Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/357



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 351

was bought by Jesus Christ) but some lesser trouble and labor, let them clearly understand that this burden has been laid on them not by the will of man but by the will and command of God. They may thus, by the help of heavenly grace, realize and feel the truth of the divine saying, My yoke is sweet and My burden light} ' â€” "

Wherefore, having put all Oiu* hope in the Father of lights, from whom cometh every best gift and every perfect gift ^ â€” from Him, namely, who alone gives the increase ^ â€” We earnestly pray that He will graciously grant Us the power of bringing conviction home to the minds of men.

Although God can do by His owti power all that is effected by created natures.-nevertheless in the counsels of His loving pro\ddence He(has preferred to help men by the instrumentality of menS And, as in the natural order He does not usually give fuD perfection except by means of man's work and actions so also He makes use of human aid for that which lies beyond the limits of nature; that is to say, for the sanctification and salvation of souls. But Ut is obvious that nothing can be communicated amongst men save by means of external things which the senses can preceive. For this reason the Son of God assumed human nature â€” who being in the form of Goaj . . . emptied Hirn- self, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of a man * â€” and thus living on earth He taught His doc- trine and gave His laws, conversing with men.

And since it was necessary that His divine mission should be prepetuated to the end of time. He took to Himself (disciples,/ trained by Himself, and made them (partakers of His own authority^ And, when He had mvoked upon them from heaven the Spirit of Truth, He bade them go through the whole world and faithfully preach to all nations what He had taught and what He had commanded, so that by the profession of His doctrine, and the observance of His laws, the human race might

Â» Matt. xi. 30. 2 James i. 17. ^1 Cor. iii. 6. â– â€¢ Philipp. ii. 6, 7.