Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/369



THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH. 363

But, as We have already said, ^the^ apostolic mission was

,.not destined to die with the apostles themselve^, or to~ come to an end in the course of time, since it was intended for the people at large and instituted for the salvation of

.the human ra^ce. For Christ commanded His apostles to preach the "Gospel to every creature, to carry His name to nations and kings, and to be witnesses to Him to the ends of the earth." He further promised to assist them in the fulfilment of their high mission, and that, not for a few years or centuries only, but for all time â€” "even to the consummation of the world." Upon which St. Jerome Bays: "He who promises to remain with His disciples to the end of the world declares that they will be forever victorious, and that He will never depart from those who beUeve in Him." ^ But how could all this be realized in the apostles alone, placed as they were under the universal law of dissolution by death? It was consequently pro- vided by God that the Magisterium instituted by Jesus Christ should not end with the life of the apostles, but that it should be perpetuated. We see it in truth propa- gated, and, as it were, delivered from hand to hand. For the apostles consecrated bishops, and each one ap- pointed those who were to succeed them immediately "in the ministry' of the Word."

Nay more: they hkewise required t heir successors to

^ choose fitting men, to endow them with like authority, and to confideTothem the office and m-ission of teaching. Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus: and the things which thou hast heard of me by many witnesses, the same command to faithful men, who shall be fit to teach others also."^ Wherefore, as Christ was sent by God and the apostles by Christ, so the bishops ^

^and~tHose~who succeeded them were sent by the apostles. "The apostles were appointed by Christ to preach the Gospel to us. Jesus Christ was sent by God. Christ is


 * In Matt., lib. iv., cap. 28, v. 20. Â» 2 Tim. ii. 1, 2.