their suspicions that the bill would be used to impinge upon some of the basic teachings of the Catholic faith, potentially criminalising traditional aspects of the catechism.

Monsignor Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with the States , sent a message this past week expressing the Vatican’s concerns. These concerns delve far deeper than merely objecting to being called ‘Homophobic’, the so called Zan Bill would also criminalise perceived slights against persons based upon ‘gender identity’.

Italian politicians Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi have offered revisions to the bill, with Left Wing politician Enrico Letta stating that he is willing to ‘dialogue’ with the church, offering assurances that they would not be prosecuted for stating the church’s objections to the state’s definitions of gender and sexual orientation.

The Holy See has never objected to a law in this manner in Italy, even though it is entitled to do so under the Lateran Treaty’s agreement terms. Such a dramatic step tells you that they are worried about what this law will mean for Catholics, particularly in schools.

It is also significant as it has occurred with the blessing of Pope Francis, undoubtedly sending a powerful message to liberal clerics around the world about the limits of appeasing the secular state.

Pope John Paul II on the Irish Martyrs

Pope John Paul II’s words on the beatification of the Irish Martyrs in 1992.

The invitation of the Liturgy finds in us today, gathered in the solemn scenery of this square, a particularly prompt and joyful response. How can we not praise the Lord in the face of the exhilarating spectacle of the new Blesseds? Of these men and women, who courageously gave their witness to Christ, deserving of being offered by the Church to the admiration and imitation of all the faithful? Each of them can repeat with Isaiah: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me"(Is 61:1): the Spirit of the Risen Christ, who, over the centuries, continues to live and work in believers, to push them towards the full implementation of the Gospel message. "The spirit of the Lord is upon me": aware of this, the new Blesseds have always counted on God's help, striving to "strive for justice, piety, faith, charity, patience, meekness"(1 Tm 6:11), so as to "preserve the commandment unblemished and irreproachable"(1 Tm 6:14). They offered themselves to God and to others in martyrdom and consecrated virginity. The Church is pleased today to recognize that these children of hers "fought the good battle of faith" and "reached eternal life"(1 Tm 6:12).

And how can we fail to sing the praises of the seventeen Irish Martyrs being beatified today? Dermot O'Hurley, Margaret Bermingham Ball, Francis Taylor and their fourteen companions were faithful witnesses who remained steadfast in their allegiance to Christ and his Church to the point of extreme hardship and the final sacrifice of their lives.

All sectors of God's people are represented among these seventeen Servants of God: Bishops, priests both secular and religious, a religious brother and six lay people, including Margaret Bermingham Ball, a woman of extraordinary integrity who, together with the physical trials she had to endure, underwent the agony of being betrayed through the complicity of her own son.

We admire them for their personal courage. We thank them for the example of their fidelity in difficult circumstances, a fidelity which is more than an example: it is a heritage of the Irish people and a responsibility to be lived up to in every age.

In a decisive hour, a whole people chose to stand firmly by its covenant with God: "All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do". Along with Saint Oliver Plunkett, the new Beati constitute but a small part of the host of Irish Martyrs of Penal Times. The religious and political turmoil through which these witnesses lived was marked by severe intolerance on every side. Their victory lay precisely in going to death with no hatred in their hearts. They lived and died for Love. Many of them publicly forgave all those who had contributed in any way to their martyrdom.

The Martyrs' significance for today lies in the fact that their testimony shatters the vain claim to live one's life or to build a model of society without an integral vision of our human destiny, without reference to our eternal calling, without transcendence. The Martyrs exhort succeeding generations of Irish men and women: "Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called ... keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ".

To the Martyrs' intercession I commend the whole people of Ireland: their hopes and joys, their needs and difficulties. May everyone rejoices in the honour paid to these witnesses to the faith. God sustained them in their trials. He comforted them and granted them the crown of victory. May he also sustain those who work for reconciliation and peace in Ireland today!

Blessed Irish Martyrs, intercede for the beloved Irish people!

Pope Paul VI on St. Oliver Plunkett

Dia is muire Dhíbh, a chlann Phádraig! Céad mile fáilte rómhaibh! Tá Naomh nua againn inniu: Comharba Phádraig, Olibhéar Naofa Ploinéad. (God and Mary be with you, family of Saint Patrick! A hundred thousand welcomes! We have a new Saint today: the successor of Saint Patrick, Saint Oliver Plunkett).

Today, Venerable Brothers and dear sons and daughters, the Church celebrates the highest expression of love-the supreme measure of Christian and pastoral charity. Today, the Church rejoices with a great joy, because the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, is reflected and manifested in a new Saint. And this new Saint is Oliver Plunkett, Bishop and Martyr-Oliver Plunkett, successor of Saint Patrick in the See of Armagh-Oliver Plunkett , glory of Ireland and Saint, today and for ever, of the Church of God, Oliver Plunkett is for all-for the entire world-an authentic and outstanding example of the love of Christ. And on our part we bow down today to venerate his sacred relics, just as on former occasions we have personally knelt in prayer and admiration at this shrine in Drogheda.

For the suffering undergone by Oliver Plunkett is another expression of the triumph and victory of Christ's grace. Like his Master, Oliver Plunkett surrendered his life willingly in sacrifice (Cfr. Is. 53, 7; Io. 10, 17). He laid it down out of love, and thereby freely associated himself in an intimate manner with the sufferings of Christ. Indeed, his dying words were: «Into thy hands, o Lord, I commend my spirit. Lord Jesus, receive my soul». The merits of the Lord's Passion, the power of his Cross, and the dynamism of his Resurrection are active and made manifest in the life of his Saint. We praise God-Father, Son and Holy Spirit-who gave the glorious gift of supernatural faith to Oliver Plunkett-a faith so strong that it filled him with the fortitude and courage necessary to face martyrdom with serenity, with joy and with forgiveness. Being put to death for the profession of his Catholic Faith, he was, in the expression of our predecessor Benedict XV, crowned with «martyrdom for the faith» (Cfr. Apostolic Brief of Beatification, 23 May 1920: AAS 12, 1920, p. 238).

And after the example of the King of Martyrs, there was no rancour in his heart. Moreover, he sealed by his death the same message and ministrv of reconciliation (Cfr. 2 Cor. 5, 18. 20) that he had preached and performed during his life. In his pastoral activities, his exhortation had been one of pardon and peace. With men of violence he was indeed the advocate of justice and the friend of the oppressed, but he would not compromise with truth or condone violence: he would not substitute another gospel for the Gospel of peace. And his witness is alive today in the Church, as he insists with the Apostle Peter: «Never pay back one wrong with another» (1 Petr. 3, 9). O what a model of reconciliation: a sure guide for our day! Oliver Plunkett had understood with Saint Paul that «it was God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the work of handing on this reconciliation» (2 Cor. 5, 18). From Jesus himself he had learned to pray for his persecutors (Cfr. Matth. 5, 44) and with Jesus he could say: «Father, forgive them» (Luc. 23, 31).

In his speech on the scaffold, his words of pardon were in fact: «I do forgive all who had a hand directly or indirectly in my death and in my innocent blood». O what an example in particular for all those who have a special relationship with Oliver Plunkett, for all those whose life he shared! As an illustrious son of Ireland he is the honour and strength of the people who transmitted to him the Catholic Faith. In 1647 Oliver Plunkett, with five companions, was conducted to Rome by the well-known and revered Oratorian Peter Francis Scarampi; and for the next twenty-two years he remained in this City of Peter and Paul. As a student at the Irish College he is an example of fortitude and piety to the seminarians of today. For three years, after his ordination to the priesthood in 1654, Oliver Plunkett served as Chaplain with the Oratorians at S. Girolamo della Carità and visited the sick in the nearby Hospital of the Holy Spirit. As a minister of Jesus Christ and servant of fraternal love he is a pattern of zeal for his brother priests in the modern world. For twelve years he taught in the College of Propaganda Fide, and as an ecclesiastical professor he is a luminary of true supernatural wisdom to his colleagues today.

Oliver Plunkett was, above all, a Bishop of the Church of God, serving as Primate of Ireland for twelve years. He was a vigilant preacher of the Catholic Faith and champion of that pastoral charity which is fostered in prayer and manifested in solicitude for his brethren in the clergy-that pastoral charity which is expressed in zeal for the Christian instruction of the young, for the promotion of Catholic education, for the consolation of all God's people. Drawing strength from the inexhaustible fountain of grace, from the power of the Cross-which is itself eminently contained in the Eucharist, source of all the Church's power (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 10), and in which the work of Redemption is renewed-he infused into his flock new strength and fresh hope in time of trial and need. Yes, Oliver Plunkett is a triumph of Christ's grace, a model of reconciliation for all, and a particular example for many-but Oliver Plunkett is also a teacher of the supreme values of Christianity. As the world enters the last quarter of the twentieth century and the concluding decades of this millennium, at a moment decisive for all Christian civilization, the testimony of Saint Oliver Plunkett proclaims to the world that the summit of wisdom and the «power of God» (1 Cor. 1, 18) is in the mystery of the Cross.

And the Church raises her voice in solemn affirmation, to authenticate and consecrate this testimony, and to reaffirm for this generation and for all time the true hierarchy of evangelical values in the world. The message of Oliver Plunkett offers a hope that is greater than the present life; it shows a love that is stronger than death. Through the action of the Holy Spirit may the whole Church experience his insights and his wisdom, and with him be able to hear the challenge that comes from Peter: «Put your trust in nothing but the grace that will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed» (1 Petr. 1, 13). May the Church understand this as yet another call to renewal and holiness of life, knowing as she does that, by reason of the power of God, there is no limit to love's forbearance (Cfr. 1 Cor. 13, 7), and that even the sufferings of the present time cannot be compared with the glory that awaits us (Cfr. Rom. 8, 18). And so we exhort our dear sons and daughters of Ireland, saying with immense affection and love: «Remember your leaders, who preached the word of God to you, and as you reflect on the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same today as he was yesterday» (Hebr. 13, 7).

Let this then be an occasion on which the message of peace and reconciliation in truth and justice, and above all the message of love for one's neighbour, will be emblazoned in the minds and hearts of all the beloved Irish people-this message signed and sealed with a Martyr's blood, in imitation of his Master. May love be always in your hearts. And may Saint Oliver Plunkett be an inspiration to you all. And to the whole world we proclaim: «There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends» (Io. 15, 13). This is what we have learned from the Lord, and with profound conviction we announce it to you. Venerable Brothers and dear sons and daughters: let us praise the Lord, for today and for ever Oliver Plunkett is a Saint of God!

TEXT OF SPEECH GIVEN BY POPE PAUL VI AT THE CANONISATION OF ST. OLIVER PLUNKETT IN 1975

The canonisation of St. Oliver Plunkett in Rome

1975

Today is the Feast of the Irish Martyrs pic.twitter.com/4R8ZwaVaxF

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) June 20, 2021



Hungary 'We're not going to Apologise for Protecting our Children'

When it comes to protecting our children, there’s no question: We have zero tolerance for pedophiles and we also insist that educating children about sexual orientation must be protected as the sole right of parents.

Hungary has garnered much recognition for our pro-family policies. Aside from these policies and tangible financial support offered to families, which have resulted in a growing number of marriages and births, we have also adopted a number of provisions in the interest of protecting children. 

