PASTORAL LETTER

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8, 25 February 1909, Page 291

PASTORAL LETTER

ARCHDIOCESE OF WELLINGTON

The following Pastoral Letter has been issued by his Grace the Archbishop of Wellington and Metropolitan ?— A Dearly Beloved Brethren and Dear Children in Jesus Christ, — •4. 2h2 he J Hols ' seaso ? of Lon * has again come round, and it affords us a fitting opportunity to instruct you on a very important subject in its bearings on religion and society. In the first Encyclical issued by our wise and saintly Pope Pius X., his Holiness emphatically stated to the world his one great and all-embracing policy— namely to restore all things in Jesus Christ.' We shall be in conformity with that policy- by taking as the subject- of this Lenten PastoraL the Restoration of the Family by Jesus Christ and His Church. - The most God-like gift .of man c is his personality. The great revelation of Christian faith was that this personality shall meet with everlasting reward or punishment. Hence faith first laid hold of man's individual heart, and then rrom that nrst conquest and inmost fortress proceeded on its course of victory. It counted the outward work as nothing, as- mere hypocrisy, without the inward intention. No other- religion- was worthy of- Him who made the heart. But the Christian faith was intended to form a society In the Divine idea, man— Adam — was a race, not a mero individual, nor a collection of individuals. The first man was the sum of the whole -race; in him the race was supernaturally endowed, in him the race fell; and in One Man again of whom he was the first copy, the race was restored. The Divine government being perfect, deals with man as an individual and as a race. Man, who is essentially a 'social being, never stands alone, but is touched by his brethren on all sides. Of all animals the infant man is the most dependent and helpless. Man, the highest as a compound of matter and spirit among creatures in this visible world, is the least able to stand alone. His very eminence surrounds him with relations.

1. The first of these relations, and the root of the others,, is that between man and woman. It is the germ of the larger society, and upon it the whole development of man in society depends. What God intended that re- . lation to be is conveyed to us in an immutable, record. The divine prophet, to intimate the fulness of knowledge imparted to Adam, says that he gave to each- of the creatures brought before him. the name proper to its habits, instincts, and purpose. Here was a wisdom as superior to that of Solomon _as the fountain is superior "to the drop. But neither his dominion over these creatures, nor. his magnificent science could satisfy his natural needs and desires. Created for society,- it was not- good for him to be "alone. And, as it were, a 'second'- Divine council was. held. The ' first,' concerning his nature, ranthus: ' Let JJs make man after -Our image and likeness ' ; the ' second,' concerning his social relations, similarly : - ' Let Us make him a help like unto himself.' -Here., then, woman's relation stands thus: she was given to form

society and to help man, and especially in the pro-creation of the race, and that which is involved therein/ companionship; sympathy, education of children. Thirdly, she was made subordinate to man ; for a state of innocence does not exclude inequality. There is the, subjection df house or state in- which the superior - rises the subjects for their advantage; and this was the subjection in accordance with which man was. in the beginning, made the 'head of the woman.' Else human society would lack good order, if the wiser did not govern. To still more emphasise jthe nature of this subordination, bear in mind that the order followed in the creation" of the other animals was not followed here. In them there was simultaneous creation of the sexes; but not so in man, Adam was created alone, and from him Eve, nis help, was taken. First, says "St. Thomas, in order that man A like God, might be the beginning of all his species, as God is' the beginning of the universe. Secondly, that his affection might be perfect, and the union inseparable, when he saw that woman was formed from himself. Thirdly, because, beyond the ordinary sexual tie, there is in man the society of domestic life, in which each has distinct works, but in which the leadership belongs to man. And fourthly, because of the great sacrament hidden under this formation (St. Thos. Summa I. q. 92 a 2). Further, she was formed not from the head of man, for in the social union with him she was not to rule; nor yet from his feet, because her pait is not servile subjection; but from his side nearest his heart. 'He built up,' says the golden-tongued Saint,' ' not He moulded; but He took a portion of what was already moulded, and built up a perfect creature, able by community of nature and of reason to support him for whose comfort she was made.' ' (St. Chrys. Horn. xv. in Gen., p. 118). And when the Divine Architect brought the last and best of His gifts to man, that man spoke words which, as the greatest authority tells us, were ttie Words of God Himself. . They completed the union of mam and woman by bestowing upon it three qualities, indissolubility, unity, and inviolable sacredness.

