Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Listen to the Sermon for the Feast CHRIST THE KING
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Kingship of Christ in its Integrity
Taken
from: “The Mystical Body of Christ and the Reorganization of
Society” by Rev. Denis Fahey, C. S.
We
have seen, then, that God’s aim is to come to dwell in human souls
in the Trinity of His Persons, through membership of Our Lord’s
Mystical Body. It is for that the world exists and it is to promote
that indwelling that He wants to draw all into union with Our Lord in
the fervent offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In order to
favor union with Christ as Priest in
Holy Mass, God wants the world organized under Christ as King.
We have seen, too, something of what the order of the world would be
like if the Rights of God and of Christ the King were fully
acknowledged. We shall now see that at Holy Mass all Christ’s
members express the determination to strive for the integral
realization of the Rights of God and of Christ the King in the world.
Thus, the more fully the Kingship of Christ is realized, the more
abundantly the life of Christ the Priest will be diffused, and the
more ardently union with Christ the Priest in Holy Mass is
cultivated, the more eagerly will His members strive to have God’s
Rights acknowledged. On the other hand, the rejection of God’s
Rights and of the Kingship of Christ will lead to corruption and
decay in society and, in proportion as minds lose their hold on the
great truth of membership of Christ, to the treatment of human beings
not as persons but
as mere individuals.
By
the character of Baptism, we are one with Our Lord in the unity of
His Mystical Body, and the very character by which we are
incorporated into that sublime unity is a certain participation in
His Priesthood. So when Our Lord renews the act of submission of
Calvary on the Altar, He renews it as He now is, that is, as Head of
that Mystical Body in which all the baptized are one with Him. On the
Cross, Christ was alone. His members were engrafted on Him only
potentially. At the Altar, He is no longer alone: it is the “whole
Christ,” to use St. Augustine’s phrase, that is, Christ and His
members, who now offers sacrifice to the Blessed Trinity, the members
being co-offerers with the Invisible Principal Offerer and His
visible ministerial offerer, the priest. And we can be co-offerers,
because the character of Baptism is a participation on our level in
the Priesthood of Our Lord, enabling us to look upon Christ’s act
of submission on the Altar as ours and unite our act of submission
with His. The supreme function of Christ as Priest is the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass, in which the whole Mystical Body professes
its readiness to stand as He did for His integral programmed for
order. For that programmed He was obedient unto death on Calvary. All
the baptized are called upon to unite actively in expressing
submission to God the Father in Holy Mass and in animating that
submission with all the supernatural love of their hearts. Now the
will of the Father is always the same: “This is My beloved Son;
hear ye Him” (St. Luke, IX, 35). Every member of Christ by his
assis-tance at Mass declares his readiness to stand for the integral
programmed of the Rights of God, for which the Head of the Mystical
Body suffered death.
Christ’s
members are meant to belong to Him entirely. They ought to come forth
from Mass determined to maintain harmony between the submission to
God the Father they have expressed in the Holy Sacrifice and their
individual lives. They
should
be resolved, under the leadership of Christ the King, to permeate the
whole social life of the State and country, political and economic,
with the spirit of the Mystical Body, so that it may not only not
hamper their efforts and the efforts of their fellow-members to live
their daily lives as members of Christ, but may favor them. All
Catholics are, by the fact of their membership of Christ, whole time
Christians, and should be intimately convinced of their solidarity
with Christ and with their fellow-members of His Mystical Body in the
really vital struggle that is going on in the world. Their attitude,
when leaving the Church after Mass, is not intended to be merely the
negative
one
of not allowing themselves to be carried in the direction of
Naturalism by the current of life around them, but the positive
one
of striving to organize the whole framework of socie-ty under Christ
the King and of impregnating the State, family-life, education and
economic organization, with the great truth of human solidarity in
Christ’s Mystical Body. Their cooperation with Our Lord is meant
to enable Him, since He condescends to make use of them, to permeate
all forms of human activity, social and individual, with the life of
that supranational, supernatural organization, the Catholic Church.
True members of Christ will feel fully at ease in any State or Nation
only when the great realities of the loss of our Supernatural Life by
the Fall and of its restoration by membership of the Mystical Body of
Christ are acknowledged in the social structure of that Sate or
Nation. Everything that savors of Naturalism or Anti-supernaturalism
will have for them an odor of decay and death.
It
is quite true that States or Nations do not go to heaven. Human
beings go to heaven one by one, to live in the intimacy of the
Blessed Trinity in the enjoyment of the Beatific Vision. But the
individ-ual member of society lives under the never-ceasing influence
of his social surroundings. If Catholics content themselves with
merely inculcating the individual practice of religion and do not
seek to mold the world for Christ the King, then the social
institutions, even of countries with a Catholic majority, will be
molded by the well-organized visible and invisible naturalistic and
anti-supernatural forces, of whose activities many Catholics seem to
be unaware. The average member of society will then fall a ready
prey to Naturalism. He will gradually cease to live as a member of
Christ, though he may retain some Christian customs as remnants of a
once Christian outlook. Satan profits by the lack of watchfulness
and energy on the part of Catholics in regard to social organization,
and by the help of his visible subordinates, he injects the poison of
Naturalism into the social organism. Thus it has oftentimes happened
that revolutionaries, aiming at the violent installation of a
naturalistic regime, have succeeded in overthrowing the rule of
Christ the King in countries nominally Catholic, on account of the
preliminary work of corruption and weakening, systematically
carried out by the press, the cinema, the school and the
stock-exchange.