Every child has the right to the protection and care necessary for his or her proper physical, mental and moral development – this is set out in Hungary’s Fundamental Law. The ninth amendment to the Hungarian constitution, adopted last December, ensures a child’s right to be identified according to his or her biological gender at birth and an upbringing based on Hungary’s constitutional identity and Christian culture.

And now, a new law, passed yesterday by the National Assembly, will further strengthen the protection of children: The Hungarian penal code will become stricter in the case of sexual offenders, with penalties increasing and no statute of limitation for the most serious crimes. Moreover, a register of pedophile offenders will be created to help prevent them from working in jobs where they would meet children. In light of recent criticism from opposition voices, one can only hope this is not at all unacceptable.

The law also prohibits homosexuality and gender reassignment to be displayed or promoted to minors and allows only registered NGOs to provide information on these subjects. Yes, we think this is necessary to protect children in their sexual development. We also believe that certain content should only be introduced at a suitable age in the interest of children’s healthy psychological and mental development.

The bill actually serves to amend an earlier law (Act XLVIII of 2008 on the Basic Requirements of and Certain Restrictions on Commercial Advertising Activities), which already prohibited the display to minors of advertising that depicts sexuality for its own sake or popularizes deviation from gender identity assigned at birth, gender alteration or homosexuality. So, there’s really nothing new: We are simply increasing the protection of a vulnerable group — something the opposition seeks to hinder.

Instead of fighting the battles of gender ideology, we are focused on the important things: the protection and healthy development of children in Hungary and preserving the right of parents to educate their kids on these sensitive matters.

This article was first published by Zoltan Kovacs, Secretary of State for International Communication and Relations, International spokesman, Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister of Hungary.

It is republished here with permission. You can read the original at this link: About Hungary - We’re not going to apologize for protecting our children

Priest Bravely Faces Down Anti Baby Protestors

Last week, Father Fidelis Mocinski CFR went viral after images emerged showing US Police dragging him away from an abortion clinic where he had been counselling. The images of Father Fidelis showed him handcuffed as the police carried him away from the building.

Now, powerful images have once again emerged of Father Fidelis.

This time, he was intimidated and hassled by extremist pro aborts, emboldened by President Joe Biden’s failure to act after a storming of a Catholic Church some months ago. The anti baby activists showed up to St. Paul’s Church in Brooklyn on the morning of Saturday the 12th of June and brutally began screaming anti Catholic slogans to coincide with the beginning of Mass. The vicious anti Catholic chanting continued during Mass and when the faithful emerged from the church, the pro aborts rounded upon them and began to spew their vile venom into their faces.

Why were they so angry?

Father Fidelis and others were due to pray outside an abortion clinic after Mass.

When Father stepped out to lead his flock, the pro aborts shoved signs into his face. They walked up to him and blew smoke right into his eyes.

Biden's America

Pro aborts shove signs and blow smoke into the face of Father Fidelis Mocinski CFR after they assembled at his church in Brooklyn to intimidate Catholics during Mass pic.twitter.com/1w5kXaLACq

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) June 14, 2021

Eventually, the prayers outside the clinic did go ahead.

The United States is fast becoming a very cold place for Catholics, with the first nominally Catholic president in half a century failing to comment on the matter. If the bishops who are trying to debate his worthiness to receive Communion want to make a case, they should start with his inaction on scenes that should cause disgust around the world.

Review: The Unbroken Thread by Sohrab Ahmari

‘Put another way, human beings took themselves as their own moral scale and -surprise!- concluded that they were pretty good. This soon led to the erasure of the ancient distinction between freedom for good and license for evil’.

This passage, discussing the significance of the writings of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, synthesises the eclectic existential struggles that animate Sohrab Ahmari’s new book The Unbroken Thread: Discovering the Wisdom of Tradition in an Age of Chaos.

As the title suggests, Ahmari elaborates upon his increasingly popular brand of conservativism, in a manner that specifically builds upon the exploration of his conversion to Catholicism that was previously discussed in his 2019 book From Fire, By Water. The Unbroken Thread adds depth to the faith professed in that text, with his voice now thoroughly imbued in the tradition of those ghosts whose names he invokes, most notably paying tribute to the works of GK Chesterton and CS Lewis. To call them ghosts of course is not to express belief that they have vanished into some vague ether of nonbeing, but rather as Chesterton said in Orthodoxy, ‘

The man who lives in contact with what he believes to be a living Church is a man always expecting to meet Plato and Shakespeare to-morrow at breakfast.

Anyone who has ever read Chesterton’s books (it’s likely that if you’ve read one, you’ve read more than one) will know that their innate charm resides in the fact that they meander into any and all related topics aside from their stated aim, before knitting them back together with wit and imagination.

The Unbroken Thread’s central motive is to serve as a form of letter written for the most authentic of unbroken threads, that of lineage between parent and child. Ahmari addresses his son, Maximilian, and tries to conjure some explanation to him about how the world became so loosened from traditional Western morality so quickly. In trying to explain a world that has become more corrupted than freed by unchecked liberalism, the author delves into the wisdom of the past to answer the riddles of the present, namely those presented by Covid, gender dysphoria and relativism. To quote Chesterton again:

The theory of a complete change of standards in human history does not merely deprive us of the pleasure of honouring our fathers; it deprives us even of the more modern and aristocratic pleasure of despising them.

Such sentiments are shared by Ahmari when he states:

Here, then, is the dilemma of a young father: How do I transmit to my son the value of permanent ideals against a culture that will tell him that whatever is newest is also best, that everything is negotiable and subject to contract and consent, that there is no purpose to our common life but to fulfill his desires? How do I reinforce that fragile thread linking my son to a life of humane obligations and responsibility?

It is not merely enough to live absent mindedly in the present, certainly not enough to merely assume the imminent improvements of the progressive utopian future, one must always aim to uphold the truths that are perennially instilled in our nature. To quote Chesterton once more,

‘Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about’.

Ahmari’s efforts are aimed towards giving the likes of Chesterton, Aquinas and even Confucius such a vote, amplifying their say on a world touched by the madness of woke infested relativism and postmodernity. More than mere sentimentalism, Ahmari’s perspective represents a renewed approach to mainstream Catholicism and Traditionalism, one which picks up on the secret ingredient of all great Catholic thinkers, in taking seriously the opinions of those who differ from us, be it in refutation or affirmation and at least with the acceptance that Catholicism represents the whole of their partial truths.

The Iranian American’s biographical journey remains pertinent amongst all of this. Just as Chesterton’s time as a journalist dabbling in the Occult added a compelling twist to his conversion and just as Lewis’s atheism and reversion (and the apparent ethnic reasons for his aversion to conversion to Catholicism) add the authenticity of a cosmic drama to his works, so too does Ahmari’s physical journey from Iran to the United States and spiritual journey from materialism to Catholicism register as more authentic by virtue of their idiosyncrasies. ‘I heard about public executions…Tradition to my boyish mind was the portrait of the Ayatollah scowling at me from every billboard’.

The book is structured into twelve different questions, beginning with one asking ‘How do you justify your life?’, then dealing with others that explore the topics of God, freedom and individuality, before finishing with, ‘What’s good about death?’. Such an outline affords it a comprehensive approach as it is, but the real depth lies in the scope of cultures and thinkers whom Ahmari evokes. There are the obligatory discussions of the aforementioned Aquinas et al., but there is also the appreciation for political activists, even feminist ones. There is also the appreciation for the ancestral tradition as espoused in Confucius. The Chinese, despite some Neo Conservative claims to the contrary, are neither savage nor irrational, their ancient culture possesses recognisable values, in particular keeping faith with the past, in filial and philosophical terms:

Filiality mustn’t be permitted to become negotiable or conditional on our parents’ conduct - lest it be undone. If we agree that our parents aren’t just a random, accidental fact about our own personalities and existence, then it follows that our obligations to them are different from others we might choose to accept or reject as we please. That idea is deeply embedded in the Chinese tradition, whose wisdom insistently addresses us across the vast barriers of time, language and culture.

Such statements are cogent examples of the more positive legacies of the theologies that surrounded the Second Vatican Council. Although the legacy of the Council has been mired in wanton destruction of traditional churches, lawless liturgical innovations and widespread apostasy, Ahmari presents a template of engagement with the modern world that is firm, fair and charitable, with sincere curiosity about the inner workings of others who have sought objective truths throughout history. In some Traditionalist circles today, there is an overly negative aversion to other faiths, theologies and philosophies that is, ironically, not a traditional Catholic way of doing things. One doesn’t have to adopt an idea to take it seriously. Aquinas and the Scholastics would have been repelled by such dismissive concepts. For all of its controversy, the Vatican II document on non Christian religions, Nostra Aetate, was accurate in saying, ‘The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions’.

This fairness towards other traditions and faiths is not weakness, one of this book’s considerable strengths in the coming years will be as a beginner’s guide to traditionalism and to conservativism, with a helpful glossary of thinkers and activists who have had significant influence upon the West through word and action. There are the early Church fathers, Polycarp to Saint Augustine, but also the more modern voices such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn, painting an expansive canvas of connection between the search for truth two millenniums ago with the current ‘Dictatorship of Relativism’ that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger opposed. The passages about Solzhenitsyn are particularly insightful for audiences who may have been suckered into thinking that Catholicism and Capitalism are one and the same:

Western-style liberalism and Communism shared this faith in the basic goodness of the autonomous human being. Both hallowed the autonomous human as ‘the center of all’. Despite their differences over how to free humanity from all natural and traditional constraints, whether to do so collectively or individually, the two ideologies were twin children of the same parent philosophy. In this sense, the Cold War world was, in fact, united. Its two halves were riffing on the same melody in two different keys. It was easy to see how Communism’s vision of unbound human rule had in practice led to the absolute loss of true freedom 0 to the gulag, to the killing field, to the torture chamber. The West’s deformations were more diffuse and subtle but no less real.

In our own time, the horrors of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay were justified by those who claimed to be protecting human freedoms as once were the gulags of Siberia by the Communists. It is not a traditionally popular conservative opinion to conflate the two, but it is accurate nonetheless.

On Aquinas, there are the usual biographical standouts, his pursuit of sainthood in defiance of his family’s expectations for him serving as an example for today’s conformist youth. Most significant however, is the mention of Aquinas’s philosophy, the 5 Proofs and the conciliation of faith and reason. In his 1879 encyclical Aeterni Patris, Pope Leo XIII held up St. Thomas Aquinas as the example of theological surety upon which the church could be relied to oppose the Enlightenment’s focus upon relativism and its usurpation of reason.

 Among the Scholastic Doctors, the chief and master of all towers Thomas Aquinas, who, as Cajetan observes, because "he most venerated the ancient doctors of the Church, in a certain way seems to have inherited the intellect of all."(34) The doctrines of those illustrious men, like the scattered members of a body, Thomas collected together and cemented, distributed in wonderful order, and so increased with important additions that he is rightly and deservedly esteemed the special bulwark and glory of the Catholic faith. With his spirit at once humble and swift, his memory ready and tenacious, his life spotless throughout, a lover of truth for its own sake, richly endowed with human and divine science, like the sun he heated the world with the warmth of his virtues and filled it with the splendor of his teaching. Philosophy has no part which he did not touch finely at once and thoroughly; on the laws of reasoning, on God and incorporeal substances, on man and other sensible things, on human actions and their principles, he reasoned in such a manner that in him there is wanting neither a full array of questions, nor an apt disposal of the various parts, nor the best method of proceeding, nor soundness of principles or strength of argument, nor clearness and elegance of style, nor a facility for explaining what is abstruse.

