ENCYCLICAL
LETTER OF POPE PIUS XI ON CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE
Issued on December
31, 1930
To the Venerable Brethren, Patriarchs,
Primates, Archbishops, Bishops and other
Local Ordinaries enjoying Peace and Communion
with the Apostolic See.
Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children,
Health and Apostolic Benediction.
1. How great is the
dignity of chaste wedlock, Venerable
Brethren, may be judged best from this
that Christ Our Lord, Son of the Eternal
Father, having assumed the nature of
fallen man, not only, with His loving
desire of compassing the redemption
of our race, ordained it in an especial
manner as the principle and foundation
of domestic society and therefore of
all human intercourse, but also raised
it to the rank of a truly and great
sacrament of the New Law, restored it
to the original purity of its divine
institution, and accordingly entrusted
all its discipline and care to His spouse
the Church.
2. In order, however,
that amongst men of every nation and
every age the desired fruits may be
obtained from this renewal of matrimony,
it is necessary, first of all, that
men's minds be illuminated with the
true doctrine of Christ regarding it;
and secondly, that Christian spouses,
the weakness of their wills strengthened
by the internal grace of God, shape
all their ways of thinking and of acting
in conformity with that pure law of
Christ so as to obtain true peace and
happiness for themselves and for their
families.
3. Yet not only do
We, looking with paternal eye on the
universal world from this Apostolic
See as from a watch-tower, but you,
also, Venerable Brethren, see, and seeing
deeply grieve with Us that a great number
of men, forgetful of that divine work
of redemption, either entirely ignore
or shamelessly deny the great sanctity
of Christian wedlock, or relying on
the false principles of a new and utterly
perverse morality, too often trample
it under foot. And since these most
pernicious errors and depraved morals
have begun to spread even amongst the
faithful and are gradually gaining ground,
in Our office as Christ's Vicar upon
earth and Supreme Shepherd and Teacher
We consider it Our duty to raise Our
voice to keep the flock committed to
Our care from poisoned pastures and,
as far as in Us lies, to preserve it
from harm.
4. We have decided
therefore to speak to you, Venerable
Brethren, and through you to the whole
Church of Christ and indeed to the whole
human race, on the nature and dignity
of Christian marriage, on the advantages
and benefits which accrue from it to
the family and to human society itself,
on the errors contrary to this most
important point of the Gospel teaching,
on the vices opposed to conjugal union,
and lastly on the principal remedies
to be applied. In so doing We follow
the footsteps of Our predecessor, Leo
XIII, of happy memory, whose Encyclical
Arcanum,[1] published fifty years ago,
We hereby confirm and make Our own,
and while We wish to expound more fully
certain points called for by the circumstances
of our times, nevertheless We declare
that, far from being obsolete, it retains
its full force at the present day.
5. And to begin with
that same Encyclical, which is wholly
concerned in vindicating the divine
institution of matrimony, its sacramental
dignity, and its perpetual stability,
let it be repeated as an immutable and
inviolable fundamental doctrine that
matrimony was not instituted or restored
by man but by God; not by man were the
laws made to strengthen and confirm
and elevate it but by God, the Author
of nature, and by Christ Our Lord by
Whom nature was redeemed, and hence
these laws cannot be subject to any
human decrees or to any contrary pact
even of the spouses themselves. This
is the doctrine of Holy Scripture;[2]
this is the constant tradition of the
Universal Church; this the solemn definition
of the sacred Council of Trent, which
declares and establishes from the words
of Holy Writ itself that God is the
Author of the perpetual stability of
the marriage bond, its unity and its
firmness.[3]
6. Yet although matrimony
is of its very nature of divine institution,
the human will, too, enters into it
and performs a most noble part. For
each individual marriage, inasmuch as
it is a conjugal union of a particular
man and woman, arises only from the
free consent of each of the spouses;
and this free act of the will, by which
each party hands over and accepts those
rights proper to the state of marriage,[4]
is so necessary to constitute true marriage
that it cannot be supplied by any human
power.[5] This freedom, however, regards
only the question whether the contracting
parties really wish to enter upon matrimony
or to marry this particular person;
but the nature of matrimony is entirely
independent of the free will of man,
so that if one has once contracted matrimony
he is thereby subject to its divinely
made laws and its essential properties.
For the Angelic Doctor, writing on conjugal
honor and on the offspring which is
the fruit of marriage, says: "These
things are so contained in matrimony
by the marriage pact itself that, if
anything to the contrary were expressed
in the consent which makes the marriage,
it would not be a true marriage."[6]
7. By matrimony, therefore,
the souls of the contracting parties
are joined and knit together more directly
and more intimately than are their bodies,
and that not by any passing affection
of sense of spirit, but by a deliberate
and firm act of the will; and from this
union of souls by God's decree, a sacred
and inviolable bond arises. Hence the
nature of this contract, which is proper
and peculiar to it alone, makes it entirely
different both from the union of animals
entered into by the blind instinct of
nature alone in which neither reason
nor free will plays a part, and also
from the haphazard unions of men, which
are far removed from all true and honorable
unions of will and enjoy none of the
rights of family life.
8. From this it is
clear that legitimately constituted
authority has the right and therefore
the duty to restrict, to prevent, and
to punish those base unions which are
opposed to reason and to nature; but
since it is a matter which flows from
human nature itself, no less certain
is the teaching of Our predecessor,
Leo XIII of happy memory:[7] "In
choosing a state of life there is no
doubt but that it is in the power and
discretion of each one to prefer one
or the other: either to embrace the
counsel of virginity given by Jesus
Christ, or to bind himself in the bonds
of matrimony. To take away from man
the natural and primeval right of marriage,
to circumscribe in any way the principal
ends of marriage laid down in the beginning
by God Himself in the words 'Increase
and multiply,'[8] is beyond the power
of any human law."
9. Therefore the sacred
partnership of true marriage is constituted
both by the will of God and the will
of man. From God comes the very institution
of marriage, the ends for which it was
instituted, the laws that govern it,
the blessings that flow from it; while
man, through generous surrender of his
own person made to another for the whole
span of life, becomes, with the help
and cooperation of God, the author of
each particular marriage, with the duties
and blessings annexed thereto from divine
institution.
10. Now when We come
to explain, Venerable Brethren, what
are the blessings that God has attached
to true matrimony, and how great they
are, there occur to Us the words of
that illustrious Doctor of the Church
whom We commemorated recently in Our
Encyclical Ad salutem on the occasion
of the fifteenth centenary of his death:[9]
"These," says St. Augustine,
"are all the blessings of matrimony
on account of which matrimony itself
is a blessing; offspring, conjugal faith
and the sacrament."[10] And how
under these three heads is contained
a splendid summary of the whole doctrine
of Christian marriage, the holy Doctor
himself expressly declares when he said:
"By conjugal faith it is provided
that there should be no carnal intercourse
outside the marriage bond with another
man or woman; with regard to offspring,
that children should be begotten of
love, tenderly cared for and educated
in a religious atmosphere; finally,
in its sacramental aspect that the marriage
bond should not be broken and that a
husband or wife, if separated, should
not be joined to another even for the
sake of offspring. This we regard as
the law of marriage by which the fruitfulness
of nature is adorned and the evil of
incontinence is restrained."[11]
11. Thus amongst the
blessings of marriage, the child holds
the first place. And indeed the Creator
of the human race Himself, Who in His
goodness wishes to use men as His helpers
in the propagation of life, taught this
when, instituting marriage in Paradise,
He said to our first parents, and through
them to all future spouses: "Increase
and multiply, and fill the earth."[12]
As St. Augustine admirably deduces from
the words of the holy Apostle Saint
Paul to Timothy[13] when he says: "The
Apostle himself is therefore a witness
that marriage is for the sake of generation:
'I wish,' he says, 'young girls to marry.'
And, as if someone said to him, 'Why?,'
he immediately adds: 'To bear children,
to be mothers of families'."[14]
12. How great a boon
of God this is, and how great a blessing
of matrimony is clear from a consideration
of man's dignity and of his sublime
end. For man surpasses all other visible
creatures by the superiority of his
rational nature alone. Besides, God
wishes men to be born not only that
they should live and fill the earth,
but much more that they may be worshippers
of God, that they may know Him and love
Him and finally enjoy Him for ever in
heaven; and this end, since man is raised
by God in a marvelous way to the supernatural
order, surpasses all that eye hath seen,
and ear heard, and all that hath entered
into the heart of man.[15] From which
it is easily seen how great a gift of
divine goodness and how remarkable a
fruit of marriage are children born
by the omnipotent power of God through
the cooperation of those bound in wedlock.
13. But Christian
parents must also understand that they
are destined not only to propagate and
preserve the human race on earth, indeed
not only to educate any kind of worshippers
of the true God, but children who are
to become members of the Church of Christ,
to raise up fellow-citizens of the Saints,
and members of God's household,[16]
that the worshippers of God and Our
Savior may daily increase.
14. For although Christian
spouses even if sanctified themselves
cannot transmit sanctification to their
progeny, nay, although the very natural
process of generating life has become
the way of death by which original sin
is passed on to posterity, nevertheless,
they share to some extent in the blessings
of that primeval marriage of Paradise,
since it is theirs to offer their offspring
to the Church in order that by this
most fruitful Mother of the children
of God they may be regenerated through
the laver of Baptism unto supernatural
justice and finally be made living members
of Christ, partakers of immortal life,
and heirs of that eternal glory to which
we all aspire from our inmost heart.
15. If a true Christian
mother weigh well these things, she
will indeed understand with a sense
of deep consolation that of her the
words of Our Savior were spoken: "A
woman . . . when she hath brought forth
the child remembereth no more the anguish,
for joy that a man is born into the
world";[17] and proving herself
superior to all the pains and cares
and solicitudes of her maternal office
with a more just and holy joy than that
of the Roman matron, the mother of the
Gracchi, she will rejoice in the Lord
crowned as it were with the glory of
her offspring. Both husband and wife,
however, receiving these children with
joy and gratitude from the hand of God,
will regard them as a talent committed
to their charge by God, not only to
be employed for their own advantage
or for that of an earthly commonwealth,
but to be restored to God with interest
on the day of reckoning.
16. The blessing of
offspring, however, is not completed
by the mere begetting of them, but something
else must be added, namely the proper
education of the offspring. For the
most wise God would have failed to make
sufficient provision for children that
had been born, and so for the whole
human race, if He had not given to those
to whom He had entrusted the power and
right to beget them, the power also
and the right to educate them. For no
one can fail to see that children are
incapable of providing wholly for themselves,
even in matters pertaining to their
natural life, and much less in those
pertaining to the supernatural, but
require for many years to be helped,
instructed, and educated by others.
Now it is certain that both by the law
of nature and of God this right and
duty of educating their offspring belongs
in the first place to those who began
the work of nature by giving them birth,
and they are indeed forbidden to leave
unfinished this work and so expose it
to certain ruin. But in matrimony provision
has been made in the best possible way
for this education of children that
is so necessary, for, since the parents
are bound together by an indissoluble
bond, the care and mutual help of each
is always at hand.
17. Since, however,
We have spoken fully elsewhere on the
Christian education of youth,[18] let
Us sum it all up by quoting once more
the words of St. Augustine: "As
regards the offspring it is provided
that they should be begotten lovingly
and educated religiously,"[19]--and
this is also expressed succinctly in
the Code of Canon Law--"The primary
end of marriage is the procreation and
the education of children."[20]
18. Nor must We omit
to remark, in fine, that since the duty
entrusted to parents for the good of
their children is of such high dignity
and of such great importance, every
use of the faculty given by God for
the procreation of new life is the right
and the privilege of the married state
alone, by the law of God and of nature,
and must be confined absolutely within
the sacred limits of that state.