The original relation of woman to man consisted -in these seven points. It was the fount of the race, and so the starting-point of human society; it was made for man's help and support in society ; it consisted in subordination to him, but a subordination tempered and exalted by perfect affection ; it was a union indissoluble ; a union between two only; a union to be respected and maintained by both alike, because it was not founded in mutual compact, but originated and consecrated by " the act of God Himself.

Such is the perfect picture of the primary human relation as given in the most ancient of all existing books. You will search in vain among the wisest men of Greece, or Rome, or Persia, or India, or Egypt, or China, or any other nation, for any teaching comparable to what the great Hebrew prophet has conveyed in a dozen lines. Yet in these nations, and the more distinctly the farther back we go, you will find institutions maintained with more or less purity, but bearing witness, even in their debased an 3 fragmentary state, that such nations once possessed the doctrine here set forth, inasmuch as their civil life in its very origin was based upon it. As an instance may be cited, the sacred marriage of the Romans, ' per confarreationem,' a patriarchal inheritance from the cradle of the human race, and a qualification for the highest priesthoods. Thus God, the author of human society, established it upon a perfect law of marriage. As Adam is the Father and Head of the race, so Eve is ■ its Mother and Nurse. This is the key to her position among all the nations, their descendants. Therein lay a rich- gift for the present, and a richer prophecy for the future; for this relation is not merely an institution founding society, but a secret picture and pledge of the dealing of the- Creator with the race created. From the beginning the natural covers and includes the supernatural, and what is last executed is first intended.

2. Now pass over an interval of several thousand years, and take a short view of the actual state of woman in the various countries of the Western World during the last years of the Emperor Augustus, on the -very eve of the Christian era.

In Greek life woman held an honorable position — the companion, not the slave* of man, as in Eastern Asia. The Greeks possessed a sound and well-ordered political life because they had a true family life grounded on monogamy Polygamy was foreign to them; bigamy extremely rare Polygamy was practised by the Macedonian monarchs as infected with Eastern customs. The Greeks did not keep woman under lock and key in harems; still less guarded by eunuchs. Within her home she had defined rights secured by law and custom; slie ruled as mistress over slaves and children.

But there was a dark reverse side of the picture. The wife was looked upon, not as the human creature, man's like and companion, but as a means to an end, as an evil which could not be escaped, in order that there might be house and children. Her .intellectual education was disregarded, and hence her influence over husband and children was slight; even the rich were not taught the accomplishments which form the charm of home. Hence Socrates admits that the society, of tHe wife was the last

thing sought after by the husband. If he invited a guest, his wife did not, dine ' with him. She was left to the solitude of her apartments, never entered by a stranger. There -were accomplished women at Athens, whose society statesmen - sought ; but remember ; that they had lost the - first ornament of their sex. Aspasia and Phryne -play a great part in Grecian history, and lower prodigiously the' standard of domestic life. With these. the relation was free and intermittent; but marriage in Athens had' to be made; compulsory, as a duty to the State, for the. propagation of its citizens, a duty which, as Plato admits, was most unwillingly performed."- Voluntary virginity was unknown; but, if involuntary, was considered a great calamity. At Sparta marriage - was a mere breeding institution for- the 'supply of healthy and vigorous citizens. "Wives were lent. The State' was a breeding-place for human cattle. Then, moreover, the domestic life of the Greeks was eaten up by the fearful miasma of unnatural morality, which, seemed like the curse of the Hellenic jrace. While the extent of this evil cannot be exaggerated, it cannot be detailed.