Ahmari’s discussion of the Angelic Doctor is a welcome addition to the current public relativist crisis, which has now decided to focus specifically on gender and the apparent non existence of distinctions between men and women. Pope Leo XIII and Ahmari appear to have both had the same revelation, to find the truth of Aquinas to be a solid argument to those who argue that truth does not exist and that progress has brought man to a better, more honest place than the Medieval world had brought him to.

We have been sold a bad bill of goods. Modern philosophy, with its tendency to judge everything y the standard of its own ideas and claims to greatness, has conditioned us to see the rejection of everything medieval as a victory of reason over obscurantism. But that narrative is mostly self-serving mythology, as we have seen. It wasn’t the case that with the rise of the Enlightenment, philosophical reason eclipsed irrational faith. Rather, an illiberal conception of reason’s powers came to eclipse reason as Aquinas to understood it: a reason that could get at the very mind of God.

But this needn’t be a permanent eclipse. We can go back behind intellectual mistakes, even epochal ones. We can retrace our steps and recover reason in its full, rich, medieval sense.

Numerous references to the post Covid world also dot Ahmari’s text, explicit and implicit, most significantly his choice of ending the book with the chapter ‘What is good about death?’. The past year has not been marked so much by fear over a terrifying virus, but over fear of death itself, fear of even talking about it. A society which no longer considers what happens before or after life, now finds itself facing death in a manner that it has long sought to avoid. It is significant that the most secular countries have generally been the ones most inclined to have been consumed by hypochondriac reactions to the virus and, despite claims to the contrary, the Catholic Church has probably been the most inclined to bend and even break the rules of lockdown, with clandestine Masses, a blind eye turned to large numbers at funerals and efforts to have lockdown rules revoked. Journalists will occasionally tell us that biological life will someday be permanently extended as made evident by some new innovative research, yet Ahmari recalled Augustine who said ‘You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you’.

Perpetual biological life doesn’t, in fact, fulfill the longing for eternity answered by the classical and Judeo-Christian promise of a reunion with the whole. Living very, very long or forever in the here and now entails no rest, no final fulfillment or completion.

Perhaps the modern world needs to be brought back to sense by being reminded of its own eventual demise, in individual and collective terms.

Recent bestsellers by Douglas Murray and Jordan Peterson have brought young Western men in particular to consider their society’s decline, Murray did so on a macro level whereas Peterson worked on a personal level. The Unbroken Thread takes that milieu into its rightful final sphere, not societal anxiety or self help, but in keeping faith with the traditions of the past and using them to better understand the chaos around us.

It may seem an age ago now, but Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s last homily was only 16 years ago and it is prophetic, predicting what Ahmari sees around him now.

Today, having a clear faith based on the Creed of the Church is often labeled as fundamentalism. Whereas relativism, that is, letting oneself be "tossed here and there, carried about by every wind of doctrine", seems the only attitude that can cope with modern times. We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.

In the book’s conclusion, Sohrab Ahmari writes ‘A letter to Maximilian’, his son named after St. Maximilian Kolbe. He says to him, ‘I should want you… to read old books before new ones. To make all your decision by the light of sound authorities, above all that of the Holy Church’.

The Unbroken Thread is not designed to help you to clean your room, to make you blackpill about the declining birth rates of Europe, it is a reminder that that truth is objective, God is real and your freedom means more when you recognise that it is granted to you by God, rather than by governments and oligarchs.

Seosamh O’Caoimh

The Unbroken Thread: Disovering Wisdom of Tradition in the Age of Chaos is available for sale in Europe now.

Pope Pius XII on the Sacred Heart

Haurietis Aquas (1956)

1. "You shall draw waters with joy out of the Savior's fountain."(1) These words by which the prophet Isaias, using highly significant imagery, foretold the manifold and abundant gifts of God which the Christian era was to bring forth, come naturally to Our mind when We reflect on the centenary of that year when Our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, gladly yielding to the prayers from the whole Catholic world, ordered the celebration of the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Universal Church.

2. It is altogether impossible to enumerate the heavenly gifts which devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has poured out on the souls of the faithful, purifying them, offering them heavenly strength, rousing them to the attainment of all virtues. Therefore, recalling those wise words of the Apostle St. James, "Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights,"(2) We are perfectly justified in seeing in this same devotion, which flourishes with increasing fervor throughout the world, a gift without price which our divine Savior the Incarnate Word, as the one Mediator of grace and truth between the heavenly Father and the human race imparted to the Church, His mystical Spouse, in recent centuries when she had to endure such trials and surmount so many difficulties.

3. The Church, rejoicing in this inestimable gift, can show forth a more ardent love of her divine Founder, and can, in a more generous and effective manner, respond to that invitation which St. John the Evangelist relates as having come from Christ Himself: "And on the last and great day of the festivity, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If any man thirst, let him come to Me, and let him drink that believeth in Me. As the Scripture saith: Out of his heart there shall flow rivers of living waters.' Now this He said of the Spirit which they should receive who believed in Him."(3)

4. For those who were listening to Jesus speaking, it certainly was not difficult to relate these words by which He promised the fountain of "living water" destined to spring from His own side, to the words of sacred prophecy of Isaias, Ezechiel and Zacharias, foretelling the Messianic Kingdom, and likewise to the symbolic rock from which, when struck by Moses, water flowed forth in a miraculous manner.(4)

5. Divine Love first takes its origin from the Holy Spirit, Who is the Love in Person of the Father and the Son in the bosom of the most Holy Trinity. Most aptly then does the Apostle of the Gentiles echo, as it were, the words of Jesus Christ, when he ascribes the pouring forth of love in the hearts of believers to this Spirit of Love: "The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who is given to us."(5)

6. Holy Writ declares that between divine charity, which must burn in the souls of Christians, and the Holy Spirit, Who is certainly Love Itself, there exists the closest bond, which clearly shows all of us, venerable brethren, the intimate nature of that worship which must be paid to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. If we consider its special nature it is beyond question that this devotion is an act of religion of high order; it demands of us a complete and unreserved determination to devote and consecrate ourselves to the love of the divine Redeemer, Whose wounded Heart is its living token and symbol. It is equally clear, but at a higher level, that this same devotion provides us with a most powerful means of repaying the divine Lord by our own.

7. Indeed it follows that it is only under the impulse of love that the minds of men obey fully and perfectly the rule of the Supreme Being, since the influence of our love draws us close to the divine Will that it becomes as it were completely one with it, according to the saying, "He who is joined to the Lord, is one spirit."(6)

8. The Church has always valued, and still does, the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus so highly that she provides for the spread of it among Christian peoples everywhere and by every means. At the same time she uses every effort to protect it against the charges of so-called "naturalism" and "sentimentalism." In spite of this it is much to be regretted that, both in the past and in our own times, this most noble devotion does not find a place of honor and esteem among certain Christians and even occasionally not among those who profess themselves moved by zeal for the Catholic religion and the attainment of holiness.

9. "If you but knew the gift of God."(7) With these words, venerable brethren, We who in the secret designs of God have been elected as the guardians and stewards of the sacred treasures of faith and piety which the divine Redeemer has entrusted to His Church, prompted by Our sense of duty, admonish them all.

10. For even though the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has triumphed so to speak, over the errors and the neglect of men, and has penetrated entirely His Mystical Body; still there are some of Our children who, led astray by prejudices, sometimes go so far as to consider this devotion ill-adapted, not to say detrimental, to the more pressing spiritual needs of the Church and humanity in this present age. There are some who, confusing and confounding the primary nature of this devotion with various individual forms of piety which the Church approves and encourages but does not command, regard this as a kind of additional practice which each one may take up or not according to his own inclination.

11. There are others who reckon this same devotion burdensome and of little or no use to men who are fighting in the army of the divine King and who are inspired mainly by the thought of laboring with their own strength, their own resources and expenditures of their own time, to defend Catholic truth, to teach and spread it, to instill Christian social teachings, to promote those acts of religion and those undertakings which they consider much more necessary today.

12. Again, there are those who so far from considering this devotion a strong support for the right ordering and renewal of Christian morals both in the individual's private life and in the home circle, see it rather a type of piety nourished not by the soul and mind but by the senses and consequently more suited to the use of women, since it seems to them something not quite suitable for educated men.

13. Moreover there are those who consider a devotion of this kind as primarily demanding penance, expiation and the other virtues which they call "passive," meaning thereby that they produce no external results. Hence they do not think it suitable to re-enkindle the spirit of piety in modern times. Rather, this should aim at open and vigorous action, at the triumph of the Catholic faith, at a strong defense of Christian morals. Christian morality today, as everyone knows, is easily contaminated by the sophistries of those who are indifferent to any form of religion, and who, discarding all distinctions between truth and falsehood, whether in thought or in practice, accept even the most ignoble corruptions of materialistic atheism, or as they call it, secularism.

14. Who does not see, venerable brethren, that opinions of this kind are in entire disagreement with the teachings which Our predecessors officially proclaimed from this seat of truth when approving the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.? Who would be so bold as to call that devotion useless and inappropriate to our age which Our predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII, declared to be "the most acceptable form of piety?" He had no doubt that in it there was a powerful remedy for the healing of those very evils which today also, and beyond question in a wider and more serious way, bring distress and disquiet to individuals and to the whole human race. "This devotion," he said, "which We recommend to all, will be profitable to all." And he added this counsel and encouragement with reference to the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: ". . .hence those forces of evil which have now for so long a time been taking root and which so fiercely compel us to seek help from Him by Whose strength alone they can be driven away. Who can He be but Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God? 'For there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved.'(8) We must have recourse to Him Who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life."(9)

15. No less to be approved, no less suitable for the fostering of Christian piety was this devotion declared to be by Our predecessor of happy memory, Pius XI. In an encyclical letter he wrote: "Is not a summary of all our religion and, moreover, a guide to a more perfect life contained in this one devotion? Indeed, it more easily leads our minds to know Christ the Lord intimately and more effectively turns our hearts to love Him more ardently and to imitate Him more perfectly."(10)

16. To Us, no less than to Our predecessors, these capital truths are clear and certain. When We took up Our office of Supreme Pontiff and saw, in full accord with Our prayers and desires, that the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus had increased and was actually, so to speak, making triumphal progress among Christian peoples, We rejoiced that from it were flowing through the whole Church innumerable and salutary results. This We were pleased to point out in Our first encyclical letter.(11)

17. Through the years of Our pontificate--years filled not only with bitter hardships but also with ineffable consolations these effects have not diminished in number or power or beauty, but on the contrary have increased. Indeed, happily there has begun a variety of projects which are conducive to a rekindling of this devotion. We refer to the formation of cultural associations for the advancement of religion and of charitable works; publications setting forth the true historical, ascetical and mystical doctrine concerning this entire subject; pious works of atonement; and in particular those manifestations of most ardent piety which the Apostleship of Prayer has brought about, under whose auspices and direction local gatherings - families, colleges, institutions - and sometimes nations have been consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. To all these We have offered paternal congratulations on many occasions, whether in letters written on the subject, in personal addresses, or even in messages delivered over the radio.(12)

18. Therefore when We perceive so fruitful an abundance of healing waters, that is, heavenly gifts of divine love, issuing from the Sacred Heart of our Redeemer, spreading among countless children of the Catholic Church by the inspiration and action of the divine Spirit; We can only exhort you, venerable brethren, with fatherly affection to join Us in giving tribute of praise and heartfelt thanks to God, the Giver of all good gifts. We make Our own these words of the Apostle of the Gentiles: "Now to Him Who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us, to Him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus unto all generations world without end. Amen."(13)

19. But after We have paid Our debt of thanks to the Eternal God, We wish to urge on you and on all Our beloved children of the Church a more earnest consideration of those principles which take their origin from Scripture and the teaching of the Fathers and theologians and on which, as on solid foundations, the worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus rests. We are absolutely convinced that not until we have made a profound study of the primary and loftier nature of this devotion with the aid of the light of the divinely revealed truth, can we rightly and fully appreciate its incomparable excellence and the inexhaustible abundance of its heavenly favors. Likewise by devout meditation and contemplation of the innumerable benefits produced from it, we will be able to celebrate worthily the completion of the first hundred years since the observance of the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was extended to the Universal Church.

