The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1869-11-07

changes. That was the subject which he Sc
| lected, aisd-tto make the matterrelear he told
tnem what was contained in the Encyclical
attached to which was the Syllabus describing
the nature of tho modern civilization, TO the
progress of which the Roman Pontif was in
ViIed to conform himself. One proposition was
this--the political society of men ought to be
constituted entirely tho foundation of ma
ture, without regard to religion, or at least in
that an unbounded aud uninited freedom is
possessed by every man to not only yTeFk- as he
likes but to speak as he likes, because he has
the liberty to think as he likes, and he may
publish by writing or printing, anything he
chooses on any subject and on all subjects, and
in every sense. Thirdly, that society in the
domestic life belongs to the order of nature,
and therefore belongs to the State; that their
households and families are under the authori-
ty of the civil government in this sense-that
the civil government has right to determine
the question of marriage and divorce, and also
to determine the nature of the education. of
their children. Now, in order to show clearly
why the Roman Pontif-that is, the whole
Church of God. for it is all contained in him
and where the head acts all act with him
ought not to conform himself to Liberalism and
progress; and modern civilization, it would be
necessary to describe in outline what We're the
two societies that now stood face to face-the
civil society and the Christian society of the
world TIE civil society or civil power was O
thing sacred in ITSELF 1t came from God It had
God for its author and it must be treated with
great yeneration. 1t was nothing but authority
obedience and equality--the three laws of the
human family-which began as thefirst house
hold family-rthe parental authority, the ilial
obedience, the fraternal equality. These three
laws existed in human society. God the
author of them, and when families multipl ed
and combined into races nations, and States
these three laws, which were domestic and pri-
vate in the beginning, assumed the public and
recognized character of what they called con-
stitutions and Kingdoms, from which came
monarchies, empires, and civil order all over
the world So that tho sovereign authority
which governed mankind was derived not from
the consent of men, bargaining and bargain
ing, and transacting and compromising togeth-
er as 1t were in market, but directed from
God Himself, Immediately given to human soci-
ETY.. But the particular form in which society
may be cast, and the particular person or
prince, be 1T one or'many, who bear the Sover-
eign power, come not Immediately from God,
but Immediately from society. 1t of this
that st. Paul spoke when he said" Let every
soul be subject to the higher powers,n though
he was then speaking of heather Emperor.
" For every power is of God. All powers
ordained of God. He that resisteth the power
resisteth the ordnance of God and he that resist
eth shall receive to himself damnation." st.
Paul says this of the civil society of the world,
the political order of the world--of the Roman
Empire prosecuting and pagan, as it then was.
Within the. sphere, then, of human society
there are human authorities capable of making
human laws but, rs water cannot rise above
its source, the natural society of the world can
not rise so high as to make laws in matters of
conscience, or in matters of faith religion.
These things belong to God. They do not be-
long to man. They do not belong to human
society. Tho other society is the Christian
society of the world, and the origin of the
Christian society is the person of our Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, who, when he came into
the world, assembled His apostles and disciples
around him, instructed them, conformed them
to his own mind and WILL and gave them laws
and authority. He gave them that faith
by which alone united-that one su-
preme jurisdiction upon which His church on
earth was founded and governed: He conss =
tinted in Ill. ~"-:-A. 90
of God but He left on earth His vicar and re-
who should be the deposit
DRY and the executor of His supreme power
over the Christian society which he founded,
who should be forever the supreme ahd final
of the faith, the supreme and final
expositor of His law; and that society--one
in its origin one in its faith, one in its Juris-
diction one in identity throughout the world,
uniting all nations in one Eainily-we call the
Holy Catholic Church. There then would be
those two great societies to the end of the
world-tbe one natural the other super-natur-
al the one human and the other divine. line
human and natural society perfect and COM
plete within its own sphere and limit, but i'm
perfect and incomplete, and that in II high de-
yree as regards the true perfection of man and
his destiny hereafter. 1t was the will of God
that these two societies should be 50 united as
in their action to become one. just as man Is
perfect in his nature, though fallen by
original sin, and needs to be elevated to n SUI
order by regeneration and grace,
remaining the same individual, but receiving
perfection above his nature, so lt IS With the
natural society of the world and when the
church of God like the heavenly society COM
ing down-fFeH heaven, perfect in its beauty
symmetry, sptendor ami unity; descended ON
the face of the world, it took UP into itself all
the elements of human society that were pure
and true, and incorporated them with itself.
But before this work was done the Roman EN-
pire, which was spread over the whole face of
the world at the coming of our Divine Saviour
was destroyed of the face of~the earth. The
nations it had subdued and held. in its iron
hand revoIted against it. They came mp with
their TegIOus and their aTmIeS and they tore tt
province from province; finally they devasta-
ted and desolated Italy. Last of all they
sacked and ruined Rome; the whole material
structure and fabric of that great empire, the
greatest and most perfect human society the
world has ever seen, was completely crushed,
crumbied, pulverized, and swept away, as it
were, before the winds of heaven. Then the
Christian world that now eXstsI0se into ex-
istence 1t was the Christian Church which
created tho Christian world. 1t has double
mission (; for the Christian Church has n mis-
sion first to save the soul, and next to conse
crate and elevate the-political society of the
world. AS Christianity spread from household
to household, these households became types
and patterns of Christian society. AS they be-
came Christian they were combined together