Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/178



172 THE RIGHT ORDERING OF CHRISTIAN LIFE.

the soul must be strengthened against the dangerous snare of wealth, lest, in striving after what are called the good things of life, which cannot satisfy and soon fade away, the soul should lose the treasure in heaven which faileth not. Finally, it is a further matter of deep grief that free thought and evil example have had such an influence in enfeebling the minds of men as to make many ashamed of the name of Christian â€” a shame which is the sign either of hopeless wickedness or of extreme cowardice. Each of these is detestable, and each injuri- ous in the extreme. For what salvation remaii:is for men, or on what hope can they rely, if they cease to glory in the name of Jesus Christ, if they openly and constantly refuse to live by the precepts of the Gospel? It is a com- mon complaint that the age is barren of courageous men. Bring back into vogue a Christian rule of life and the minds of men will forthwith regain their strength and constancy.

But man's power of itself is not equal to the responsi- bility of so many and such various duties. As we must ask of God our daily bread for the sustenance of the body, so must we pray to Him for strength of soul that we may be sustained in virtue. Hence that universal condition and law of our life, which We have said is a perpetual warfare, brings with it the necessity of prayer to God. For, as is well and gracefully said by St. Augustine, devout prayer passes beyond the world's space and calls down the mercy of God from heaven. In order to con- quer the assaults of our passions and the snares of the devil, lest we be led into evil, we are commanded to seek the divine help in the words. Pray that ye enter not into temptation} How much more is this necessary if we wish to labor profitably for the salvation of others also! Christ our Lord, the only-begotten Son of God, the source of all grace and virtue, first showed by example what He taught in word : He passed the whole nigJit in the prayer of

â€¢Matt, xx^^. 41.