The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1913-06-28
TO THE CLERGY AND THE LAITY
OF THE DIOCESE OF ST. PAUL:
Beloved Brethren:

L make TO you IOrmal cOmmunlca-
ton of the encyclical letter of the Sow
ereign Pontiff, proclaiming for the uni
versal Church solemn jubilee, in OBJ
servance of the sixteen-hundredth
anniversary of the edict of peace
given in Milan by the Emperor Con-
stantine, in the year of our Lord, 313
The letter of the Sovereign Pontiff,
copies of which I am sending to the
several pastors of the Diocese to sthe
intent that it be heard from their pull
room for no comments or explanations
on my part, beyond the task of precis-
ing it's terms and prescriptions, as
each Ordinary is authorized to do, to
the particular circumstances of the
Diocese of ST. Paula task of which
now beg leave to acquit myself.
Joyfully do we unite ourselves with
the Supreme Father of the Faithful,
with our fellow-C Catholics of the en-
tire Christendom, in honoring the Cen
tenary of the event of sixteen hun
dred years ago, by which the fierce
prosecutions of three whole centuries
against Christ and His disciples ended
in the triumphant victory of the Cross
of Calvary, and in replenishing our
minds and our hearts with the great
lessons of faith and of piety taught
to us both in the prosecutions preced-
ing the victory and in the victory fol
lowing the prosecutions.
The Victim, the prosecutions sought
to slaughter, was the Jesus of Beth
lehem and of Calvary: the Conqueror,
on whose brow victory rested when
the imperial seal was set upon the
edict of Milan, was the same immortal
Jesus. To Him be given our praises
and felicitations: to Him be given our
faith: upon Him be grounded our hope
in time and in eternity.
1t was in the counsels Of the Blessed
Lord that the religion He preached be
tested in the crucible of suffering. He
made the announcement to His dis
ciples: "They will lay their hands
upon you, and persecute you, deliv'
ering you up to the synagogues and
into prison, dragging you before kings
and governors, for my names sake. "
To all this there was sublime pur.
pose: And it shall happen unto you
for a testimony"
A testimony was given to Christ by
the history of the first three centuries
of the Christian religion-a testimony
proclaiming aloud that the divine auth.
orship of His revelation rested upon
irrecusable proof, and that, though
passing through death on Calvary.
Christ lives to defy the powers of dark
ness, to win against sin and error
triumphs manifestly impossible, were
He not the Lord of Lol DIS and the King
of Kings.
The terrible drama of the persecu.
tions to which the early Christians
were subjected, sets forth the religion
preached by Christ in the full splen
dor of the Throne of the Almighty
from which it descends upon the earth
This drama was to be remembered in
all subsequent ages, to be, unto the
end of time, the evidence that in be,
lieving in Christ, Christians believe in
God.
The prosecutions began in Jerusa
lem on the first Christian Pentecost;
they ceased not until the year of the
Christian era, 313. All tribes, all ma
tions were charged by the apostles
of Christ to enroll themselves among
His disciples on the strength of the
miracle of Easter morning, on the
80 Aho I've o1o hot nrnandnG
the resurrection, of those still wrought
in His name, even when He was nc
, longer on the earth. To be, however
the disciple of Christ was to be q
candidate for martyrdom. Now mar
tyrdom is never courted by insincer
ity or inconsiderateness. If the early
Christians believed firmly in the di
vine authority of Christ it was because
they knew the reasons of their belief
The opportunities to know those rea
sons we're abundant and plainly open
to the inquirer The Christians of the
first century we're either eye-witnesses
of the miracles of Christ, or contem
poraries of many who had been eye
witnesses. The Christians of the two
succeeding centuries were so near the
origins of the new religion, so init
mately acquainted with the conditions
of it's early growth, with the wonders
of Heavenly life it claimed to intro
duce among Jews and Gentiles, that
mistakes as to facts or misapprehen-
sions as to results, were not within
the range of possibilities. Before con-
fronting death, they examined and
pondered. If they believed even unto
martyrdom, it was because they had
seen: if they believed, it was because
the clearness of truth compelled them
to believe The faith of the early
Christians lived and throve in the
midst of such circumstances that the
conclusion is imperative for us-Chris-
tianity was no passing whim of theirs,
no delusive fad or theory: its author
was no dreamer; the story of its ex-
pansion through length and breadth
of the empire of Rome was no product
of myth or fable. The faith Of the
early Christians Of long ago is the