SAINT MARY'S COLLEGE LIBRARY

V/F T=>OP^

ENCYCLICAL

Casti Connubii

With

Discussion Club Outline

By

Rev. Gerald C. Trcacy, S.J.



Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2016

https://archive.org/details/onchristianmarricath



C^liridtian W.

by

ujri'iu^e

POPE PIUS XI

with Discussion Club Outline

by

Reverend Gerald C. Treacy, SJ.

THE PAULIST PRESS
(Paulist Fathers)

401 West 59th Street

New York 19, N. Y.



For Discussion Club Outline

Imprimi Potest:

James P. Sweeney, SJ.

Provincial, Maryland-New York.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED IN THE U. S. A.

BY THE PAULIST PRESS, NEW YORK 19, N. Y.



CASTI CONNUBII

ENCYCLICAL LETTER

To Our Venerable Brethren, Patriarchs, Primates,

Archbishops, Bishops, and Other Local Ordinaries

Enjoying Peace and Communion with the Apostolic See

ON CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE

In View of the Present Conditions, Needs, Errors and

Vices That Affect the Family and Society

POPE PIUS XI

Venerable Brethren and Beloved Children

Health and Apostolic Benediction

1. HOW great is the dignity of chaste wedlock, Ven-
erable Brethren, may be judged best from this that

Qirist Our Lord, Son of the Eternal Father, having

Assumed the nature of fallen man, not only, with His

loving desire of compassing the redemption of our race,

ordained it in an especial iganner as the principle and

foundation of domesfi^^socieS^y. and therefore of all

human intercourse
,
but also raised it to the rank of a truly

and great sacrament of the New Law, restored it to the

original purity of its divine institution, and accordingly

entrusted all its discipline and care to His spouse the

Church.

2. In order, however, that amongst men of every

nation and every age the desired fruits may be obtained

from this renewal of matrimony, it is necessary, first of

all, that men’s minds be illuminated with the true doc-

Copyright, 1941, by The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle

in the State of New York.

— 1 —



trine of Christ regarding it; and secondly, that Christian

spouses, the weakness of their wills strengthened by the

internal grace of God, shape up all their ways of thinking

and of acting in conformity with that pure law of Christ

so as to obtain true peace and happiness for themselves

and for their families.

3. Yet not only do We, looking with paternal bye on

the universal world from this Apostolic See as from a

watchtower, but you also. Venerable Brethren, see, and

seeing deeply grieve with Us that a great number of men,

forgetful of that divine work of redemption, either en-

tirely ignore or shamelessly deny the great sanctity of

Christian wedlock, or relying on the false principles of

a new and utterly perverse morality, too often trample it

under foot. And since these most pernicious errors and

depraved morals have begun to spread even amongst the

faithful and are gradually gaining ground in Our office

as Christ’s Vicar upon earth and Supreme Shepherd and

Teacher We consider it Our duty to raise Our voice to
keep the flock committed to Our care from poisoned

pastures and, as far as in Us lies, to preserve it from

harm.

4. We have decided therefore to speak to you. Vener-

able Brethren, and through you to the whole Church of

Christ and indeed to the whole human race, on the nature

and dignity of Christian marriage, on the advantages and

benefits which accrue from it to the family and to human

society itself, on the errors contrary to this most impor-

tant point of the Gospel teaching, on the vices opposed

to conjugal union, and lastly on the principal remedies

to be applied. In so doing We follow the footsteps of Our

Predecessor, Leo XIII, of happy memory, whose Encyc-

lical Arcanum,^ published fifty years ago. We hereby

— 2—



confirm and make Our own, and while We wish to ex-

pound more fully certain points called for by the circum-

stances of our times, nevertheless We declare that, far

from being obsolete, it retains its full force at the present

day.

Divine Institution of Matrimony

5. And to begin with that same Encyclical, which is

wholly concerned in vindicating the divine institution of

matrimony, its sacramental dignity, and its perpetual

stability, let it be repeated as an immutable and invi-

olable fundamental doctrine that matrimony was-^t

instituted or restored by man but bv God: not by man
were the laws made to strengthen and confirm and ele-

vate it but by God, the Author of nature, and by Christ

Our Lord by Whom nature was redeemed, and hence
these laws cannot be subject to any human decrees or to

any contrary pact even of the spouses themselves. This

is the doctrine of Holy Scripture; ^ this is the constant

tradition of the Universal Church; this the solemn defini-

tion of the sacred Council of Trent, which declares and

establishes from the words of Holy Writ itself that God

is the Author of the perpetual stability of the marriage

bond, its unity and its firmness.^

Nature of the Contract

6 . Yet, although matrimony is of its very nature of

divine institution, the human will, too, enters it and

performs a most noble part. For each individual mar-

riage, inasmuch as it is a conjugal union of a particular

man and woman, arises only from the free consent of

each of the spouses; and this free act of the will, by

which each party hands over and accepts those rights

— 3—



proper to the state of marriage,^ is so necessary to con-

stitute true marriage that it cannot be supplied by any

human power. ^ This freedom, however, regards only the

question whether the contracting parties really wish to

enter upon matrimony or to marry this particular person;

but the nature of matrimony is entirely independent of

the free will of man, so that if one has once contracted

matrimony he is thereby subject to its divinely made

laws and its essential properties. For the Angelic Doctor,

writing on conjugal honor and on the offspring which

is the fruit of marriage says: “These things are so con-

tained in matrimony by the marriage pact itself that, if

anything to the contrary were expressed in the consent

which makes the marriage, it would not be a true

marriage.”
®

7. By matrimony, therefore, the souls of the con-

tracting parties are joined and knit together more directly

and more intimately than are their bodies, and that not

by any passing affection of sense or spirit, but by a

deliberate and firm act of the will; and from this union

of souls by God’s decree, a sacred and inviolable bond

arises. Hence the nature of this contract, which is proper

and peculiar to it alone, makes it entirely different both

from the union of animals entered into by the blind

instinct of nature alone in which neither reason nor free

will plays a part, and also from the haphazard unions

of will and enjoy none of the rights of family life.

8. From this it is clear that legitimately constituted

authority has the right and therefore the duty to restrict,

to prevent, and to punish those base unions which are

opposed to reason and to nature; but since it is a matter

which flows from human nature itself, no less certain is

the teaching of Our Predecessor, Leo XIII, of happy

— 4—



memory: ^ “In choosing a state of life there is no doubt

but that it is in the power and discretion of each one to

prefer one or the other: either to embrace the counsel of

virginity given by Jesus Christ, or to bind himself in the

bonds of matrimony. To take away from man the nat-

ural and primeval right of marriage, to circumscribe in

any way the principal ends of marriage laid down in the

beginning by God Himself in the words ‘Increase and

multiply,’ ® is beyond the power of any human law.”

9. Therefore the sacred partnership of true marriage

is constituted both by the will of God and the will of

man. From God comes the very institution of marriage,

the ends for which it was instituted, the laws that gov-

ern it, the blessings that flow from it; while man, through

generous surrender of his own person made to another

for the whole span of life, becomes, with the help and

co-operation of God, the author of each particular mar-

riage, with the duties and blessings annexed thereto from

divine institution.

/

Blessings of Matrimony

10. Now when We come to explain. Venerable
Brethren, what are the blessings that God has attached

to true matrimony, and how great they are, there occur

to Us the words of that illustrious Doctor of the Church

whom We commemorated recently in Our Encyclical
Ad salutem on the occasion of the fifteenth centenary

of his death:
^

“These,” says St. Augustine, “are all the

blessings of matrimony on account of which matrimony

itself is a blessing; offspring, conjugal faith and the

sacrament.” And how under these three heads is con-

— 5—



tained a splendid summary of the whole doctrine of

Christian marriage, the holy Doctor himself expressly

declares when he said: “By conjugal faith it is provided

that there should be no carnal intercourse outside the

marriage bond with another man or woman; with regard

to offspring, that children should be begotten of love,

tenderly cared for and educated in a religious atmos-

phere; finally, in its sacramental aspect that the marriage

bond should not be broken and that a husband or wife,

if separated should not be joined to another even for the

sake of offspring. This we regard as the law of marriage

by which the fruitfulness of nature is adorned and the

evil of incontinence is restrained.”

/
' The Child

11. Thus amongst the blessings of marriage, the child

holds the first place. And indeed the Creator of the

human race Himself, Who in His goodness wished to
use men as His helpers in the propagation of life, taught

this when, instituting marriage in Paradise, He said to

our first parents, and through them to all future spouses:

“Increase and multiply, and fill the earth.” As St.

Augustine admirably deduces from the words of the holy

Apostle Saint Paul to Timothy^^ when he says: “The

Apostle himself is therefore a witness that marriage is

for the sake of generation: T wish,’ he says, ‘young girls

to marry.’ And, as if some one said to him, ‘Why?,’ he

immediately adds: ‘To bear children, to be mothers of

families.’
”

12. How great a boom of God this is, and how great

a blessing of matrimony is clear from a consideration of

man’s dignity and of his sublime end. For man surpasses

all other visible creatures by the superiority of his ra-

— 6—



tional nature alone. Besides, God wishes men to be born

not only that they should live and fill the earth, but much

more that they may be worshipers of God, that they may

know Him and love Him and finally enjoy Him forever

in heaven; and this end, since man is raised by God in a

^
marvelous way to the supernatural order, surpasses all

that eye hath seen, and ear heard, and all that hath en-

tered into the heart of man.^^ From which it is easily

seen how great a gift of divine goodness and how remark-

able a fruit of marriage are children born by the omnipo-

tent power of God through the co-operation of those

bound in wedlock.

13. But Christian parents must also understand that

they are destined not only to propagate and preserve

the human race on earth, indeed, not only to educate any

kind of worshipers of the true God, but children who are

to become members of the Church of Christ, to raise up

fellow citizens of the Saints, and members of God’s

household,^® that the worshipers of God and Our Savior

may daily increase.

14. For, although Christian spouses even if sanctified

themselves cannot transmit sanctification to their prog-

eny, nay, although the very natural process of generating

life has become the way of death by which original sin

is passed on to posterity, nevertheless, they share to

some extent in the blessings of that primeval marriage

of Paradise, since it is theirs to offer their offspring to the

Church in order that by this most fruitful Mother of the

children of God they may be regenerated through the

laver of Baptism unto supernatural justice and finally be

made living members of Christ, partakers of immortal

life, and heirs of that eternal glory to which we all

aspire from our inmost heart.

— 7—



15. If a true Christian mother weigh well these

things, she will indeed understand with a sense of deep

consolation that of her the words of Our Saviour were

spoken: “A woman . . . when she hath brought forth the

child remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a

man is born into the world”; and proving herself su-

perior to all the pains and cares and solicitudes of her

maternal office with a more just and holy joy than that

of the Roman matron, the mother of the Gracchi, she

will rejoice in the Lord crowned as it were with the

glory of her offspring. Both husband and wife, however,

receiving these children with joy and gratitude from the

hand of God, will regard them as a talent committed to

their charge by God, not only to be employed for their

own advantage or for that of an earthly commonwealth,

but to be restored to God with interest on the day of

reckoning.

Education of Children

16. The blessing of offspring, however, is not com-

pleted by the mere begetting of them, but something else

must be added, namely the proper education of the off-

spring. For the most wise God would have failed to

make sufficient provision for children that had been

born, and so for the whole human race, if He had not

given to those to whom He had entrusted the power and

right to beget them, the power also and the right to edu-

cate them. For no one can fail to see that children are

incapable of providing wholly for themselves, even in

matters pertaining to their natural life, and much less in

those pertaining to the supernatural, but require for

many years to be helped, instructed, and educated by

others. Now it is certain that both by the law of nature

— 8—



and of God this right and duty of educating their off-

spring belongs in the first place to those who began the

work of nature by giving them birth, and they are indeed

forbidden to leave unfinished this work and so expose it

to certain ruin. But in matrimony provision has been

made in the best possible way for this education of chil-

dren that is so necessary, for, since the parents are bound

together by an indissoluble bond, the care and mutual

help of each is always at hand.

