Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/396



390 THE UNITY OF THE CHURCH.

bride, two in one flesh. All who dissenj, from the Scrip- tures concerning Christ, although they may be found m all places in which the Church is found, are not in.the^Church; and again all those who agree with the Scriptures con- cerning the Head, and do not communicate in the unity of the Church, are not in the Church." *

And with the same yearning Our soul goes out to those whom the foul breath of irreligion has not entirely cor- rupted, and who at least seek to have the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, as their Father. Let such as these take counsel with themselves, and realize that they â– J can in no wise be counted among the children of God, jinless they take Christ Jesus as their Brother, and at the same time the Church as their Mother. We lovingly ad- dress to all the words of St. Augustine: "Let us love the Lord our God: let us love His Church; the Lord as our Father, the Church as our Mother. Let no one say, I go indeed to idols, I consult fortune-tellers and soothsayers; but I leave not the Church of God: I am a Catholic. Clinging to thy Mother, thou offendest thy Father. An- other, too, says: 'Far be it from me; I do not consult fortune-telling, I seek not soothsaying, I seek not pro- fane divinations, I go not to the worship of devils, I serve not stones: but I am on the side of Donatus.' What doth it profit thee not to offend the Father, who avenges an offence against the Mother? What doth it profit to confess the Lord, to honor God, to preach Him, to ac- knowledge His Son, and to confess that He sits on the right hand of the Father, if you blaspheme His Church? ... If you had a beneficent friend, whom you honored daily â€” and even once calumniated his spouse, would you ever enter his house? Hold fast, therefore, O dearly beloved, hold fast altogether God as your Father, and the Church as your Mother.'

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Eccl., cap. iv., n. 7.
 * S. Aiigustinus, Contra Donatistag Epistola, sive De Unit.

' Enarratio in Psal. Ixxxviii,, sermo ii., n. 14.