20. Moved therefore by this consideration, to the end that the minds of the faithful may have from Our hands salutary food and consequently after such nourishment be able more easily to arrive at a deeper understanding of the true nature of this devotion and possess its rich fruits, We will undertake to explain those pages of the Old and New Testament in which the infinite love of God for the human race (which we shall never be able adequately to contemplate) is revealed and set before us. Then, as occasion offers, We shall touch upon the main lines of the commentaries which the Fathers and Doctors of the Church have handed down to us. And finally, We shall strive to set in its true light the very close connection which exists between the form of devotion paid to the Heart of the divine Redeemer and the worship we owe to His love and to the love of the Most Holy Trinity for all men. For We think if only the main elements on which the most excellent form of devotion rests are clarified in the light of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of tradition, Christians can more easily "draw waters with joy out of the Savior's fountains."(14) By this We mean they can appreciate more fully the full weight of the special importance which devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus enjoys in the liturgy of the Church and in its internal and external life and action, and can also gather those fruits of salvation by which each one can bring about a healthy reform in his own conduct, as the bishops of the Christian flock desire.

21. That all may understand more exactly the teachings which the selected texts of the Old and New Testament furnish concerning this devotion, they must clearly understand the reasons why the Church gives the highest form of worship to the Heart of the divine Redeemer. As you well know, venerable brethren, the reasons are two in number. The first, which applies also to the other sacred members of the Body of Jesus Christ, rests on that principle whereby we recognize that His Heart, the noblest part of human nature, is hypostatically united to the Person of the divine Word. Consequently, there must be paid to it that worship of adoration with which the Church honors the Person of the Incarnate Son of God Himself. We are dealing here with an article of faith, for it has been solemnly defined in the general Council of Ephesus and the second Council of Constantinople.(15)

22. The other reason which refers in a particular manner to the Heart of the divine Redeemer, and likewise demands in a special way that the highest form of worship be paid to it, arises from the fact that His Heart, more than all the other members of His body, is the natural sign and symbol of His boundless love for the human race. "There is in the Sacred Heart," as Our predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII, pointed out, "the symbol and express image of the infinite love of Jesus Christ which moves us to love in return."(16)

23. It is of course beyond doubt that the Sacred Books never make express mention of a special worship of veneration and love made to the physical Heart of the Incarnate Word as the symbol of His burning love. But if this must certainly be admitted, it cannot cause us surprise nor in any way lead us to doubt the divine love for us which is the principal object of this devotion; since that love is proclaimed and insisted upon in the Old and in the New Testament by the kind of images which strongly arouse our emotions. Since these images were presented in the Sacred Writings foretelling the coming of the Son of God made man, they can be considered as a token of the noblest symbol and witness of that divine love, that is, of the most Sacred and Adorable Heart of the divine Redeemer.

24. We do not think it essential to Our subject to cite at length passages from the Old Testament books which contain truths divinely revealed in ancient times. We consider it sufficient to call to mind that the covenant made between God and the people and sanctified by peace offerings - the first Law of which was written on two tablets and made known by Moses(17) and explained by the prophets -was an agreement established not only on the strong foundation of God's supreme dominion and of man's duty of obedience but was also based and nourished on more noble considerations of love. The ultimate reason for obeying God, for the people of Israel, was not the fear of divine vengeance which the rumble of thunder and the lightning flashing from the top of Mount Sinai struck into their souls, but was rather the love they owed to God. "Hear, O Israel ! The Lord our God is one Lord. Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with thy whole heart, and thy whole soul, and thy whole strength. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thy heart."(18)

25. We do not wonder then, that Moses and the prophets, whom the Angelic Doctor rightly names the "elders" of the chosen people,(19) perceived clearly that the foundation of the whole Law lay on this commandment of love, and described all the circumstances and relationships which should exist between God and His people by metaphors drawn from the natural love of a father and his children, or a man and his wife, rather than from the harsh imagery derived from the supreme dominion of God or the obligation of subjecting ourselves in fear. And so, to take an example, when Moses himself was singing his famous hymn in honor of the people restored to freedom from the slavery of Egypt, and wished to indicate it had come about by the power of God; he used these symbolic and touching expressions: "As the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them, (God) spread his wings, and hath taken him (Israel) and carried him on his shoulders."(20)

26. But perhaps none of the holy prophets has expressed and revealed as clearly and vividly as Osee the love with which God always watches over His people. In writings of this prophet, who is outstanding among the minor prophets for the sublimity of his concise language, God declares that His love for the chosen people, combining justice and a holy anxiety, is like the love of a merciful and loving father or of a husband whose honor is offended. This love is not diminished or withdrawn in the face of the perfidy or the horrible crimes of those who betray it. If it inflicts just chastisements on the guilty, it is not for the purpose of rejecting them or of abandoning them to themselves; but rather to bring about the repentance and the purification of the unfaithful spouse and ungrateful children, and to bind them once more to itself with renewed and yet stronger bonds of love. "Because Israel was a child, and I loved him; and I called my son out of Egypt. . .And I was like a foster father to Ephraim, and I carried them in my arms, and they knew not that I healed them. I will draw them with the cords of Adam, with the bonds of love. . .I will heal their wounds, I will love them; for My wrath is turned away from them. I will be as a dew, Israel shall spring up as a lily, and his root shall shoot forth as that of Libanus."(21)

27. Similar sentiments are uttered by the prophet Isaias when he introduces a conversation in the form of question and answer, as it were, between God and the chosen people: "And Sion said, 'the Lord hath forsaken me; the Lord hath forgotten me.' Can a woman forget her infant so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee."(22)

28. No less moving are the words which the author of the Canticle of Canticles, employing comparisons from conjugal affection, describes symbolically the bonds of mutual love by which God and his chosen people are united to each other: "As the lily among thorns, so is My love among the daughters. . .I to My beloved and My beloved to Me, who feedeth among the lilies. . .Put Me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is hard as hell, the lamps thereof are lamps of fire and flames."(23)

29. This most tender, forgiving and patient love of God, though it deems unworthy the people of Israel as they add sin to sin, nevertheless at no time casts them off entirely. And though it seems strong and exalted indeed, yet it was only an advance symbol of that burning charity which mankind' s promised Redeemer, from His most loving Heart, was destined to open to all and which was to be the type of His love for us and the foundation of the new covenant.

30. Assuredly, when He who is the only begotten of the Father and the Word made flesh "full of grace and truth"(24) had come to men weighed down with many sins and miseries it was He alone, from that human nature united hypostatically to the divine Person, Who could open to the human race the "fountain of living water" which would irrigate the parched land and transform it into a fruitful and flourishing garden.

31. That this most wondrous effect would come to pass as a result of the merciful and everlasting love of God the prophet Jeremias seems to foretell in a manner in these words: "I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore I have drawn thee taking pity on thee. . .Behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and I shall make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Juda. . .this will be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after those days, saith the Lord; I will give My law in their bowels, and will write it in their heart, and I will be their God and they shall be My people. . .for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more."(25)

32. But it is only in the Gospels that we find definitely and clearly set out the new covenant between God and man; for that covenant which Moses had made between the people of Israel and God was a mere symbol and a sign of the covenant foretold by the prophet Jeremias. We say that this new covenant is that very thing which was established and effected by the work of the Incarnate Word Who is the source of divine grace. This covenant is therefore to be considered incomparably more excellent and more solid because it was ratified, not as in the past by the blood of goats and calves, but by the most precious Blood of Him Whom these same innocent animals, devoid of reason, had already prefigured: "The Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world."(26)

33. The Christian covenant, much more than that of the old, clearly appears as an agreement based not on slavery or on fear, but as one ratified by that friendship which ought to exist between a father and his children, as one nourished and strengthened by a more generous outpouring of divine grace and truth according to the saying of St. John the Evangelist: "And of his fulness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the Law was given by Moses; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."(27)

34. Since we have been introduced, venerable brethren, to the innermost mystery of the infinite charity of the Word Incarnate by these words of the disciple "whom Jesus loved and who also leaned on His breast at the supper,"(28) it seems meet and just, right and availing unto salvation, to pause for a short time in sweet contemplation of this mystery so that, enlightened by that light which shines from the Gospel and makes clearer the mystery itself, we also may be able to obtain the realization of the desire of which the Apostle of the Gentiles speaks in writing to the Ephesians. "That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts, that being rooted and founded in charity you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth; to know also the charity of Christ which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God."(29)

35. The mystery of the divine redemption is primarily and by its very nature a mystery of love, that is, of the perfect love of Christ for His heavenly Father to Whom the sacrifice of the Cross, offered in a spirit of love and obedience, presents the most abundant and infinite satisfaction due for the sins of the human race; "By suffering out of love and obedience, Christ gave more to God than was required to compensate for the offense of the whole human race."(30)

36. It is also a mystery of the love of the Most Holy Trinity and of the divine Redeemer towards all men. Because they were entirely unable to make adequate satisfaction for their sins,(31) Christ, through the infinite treasure of His merits acquired for us by the shedding of His precious Blood, was able to restore completely that pact of friendship between God and man which had been broken, first by the grievous fall of Adam in the earthly paradise and then by the countless sins of the chosen people.