On
the one hand, then, Catholics, faithful to what they profess at Mass,
must ever strive to per-meate the framework of society with the
influence of the Supernatural Life. In this way the ordinary man will
be helped to act always as a member of Christ and will not find
himself, from the moment he leaves the Church after Mass, urged by
anti-supernatural currents to re-volt against his most real life. On
the other hand, Catholic social institutions, great though their
influence may be, do not suffice to maintain society fully Catholic.
The indispensable requisite is a formation of the youth of both sexes
thoroughly penetrated with the doctrine of the Mys-tical Body as a
mighty living organism ever seeking to bring the world into union
with Christ and through Christ with the Blessed Trinity. That
formation alone will endure what we have called “whole-time
Catholicism” and will enable all to draw from their union with Our
Lord in Mass and Holy Communion the supernatural love required to
diffuse throughout society the sense of solidarity in Christ and of
the indwelling of the Blessed Trinity in souls, through incorporation
into Christ. Our Lord will
pour His Life into souls in Holy Communion, in proportion as they are
thus one with Him in mind and will, for progress in personal
sanctification or growth in holiness is simply the development of
the spirit of the Mystical Body. It was the sense of their oneness
with their co-offerers and co-victims with Christ in the Mass that
strengthened the Catholics of the early centuries for the long
struggle for the recognition of the Rights of God and the Kingship of
Christ in their integrity. It was the acceptance of the fact that the
bodies of the baptized are the members of Christ that brought forth
those lovely flowers of chastity amid the thorns of paganism, in the
decadent Roman Em-pire. The realization of the same inspiring truth
is needed in order to withstand the systematic prop-agation of
selfishness and impurity to which young people are subjected
nowadays, in the modern world, the same great truth must be
unceasingly insisted upon. If we define social justice in the members
of a society as the virtue by which the members of a society are
enabled to direct all their actions towards the Common Good of the
society, we can hope for its triumph over the cold, calcu-lating
Naturalism of Liberalistic Individualism and over the harsh, brutal
Naturalism of Materialistic Collectivism, only when Christ’s
members have again grown accustomed to their solidarity in Him. When
once men realize that what is done for their fellow-men is done for
Christ and to Christ, they will readily see that social life must be
so orga-nized that each member of Christ may have a just and fair
opportunity of living in accordance with his sublime dignity. It was
the realization of the great truth of the slaves’ membership of
Christ that gradually brought about the abolition of slavery in the
ancient world. “It was Christianity,” wrote Pope Pius XI, “that
first affirmed the real and universal brotherhood of all men of
whatever race and condition. This doctrine the Church proclaimed by
a method, and with an amplitude and conviction, unknown to preceding
centuries; and with it she powerfully contributed to the abolition of
slavery. Not bloody revolution, but the inner force of the Church’s
teaching made the proud Roman matron see in her slave as sister in
Christ. It is Christianity that adores the Son of God, made Man for
the love of man, and become not only the ‘Son of a Carpenter’ but
Himself ‘a carpenter.’ It was Christianity that raised manual
labor to its true dignity.” The practical living of the same great
truth of our membership of Christ will be required in order to avert
the return of a worse form of slavery in the modern world.
Unifying
Influence of the Mystical Body
“Add
to this that the external and visible elements of this Sacrament
supply a singularly ap-propriate stimulus to union. On this topic St.
Cyprian writes: ‘In a word, the Lord’s sacrifice symbolizes the
oneness of heart, guaranteed by a persevering and inviolable
charity, which should prevail among Christians. For when Our Lord
calls His Body bread, a substance which is kneaded together out of
many grains, He indicates that we His people, whom He sustains, are
bound together in close union; and when He speaks of His Blood as
wine, in which the juice pressed from many clus-ters of grapes is
mingled in one liquid, He likewise indicates that we, His flock, are
by the commingling of a multitude of persons made one’ (Ep. 96 ad
Magnum, n. 5). In like manner the Angelic Doctor, adopting the
sentiments of St. Augustine
(Tract XXVI, in Joann.,
nn. 13, 17), writes, ‘Our Lord has bequeathed to us His Body and
Blood under the form of substances in which a multitude of things
have been reduced to unity, for one of them, namely bread, consisting
as it does of many grains, is yet one, and the other, that is to say,
wine, has its unity of being from the united juice of many grapes;
and therefore St. Augustine elsewhere says: ‘O Sacra-ment of Mercy,
O Sign of Unity, O Bond of Chari-ty!’ (IIIa P., Q. 79, a. 1). All
of which is confirmed by the declaration of the Council of Trent that
Christ left the Eucharist to His Church ‘as a symbol of that unity
and charity whereby He would have all Christians mutually joined and
united…a symbol of that one body of which He is Himself the Head,
and to which He would have us, as members, attached by the closest
bonds of faith, hope, and charity’ (Conc. Trid., Sess. XIII, 1 De
Eucharist., c. 2). The same idea had been expressed by St. Paul when
he wrote: ‘For we, being many, are one bread, one body, all we who
partake of the one bread’ (I Cor., X, 17).”