19. The second blessing
of matrimony which We said was mentioned
by St. Augustine, is the blessing of
conjugal honor which consists in the
mutual fidelity of the spouses in fulfilling
the marriage contract, so that what
belongs to one of the parties by reason
of this contract sanctioned by divine
law, may not be denied to him or permitted
to any third person; nor may there be
conceded to one of the parties anything
which, being contrary to the rights
and laws of God and entirely opposed
to matrimonial faith, can never be conceded.
20. Wherefore, conjugal
faith, or honor, demands in the first
place the complete unity of matrimony
which the Creator Himself laid down
in the beginning when He wished it to
be not otherwise than between one man
and one woman. And although afterwards
this primeval law was relaxed to some
extent by God, the Supreme Legislator,
there is no doubt that the law of the
Gospel fully restored that original
and perfect unity, and abrogated all
dispensations as the words of Christ
and the constant teaching and action
of the Church show plainly. With reason,
therefore, does the Sacred Council of
Trent solemnly declare: "Christ
Our Lord very clearly taught that in
this bond two persons only are to be
united and joined together when He said:
'Therefore they are no longer two, but
one flesh'."[21]
21. Nor did Christ
Our Lord wish only to condemn any form
of polygamy or polyandry, as they are
called, whether successive or simultaneous,
and every other external dishonorable
act, but, in order that the sacred bonds
of marriage may be guarded absolutely
inviolate, He forbade also even willful
thoughts and desires of such like things:
"But I say to you, that whosoever
shall look on a woman to lust after
her hath already committed adultery
with her in his heart."[22] Which
words of Christ Our Lord cannot be annulled
even by the consent of one of the partners
of marriage for they express a law of
God and of nature which no will of man
can break or bend.[23]
22. Nay, that mutual
familiar intercourse between the spouses
themselves, if the blessing of conjugal
faith is to shine with becoming splendor,
must be distinguished by chastity so
that husband and wife bear themselves
in all things with the law of God and
of nature, and endeavor always to follow
the will of their most wise and holy
Creator with the greatest reverence
toward the work of God.
23. This conjugal
faith, however, which is most aptly
called by St. Augustine the "faith
of chastity" blooms more freely,
more beautifully and more nobly, when
it is rooted in that more excellent
soil, the love of husband and wife which
pervades all the duties of married life
and holds pride of place in Christian
marriage. For matrimonial faith demands
that husband and wife be joined in an
especially holy and pure love, not as
adulterers love each other, but as Christ
loved the Church. This precept the Apostle
laid down when he said: "Husbands,
love your wives as Christ also loved
the Church,"[24] that Church which
of a truth He embraced with a boundless
love not for the sake of His own advantage,
but seeking only the good of His Spouse.[25]
The love, then, of which We are speaking
is not that based on the passing lust
of the moment nor does it consist in
pleasing words only, but in the deep
attachment of the heart which is expressed
in action, since love is proved by deeds.[26]
This outward expression of love in the
home demands not only mutual help but
must go further; must have as its primary
purpose that man and wife help each
other day by day in forming and perfecting
themselves in the interior life, so
that through their partnership in life
they may advance ever more and more
in virtue, and above all that they may
grow in true love toward God and their
neighbor, on which indeed "dependeth
the whole Law and the Prophets."[27]
For all men of every condition, in whatever
honorable walk of life they may be,
can and ought to imitate that most perfect
example of holiness placed before man
by God, namely Christ Our Lord, and
by God's grace to arrive at the summit
of perfection, as is proved by the example
set us of many saints.
24. This mutual molding
of husband and wife, this determined
effort to perfect each other, can in
a very real sense, as the Roman Catechism
teaches, be said to be the chief reason
and purpose of matrimony, provided matrimony
be looked at not in the restricted sense
as instituted for the proper conception
and education of the child, but more
widely as the blending of life as a
whole and the mutual interchange and
sharing thereof.
25. By this same love
it is necessary that all the other rights
and duties of the marriage state be
regulated as the words of the Apostle:
"Let the husband render the debt
to the wife, and the wife also in like
manner to the husband,"[28] express
not only a law of justice but of charity.
26. Domestic society
being confirmed, therefore, by this
bond of love, there should flourish
in it that "order of love,"
as St. Augustine calls it. This order
includes both the primacy of the husband
with regard to the wife and children,
the ready subjection of the wife and
her willing obedience, which the Apostle
commends in these words: "Let women
be subject to their husbands as to the
Lord, because the husband is the head
of the wife, and Christ is the head
of the Church."[29]
27. This subjection,
however, does not deny or take away
the liberty which fully belongs to the
woman both in view of her dignity as
a human person, and in view of her most
noble office as wife and mother and
companion; nor does it bid her obey
her husband's every request if not in
harmony with right reason or with the
dignity due to wife; nor, in fine, does
it imply that the wife should be put
on a level with those persons who in
law are called minors, to whom it is
customary to allow free exercise of
their rights on account of their lack
of mature judgment, or of their ignorance
of human affairs. But it forbids that
exaggerated liberty which cares not
for the good of the family; it forbids
that in this body which is the family,
the heart be separated from the head
to the great detriment of the whole
body and the proximate danger of ruin.
For if the man is the head, the woman
is the heart, and as he occupies the
chief place in ruling, so she may and
ought to claim for herself the chief
place in love.
28. Again, this subjection
of wife to husband in its degree and
manner may vary according to the different
conditions of persons, place and time.
In fact, if the husband neglect his
duty, it falls to the wife to take his
place in directing the family. But the
structure of the family and its fundamental
law, established and confirmed by God,
must always and everywhere be maintained
intact .
29. With great wisdom
Our predecessor Leo XIII, of happy memory,
in the Encyclical on Christian marriage
which We have already mentioned, speaking
of this order to be maintained between
man and wife, teaches: "The man
is the ruler of the family, and the
head of the woman; but because she is
flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone,
let her be subject and obedient to the
man, not as a servant but as a companion,
so that nothing be lacking of honor
or of dignity in the obedience which
she pays. Let divine charity be the
constant guide of their mutual relations,
both in him who rules and in her who
obeys, since each bears the image, the
one of Christ, the other of the Church."[30]
30. These, then, are
the elements which compose the blessing
of conjugal faith: unity, chastity,
charity, honorable noble obedience,
which are at the same time an enumeration
of the benefits which are bestowed on
husband and wife in their married state,
benefits by which the peace, the dignity
and the happiness of matrimony are securely
preserved and fostered. Wherefore it
is not surprising that this conjugal
faith has always been counted amongst
the most priceless and special blessings
of matrimony.
31. But this accumulation
of benefits is completed and, as it
were, crowned by that blessing of Christian
marriage which in the words of St. Augustine
we have called the sacrament, by which
is denoted both the indissolubility
of the bond and the raising and hallowing
of the contract by Christ Himself, whereby
He made it an efficacious sign of grace.
32. In the first place
Christ Himself lays stress on the indissolubility
and firmness of the marriage bond when
He says: "What God hath joined
together let no man put asunder,"[31]
and: "Everyone that putteth away
his wife and marrieth another committeth
adultery, and he that marrieth her that
is put away from her husband committeth
adultery."[32]
33. And St. Augustine
clearly places what he calls the blessing
of matrimony in this indissolubility
when he says: "In the sacrament
it is provided that the marriage bond
should not be broken, and that a husband
or wife, if separated, should not be
joined to another even for the sake
of offspring."[33]
34. And this inviolable
stability, although not in the same
perfect measure in every case, belongs
to every true marriage, for the word
of the Lord: "What God hath joined
together let no man put asunder,"
must of necessity include all true marriages
without exception, since it was spoken
of the marriage of our first parents,
the prototype of every future marriage.
Therefore although before Christ the
sublimeness and the severity of the
primeval law was so tempered that Moses
permitted to the chosen people of God
on account of the hardness of their
hearts that a bill of divorce might
be given in certain circumstances, nevertheless,
Christ, by virtue of His supreme legislative
power, recalled this concession of greater
liberty and restored the primeval law
in its integrity by those words which
must never be forgotten, "What
God hath joined together let no man
put asunder." Wherefore, Our predecessor
Pius VI of happy memory, writing to
the Bishop of Agria, most wisely said:
"Hence it is clear that marriage
even in the state of nature, and certainly
long before it was raised to the dignity
of a sacrament, was divinely instituted
in such a way that it should carry with
it a perpetual and indissoluble bond
which cannot therefore be dissolved
by any civil law. Therefore although
the sacramental element may be absent
from a marriage as is the case among
unbelievers, still in such a marriage,
inasmuch as it is a true marriage there
must remain and indeed there does remain
that perpetual bond which by divine
right is so bound up with matrimony
from its first institution that it is
not subject to any civil power. And
so, whatever marriage is said to be
contracted, either it is so contracted
that it is really a true marriage, in
which case it carries with it that enduring
bond which by divine right is inherent
in every true marriage; or it is thought
to be contracted without that perpetual
bond, and in that case there is no marriage,
but an illicit union opposed of its
very nature to the divine law, which
therefore cannot be entered into or
maintained."[34]
35. And if this stability
seems to be open to exception, however
rare the exception may be, as in the
case of certain natural marriages between
unbelievers, or amongst Christians in
the case of those marriages which though
valid have not been consummated, that
exception does not depend on the will
of men nor on that of any merely human
power, but on divine law, of which the
only guardian and interpreter is the
Church of Christ. However, not even
this power can ever affect for any cause
whatsoever a Christian marriage which
is valid and has been consummated, for
as it is plain that here the marriage
contract has its full completion, so,
by the will of God, there is also the
greatest firmness and indissolubility
which may not be destroyed by any human
authority.
36. If we wish with
all reverence to inquire into the intimate
reason of this divine decree, Venerable
Brethren, we shall easily see it in
the mystical signification of Christian
marriage which is fully and perfectly
verified in consummated marriage between
Christians. For, as the Apostle says
in his Epistle to the Ephesians,[35]
the marriage of Christians recalls that
most perfect union which exists between
Christ and the Church: "Sacramentum
hoc magnum est, ego autem dico, in Christo
et in ecclesia;" which union, as
long as Christ shall live and the Church
through Him, can never be dissolved
by any separation. And this St. Augustine
clearly declares in these words: "This
is safeguarded in Christ and the Church,
which, living with Christ who lives
for ever may never be divorced from
Him. The observance of this sacrament
is such in the City of God . . . that
is, in the Church of Christ, that when
for the sake of begetting children,
women marry or are taken to wife, it
is wrong to leave a wife that is sterile
in order to take another by whom children
may be hand. Anyone doing this is guilty
of adultery, just as if he married another,
guilty not by the law of the day, according
to which when one's partner is put away
another may be taken, which the Lord
allowed in the law of Moses because
of the hardness of the hearts of the
people of Israel; but by the law of
the Gospel."[36]
37. Indeed, how many
and how important are the benefits which
flow from the indissolubility of matrimony
cannot escape anyone who gives even
a brief consideration either to the
good of the married parties and the
offspring or to the welfare of human
society. First of all, both husband
and wife possess a positive guarantee
of the endurance of this stability which
that generous yielding of their persons
and the intimate fellowship of their
hearts by their nature strongly require,
since true love never falls away.[37]
Besides, a strong bulwark is set up
in defense of a loyal chastity against
incitements to infidelity, should any
be encountered either from within or
from without; any anxious fear lest
in adversity or old age the other spouse
would prove unfaithful is precluded
and in its place there reigns a calm
sense of security. Moreover, the dignity
of both man and wife is maintained and
mutual aid is most satisfactorily assured,
while through the indissoluble bond,
always enduring, the spouses are warned
continuously that not for the sake of
perishable things nor that they may
serve their passions, but that they
may procure one for the other high and
lasting good have they entered into
the nuptial partnership, to be dissolved
only by death. In the training and education
of children, which must extend over
a period of many years, it plays a great
part, since the grave and long enduring
burdens of this office are best borne
by the united efforts of the parents.
