Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/469



CHRIST OUR REDEEMER. 463

more than anything else the restoration among the nations of the Christian spirit and the virtues of former days. It is a calamity that so many turn a deaf ear and hear not the admonition conveyed by such a reawakening of piety. If they "knew the gift of God," if the)^ considered that nothing more miserable could happen to them than to have revolted against the Liberator of the world and to have abandoned the law and the life of Christianity, they would surely rouse themselves and hasten of their own accord to turn and flee from the destruction most certainly impending over them.

To uphold on earth and to extend the empire of the Son of God and to promote the salvation of men by the dissemination of divine benefits is so greatly and so pecuharly the office of the Church that her authority and power rests mainly on the performance of this task. To this end We trust We have labored to the best of Our abiUty in the difficult and anxious administration of Our Pontificate; while it is your ordinary and, indeed, daily practice. Venerable Brethren, to give especial thought and care in the same work. But both you and We ought, in these times, to make still greater efforts, and in particu- lar on the occasion of the Jubilee, to endeavor to spread more widely the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, by teaching, persuading, and exhorting, if perchance Our voice may be heard, not only by those who are accustomed to hear Christian doctrine attentively, but also by the unhappy remainder, who, while nominally Christian, pass their lives \\athout either faith in Christ or love for Him. For these especially We grieve; and these, in particular. We would fain have consider both what they are doing and whither they are sure to go unless they repent in time.

Never to have known Jesus Christ in any way is the greatest of misfortunes, but it involves no perversity or ingratitude. But, after having known, to reject or forget Him, is such a horrible and mad crime as to be scarcely credible. For He is the origin and source of all good,