17. Since, however. We have spoken fully elsewhere

on the Christian education of youth,^® let Us sum it all

up by quoting once more the words of St. Augustine:

“As regards the offspring it is provided that they should

be begotten lovingly and educated religiously,” —and
this is also expressed succinctly in the Code of Canon

Law
—

“The primary end of marriage is the procreation

and the education of children.”

18. Nor must We omit to remark, in fine, that since
the duty entrusted to parents for the good of their chil-

dren is of such high dignity and of such great importance,

every use of the faculty given by God for the procreation

of new life is the right and the privilege of the married

state alone, by the law of God and of nature, and must

be confined absolutely within the sacred limits of that

state.

-5 , Conjugal Fidelity

19.

The second blessing of matrimony which We said
was mentioned by St. Augustine, is the blessing of con-

jugal honor which consists in the mutual fidelity of the

spouses in fulfilling the marriage contract, so that what

belongs to one of the parties by reason of this contract

sanctioned by divine law, may not be denied to him or

— 9—



permitted to any third person; nor may there be conceded

to one of the parties anything which, being contrary to

the rights and laws of God and entirely opposed to mat-

rimonial faith, can never be conceded.

20. Wherefore, conjugal faith, or honor, demands in

the first place the complete unity of matrimony which

the Creator Himself laid down in the beginning when He

wished it to be not otherwise than between one man and

one woman. And, although afterward this primeval

law, was relaxed to some extent by God, the Supreme

Legislator, there is no doubt that the law of the Gospel

fully restored that original and perfect unity, and abro-

gated all dispensations as the words of Christ and the

constant teaching and action of the Church show plainly.

With reason, therefore, does the sacred Council of

Trent solemnly declare: “Christ Our Lord very clearly

taught that in this bond two persons only are to be

united and joined together when He said: ‘Therefore

they are no longer two, but one flesh
’ ”

21. Nor did Christ Our Lord wisn only to condemn

any form of polygamy or polyandry, as they are called,

whether successive or simultaneous, and every other

external dishonorable act, but, in order that the sacred

bonds of marriage may be guarded absolutely inviolate,

He forbade also even willful thoughts and desires of such

like things: “But I say to you, that whosoever shall look

on a woman to lust after her hath already committed

adultery with her in his heart.” Which words of Christ

Our Lord cannot be annulled even by the consent of one

of the partners of marriage for they express a law of

God and of nature which no will of man can break or

bend.^^

22. Nay, that mutual familiar intercourse between the

— 10—



spouses themselves, if the blessing of conjugal faith is

to shine with becoming splendor, must be distinguished

by chastity so that husband and wife bear themselves in

all things with the law of God and of nature, and en-

deavor always to follow the will of their most wise and

holy Creator with the greatest reverence toward the work

of God.

Mutual Love

23. This conjugal faith, however, which is most aptly

called by St. Augustine the “faith of chastity” blooms

more freely, more beautifully and more nobly, when it

is rooted in that more excellent soil, the love of husband

and wife which pervades all the duties of married life

and holds pride of place in Christian marriage. For

matrimonial faith demands that husband and wife be

joined in an especially holy and pure love, not as adul-

terers love each other, but as Christ loved the Church.

This precept the Apostle laid down when he said:

“Husbands, love your wives as Christ also loved the

Church.” that Church which of a truth He embraced

with a boundless love not for the sake of His own advan-

tage, but seeking only the good of His Spouse.^® The

love, then, of which We are speaking is not that based
on the passing lust of the moment nor does it consist

in pleasing words only, but in the deep attachment of

the heart which is expressed in action, since love is

proved by deeds.^® This outward expression of love in

the home demands not only mutual help but must go

further; must have as its primary purpose that man and

wife help each other day by day in forming and perfect-

ing themselves in the interior life, so that through their

partnership in life they may advance ever more and

— 11—



more in virtue, and above all that they may grow in

true love toward God and their neighbor, on which

indeed “dependeth the whole Law and the Prophets.”

For all men of every condition in whatever honorable

walk of life they may be, can and ought to imitate that

most perfect example of holiness placed before man by

God, namely Christ Our Lord, and by God’s grace to

arrive at the summit of perfection, as is proved by the

example set us of many saints.

24. This mutual inward moulding of husband and

wife, this determined effort to perfect each other, can

in a very real sense, as the Roman Catechism teaches,

be said to be the chief reason and purpose of matrimony,

provided matrimony be looked at not in the restricted

sense as instituted for the proper conception and educa-

tion of the child, but more widely as the blending of life

as a whole and the mutual interchange and sharing

thereof.

25. By this same love it is necessary that all the other

rights and duties of the marriage state be regulated as

the words of the Apostle: “Let the husband render the

debt to the wife and the wife also in like manner to the

husband.” express not only a law of justice but of

charity.

26. Domestic society being confirmed, therefore, by

this bond of love, there should flourish in it that “order

of love,” as St. Augustine calls it. This order includes

both the primacy of the husband with regard to the wife

and children, the ready subjection of the wife and her

willing obedience, which the Apostle commends in these

words: “Let women be subject to their husbands as to

the Lord, because the husband is the head of the wife, as

Christ is the head of the Church.”

— 12—



27. This subjection, however, does not deny or take

away the liberty which fully belongs to the woman both

in view of her dignity as a human person, and in view of

her most noble office as wife and mother and compan-

ion; nor does it bid her obey her husband’s every request

if not in harmony with right reason or with the dignity

due to wife; nor, in fine, does it imply that the wife

should be put on a level with those persons who in law

are called minors, to whom it is not customary to allow

free exercise of their rights on account of their lack of

mature judgment, or of their ignorance of human affairs.

But it forbids that exaggerated liberty which cares not

for the good of the family; it forbids that in this body

which is the family, the heart be separated from the

head to the great detriment of the whole body and the

proximate danger of ruin. For if the man is the head,

the woman is the heart, and as he occupies the chief

place in ruling, so she may and ought to claim for her-

self the chief place in love.

28. Again, this subjection of wife to husband in its

degree and manner may vary according to the different

conditions of persons, place and time. In fact, if the

husband neglect his duty, it falls to the wife to take his

place in directing the family. But the structure of the

family and its fundamental law, established and con-

firmed by God, must always and everywhere be main-

tained intact.

29. With great wisdom Our Predecessor Leo XIII,

of happy memory, in the Encyclical on Christian Mar-

riage which We have already mentioned, speaking of
this order to be maintained between man and wife,

teaches: “The man is the ruler of the family, and the

head of the woman; but because she is flesh of his flesh

— 13 —



and bone of his bone, let her be subject and obedient to

the man, not as a servant but as a companion, so that

nothing be lacking of honor or of dignity in the obedi-

ence which she pays. Let divine charity be the constant

guide of their mutual relations, both in him who rules

and in her who obeys, since each bears the image, the

one of Christ, the other of the Church.”

30. These, then, are the elements which compose

the blessing of conjugal faith: unity, chastity, charity,

honorable noble obedience, which are at the same time

an enumeration of the benefits which are bestowed on

husband and wife in their married state, benefits by

which the peace, and dignity and the happiness of mat-

rimony are securely preserved and fostered. Wherefore

it is not surprising that this conjugal faith has always

been counted amongst the most priceless and special

blessings of matrimony.

/ Indissolubility

31. But this accumulation of benefits is completed

and, as it were crowned by that blessing of Christian

marriage which in the words of St. Augustine we have

called the sacrament, by which is denoted both the indis-

solubility of the bond and the raising and hallowing of

the contract by Christ Himself, whereby He made it an

efficacious sign of grace.

32. In the first place Christ Himself lays stress on

the indissolubility and firmness of the marriage bond

when He says: “What God hath joined together let no

man put asunder.” and: “Everyone that putteth away

his wife and marrieth another committeth adultery, and

he that marrieth her that is put away from her husband

committeth adultery.”

— 14—



33. And St. Augustine clearly places what he calls

the blessing of matrimony in this indissolubility when

he says: “In the sacrament it is provided that the mar-

riage bond should not be broken, and that a husband

or wife, if separated, should not be joined to another

even for the sake of offspring.”

34. And this inviolable stability, although not in the

same perfect measure in every case, belongs to every

true marriage, for the word of the Lord: “What God

hath joined together let no man put asunder,” must of

necessity include all true marriages without exception,

since it was spoken of the marriage of our first parents,

the prototype of every future marriage. Therefore, al-

though before Christ the sublimeness and the severity

of the primeval law was so tempered that Moses per-

mitted to the chosen people of God on account of the

hardness of their hearts that a bill of divorce might be

given in certain circumstances, nevertheless, Christ, by

virtue of His supreme legislative power, recalled this

concession of greater liberty and restored the primeval

law in its integrity by those words which must never be

forgotten, “What God hath joined together let no man

put asunder.” Wherefore, Our Predecessor Pius VI, of

happy memory, writing to the Bishop of Agria, most

wisely said: “Hence it is clear that marriage even in

the state of nature, and certainly long before it was

raised to the dignity of a sacrament, was divinely insti-

tuted in such a way that it should carry with it a per-

petual and indissoluble bond which cannot therefore be

dissolved by any civil law. Therefore, although the sac-

ramental element may be absent from a marriage as is

the case among unbelievers, still in such a marriage,

inasmuch as it is a true marriage there must remain and

— 15 —



indeed there does remain that perpetual bond which by

divine right is so bound up with matrimony from its first

institution that it is not subject to any civil power. And

so, whatever marriage is said to be contracted, either it

is so contracted that it is really a true marriage, in which

case it carries with it that enduring bond which by"di^e

rightjsjnherentimxve^true^narriage; ot4i3^1h

to be contracted without that perpetual bond, and in

that case Ihe^ is no marriage, but an illicit uruon~op-

posed of its very nature to the divine law, which there-

fore cannot be entered into or maintained.”

A Perpetual Bond

35. And if this stability seems to be open to excep-

tion, however rare the exception may be, as in the case

of certain natural marriages between unbelievers, or

amongst Christians in the case of those marriages which

though valid have not been consummated, that exception

does not depend on the will of men nor on that of any

merely human power, but on divine law, of which the

only guardian and interpreter is the Church of Christ.

However, not even this power can ever affect for any

cause whatsoever a Christian marriage which is valid

and has been consummated, for as it is plain that here

the marriage contract has its full completion, so, by the

will of God, there is also the greatest firmness and indis-

solubility which may not be destroyed by any human

authority.

36. If we wish with all reverence to inquire into the

intimate reason of this divine decree. Venerable Breth-

ren, we shall easily see it in the mystical signification of

Christian marriage which is fully and perfectly verified

— 16—



in consummated marriage between Christians. For, as

the Apostle says in his Epistle to the Ephesians,®® the

marriage of Christians recalls that most perfect union

which exists between Christ and the Church: “Sacramen-

tum hoc magnum est, ego autem dico, in Christo et in

ecclesia”; which union, as long as Christ shall live and

the Church through Him, can never be dissolved by any

separation. And this St. Augustine clearly declares in

these words: “This is safeguarded in Christ and the

Church, which, living with Christ Who lives forever,

may never be divorced from Him. The observance of

this sacrament is such in the City of God . . . that is, in

the Church of Christ, that when for the sake of begetting

children, women marry or are taken to wife, it is wrong

to leave a wife that is sterile in order to take another by

whom children may be had. Anyone doing this is guilty

of adultery, just as if he married another, guilty not by

the law of the day, according to which when one’s part-

ner is put away another may be taken, which the Lord

allowed in the law of Moses because of the hardness of

the hearts of the people of Israel; but by the law of the

Gospel.”