37. Since our divine Redeemer as our lawful and perfect Mediator, out of His ardent love for us, restored complete harmony between the duties and obligations of the human race and the rights of God, He is therefore responsible for the existence of that wonderful reconciliation of divine justice and divine mercy which constitutes the sublime mystery of our salvation. On this point the Angelic Doctor wisely comments: "That man should be delivered by Christ's Passion was in keeping with both His mercy and His justice. With His justice, because by His Passion Christ made satisfaction for the sins of the human race, and so man was set free by Christ's justice; and with His mercy, for since man of himself could not satisfy for the sin of all human nature, God gave him His Son to satisfy for him. And this came of a more copious mercy than if he had forgiven sins without satisfaction: Hence St. Paul says: 'God, who is rich in mercy, by reason of His very great love wherewith He has loved us even when we were dead by reason of our sins, brought us to life together with Christ.'"(32)

38. But in order that we really may be able, so far as it is permitted to mortal men, "to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth"(33) of the hidden love of the Incarnate Word for His heavenly Father and for men infected by the taint of sins, we must note well that His love was not entirely the spiritual love proper to God inasmuch as "God is a spirit."(34) Undoubtedly the love with which God loved our forefathers and the Hebrew people was of this nature. For this reason the expressions of human, intimate, and paternal love which we find in the Psalms, the writings of the prophets, and in the Canticle of Canticles are tokens and symbols of the true but entirely spiritual love with which God continued to sustain the human race. On the other hand, the love which breathes from the Gospel, from the letters of the Apostles and the pages of the Apocalypse, all of which portray the love of the Heart of Jesus Christ, expresses not only divine love but also human sentiments of love. All who profess themselves Catholics accept this without question.

39. For the Word of God did not assume a feigned and unsubstantial body, as already in the first century of Christianity some heretics declared and who were condemned in these solemn words of St. John the Apostle: "For many seducers are gone out into the world, who do confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. Here is a seducer and the antichrist,"(35) but He united to His divine Person a truly human nature, individual, whole and perfect, which was conceived in the most pure womb of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Ghost.(36)

40. Nothing, then, was wanting to the human nature which the Word of God united to Himself. Consequently He assumed it in no diminished way, in no different sense in what concerns the spiritual and the corporeal: that is, it was endowed with intellect and will and the other internal and external faculties of perception, and likewise with the desires and all the natural impulses of the senses. All this the Catholic Church teaches as solemnly defined and ratified by the Roman Pontiffs and the general councils. "Whole and entire in what is His own, whole and entire in what is ours."(37) "Perfect in His Godhead and likewise perfect in His humanity."(38) "Complete God is man, complete man is God."(39)

41. Hence, since there can be no doubt that Jesus Christ received a true body and had all the affections proper to the same, among which love surpassed all the rest, it is likewise beyond doubt that He was endowed with a physical heart like ours; for without this noblest part of the body the ordinary emotions of human life are impossible. Therefore the Heart of Jesus Christ, hypostatically united to the divine Person of the Word, certainly beat with love and with the other emotions- but these, joined to a human will full of divine charity and to the infinite love itself which the Son shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit, were in such complete unity and agreement that never among these three loves was there any contradiction of or disharmony.(40)

42. However, even though the Word of God took to Himself a true and perfect human nature, and made and fashioned for Himself a heart of flesh, which, no less than ours could suffer and be pierced, unless this fact is considered in the light of the hypostatic and substantial union and in the light of its complement, the fact of man' s redemption, it can be a stumbling block and foolishness to some, just as Jesus Christ, nailed to the Cross, actually was to the Jewish race and to the Gentiles.(41)

43. The official teachings of the Catholic faith, in complete agreement with Scripture, assure us that the only begotten Son of God took a human nature capable of suffering and death especially because He desired, as He hung from the Cross, to offer a bloody sacrifice in order to complete the work of man's salvation. This the Apostle of the Gentiles teaches in another way: "For both He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, 'I will declare thy name to My brethren'. . .And again, 'Behold I and My children, whom God hath given Me.' Therefore, because the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also in like manner hath been partaker of the same. . .Wherefore it behooved Him in all things to be made like unto His brethren that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest before God, that He might be a propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that wherein He Himself hath suffered and been tempted He is able to succor them who are tempted."(42)

44. The holy Fathers, true witnesses of the divinely revealed doctrine, wonderfully understood what St. Paul the Apostle had quite clearly declared; namely, that the mystery of love was, as it were, both the foundation and the culmination of the Incarnation and the Redemption. For frequently and clearly we can read in their writings that Jesus Christ took a perfect human nature and our weak and perishable human body with the object of providing for our eternal salvation, and of revealing to us in the clearest possible manner that His infinite love for us could express itself in human terms.

45. St. Justin, almost echoing the voice of the Apostle of the Gentiles, writes: "We adore and love the Word born of the unbegotten and ineffable God since He became man for our sake, so that having become a partaker of our sufferings He might provide a remedy for them."(43)

46. St. Basil, the first of the three Cappadocian Fathers declares that the feelings of the senses in Christ were at once true and holy: "It is clear that the Lord did indeed put on natural affections as a proof of His real and not imaginary Incarnation, and that He rejected as unworthy of the Godhead those corrupt affections which defile the purity of our life."(44)

47. Similarly that light of the Church of Antioch, St. John Chrysostom, admits that the emotion of the senses to which the divine Redeemer was subject made obvious the fact that He assumed a human nature complete in all respects: "For if He had not shared our nature He would not have repeatedly been seized with grief."(45)

48. Among the Latin Fathers one may cite those whom the Church today honors as the greatest doctors. Thus St. Ambrose bears witness that the movements and dispositions of the senses, from which the Incarnate Word of (God was not exempt, flow from the hypostatic union as from their natural source: "And therefore He put on a soul and the passions of the soul; for God, precisely because He is God, could not have been disturbed nor could He have died."(46)

49. It was from these very emotions that St. Jerome derived his chief proof that Christ had really put on human nature: "Our Lord, to prove the truth of the manhood He had assumed, experiences real sadness."(47)

50. But St. Augustine, in a special manner, notices the connections that exist between the sentiments of the Incarnate Word and their purpose, man's redemption. "These affections of human infirmity, even as the human body itself and death, the Lord Jesus put on not out of necessity, but freely out of compassion so that He might transform in Himself His Body, which is the Church of which He deigned to be the Head, that is, His members who are among the faithful and the saints, so that if any of them in the trials of this life should be saddened and afflicted they should not therefore think that they are deprived of His grace. Nor should they consider this sorrow a sin, but a sign of human weakness. Like a choir singing in harmony with the note that has been sounded, so should His Body learn from its Head."(48)

51. More briefly, but no less effectively, do the following passages from St. John Damascene set out the teaching of the Church: "Complete God assumed me completely and complete man is united to complete God so that He might bring salvation to complete man. For what was not assumed could not be healed."(49) "He therefore assumed all that He might sanctify all."(50)

52. However, it must be noted that although these selected passages from Scripture and the Fathers and many similar ones that We have not cited give clear testimony that Jesus Christ was endowed with affections and sense perceptions, and hence that He assumed human nature in order to work for our eternal salvation, yet they never refer those affections to His physical heart in such a way as to point to it clearly as the symbol of His infinite love.

53. Granted that the Evangelists and other sacred writers do not explicitly describe the Heart of our Redeemer, living and throbbing like our own with the power of feeling, and ever throbbing with the emotions and affections of His soul and the glowing charity of His twofold will, yet they often set in their proper light His divine love and the sense emotions which accompany it; that is, desire, joy, weakness, fear and anger, as shown by His face, words or gesture. The face of our adorable Savior was especially the guide, and a kind of faithful reflection, of those emotions which moved His soul in various ways and like repeating waves touched His Sacred Heart and excited its beating. For what is true of human psychology and its effects is valid here also. The Angelic Doctor, relying on ordinary experience, notes: "An emotion caused by anger is conveyed to the external members, and particularly to those members in which the heart's imprint is more obviously reflected, such as the eyes, the face, and the tongue."(51)

54. For these reasons, the Heart of the Incarnate Word is deservedly and rightly considered the chief sign and symbol of that threefold love with which the divine Redeemer unceasingly loves His eternal Father and all mankind.

55. It is a symbol of that divine love which He shares with the Father and the Holy Spirit but which He, the Word made flesh, alone manifests through a weak and perishable body, since "in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily."(52)

56. It is, besides, the symbol of that burning love which, infused into His soul, enriches the human will of Christ and enlightens and governs its acts by the most perfect knowledge derived both from the beatific vision and that which is directly infused.(53)

57. And finally - and this in a more natural and direct way - it is the symbol also of sensible love, since the body of Jesus Christ, formed by the Holy Spirit, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, possesses full powers of feelings and perception, in fact, more so than any other human body.(54)

58. Since, therefore, Sacred Scripture and the official teaching of the Catholic faith instruct us that all things find their complete harmony and order in the most holy soul of Jesus Christ, and that He has manifestly directed His threefold love for the securing of our redemption, it unquestionably follows that we can contemplate and honor the Heart of the divine Redeemer as a symbolic image of His love and a witness of our redemption and, at the same time, as a sort of mystical ladder by which we mount to the embrace of "God our Savior."(55)

59. Hence His words, actions, commands, miracles, and especially those works which manifest more clearly His love for us - such as the divine institution of the Eucharist, His most bitter sufferings and death, the loving gift of His holy Mother to us, the founding of the Church for us, and finally, the sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and upon us - all these, We say, ought to be looked upon as proofs of His threefold love.

60. Likewise we ought to meditate most lovingly on the beating of His Sacred Heart by which He seemed, as it were, to measure the time of His sojourn on earth until that final moment when, as the Evangelists testify, "crying out with a loud voice 'It is finished.', and bowing His Head, He yielded up the ghost."(56) Then it was that His heart ceased to beat and His sensible love was interrupted until the time when, triumphing over death, He rose from the tomb.

61. But after His glorified body had been re-united to the soul of the divine Redeemer, conqueror of death, His most Sacred Heart never ceased, and never will cease, to beat with calm and imperturbable pulsations. Likewise, it will never cease to symbolize the threefold love with which He is bound to His heavenly Father and the entire human race, of which He has every claim to be the mystical Head.

62. And now, venerable brethren, in order that we may be able to gather from these holy considerations abundant and salutary fruits, We desire to reflect on and briefly contemplate the manifold affections, human and divine, of our Savior Jesus Christ which His Heart made known to us during the course of His mortal life and which It still does and will continue to do for all eternity. From the pages of the Gospel particularly there shines forth for us the light, by the brightness and strength of which we can enter into the secret places of this divine Heart and, with the Apostle of the Gentiles, gaze at "the abundant riches of (God's) grace, in his bounty towards us in Christ Jesus."(57)

63. The adorable Heart of Jesus Christ began to beat with a love at once human and divine after the Virgin Mary generously pronounced Her "Fiat"; and the Word of God, as the Apostle remarks: "coming into the world, saith, 'Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst not; but a body thou hast fitted to Me; holocausts for sin did not please thee. Then said I, "Behold I come"; in the head of the book it is written of Me, "that I should do thy will, O God!"'. . .In which will we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ once."(58)

64. Likewise was He moved by love, completely in harmony with the affections of His human will and the divine Love, when in the house of Nazareth He conversed with His most sweet Mother and His foster father, St. Joseph, in obedience to whom He performed laborious tasks in the trade of a carpenter.