As
the unifying influence of Our Lord makes itself felt, we may expect
that Catholics all over the world will come to realize that the unity
of the Mystical Body is infinitely stronger than nation-al unity,
that, for example, the supernatural unity between French and German
Catholics, resulting from the character of baptism, is on an
infinitely higher level than the unity between Germans with Germans,
or French with French, on the merely nat-ural national level. St.
Paul stresses the paramount character of this solidarity, when he
insists that nat-ural distinctions disappear, as it were, in
compari-son with it: “Where there is neither Gentile nor Jew,
circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor
free. But Christ is all, and in all” (Coloss., III, 11). The
Apostle did not, of course, mean to convey that the distinctions or
the duties resulting from them disappeared in fact, for he lays
stress upon the reciprocal obligations of master and servant in the
Epistle to Philemon, but he wanted to bring home to all that our
oneness in Christ causes all the distinctions on a lower level to
dwindle into insignificance. It is only want of familiarity with St.
Paul’s teaching on the Mystical Body that makes the text of Pope
Pius XI, already quoted in Chapter I, about our brotherhood in the
Mystical Body being infinitely more sacred and more precious than the
brotherhood of humanity and of fatherland, seem exaggerated to us.
The
deepening of the conviction of this su-pernatural solidarity will
lead to a realization of the subordinate place of nationality as a
force of inspira-tion, but, while stressing the infinite distance
sepa-rating the natural from the supernatural, it will not deny it
fitting recognition. It is important also to point out that the
exaggerated place taken by na-tionality in men’s lives today is in
part due to the need for national reactions against the corrupting
and deforming influence of the naturalistic supranationalism of
Jewry and Freemasonry which, since the French Revolution, has usurped
the place of the supernatural, supranational influence of the
Mysti-cal Body. Love of country is a noble sentiment and there is an
ordered love of our native land as of our own race, and of their
glory, which will be respectful of their due subordination to the
Mystical Body of Christ. It is true that Satan has frequently tried
to use Nationalism for his purposes, yet when Catho-lics quote from
Papal Encyclicals about the evils of exaggerated Nationalism, they
must not leave out of consideration the complementary texts wherein
the Popes insist on legitimate love of country, and they must bear in
mind the need for a reaction against the corruption and deformation
resulting from Naturalism.
 |
Catholics
must, therefore, on the one hand, guard against any collaboration
with naturalistic revolutionary movements promoted by Jewry and
Freemasonry, whether national like Mazzini’s Young
Italy or
supranational like Socialism and Communism, and on the other hand,
they must be care-ful not to support disordered naturalistic national
reactions against the efforts of Jewry and Freemasonry. Our Lord
Jesus Christ has a positive supernatural program towering far above
the disorders, divi-sions and confusion to which Naturalism
inevitably gives rise. Catholics must endeavor to grasp fully what
Our Lord is aiming at when He is seeking to have the influence of the
Mystical Body accepted in the life of the State, in the family, in
education, and in economic organization. He is striving for ever
wider participation in, and profounder comprehension of, the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass, in view of deepening supernatural union with
the Blessed Trinity in souls. They will then have a keener
perception of the ultimate aim of revolution and will be quicker to
see the signs that herald its approach.
Encyclical Quas Primas by Pope Pius XI. on the feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ
QUAS
PRIMAS
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI
ON THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
TO OUR VENERABLE BRETHREN THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE.
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI
ON THE FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING
TO OUR VENERABLE BRETHREN THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES,
ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE.
Venerable Brethren, Greeting and the
Apostolic Benediction.
In the first Encyclical Letter which We addressed at the
beginning of Our Pontificate to the Bishops of the universal Church,
We referred to the chief causes of the difficulties under which
mankind was laboring. And We remember saying that these manifold
evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had
thrust Jesus Christ
and his holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either
in private affairs or in politics: and we said further, that as long
as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of our
Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace
among nations. Men must look for the peace
of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ; and that
We promised to do as far as lay in Our power. In
the Kingdom of Christ, that is, it seemed to
Us that peace could not be more effectually restored nor fixed upon a
firmer basis than through the restoration of the Empire of Our Lord.
We were led in the meantime to indulge the hope of a brighter future
at the sight of a more widespread and keener interest evinced in
Christ and his Church, the one Source of Salvation, a sign that men
who had formerly spurned the rule of our Redeemer and had exiled
themselves from his kingdom were preparing, and even hastening, to
return to the duty of obedience.
2. The many notable and memorable events which
have occurred during this Holy Year have given great honor and glory
to Our Lord and King, the Founder of the Church.
3. At the Missionary Exhibition men have been deeply
impressed in seeing the increasing zeal of the Church for the spread
of the kingdom of her Spouse to the most far distant regions of the
earth. They have seen how many countries have been won to the
Catholic name through the unremitting labor and self-sacrifice of
missionaries, and the vastness of the regions which have yet to be
subjected to the sweet and saving yoke of our King.
All those who in the course of the Holy Year have thronged to this
city under the leadership of their Bishops or priests had but one aim
- namely, to expiate their sins - and at the tombs of the Apostles
and in Our Presence to promise loyalty to the rule of Christ.