Benefits Derived

37. Indeed, how many and how important are the

benefits which flow from the indissolubility of matri-

mony cannot escape anyone who gives even a brief con-

sideration either to the good of the married parties and

the offspring or to the welfare of human society. First of

all, both husband and wife possess a positive guarantee

of the endurance of this stability which that generous

yielding of their persons and the intimate fellowship of

their hearts by their nature strongly require, since true

— 17—



love never falls away.^”^ Besides, a strong bulwark is

set up in defense of a loyal chastity against incitements

to infidelity, should any be encountered either from

within or from without; any anxious fear lest in adver-

sity or old age the other spouse would prove unfaithful

is precluded and in its place there reigns a calm sense of

security. Moreover, the dignity of both man and wife

is maintained and mutual aid is most satisfactorily as-

sured, while through the indissoluble bond, always en-

during, the spouses are warned continuously that not

for the sake of perishable things nor that they may serve

their passions, but that they may procure one for the

other high and lasting good have they entered into the

nuptial partnership, to be dissolved only by death. In

the training and education of children, which must ex-

tend over a period of many years, it plays a great part,

since the grave and long enduring burdens of this office

are best borne by the united efforts of the parents. Nor

do lesser benefits accrue to human society as a whole.

For experience has taught that unassailable stability in

matrimony is a fruitful source of virtuous life and of

habits of integrity. Where this order of things obtains,

the happiness and well-being of the nation is safely

guarded; what the families and individuals are, so also

is the State, for a body is determined by its parts.

Wherefore, both for the private good of husband, wife

and children, as likewise for the public good of human

society, they indeed deserve well who strenuously defend

the inviolable stability of matrimony.

Sacramental Grace

38. But considering the benefits of the sacrament, be-

sides the firmness and indissolubility, there are also much

— 18—



higher emoluments as the word “sacrament” itself very

aptly indicates; for to Christians this is not a meaning-

less and empty name. Christ the Lord, the Institutor

and “Perfector” of the holy sacraments, by raising the

matrimony of His faithful to the dignity of a true sacra-

ment of the New Law, made it a sign and source of that

peculiar internal grace by which “it perfects natural love,

it confirms an indissoluble union, and sanctifies both

man and wife.”

39. AndLsince the valid matrimonial consent among

the faithful was constituted by_Christ as a si^^ of grace,

the sacramental nature is so intimately bound up with

Christian wedlock that there can be no true marriage

between baptized persons “without it being by that very

fact a sacrament.”

40. By the very fact, therefore, that the faithful with

sincere mind give such consent, they open up for them-

selves a treasure of sacramental grace from which they

draw supernatural power for the fulfilling of their rights

and duties faithfully, holily, perseveringly even unto

death. Hence this sacrament not only increases sanctify-

ing grace, the permanent principle of the supernatural

life, in those who, as the expression is, place no obstacle

{obex) in its way, but also adds particular gifts, disposi-

tions, seeds of grace, by elevating and perfecting the

natural powers. By these gifts the parties are assisted not

only in understanding, but in knowing intimately, in

adhering to firmly, in willing effectively, and in success-

fully putting into practice, those things which pertain to

the marriage state, its aims and duties, giving them in

fine right to the actual assistance of grace, whensoever

they need it for fulfilling the duties of their state.

19—



41. Nevertheless, since it is a law of divine Provi-

dence in the supernatural order that men do not reap the

full fruit of the sacraments which receive after acquiring

the use of reason unless they co-operate with grace, the

grace of matrimony will remain for the most part an

unused talent hidden in the field unless the parties exer-

cise these supernatural powers and cultivate and de-

velop the seeds of grace they have received. If, however,

doing all that lies within their power, they co-operate

diligently, they will be able with ease to bear the burdens

of their state and to fulfill their duties. By such a sacra-

ment they will be strengthened, sanctified and in a man-

ner consecrated. For, as St. Augustine teaches, just as

by Baptism and Holy Orders a man is set aside and

assisted either for the duties of Christian life or for the

priestly office and is never deprived of their sacramental

aid, almost in the same way (although not by a sacra-

mental character), the faithful once joined by marriage

ties can never be deprived of the help and the binding

force of the sacrament. Indeed, as the Holy Doctor

adds, even those who commit adultery carry with them

that sacred yoke, although in this case not as a title to

the glory of grace but for the ignominy of their guilty

action, “as the soul by apostasy, withdrawing as it were

from marriage with Christ, even though it may have

lost its faith, does not lose the sacrament of Faith which

it received at the laver of regeneration.”

42. These < parties, let it be noted, not fettered but

adorned by the golden bond of the sacrament, not ham-

pered but assisted, should strive with all their might to

the end that their wedlock, not only through the power

and symbolism of the sacrament, but also through their

— 20—



spirit and manner of life, may be and remain always the

living image of that most fruitful union of Christ with

the Church, which is to be venerated as the sacred token

of most perfect love.

43.

All of these things. Venerable Brethren, you must

consider carefully and ponder over with a lively faith if

you would see in their true light the extraordinary bene-

fits on matrimony— offspring, conjugal faith, and the
sacrament. No one can fail to admire the divine Wis-

dom, Holiness and Goodness which, while respecting

the dignity and happiness of husband and wife, has pro-

vided so bountifully for the conservation and propaga-

tion of the human race by a single, chaste and sacred

fellowship of nuptial union.

//

Modern Fallacies

44. When we consider the great excellence of chaste

wedlock. Venerable Brethren, it appears all the more

regrettable that particularly in our day we should witness

this divine institution often scorned and on every side

degraded.

45. For now, alas, not secretly nor under cover, but

openly, with all sense of shame put aside, now by word

again by writings, by theatrical productions of every

kind, by romantic fiction, by amorous and frivolous

novels, by cinematographs portraying in vivid scene, in

addresses broadcast by radio telephony, in short by all

the inventions of modern science, the sanctity of mar-

riage is trampled upon and derided, divorce, adultery,

all the basest vices either are extolled or at least are de-

— 21—



picted in such colors as to appear to be free of all re-

proach and infamy. Books are not lacking which dare

to pronounce themselves as scientific but which in truth

are merely coated with a veneer of science in order that

they may the more easily insinuate their ideas. The doc-

trines defended in these are offered for sale as the pro-

ductions of modern genius, of that genius namely, which,

anxious only for truth, is considered to have emanci-

pated itself from all those old-fashioned and immature

opinions of the ancients; and to the number of these

antiquated opinions they relegate the traditional doc-

trine of Christian marriage.

46. These thoughts are instilled into men of every

class, rich and poor, masters and workers, lettered and

unlettered, married and single, the godly and godless,

old and young, but for these last, as easiest prey, the

worst snares are laid.

47. Not all the sponsors of these new doctrines are

carried to the extremes of unbridled lust; there are those

who, striving as it were to ride a middle course, believe

nevertheless that something should be conceded in our

times as regards certain precepts of the divine and nat-

ural law. By these likewise, more or less wittingly, are

emissaries of the great enemy who is ever seeking to

sow cockle among the wheat.^^ We, therefore, whom

the Father has appointed over His field. We who are

bound by Our most holy office to take care lest the good

seed be choked by the weeds, believe it fitting to apply

to Ourselves the most grave words of the Holy Ghost

with which the Apostle Paul exhorted his beloved Timo-

thy: “Be thou vigilant . . . Fulfill thy ministry . . .

Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season,

reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine.”

— 22 —



Invention of Man

48. And since, in order that the deceits of the enemy

may be avoided, it is necessary first of all that they be

laid bare; since much is to be gained by denouncing

these fallacies for the sake of the unwary, even though

We prefer not to name these iniquities “as becometh

saints,” yet for the welfare of souls We cannot remain

altogether silent.

49. To begin at the very source of these evils, their

basic principle lies in this, that matrimony is repeatedly

declared to be not instituted by the Author of nature

nor raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a true

sacrament, butinyented by man . Some confidently as-

sert that they have found no evidence for the existence

of matrimony in nature or in her laws, but regard it

merely as the means of producing life and of gratifying

in one way or another a vehement impulse; on the other

hand, others recognize that certain beginnings or, as it

were, seeds of true wedlock are found in the nature of

man since, unless men were bound together by some

form of permanent tie, the dignity of husband and wife

or the natural end of propagating and rearing the off-

spring would not receive satisfactory provision. At the

same time they maintain that in all beyond this germinal

idea of matrimony, through various concurrent causes,

is invented solely by the mind of man, established solely

by his will.

50. How grievously all these err and how shamelessly
they leave the ways of honesty is already evident from

what we have set forth here regarding the origin and

nature of wedlock, its purposes and the good inherent

in it. The evil of this teaching is plainly seen from the

consequences which its advocates deduce from it.

— 23 —



namely, that the laws, institutions and customs by which

wedlock is governed, since they take their origin solely

from the will of man, are subject entirely to him, hence

can and must be founded, changed and abrogated ac-

cording to human caprice and the shifting circumstances

of human affairs; that the generative power which is

grounded in nature itself is more sacred and has wider

range than matrimony—Whence it may be exercised both
outside as well as within the confines of wedlock, and

though the purpose of matrimony be set aside, as though

to suggest that the license of a base fornicating woman

should enjoy the same rights as the chaste motherhood

of a lawfully wedded wife.

Companionate Marriage

5 1 . Armed with these principles, some men go so far

as to concoct new species of unions, suited, as they say,

to the present temper ^of men and the times, which vari-

ous new forms of matrimony they presume to label

“temporary,” “experimental,” and “companionate.”

These offer all the indulgence of matrimony and its rights

without, however, the indissoluble bond, and without off-

spring, unless later the parties alter their cohabitation

into a matrimony in the full sense of the law.

52. Indeed there are some who desire and insist that

these practices be legitimized by the law or, at least,

excused by their general acceptance among the people.

They do not seem even to suspect that these proposals

partake of nothing of the modern “culture” in which

they glory so much, but are simply hateful abominations

which beyond all question reduce our truly cultured

nations to the barbarous standards of savage peoples.

— 24—



Birth Control C/)

53. And now, Venerable Brethren, We shall explain

in detail the evils opposed to each of the benefits of

matrimony. First consideration is due to the offspring,

which many have the boldness to call the disagreeable

burden of matrimony and which they say is to be care-

fully avoided by married people not through virtuous

continence (which Christian law permits in matrimony

when both parties consent) but by frustrating the mar-

riage act. Some justify this criminal abuse on the ground

that they are weary of children and wish to gratify their

desires without their consequent burden. Others say that

they cannot on the one hand remain continent nor on

the other can they have children because of the difficul-

ties whether on the part of the mother or on the part of

family circumstances.

54. But no reason, however grave may be put for-

ward by which anything intrinsically against nature may

become conformable to nature and morally good. Since,

therefore, the conjugal act is destined primarily by nature

for the begetting of children, those who in exercising it

deliberately frustrate its natural power and purpose sin

against nature and commit a deed which is shameful and

intrinsically vicious.

55. Small wonder, therefore, if Holy Writ bears wit-

ness that the Divine Majesty regards with greatest detes-

tation this horrible crime and at times has punished it

with death. As St. Augustine notes, “Intercourse even

with one’s legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked where

the conception of the offspring is prevented. Onan, the

son of Juda, did this and the Lord killed him for it.”

— 25—



A Grave Sin

56. Since, therefore, openly departing from the un-

interrupted Christian tradition some recently have

judged it possible solemnly to declare another doctrine

regarding this question, the Catholic Church, to whom

God has entrusted the defense of the integrity and purity

of morals, standing erect in the midst of the moral ruin

which surrounds her, in order that she may preserve the

chastity of the nuptial union from being defiled by this

foul stain, raises her voice in token of her divine ambas-

sadorship and through Our mouth proclaims anew: any

use whatsoever of matrimony exercised in such a way

that the act is deliberately frustrated in its natural power

to generate life is an offense against the law of God and

of nature, and those who indulge in such are branded

with the guilt of a grave sin.