Nor do lesser benefits accrue to human
society as a whole. For experience has
taught that unassailable stability in
matrimony is a fruitful source of virtuous
life and of habits of integrity. Where
this order of things obtains, the happiness
and well being of the nation is safely
guarded; what the families and individuals
are, so also is the State, for a body
is determined by its parts. Wherefore,
both for the private good of husband,
wife and children, as likewise for the
public good of human society, they indeed
deserve well who strenuously defend
the inviolable stability of matrimony.
38. But considering
the benefits of the Sacrament, besides
the firmness and indissolubility, there
are also much higher emoluments as the
word "sacrament" itself very
aptly indicates; for to Christians this
is not a meaningless and empty name.
Christ the Lord, the Institutor and
"Perfecter" of the holy sacraments,[38]
by raising the matrimony of His faithful
to the dignity of a true sacrament of
the New Law, made it a sign and source
of that peculiar internal grace by which
"it perfects natural love, it confirms
an indissoluble union, and sanctifies
both man and wife."[39]
39. And since the
valid matrimonial consent among the
faithful was constituted by Christ as
a sign of grace, the sacramental nature
is so intimately bound up with Christian
wedlock that there can be no true marriage
between baptized persons "without
it being by that very fact a sacrament."[40]
40. By the very fact,
therefore, that the faithful with sincere
mind give such consent, they open up
for themselves a treasure of sacramental
grace from which they draw supernatural
power for the fulfilling of their rights
and duties faithfully, holily, perseveringly
even unto death. Hence this sacrament
not only increases sanctifying grace,
the permanent principle of the supernatural
life, in those who, as the expression
is, place no obstacle (obex) in its
way, but also adds particular gifts,
dispositions, seeds of grace, by elevating
and perfecting the natural powers. By
these gifts the parties are assisted
not only in understanding, but in knowing
intimately, in adhering to firmly, in
willing effectively, and in successfully
putting into practice, those things
which pertain to the marriage state,
its aims and duties, giving them in
fine right to the actual assistance
of grace, whensoever they need it for
fulfilling the duties of their state.
41. Nevertheless,
since it is a law of divine Providence
in the supernatural order that men do
not reap the full fruit of the Sacraments
which they receive after acquiring the
use of reason unless they cooperate
with grace, the grace of matrimony will
remain for the most part an unused talent
hidden in the field unless the parties
exercise these supernatural powers and
cultivate and develop the seeds of grace
they have received. If, however, doing
all that lies with their power, they
cooperate diligently, they will be able
with ease to bear the burdens of their
state and to fulfill their duties. By
such a sacrament they will be strengthened,
sanctified and in a manner consecrated.
For, as St. Augustine teaches, just
as by Baptism and Holy Orders a man
is set aside and assisted either for
the duties of Christian life or for
the priestly office and is never deprived
of their sacramental aid, almost in
the same way (although not by a sacramental
character), the faithful once joined
by marriage ties can never be deprived
of the help and the binding force of
the sacrament. Indeed, as the Holy Doctor
adds, even those who commit adultery
carry with them that sacred yoke, although
in this case not as a title to the glory
of grace but for the ignominy of their
guilty action, "as the soul by
apostasy, withdrawing as it were from
marriage with Christ, even though it
may have lost its faith, does not lose
the sacrament of Faith which it received
at the laver of regeneration."[41]
42. These parties,
let it be noted, not fettered but adorned
by the golden bond of the sacrament,
not hampered but assisted, should strive
with all their might to the end that
their wedlock, not only through the
power and symbolism of the sacrament,
but also through their spirit and manner
of life, may be and remain always the
living image of that most fruitful union
of Christ with the Church, which is
to venerated as the sacred token of
most perfect love.
43. All of these things,
Venerable Brethren, you must consider
carefully and ponder over with a lively
faith if you would see in their true
light the extraordinary benefits on
matrimony--offspring, conjugal faith,
and the sacrament. No one can fail to
admire the divine Wisdom, Holiness and
Goodness which, while respecting the
dignity and happiness of husband and
wife, has provided so bountifully for
the conservation and propagation of
the human race by a single chaste and
sacred fellowship of nuptial union.
44. When we consider
the great excellence of chaste wedlock,
Venerable Brethren, it appears all the
more regrettable that particularly in
our day we should witness this divine
institution often scorned and on every
side degraded.
45. For now, alas,
not secretly nor under cover, but openly,
with all sense of shame put aside, now
by word again by writings, by theatrical
productions of every kind, by romantic
fiction, by amorous and frivolous novels,
by cinematographs portraying in vivid
scene, in addresses broadcast by radio
telephony, in short by all the inventions
of modern science, the sanctity of marriage
is trampled upon and derided; divorce,
adultery, all the basest vices either
are extolled or at least are depicted
in such colors as to appear to be free
of all reproach and infamy. Books are
not lacking which dare to pronounce
themselves as scientific but which in
truth are merely coated with a veneer
of science in order that they may the
more easily insinuate their ideas. The
doctrines defended in these are offered
for sale as the productions of modern
genius, of that genius namely, which,
anxious only for truth, is considered
to have emancipated itself from all
those old-fashioned and immature opinions
of the ancients; and to the number of
these antiquated opinions they relegate
the traditional doctrine of Christian
marriage.
46. These thoughts
are instilled into men of every class,
rich and poor, masters and workers,
lettered and unlettered, married and
single, the godly and godless, old and
young, but for these last, as easiest
prey, the worst snares are laid.
47. Not all the sponsors
of these new doctrines are carried to
the extremes of unbridled lust; there
are those who, striving as it were to
ride a middle course, believe nevertheless
that something should be conceded in
our times as regards certain precepts
of the divine and natural law. But these
likewise, more or less wittingly, are
emissaries of the great enemy who is
ever seeking to sow cockle among the
wheat.[42] We, therefore, whom the Father
has appointed over His field, We who
are bound by Our most holy office to
take care lest the good seed be choked
by the weeds, believe it fitting to
apply to Ourselves the most grave words
of the Holy Ghost with which the Apostle
Paul exhorted his beloved Timothy: "Be
thou vigilant . . . Fulfill thy ministry
. . . Preach the word, be instant in
season, out of season, reprove, entreat,
rebuke in all patience and doctrine."[43]
48. And since, in
order that the deceits of the enemy
may be avoided, it is necessary first
of all that they be laid bare; since
much is to be gained by denouncing these
fallacies for the sake of the unwary,
even though We prefer not to name these
iniquities "as becometh saints,"[44]
yet for the welfare of souls We cannot
remain altogether silent.
49. To begin at the
very source of these evils, their basic
principle lies in this, that matrimony
is repeatedly declared to be not instituted
by the Author of nature nor raised by
Christ the Lord to the dignity of a
true sacrament, but invented by man.
Some confidently assert that they have
found no evidence of the existence of
matrimony in nature or in her laws,
but regard it merely as the means of
producing life and of gratifying in
one way or another a vehement impulse;
on the other hand, others recognize
that certain beginnings or, as it were,
seeds of true wedlock are found in the
nature of man since, unless men were
bound together by some form of permanent
tie, the dignity of husband and wife
or the natural end of propagating and
rearing the offspring would not receive
satisfactory provision. At the same
time they maintain that in all beyond
this germinal idea matrimony, through
various concurrent causes, is invented
solely by the mind of man, established
solely by his will.
50. How grievously
all these err and how shamelessly they
leave the ways of honesty is already
evident from what we have set forth
here regarding the origin and nature
of wedlock, its purposes and the good
inherent in it. The evil of this teaching
is plainly seen from the consequences
which its advocates deduce from it,
namely, that the laws, institutions
and customs by which wedlock is governed,
since they take their origin solely
from the will of man, are subject entirely
to him, hence can and must be founded,
changed and abrogated according to human
caprice and the shifting circumstances
of human affairs; that the generative
power which is grounded in nature itself
is more sacred and has wider range than
matrimony--hence it may be exercised
both outside as well as within the confines
of wedlock, and though the purpose of
matrimony be set aside, as though to
suggest that the license of a base fornicating
woman should enjoy the same rights as
the chaste motherhood of a lawfully
wedded wife.
51. Armed with these
principles, some men go so far as to
concoct new species of unions, suited,
as they say, to the present temper of
men and the times, which various new
forms of matrimony they presume to label
"temporary," "experimental,"
and "companionate." These
offer all the indulgence of matrimony
and its rights without, however, the
indissoluble bond, and without offspring,
unless later the parties alter their
cohabitation into a matrimony in the
full sense of the law.
52. Indeed there are
some who desire and insist that these
practices be legitimatized by the law
or, at least, excused by their general
acceptance among the people. They do
not seem even to suspect that these
proposals partake of nothing of the
modern "culture" in which
they glory so much, but are simply hateful
abominations which beyond all question
reduce our truly cultured nations to
the barbarous standards of savage peoples.
53. And now, Venerable
Brethren, we shall explain in detail
the evils opposed to each of the benefits
of matrimony. First consideration is
due to the offspring, which many have
the boldness to call the disagreeable
burden of matrimony and which they say
is to be carefully avoided by married
people not through virtuous continence
(which Christian law permits in matrimony
when both parties consent) but by frustrating
the marriage act. Some justify this
criminal abuse on the ground that they
are weary of children and wish to gratify
their desires without their consequent
burden. Others say that they cannot
on the one hand remain continent nor
on the other can they have children
because of the difficulties whether
on the part of the mother or on the
part of family circumstances.
54. But no reason,
however grave, may be put forward by
which anything intrinsically against
nature may become conformable to nature
and morally good. Since, therefore,
the conjugal act is destined primarily
by nature for the begetting of children,
those who in exercising it deliberately
frustrate its natural power and purpose
sin against nature and commit a deed
which is shameful and intrinsically
vicious.
55. Small wonder,
therefore, if Holy Writ bears witness
that the Divine Majesty regards with
greatest detestation this horrible crime
and at times has punished it with death.
As St. Augustine notes, "Intercourse
even with one's legitimate wife is unlawful
and wicked where the conception of the
offspring is prevented. Onan, the son
of Juda, did this and the Lord killed
him for it."[45]
56. Since, therefore,
openly departing from the uninterrupted
Christian tradition some recently have
judged it possible solemnly to declare
another doctrine regarding this question,
the Catholic Church, to whom God has
entrusted the defense of the integrity
and purity of morals, standing erect
in the midst of the moral ruin which
surrounds her, in order that she may
preserve the chastity of the nuptial
union from being defiled by this foul
stain, raises her voice in token of
her divine ambassadorship and through
Our mouth proclaims anew: any use whatsoever
of matrimony exercised in such a way
that the act is deliberately frustrated
in its natural power to generate life
is an offense against the law of God
and of nature, and those who indulge
in such are branded with the guilt of
a grave sin.