. ..^Further, after the Peloponnesian war, a great moral deterioration set "in, which continued .unbroken down to the time of Plutarch. Families became extinct through the desire to have no children. This was a result deplored by Polybius a hundred and fifty years earlier. Speaking of the beginning of the Roman dominion over them, he says : { It is the accordant opinion of all that Greece now enjoys the greatest comfort of life, and yet there is want of men, desolation of cities, so that the land begins to lose, its fruitf ulness through want of cultivation. The reason is, out of softness, love of comfort and of ease, men, .even if they live in the state of marriage, will bring up no children, or only one or two, in order to have a good inheritance. Thus the evil becomes even greater, as, if war or sickness takes away the - one - child, the family dies out.' (Polybius, Exc. Vatic, ed Geel., p. 105). Now, considering the widespread dislike of marriage and of children from^ marriage, the slave population with their number, condition and influence; considering, also, the terrible prevalence of unnnatural immorality, we may safely conclude that no people in history labored more effectually for its extinction than the Greeks.

Originally the Romans had a far higher standard of domestic life than the Greeks. Monogamy prevailed, marriage had a certain sanctity, and the wife was taken into the life-long communion of joys and sorrows. If what is . said be true, that even for 500 years Rome had not a single instance of divorce, then the Romans in their, estimation of wedlock stood above any nation of antiquity. On the virtues of the family their civil policy was founded. They were noble husbands and fathers before they became conqiierors. But from the second Punic war, a great deterioration ensued. It advanced with the progress of conquest. In the time of Augustus the very mention of ancient Roman family virtues would seem a bitter satire upon the actual corruption. Slavery had wrought its dire work' in' every relation of the family." The vices of all nations had invaded Rome, and the characteristic Grecian vice reigned supreme. In short, when the Roman Empire had reached its height, as the virtues of women were never so rare, so the respect for women had sunk to its lowest point.

Among the Persians "marriage had been debased by polygamy. The desire for numerous children was general, and the law, too, enjoined them. To attain this end. the 'intrinsic dignity and worth of woman were utterly" disregarded. The Persian would have as many concubines as his "means allowed, and abhorred nothing as much as voluntary celibacy. A maiden of eighteen years who remained unmarried was threatened with -the heaviest punishments after death. Their domestic life was full of abominations. x

Among the Israelites, who possessed the then true religion, woman as well as man was recognised as made after the image of God, intended for man's companion, destined to eternal life, and, therefore, needing a moral freedom for the practice of virtue. In their language the word expressing woman did not, like the Greek and Roman name, mean a ' bearer of children,' but another self identic _in nature, but varied in sex. She was honored, with the father, as the mother, and had to instruct her children in the fear of the Lord. In common with man, she was to hear the public reading, and so to learn the spirit of the sacred doctrine. These great privileges made her social position higher than in any ancient nation except the Germans.

But there were great drawbacks also. When the Law was given, polygamy and divorce were already, customs, and while the former was tacitly allowed, the latter was expressly regulated by the Law Thus, on account of the hardheartedness of the people, the pure idea of marriage was defaced. In the ages preceding the Advent of Christ, and at the time of His ministry, the unlimited abuse of divorce had become the scourge of domestic life, and threatened even the existence of the nation. Of course, there was no place for the higher meaning and rank of voluntary virginity. In all other nations of the East and South the degradation of woman was universal. Only in the far North was there a streak of light, fitful indeed as a sunbeam in

Northern storms. ' The noble" German race were almost alone among barbarians in having but one wife, and in being faithful to her. No youth, no beauty, no wealth could make up in their eyes for the loss of virtue in woman. Fashion was powerless there, says Tacitus ('Ger--mania,' 18, 19, ,20), to make vice merely ridiculous. These Germans supplied- later on the raw material of Christendom. /

'. (To he concluded.)