4. A still further light of glory was
shed upon his kingdom, when after due proof of their heroic virtue,
We raised to the honors of the altar six confessors and virgins. It
was a great joy, a great consolation, that filled Our heart when in
the majestic basilica of St. Peter Our decree was acclaimed by an
immense multitude with the hymn of thanksgiving, Tu Rex
gloriae Christe. We saw men and nations cut off from God,
stirring up strife and discord and hurrying along the road to ruin
and death, while the Church of God carries on her work of providing
food for the spiritual life of men, nurturing and fostering
generation after generation of men and women dedicated to Christ,
faithful and subject to him in his earthly kingdom, called by him to
eternal bliss in the kingdom of heaven.
5. Moreover, since this jubilee Year
marks the sixteenth centenary of the Council of Nicaea, We commanded
that event to be celebrated, and We have done so in the Vatican
basilica. There is a special reason for this in that the Nicene Synod
defined and proposed for Catholic belief the dogma of the
Consubstantiality of the Onlybegotten with the Father, and added to
the Creed the words "of whose kingdom there shall be no end,"
thereby affirming the kingly dignity of Christ.
6. Since this Holy Year therefore has provided more than
one opportunity to enhance the glory of the kingdom of Christ, we
deem it in keeping with our Apostolic office to accede to the desire
of many of the Cardinals, Bishops, and faithful, made known to Us
both individually and collectively, by closing this Holy Year with
the insertion into the Sacred Liturgy of a special feast of the
Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
This matter is so dear to Our heart, Venerable Brethren, that I would
wish to address to you a few words concerning it. It will be for you
later to explain in a manner suited to the understanding of the
faithful what We are about to say concerning the Kingship of Christ,
so that the annual feast which We shall decree may be attended with
much fruit and produce beneficial results in the future.
7. It has long been a common custom to
give to Christ the metaphorical title of "King," because of
the high degree of perfection whereby he excels all creatures. So he
is said to reign "in the hearts of men," both by reason of
the keenness of his intellect and the extent of his knowledge, and
also because he is very truth, and it is from him that truth must be
obediently received by all mankind. He reigns, too, in the
wills of men, for in him the human will was perfectly and
entirely obedient to the Holy Will of God, and further by his grace
and inspiration he so subjects our free-will as to incite us to the
most noble endeavors. He is King of hearts, too, by
reason of his "charity which exceedeth all knowledge." And
his mercy and kindness[1] which draw all men to him, for never has it
been known, nor will it ever be, that man be loved so much and so
universally as Jesus Christ. But if we ponder this matter more
deeply, we cannot but see that the title and the power of King
belongs to Christ as man in the strict and proper sense too. For it
is only as man that he may be said to have received from the Father
"power and glory and a kingdom,"[2] since the Word of God,
as consubstantial with the Father, has all things in common with him,
and therefore has necessarily supreme and absolute dominion over all
things created.
8. Do we not read throughout the
Scriptures that Christ is the King? He it is that shall come out of
Jacob to rule,[3] who has been set by the Father as king over Sion,
his holy mount, and shall have the Gentiles for his inheritance, and
the utmost parts of the earth for his possession.[4] In the nuptial
hymn, where the future King of Israel is hailed as a most rich and
powerful monarch, we read: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever; the scepter of thy kingdom is a scepter of righteousness."[5]
There are many similar passages, but there is one in which Christ is
even more clearly indicated. Here it is foretold that his kingdom
will have no limits, and will be enriched with justice and peace: "in
his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace...And he
shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the
earth."[6]
9. The testimony of the Prophets is
even more abundant. That of Isaias is well known: "For a child
is born to us and a son is given to us, and the government is upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God
the mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. His
empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace. He
shall sit upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom; to establish
it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth
and for ever."[7] With Isaias the other Prophets are in
agreement. So Jeremias foretells the "just seed" that shall
rest from the house of David - the Son of David that shall reign as
king, "and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice
in the earth."[8] So, too, Daniel, who announces the kingdom
that the God of heaven shall found, "that shall never be
destroyed, and shall stand for ever."[9] And again he says: "I
beheld, therefore, in the vision of the night, and, lo! one like the
son of man came with the clouds of heaven. And he came even to the
Ancient of days: and they presented him before him. And he gave him
power and glory and a kingdom: and all peoples, tribes, and tongues
shall serve him. His power is an everlasting power that shall not be
taken away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed."[10] The
prophecy of Zachary concerning the merciful King "riding upon an
ass and upon a colt the foal of an ass" entering Jerusalem as
"the just and savior," amid the acclamations of the
multitude,[11] was recognized as fulfilled by the holy evangelists
themselves.