57. We admonish, therefore,
priests who hear confessions and others
who have the care of souls, in virtue
of Our supreme authority and in Our
solicitude for the salvation of souls,
not to allow the faithful entrusted
to them to err regarding this most grave
law of God; much more, that they keep
themselves immune from such false opinions,
in no way conniving in them. If any
confessor or pastor of souls, which
may God forbid, lead the faithful entrusted
to him into these errors or should at
least confirm them by approval or by
guilty silence, let him be mindful of
the fact that he must render a strict
account to God, the Supreme Judge, for
the betrayal of his sacred trust, and
let him take to himself the words of
Christ: "They are blind and leaders
of the blind: and if the blind lead
the blind, both fall into the pit.[46]
58. As regards the
evil use of matrimony, to pass over
the arguments which are shameful, not
infrequently others that are false and
exaggerated are put forward. Holy Mother
Church very well understands and clearly
appreciates all that is said regarding
the health of the mother and the danger
to her life. And who would not grieve
to think of these things? Who is not
filled with the greatest admiration
when he sees a mother risking her life
with heroic fortitude, that she may
preserve the life of the offspring which
she has conceived? God alone, all bountiful
and all merciful as He is, can reward
her for the fulfillment of the office
allotted to her by nature, and will
assuredly repay her in a measure full
to overflowing.[47]
59. Holy Church knows
well that not infrequently one of the
parties is sinned against rather than
sinning, when for a grave cause he or
she reluctantly allows the perversion
of the right order. In such a case,
there is no sin, provided that, mindful
of the law of charity, he or she does
not neglect to seek to dissuade and
to deter the partner from sin. Nor are
those considered as acting against nature
who in the married state use their right
in the proper manner although on account
of natural reasons either of time or
of certain defects, new life cannot
be brought forth. For in matrimony as
well as in the use of the matrimonial
rights there are also secondary ends,
such as mutual aid, the cultivating
of mutual love, and the quieting of
concupiscence which husband and wife
are not forbidden to consider so long
as they are subordinated to the primary
end and so long as the intrinsic nature
of the act is preserved.
60. We are deeply
touched by the sufferings of those parents
who, in extreme want, experience great
difficulty in rearing their children.
61. However, they
should take care lest the calamitous
state of their external affairs should
be the occasion for a much more calamitous
error. No difficulty can arise that
justifies the putting aside of the law
of God which forbids all acts intrinsically
evil. There is no possible circumstance
in which husband and wife cannot, strengthened
by the grace of God, fulfill faithfully
their duties and preserve in wedlock
their chastity unspotted. This truth
of Christian Faith is expressed by the
teaching of the Council of Trent. "Let
no one be so rash as to assert that
which the Fathers of the Council have
placed under anathema, namely, that
there are precepts of God impossible
for the just to observe. God does not
ask the impossible, but by His commands,
instructs you to do what you are able,
to pray for what you are not able that
He may help you."[48]
62. This same doctrine
was again solemnly repeated and confirmed
by the Church in the condemnation of
the Jansenist heresy which dared to
utter this blasphemy against the goodness
of God: "Some precepts of God are,
when one considers the powers which
man possesses, impossible of fulfillment
even to the just who wish to keep the
law and strive to do so; grace is lacking
whereby these laws could be fulfilled."[49]
63. But another very
grave crime is to be noted, Venerable
Brethren, which regards the taking of
the life of the offspring hidden in
the mother's womb. Some wish it to be
allowed and left to the will of the
father or the mother; others say it
is unlawful unless there are weighty
reasons which they call by the name
of medical, social, or eugenic "indication."
Because this matter falls under the
penal laws of the state by which the
destruction of the offspring begotten
but unborn is forbidden, these people
demand that the "indication,"
which in one form or another they defend,
be recognized as such by the public
law and in no way penalized. There are
those, moreover, who ask that the public
authorities provide aid for these death-dealing
operations, a thing, which, sad to say,
everyone knows is of very frequent occurrence
in some places.
64. As to the "medical
and therapeutic indication" to
which, using their own words, we have
made reference, Venerable Brethren,
however much we may pity the mother
whose health and even life is gravely
imperiled in the performance of the
duty allotted to her by nature, nevertheless
what could ever be a sufficient reason
for excusing in any way the direct murder
of the innocent? This is precisely what
we are dealing with here. Whether inflicted
upon the mother or upon the child, it
is against the precept of God and the
law of nature: "Thou shalt not
kill:"[50] The life of each is
equally sacred, and no one has the power,
not even the public authority, to destroy
it. It is of no use to appeal to the
right of taking away life for here it
is a question of the innocent, whereas
that right has regard only to the guilty;
nor is there here question of defense
by bloodshed against an unjust aggressor
(for who would call an innocent child
an unjust aggressor?); again there is
not question here of what is called
the "law of extreme necessity"
which could even extend to the direct
killing of the innocent. Upright and
skillful doctors strive most praiseworthily
to guard and preserve the lives of both
mother and child; on the contrary, those
show themselves most unworthy of the
noble medical profession who encompass
the death of one or the other, through
a pretense at practicing medicine or
through motives of misguided pity.
65. All of which agrees
with the stern words of the Bishop of
Hippo in denouncing those wicked parents
who seek to remain childless, and failing
in this, are not ashamed to put their
offspring to death: "Sometimes
this lustful cruelty or cruel lust goes
so far as to seek to procure a baneful
sterility, and if this fails the fetus
conceived in the womb is in one way
or another smothered or evacuated, in
the desire to destroy the offspring
before it has life, or if it already
lives in the womb, to kill it before
it is born. If both man and woman are
party to such practices they are not
spouses at all; and if from the first
they have carried on thus they have
come together not for honest wedlock,
but for impure gratification; if both
are not party to these deeds, I make
bold to say that either the one makes
herself a mistress of the husband, or
the other simply the paramour of his
wife."[51]
66. What is asserted
in favor of the social and eugenic "indication"
may and must be accepted, provided lawful
and upright methods are employed within
the proper limits; but to wish to put
forward reasons based upon them for
the killing of the innocent is unthinkable
and contrary to the divine precept promulgated
in the words of the Apostle: Evil is
not to be done that good may come of
it.[52]
67. Those who hold
the reins of government should not forget
that it is the duty of public authority
by appropriate laws and sanctions to
defend the lives of the innocent, and
this all the more so since those whose
lives are endangered and assailed cannot
defend themselves. Among whom we must
mention in the first place infants hidden
in the mother's womb. And if the public
magistrates not only do not defend them,
but by their laws and ordinances betray
them to death at the hands of doctors
or of others, let them remember that
God is the Judge and Avenger of innocent
blood which cried from earth to Heaven.[53]
68. Finally, that
pernicious practice must be condemned
which closely touches upon the natural
right of man to enter matrimony but
affects also in a real way the welfare
of the offspring. For there are some
who over solicitous for the cause of
eugenics, not only give salutary counsel
for more certainly procuring the strength
and health of the future child--which,
indeed, is not contrary to right reason--but
put eugenics before aims of a higher
order, and by public authority wish
to prevent from marrying all those whom,
even though naturally fit for marriage,
they consider, according to the norms
and conjectures of their investigations,
would, through hereditary transmission,
bring forth defective offspring. And
more, they wish to legislate to deprive
these of that natural faculty by medical
action despite their unwillingness;
and this they do not propose as an infliction
of grave punishment under the authority
of the state for a crime committed,
not to prevent future crimes by guilty
persons, but against every right and
good they wish the civil authority to
arrogate to itself a power over a faculty
which it never had and can never legitimately
possess.
69. Those who act
in this way are at fault in losing sight
of the fact that the family is more
sacred than the State and that men are
begotten not for the earth and for time,
but for Heaven and eternity. Although
often these individuals are to be dissuaded
from entering into matrimony, certainly
it is wrong to brand men with the stigma
of crime because they contract marriage,
on the ground that, despite the fact
that they are in every respect capable
of matrimony, they will give birth only
to defective children, even though they
use all care and diligence.
70. Public magistrates
have no direct power over the bodies
of their subjects; therefore, where
no crime has taken place and there is
no cause present for grave punishment,
they can never directly harm, or tamper
with the integrity of the body, either
for the reasons of eugenics or for any
other reason. St. Thomas teaches this
when inquiring whether human judges
for the sake of preventing future evils
can inflict punishment, he admits that
the power indeed exists as regards certain
other forms of evil, but justly and
properly denies it as regards the maiming
of the body. "No one who is guiltless
may be punished by a human tribunal
either by flogging to death, or mutilation,
or by beating."[54]
71. Furthermore, Christian
doctrine establishes, and the light
of human reason makes it most clear,
that private individuals have no other
power over the members of their bodies
than that which pertains to their natural
ends; and they are not free to destroy
or mutilate their members, or in any
other way render themselves unfit for
their natural functions, except when
no other provision can be made for the
good of the whole body.
72. We may now consider
another class of errors concerning conjugal
faith. Every sin committed as regards
the offspring becomes in some way a
sin against conjugal faith, since both
these blessings are essentially connected.
However, we must mention briefly the
sources of error and vice corresponding
to those virtues which are demanded
by conjugal faith, namely the chaste
honor existing between man and wife,
the due subjection of wife to husband,
and the true love which binds both parties
together.
73. It follows therefore
that they are destroying mutual fidelity,
who think that the ideas and morality
of our present time concerning a certain
harmful and false friendship with a
third party can be countenanced, and
who teach that a greater freedom of
feeling and action in such external
relations should be allowed to man and
wife, particularly as many (so they
consider) are possessed of an inborn
sexual tendency which cannot be satisfied
within the narrow limits of monogamous
marriage. That rigid attitude which
condemns all sensual affections and
actions with a third party they imagine
to be a narrowing of mind and heart,
something obsolete, or an abject form
of jealousy, and as a result they look
upon whatever penal laws are passed
by the State for the preserving of conjugal
faith as void or to be abolished. Such
unworthy and idle opinions are condemned
by that noble instinct which is found
in every chaste husband and wife, and
even by the light of the testimony of
nature alone,--a testimony that is sanctioned
and confirmed by the command of God:"Thou
shalt not commit adultry,"[55]
and the words of Christ: "Whosoever
shall look on a woman to lust after
her hath already committed adultery
with her in his heart."[56] The
force of this divine precept can never
be weakened by any merely human custom,
bad example or pretext of human progress,
for just as it is the one and the same
"Jesus Christ, yesterday and to-day
and the same for ever,"[57] so
it is the one and the same doctrine
of Christ that abides and of which no
one jot or tittle shall pass away till
all is fulfilled.[58]
74. The same false
teachers who try to dim the luster of
conjugal faith and purity do not scruple
to do away with the honorable and trusting
obedience which the woman owes to the
man. Many of them even go further and
assert that such a subjection of one
party to the other is unworthy of human
dignity, that the rights of husband
and wife are equal; wherefore, they
boldly proclaim the emancipation of
women has been or ought to be effected.
This emancipation in their ideas must
be threefold, in the ruling of the domestic
society, in the administration of family
affairs and in the rearing of the children.
It must be social, economic, physiological:--physiological,
that is to say, the woman is to be freed
at her own good pleasure from the burdensome
duties properly belonging to a wife
as companion and mother (We have already
said that this is not an emancipation
but a crime); social, inasmuch as the
wife being freed from the cares of children
and family, should, to the neglect of
these, be able to follow her own bent
and devote herself to business and even
public affairs; finally economic, whereby
the woman even without the knowledge
and against the wish of her husband
may be at liberty to conduct and administer
her own affairs, giving her attention
chiefly to these rather than to children,
husband and family.
