Page:The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII.djvu/582



576 REVIEW OF HIS PONTIFICATE.

As for Us, We never weary as often as the occasion presents itself to inculcate these great truths, and We desire to do so once again and in a very explicit manner on this extraordinary occasion. May God grant that the faithful will take courage from what We say and be guided to unite their efforts more efficaciously for the common good; that they may be more enlightened and that Our adversaries may understand the injustice which they commit in persecuting the most loving mother and the most faithful benefactress of humanity.

We would not wish that the remembrance of these afflictions should diminish in the souls of the faithful that full and entire confidence which they ought to have in the divine assistance. For God, in His own hour and in His mysterious ways, will bring about a certain victory. As for Us, no matter how great the sadness which fills Our heart, We do not fear for the immortal destiny of the Church. As We have said in the beginning, perse- cution is its heritage, because in trying and in purifying its children, God thereby obtains for them greater and more precious advantages. And in permitting the Church to undergo these trials He manifests the divine assistance which He bestows upon it, for He provides new and un- looked-for means of assuring the support and the develop- ment of His work, while reveahng the futiUty of the powers which are leagued against it. Nineteen centuries of a life passed in the midst of the ebb and flow of all human vicissitudes teach us that the storms pass by with- out ever affecting the foundations of the Church. We are able all the more to remain unshaken in this confidence, as the present time affords indications which forbid de- pression. We cannot deny that the difficulties that con- front us are extraordinary and formidable, but there are also facts before our eyes which give evidence, at the same time, that God is fulfilling His promises with admirable wisdom and goodness.

While so many powers conspire against the Church and