10. This same doctrine of the Kingship
of Christ which we have found in the Old Testament is even more
clearly taught and confirmed in the New. The Archangel, announcing to
the Virgin that she should bear a Son, says that "the Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of David his father, and he shall
reign in the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall
be no end."[12]
11. Moreover, Christ himself speaks of
his own kingly authority: in his last discourse, speaking of the
rewards and punishments that will be the eternal lot of the just and
the damned; in his reply to the Roman magistrate, who asked him
publicly whether he were a king or not; after his resurrection, when
giving to his Apostles the mission of teaching and baptizing all
nations, he took the opportunity to call himself king,[13] confirming
the title publicly,[14] and solemnly proclaimed that all power was
given him in heaven and on earth.[15] These words can only be taken
to indicate the greatness of his power, the infinite extent of his
kingdom. What wonder, then, that he whom St. John calls the "prince
of the kings of the earth"[16] appears in the Apostle's vision
of the future as he who "hath on his garment and on his thigh
written 'King of kings and Lord of lords!'."[17] It is Christ
whom the Father "hath appointed heir of all things";[18]
"for he must reign until at the end of the world he hath put all
his enemies under the feet of God and the Father."[19]
12. It was surely right, then, in view
of the common teaching of the sacred books, that the Catholic Church,
which is the kingdom of Christ on earth, destined to be spread among
all men and all nations, should with every token of veneration salute
her Author and Founder in her annual liturgy as King and Lord, and as
King of Kings. And, in fact, she used these titles, giving expression
with wonderful variety of language to one and the same concept, both
in ancient psalmody and in the Sacramentaries. She uses them daily
now in the prayers publicly offered to God, and in offering the
Immaculate Victim. The perfect harmony of the Eastern liturgies with
our own in this continual praise of Christ the King shows once more
the truth of the axiom: Legem credendi lex statuit
supplicandi. The rule of faith is indicated by the law of our
worship.
13. The foundation of this power and
dignity of Our Lord is rightly indicated by Cyril of Alexandria.
"Christ," he says, "has dominion over all creatures, a
dominion not seized by violence nor usurped, but his by essence and
by nature."[20] His kingship is founded upon the ineffable
hypostatic union. From this it follows not only that Christ is to be
adored by angels and men, but that to him as man angels and men are
subject, and must recognize his empire; by reason of the hypostatic
union Christ has power over all creatures. But a thought that must
give us even greater joy and consolation is this that Christ is our
King by acquired, as well as by natural right, for he is our
Redeemer. Would that they who forget what they have cost their Savior
might recall the words: "You were not redeemed with corruptible
things, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb unspotted
and undefiled."[21] We are no longer our own property, for
Christ has purchased us "with a great price";[22] our very
bodies are the "members of Christ."[23]
14. Let Us explain briefly the nature
and meaning of this lordship of Christ. It consists, We need scarcely
say, in a threefold power which is essential to lordship. This is
sufficiently clear from the scriptural testimony already adduced
concerning the universal dominion of our Redeemer, and moreover it is
a dogma of faith that Jesus Christ was given to man, not only as our
Redeemer, but also as a law-giver, to whom obedience is due.[24] Not
only do the gospels tell us that he made laws, but they present him
to us in the act of making them. Those who keep them show their love
for their Divine Master, and he promises that they shall remain in
his love.[25] He claimed judicial power as received from his Father,
when the Jews accused him of breaking the Sabbath by the miraculous
cure of a sick man. "For neither doth the Father judge any man;
but hath given all judgment to the Son."[26] In this power is
included the right of rewarding and punishing all men living, for
this right is inseparable from that of judging. Executive power, too,
belongs to Christ, for all must obey his commands; none may escape
them, nor the sanctions he has imposed.
15. This kingdom is spiritual and is
concerned with spiritual things. That this is so the above quotations
from Scripture amply prove, and Christ by his own action confirms it.
On many occasions, when the Jews and even the Apostles wrongly
supposed that the Messiah would restore the liberties and the kingdom
of Israel, he repelled and denied such a suggestion. When the
populace thronged around him in admiration and would have acclaimed
him King, he shrank from the honor and sought safety in flight.
Before the Roman magistrate he declared that his kingdom was not
of this world. The gospels present this kingdom as one which men
prepare to enter by penance, and cannot actually enter except by
faith and by baptism, which, though an external rite, signifies and
produces an interior regeneration. This kingdom is opposed to none
other than to that of Satan and to the power of darkness. It demands
of its subjects a spirit of detachment from riches and earthly
things, and a spirit of gentleness. They must hunger and thirst after
justice, and more than this, they must deny themselves and carry the
cross.
16. Christ as our Redeemer purchased
the Church at the price of his own blood; as priest he offered
himself, and continues to offer himself as a victim for our sins. Is
it not evident, then, that his kingly dignity partakes in a manner of
both these offices?
17. It would be a grave error, on the
other hand, to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil
affairs, since, by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures
committed to him by the Father, all things are in his power.
Nevertheless, during his life on earth he refrained from the exercise
of such authority, and although he himself disdained to possess or to
care for earthly goods, he did not, nor does he today, interfere with
those who possess them. Non eripit mortalia qui regna dat
caelestia.[27]
18. Thus the empire of our Redeemer
embraces all men. To use the words of Our immortal predecessor, Pope
Leo XIII: "His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not
only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church,
have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by
schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so
that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus
Christ."[28] Nor is there any difference in this matter between
the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether
collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In
him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of
society. "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is
no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be
saved."[29] He is the author of happiness and true prosperity
for every man and for every nation. "For a nation is happy when
its citizens are happy. What else is a nation but a number of men
living in concord?"[30] If, therefore, the rulers of nations
wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the
prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty
of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ. What We said at the
beginning of Our Pontificate concerning the decline of public
authority, and the lack of respect for the same, is equally true at
the present day. "With God and Jesus Christ," we said,
"excluded from political life, with authority derived not from
God but from man, the very basis of that authority has been taken
away, because the chief reason of the distinction between ruler and
subject has been eliminated. The result is that human society is
tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid
foundation."[31]
19. When once men recognize, both in
private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last
receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline,
peace and harmony. Our Lord's regal office invests the human
authority of princes and rulers with a religious significance; it
ennobles the citizen's duty of obedience. It is for this reason that
St. Paul, while bidding wives revere Christ in their husbands, and
slaves respect Christ in their masters, warns them to give obedience
to them not as men, but as the vicegerents of Christ; for it is not
meet that men redeemed by Christ should serve their fellow-men. "You
are bought with a price; be not made the bond-slaves of men."[32]
If princes and magistrates duly elected are filled with the
persuasion that they rule, not by their own right, but by the mandate
and in the place of the Divine King, they will exercise their
authority piously and wisely, and they will make laws and administer
them, having in view the common good and also the human dignity of
their subjects. The result will be a stable peace and tranquillity,
for there will be no longer any cause of discontent. Men will see in
their king or in their rulers men like themselves, perhaps unworthy
or open to criticism, but they will not on that account refuse
obedience if they see reflected in them the authority of Christ God
and Man. Peace and harmony, too, will result; for with the spread and
the universal extent of the kingdom of Christ men will become more
and more conscious of the link that binds them together, and thus
many conflicts will be either prevented entirely or at least their
bitterness will be diminished.
