Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/563



REVIEW OF HIS PONTIFICATE. 557

never rise â€” a heavenly mission in the pursuit of which the Church could not fail to be opposed by the countless passions begotten of man's primal fall and consequent corruption â€” pride, cupidity, unbridled desire of material pleasures; against all the vices and disorders springing from those poisonous roots the Church has ever been the most potent means of restraint. Nor should we be as- tonished at the persecutions which have arisen, in con- sequence, since the divine Master foretold them, and they must continue as long as this world endures. What words did He address to His disciples when sending them to carry the treasure of His doctrines to all nations? They are familiar to us all: "You will be persecuted from city to city: you will be hated and despised for My Name's sake : you will be dragged before the tribunals, and con- demned to extreme punishment." And wishing to en- courage them for the hour of trial, He proposed Himself as their example: // the world hate you, know ye that it hath hated Me before you}

Certainly, no one who takes a just and unbiassed view of things can explain the motive of this hatred. What offence was ever committed, what hostility deserved by the di- vine Redeemer? Having come down am.ongst men through an impulse of divine charity. He had taught a doctrine that was blameless, consoling, most efficacious to unite mankind in a brotherhood of peace and love ; He had coveted neither earthly greatness nor honor; He had usurped no one's right; on the contrary, He was full of pity for the weak, the sick, the poor, the sinner, and the oppressed: hence His life was but a passage to distribute with munificent hand His benefits amongst men. We must acknowledge, in consequence, that it was simply by an excess of human malice, so much the more deplorable because unjust, that, nevertheless. He became, in truth, according to the prophecy of Simeon, "a sign to be contradicted."

What wonder, then, if the Catholic Church, which

Â» St. John XV. 18.