75. This, however,
is not the true emancipation of woman,
nor that rational and exalted liberty
which belongs to the noble office of
a Christian woman and wife; it is rather
the debasing of the womanly character
and the dignity of motherhood, and indeed
of the whole family, as a result of
which the husband suffers the loss of
his wife, the children of their mother,
and the home and the whole family of
an ever watchful guardian. More than
this, this false liberty and unnatural
equality with the husband is to the
detriment of the woman herself, for
if the woman descends from her truly
regal throne to which she has been raised
within the walls of the home by means
of the Gospel, she will soon be reduced
to the old state of slavery (if not
in appearance, certainly in reality)
and become as amongst the pagans the
mere instrument of man.
76. This equality
of rights which is so much exaggerated
and distorted, must indeed be recognized
in those rights which belong to the
dignity of the human soul and which
are proper to the marriage contract
and inseparably bound up with wedlock.
In such things undoubtedly both parties
enjoy the same rights and are bound
by the same obligations; in other things
there must be a certain inequality and
due accommodation, which is demanded
by the good of the family and the right
ordering and unity and stability of
home life.
77. As, however, the
social and economic conditions of the
married woman must in some way be altered
on account of the changes in social
intercourse, it is part of the office
of the public authority to adapt the
civil rights of the wife to modern needs
and requirements, keeping in view what
the natural disposition and temperament
of the female sex, good morality, and
the welfare of the family demands, and
provided always that the essential order
of the domestic society remain intact,
founded as it is on something higher
than human authority and wisdom, namely
on the authority and wisdom of God,
and so not changeable by public laws
or at the pleasure of private individuals.
78. These enemies
of marriage go further, however, when
they substitute for that true and solid
love, which is the basis of conjugal
happiness, a certain vague compatibility
of temperament. This they call sympathy
and assert that, since it is the only
bond by which husband and wife are linked
together, when it ceases the marriage
is completely dissolved. What else is
this than to build a house upon sand?--a
house that in the words of Christ would
forthwith be shaken and collapse, as
soon as it was exposed to the waves
of adversity "and the winds blew
and they beat upon that house. And it
fell: and great was the fall thereof."[59]
On the other hand, the house built upon
a rock, that is to say on mutual conjugal
chastity and strengthened by a deliberate
and constant union of spirit, will not
only never fall away but will never
be shaken by adversity.
79. We have so far,
Venerable Brethren, shown the excellency
of the first two blessings of Christian
wedlock which the modern subverters
of society are attacking. And now considering
that the third blessing, which is that
of the sacrament, far surpasses the
other two, we should not be surprised
to find that this, because of its outstanding
excellence, is much more sharply attacked
by the same people. They put forward
in the first place that matrimony belongs
entirely to the profane and purely civil
sphere, that it is not to be committed
to the religious society, the Church
of Christ, but to civil society alone.
They then add that the marriage contract
is to be freed from any indissoluble
bond, and that separation and divorce
are not only to be tolerated but sanctioned
by the law; from which it follows finally
that, robbed of all its holiness, matrimony
should be enumerated amongst the secular
and civil institutions. The first point
is contained in their contention that
the civil act itself should stand for
the marriage contract (civil matrimony,
as it is called), while the religious
act is to be considered a mere addition,
or at most a concession to a too superstitious
people. Moreover they want it to be
no cause for reproach that marriages
be contracted by Catholics with non-Catholics
without any reference to religion or
recourse to the ecclesiastical authorities.
The second point which is but a consequence
of the first is to be found in their
excuse for complete divorce and in their
praise and encouragement of those civil
laws which favor the loosening of the
bond itself. As the salient features
of the religious character of all marriage
and particularly of the sacramental
marriage of Christians have been treated
at length and supported by weighty arguments
in the encyclical letters of Leo Xlll,
letters which We have frequently recalled
to mind and expressly made our own,
We refer you to them, repeating here
only a few points.
80. Even by the light
of reason alone and particularly if
the ancient records of history are investigated,
if the unwavering popular conscience
is interrogated and the manners and
institutions of all races examined,
it is sufficiently obvious that there
is a certain sacredness and religious
character attaching even to the purely
natural union of man and woman, "not
something added by chance but innate,
not imposed by men but involved in the
nature of things," since it has
"God for its author and has been
even from the beginning a foreshadowing
of the Incarnation of the Word of God."[60]
This sacredness of marriage which is
intimately connected with religion and
all that is holy, arises from the divine
origin we have just mentioned, from
its purpose which is the begetting and
education of children for God, and the
binding of man and wife to God through
Christian love and mutual support; and
finally it arises from the very nature
of wedlock, whose institution is to
be sought for in the farseeing Providence
of God, whereby it is the means of transmitting
life, thus making the parents the ministers,
as it were, of the Divine Omnipotence.
To this must be added that new element
of dignity which comes from the sacrament,
by which the Christian marriage is so
ennobled and raised to such a level,
that it appeared to the Apostle as a
great sacrament, honorable in every
way.[61]
81. This religious
character of marriage, its sublime signification
of grace and the union between Christ
and the Church, evidently requires that
those about to marry should show a holy
reverence towards it, and zealously
endeavor to make their marriage approach
as nearly as possible to the archetype
of Christ and the Church.
82. They, therefore,
who rashly and heedlessly contract mixed
marriages, from which the maternal love
and providence of the Church dissuades
her children for very sound reasons,
fail conspicuously in this respect,
sometimes with danger to their eternal
salvation. This attitude of the Church
to mixed marriages appears in many of
her documents, all of which are summed
up in the Code of Canon Law: "Everywhere
and with the greatest strictness the
Church forbids marriages between baptized
persons, one of whom is a Catholic and
the other a member of a schismatical
or heretical sect; and if there is,
add to this, the danger of the falling
away of the Catholic party and the perversion
of the children, such a marriage is
forbidden also by the divine law."[62]
If the Church occasionally on account
of circumstances does not refuse to
grant a dispensation from these strict
laws (provided that the divine law remains
intact and the dangers above mentioned
are provided against by suitable safeguards),
it is unlikely that the Catholic party
will not suffer some detriment from
such a marriage.
83. Whence it comes
about not unfrequently, as experience
shows, that deplorable defections from
religion occur among the offspring,
or at least a headlong descent into
that religious indifference which is
closely allied to impiety. There is
this also to be considered that in these
mixed marriages it becomes much more
difficult to imitate by a lively conformity
of spirit the mystery of which We have
spoken, namely that close union between
Christ and His Church.
84. Assuredly, also,
will there be wanting that close union
of spirit which as it is the sign and
mark of the Church of Christ, so also
should be the sign of Christian wedlock,
its glory and adornment. For, where
there exists diversity of mind, truth
and feeling, the bond of union of mind
and heart is wont to be broken, or at
least weakened. From this comes the
danger lest the love of man and wife
grow cold and the peace and happiness
of family life, resting as it does on
the union of hearts, be destroyed. Many
centuries ago indeed, the old Roman
law had proclaimed: "Marriages
are the union of male and female, a
sharing of life and the communication
of divine and human rights."[63]
But especially, as We have pointed out,
Venerable Brethren, the daily increasing
facility of divorce is an obstacle to
the restoration of marriage to that
state of perfection which the divine
Redeemer willed it should possess.
85. The advocates
of the neo-paganism of today have learned
nothing from the sad state of affairs,
but instead, day by day, more and more
vehemently, they continue by legislation
to attack the indissolubility of the
marriage bond, proclaiming that the
lawfulness of divorce must be recognized,
and that the antiquated laws should
give place to a new and more humane
legislation. Many and varied are the
grounds put forward for divorce, some
arising from the wickedness and the
guilt of the persons concerned, others
arising from the circumstances of the
case; the former they describe as subjective,
the latter as objective; in a word,
whatever might make married life hard
or unpleasant. They strive to prove
their contentions regarding these grounds
for the divorce legislation they would
bring about, by various arguments. Thus,
in the first place, they maintain that
it is for the good of either party that
the one who is innocent should have
the right to separate from the guilty,
or that the guilty should be withdrawn
from a union which is unpleasing to
him and against his will. In the second
place, they argue, the good of the child
demands this, for either it will be
deprived of a proper education or the
natural fruits of it, and will too easily
be affected by the discords and shortcomings
of the parents, and drawn from the path
of virtue. And thirdly the common good
of society requires that these marriages
should be completely dissolved, which
are now incapable of producing their
natural results, and that legal reparations
should be allowed when crimes are to
be feared as the result of the common
habitation and intercourse of the parties.
This last, they say must be admitted
to avoid the crimes being committed
purposely with a view to obtaining the
desired sentence of divorce for which
the judge can legally loose the marriage
bond, as also to prevent people from
coming before the courts when it is
obvious from the state of the case that
they are lying and perjuring themselves,--all
of which brings the court and the lawful
authority into contempt. Hence the civil
laws, in their opinion, have to be reformed
to meet these new requirements, to suit
the changes of the times and the changes
in men's opinions, civil institutions
and customs. Each of these reasons is
considered by them as conclusive, so
that all taken together offer a clear
proof of the necessity of granting divorce
in certain cases.
86. Others, taking
a step further, simply state that marriage,
being a private contract, is, like other
private contracts, to be left to the
consent and good pleasure of both parties,
and so can be dissolved for any reason
whatsoever.
87. Opposed to all
these reckless opinions, Venerable Brethren,
stands the unalterable law of God, fully
confirmed by Christ, a law that can
never be deprived of its force by the
decrees of men, the ideas of a people
or the will of any legislator: "What
God hath joined together, let no man
put asunder."[64] And if any man,
acting contrary to this law, shall have
put asunder, his action is null and
void, and the consequence remains, as
Christ Himself has explicitly confirmed:
"Everyone that putteth away his
wife and marrieth another, committeth
adultery: and he that marrieth her that
is put away from her husband committeth
adultery."[65] Moreover, these
words refer to every kind of marriage,
even that which is natural and legitimate
only; for, as has already been observed,
that indissolubility by which the loosening
of the bond is once and for all removed
from the whim of the parties and from
every secular power, is a property of
every true marriage.
88. Let that solemn
pronouncement of the Council of Trent
be recalled to mind in which, under
the stigma of anathema, it condemned
these errors: "If anyone should
say that on account of heresy or the
hardships of cohabitation or a deliberate
abuse of one party by the other the
marriage tie may be loosened, let him
be anathema;"[66] and again: "If
anyone should say that the Church errs
in having taught or in teaching that,
according to the teaching of the Gospel
and the Apostles, the bond of marriage
cannot be loosed because of the sin
of adultery of either party; or that
neither party, even though he be innocent,
having given no cause for the sin of
adultery, can contract another marriage
during the lifetime of the other; and
that he commits adultery who marries
another after putting away his adulterous
wife, and likewise that she commits
adultery who puts away her husband and
marries another: let him be anathemae."[67]
89. If therefore the
Church has not erred and does not err
in teaching this, and consequently it
is certain that the bond of marriage
cannot be loosed even on account of
the sin of adultery, it is evident that
all the other weaker excuses that can
be, and are usually brought forward,
are of no value whatsoever. And the
objections brought against the firmness
of the marriage bond are easily answered.
For, in certain circumstances, imperfect
separation of the parties is allowed,
the bond not being severed. This separation,
which the Church herself permits, and
expressly mentions in her Canon Law
in those canons which deal with the
separation of the parties as to marital
relationship and co-habitation, removes
all the alleged inconveniences and dangers.[68]
It will be for the sacred law and, to
some extent, also the civil law, in
so far as civil matters are affected,
to lay down the grounds, the conditions,
the method and precautions to be taken
in a case of this kind in order to safeguard
the education of the children and the
well-being of the family, and to remove
all those evils which threaten the married
persons, the children and the State.