57. We admonish, therefore, priests who hear confes-

sions and others who have the care of souls, in virtue of

Our supreme authority and in Our solicitude for the

salvation of souls, not to allow the faithful entrusted to

them to err regarding this most grave law of God; much

more, that they keep themselves immune from such false

opinions, in no way conniving in them. If any confessor

or pastor of souls, which may God forbid, lead the faith-

ful entrusted to him into these errors or should at least

confirm them by approval or by guilty silence, let him

be mindful of the fact that he must render a strict ac-

count to God, the Supreme Judge, for the betrayal of

his sacred trust, and let him take to himself the words of

Christ: “They are blind and leaders of the blind: and if

the blind lead the blind, both fall into the pit.”

— 26—



58. As regards the evil use of matrimony, to pass over

the arguments which are shameful, not infrequently

others that are false and exaggerated are put forward.

Holy Mother Church very well understands and clearly

appreciates all that is said regarding the health of the

mother and the danger of her life. And who would not

grieve to think of these things? Who is not filled with

the greatest admiration when he sees a mother risking

her life with heroic fortitude, that she may preserve the

life of the offspring which she has conceived? God alone,

all bountiful and all merciful as He is, can reward her

for the fulfillment of the office allotted to her by nature,

and will assuredly repay her in a measure full to over-

flowing.^*^

59. Holy Church knows well that not infrequently

one of the parties is sinned against rather than sinning,

when for a grave cause he or she reluctantly allows the

perversion of the right order. In such a case, there is

no sin, provided that, mindful of the law of charity, he

or she does not neglect to seek to dissuade and to deter

the partner from sin. Nor are those considered as acting

against nature who in the married state use their right

in the proper manner, although on account of natural

reasons either of time or of certain defects, new life

cannot be brought forth. For in matrimony as well as

in the use of the matrimonial rights there are also sec-

ondary ends, such as mutual aid, the cultivating of

mutual love, and the quieting of concupiscence which

husband and wife are not forbidden to consider so long

as they are subordinated to the primary end and so long

as the intrinsic nature of the act is preserved.

— 27—



No Possible Excuse

60. We are deeply touched by the sufferings of those

parents who, in extreme want, experience great difficulty

in rearing their children.

61. However, they should take care lest the calami-

tous state of their external affairs should be the occasion

for a much more calamitous error. No difficulty can

arise that justifies the putting aside of the law of God

which forbids all acts intrinsically evil. There is no pos-

sible circumstances in which husband and wife cannot,

strengthened by the grace of God, fulfill faithfully their

duties and preserve in wedlock their chastity unspotted.

This truth of Christian Faith is expressed by the teach-

ing of the Council of Trent. “Let no one be so rash as

to assert that which the Fathers of the Council have

placed under anathema, namely, that there are precepts

of God impossible for the just to observe. God does not

ask the impossible, but by His commands, instructs you

to do what you are able, to pray for what you are not

able that He may help you.”

62. This same doctrine was again solemnly repeated

and confirmed by the Church in the condemnation of

the Jansenist heresy which dared to utter this blasphemy

against the goodness of God: “Some precepts of God

are, when one considers the powers which man possesses,

impossible of fulfillment even to the just who wish to

keep the law and strive to do so; grace is lacking whereby

these laws could be fulfilled.”

^^Thou Shalt Not KilV^

63. But another very grave crime is to be noted.

Venerable Brethren, which regards the taking of the life

— 28—



of the offspring hidden in the mother’s womb. Some

wish it to be allowed and left to the will of the father or

the mother; others say it is unlawful unless there are

weighty reasons which they call by the name of medical,

social, or eugenic “indication.” Because this matter

falls under the penal laws of the State by which the de-

struction of the offspring begotten but unborn is for-

bidden, these people demand that the “indication,” which

in one form or another they defend, be recognized as

such by the public law and in no way penalized. There

are those, moreover, who ask that the public authorities

provide aid for these death-dealing operations, a thing

which, sad to say, everyone knows is of very frequent

occurrence in some places.

64. As to the “medical and therapeutic indication”

to which, using their own words, we have made refer-

ence, Venerable Brethren, however much we may pity

the mother whose health and even life is gravely im-

periled in the performance of the duty allotted to her by

nature, nevertheless what could ever be a sufficient rea-

son for excusing in any way the direct murder of the

innocent? This is precisely what we are dealing with

here. Whether inflicted upon the mother or upon the

child, it is against the precept of God and the law of

nature: “Thou shalt not kiU”: The life of each is

equally sacred, and no one has the power, not even the

public authority, to destroy it. It is of no use to appeal

to the right of taking away life for here it is a question

of the innocent, whereas that right has regard only to

the guilty; nor is there here question of defense by

bloodshed against an unjust aggressor (for who would

call an innocent child an unjust aggressor?); again there

is no question here of what is called the “law of extreme

— 29—



necessity” which could never extend to the direct killing

of the innocent. Upright and skillful doctors strive most

praiseworthily to guard and preserve the lives of both

mother and child; on the contrary, those show them-

selves most unworthy of the noble medical profession

who encompass the death of one or the other, through a

pretense at practicing medicine or through motives of

misguided pity.

65. All of which agrees with the stern words of the

Bishop of Hippo in denouncing those wicked parents

who seek to remain childless, and failing in this, are not

ashamed to put their offspring to death: “Sometimes this

lustful cruelty or cruel lust goes so far as to seek to pro-

cure a baneful sterility, and if this fails the foetus con-

ceived in the womb is in one way or another smothered

or evacuated, in the desire to destroy the offspring before

it has life, or if it already lives in the womb, to kill it

before it is born. If both man and woman are party to

such practices they are not spouses at all; and if from

the first they have carried on thus they have come to-

gether not for honest wedlock, but for impure gratifica-

tion; if both are not party to these deeds, I make bold to

say that either the one makes herself a mistress of the

husband, or the other simply the paramour of his wife.”

66. What is asserted in favor of the social and eugenic

“indication” may and must be accepted, provided law-

ful and upright methods are employed within the proper

limits; but to wish to put forward reasons based upon

them for the killing of the innocent is unthinkable and

contrary to the divine precept promulgated in the words

of the Apostle: Evil is not to be done that good may

come of it.®^

67. Those who hold the reins of government should

— 30—



not forget that it is the duty of public authority by ap-

propriate laws and sanctions to defend the lives of the

innocent, and this all the more so since those whose

lives are endangered and assailed cannot defend them-

selves. Among whom we must mention in the first place

infants hidden in the mother’s womb. And if the public

magistrates not only do not defend them, but by their

laws and ordinances betray them to death at the hands

of doctors or of others, let them remember that God is

the Judge and Avenger of innocent blood which cries

from earth to Heaven.®®

Sterilization

68. Finally, that pernicious practice must be con-

demned which closely touches upon the natural right of

man to enter matrimony but affects also in a real way

the welfare of the offspring. For there are some who

oversolicitous for the cause of eugenics, not only give

salutary counsel for more certainly procuring the

strength and health of the future child—^which, in deed,
is not contrary to right reason—^but put eugenics before
aims of a higher order, and by public authority wish to

prevent from marrying all those whom, even though

naturally fit for marriage, they consider, according to

the norms and conjectures of their investigations, would,

through hereditary transmission, bring forth defective

offspring. And more, they wish to legislate to deprive

these of that natural faculty by medical action despite

their unwillingness; and this they do not propose as an

infliction of grave punishment under the authority of the

State for a crime committed, nor to prevent future crimes

by guilty persons, but against very right and good they

— 31—



wish the civil authority to arrogate to itself a power over

a faculty which it never had and* can never legitimately

possess.

69. Those who act in this way are at fault in losing

sight of the fact that the family is more sacred than the

State and that men are begotten not for the earth and for

time, but for Heaven and eternity. Although often these

individuals are to be dissuaded from entering into matri-

mony, certainly it is wrong to brand men with the stigma

of crime because they contract marriage, on the ground

that, despite the fact that they are in every respect capa-

ble of matrimony, they will give birth only to defective

children, even though they use all care and diligence.

70. Public magistrates have no direct power over the

bodies of their subjects; therefore, where no crime has

taken place and there is no cause present for grave pun-

ishment, they can never directly harm, or tamper with

the integrity of the body, either for the reasons of

eugenics or for any other reason. St. Thomas teaches

this when, inquiring whether human judges for the sake

of preventing future evils can inflict punishment, he

admits that the power indeed exists as regards certain

other forms of evil, but justly and properly denies it as

regards the maiming of the body. “No one who is guilt-

less may be punished by a human tribunal either by flog-

ging to death, or mutilation, or by beating.”

71. Furthermore, Christian doctrine establishes, and

the light of human reason makes it most clear, that pri-

vate individuals have no other power over the members

of their bodies than that which pertains to their nat-

ural ends; and they are not free to destroy or mutilate

their members, or in any other way render themselves

unfit for their natural functions, except when no other

— 32 —



provision can be made for the good of the whole body.

72. We may now consider another class of errors con-

cerning conjugal faith. Every sin committed as regards

the offspring becomes in some way a sin against conjugal

faith, since both these blessings are essentially connected.

However, We must mention briefly the sources of error

and vice corresponding to those virtues which are de-

manded by conjugal faith, namely the chaste honor ex-

isting between man and wife, the due subjection of wife

to husband, and the true love which binds both parties

together.

73. It follows therefore that they are destroying mu-

tual fidelity who think that the ideas and morality of our

present time concerning a certain harmful and false

friendship with a third party can be countenanced, and

who teach that a greater freedom of feeling and action

in such external relations should be allowed to man and

wife, particularly as many (so they consider) are pos-

sessed of an inborn sexual tendency which cannot be

satisfied within the narrow limits of monogamous mar-

riage. That rigid attitude which condemns all sensual

affections and actions with a third party they imagine to

be a narrowing of mind and heart, something obsolete,

or an abject form of jealousy, and as a result they look

upon whatever penal laws are passed by the State for

the preserving of conjugal faith as void or to be abol-

ished. Such unworthy and idle opinions are condemned

by that noble instinct which is found in every chaste

husband and wife, and even by the light of the testimony

of nature alone—a testimony that is sanctioned and con-
firmed by the command of God: “Thou shalt not commit

Adultery Forbidden

-33—



adultery,” and the words of Christ: “Whosoever shall

look on a woman to lust after her hath already com-

mitted adultery with her in his heart.” The force of

this divine precept can never be weakened by any merely

human custom, bad example or pretext of human prog-

ress, for just as it is the one and the same “Jesus Christ,

yesterday and today and the same forever,” so it is

the one and the same doctrine of Christ that abides and

of which not one jot or tittle shall pass away till all is

fuimied.^^

Emancipation of Women

74. The same false teachers who try to dim the luster

of conjugal faith and purity do not scruple to do away

with the honorable and trusting obedience which the

woman owes to the man. Many of them even go further

and assert that such a subjection of one party to the

other is unworthy of human dignity, that the rights of

husband and wife are equal; wherefore, they boldly pro-

claim, the emancipation of women has been or ought to

be effected. This emancipation in their ideas must be

threefold, in the ruling of the domestic society, in the

administration of family affairs and in the rearing of the

children. It must be social, economic, physiological:

—

physiological, that is to say, the woman is to be freed at

her own good pleasure from the burdensome duties prop-

erly belonging to a wife as companion and mother (We

have already said that this is not an emancipation but a

crime); social, inasmuch as the wife being freed from

the care of children and family, should, to the neglect

of these, be able to follow her own bent and devote her-

self to business and even public affairs; finally economic,

whereby the woman even without the knowledge and

— 34—



against the wish of her husband may be at liberty to

conduct and administer her own affairs, giving her atten-

tion chiefly to these rather than to children, husband

and family.

75. This, however, is not the true emancipation of

woman, nor that rational and exalted liberty which be-

longs to the noble office of a Christian woman and wife;

it is rather the debasing of the womanly character and

the dignity of motherhood, and indeed of the whole

family, as a result of which the husband suffers the loss

of his wife, the children of their mother, and the home

and the whole family of an ever watchful guardian.