65. Again, He was influenced by that threefold love, of which We spoke, during His public life: in long apostolic journeys; in the working of innumerable miracles, by which He summoned back the dead from the grave or granted health to all manner of sick persons; in enduring labors; in bearing fatigue, hunger and thirst; in the nightly watchings during which He prayed most lovingly to His Father; and finally, in His preaching and in setting forth and explaining His parables, in those particularly which deal with mercy--the lost drachma, the lost sheep, the prodigal son. By these indeed both by act and by word, as St. Gregory the Great notes, the Heart of God Itself is revealed: "Learn the Heart of God in the words of God, that you may long more ardently for things eternal."(59)

66. But the Heart of Jesus Christ was moved by a more urgent charity when from His lips were drawn words breathing the most ardent love. Thus, to give examples: when He was gazing at the crowds weary and hungry, He exclaimed: "I have compassion upon the crowd";(60) and when He looked down on His beloved city of Jerusalem, blinded by its sins, and so destined for final ruin, He uttered this sentence: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that slayest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered together thy children, as the hen doth gather her chickens under her wings, and thou wouldst not!"(61) And His Heart beat with love for His Father and with a holy anger when seeing the sacrilegious buying and selling taking place in the Temple, He rebuked the violators with these words: "It is written: My house shall be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves."(62)

67. But His Heart was moved by a particularly intense love mingled with fear as He perceived the hour of His bitter torments drawing near and, expressing a natural repugnance for the approaching pains and death, He cried out: "Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me."(63) And when He was greeted by the traitor with a kiss, in love triumphant united to deepest grief, He addressed to him those words which seem to be the final invitation of His most merciful Heart to the friend who, obdurate in his wicked treachery, was about to hand Him over to His executioners: "Friend, whereto art thou come? Dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss?"(64) It was out of pity and the depths of His love that He spoke to the devout women as they wept for Him on His way to the unmerited penalty of the Cross: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. . .For if in the green wood they do these things, what shall be done in the dry?"(65)

68. And when the divine Redeemer was hanging on the Cross, He showed that His Heart was strongly moved by different emotions - burning love, desolation, pity, longing desire, unruffled peace. The words spoken plainly indicate these emotions: "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do!"(66) "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"(67) "Amen, I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with Me in paradise."(68) "I thirst."(69) "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit."(70)

69. But who can worthily depict those beatings of the divine Heart, the signs of His infinite love, of those moments when He granted men His greatest gifts: Himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, His most holy Mother, and the office of the priesthood shared with us?

70. Even before He ate the Last Supper with His disciples Christ Our Lord, since He knew He was about to institute the sacrament of His body and blood by the shedding of which the new covenant was to be consecrated, felt His heart roused by strong emotions, which He revealed to the Apostles in these words: "With desire have I desired to eat this Pasch with you before I suffer."(71) And these emotions were doubtless even stronger when "taking bread, He gave thanks, and broke, and gave to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you, this do in commemoration of Me.' Likewise the chalice also, after He had supped, saying, 'This chalice is the new testament in My blood, which shall be shed for you.'"(72)

71. It can therefore be declared that the divine Eucharist, both the sacrament which He gives to men and the sacrifice in which He unceasingly offers Himself from the rising of the sun till the going down thereof,"(73) and likewise the priesthood, are indeed gifts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

72. Another most precious gift of His Sacred Heart is, as We have said, Mary the beloved Mother of God and the most loving Mother of us all. She who gave birth to our Savior according to the flesh and was associated with Him in recalling the children of Eve to the life of divine grace has deservedly been hailed as the spiritual Mother of the whole human race. And so St. Augustine writes of her: "Clearly She is Mother of the members of the Savior (which is what we are), because She labored with Him in love that the faithful who are members of the Head might be born in the Church."(74)

73. To the unbloody gift of Himself under the appearance of bread and wine our Savior Jesus Christ wished to join, as the chief proof of His deep and infinite love, the bloody sacrifice of the Cross. By this manner of acting He gave an example of His supreme charity, which He had proposed to His disciples as the highest point of love in these words: "Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends."(75)

74. Thus the love of Jesus Christ the Son of God, by the sacrifice of Golgotha, cast a flood of light on the meaning of the love of God Himself: "In this we know the charity of God, because He hath laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."(76) And in truth it was more by love than by the violence of the executioners that our divine Redeemer was fixed to the Cross; and His voluntary total offering is the supreme gift which He gave to each man, according to that terse saying of the Apostles, "He loved me, and delivered Himself for me."(77)

75. The Sacred Heart of Jesus shares in a most intimate way in the life of the Incarnate Word, and has been thus assumed as a kind of instrument of the Divinity. It is therefore beyond all doubt that, in the carrying out of works of grace and divine omnipotence, His Heart, no less than the other members of His human nature is also a legitimate symbol of that unbounded love.(78)

76. Under the influence of this love, our Savior, by the outpouring of His blood, became wedded to His Church: "By love, He allowed Himself to be espoused to His Church."(79) Hence, from the wounded Heart of the Redeemer was born the Church, the dispenser of the Blood of the Redemption--whence flows that plentiful stream of Sacramental grace from which the children of the Church drink of eternal life, as we read in the sacred liturgy: "From the pierced Heart, the Church, the Bride of Christ, is born....And He pours forth grace from His Heart."(80)

77. Concerning the meaning of this symbol, which was known even to the earliest Fathers and ecclesiastical writers, St. Thomas Aquinas, echoing something of their words, writes as follows: "From the side of Christ, there flowed water for cleansing, blood for redeeming. Hence blood is associated with the sacrament of the Eucharist, water with the sacrament of Baptism, which has its cleansing power by virtue of the blood of Christ."(81)

78. What is here written of the side of Christ, opened by the wound from the soldier, should also be said of the Heart which was certainly reached by the stab of the lance, since the soldier pierced it precisely to make certain that Jesus Christ crucified was really dead. Hence the wound of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, now that He has completed His mortal life, remains through the course of the ages a striking image of that spontaneous charity by which God gave His only begotten Son for the redemption of men and by which Christ expressed such passionate love for us that He offered Himself as a bleeding victim on Calvary for our sake: "Christ loved us and delivered Himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odor of sweetness."(82)

79. After our Lord had ascended into heaven with His body adorned with the splendors of eternal glory and took His place by the right hand of the Father, He did not cease to remain with His Spouse, the Church, by means of the burning love with which His Heart beats. For He bears in His hands, feet and side the glorious marks of the wounds which manifest the threefold victory won over the devil, sin, and death.

80. He likewise keeps in His Heart, locked as it were in a most precious shrine, the unlimited treasures of His merits, the fruits of that same threefold triumph, which He generously bestows on the redeemed human race. This is a truth full of consolation, which the Apostle of the Gentiles expresses in these words: "Ascending on high, He led captivity captive; He gave gifts to men. . .He that descended, is the same also that ascended above all the heavens that He might fill all things."(83)

81. The gift of the Holy Spirit, sent upon His disciples, is the first notable sign of His abounding charity after His triumphant ascent to the right hand of His Father. For after ten days the Holy Spirit, given by the heavenly Father, came down upon them gathered in the Upper Room in accordance with the promise made at the Last Supper: "I will ask the Father and He will give you another Paraclete so that He may abide with you forever."(84) And this Paraclete, who is the mutual personal love between the Father and the Son, is sent by both and, under the adopted appearance of tongues of fire, poured into their souls an abundance of divine charity and the other heavenly gifts.

82. The infusion of this divine charity also has its origin in the Heart of the Savior, "in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."(85) For this charity is the gift of Jesus Christ and of His Spirit; for He is indeed the spirit of the Father and the Son from whom the origin of the Church and its marvelous extension is revealed to all the pagan races which had been defiled by idolatry, family hatred, corrupt morals, and violence.

83. This divine charity is the most precious gift of the Heart of Christ and of His Spirit: It is this which imparted to the Apostles and martyrs that fortitude, by the strength of which they fought their battles like heroes till death in order to preach the truth of the Gospel and bear witness to it by the shedding of their blood; it is this which implanted in the Doctors of the Church their intense zeal for explaining and defending the Catholic faith; this nourished the virtues of the confessors, and roused them to those marvelous works useful for their own salvation and beneficial to the salvation of others both in this life and in the next; this, finally, moved the virgins to a free and joyful withdrawal from the pleasures of the senses and to the complete dedication of themselves to the love of their heavenly Spouse.

84. It was to pay honor to this divine charity which, overflowing from the Heart of the Incarnate Word, is poured out by the aid of the Holy Spirit into the souls of all believers that the Apostle of the Gentiles uttered this hymn of triumph which proclaims the victory of Christ the Head, and of the members of His Mystical Body, over all which might in any way impede the establishment of the kingdom of love among men: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the sword?. . .But in all these things we overcome because of Him that hath loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(86)

85. Nothing therefore prevents our adoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ as having a part in and being the natural and expressive symbol of the abiding love with which the divine Redeemer is still on fire for mankind. Though it is no longer subject to the varying emotions of this mortal life, yet it lives and beats and is united inseparably with the Person of the divine Word and, in Him and through Him, with the divine Will. Since then the Heart of Christ is overflowing with love both human and divine and rich with the treasure of all graces which our Redeemer acquired by His life, sufferings and death, it is therefore the enduring source of that charity which His Spirit pours forth on all the members of His Mystical Body.

86. And so the Heart of our Savior reflects in some way the image of the divine Person of the Word and, at the same time, of His twofold nature, the human and the divine; in it we can consider not only the symbol but, in a sense, the summary of the whole mystery of our redemption. When we adore the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, we adore in it and through it both the uncreated love of the divine Word and also its human love and its other emotions and virtues, since both loves moved our Redeemer to sacrifice Himself for us and for His Spouse, the Universal Church, as the Apostle declares: "Christ loved the Church, and delivered Himself up for it, that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish."(87)

87. Just as Christ loved the Church, so He still loves it most intensely with that threefold love of which We spoke, which moved Him as our Advocate(88) "always living to make intercession for us"(89) to win grace and mercy for us from His Father. The prayers which are drawn from that unfailing love, and are directed to the Father, never cease. As "in the days of His flesh,"(90) so now victorious in heaven, He makes His petition to His heavenly Father with equal efficacy, to Him "Who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him may not perish, but may have life everlasting,"(91) He shows His living Heart, wounded as it were, and throbbing with a love yet more intense than when it was wounded in death by the Roman soldier's lance: "(Thy Heart) has been wounded so that through the visible wound we may behold the invisible wound of love."(92)

88. It is beyond doubt, then, that His heavenly Father "Who spared not even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,"(93) when appealed to with such loving urgency by so powerful an Advocate, will, through Him, send down on all men an abundance of divine graces.

89. It was Our wish, venerable brethren, by this general outline, to set before you and the faithful the inner nature of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ and the endless riches which spring from it as they are made clear by the primary source of doctrine, divine revelation. We think that Our comments, which are guided by the light of the Gospel, have proved that this devotion, summarily expressed, is nothing else than devotion to the divine and human love of the Incarnate Word and to the love by which the heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit exercise their care over sinful men. For, as the Angelic Doctor teaches, the love of the most Holy Trinity is the origin of man's redemption; it overflowed into the human will of Jesus Christ and into His adorable Heart with full efficacy and led Him, under the impulse of that love, to pour forth His blood to redeem us from the captivity of sin(94): "I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized, and how am I straitened until it be accomplished?"(95)

90. We are convinced, then, that the devotion which We are fostering to the love of God and Jesus Christ for the human race by means of the revered symbol of the pierced Heart of the crucified Redeemer has never been altogether unknown to the piety of the faithful, although it has become more clearly known and has spread in a remarkable manner throughout the Church in quite recent times. Particularly was this so after our Lord Himself had privately revealed this divine secret to some of His children to whom He had granted an abundance of heavenly gifts, and whom He had chosen as His special messengers and heralds of this devotion.