Now all those arguments that are brought
forward to prove the indissolubility
of the marriage tie, arguments which
have already been touched upon, can
equally be applied to excluding not
only the necessity of divorce, but even
the power to grant it; while for all
the advantages that can be put forward
for the former, there can be adduced
as many disadvantages and evils which
are a formidable menace to the whole
of human society.
90. To revert again
to the expression of Our predecessor,
it is hardly necessary to point out
what an amount of good is involved in
the absolute indissolubility of wedlock
and what a train of evils follows upon
divorce. Whenever the marriage bond
remains intact, then we find marriages
contracted with a sense of safety and
security, while, when separations are
considered and the dangers of divorce
are present, the marriage contract itself
becomes insecure, or at least gives
ground for anxiety and surprises. On
the one hand we see a wonderful strengthening
of goodwill and cooperation in the daily
life of husband and wife, while, on
the other, both of these are miserably
weakened by the presence of a facility
for divorce. Here we have at a very
opportune moment a source of help by
which both parties are enabled to preserve
their purity and loyalty; there we find
harmful inducements to unfaithfulness.
On this side we find the birth of children
and their tuition and upbringing effectively
promoted, many avenues of discord closed
amongst families and relations, and
the beginnings of rivalry and jealousy
easily suppressed; on that, very great
obstacles to the birth and rearing of
children and their education, and many
occasions of quarrels, and seeds of
jealousy sown everywhere. Finally, but
especially, the dignity and position
of women in civil and domestic society
is reinstated by the former; while by
the latter it is shamefully lowered
and the danger is incurred "of
their being considered outcasts, slaves
of the lust of men."[69]
91. To conclude with
the important words of Leo XIII, since
the destruction of family life "and
the loss of national wealth is brought
about more by the corruption of morals
than by anything else, it is easily
seen that divorce, which is born of
the perverted morals of a people, and
leads, as experiment shows, to vicious
habits in public and private life, is
particularly opposed to the well-being
of the family and of the State. The
serious nature of these evils will be
the more clearly recognized, when we
remember that, once divorce has been
allowed, there will be no sufficient
means of keeping it in check within
any definite bounds. Great is the force
of example, greater still that of lust;
and with such incitements it cannot
but happen that divorce and its consequent
setting loose of the passions should
spread daily and attack the souls of
many like a contagious disease or a
river bursting its banks and flooding
the land."[70]
92. Thus, as we read
in the same letter, "unless things
change, the human family and State have
every reason to fear lest they should
suffer absolute ruin."[71] All
this was written fifty years ago, yet
it is confirmed by the daily increasing
corruption of morals and the unheard
of degradation of the family in those
lands where Communism reigns unchecked.
93. Thus far, Venerable
Brethren, We have admired with due reverence
what the all wise Creator and Redeemer
of the human race has ordained with
regard to human marriage; at the same
time we have expressed Our grief that
such a pious ordinance of the divine
Goodness should to-day, and on every
side, be frustrated and trampled upon
by the passions, errors and vices of
men.
94. It is then fitting
that, with all fatherly solicitude,
We should turn Our mind to seek out
suitable remedies whereby those most
detestable abuses which We have mentioned,
may be removed, and everywhere marriage
may again be revealed. To this end,
it behooves Us, above all else, to call
to mind that firmly established principle,
esteemed alike in sound philosophy and
sacred theology: namely, that whatever
things have deviated from their right
order, cannot he brought back to that
original state which is in harmony with
their nature except by a return to the
divine plan which, as the Angelic Doctor
teaches,[72] is the exemplar of all
right order.
95. Wherefore, Our
predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII,
attacked the doctrine of the naturalists
in these words: "It is a divinely
appointed law that whatsoever things
are constituted by God, the Author of
nature, these we find the more useful
and salutary, the more they remain in
their natural state, unimpaired and
unchanged; inasmuch as God, the Creator
of all things, intimately knows what
is suited to the constitution and the
preservation of each, and by his will
and mind has so ordained all this that
each may duly achieve its purpose. But
if the boldness and wickedness of men
change and disturb this order of things,
so providentially disposed, then, indeed,
things so wonderfully ordained, will
begin to be injurious, or will cease
to be beneficial, either because, in
the change, they have lost their power
to benefit, or because God Himself is
thus pleased to draw down chastisement
on the pride and presumption of men."[73]
96. In order, therefore,
to restore due order in this matter
of marriage, it is necessary that all
should bear in mind what is the divine
plan and strive to conform to it.
97. Wherefore, since
the chief obstacle to this study is
the power of unbridled lust, which indeed
is the most potent cause of sinning
against the sacred laws of matrimony,
and since man cannot hold in check his
passions, unless he first subject himself
to God, this must be his primary endeavor,
in accordance with the plan divinely
ordained. For it is a sacred ordinance
that whoever shall have first subjected
himself to God will, by the aid of divine
grace, be glad to subject to himself
his own passions and concupiscence;
while he who is a rebel against God
will, to his sorrow, experience within
himself the violent rebellion of his
worst passions.
98. And how wisely
this has been decreed St. Augustine
thus shows: "This indeed is fitting,
that the lower be subject to the higher,
so that he who would have subject to
himself whatever is below him, should
himself submit to whatever is above
him. Acknowledge order, seek peace.
Be thou subject to God, and thy flesh
subject to thee. What more fitting!
What more fair! Thou art subject to
the higher and the lower is subject
to thee. Do thou serve Him who made
thee, so that that which was made for
thee may serve thee. For we do not commend
this order, namely, 'The flesh to thee
and thou to God,' but 'Thou to God,
and the flesh to thee.' If, however,
thou despisest the subjection of thyself
to God, thou shalt never bring about
the subjection of the flesh to thyself.
If thou dost not obey the Lord, thou
shalt be tormented by thy servant."[74]
This right ordering on the part of God's
wisdom is mentioned by the holy Doctor
of the Gentiles, inspired by the Holy
Ghost, for in speaking of those ancient
philosophers who refused to adore and
reverence Him whom they knew to be the
Creator of the universe, he says: "Wherefore
God gave them up to the desires of their
heart, unto uncleanness, to dishonor
their own bodies among themselves;"
and again: "For this same God delivered
them up to shameful affections."[75]
And St. James says: "God resisteth
the proud and giveth grace to the humble,"[76]
without which grace, as the same Doctor
of the Gentiles reminds us, man cannot
subdue the rebellion of his flesh.[77]
99. Consequently,
as the onslaughts of these uncontrolled
passions cannot in any way be lessened,
unless the spirit first shows a humble
compliance of duty and reverence towards
its Maker, it is above all and before
all needful that those who are joined
in the bond of sacred wedlock should
be wholly imbued with a profound and
genuine sense of duty towards God, which
will shape their whole lives, and fill
their minds and wills with a very deep
reverence for the majesty of God.
100. Quite fittingly,
therefore, and quite in accordance with
the defined norm of Christian sentiment,
do those pastors of souls act who, to
prevent married people from failing
in the observance of God's law, urge
them to perform their duty and exercise
their religion so that they should give
themselves to God, continually ask for
His divine assistance, frequent the
sacraments, and always nourish and preserve
a loyal and thoroughly sincere devotion
to God.
101. They are greatly
deceived who having underestimated or
neglected these means which rise above
nature, think that they can induce men
by the use and discovery of the natural
sciences, such as those of biology,
the science of heredity, and the like,
to curb their carnal desires. We do
not say this in order to belittle those
natural means which are not dishonest;
for God is the Author of nature as well
as of grace, and He has disposed the
good things of both orders for the beneficial
use of men. The faithful, therefore,
can and ought to be assisted also by
natural means. But they are mistaken
who think that these means are able
to establish chastity in the nuptial
union, or that they are more effective
than supernatural grace.
102. This conformity
of wedlock and moral conduct with the
divine laws respective of marriage,
without which its effective restoration
cannot be brought about, supposes, however,
that all can discern readily, with real
certainty, and without any accompanying
error, what those laws are. But everyone
can see to how many fallacies an avenue
would be opened up and how many errors
would become mixed with the truth, if
it were left solely to the light of
reason of each to find it out, or if
it were to be discovered by the private
interpretation of the truth which is
revealed. And if this is applicable
to many other truths of the moral order,
we must all the more pay attention to
those things, which appertain to marriage
where the inordinate desire for pleasure
can attack frail human nature and easily
deceive it and lead it astray; this
is all the more true of the observance
of the divine law, which demands sometimes
hard and repeated sacrifices, for which,
as experience points out, a weak man
can find so many excuses for avoiding
the fulfillment of the divine law.
103. On this account,
in order that no falsification or corruption
of the divine law but a true genuine
knowledge of it may enlighten the minds
of men and guide their conduct, it is
necessary that a filial and humble obedience
towards the Church should be combined
with devotedness to God and the desire
of submitting to Him. For Christ Himself
made the Church the teacher of truth
in those things also which concern the
right regulation of moral conduct, even
though some knowledge of the same is
not beyond human reason. For just as
God, in the case of the natural truths
of religion and morals, added revelation
to the light of reason so that what
is right and true, "in the present
state also of the human race may be
known readily with real certainty without
any admixture of error,"[78] so
for the same purpose he has constituted
the Church the guardian and the teacher
of the whole of the truth concerning
religion and moral conduct; to her therefore
should the faithful show obedience and
subject their minds and hearts so as
to be kept unharmed and free from error
and moral corruption, and so that they
shall not deprive themselves of that
assistance given by God with such liberal
bounty, they ought to show this due
obedience not only when the Church defines
something with solemn judgment, but
also, in proper proportion, when by
the constitutions and decrees of the
Holy See, opinions are prescribed and
condemned as dangerous or distorted.[79]
104. Wherefore, let
the faithful also be on their guard
against the overrated independence of
private judgment and that false autonomy
of human reason. For it is quite foreign
to everyone bearing the name of a Christian
to trust his own mental powers with
such pride as to agree only with those
things which he can examine from their
inner nature, and to imagine that the
Church, sent by God to teach and guide
all nations, is not conversant with
present affairs and circumstances; or
even that they must obey only in those
matters which she has decreed by solemn
definition as though her other decisions
might be presumed to be false or putting
forward insufficient motive for truth
and honesty. Quite to the contrary,
a characteristic of all true followers
of Christ, lettered or unlettered, is
to suffer themselves to be guided and
led in all things that touch upon faith
or morals by the Holy Church of God
through its Supreme Pastor the Roman
Pontiff, who is himself guided by Jesus
Christ Our Lord.
105. Consequently,
since everything must be referred to
the law and mind of God, in order to
bring about the universal and permanent
restoration of marriage, it is indeed
of the utmost importance that the faithful
should be well instructed concerning
matrimony; both by word of mouth and
by the written word, not cursorily but
often and fully, by means of plain and
weighty arguments, so that these truths
will strike the intellect and will be
deeply engraved on their hearts. Let
them realize and diligently reflect
upon the great wisdom, kindness and
bounty God has shown towards the human
race, not only by the institution of
marriage, but also, and quite as much,
by upholding it with sacred laws; still
more, in wonderfully raising it to the
dignity of a Sacrament by which such
an abundant fountain of graces has been
opened to those joined in Christian
wedlock, that these may be able to serve
the noble purposes of wedlock for their
own welfare and for that of their children,
of the community and also for that of
human relationship.