More than this, this false liberty and unnatural equality

with the husband is to the detriment of the woman her-

self, for if the woman descends from her truly regal

throne to which she has been raised within the walls of

the home by means of the Gospel, she will soon be re-

duced to the old state of slavery (if not in appearance,

certainly in reality) and become as amongst the pagans

the mere instrument of man.

76. This equality of rights which is so much exag-

gerated and distorted, must indeed be recognized in

those rights which belong to the dignity of the human

soul and which are proper to the marriage contract and

inseparably bound up with wedlock. In such things un-

doubtedly both parties enjoy the same rights and are

bound by the same obligations; in other things there

must be a certain inequality and due accommodation,

which is demanded by the good of the family and the

right ordering and unity and stability of home life.

77. As, however, the social and economic conditions

of the married woman must in some way be altered on

— 35



account of the changes in social intercourse, it is part

of the office of the public authority to adapt the civil

rights of the wife to modern needs and requirements,

keeping in view what the natural disposition and tem-

perament of the female sex, good morahty, and the wel-

fare of the family demands, and provided always that

the essential order of the domestic society remain intact,

founded as it is on something higher than human author-

ity and wisdom, namely on the authority and wisdom of

God, and so not changeable by public laws or at the

pleasure of private individuals.

Incompatibility

78. These enemies of marriage go further, however,

when they substitute for that true and solid love, which

is the basis of conjugal happiness, a certain vague com-

patibility of temperament. This they call sympathy and

assert that, since it is the only bond by which husband

and wife are linked together, when it ceases the marriage

is completely dissolved. What else is this than to build

a house upon sand?—a house that in the words of Christ
would forthwith be shaken and collapse, as soon as it

was exposed to the waves of adversity “and the winds

blew and they beat upon that house. And it fell: and

great was the fall thereof.” On the other hand, the

house built upon a rock, that is to say on mutual con-

jugal chastity and strengthened by a deliberate and con-

stant union of spirit, will not only never fall away but

will never be shaken by adversity.

79. We have so far. Venerable Brethren, shown the
excellency of the first two blessings of Christian wedlock

which the modern subverters of society are attacking.

— 36



And now considering that the third blessing, which is

that of the sacrament, far surpasses the other two, we

should not be surprised to find that this, because of its

outstanding excellence, is much more sharply attacked

by the same people. They put forward in the first place

that matrimony belongs entirely to the profane and

purely civil sphere, that it is not to be committed to the

religious society, the Church of Christ, but to civil soci-

ety alone. They then add that the marriage contract is

to be freed from any indissoluble bond, and that separa-

tion and divorce are not only to be tolerated but sanc-

tioned by the law; from which is follows finally that,

robbed of all its holiness, matrimony should be enumer-

ated amongst the secular and civil institutions. The first

point is contained in their contention that the civil act

itself should stand for the marriage contract (civil matri-

mony, as it is called)
,
while the religious act is to be con-

sidered a mere addition, or at most a concession to a too

superstitious people. Moreover they want it to be no

cause for reproach that marriages be contracted by Cath-

olics with non-Catholics without any reference to religion

or recourse to the ecclesiastical authorities. The second

point, which is but a consequence of the first is to be

found in their excuse for complete divorce and in their

praise and encouragement of those civil laws which favor

the loosening of the bond itself. As the salient features

of the religions character of all marriage and particularly

of the sacramental marriage of Christians have been

treated at length and supported by weighty arguments in

the encyclical letters of Leo XIII, letters which We have
frequently recalled to mind and expressly made Our own.

We refer you to them, repeating here only a few points.

— 37—



Sacredness of Marriage

80. Even by the light of reason alone and particu-

larly if the ancient records of history are investigated, if

the unwavering popular conscience is interrogated and

the manners and institutions of all races examined, it is

sufficiently obvious that there is a certain sacredness

and jreligious character attaching even to the purely

.matural union of man and woman, “not something added

by chance but innate, not imposed by men but involved

in the nature of things,” since it has “God for its author

and has been even from the beginning a foreshadowing

of the Incarnation of the Word of God.” This sacred-

ness of marriage which is intimately connected with re-

ligion and all that is holy, arises from the divine origin

we have just mentioned, from its purpose^ which is the

begetting and educating of children for God, and the

bindin_g_of man and wife tjO_Gdd. through Christian love

and mutual support; and finally ITarises from the very

nature of^wedlo^, whose institution is to be sought for

m the farseeing Providence of God, whereby it is the
means of transmitting life, thus making the parents the

ministers, as it were, of the Divine Omnipotence. To

this must be added that new element of .dignity which

comes from the sacrament, by which the Christian mar-

riage is so ennobled and raised to such a level, that it

appeared to the Apostle as a great sacrament, honorable

in every way.®^

81. This religious character of marriage, its sublime

signification of grace and the union between Christ and

the Church
,
evidently requires that those about to marry

should show a holy reverence toward it, and zealously

endeavor to make their marriage approach as nearly as

possible to the archetype of Christ and the Church.

— 38—



Mixed Marriage

82. They, therefore, who rashly and heedlessly con-

tract mixed marriages, from which the maternal love and

providence of the Church dissuades her children for very

sound reasons, fail conspicuously in this respect, some-

times with danger to their eternal salvation. This atti-

tude of the Church to mixed marriages appears in many

of her documents, all of which are summed up in the

Code of Canon Law: “Everywhere and with the greatest

strictness the Church forbids marriages between bap-

tized persons, one of whom is a Catholic and the other a

member of a schismatical or heretical sect; and if there

is, add to this, the danger of the falling away of the

Catholic party and the perversion of the children, such

a marriage is forbidden also by the divine law.” If

the Church occasionally on account of circumstances

does not refuse to grant a dispensation from these strict

laws (provided that the divine law remains intact and

the dangers above mentioned are provided against by

suitable safeguards), it is unlikely that the Catholic party

will not suffer some detriment from such a marriage.

83. Whence it comes about not unfrequently, as ex-

perience shows, that deplorable defections from religion

occur among the offspring, or at least a headlong descent

into that religious indifference which is closely allied to

impiety. There is this also to be considered that in these

mixed marriages it becomes much more difficult to imi-

tate by a lively conformity of spirit the mystery of which

We have spoken, namely that close union between Christ
and His Church.

84. Assuredly, also, will there be wanting that close

union of spirit which as it is the sign and mark of the

Church of Christ, so also should be the sign of Christian

— 39—



wedlock, its glory and adornment. For, where there

exists diversity of mind, truth and feeling, the bond of

union of mind and heart is wont to be broken, or at least

weakened. From this comes the danger lest the love of

man and wife grow cold and the peace and happiness of

• family life, resting as it does on the union of hearts, be

destroyed. Many centuries ago indeed, the old Roman

law had proclaimed: “Marriages are the union of male

and female, a sharing of life and the communication of

divine and human rights.” But especially, as We have
pointed out. Venerable Brethren, the daily increasing

facility of divorce is an obstacle to the restoration of

marriage to that state of perfection which the divine

Redeemer willed it should possess.

Divorce

85. The advocates of the neopaganism of today have

learned nothing from the sad state of affairs, but in-

stead, day by day, more and more vehemently, they

continue by legislation to attack the indissolubility of

the marriage bond, proclaiming that the lawfulness of

divorce must be recognized, and that the antiquated

laws should give place to a new and more humane legis-

lation. Many and varied are the grounds put forward

for divorce, some arising from the wickedness and the

guilt of the persons concerned, others arising from the

circumstances of the case; the former they describe as

subjective, the latter as objective; in a word, whatever

might make married life hard or unpleasant. They strive

to prove their contentions regarding these grounds for

the divorce legislation they would bring about, by vari-

ous arguments. Thus, in the first place, they maintain

that it is for the good of either party that the oiie who is

— 40—



innocent should have the right to separate from the

guilty, or that the guilty should be withdrawn from a

union which is unpleasing to him and against his will.

In the second place, they argue, the good of the child

demands this, for either it will be deprived of a proper

education or the natural fruits of it, and will too easily

be affected by the discords and shortcomings of the

parents, and drawn from the path of virtue. And thirdly

the common good of society requires that these mar-

riages should be completely dissolved, which are now

incapable of producing their natural results, and that

legal reparations should be allowed when crimes are to

be feared as the result of the common habitation and

intercourse of the parties. This last, they say must be

admitted to avoid the crimes being committed purposely

with a view to obtaining the desired sentence of divorce

for which the judge can legally loose the marriage bond,

as also to prevent people from coming before the courts

when it is obvious from the state of the case that they

are lying and perjuring themselves—all of which brings
the court and the lawful authority into contempt. Hence

the civil laws, in their opinion, have to be reformed to

meet these new requirements, to suit the changes of the

times and the changes in men’s opinions, civil institu-

tions and customs. Each of these reasons is considered

by them as conclusive, so that all taken together offer a

clear proof of the necessity of granting divorce in cer-

tain cases.

86. Others, taking a step further, simply state that

marriage being a private contract, is, like the other pri-

vate contracts, to be left to the consent and good pleasure

of both parties, and so can be dissolved for any reason

whatsoever.

— 41 —



Unalterable Law of God

87. Opposed to all these reckless opinions, Venerable

Brethren, stands the unalterable law of God, fully con-

firmed by Christ, a law that can never be deprived of

its force by the decrees of men, the ideas of a people or

the will of any legislator: “What God hath joined to-

gether, let no man put asunder.” And if any man,

acting contrary to this law, shall have put asunder, his

action is null and void, and the consequence remains,

as Christ Himself has explicitly confirmed: “Everyone

that putteth away his wife and marrieth another, com-

mitteth adultery: and he that marrieth her that is put

away from her husband committeth adultery.” More-

over, these words refer to every kind of marriage, even

that which is natural and legitimate only; for, as has

already been observed, that indissolubility by which the

loosening of the bond is once and for all removed from

the whim of the parties and from every secular power,

is a property of every true marriage.

88. Let that solemn pronouncement of the Council

of Trent be recalled to mind in which, under the stigma

of anathema, it condemned these errors: “If anyone

should say that on account of heresy or the hardships of

cohabitation or a deliberate abuse of one party by the

other the marriage tie may be loosened, let him be

anathema”; and again: “If anyone should say that the

Church errs in having taught or in teaching that, accord-

ing to the teaching of the Gospel and the Apostles, the

bond of marriage cannot be loosed because of the sin of

adultery of either party; or that neither party, even

though he be innocent, having given no cause for the

sin of adultery, can contract another marriage during

the lifetime of the other; and that he commits adultery

42 —



who marries another after putting away his adulterous

wife, and likewise that she commits adultery who puts

away her husband and marries another: let him be

anathema.”

89. If, therefore, the Church has not erred and does

not err in teaching this, and consequently it is certain

that the bond of marriage cannot be loosed even on ac-

count of the sin of adultery, it is evident that all the

other weaker excuses that can be, and are usually

brought forward, are of no value whatsoever. And the

objections brought against the firmness of the marriage

bond are easily answered. For, in certain circumstances,

imperfect separation of the parties is allowed, the bond

not being severed. This separation, which the Church

herself permits, and expressly mentions in her Canon

Law in those canons which deal with the separation of

the parties as to marital relationship and cohabitation,

removes all the alleged inconveniences and dangers.®®

It will be for the sacred law and, to some extent, also the

civil law, in so far as civil matters are affected, to lay

down the grounds, the conditions, the method and pre-

cautions to be taken in a case of this kind in order to

safeguard the education of the children and the well-

being of the family, and to remove all those evils which

threaten the married persons, the children and the State.

Now all those arguments that are brought forward to
prove the indissolubility of the marriage tie, arguments

which have already been touched upon, can equally be

applied to excluding not only the necessity of divorce,

but even the power to grant it; while for all the advan-

tages that can be put forward for the former, there can

be adduced as many disadvantages and evils which are

a formidable menace to the whole of human society.