20. If the kingdom of Christ, then,
receives, as it should, all nations under its way, there seems no
reason why we should despair of seeing that peace which the King of
Peace came to bring on earth - he who came to reconcile all
things, who came not to be ministered unto but to minister, who,
though Lord of all, gave himself to us as a model of humility, and
with his principal law united the precept of charity; who said also:
"My yoke is sweet and my burden light." Oh, what happiness
would be Ours if all men, individuals, families, and nations, would
but let themselves be governed by Christ! "Then at length,"
to use the words addressed by our predecessor, Pope Leo XIII,
twenty-five years ago to the bishops of the Universal Church, "then
at length will many evils be cured; then will the law regain its
former authority; peace with all its blessings be restored. Men will
sheathe their swords and lay down their arms when all freely
acknowledge and obey the authority of Christ, and every tongue
confesses that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the
Father."[33]
21. That these blessings may be
abundant and lasting in Christian society, it is necessary that the
kingship of our Savior should be as widely as possible recognized and
understood, and to the end nothing would serve better than the
institution of a special feast in honor of the Kingship of Christ.
For people are instructed in the truths of faith, and brought to
appreciate the inner joys of religion far more effectually by the
annual celebration of our sacred mysteries than by any official
pronouncement of the teaching of the Church. Such pronouncements
usually reach only a few and the more learned among the faithful;
feasts reach them all; the former speak but once, the latter speak
every year - in fact, forever. The church's teaching affects the mind
primarily; her feasts affect both mind and heart, and have a salutary
effect upon the whole of man's nature. Man is composed of body and
soul, and he needs these external festivities so that the sacred
rites, in all their beauty and variety, may stimulate him to drink
more deeply of the fountain of God's teaching, that he may make it a
part of himself, and use it with profit for his spiritual life.
22. History, in fact, tells us that in
the course of ages these festivals have been instituted one after
another according as the needs or the advantage of the people of
Christ seemed to demand: as when they needed strength to face a
common danger, when they were attacked by insidious heresies, when
they needed to be urged to the pious consideration of some mystery of
faith or of some divine blessing. Thus in the earliest days of the
Christian era, when the people of Christ were suffering cruel
persecution, the cult of the martyrs was begun in order, says St.
Augustine, "that the feasts of the martyrs might incite men to
martyrdom."[34] The liturgical honors paid to confessors,
virgins and widows produced wonderful results in an increased zest
for virtue, necessary even in times of peace. But more fruitful still
were the feasts instituted in honor of the Blessed Virgin. As a
result of these men grew not only in their devotion to the Mother of
God as an ever-present advocate, but also in their love of her as a
mother bequeathed to them by their Redeemer. Not least among the
blessings which have resulted from the public and legitimate honor
paid to the Blessed Virgin and the saints is the perfect and
perpetual immunity of the Church from error and heresy. We may well
admire in this the admirable wisdom of the Providence of God, who,
ever bringing good out of evil, has from time to time suffered the
faith and piety of men to grow weak, and allowed Catholic truth to be
attacked by false doctrines, but always with the result that truth
has afterwards shone out with greater splendor, and that men's faith,
aroused from its lethargy, has shown itself more vigorous than
before.
23. The festivals that have been
introduced into the liturgy in more recent years have had a similar
origin, and have been attended with similar results. When reverence
and devotion to the Blessed Sacrament had grown cold, the feast of
Corpus Christi was instituted, so that by means of solemn processions
and prayer of eight days' duration, men might be brought once more to
render public homage to Christ. So, too, the feast of the Sacred
Heart of Jesus was instituted at a time when men were oppressed by
the sad and gloomy severity of Jansenism, which had made their hearts
grow cold, and shut them out from the love of God and the hope of
salvation.
24. If We ordain that the whole
Catholic world shall revere Christ as King, We shall minister to the
need of the present day, and at the same time provide an excellent
remedy for the plague which now infects society. We refer to the
plague of anti-clericalism, its errors and impious activities. This
evil spirit, as you are well aware, Venerable Brethren, has not come
into being in one day; it has long lurked beneath the surface. The
empire of Christ over all nations was rejected. The right which the
Church has from Christ himself, to teach mankind, to make laws, to
govern peoples in all that pertains to their eternal salvation, that
right was denied. Then gradually the religion of Christ came to be
likened to false religions and to be placed ignominiously on the same
level with them. It was then put under the power of the state and
tolerated more or less at the whim of princes and rulers. Some men
went even further, and wished to set up in the place of God's
religion a natural religion consisting in some instinctive affection
of the heart. There were even some nations who thought they could
dispense with God, and that their religion should consist in impiety
and the neglect of God. The rebellion of individuals and states
against the authority of Christ has produced deplorable consequences.
