Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/189



CHIEF DUTIES OF CHRISTIANS AS CITIZENS. 183

tized shall he saved; but he that believeth not, shall be coiv- demned} But the man who has embraced the Christian faith, as in duty bound, is by that very fact a subject of the Church as one of the children born of her, and becomes a member of that greatest and hoUest body, which it is the special charge of the Roman Pontiff to rule with supreme power, under its invisible head, Jesus Christ. Now, if the natural law enjoins us to love devotedly and to defend the country in which we had birth, and in which we were brought up, so that every good citizen hesitates not to face death for his native land, very much more is it the urgent duty of Christians to be ever quickened by like feelings towards the Church, For the Church is the holy city of the hving God, born of God Himself, and by Him built up and estabhshed. Upon this earth indeed she accomplishes her pilgrimage, but by instructing and guiding men, she summons them to eternal happiness. We are bound, then, to love dearly the country whence we have received the means of enjoyment this mortal life affords, but we have a much more urgent obligation to love, with ardent love, the Church to which we owe the life of the soul, a life that will endure for ever. For fitting it is to prefer the good of the soul to the well-being of the body, inasmuch as duties toward God are of a far more hallowed character than those toward men.

Moreover, if we would judge aright, the supernatural love for the Church and the natural love of our own coimtry proceed from the same eternal principle, since_ God hlmseif is their Author and originating Cause. Con- sequently it follows that between the duties they respect- ively enjoin, neither can come into collision with the other. We can, cert,ainly, and should love ourselves, bear our- selves kindly towards our fellow-men, nourish affection! for the State and the governing powers; but at the samen time we can and must cherish towards the Church a feeling

Â» Mark xvi, 16.