Message From Pope Pius X
One could be excused for thinking that the following message was written today, when in fact, it was written in a Encyclical Letter by
Pope Pius X, on July 3, 1907, a century ago under the Title: "On The Doctrine Of The Modernists."
"Pope Pius X (Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto) was born on June 2, 1835, in Venice. He was the 259th Pope and was canonized St. Pius X, May 29, 1954. Two of the most outstanding accomplishments of this saintly Pope were the inauguration of the liturgical renewal and the restoration of frequent communion from childhood. He also waged an unwavering war against the heresy and evils of Modernism, gave great motivation to Biblical studies, and brought about the codification of canon law. His overriding concern was to renew all things in Christ. Above all, his holiness shone forth clearly. From St. Pius X, we learn that 'The folly of the Cross,' simplicity of life, and humility of heart are still the highest wisdom and the indispensable condition of a perfect Christian life, for they are the very source of all apostolic fruitfulness.
His last will and testament bears the striking sentence: "I was born poor, I have lived in poverty, and I wish to die poor.'"
(Lives of the Saints)
"We would act without delay in this matter which is made imperative especially by the fact that the partisans of error are to be sought not only among the Church's open enemies; but, that is to be most dreaded and deplored, in her very bosom, and are the more mischievous the less they keep in the open.
"We allude, Venerable Brethren, to many who belong to the Catholic laity, and, what is much more sad, to the ranks of the priesthood itself, who, animated by a false zeal for the Church, lacking the solid safeguards of philosophy and theology, nay more, thoroughly imbued with the poisonous doctrines taught by the enemies of the Church, and lost to all sense of modesty, put themselves forward as reformers of the Church, and, forming more boldly into line of attack, assail all that is most sacred in the work of Christ, not sparing even the Person of the Divine Redeemer, whom, with sacrilegious audacity, they degrade to the condition of a simple and ordinary man.
"Although they express their astonishment that We should number them amongst the enemies of the Church, no one will be reasonably surprised that We should do so, if, leaving out of account the internal disposition of the soul, of which God alone is the Judge, he considers their tenets, their manner of speech, and their action. Nor would he be wrong in regarding them as the most pernicious of all the adversaries of the Church. For, as We have said, they put into operation their designs for her undoing, not from without but from within. Hence, the danger is present almost in the very veins and heart of the Church, whose injury is the more certain from the very fact that their knowledge of her is more intimate.
"Moreover, they lay the ax not to the branches and shoots, but to the very root, that is, to the faith and its deepest fibers. And once having struck at this root of immortality, they proceed to diffuse poison through the whole tree, so that there is no part of Catholic Truth which they leave untouched, none that they do not strive to corrupt. Further, none is more skillful, none more astute that they, in the employment of thousand noxious devices for they play the double part of rationalist and Catholic, and this so craftily that they easily lead the unwary into error; and as audacity is their chief characteristic, there is no conclusion of any kind from which they shrink or which they do not thrust forward with pertinacity and assurance. To this must be added the fact, which indeed is well calculated to deceive souls, that they lead a life of the greatest activity, of assiduous and ardent application to every branch of learning, and that they possess, as a rule, reputation for irreproachable morality.
"Finally, there is the fact which is all but fatal to the hope of cure that their very doctrines have given such a bent to their minds, that they disdain all authority and brook no restraint, and relying upon a false conscience, they attempt to ascribe to a love of truth that which in reality is the result of pride and obstinacy."
Source: Pope Pius X, on the Doctrine of the Modernists. (Page 7-8-9)
"I believe in the Holy Catholic Church; The Communion of Saints."
The Importance of this article.
With what great diligence pastors ought to explain to the faithful the Truth of this Ninth Article will be easily seen, if we attend chiefly to two considerations.
First, as St. Augustine observes, the Prophets spoke more plainly and openly of the Church than of Christ, foreseeing that on this a much greater number may err and be deceived than on the mystery of the Incarnation. For in after ages there would not be wanting wicked men who, like the ape that would fain pass for a man, would claim that they alone were Catholics, and with no less impiety than effrontery assert that with them alone is the Catholic Church.
The second consideration is that he whose mind is strongly impressed with the truth taught in this Article, will easily escape the awful danger of heresy. For a person is not to be called a heretic as soon as he shall have offended in matters of faith; but he is a heretic who, having disregarded the authority of the Church, maintains impious opinions with pertinacity. Since, therefore, it is impossible that anyone be infected with the contagion of heresy, so long as he holds what this Article proposes to be believed, Let pastors use every diligence that the faithful, having known this mystery and guarded against the wiles of Satan, may persevere in the true faith.
Source: Catechism of Trent.