91. But, in fact, there have always been men specially dedicated to God who, following the example of the beloved Mother of God, of the Apostles and the great Fathers of the Church, have practiced the devotion of thanksgiving, adoration and love towards the most sacred human nature of Christ, and especially towards the wounds by which His body was torn when He was enduring suffering for our salvation.

92. Moreover, is there not contained in those words "My Lord and My God"(96) which St. Thomas the Apostle uttered, and which showed he had been changed from an unbeliever into a faithful follower, a profession of faith, adoration and love, mounting up from the wounded human nature of his Lord to the majesty of the divine Person?

93. But if men have always been deeply moved by the pierced Heart of the Savior to a worship of that infinite love with which He embraces mankind -- since the words of the prophet Zacharias, "They shall look on Him Whom they have pierced,"(97) referred by St. John the Evangelist to Jesus nailed to the Cross, have been spoken to Christians in all ages -- it must yet be admitted that it was only by a very gradual advance that the honors of a special devotion were offered to that Heart as depicting the love, human and divine, which exists in the Incarnate Word.

94. But for those who wish to touch on the more significant stages of this devotion through the centuries, if we consider outward practice, there immediately occur the names of certain individuals who have won particular renown in this matter as being the advance guard of a form of piety which, privately and very gradually, has gained more and more strength in religious congregations. To cite some examples in establishing this devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and continuously promoting it, great service was rendered by St. Bonaventure, St. Albert the Great, St. Gertrude, St. Catherine of Siena, Blessed Henry Suso, St. Peter Canisius, St. Francis de Sales. St. John Eudes was responsible for the first liturgical office celebrated in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus whose solemn feast, with the approval of many Bishops in France, was observed for the first time on October 20th, 1672.

95. But surely the most distinguished place among those who have fostered this most excellent type of devotion is held by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque who, under the spiritual direction of Blessed Claude de la Colombiere who assisted her work, was on fire with an unusual zeal to see to it that the real meaning of the devotion which had had such extensive developments to the great edification of the faithful should be established and be distinguished from other forms of Christian piety by the special qualities of love and reparation.(98)

96. It is enough to recall the record of that age in which the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus began to develop to understand clearly that its marvelous progress has stemmed from the fact that it entirely agreed with the nature of Christian piety since it was a devotion of love. It must not be said that this devotion has taken its origin from some private revelation of God and has suddenly appeared in the Church; rather, it has blossomed forth of its own accord as a result of that lively faith and burning devotion of men who were endowed with heavenly gifts, and who were drawn towards the adorable Redeemer and His glorious wounds which they saw as irresistible proofs of that unbounded love.

97. Consequently, it is clear that the revelations made to St. Margaret Mary brought nothing new into Catholic doctrine. Their importance lay in this that Christ Our Lord, exposing His Sacred Heart, wished in a quite extraordinary way to invite the minds of men to a contemplation of, and a devotion to, the mystery of God's merciful love for the human race. In this special manifestation Christ pointed to His Heart, with definite and repeated words, as the symbol by which men should be attracted to a knowledge and recognition of His love; and at the same time He established it as a sign or pledge of mercy and grace for the needs of the Church of our times.

98. In addition, that this devotion flows from the very foundations of Christian teaching is clearly shown by the fact that the Apostolic See approved the liturgical feast before it approved the writings of St. Margaret Mary; for without exactly taking account of any private revelation from God, but rather graciously acceeding to the petitions of the faithful, the Sacred Congregation of Rites - by a decree of the 25th of January 1765, which was approved by Our predecessor, Clement XIII, on the 6th of February of the same year - granted the liturgical celebration of the feast to the Polish Bishops and to what was called the Archconfraternity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Rome. The Apostolic See acted in this way so that the devotion then existing and flourishing might be extended, since its purpose was "by this symbol to renew the memory of that divine love"(99) by which Our Savior was moved to offer Himself as a victim atoning for the sins of men.

99. This first approval, granted as a privilege and restricted within limits, was followed about a century later by another of far greater importance and couched in more solemn terms. We mean the decree, which We referred to above, of the Sacred Congregation of Rites of the 23rd of August 1856 by which Our predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX, in answer to the prayer of the French Bishops and of almost the whole Catholic world, extended the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to the Universal Church and ordered it to be fittingly observed.(100) This act richly deserved to be commended to the lasting memory of the faithful, for as we read in the liturgy of the same feast: "From that time the devotion to the Sacred Heart, like a stream in flood sweeping aside all obstacles, spread out over the whole world."

100. From what We have so far explained, venerable brethren, it is clear that the faithful must seek from Scripture, tradition and the sacred liturgy as from a deep untainted source, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus if they desire to penetrate its inner nature and by piously meditating on it, receive the nourishment for the fostering and development of their religious fervor. If this devotion is constantly practiced with this knowledge and understanding, the souls of the faithful cannot but attain to the sweet knowledge of the love of Christ which is the perfection of Christian life as the Apostle, who knew this from personal experience, teaches: "For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit with might unto the inward man; that Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts; that, being rooted and founded in charity. . .you may be able to know also the charity of Christ which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God."(101) The clearest image of this all-embracing fullness of God is the Heart of Christ Jesus Itself. We mean the fullness of mercy which is proper to the New Testament, in which "the goodness and kindness of God our Savior appeared,"(102) for "God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved by Him."(103)

101. The Church, the teacher of men, has therefore always been convinced from the time she first published official documents concerning the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that its essential elements, namely, acts of love and reparation by which God's infinite love for the human race is honored, are in no sense tinged with so-called "materialism" or tainted with the poison of superstition. Rather, this devotion is a form of piety that fully corresponds to the true spiritual worship which the Savior Himself foretold when speaking to the woman of Samaria: "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true adorers shall adore the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father also seeketh such to adore Him. God is a spirit; and they that adore Him must adore Him in spirit and in truth."(104)

102. It is wrong, therefore, to assert that the contemplation of the physical Heart of Jesus prevents an approach to a close love of God and holds back the soul on the way to the attainment of the highest virtues. This false mystical doctrine the Church emphatically rejects as, speaking through Our predecessor of happy memory, Innocent XI, she rejected the errors of those who foolishly declared: "(Souls of this interior way) ought not to make acts of love for the Blessed Virgin, the Saints or the humanity of Christ; for love directed towards those is of the senses, since its objects are also of that kind. No creature, neither the Blessed Virgin nor the Saints, ought to have a place in our heart, because God alone wishes to occupy it and possess it."(105) It is obvious that those who think in this way imagine that the image of the Heart of Jesus represents His human love alone and that there is nothing in it on which, as on a new foundation, the worship of adoration which is exclusively reserved to the divine nature can be based. But everyone realizes that this interpretation of sacred images is entirely false, since it obviously restricts their meaning much too narrowly.

103. Quite the contrary is the thought and teaching of Catholic theologians, among whom St. Thomas writes as follows: "Religious worship is not paid to images, considered in themselves, as things; but according as they are representations leading to God Incarnate. The approach which is made to the image as such does not stop there, but continues towards that which is represented. Hence, because a religious honor is paid to the images of Christ, it does not therefore mean that there are different degrees of supreme worship or of the virtue of religion."(106) It is, then, to the Person of the divine Word as to its final object that that devotion is directed which, in a relative sense, is observed towards the images whether those images are relics of the bitter sufferings which our Savior endured for our sake or that particular image which surpasses all the rest in efficacy and meaning, namely, the pierced Heart of the crucified Christ.

104. Thus, from something corporeal such as the Heart of Jesus Christ with its natural meaning, it is both lawful and fitting for us, supported by Christian faith, to mount not only to its love as perceived by the senses but also higher, to a consideration and adoration of the infused heavenly love; and finally, by a movement of the soul at once sweet and sublime, to reflection on, and adoration of, the divine love of the Word Incarnate. We do so since, in accordance with the faith by which we believe that both natures - the human and the divine - are united in the Person of Christ, we can grasp in our minds those most intimate ties which unite the love of feeling of the physical Heart of Jesus with that twofold spiritual love, namely, the human and the divine love. For these loves must be spoken of not only as existing side by side in the adorable Person of the divine Redeemer but also as being linked together by a natural bond insofar as the human love, including that of the feelings, is subject to the divine and, in due proportion, provides us with an image of the latter. We do not pretend, however, that we must contemplate and adore in the Heart of Jesus what is called the formal image, that is to say, the perfect and absolute symbol of His divine love, for no created image is capable of adequately expressing the essence of this love. But a Christian in paying honor along with the Church to the Heart of Jesus is adoring the symbol and, as it were, the visible sign of the divine charity which went so far as to love intensely, through the Heart of the Word made Flesh, the human race stained with so many sins.

105. It is therefore essential, at this point, in a doctrine of such importance and requiring such prudence that each one constantly hold that the truth of the natural symbol by which the physical Heart of Jesus is related to the Person of the Word, entirely depends upon the fundamental truth of the hypostatic union. Should anyone declare this to be untrue he would be reviving false opinions, more than once condemned by the Church, for they are opposed to the oneness of the Person of Christ even though the two natures are each complete and distinct.

106. Once this essential truth has been established we understand that the Heart of Jesus is the heart of a divine Person, the Word Incarnate, and by it is represented and, as it were, placed before our gaze all the love with which He has embraced and even now embraces us. Consequently, the honor to be paid to the Sacred Heart is such as to raise it to the rank - so far as external practice is concerned - of the highest expression of Christian piety. For this is the religion of Jesus which is centered on the Mediator who is man and God, and in such a way that we cannot reach the Heart of God save through the Heart of Christ, as He Himself says: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one cometh to the Father save by Me."(107)

107. And so we can easily understand that the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, of its very nature, is a worship of the love with which God, through Jesus, loved us, and at the same time, an exercise of our own love by which we are related to God and to other men. Or to express it in another way, devotion of this kind is directed towards the love of God for us in order to adore it, give thanks for it, and live so as to imitate it; it has this in view, as the end to be attained, that we bring that love by which we are bound to God to the rest of men to perfect fulfillment by carrying out daily more eagerly the new commandment which the divine Master gave to His Apostles as a sacred legacy when He said: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you. . .This is My commandment that you love one another as I have loved you."(108) And this commandment is really new and Christ's own, for as Aquinas says, "It is, in brief, the difference between the New and the Old Testament, for as Jeremias says, 'I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.'(109) But that commandment which in the Old Testament was based on fear and reverential love was referring to the New Testament; hence, this commandment was in the old Law not really belonging to it, but as a preparation for the new Law."(110)

108. Before We conclude Our treatment of the concept of this type of devotion and its excellence in Christian life, which We have offered for your consideration - a subject at once attractive and full of consolation - by virtue of the Apostolic office which was first entrusted to Blessed Peter after he had made his threefold profession of love, We think it opportune to exhort you once again venerable brethren, and through you all those dear children of Ours in Christ, to continue to exercise an ever more vigorous zeal in promoting this most attractive form of piety; for from it in our times also We trust that very many benefits will arise.