— 43—



Divorce^ a Menace to Society

90. To revert again to the expressions of Our Prede-

cessor, it is hardly necessary to point out what an amount

of good is involved in the absolute indissolubility of

wedlock and what a train of evils follows upon divorce.

Whenever the marriage bond remains intact, then we

find marriages contracted with a sense of safety and

security, while, when separations are considered and the

dangers of divorce are present, the marriage contract

itself becomes insecure, or at least gives ground for anx-

iety and surprises. On the one hand we see a wonderful

strengthening of good will and co-operation in the daily

life of husband and wife, while, on the other, both of

these are miserably weakened by the presence of a facility

for divorce. Here we have at a very opportune moment

a source of help by which both parties are enabled to

preserve their purity and loyalty; there we find harmful

inducements to unfaithfulness. On this side we find the

birth of children and their tuition and upbringing effec-

tively promoted, many avenues of discord closed

amongst families and relations; and the beginnings of

rivalry and jealousy easily suppressed; on that, very

great obstacles to the birth and rearing of children and

their education, and many occasions of quarrels, and

seeds of jealousy sown everywhere. Finally, but espe-

cially, the dignity and position of women in civil and

domestic society is reinstated by the former; while by the

latter it is shamefully lowered and the danger is incurred

“of their being considered outcasts, slaves of the lust of

men.”

91. To conclude with the important words of Leo

XIII, since the destruction of family life “and the loss of

national wealth is brought about more by the corruption

— 44—



of morals than by anything else, it is easily seen that

divorce, which is born of the perverted morals of a peo-

ple, and leads, as experiment shows, to vicious habits in

public and private life, is particularly opposed to the

well-being of the family and of the State. The serious

nature of these evils will be the more clearly recognized,

when we remember that, once divorce has been allowed,

there will be no sufficient means of keeping it in check

within any definite bounds. Great is the force of exam-

ple, greater still that of lust; and with such incitements it

cannot but happen that divorce and its consequent set-

ting loose of the passions should spread daily and attack

the souls of many like a contagious disease or a river

bursting its banks and flooding the land.”

92. Thus, as we read in the same letter, “unless things

change, the human family and State have every reason

to fear lest they should suffer absolute ruin.” All this

was written fifty years ago, yet it is confirmed by the

daily increasing corruption of morals and the unheard

of degradation of the family in those lands where Com-

munism reigns unchecked.

///

Suitable Remedies

93. Thus far, Venerable Brethren, We have admired
with due reverence what the all wise Creator and Re-

deemer of the human race has ordained with regard to

human marriage; at the same time we have expressed

Our grief that such a pious ordinance of the divine

Goodness should today, and on every side, be frustrated

and trampled upon by the passions, errors and vices of

men.

— 45—



94. It is then fitting that, with all fatherly solicitude,

We should turn Our mind to seek out suitable remedies
whereby those most detestable abuses which We have
mentioned, may be removed, and everywhere marriage

may again be revealed. To this end, it behooves Us,

above all else, to call to mind that firmly established

principle, esteemed alike in sound philosophy and sacred

theology: namely, that whatever things have deviated

from their right order, cannot be brought back to that

original state which is in harmony, with their nature ex-

cept by a return to the divine plan which, as the An-

gelic Doctor teaches,^^ is the exemplar of all right order.

95. Wherefore, Our Predecessor of happy memory,

Leo XIII, attacked the doctrine of the naturalists in these

words: “It is a divinely appointed law that whatsoever

things are constituted by God, the Author of nature,

these we find the more useful and salutary, the more

they remain in their natural state, unimpaired and un-

changed; inasmuch as God, the Creator of all things,

intimately knows what is suited to the constitution and

the preservation of each, and by His will and mind has

so ordained all things that each may duly achieve its

purpose. But if the boldness and wickedness of men

change and disturb this order of things, so providen-

tially disposed, then, indeed, things so wonderfully or-

dained, will begin to be injurious, or will cease to be

beneficial, either because, in the change, they have lost

their power to benefit, or because God Himself is thus

pleased to draw down chastisement on the pride and

presumption of men.”

96. In order, therefore, to restore due order in this

matter of marriage, it is necessary that all should bear

in mind what is the divine plan and strive to conform to

it.

— 46—



The Divine Plan

97. Wherefore, since the chief obstacle to this study

is the power of unbridled lust, which indeed is the most

potent cause of sinning against the sacred laws of matri-

mony, and since man cannot hold in check his passions,

unless he first subject himself to God, this must be his

primary endeavor, in accordance with the plan divinely

ordained. For it is a sacred ordinance that whoever shall

have first subjected himself to God will, by the aid of

divine grace, be glad to subject to himself his own pas-

sions and concupiscence; while he who is a rebel against

God will, to his sorrow, experience within himself the

violent rebellion of his worst passions.

98. And how wisely this has been decreed, St. Augus-

tine thus shows: “This indeed is fitting, that the lower

be subject to the higher, so that he who would have sub-

ject to himself whatever is below him, should himself

submit to whatever is above him. Acknowledge order,

seek peace. Be thou subject to God, and thy flesh sub-

ject to thee. What more fitting! What more fair! Thou

art subject to the higher and the lower is subject to thee.

Do thou serve Him Who made thee, so that that which

was made for thee may serve thee. For we do not com-

mend this order, namely. The flesh to thee and thou to

God,’ but Thou to God, and the flesh to thee.’ If, how-

ever, thou despisest the subjection of thyself to God,

thou shalt never bring about the subjection of the flesh

to thyself. If thou dost not obey the Lord, thou shalt be

tormented by thy servant.” This right ordering on the

part of God’s wisdom is mentioned by the holy Doctor

of the Gentiles, inspired by the Holy Ghost, for in speak-

ing of those ancient philosophers who refused to adore

and reverence Him Whom they knew to be the Creator

47-r



of the universe, he says: “Wherefore God gave them up

to the desires of their heart, unto uncleanness, to dis-

honor their own bodies among themselves”; and again:

“For this same God delivered them up to shameful

affections.” And St. James says: “God resisteth the

proud and giveth grace to the humble.” without which

grace, as the same Doctor of the Gentiles reminds us,

man cannot subdue the rebellion of his flesh.'^'^

99. Consequently, as the onslaughts of these uncon-

trolled passions cannot in any way be lessened, unless

the spirit first shows a humble compliance of duty and

reverence toward its Maker, it is above all and before

all needful that those who are joined in the bond of

sacred wedlock should be wholly imbued with a profound

and genuine sense of duty toward God, which will shape

their whole lives, and fill their minds and wills with a

very deep reverence for the majesty of God.

Supernatural Means

100. Quite fittingly, therefore, and quite in accord-

ance with the defined norm of Christian sentiment, do

those pastors of souls act who, to prevent married people

from failing in the observance of God’s law, urge them

to perform their duty and exercise their religion so that

they should give themselves to God, continually ask for

His divine assistance, frequent the sacraments, and al-

ways nourish and preserve a loyal and thoroughly sincere

devotion to God.

101. They are greatly deceived who having under-

estimated or neglected these means which rise above

nature, think that they can induce men by the use and

discovery of the natural sciences, such as those of biol-

ogy, the science of heredity, and the like, to curb their

-48—



carnal desires. We do not say this in order to belittle

those natural means which are not dishonest; for God

is the Auther of nature as well as of grace, and He has

disposed the good things of both orders for the beneficial

use of men. The faithful, therefore, can and ought to be

assisted also by natural means. But they are mistaken

who think that these means are able to establish chastity

in the nuptial union, or that they are more effective

than supernatural grace.

Obedience Toward the Church

102. This conformity of wedlock and moral conduct

with the divine laws respective of marriage, without

which its effective restoration cannot be brought about,

supposes, however, that all can discern readily, with real

certainty, and without any accompanying error, what

those laws are. But everyone can see to how many fal-

lacies an avenue would be opened up and how many

errors would become mixed with the truth, if it were left

solely to the light of reason of each to find out, or if it

were to be discovered by the private interpretation of

the truth which is revealed. And if this is applicable to

many other truths of the moral order, we must all the

more pay attention to those things which appertain to

marriage where the inordinate desire for pleasure can

attack frail human nature and easily deceive it and lead

it astray; this is all the more true of the observance of

the divine law, which demands sometimes hard and re-

peated sacrifices, for which, as experience points out, a

weak man can find so many excuses for avoiding the ful-

fillment of the divine law.

103. On this account, in order that no falsification or

— 49—



corruption of the divine law but a true genuine knowl-

edge of it may enlighten the minds of men and guide

their conduct, it is necessary that a filial and humble

obedience toward the Church should be combined with

devotedness to God and the desire of submitting to Him.

For Christ Himself made the Church the teacher of

truth in those things also which concern the right regu-

lation of moral conduct, even though some knowledge

of the same is not beyond human reason. For just as

God, in the case of the natural truths of religion and

morals, added revelation to the light of reason so that

what is right and true, “in the present state also of the

human race may be known readily with real certainty

without any admixture of error,” so for the same pur-

pose He has constituted the Church the guardian and the

teacher of the whole of the truth concerning religion and

moral conduct; to her, therefore, should the faithful

show obedience and subject their minds and hearts so as

to be kept unharmed and free from error and moral

corruption, and so that they shall not deprive themselves

of that assistance given by God with such liberal bounty,

they ought to show this due obedience not only when

the Church defines something with solemn judgment,

but also, in proper proportion, when by the constitutions

and decrees of the Holy See, opinions are prescribed

and condemned as dangerous or distorted.’’^®

104. Wherefore, let the faithful also be on their guard

against the overrated independence of private judgment

and the false autonomy of human reason. For it is quite

foreign to everyone bearing the name of a Christian to

trust his own mental powers with such pride as to agree

only with those things which he can examine from their

inner nature, and to imagine that the Church, sent by

— 50—



God to teach and guide all nations, is not conversant

with present affairs and circumstances; or even that they

must obey only in those matters which she has decreed

by solemn definition as though her other decisions might

be presumed to be false or putting forward insufficient

motive for truth and honesty. Quite to the contrary,

a characteristic of all true followers of Christ, lettered

or unlettered, is to suffer themselves to be guided and

led in all things that touch upon faith or morals by the

Holy Church of God through its Supreme Pastor the

Roman Pontiff who is himself guided by Jesus Christ

Our Lord.

Oppose Error

105. Consequently, since everything must be referred

to the law and mind of God, in order to bring about the

universal and permanent restoration of marriage, it is

indeed of the utmost importance that the faithful should

be well instructed concerning matrimony; both by word

of mouth and by the written word, not cursorily but

often and fully, by means of plain and weighty argu-

ments, so that these truths will strike the intellect and

will be deeply engraved on their hearts. Let them realize

and diligently reflect upon the great wisdom, kindness

and bounty God has shown toward the human race, not

only by the institution of marriage, but also, and quite

as much, by upholding it with sacred laws; still more, in

wonderfully raising it to the dignity of a Sacrament by

which such an abundant fountain of graces has been

opened to those joined in Christian wedlock, for their

own welfare and for that of their children, of the com-

munity and also for that of human relationship.

106. Certainly, if the latter day subverters of mar-

riage are entirely devoted to misleading the minds of

— 51—



men and corrupting their hearts, to making a mockery

of matrimonial purity and extolling the filthiest of vices

by means of books and pamphlets and other innumer-

able methods, much more ought you. Venerable Breth-

ren, whom “the Holy Ghost has placed as bishops to

rule the Church of God, which He hath purchased with

His own blood,” to give yourselves wholly to this,

that through yourselves and through the priests subject

to you, and, moreover, through the laity welded together

by Catholic Action, so much desired, and recommended

by Us, into a power of hierarchical apostolate, you may,

by every fitting means, oppose error by truth, vice by

the excellent dignity of chastity, the slavery of covetous-

ness by the liberty of the sons of God,®^ that disastrous

ease in obtaining divorce by an enduring love in the

bond of marriage and by the inviolate pledge of fidelity

given even to death.