106. Certainly, if
the latter day subverters of marriage
are entirely devoted to misleading the
minds of men and corrupting their hearts,
to making a mockery of matrimonial purity
and extolling the filthiest of vices
by means of books and pamphlets and
other innumerable methods, much more
ought you, Venerable Brethren, whom
"the Holy Ghost has placed as bishops,
to rule the Church of God, which He
hath purchased with His own blood,"[80]
to give yourselves wholly to this, that
through yourselves and through the priests
subject to you, and, moreover, through
the laity welded together by Catholic
Action, so much desired and recommended
by Us. into a power of hierarchical
apostolate, you may, by every fitting
means, oppose error by truth, vice by
the excellent dignity of chastity, the
slavery of covetousness by the liberty
of the sons of God,[81] that disastrous
ease in obtaining divorce by an enduring
love in the bond of marriage and by
the inviolate pledge of fidelity given
even to death.
107. Thus will it
come to pass that the faithful will
wholeheartedly thank God that they are
bound together by His command and led
by gentle compulsion to fly as far as
possible from every kind of idolatry
of the flesh and from the base slavery
of the passions. They will, in a great
measure, turn and be turned away from
these abominable opinions which to the
dishonor of man's dignity are now spread
about in speech and in writing and collected
under the title of "perfect marriage"
and which indeed would make that perfect
marriage nothing better than "depraved
marriage," as it has been rightly
and truly called.
108. Such wholesome
instruction and religious training in
regard to Christian marriage will be
quite different from that exaggerated
physiological education by means of
which, in these times of ours, some
reformers of married life make pretense
of helping those joined in wedlock,
laying much stress on these physiological
matters, in which is learned rather
the art of sinning in a subtle way than
the virtue of living chastely.
109. So, Venerable
Brethren, we make entirely Our own the
words which Our predecessor of happy
memory, Leo Xlll, in his encyclical
letter on Christian marriage addressed
to the bishops of the whole world: "Take
care not to spare your efforts and authority
in bringing about that among the people
committed to your guidance that doctrine
may be preserved whole and unadulterated
which Christ the Lord and the apostles,
the interpreters of the divine will,
have handed down, and which the Catholic
Church herself has religiously preserved,
and commanded to be observed by the
faithful of every age."[82]
110. Even the very
best instruction given by the Church,
however, will not alone suffice to bring
about once more conformity of marriage
to the law of God; something more is
needed in addition to the education
of the mind, namely a steadfast determination
of the will, on the part of husband
and wife, to observe the sacred laws
of God and of nature in regard to marriage.
In fine, in spite of what others may
wish to assert and spread abroad by
word of mouth or in writing, let husband
and wife resolve: to stand fast to the
commandments of God in all things that
matrimony demands; always to render
to each other the assistance of mutual
love; to preserve the honor of chastity;
not to lay profane hands on the stable
nature of the bond; to use the rights
given them by marriage in a way that
will be always Christian and sacred,
more especially in the first years of
wedlock, so that should there be need
of continency afterwards, custom will
have made it easier for each to preserve
it. In order that they may make this
firm resolution, keep it and put it
into practice, an oft-repeated consideration
of their state of life, and a diligent
reflection on the sacrament they have
received, will be of great assistance
to them. Let them constantly keep in
mind, that they have been sanctified
and strengthened for the duties and
for the dignity of their state by a
special sacrament, the efficacious power
of which, although it does not impress
a character, is undying. To this purpose
we may ponder over the words full of
real comfort of holy Cardinal Robert
Bellarmine, who with other well-known
theologians with devout conviction thus
expresses himself: "The sacrament
of matrimony can be regarded in two
ways: first, in the making, and then
in its permanent state. For it is a
sacrament like to that of the Eucharist,
which not only when it is being conferred,
but also whilst it remains, is a sacrament;
for as long as the married parties are
alive, so long is their union a sacrament
of Christ and the Church."[83]
111. Yet in order
that the grace of this sacrament may
produce its full fruit, there is need,
as we have already pointed out, of the
cooperation of the married parties;
which consists in their striving to
fulfill their duties to the best of
their ability and with unwearied effort.
For just as in the natural order men
must apply the powers given them by
God with their own toil and diligence
that these may exercise their full vigor,
failing which, no profit is gained,
so also men must diligently and unceasingly
use the powers given them by the grace
which is laid up in the soul by this
sacrament. Let not, then, those who
are joined in matrimony neglect the
grace of the sacrament which is in them;[84]
for, in applying themselves to the careful
observance, however laborious, of their
duties they will find the power of that
grace becoming more effectual as time
goes on. And if ever they should feel
themselves to be overburdened by the
hardships of their condition of life,
let them not lose courage, but rather
let them regard in some measure as addressed
to them that which St. Paul the Apostle
wrote to his beloved disciple Timothy
regarding the sacrament of holy Orders
when the disciple was dejected through
hardship and insults: "I admonish
thee that thou stir up the grace which
is in thee by the imposition of my hands.
For God hath not given us the spirit
of fear; but of power, and of love,
and of sobriety."[85]
112. All these things,
however, Venerable Brethren, depend
in large measure on the due preparation
remote and proximate, of the parties
for marriage. For it cannot be denied
that the basis of a happy wedlock, and
the ruin of an unhappy one, is prepared
and set in the souls of boys and girls
during the period of childhood and adolescence.
There is danger that those who before
marriage sought in all things what is
theirs, who indulged even their impure
desires, will be in the married state
what they were before, that they will
reap that which they have sown;[86]
indeed, within the home there will be
sadness, lamentation, mutual contempt,
strifes, estrangements, weariness of
common life, and, worst of all, such
parties will find themselves left alone
with their own unconquered passions.
113. Let then, those
who are about to enter on married life,
approach that state well disposed and
well prepared, so that they will be
able, as far as they can, to help each
other in sustaining the vicissitudes
of life, and yet more in attending to
their eternal salvation and in forming
the inner man unto the fullness of the
age of Christ.[87] It will also help
them, if they behave towards their cherished
offspring as God wills: that is, that
the father be truly a father, and the
mother truly a mother; through their
devout love and unwearying care, the
home, though it suffer the want and
hardship of this valley of tears, may
become for the children in its own way
a foretaste of that paradise of delight
in which the Creator placed the first
men of the human race. Thus will they
be able to bring up their children as
perfect men and perfect Christians;
they will instill into them a sound
understanding of the Catholic Church,
and will give them such a disposition
and love for their fatherland as duty
and gratitude demand.
114. Consequently,
both those who are now thinking of entering
upon this sacred married state, as well
as those who have the charge of educating
Christian youth, should, with due regard
to the future, prepare that which is
good, obviate that which is bad, and
recall those points about which We have
already spoken in Our encyclical letter
concerning education: "The inclinations
of the will, if they are bad, must be
repressed from childhood, but such as
are good must be fostered, and the mind,
particularly of children, should be
imbued with doctrines which begin with
God, while the heart should be strengthened
with the aids of divine grace, in the
absence of which, no one can curb evil
desires, nor can his discipline and
formation be brought to complete perfection
by the Church. For Christ has provided
her with heavenly doctrines and divine
sacraments, that He might make her an
effectual teacher of men."[88]
115. To the proximate
preparation of a good married life belongs
very specially the care in choosing
a partner; on that depends a great deal
whether the forthcoming marriage will
be happy or not, since one may be to
the other either a great help in leading
a Christian life, or, a great danger
and hindrance. And so that they may
not deplore for the rest of their lives
the sorrows arising from an indiscreet
marriage, those about to enter into
wedlock should carefully deliberate
in choosing the person with whom henceforward
they must live continually: they should,
in so deliberating, keep before their
minds the thought first of God and of
the true religion of Christ, then of
themselves, of their partner, of the
children to come, as also of human and
civil society, for which wedlock is
a fountain head. Let them diligently
pray for divine help, so that they make
their choice in accordance with Christian
prudence, not indeed led by the blind
and unrestrained impulse of lust, nor
by any desire of riches or other base
influence, but by a true and noble love
and by a sincere affection for the future
partner; and then let them strive in
their married life for those ends for
which the State was constituted by God.
Lastly, let them not omit to ask the
prudent advice of their parents with
regard to the partner, and let them
regard this advice in no light manner,
in order that by their mature knowledge
and experience of human affairs, they
may guard against a disastrous choice,
and, on the threshold of matrimony,
may receive more abundantly the divine
blessing of the fourth commandment:
"Honor thy father and thy mother
(which is the first commandment with
a promise) that it may be well with
thee and thou mayest be long-lived upon
the earth."[89]
116. Now since it
is no rare thing to find that the perfect
observance of God's commands and conjugal
integrity encounter difficulties by
reason of the fact that the man and
wife are in straitened circumstances,
their necessities must be relieved as
far as possible.
117. And so, in the
first place, every effort must be made
to bring about that which Our predecessor
Leo Xlll, of happy memory, has already
insisted upon,[90] namely, that in the
State such economic and social methods
should be adopted as will enable every
head of a family to earn as much as,
according to his station in life, is
necessary for himself, his wife, and
for the rearing of his children, for
"the laborer is worthy of his hire."[91]
To deny this, or to make light of what
is equitable, is a grave injustice and
is placed among the greatest sins by
Holy Writ;[92] nor is it lawful to fix
such a scanty wage as will be insufficient
for the upkeep of the family in the
circumstances in which it is placed.
118. Care, however,
must be taken that the parties themselves,
for a considerable time before entering
upon married life, should strive to
dispose of, or at least to diminish,
the material obstacles in their way.
The manner in which this may be done
effectively and honestly must be pointed
out by those who are experienced. Provision
must be made also, in the case of those
who are not self-supporting, for joint
aid by private or public guilds.[93]
119. When these means
which We have pointed out do not fulfill
the needs, particularly of a larger
or poorer family, Christian charity
towards our neighbor absolutely demands
that those things which are lacking
to the needy should be provided; hence
it is incumbent on the rich to help
the poor, so that, having an abundance
of this world's goods, they may not
expend them fruitlessly or completely
squander them, but employ them for the
support and well-being of those who
lack the necessities of life. They who
give of their substance to Christ in
the person of His poor will receive
from the Lord a most bountiful reward
when He shall come to judge the world;
they who act to the contrary will pay
the penalty.[94] Not in vain does the
Apostle warn us: "He that hath
the substance of this world and shall
see his brother in need, and shall shut
up his bowels from him: how doth the
charity of God abide in him?"[95]
120. If, however,
for this purpose, private resources
do not suffice, it is the duty of the
public authority to supply for the insufficient
forces of individual effort, particularly
in a matter which is of such importance
to the common weal, touching as it does
the maintenance of the family and married
people. If families, particularly those
in which there are many children, have
not suitable dwellings; if the husband
cannot find employment and means of
livelihood; if the necessities of life
cannot be purchased except at exorbitant
prices; if even the mother of the family
to the great harm of the home, is compelled
to go forth and seek a living by her
own labor; if she, too, in the ordinary
or even extraordinary labors of childbirth,
is deprived of proper food, medicine,
and the assistance of a skilled physician,
it is patent to all to what an extent
married people may lose heart, and how
home life and the observance of God's
commands are rendered difficult for
them; indeed it is obvious how great
a peril can arise to the public security
and to the welfare and very life of
civil society itself when such men are
reduced to that condition of desperation
that, having nothing which they fear
to lose, they are emboldened to hope
for chance advantage from the upheaval
of the state and of established order.
121. Wherefore, those
who have the care of the State and of
the public good cannot neglect the needs
of married people and their families,
without bringing great harm upon the
State and on the common welfare. Hence,
in making the laws and in disposing
of public funds they must do their utmost
to relieve the needs of the poor, considering
such a task as one of the most important
of their administrative duties.