We lamented these in the Encyclical Ubi arcano; we lament
them today: the seeds of discord sown far and wide; those bitter
enmities and rivalries between nations, which still hinder so much
the cause of peace; that insatiable greed which is so often hidden
under a pretense of public spirit and patriotism, and gives rise to
so many private quarrels; a blind and immoderate selfishness, making
men seek nothing but their own comfort and advantage, and measure
everything by these; no peace in the home, because men have forgotten
or neglect their duty; the unity and stability of the family
undermined; society in a word, shaken to its foundations and on the
way to ruin. We firmly hope, however, that the feast of the Kingship
of Christ, which in future will be yearly observed, may hasten the
return of society to our loving Savior. It would be the duty of
Catholics to do all they can to bring about this happy result. Many
of these, however, have neither the station in society nor the
authority which should belong to those who bear the torch of truth.
This state of things may perhaps be attributed to a certain slowness
and timidity in good people, who are reluctant to engage in conflict
or oppose but a weak resistance; thus the enemies of the Church
become bolder in their attacks. But if the faithful were generally to
understand that it behooves them ever to fight courageously under the
banner of Christ their King, then, fired with apostolic zeal, they
would strive to win over to their Lord those hearts that are bitter
and estranged from him, and would valiantly defend his rights.
25. Moreover, the annual and universal
celebration of the feast of the Kingship of Christ will draw
attention to the evils which anticlericalism has brought upon society
in drawing men away from Christ, and will also do much to remedy
them. While nations insult the beloved name of our Redeemer by
suppressing all mention of it in their conferences and parliaments,
we must all the more loudly proclaim his kingly dignity and power,
all the more universally affirm his rights.
26. The way has been happily and
providentially prepared for the celebration of this feast ever since
the end of the last century. It is well known that this cult has been
the subject of learned disquisitions in many books published in every
part of the world, written in many different languages. The kingship
and empire of Christ have been recognized in the pious custom,
practiced by many families, of dedicating themselves to the Sacred
Heart of Jesus; not only families have performed this act of
dedication, but nations, too, and kingdoms. In fact, the whole of the
human race was at the instance of Pope Leo XIII, in the Holy Year
1900, consecrated to the Divine Heart. It should be remarked also
that much has been done for the recognition of Christ's authority
over society by the frequent Eucharistic Congresses which are held in
our age. These give an opportunity to the people of each diocese,
district or nation, and to the whole world of coming together to
venerate and adore Christ the King hidden under the Sacramental
species. Thus by sermons preached at meetings and in churches, by
public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed and by solemn
processions, men unite in paying homage to Christ, whom God has given
them for their King. It is by a divine inspiration that the people of
Christ bring forth Jesus from his silent hiding-place in the church,
and carry him in triumph through the streets of the city, so that he
whom men refused to receive when he came unto his own, may now
receive in full his kingly rights.
27. For the fulfillment of the plan of
which We have spoken, the Holy Year, which is now speeding to its
close, offers the best possible opportunity. For during this year the
God of mercy has raised the minds and hearts of the faithful to the
consideration of heavenly blessings which are above all
understanding, has either restored them once more to his grace,
or inciting them anew to strive for higher gifts, has set their feet
more firmly in the path of righteousness. Whether, therefore, We
consider the many prayers that have been addressed to Us, or look to
the events of the Jubilee Year, just past, We have every reason to
think that the desired moment has at length arrived for enjoining
that Christ be venerated by a special feast as King of all mankind.
In this year, as We said at the beginning of this Letter, the Divine
King, truly wonderful in all his works, has been gloriously
magnified, for another company of his soldiers has been added to
the list of saints. In this year men have looked upon strange things
and strange labors, from which they have understood and admired the
victories won by missionaries in the work of spreading his kingdom.
In this year, by solemnly celebrating the centenary of the Council of
Nicaea. We have commemorated the definition of the divinity of the
word Incarnate, the foundation of Christ's empire over all men.
28. Therefore by Our Apostolic
Authority We institute the Feast of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus
Christ to be observed yearly throughout the whole world on the last
Sunday of the month of October - the Sunday, that is, which
immediately precedes the Feast of All Saints. We further ordain that
the dedication of mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which Our
predecessor of saintly memory, Pope Pius X, commanded to be renewed
yearly, be made annually on that day. This year, however, We desire
that it be observed on the thirty-first day of the month on which day
We Ourselves shall celebrate pontifically in honor of the kingship of
Christ, and shall command that the same dedication be performed in
Our presence. It seems to Us that We cannot in a more fitting manner
close this Holy Year, nor better signify Our gratitude and that of
the whole of the Catholic world to Christ the immortal King of ages,
for the blessings showered upon Us, upon the Church, and upon the
Catholic world during this holy period.
