Pope Benedict's Encyclical on St. Joseph

New Zealand Tablet, 16 March 1922, Page 18

Pope Benedict's Encyclical on St. Joseph

"It was a good and salutary thing for the Christian people that our .predecessor of immortal memory, Pius IX., should have solemnly decreed to the most chaste Spouse of the Virgin Mary and Guardian of the Incarnate Word the title of Patron of the Universal Church. And inasmuch as the fiftieth anniversary of this happy event occurs next December, we think it useful and opportune that it should be celebrated worthily by the whole Catholic world.

"If we look back on the last 50 years we see a marvellous resuscitation of pious institutions which bear witness that devotion to the holy Patriarch has been gradually developing among the faithful. If, again, we regard the calamities which are afflicting the human race to-day, it becomes even more evident how opportune is the moment to intensify that devotion and spread it more widely among the Christian people. In Our Encyclical, indeed, after the conclusion of the terrible war, ' On the Reconciliation of the Christian Peoples,' we showed what was lacking for the restoration of the tranquillity of order everywhere; considering specially the relations between peoples and between individuals in the civil field.

"It behooves us now to consider another and a much deeper cause of trouble, that which is, indeed, embedded in the very bowels of human society. For when the scourge of war descended on the nations they were already deeply infected with Naturalism, that great plague of the century, the effect of which, wherever it takes root, is to lessen the desire for celestial blessings, quench the flame of divine charity, and withdraw man from the healing and sanctifying grace of Christ. In the end the light of the Faith is taken from him, only the corrupt forces of nature are left, and he is delivered to be the prey of the very worst passions.

"So it has come that very many have thought l of nothing but the gaining of earthly goods, and while the struggle between working man and master has become more bitter, this class hatred has increased more and more with the horrors of the long-drawn-out war. For that war has on the one hand brought intolerable economic trials on the masses of the people, while on the other it has put immense fortunes in the hands of a very few.

Conjugal Faith Impaired by War

"And further, the sanctity of conjugal faith and respect for paternal authority have in many instances been seriously impaired during the war, because the absence of one spouse has weakened the bond of duty in the other, and because the loss of the legitimate guardian has given occasion for the thoughtlessness to many, especially women, in living on their own account and with too much freedom.

"So we note with deep sorrow that public manners are far more depraved and corrupt than they were before, and on that account, too, the' so-called ' social question ' has increased in gravity so far as to threaten irreparable ruin. There has indeed matured in the desires and expectations of all the seditious minded the advent of some sort of a universal republic to be founded on the absolute equality of men and community of possessions, in which there is to be no distinction of nationality and no further occasion for the recognition of the authority of father over children, of public power over citizens, of God over the collective body of men. All these things, if by unfortunate chance they should be brought about, would give rise to terrible social convulsions like that which is at this moment desolating no small part of Europe. And for this very purpose of bringing about among other peoples a similar condition of things we see the masses of the people roused by /the unprincipled madness of a few, and serious disturbances continually taking place.

Appeal to Reason of Workers

"More than any one else are we rendered anxious by this turn of events, and we have not failed to take every opportunity that has occurred to call the children of the Church to a consideration of their duty, as we aid recently in our letters to the Bishop of Borgamo and to the bishops of the Venetian district. Now, for that same reason, to recall the sense of duty to those of our people, all and everywhere, who gain their bread by labor, and to save them from the contagion of Socialism, the bitterest

enemy of Christian principles, most earnestly and in special manner do wo place before them St. Joseph, that they may follow him as their special guide and honor him as their heavenly patron.

"He in very truth lived a life like theirs. So true is that that-Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, while He was the only begotten Son of the Eternal Father, willed to be called 'the Son of the Carpenter.' But with how many and glorious virtues did he adorn that humble condition—virtues indeed which it was meet should shine in the Spouse of Mary Immaculate, the reputed father of Christ Jesus. Therefore, let all learn from St. Joseph how to look on passing events in the light of the eternal things to come, and seeking consolation for the inevitable troubles of human life in the hope of celestial blessings, aspire to these with all their strength, resigned to the will of God, living soberly according to the rules of piety and justice. And as regards working men especially, it pleases lis to reproduce here what our predecessor of blessed memory (Leo XIII) said under similar circumstances, for we think nothing could be more to the purpose than his words:

" ' In considering these things, the poor and all who live by labor, should be animated by a higher- sentiment of equity; for if justice allows them to raise themselves from poverty and attain a greater condition of prosperity, justice and reason itself forbid them to disturb order constituted by Divine Providence. And, indeed, it is foolish counsel to use violence and to seek betterment by revolution and disturbance, which, more often than not, have only the effect of making far worse the conditions they wished to improve. If they are wise, the poor will not put their trust in the empty 1 promises of demagogues; but rather in the example and the patronage of St. Joseph and the charity of their Mother Church, every day intensifying its care of them.'—Encyclical Letter ' Quamquam pluries.' a

Family the Fulcrum of Society

"With increase of devotion to St. Joseph will come corresponding increase of devotion to the Holy Family of Nazareth, of which he was the august head, for the one arises naturally from the other. From St. Joseph we go directly to Mary, and through Mary to the fount of all holiness, Jesus Christ, who consecrated the domestic virtues in His obedience to Joseph and Mary. It is then by these great examples of virtue that we desire Christian families should be inspired and restored. It is thus, and thus only, because the family is the fulcrum and the basis of the community, giving to domestic life the strength of holy purity, faithfulness, and concord, that a new strength, and, we might almost say, a new blood will circulate in the veins of the whole human society, which will have new life given to it by the healing virtues of Jesus Christ. Improvement will follow not only in private customs, but in public life and civic discipline.

We, therefore, putting full trust in the patronage of Him to whose watchful care it pleased Almighty God, to entrust the guardianship of His Incarnate only Begotten Son, and in the Blessed Virgin, most earnestly exhort all the bishops of the Catholic world that in these times, so full of anxiety for the Church, they urge the faithful to seek even more fervently the powerful aid of St. Joseph. And, inasmuch as there are many ways approved by this Apostolic See, in which the Holy Patriarch may be venerated, especially on all the Wednesdays of the year and throughout the month consecrated to him, we desire that at the bidding of the bishops all these devotions shall be carried out to the fullest extent possible in all dioceses. But in special manner, as he is held in highest honor as helper of the dying. Our Lord Himself and His Blessed Mother, having been present at his death bed, the sacred pastors should do everything possible to promote and support with all the prestige of their authority those pious sodalities formed to implore the aid of St. Joseph for the dying, for instance those of the ' Bona Morte,' the ' Transitu S. Joseph ' and the ' Pro Agonizantibus.'

“To commemorate the above Pontifical Decree we ordain and enjoin that within a year from the eighth day of December next there shall be celebrated throughout the Catholic world, in honor of St. Joseph (Patron of the Universal Church) a solemn function, the time and manner of which is left to the discretion of each bishop, and to all those who may assist we now grant Plenary Indulgence on the usual conditions.. , “Benedict XV, Pope.”