122. We are sorry
to note that not infrequently nowadays
it happens that through a certain inversion
of the true order of things, ready and
bountiful assistance is provided for
the unmarried mother and her illegitimate
offspring (who, of course must be helped
in order to avoid a greater evil) which
is denied to legitimate mothers or given
sparingly or almost grudgingly.
123. But not only
in regard to temporal goods, Venerable
Brethren, is it the concern of the public
authority to make proper provision for
matrimony and the family, but also in
other things which concern the good
of souls. just laws must be made for
the protection of chastity, for reciprocal
conjugal aid, and for similar purposes,
and these must be faithfully enforced,
because, as history testifies, the prosperity
of the State and the temporal happiness
of its citizens cannot remain safe and
sound where the foundation on which
they are established, which is the moral
order, is weakened and where the very
fountainhead from which the State draws
its life, namely, wedlock and the family,
is obstructed by the vices of its citizens.
124. For the preservation
of the moral order neither the laws
and sanctions of the temporal power
are sufficient, nor is the beauty of
virtue and the expounding of its necessity.
Religious authority must enter in to
enlighten the mind, to direct the will,
and to strengthen human frailty by the
assistance of divine grace. Such an
authority is found nowhere save in the
Church instituted by Christ the Lord.
Hence We earnestly exhort in the Lord
all those who hold the reins of power
that they establish and maintain firmly
harmony and friendship with this Church
of Christ so that through the united
activity and energy of both powers the
tremendous evils, fruits of those wanton
liberties which assail both marriage
and the family and are a menace to both
Church and State, may be effectively
frustrated.
125. Governments can
assist the Church greatly in the execution
of its important office, if, in laying
down their ordinances, they take account
of what is prescribed by divine and
ecclesiastical law, and if penalties
are fixed for offenders. For as it is,
there are those who think that whatever
is permitted by the laws of the State,
or at least is not punished by them,
is allowed also in the moral order,
and, because they neither fear God nor
see any reason to fear the laws of man,
they act even against their conscience,
thus often bringing ruin upon themselves
and upon many others. There will be
no peril to or lessening of the rights
and integrity of the State from its
association with the Church. Such suspicion
and fear is empty and groundless, as
Leo Xlll has already so clearly set
forth: "It is generally agreed,"
he says, "that the Founder of the
Church, Jesus Christ, wished the spiritual
power to be distinct from the civil,
and each to be free and unhampered in
doing its own work, not forgetting,
however, that it is expedient to both,
and in the interest of everybody, that
there be a harmonious relationship.
. . If the civil power combines in a
friendly manner with the spiritual power
of the Church, it necessarily follows
that both parties will greatly benefit.
The dignity of the State will be enhanced,
and with religion as its guide, there
will never be a rule that is not just;
while for the Church there will be at
hand a safeguard and defense which will
operate to the public good of the faithful."[96]
126. To bring forward
a recent and clear example of what is
meant, it has happened quite in consonance
with right order and entirely according
to the law of Christ, that in the solemn
Convention happily entered into between
the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy,
also in matrimonial affairs a peaceful
settlement and friendly cooperation
has been obtained, such as befitted
the glorious history of the Italian
people and its ancient and sacred traditions.
These decrees, are to be found in the
Lateran Pact: "The Italian State,
desirous of restoring to the institution
of matrimony, which is the basis of
the family, that dignity conformable
to the traditions of its people, assigns
as civil effects of the sacrament of
matrimony all that is attributed to
it in Canon Law."[97] To this fundamental
norm are added further clauses in the
common pact.
127. This might well
be a striking example to all of how,
even in this our own day (in which,
sad to say, the absolute separation
of the civil power from the Church,
and indeed from every religion, is so
often taught), the one supreme authority
can be united and associated with the
other without detriment to the rights
and supreme power of either thus protecting
Christian parents from pernicious evils
and menacing ruin.
128. All these things
which, Venerable Brethren, prompted
by Our past solicitude We put before
you, We wish according to the norm of
Christian prudence to be promulgated
widely among all Our beloved children
committed to your care as members of
the great family of Christ, that all
may be thoroughly acquainted with sound
teaching concerning marriage, so that
they may be ever on their guard against
the dangers advocated by the teachers
of error, and most of all, that "denying
ungodliness and worldly desires, they
may live soberly and justly, and godly
in this world, looking for the blessed
hope and coming of the glory of the
great God and Our Savior Jesus Christ."[98]
129. May the Father,
"of whom all paternity in heaven
and earth is named,"[99] Who strengthens
the weak and gives courage to the pusillanimous
and fainthearted; and Christ Our Lord
and Redeemer, "the Institutor and
Perfecter of the holy sacraments,"[100]
Who desired marriage to be and made
it the mystical image of His own ineffable
union with the Church; and the Holy
Ghost, Love of God, the Light of hearts
and the Strength of the mind, grant
that all will perceive, will admit with
a ready will, and by the grace of God
will put into practice, what We by this
letter have expounded concerning the
holy Sacrament of Matrimony, the wonderful
law and will of God respecting it, the
errors and impending dangers, and the
remedies with which they can be counteracted,
so that that fruitfulness dedicated
to God will flourish again vigorously
in Christian wedlock.
130. We most humbly
pour forth Our earnest prayer at the
Throne of His Grace, that God, the Author
of all graces, the inspirer of all good
desires and deeds,[101] may bring this
about, and deign to give it bountifully
according to the greatness of His liberality
and omnipotence, and as a token of the
abundant blessing of the same Omnipotent
God, We most lovingly grant to you,
Venerable Brethren, and to the clergy
and people committed to your watchful
care, the Apostolic Benediction.
Given at Rome, in Saint Peter's, this
31st day of December, of the year 1930,
the ninth of Our Pontificate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ENDNOTES
1. Encycl. Arcanum
divinae sapientiae, 10 Febr. 1880.
2. Gen., 1, 27-28;
II, 22-23; Matth., XIX, 3 sqq.; Eph.,
V, 23 sqq .
3. Conc. Trid., Sess.
XXIV.
4. Cod. iur. can.,
c. 1081 p 2.
5. Cod. iur. can.,
c. 1081 p 1.
6. S. Thom Aquin.,
Summa theol., p. III Supplem 9
7. Encycl. Rerum novarum,
15 May 1891.
8. Gen., 1, 28.
9. Encycl. Ad salutem,
20 April 1930
10. St. August., De
bono coniug., cap. 24, n. 32.
11. St. August., De
Gen. ad litt., lib. IX, cap. 7, n. 12.
12. Gen., 1, 28.
13. I Tim., V, 14.
14. St. August., De
bono coniug., cap. 24 n. 32.
15. I Cor., ll, 9
16. Eph., II, 19.
17. John, XVl, 21.
18. Encycl. Divini
illius Magistri, 31 Dec. 1929.
19. St. August., De
Gen. ad litt., lib. IX, cap. 7, n. 12.
20. Cod. iur. can.,
c. 1013 p 7.
21. Conc. Trid., Sess.
XXIV.
22. Matth., V, 28.
23. Decr. S. Officii,
2 March 1679, propos. 50.
24. Eph., V, 25; Col.,
III, 19.
25. Catech. Rom.,
II, cap. Vlll q. 24.
26. St Greg the Great,
Homii. XXX in Evang (John XIV,23-31),n.1.
27. Matth., XXII,
40.
28. I Cor., Vll, 3.
29. Eph., V, 22-23.
30. Encycl. Arcanum
divinae sapientiae, 10 Febr. 1880.
31. Matth., XIX, 6.
32. Luke, XVI, 18.
33. St. August., De
Gen. ad litt. Iib. IX, cap. 7, n. 12.
34. Pius Vl, Rescript.
ad Episc. Agriens., 11 July 1789.
35. Eph., V, 32.
36. St. August., De
nupt. et concup., lib. 1, cap. 10.
37. I Cor., Xlll,
8.
38. Conc. Trid., Sess.
XXIV.
39. Conc. Trid. Sess.,
XXIV.
40. Cod. iur. can.,
c. 1012.
41. St. August., De
nupt. et concup., lib. 1, cap. 10.
42. Matth., Xlll,
25.
43. II Tim., IV, 2-5.
44. Eph., V, 3.
45. St. August., De
coniug. adult., lib. II, n. 12, Gen,
XXXVlll, 8-10.
46. Matth., XV, 14.
47. Luke, Vl, 38.
48. Conc. Trid., Sess.
Vl, cap. 11.
49. Const. Apost.
Cum occasione, 31 May 1653, prop. 1.
50. Exod., XX, 13;
cfr. Decr. S. Offic. 4 May 1897, 24
July 1895; 3I May 1884.
51. St. August., De
nupt. et concupisc., cap. XV.
52. Rom., III, 8.
53. Gen., IV, 10.
54. Summ. theol.,
2a 2ae, q. 108 a 4 ad 2um.
55. Exod., XX, 14.
56. Matth., V, 28.
57. Hebr., Xlll, 8.
58. Matth., V, 18.
59. Matth., Vll. 27.
60. Leo Xlll, Encycl.
Arcanum, 10 Febr. 1880.
61. Eph., V, 32: Hebr.
Xlll, 4.
62. Cod. iur. can.,
c. 1060.
63. Modestinus, in
Dig. (Lib. XXIII, II: De ritu nuptiarum),
lib. 1, Regularum.
64. Matth., XIX, 6.
65. Luke, XVI, 18.
66. Conc. Trid., Sess.
XXIV, cap. 5
67. Conc. Trid., Sess.
XXIV, cap. 7
68. Cod. iur. can.,
c. 1128 sqq.
69. Leo Xlll, Encycl.
Arcanum divinae sapientiae 10 Febr.
1880.
70. Encycl. Arcanum,
10 Febr. 1880.
71. Encycl. Arcanum,
10 Febr. 1880.
72. St. Thom. of Aquin,
Summ theolog., la 2ae, q. 91, a. I-2
.
73. Encycl. Arcanum
divinae sapientiae, 10 Febr. 1880. 74.
St. August., Enarrat. in Ps. 143.
75. Rom. 1, 24, 26.
76. James IV, 6.
77. Rom., Vll, Vlll.
78. Conc. Vat., Sess.
III, cap. 2.
79. Conc. Vat., Sess.
III, cap. 4; Cod. iur. can., c. 1324.
80. Acta, XX, 28.
81. John, Vlll, 32
sqq.; Gal., V, 13.
82. Encycl. Arcanum.
10 Febr. 1880.
83. St. Rob. Bellarmin.,
De controversiis, tom. III, De Matr.,
controvers. II, cap. 6.
84. I Tim.,IV,14.
85. II Tim., 1, 6-7.
86. Gal., Vl. 9.
87. Eph., IV, 13.
88. Encycl. Divini
illius Magistri, 31 Dec. 1929.
89. Eph., Vl, 2-3;
Exod., XX, 12.
90. Encycl. Rerum
novarum, 15 May 1891.
91. Luke, X, 7.
92. Deut. XXIV, 14,
15.
93. Leo Xlll, Encycl.
Rerum novarum, 15 May 1891.
94. Matth., XXV, 34
sqq.
95. I John, III, 17.
96. Encycl. Arcanum
divinae sapientiae, 10 Febr. 1880.
97. Concord., art.
34; Act. Apost. Sed., XXI (1929), pag.
290.
98. Tit., II, 12-13.
99. Eph., I III, 15.
100. Conc. Trid.,
Sess. XXIV.
101. Phil., II, 13.