29. It is not necessary, Venerable
Brethren, that We should explain to you at any length why We have
decreed that this feast of the Kingship of Christ should be observed
in addition to those other feasts in which his kingly dignity is
already signified and celebrated. It will suffice to remark that
although in all the feasts of our Lord the material object of worship
is Christ, nevertheless their formal object is something quite
distinct from his royal title and dignity. We have commanded its
observance on a Sunday in order that not only the clergy may perform
their duty by saying Mass and reciting the Office, but that the laity
too, free from their daily tasks, may in a spirit of holy joy give
ample testimony of their obedience and subjection to Christ. The last
Sunday of October seemed the most convenient of all for this purpose,
because it is at the end of the liturgical year, and thus the feast
of the Kingship of Christ sets the crowning glory upon the mysteries
of the life of Christ already commemorated during the year, and,
before celebrating the triumph of all the Saints, we proclaim and
extol the glory of him who triumphs in all the Saints and in all the
Elect. Make it your duty and your task, Venerable Brethren, to see
that sermons are preached to the people in every parish to teach them
the meaning and the importance of this feast, that they may so order
their lives as to be worthy of faithful and obedient subjects of the
Divine King.
30. We would now, Venerable Brethren,
in closing this letter, briefly enumerate the blessings which We hope
and pray may accrue to the Church, to society, and to each one of the
faithful, as a result of the public veneration of the Kingship of
Christ.
31. When we pay honor to the princely
dignity of Christ, men will doubtless be reminded that the Church,
founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable
right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state;
and that in fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching,
ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the kingdom
of Christ, she cannot be subject to any external power. The State is
bound to extend similar freedom to the orders and communities of
religious of either sex, who give most valuable help to the Bishops
of the Church by laboring for the extension and the establishment of
the kingdom of Christ. By their sacred vows they fight against the
threefold concupiscence of the world; by making profession of a more
perfect life they render the holiness which her divine Founder willed
should be a mark and characteristic of his Church more striking and
more conspicuous in the eyes of all.
32. Nations will be reminded by the
annual celebration of this feast that not only private individuals
but also rulers and princes are bound to give public honor and
obedience to Christ. It will call to their minds the thought of the
last judgment, wherein Christ, who has been cast out of public life,
despised, neglected and ignored, will most severely avenge these
insults; for his kingly dignity demands that the State should take
account of the commandments of God and of Christian principles, both
in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing
for the young a sound moral education.
33. The faithful, moreover, by
meditating upon these truths, will gain much strength and courage,
enabling them to form their lives after the true Christian ideal. If
to Christ our Lord is given all power in heaven and on earth; if all
men, purchased by his precious blood, are by a new right subjected to
his dominion; if this power embraces all men, it must be clear that
not one of our faculties is exempt from his empire. He must reign in
our minds, which should assent with perfect submission and firm
belief to revealed truths and to the doctrines of Christ. He must
reign in our wills, which should obey the laws and precepts of God.
He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn natural desires and
love God above all things, and cleave to him alone. He must reign in
our bodies and in our members, which should serve as instruments for
the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words of the
Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God.[35] If
all these truths are presented to the faithful for their
consideration, they will prove a powerful incentive to perfection. It
is Our fervent desire, Venerable Brethren, that those who are without
the fold may seek after and accept the sweet yoke of Christ, and that
we, who by the mercy of God are of the household of the faith, may
bear that yoke, not as a burden but with joy, with love, with
devotion; that having lived our lives in accordance with the laws of
God's kingdom, we may receive full measure of good fruit, and counted
by Christ good and faithful servants, we may be rendered partakers of
eternal bliss and glory with him in his heavenly kingdom.
34. Let this letter, Venerable
Brethren, be a token to you of Our fatherly love as the Feast of the
Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ draws near; and receive the
Apostolic Benediction as a pledge of divine blessings, which with
loving heart, We impart to you, Venerable Brethren, to your clergy,
and to your people.
Given at St. Peter's Rome, on the
eleventh day of the month of December, in the Holy Year 1925, the
fourth of Our Pontificate.
PIUS XI
1. Eph. iii, 9.
2. Dan. vii, 13-14.
3. Num. xxiv, 19.
4. Ps. ii.
5. Ps. xliv.
6. Ps. Ixxi.
7. Isa. ix, 6-7.
8. Jer. xxiii, 5.
9. Dan. ii, 44.
10. Dan. vii,
13-14.
11. Zach. ix, 9.
12. Luc. i, 32-33.
13. Matt. xxv,
31-40.
14. Joan. xviii,
37.
15. Matt. xxviii,
18.
16. Apoc. 1, 5.
17. Apoc. xix, 16.
18. Heb. 1, 2.
19. Cf. 1 Cor. xv,
25.
20. In huc.
x.
21. I Pet. i,
18-19.
22. 1 Cor. vi, 20.
23. I Cor. vi, 15.
24. Conc.
Trid. Sess. Vl, can. 21.
25. Joan. xiv, 15;
xv, 10.
26. Joan. v, 22.
27. Hymn for the
Epiphany.
28. Enc. Annum
Sacrum, May 25, 1899.
29. Acts iv, 12.
30. S. Aug. Ep.
ad Macedonium, c. iii.
31. Enc. Ubi
Arcano.
32. I Cor.vii,23.
33. Enc. Annum
Sanctum, May 25, 1899.
34. Sermo 47 de
Sanctis.
35. Rom. vi, 13.