107. Thus will it come to pass that the faithful will

whole-heartedly thank God that they are bound together

by His command and led by gentle compulsion to fly as

far as possible from every kind of idolatry of the flesh

and from the base slavery of the passions. They will, in

a great measure, turn and be turned away from these

abominable opinions which to the dishonor of man’s

dignity are now spread about in speech and in writing

and collected under the title of “perfect marriage” and

which indeed would make that perfect marriage nothing

better than “depraved marriage,” as it has been rightly

and truly called.

Wholesome Instruction

108. Such wholesome instruction and religious train-

ing in regard to Christian marriage will be quite different

— 52—



from that exaggerated physiological education by means

of which, in these times of ours, some reformers of

married life make pretense of helping those joined in

wedlock, laying much stress on these physiological mat-

ters, in which is learned rather the art of sinning in a

subtle way than the virtue of living chastely.

109. So, Venerable Brethren, We make entirely Our
own the words which Our Predecessor of happy mem-

ory, Leo XIII, in his encyclical letter on Christian Mar-

riage addressed to the bishops of the whole world: “Take

care not to spare your efforts and authority in bringing

about that among the people committed to your guid-

ance that doctrine may be preserved whole and unadul-

terated which Christ the Lord and the apostles, the inter-

preters of the divine will, have handed down, and which

the. Catholic Church herself has religiously preserved,

and commanded to be observed by the faithful of every

age.”

Steadfast Determination

110. Even the very best instruction given by the

Church, however, will not alone suffice to bring about

once more conformity of marriage to the law of God;

something more is needed in addition to the^ducation

(ff th^jnind, namely, a steadfast determination of the

will, on the part of husband and wife, to observe the

sacred laws of God and of nature in regard to marriage.

In fine, in spite of what others may wish to assert and

spread abroad by word of mouth or in writing, let hus-

band and wife resolve: to stand fast to the command-

ments of God in all things that matrimony demands;

always to render to each other the assistance of mutual

love; to preserve the honor of chastity; not to lay pro-

fane hands on the stable nature of the bond; to use the

53 —



rights given them by marriage in a way that will be

always Christian and sacred, more especially in the first

years of wedlock, so that should there be need of conti-

nency afterward, custom will have made it easier for

each to preserve it. In order that they may make this

firm resolution, keep it and put it into practice, an oft-

repeated consideration of their state of life, and a dili-

gent reflection on the sacrament they have received, will

be of great assistance to them. Let them constantly

keep in mind, that they have been sanctified and strength-

ened for the duties and for the dignity of their state by

a special sacrament, the efficacious power of which, al-

though it does not impress a character, is undying. To

this purpose we may ponder over the words full of real

comfort of holy Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, who with

other well-known theologians with devout conviction

thus expresses himself: “The sacrament of matrimony

can be regarded in two ways: first, in the making, and

then in its permanent state. For it is a sacrament like

to that of the Eucharist, which not only when it is being

conferred, but also whilst it remains, is a sacrament;

for as long as the married parties are alive, so long is

their union a sacrament of Christ and the Church.”

Observance of Duties

111. Yet, in order that the grace of this sacrament

may produce its full fruit, there is need, as we have

already pointed out, of the co-operation of the married

parties; which consists in their striving to fulfill their

duties to the best of their ability and with unwearied

effort. For just as in the natural order men must apply

the powers given them by God with their own toil and

diligence that these may exercise their full vigor, failing

— 54—



which, no profit is gained, so also men must diligently

and unceasingly use the powers given them by the grace

which is laid up in the soul by this sacrament. Let not,

then, those who are joined in matrimony neglect the

grace of the sacrament which is in them; for, in apply-

ing themselves to the careful observance, however labori-

ous, of their duties they will find the power of that grace

becoming more effectual as time goes on. And if eve^

they should feel themselves to be overburdened by th-^

hardships of their condition of life, let them not losc

courage, but rather let them regard in some measure as

addressed to them that which St. Paul the Apostle wrote

to his beloved disciple Timothy regarding the sacrament

of Holy Orders when the disciple was dejected through

hardship and insults: “I admonish thee that thou stir up

the grace which is in thee by the imposition of my hands.

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of

power, and of love, and of sobriety.”

Due Preparation for Marriage

112. All these things, however. Venerable Brethren,

depend in large measure on the due preparation remote

and proximate, of the parties for marriage. For it can-

not be denied that the basis of a happy wedlock, and the

ruin of an unhappy one, is prepared and set in the souls

of boys and girls during the period of childhood and

adolescence. There is danger that those who before mar-

riage sought in all things what is theirs, who indulged

even their impure desires, will be in the married state

what they were before, that they will reap that which

they have sown; indeed, within the home there will be

sadness, lamentation, mutual contempt, strifes, estrange-

ments, weariness of common life, and worst of all, such

— 55 —



parties will find themselves left alone with their own un-

conquered passions.

113. Let then, those who are about to enter on mar-

ried life, approach that state well disposed and well pre-

pared, so that they will be able, as far as they can, to

help each other in sustaining the vicissitudes of life, and

yet more in attending to their eternal salvation and in

forming the inner man unto the fuUness of the age of

Christ.®’^ It will also help them, if they behave toward

their cherished offspring as God wills: that is, that the

father be truly a father, and the mother truly a mother;

through their devout love and unwearying care, the home,

though it suffer the want and hardship of this valley of

tears, may become for the children in its own way a

foretaste of that paradise of delight in which the Creator

placed the first men of the human race. Thus will they

be able to bring up their children as perfect men and

perfect Christians; they will instill into them a sound

understanding of the Catholic Church, and will give

them such a disposition and love for their fatherland as

duty and gratitude demand.

11. Consequently, both those who are now thinking

of entering upon this sacred married state, as well as

those who have the charge of educating Christian youth,

should, with due regard to the future, prepare that which

is good, obviate that which is bad, and recall those points

about which We have already spoken in Our encyclical

letter concerning education: “The inclinations of the

will, if they are bad, must be repressed from childhood,

but such as are good must be fostered, and the mind,

particularly of children, should be imbued with doctrines

which begin with God, while the heart should be strength-

ened with the aids of divine grace, in the absence of

— 56—



which, no one can curb evil desires, nor can his dis-

cipline and formation be brought to complete perfection

by the Church. For Christ has provided her with hea-

venly doctrines and divine sacraments, that He might

make her an effectual teacher of men.”

Choosing a Partner

115. To the proximate preparation of a good mar-

ried life belongs very specially the care in choosing a

partner; on that depends a great deal whether the forth-

coming marriage will be happy or not, since one may be

to the other either a great help in leading a Christian

life, or, a great danger and hindrance. And so that they

may not deplore for the rest of their lives the sorrows

arising from an indiscreet marriage, those about to enter

into wedlock should carefully deliberate in choosing the

person with whom henceforward they must live contin-

ually: they should, in so deliberating, keep before their

minds the thought first of God and of the true religion

of Christ, then of themselves, of their partner, of the

children to come, as also of human and civil society, for

which wedlock is a fountainhead. Let them diligently

pray for divine help, so that they make their choice in

accordance with Christian prudence, not indeed led by

the blind and unrestrained impulse of lust, nor by any

desire of riches or other base influence, but by a true

and noble love and by a sincere affection for the future

partner; and then let them strive in their married life for

those ends for which the State was constituted by God.

Lastly, let them not omit to ask the prudent advice of

their parents with regard to the partner, and let them

regard this advice in no light manner, in order that by

their mature knowledge and experience of human affairs

— 57—



they may guard against a disastrous choice, and, on the

threshold of matrimony, may receive more abundantly

the divine blessing of the fourth commandment: “Honor

thy father and thy mother (which is the first command-

ment with a promise) that it may be well with thee and

thou mayest be long-lived upon the earth.”

116. Now since it is no rare thing to find that the

perfect observance of God’s commands arid conjugal

integrity encounter difficulties by reason of the fact that

the man and wife are in straitened circumstances, their

necessities must be relieved as far as possible.

Temporal Necessities

117. And so, in the first place, every effort must be

made to bring about that which Our Predecessor Leo

XIII, of happy memory, has already insisted upon,®®

namely, that in the State such economic and social

methods should be adopted as will enable every head

of a family to earn as much as, according to his station

in life, is necessary for himself, his wife, and for the

rearing of his children, for “the laborer is worthy of his

hire.” To deny this, or to make light of what is

equitable, is a grave injustice and is placed among the

greatest sins by Holy Writ; nor is it lawful to fix such

a scanty wage as will be insufficient for the upkeep of the

family in the circumstances in which it is placed.

118. Care, however, must be taken that the parties

themselves, for a considerable time before entering upon

married life, should strive to dispose of, or at least to

diminish, the material obstacles in their way. The man-

ner in which this may be done effectively and honestly

must be pointed out by those who are experienced. Pro-

vision must be made also, in the case of those who are

— 58—



not self-supporting, for joint aid by private or public

guilds.®^

119. When these means which We have pointed out

do not fulfill the needs, particularly of a larger or poorer

family, Christian charity toward our neighbor absolutely

demands that those things which are lacking to the needy

should be provided; hence it is incumbent on the rich

to help the poor, so that, having an abundance of this

world’s goods, they may not expend them fruitlessly or

completely squander them, but employ them for the sup-

port and well-being of those who lack the necessities of

life. They who give of their substance to Christ in the

person of His poor will receive from the Lord a most

bountiful reward when He shall come to judge the world;

they who act to the contrary will pay the penalty.®^ Not

in vain does the Apostle warn us: “He that hath the

substance of this world and shall see his brother in need,

and shall shut up his bowels from him: how doth the

charity of God abide in him?”

Civil Obligation

120. If, however, for this purpose, private resources

do not suffice, it is the duty of the public authority to

supply for the insufficient forces of individual effort,

particularly in a matter which is of such importance to

the common weal, touching as it does the maintenance

of the family and married people. If families, particu-

larly those in which there are many children, have not

suitable dwellings; if the husband cannot find employ-

ment and means of livelihood; if the necessities of life

cannot be purchased except at exorbitant prices; if even

the mother of the family to the great harm of the home,

is compelled to go forth and seek a living by her own

— 59—



labors; if she, too, in the ordinary or even extraordinary

labors of childbirth, is deprived of proper food, medicine,

and the assistance of a skilled physician, it is patent to

all to what an extent married people may lose heart, and

how home life and the observance of God’s commands

are rendered difficult for them; indeed it is obvious how

great a peril can arise to the public security and to the

welfare and very life of civil society itself when such

men are reduced to that condition of desperation that,

having nothing which they fear to lose, they are em-

boldened to hope for chance advantage from the up-

heaval of the State and of established order.

121. Wherefore, those who have the care of the State

and of the public good cannot neglect the needs of mar-

ried people and their families, without bringing great

harm upon the State and on the common welfare. Hence,

in making the laws and in disposing of public funds they

must do their utmost to relieve the needs of the poor,

considering such a task as one of the most important of

their administrative duties.

122. We are sorry to note that not infrequently now-
adays it happens that through a certain inversion of the

true order of things, ready and bountiful assistance is

provided for the unmarried mother and her illegitimate

offspring (who, of course must be helped in order to

avoid a greater evil) which is denied to legitimate

mothers or given sparingly or almost grudgingly.

123. But not only in regard to temporal goods, Ven-

erable Brethren, is it the concern of the public authority

to make proper provision for matrimony and the family,

but also in other things which concern the good of souls.

Just laws must be made for the protection of chastity,

for reciprocal conjugal aid, and for similar purposes.

— 60—



and these must be faithfully enforced, because, as history

testifies, the prosperity of the State and the temporal

happiness of its citizens cannot remain safe and sound

where the foundation on which they are estabhshed,

which is the moral order, is weakened and where the

very fountainhead from which the State draws its life,

namely, wedlock and the family, is obstructed by the

vices of its citizens.