109. In truth, if the arguments brought forward which form the foundation for the devotion to the pierced Heart of Jesus are duly pondered, it is surely clear that there is no question here of some ordinary form of piety which anyone at his own whim may treat as of little consequence or set aside as inferior to others, but of a religious practice which helps very much towards the attaining of Christian perfection. For if "devotion" - according to the accepted theological notion which the Angelic Doctor gives us - "appears to be nothing else save a willingness to give oneself readily to what concerns the service of God,"(111) is it possible that there is any service of God more obligatory and necessary, and at the same time more excellent and attractive, than the one which is dedicated to love? For what is more pleasing and acceptable to God than service which pays homage to the divine love and is offered for the sake of that love--since any service freely offered is a gift in some sense and love "has the position of the first gift, through which all other free gifts are made?"(112)

110. That form of piety, then, should be held in highest esteem by means of which man honors and loves God more and dedicates himself with greater ease and promptness to the divine charity; a form which our Redeemer Himself deigned to propose and commend to Christians and which the Supreme Pontiffs in their turn defended and highly praised in memorable published documents. Consequently, to consider of little worth this signal benefit conferred on the Church by Jesus Christ would be to do something both rash and harmful and also deserving of God's displeasure.

111. This being so, there is no doubt that Christians in paying homage to the Sacred Heart of the Redeemer are fulfilling a serious part of their obligations in their service of God and, at the same time, they are surrendering themselves to their Creator and Redeemer with regard to both the affections of the heart and the external activities of their life; in this way, they are obeying that divine commandment: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind, and with thy whole Strength."(113)

112. Besides, they have the firm conviction that they are moved to honor God not primarily for their own advantage in what concerns soul and body in this life and in the next, but for the sake of God's goodness they strive to render Him their homage, to give Him back love for love, to adore Him and offer Him due thanks. Were it not so, the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ would be out of harmony with the whole spirit of the Christian religion, since man would not direct his homage, in the first instance, to the divine love. And, not unreasonably as sometimes happens, accusations of excessive self-love and self-interest are made against those who either misunderstand this excellent form of piety or practice it in the wrong way. Hence, let all be completely convinced that in showing devotion to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus the external acts of piety have not the first or most important place; nor is its essence to be found primarily in the benefits to be obtained. For if Christ has solemnly promised them in private revelations it was for the purpose of encouraging men to perform with greater fervor the chief duties of the Catholic religion, namely, love and expiation, and thus take all possible measures for their own spiritual advantage.

113. We therefore urge all Our children in Christ, both those who are already accustomed to drink the saving waters flowing from the Heart of the Redeemer and, more especially those who look on from a distance like hesitant spectators, to eagerly embrace this devotion. Let them carefully consider, as We have said, that it is a question of a devotion which has long been powerful in the Church and is solidly founded on the Gospel narrative. It received clear support from tradition and the sacred liturgy and has been frequently and generously praised by the Roman Pontiffs themselves. These were not satisfied with establishing a feast in honor of the most Sacred Heart of the Redeemer and extending it to the Universal Church; they were also responsible for the solemn acts of dedication which consecrated the whole human race to the same Sacred Heart.(114)

114. Moreover, there are to be reckoned the abundant and joyous fruits which have flowed therefrom to the Church: countless souls returned to the Christian religion, the faith of many roused to greater activity, a closer tie between the faithful and our most loving Redeemer. All these benefits particularly in the most recent decades, have passed before Our eyes in greater numbers and more dazzling significance.

115. While We gaze round at such a marvelous sight, namely, a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus both warm and widespread among all ranks of the faithful, We are filled with a sense of gratitude and joy and consolation. And after We have offered thanks, as We ought, to our Redeemer Who is the infinite treasury of goodness, We cannot help offering Our paternal congratulations to all those, whether of the clergy or of the laity, who have made active contribution to the extending of this devotion.

116. But although, venerable brethren, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus has everywhere brought forth fruits of salvation for the Christian life, all are aware that the Church militant on earth -and especially civil society - has not yet attained in a real sense to its essential perfection which would correspond to the prayers and desires of Jesus Christ, the Mystical Spouse of the Church and Redeemer of the human race. Not a few children of the Church mar, by their too many sins and imperfections, the beauty of this Mother's features which they reflect in themselves. Not all Christians are distinguished by that holiness of behavior to which God calls them; not all sinners have returned to the Father ' s house, which they unfortunately abandoned, that they may be clothed once again with the "first robe"(115) and worthily receive on their finger the ring, the pledge of loyalty to the spouse of their soul; not all the heathen peoples have yet been gathered into the membership of the Mystical Body of Christ.

117. And there is more. For if We experience bitter sorrow at the feeble loyalty of the good in whose souls, tricked by a deceptive desire for earthly possessions, the fire of divine charity grows cool and gradually dies out, much more is Our heart deeply grieved by the machinations of evil men who, as if instigated by Satan himself, are now more than ever zealous in their open and implacable hatred against God, against the Church and above all against him who on earth represents the Person of the divine Redeemer and exhibits His love towards men, in accordance with that well-known saying of the Doctor of Milan: "For (Peter) is being questioned about that which is uncertain, though the Lord is not uncertain; He is questioning not that He may learn, but that He may teach the one whom, at His ascent into Heaven, He was leaving to us as 'the representative of His love.'"(116)

118. But, in truth, hatred of God and of those who lawfully act in His place is the greatest kind of sin that can be committed by man created in the image and likeness of God and destined to enjoy His perfect and enduring friendship for ever in heaven. Man, by hatred of God more than by anything else, is cut off from the Highest Good and is driven to cast aside from himself and from those near to him whatever has its origin in God, whatever is united with God, whatever leads to the enjoyment of God, that is, truth, virtue, peace and justice.(117)

119. Since then, alas, one can see that the number of those whose boast is that they are God's enemies is in some places increasing, that the false slogans of materialism are being spread by act and argument, and unbridled license for unlawful desires is everywhere being praised, is it remarkable that love, which is the supreme law of the Christian religion, the surest foundation of true and perfect justice and the chief source of peace and innocent pleasures, loses its warmth in the souls of many? For as our Savior warned us: "Because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold."(118)

120. When so many evils meet Our gaze - such as cause sharp conflict among individuals, families, nations and the whole world, particularly today more than at any other time - where are We to seek a remedy, venerable brethren? Can a form of devotion surpassing that to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus be found, which corresponds better to the essential character of the Catholic faith, which is more capable of assisting the present-day needs of the Church and the human race? What religious practice is more excellent, more attractive, more salutary than this, since the devotion in question is entirely directed towards the love of God itself?(119)

Finally, what more effectively than the love of Christ - which devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus daily increases and fosters more and more - can move the faithful to bring into the activities of life the Law of the Gospel, the setting aside of which, as the words of the Holy Spirit plainly warn, "the work of justice shall be peace,"(120) makes peace worthy of the name completely impossible among men?

121. And so, following in the footsteps of Our immediate predecessor, We are pleased to address once again to all Our dear sons in Christ those words of exhortation which Leo XIII, of immortal memory, towards the close of last century addressed to all the faithful and to all who were genuinely anxious about their own salvation and that of civil society: "Behold, today, another true sign of God's favor is presented to our gaze, namely, the Sacred Heart of Jesus. . .shining forth with a wondrous splendor from amidst flames. In it must all our hopes be placed; from it salvation is to be sought and hoped for."(121)

122. It is likewise Our most fervent desire that all who profess themselves Christians and are seriously engaged in the effort to establish the kingdom of Christ on earth will consider the practice of devotion to the Heart of Jesus as the source and symbol of unity, salvation and peace. Let no one think, however, that by such a practice anything is taken from the other forms of piety with which Christian people, under the guidance of the Church, have honored the divine Redeemer. Quite the opposite. Fervent devotional practice towards the Heart of Jesus will beyond all doubt foster and advance devotion to the Holy Cross in particular, and love for the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. We can even assert - as the revelations made by Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude and to St. Margaret Mary clearly show - that no one really ever has a proper understanding of Christ crucified to whom the inner mysteries of His Heart have not been made known. Nor will it be easy to understand the strength of the love which moved Christ to give Himself to us as our spiritual food save by fostering in a special way the devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, the purpose of which is - to use the words of Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII - "to call to mind the act of supreme love whereby our Redeemer, pouring forth all the treasures of His Heart in order to remain with us till the end of time, instituted the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist."(122) For "not the least part of the revelation of that Heart is the Eucharist, which He gave to us out of the great charity of His own Heart."(123)

123. Finally, moved by an earnest desire to set strong bulwarks against the wicked designs of those who hate God and the Church and, at the same time, to lead men back again, in their private and public life, to a love of God and their neighbor, We do not hesitate to declare that devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the most effective school of the love of God; the love of God, We say, which must be the foundation on which to build the kingdom of God in the hearts of individuals, families, and nations, as that same predecessor of pious memory wisely reminds us: "The reign of Jesus Christ takes its strength and form from divine love: to love with holiness and order is its foundation and its perfection. From it these must flow: to perform duties without blame; to take away nothing of another's right; to guide the lower human affairs by heavenly principles; to give the love of God precedence over all other creatures."(124)

124. In order that favors in greater abundance may flow on all Christians, nay, on the whole human race, from the devotion to the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, let the faithful see to it that to this devotion the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of God is closely joined. For, by God's Will, in carrying out the work of human Redemption the Blessed Virgin Mary was inseparably linked with Christ in such a manner that our salvation sprang from the love and the sufferings of Jesus Christ to which the love and sorrows of His Mother were intimately united. It is, then, entirely fitting that the Christian people - who received the divine life from Christ through Mary - after they have paid their debt of honor to the Sacred Heart of Jesus should also offer to the most loving Heart of their heavenly Mother the corresponding acts of piety affection, gratitude and expiation. Entirely in keeping with this most sweet and wise disposition of divine Providence is the memorable act of consecration by which We Ourselves solemnly dedicated Holy Church and the whole world to the spotless Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.(125)

125. Since in the course of this year there is completed, as We mentioned above, the first hundred years since the Universal Church, by order of Our predecessor of happy memory, Pius IX, celebrated the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, We earnestly desire, venerable brethren, that the memory of this centenary be everywhere observed by the faithful in the making of public acts of adoration, thanksgiving and expiation to the divine Heart of Jesus. And though all Christian peoples will be linked by the bonds of charity and prayer in common, ceremonies of Christian joy and piety will assuredly be carried out with a special religious fervor in that nation in which, according to the dispensation of the divine Will, a holy virgin pointed the way and was the untiring herald of that devotion.

126. Meanwhile, refreshed by sweet hope and foreseeing already those spiritual fruits which We are confident will spring up in abundance in the Church from the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus -provided it is correctly understood according to Our explanation and actively put into practice - We make Our prayer to God that He may graciously deign to assist these ardent desires of Ours by the strong help of His grace. May it come about, by the divine inspiration as a token of His favor, that out of the celebration established for this year the love of the faithful may grow daily more and more towards the Sacred Heart of Jesus and its sweet and sovereign kingdom be extended more widely to all in every part of the world: the kingdom "of truth and life; the kingdom of grace and holiness; the kingdom of justice, love and peace."(126)

127. As a pledge of these favors with a full heart We impart to each one of you, venerable brethren, together with the clergy and faithful committed to your charge, to those in particular who by their devoted labors foster and promote the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Our apostolic benediction.

Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, the 15th of May, 1956, the eighteenth year of Our Pontificate.