300 ENCYCLICAL LETTER OF POPE PIUS IX., GRANTING A [TRANSLATION.] To our Venerable Brothers, the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Ordinaries, having grace and communion with the Apostolic See. PIUS P.P. IX. VENERABLE BROTHERS,-Health and apostolic benediction. While contemplating the whole Catholic world with the solicitude and affection of our apostolic charity, we can scarcely give expression, Venerable Brothers, to the grief with which our heart is afflicted, when we behold the Christian and civil commonwealth disturbed, oppressed, and troubled on all sides with most deplorable calamities of every kind to a lamentable extent: for you well know how Christian nations are afflicted and tried with the most cruel wars, or with intestine disturbances, or pestilential disease, or mighty earthquakes, or other great evils. And all this is the more lamentable, because among so many evils and misfortunes the children of darkness, who are wiser in their generation than the children of light, struggle more and more every day with all kinds of diabolical frauds, artifices, and efforts, to wage a most bitter war against the Catholic Church and its salutary doctrine ; to pull down and destroy the authority of all legitimate power; to corrupt and deprave the minds and intellect of the people; to propagate on all sides the deadly poison of indifferentism and incredulity; to confuse all rights, Divine and human; to stir up dissensions, discords, and the commotions of impious rebellion; to encourage crime and all kinds of depravity; and to leave nothing untried, so that, if it were possible, our most holy religion might be obliterated from the midst of us, and human society overturned from its foundation. Knowing well, therefore, in the midst of such imminent danger, that by the singular kindness of a merciful God we have got in prayer the means of obtaining all the good of which we stand in need, and of averting the evils which we fear, we have not forgotten to raise our eyes towards the lofty and holy mountain, whence we hope to obtain aid. And in the humility of our heart, we do not cease with fervent and earnest prayer to implore and beseech Almighty God, rich in mercy, that, taking away warfare to the end of the earth, and removing all dissensions, He would bestow upon Christian princes and their people peace, concord, and tranquillity; and that He would especially grant to the princes themselves a pious care always to guard and propagate Catholic faith and doctrine, in which the happiness of their people is principally comprised; that He would rescue both princes and people from all the evils with which they were afflicted, and gladden them all with true prosperity; that He may bestow the gifts of his heavenly grace upon those who are in error, so that they may return from the road of perdition to the paths of truth and justice, and be converted to God in sincerity of heart. But, although we have already ordered prayers to implore the Divine clemency to be offered in this our city, nevertheless, following the footsteps of our predecessors, we have determined to have recourse to your prayers also, and to those of the universal Church. We have, therefore, Venerable Brothers, written to you this letter, by which we again and again implore of your excellent and well-known piety, that, for the above-mentioned reasons, you would, with all care and diligence, urge the faithful intrusted to your care, that, laying down the burden of sin by means of true penance, they would, by prayer, and fasting, and almsgiving, and other works of piety, endeavour to appease the wrath of the Lord provoked by the wickedness of men. In your own piety and wisdom explain to the people how many are the mercies of God to all who invoke Him, and how great is the power of prayer if we approach the Lord without allowing the enemy of our salvation to come near us. For, that we may use the words of Chrysostom, "Prayer is the fountain, the root and the mother of innumerable good things; the efficacy of prayer overcomes the power of fire, curbs the fury of lions, subdues wars, assuages strife, calms the tempest, puts demons to flight, opens the gates of heaven, breaks the chains of death, expels disease, repels misfortunes, strengthens tottering cities, and removes the scourges of heaven, the snares of men, and all other evils." * But we earnestly desire, Venerable Brothers, that, while fervent prayers are offered up to the most clement Father of Mercies for the above-named purpose, you and your people would not cease to implore Him, supplicating, with still more earnestness, according to the encyclical letter of the 2d day of February, 1849, given to you at Gaeta, that by the light of his Holy Spirit, He would propitiously deign to enlighten our mind, that we may be able as soon as possible to decree concerning the Conception of the most holy Mother of God, the immaculate Virgin Mary, what may pertain to the greater glory of God, and the praise of the same Virgin, our loving mother. And now, in order that the faithful intrusted to you may pray with more fervent charity and more abundant fruit, we have determined to bring forth and offer those treasures of heavenly gifts, the dispensation of which has been intrusted to us by the Most High, for which reason, relying on the mercy of Almighty God, and on