The pilot and transcript. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1840-1841, 1840-12-11
BALTImORE, FRIDAY MORNING, DECEMBER ~ $50

| Polb an NAAASA hO wave ever breaks. ana q urea
sury of inexhaustible resources" To humble,
therefore, the audacity of those who would en-
croach upon the rights Of Our Holy See, or
who would destroy It's junction with the Church
es, to which these Churches owe their support
and their yigor, inculcate in her regard the most
Jealous fidelity, and most sincere generation,
proclslmang with St Cyprian, ''that he falsely
imagines himself to be in the church, who de-
serts the CHAR OF Peter u bon which the Church
| is founded,p
TIE this point, therefore, your labors must
tesd, and your vigilance must be increasingly
directed to preserve the deposit of faith, amidst
the wide-spreadIns conspiracy formed for the
imPious purpose OF tearing it from you to de-
| stEoy it. Let auTeaen.beF that the PRINCIPLES Vt
sound doctrine, toith sehch the people are to be
iDlblted, mast enanate from, and that the rule
and the administration Of the universal Church
belongs TO ne Roman POntif, to whom was de-
liysred 'tht full power of feeding, ruling, and
| governing the Universal Church by Christ our
Lord as the Fathers Of the Council of Flo
renee have unquiyocally declared" 1t Is the
duty of all Bishops, then, to adhere most faith
fully to the Chair Of St Peter, to preserve theiY
deposit holly and religiously, and to feed Gods
flock entrusted to them Priests too, it behoveth
to be subject to their Bishops, whom st. Jerome
admonlshes them, ''tO regard as the areHts Of
their soul )" and let them never forget, that the
| SdiiACSb S~hOhS lolDlu LueiH " oASICisG any
function of their ministry, or to enter Oh the
task Of teaching preaching, ''without the
sanction OF the Bishop to whose care the people
are entrusted, and from whom the account of
their souls will be required" Be it, therefore,
held as a certain truth, that all those who at
tempt any thing in opposition to the order thus
marked out, become thereby, as far as their pow
er permits them, refractory members of the
| Church.
I L. -
variance with that deep veneration with which
the laws of the Church should be received, to
censure in the wild spirit of criticism, discipline
| sanctioned by her, whether as regards the adj
ministration of things sacred, the rules of mo-
rality, the rights of the Church. or of her minis
tiers, to cavil at its clashing with the princi-
pies sf natural law, or to pronounce it lame and
imperfect, and subject to the civil tribunal.
Again, as it is evident that the Church, to use
the words of the Council OF Trent 'was in
structed by Christ Jesus, and by his Apostles,
and that the Holy Ghost suggests to her every
truth to be taught" it is no less absurd than E-
furious to her that any thing by way of 'Resto-
ration" or Degeneration" should be forced
upon her as necessary for her s0undness or in
crease, as if she could be thought obnoxious to
decay, or to obscurities, any other such incon-
.veniences. By such contrivances the mnoyators
hope to 'emould the foundations of a modern
anu LiluS NOulQ De Teall-
sed, what st. Cyprian so strongly acclaimed
against, the conversion of an essentially divine
e'Into a mere human Church" Let the proiec-
tors Of such scheme, then, remember, on the
testimony Of ST. Leo, 'tthat the dispensing with
the canons hath been committed to the Roman
Pontiff only, and not in any private Individual
but in him oHly resides the power of making de-
crees touching the ordinances of the Fathers. and
also ST. Gelasius writes, to balance the de-
crees of Canons, and to determine the precepts
of their predecessors, to direct, after care
ful consideration, what relaxations the circum-
stances of the times require for the good of par
ticular churches"
find here We 1ish to see your cOnStaneu ever
aCatchfid to defend religion against that most
foul conspiracy, against the CELIBACY OF THE |
CLERGY, tctich as you ka0tU, is daiIy extending
its influence, and in which the ranks of the i'm
pious philosophers of the day swelled by the |
accession of some even of the ecclesiastical or !
der, who forgetful of their character and their |
duty, and yielding to the allurements of passion |
have been carried by their RIGHTEOUSNESS so far
as in some places publicly to solicit the interyen
ton Of their princes, and even to repeat their
solicitations with them in order to abrogate this
most holy branch of discipline. But WHY detain |
you with the recital of attempts so revolving? |
Having confidence in your piGty, to you We COM
init the defence Of law of SO much moment.
against which the darts of the lascivious are
directed from every quarter Preserve the bull |
ding entire; and i'll its protection and defence |
NEGLECT NONE OF THOSE RESOURCES. Which
THE SACRED CANYONS HAVE IN RESERVE FOR |
YOU.
Thea on the subject of honorable marriage. |
which st. Paul hath pronounced ga great Sac.
rament in Christ and the Church" ouI common |
cares are required TO correct errors repugnant
to its sanchty and to its indissoluble tie. and to
put down all attempts at innovation. Your at
tsntion had been directed to this subject in the
letter addressed to you by Our predecessor of
happy memory, Plus VII; but the noxiops
evil is still increasing. The. people must there
fore be carefully instructed, that matrimonv
once lawfully engaged in, can never be dissoi.
ved that God has decreed that the society for.
med by those, who have once been united in
wedlock, should continue during the whole of
their lives; and that the tie of union can only
be dissolved by death. Mindful at the same
time that it holds place among things sacred, :
and is, consequently subject to the Church; let
the people have always before their eyes the
laws formed by the Church respecting it, and
let them comply with them religiously and ex-
actly; torit is on that depends the validity, the
stability, and the just union of marriage
Let them be beware of offending in any way
against the sacred Canons and the 'decrees Of ,
Councils, properly impressed with the convic-
lion, that no happy issue can result from mar
Iiages, contracted in defiance of Church discip- i
line; or when neglecting 10 invoke the previous t
blessing of Heaven, and without one thought !
given to the obligation incurred, or to the mys
ery slgnlhed, the contracting parties place !
heir only end in tbs unbridled indulgence of 4
appetite.
But let US turnio another most prolific cause
If those eUits, which We deplore atprcsent
affecting the Church. We allude to the princi-
pie Of 'sIndifference"-T That depraoed principle,
ctich By contrfcances of scickGi men, has be-
.opie re,y prevalent: na,ntai.s,iag eternal sal
patton to be equally attanalte IN schateUer pre-
fsssion Of faith, provided the natural dietates
If morality be therein csserved But in mat
Ter so clear and evidens YOU will easily extirpate
his msss pernlc,Sus error from among the PEG
ldmonition of die Apostle:-0One God, one
aith, one bap' ISM. a-who pretend that every