the authority of his blessed apostles, Peter and Paul, out of that power of binding and loosing which the Lord has committed to us, though unworthy, by this letter, unto all and each of the faithful of your dioceses, of either sex, who, within the space of three months, to be fixed by each of you, and to be computed from the day which each of you shall have appointed, having confessed their sins humbly and with a sincere detestation, having expiated them by sacramental absolution, shall have reverently received the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, and shall have devoutly visited either three churches pointed out by you, or three times at one of them, and shall have there, for some space of time, offered up their pious prayers to God according to our intention, and for the exaltation and prosperity of our holy mother the Church, and of the apostolic see, for the extirpation of heresies, for the peace and concord of Christian princes, and the peace and unity of * St. John Chrysost. Homil. 15. "De Incomprehensibili Dei Naturâ. Contra Anomacos." all Christian people; and shall, moreover, within the same interval of time, have fasted once, and given some alms to the poor, according to their devotion: do concede and grant a plenary indulgence of all their sins, in the form of a jubilee, which indulgence may also be applied in the way of suffrage for the souls in purgatory. And that this indulgence may also be gained by nuns, and by other persons living in strict cloister, and also by those who are in prison, or are prevented, by bodily infirmity or other impediment, from performing any of the aforesaid works, we give to confessors the faculty of commuting the same into other works of piety, or of postponing them to another proximate time, with the power also of dispensing with the communion for children who have not yet been admitted to their first communion. Wherefore, we give to you the power on this occasion, and during the aforesaid space of three months, that you may confer on the confessors of your dioceses, by our apostolic authority, all those same faculties which were conferred by us in the jubilee conceded by our encyclical letter of the 21st of November, 1851, transmitted to you, published, and beginning "Ex aliis nostri," with, however, all those exceptions reserved by us in that letter. Moreover, we give you the faculty of granting to the faithful of your dioceses, both laity and ecclesiastics, secular and regular, and of whatsoever institute, the permission to choose for themselves, for this purpose, any priest as their confessor, whether secular or regular, of those who are approved; and of giving the same permission to religious, although exempt from the jurisdiction of the ordinary, and to other women residing within cloisters. Act, therefore, Venerable Brothers, as participating yourselves in our solicitude, and as being constituted watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem. Cease not, in union with us, day and night, in all prayer and entreaty, with thanksgiving, humbly and earnestly, to cry to our Lord God, and implore his Divine mercy, that He may propitiously avert the scourges of his anger, which we deserve for our sins, and that He may clemently pour out upon all the riches of his bounty. We have surely no doubt but that you will most fully comply with these our desires and requests, and we are quite certain that all, more especially ecclesiastics and religious men and nuns, and also the faithful laity who, living piously in Christ, walk worthily in the vocation to which they have been called, will, with the most ardent effort of piety, address their suppliant prayers to God without intermission. And that God may the more easily incline his ear to our prayers, let us not omit, Venerable Brothers, to ask the suffrages of those who, being already crowned, have obtained the palm; and in the first place, and always, let us invoke the Mother of God, the immaculate Virgin Mary, than whom there is no more fit or more powerful intercessor with God, and who is the mother of grace and mercy; and let us next invoke the patronage of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and of all the saints who reign with Christ in heaven. But before all things, with redoubled efforts assiduously exhort, admonish, and encourage those intrusted to your care, that they may continue immoveable, and with daily increasing stability in the profession of the Catholic religion-that they may most carefully avoid the snares, fallacies, and frauds of hostile men- -that they may walk with a still more ready step in the paths of God's commandments, and that they may most diligently keep themselves from sin, which is the most abundant source of evil to the human race. Wherefore, cease not especially to inflame the zeal of parish priests, that, fulfilling their own duty sedulously and religiously, they may never omit to imbue and instruct accurately the Christian people committed to them in the holy rudiments and precepts of our Divine faith, to feed them diligently by the administration of the sacraments, and to exhort them in sound doctrine. Finally, as a sign of all heavenly gifts, and in testimony of our most ardent love, receive our apostolic benediction, which, proceeding from our inmost heart, we permanently bestow upon you, Venerable Brothers, and upon all the faithful, clerics and laity, intrusted to your vigilance. Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, on the 1st day of August, in the year 1854, in the ninth year of our pontificate. PIUS P.P. IX. FROM MAYNOOTH: ROME'S PERSECUTION OF CONVERTS POPERY: LETTER OF THE REV. DENIS LIGNE BRASBIE, TO ADMIRAL DUFF. DEAR SIR,-In compliance with your kind request, I now furnish you with a brief outline of my history since my separation from the communion of the Church of Rome. I must confine myself to the leading facts, as to enter into a detail of the various losses, distresses, disappointments, and privations which I experienced, would be to make the document too lengthened, and perhaps thus frustrate the benevolent object which you have in view, in endeavouring to obtain a permanent provision for me and my helpless family. My connexion with the Church of Rome ceased in the month of June, 1844. In the preceding month, I was deputed by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Kerry, in the south of Ireland, to check the work of Reformation in the town of Dingle; in which town, at that time, 800 persons had renounced the errors of Rome, and embraced the truths of Christianity. Being anxious for a considerable time, whenever a favourable opportunity presented itself, to adopt a similar course, having through the grace of God been made sensible of these errors, instead of persecuting the converts, I joined them, and became one of the persecuted myself. From that moment I became the object of the most bitter and unrelenting persecution. On the first Sunday I attended service in the parish church of Dingle, I was escorted by a military force; and you will have some idea of the popular excitement which prevailed, when I inform you, that the authorities were under the impression that 200 armed soldiers at least were necessary to repel the contemplated assault. By this number I was accordingly escorted to and from church, on that and the two succeeding Sundays. This fact is recorded in a little work, entitled "Dingle," written by a lady who was an eye-witness of the scenes then transacted. From the month of June, 1844, until the month of February, 1845, I remained in Dingle. During that time, I was a close prisoner, being principally confined to my room; from day to day, I thought the excitement would subside, and that I would eventually be enabled to bear testimony to the truth in that locality, and to exhort the people to separate themselves from the idolatry of Rome, and not be partakers of her plagues. But, alas! I was sadly disappointed; the persecution so far from decreasing, had actually increased to such a degree, that I was under the necessity of having an armed policeman stationed at my bed-room door, for the purpose of affording me protection during the silent hours of the night, a murderous attempt having been made on my life by two armed midnight assassins; though these two men were arrested, and severely punished, and though there were ships of war anchored in the harbour to afford protection to the converts, yet the spirit of persecution increased with redoubled fury; fanned by those altar harangues by which the priests of Rome so successfully work on the superstitious minds of their poor deluded votaries. My friends now considering my life in imminent danger, and seeing no possibility of my ever enjoying liberty in that locality, thought it prudent that I should not remain there any longer; and as I could not escape with any degree of safety by land, there being but one egress from the town, I was secretly conveyed on board the steamer Dee, with the consent of the Admiralty. In that vessel I sailed to Portsmouth, from whence I proceeded by land to London, and from London by sea to Dublin. There I was immediately placed under the clerical superintendence of the late Rev. Robert Wood Kyle, and having read the Scriptures with him the New Testament in Greek-he gave me a certificate as to my qualifications for the ministerial office, which certificate accompanies this sketch. In the month of October, 1845, I was nominated to the curacy of St. Matthew's, in the town of Birmingham, and diocese of Worcester, at a salary of 1007. per annum, the Rev. George Bull, Incumbent. Having received priest's orders in the College of Maynooth, and its being necessary that the Bishop of Worcester should have a certificate to that effect before he could grant me a license to preach, his Lordship wrote to the President of Maynooth College, for the certificate of my ordination. But unfortunately for me, the certificate to his Lordship was accompanied by a private letter, in which the President stated that I was unfit to do duty in the Protestant Church, or in any other. The Bishop very properly forwarded this letter to the Rev. Mr. Bull, requesting him to send it to me. The moment I received this letter, I declined to officiate as a clergyman of the Church of England, until such time as I could do so with an unblemished character; I had no means of redress, no means of refuting the slanderous insinuation, but by an appeal to a jury of my countrymen; this appeal I was enabled to make after a lapse of two years of the most intense anxiety and painful distress. Poor, and penniless, I had to contend with a man who then received, as he is now receiving, a very |