Religious Authority

124. For the preservation of the moral order neither

the laws and sanctions of the temporal power are suffi-

cient, nor is the beauty of virtue and the expounding of

its necessity. Religious authority must enter in to en-

lighten the mind, to direct the will, and to strengthen

human frailty by the assistance of divine grace. Such an

authority is found nowhere save in the Church instituted

by Christ the Lord. Hence We earnestly exhort in the
Lord all those who hold the reins of power that they

establish and maintain firmly harmony and friendship

with this Church of Christ so that through the united

activity and energy of both powers the tremendous evils,

fruits of those wanton liberties which assail both mar-

riage and the family and are a menace to both Church

and State, may be effectively frustrated.

125. Governments can assist the Church greatly in

the executive of its important office, if, in laying down

their ordinances, they take account of what is prescribed

by divine and ecclesiastical law, and if penalties are fixed

for offenders. For as it is, there are those who think that

whatever is permitted by the laws of the States, or at

least is not punished by them, is allowed also in the

moral order, and, because they neither fear God nor see

— 61 —



any reason to fear the laws of man, they act even against

their conscience, thus often bringing ruin upon them-

selves and upon many others. There will be no peril to

or lessening of the rights and integrity of the State from

its association with the Church. Such suspicion and fear

is empty and groundless, as Leo XIII has already so

clearly set forth: “It is generally agreed,” he says, “that

the Founder of the Church, Jesus Christ, wished the

spiritual power to be distinct from the civil, and each

to be free and unhampered in doing its own work, not

forgetting, however, that it is expedient to both, and in

the interest of everybody, that there be a harmonious

relationship ... If the civil power combines in a friendly

manner with the spiritual power of the Church, it neces-

sarily follows that both parties will greatly benefit. The

dignity of the State will be enhanced, and with religion

as its guide, there will never be a rule that is not just;

while for the Church there will be at hand a safeguard

and defense which will operate to the public good of the

faithful.”

The Lateran Pact

126. To bring forward a recent and clear example of

what is meant, it has happened quite in consonance with

right order and entirely according to the law of Christ,

that in the solemn Convention happily entered into be-

tween the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, also in

matrimonial affairs a peaceful settlement and friendly

co-operation has been obtained, such as befitted the glo-

rious history of the Italian people and its ancient and

sacred traditions. These decrees, are to be found in the

Lateran Pact: “The Italian State, desirous of restoring

to the institution of matrimony, which is the basis of the

family, that dignity conformable to the traditions of its

— 62—



people, assigns as civil effects of the sacrament of matri-

mony all that is attributed to it in Canon law.” To

this fundamental norm are added further clauses in the

common pact.

127. This might well be a striking example to all of

how, even in this our own day (in which, say to say,

the absolute separation of the civil power from the

Church, and indeed from every religion, is so often

taught), the one supreme authority can be united and

associated with the other without detriment to the rights

and supreme power of either thus protecting Christian

parents from pernicious evils and menacing ruin.

128. All these things which. Venerable Brethren,

prompted by Our past solicitude We put before you. We
wish according to the norm of Christian prudence to be

promulgated widely among all Our beloved children

committed to your care as members of the great family

of Christ, that all may be thoroughly acquainted with

sound teaching concerning marriage, so that they may

be ever on their guard against the dangers advocated by

the teachers of error, and most of all, that “denying un-

godliness and worldly desires, they may live soberly and

justly, and godly in this world, looking for the blessed

hope and coming of the glory of the great God and Our

Savior Jesus Christ.”

129. May the Father, “of which all paternity in heaven
and earth is named,” Who strengthens the weak and
gives courage to the pusillanimous and faint-hearted;

and Christ Our Lord and Redeemer, “the Institutor and

Perfecter of the holyl sacraments,” Who desired mar-
riage to be and made it the mystical image of His own

ineffable union with the Church; and the Holy Ghost,

Love of God, the Light of hearts and the Strength of

—63—



the mind, grant that all will perceive, will admit with a

ready will, and by the grace of God will put into prac-

tice, what We by this letter have expounded concerning

the holy Sacrament of Matrimony, the wonderful law

and will of God respecting it, the errors and impending

dangers, and the remedies with which they can be coun-

teracted, so that that fruitfulness dedicated to God will

flourish again vigorously in Christian wedlock.

130. We most humbly pour forth Our earnest prayer

at the Throne of His Grace, that God, the Author of all

graces, the inspirer of all good desires and deeds,^®^

may bring this about, and deign to give it bountifully

according to the greatness of His liberality and omnipo-

tence, and as a token of the abundant blessing of the

same Omnipotent God, we must lovingly grant to you,

Veneral Brethren, and to the clergy and people com-

mitted to your watchful care, the Apostolic Benediction.

131. Given at Rome, in St. Peter’s, this 31st day of

December, of the year 1930, the ninth of Our Pontificate.

PIUS PP. XL

— 64—



FOOTNOTES

1 Encyd. Arcanum divinae sapientiae,

10 Febr. 1880.

2 Gen. i. 27, 28; ii. 22, 23; Matt. xix.

3 sqq.; Eph. v. 23 sqq.

3 Cone. Trid., Sess. XXIV.

4 Cod. iur. can., c. 1081, § 2.

5 Cod. iur. can., c. 1081, § 1.

6 St. Th., Summa theoL, p. iii., Supplem.

9, XLIX art. 3.

7 Encyd. Rerum novarum, IS May 1891.

8 Gen. i. 28.

9 Encyd. Ad salutem, 20 April 1930.

10 St. August., De bono coniug., cap. 24,

n. 32.

11 St. August., De Gen. ad litt., lib. IX.

cap. 7, n. 12.

12 Gen. i. 28.

13 1 Tim. V. 14.

14 St. August., De bono coniug., cap.

24, n. 32.

15 1 Cor. ii. 9.

16 Eph. ii. 19.

17 John xvi. 21.

18 Encyd. Divini illius Magistri, 31 Dec.

1929.

19 St. August., De Gen. ad litt., lib. IX,

cap. 7, n. 12.

20 Cod. iur. can., c. 1013, § 7.

21 Cone. Trid., Sess. XXIV.

22 Matt. V. 28.

23 Deer. S. Officii, 2 March 1679, pro-

pos. 50.

24 Eph. V. 25; Col. iii. 19.

25 Catech. Rom., II, cap. VIII, q. 24.

26 St. Greg, the Great, Homil. XXX in
Evang. (John xiv. 23-31), n. 1.

27 Matt. xxii. 40.

28 1 Cor vii. 3.

29 Eph. V. 22, 23.

30 Encyd. Arcanum divinae sapientiae,

10 Febr. 1880.

31 Matt. xix. 6.

32 Luke xvi. 18.

3-3 St. August., De Gen. ad litt., lib. IX,

cap. 7, n. 12.

34 Pius VI, Rescript, ad Episc. Agriens.,

11 July 1789.

35 Eph. V. 32.

36 St. August., De nupt. et concup., lib.

I, cap. 10.

37 1 Cor. xiii. 8.

38 Cone. Trid., Sess. XXIV.

39 Cone. Trid., Sess. XXIV.

40 Cod. iur. can., c. 1012.

41 St. August., De nupt. et concup., lib.

I, cap. 10.

42 Matt. xiii. 25.

43 2 Tim. iv. 2-5.

44 Eph. V. 3.

45 St. August., De coniug. adult., lib. II,

n. 12; Gen. xxxviii. 8-10.

46 Matt. XV. 14.

47 Luke vi. 38.

48 Cone. Trid., Sess. VI, cap. 11.

49 Const. Apost., Cum occasione, 31
May 1653, prop. 1.

50 Exod. XX. 13; cir. Deer. S. Offic. 4

May 1897, 24 July 1895; 31 May
1884.

51 St. August., De nupt. et concupisc.,

cap. XV.

52 Rom. iii. 8.

53 Gen. iv. 10.

54 Summ. theol., 2a, 2ae, q. 108 a 4

ad 2um.

55 Exod. XX. 14.

— 65—



56 Matt. V. 28.

57 Heb. xiii. 8.

58 Matt. V. 18.

59 Matt. vii. 27.

60 Leo XIII, Encycl. Arcanum, 10 Febr.

1880.

61 Eph. V. 32; Heb. xiii. 4.

62 Cod. iur. can., c. 1060.

63 Modestinus, in Dig. (Lib. XXIII, II:

De ritu nuptiarum), lib. I, Regularum.

64 Matt. xix. 6.

65 Luke xvi. 18.

66 Cone. Trid., Sess. XXIV, cap. S.

67 Cone. Trid., Sess. XXIV, cap. 7.

68 Cod. iur. can., c. 1128 sqq.

69 Leo XIII, Encycl. Arcanum divinae

sapientiae, 10 Febr. 1880.

70 Encycl. Arcanum, 10 Febr. 1880.

71 Encycl. Arcanum, 10 Febr. 1880.

72 S. Th., Summ. theolog., la, 2ae, q.

91, a. 1-2.

73 Encycl. Arcanum divinae sapientiae,

10 Febr. 1880.

74 St. August., Enarrat. in Ps. 143.

75 Rom. i. 24, 26.

76 James iv. 6.

77 Rom. vii., viii.

78 Cone. Vat., Sess. Ill, cap. 2.

79 Cone. Vat., Sess. Ill, cap. 4; Cod.

iur. can., c. 1324.

80 Acta XX. 28.

81 John viii. 32 sqq.; Gal. v. 13.

82 Encycl. Arcanum, 10 Febr. 1880.

83 St. Rob. Bellarmin, De controversiis,

tom. Ill, De Matr., controvers. II,

cap. 6.

84 1 Tim. iv. 14.

86

2 Tim. i. 6, 7.

86 Gal. vi. 9.

87 Eph. iv. 13.

88 Encycl. Divini illius Magistri, 31 Dec.

1929.

89 Eph. vi. 2, 3; Exod. xx. 12.

90 Encycl. Rerum novarum, IS May

1891.

91 Luke X. 7.

92 Deut. xxiv. 14, IS.

93 Leo XIII, Encycl. Rerum novarum,

IS May 1891.

94 Matt. XXV. 34 sqq.

95 1 John iii. 17.

96 Encycl. Arcanum divinae sapientiae,

10 Febr. 1880.

97 Concord., art. 34; Act. Apost. Sed.,

XXI (1929,) pag. 290.

98 Tit. ii. 12, 13.

99 Eph. iii. IS.

100 Cone. Trid., Sess. XXIV.

101 PhU. ii. 13.

66



DISCUSSION CLUB OUTLINE

Prepared by Rev. Gerald C. Treacy, S.J.

I

The dignity of marriage derives from the teaching of Christ

Who made it the foundation of human society, restored its

original purity, raised it to the honor of a sacrament and en-

trusted its discipline to His Spouse, the Church.

Today marriage is held in little esteem for the reason that

Christ’s teaching is either unknown or ignored. In this encycli-

cal we declare to all men the true meaning and dignity of

marriage, its value to the family and society, the errors and

vices that oppose real conjugal union, and the remedies to meet

these.

The first important truth is that marriage was instituted and

restored by God and not by man. Its laws come from God

and Christ our Redeemer, and cannot be altered by the State

or the individual. This truth is found in Scripture, Tradition

and the solemn definition of the Council of Trent (1, 2).

Marriage then, instituted by God depends on the free will

of man and woman giving and receiving those rights proper

to the married state. Once this contract is freely entered into

man and woman are subject to its divine laws. Two souls are

united by a deliberate act of the will and from this union re-

sults by God’s law a sacred and inviolable bond. It is entirely

different from the instinctive mating of brutes and the hap-

hazard unions that arise from mere passion, human passion.

These unions are against both reason and nature and should

be condemned by civil law. True marriage, then, is established

both by the will of God and the will of man. Its blessings as

declared by St. Augustine, are children, conjugal faith and a

sacramental bond (2, 3, 4).

— 67—



Among the blessings of marriage children hold the first

place. God’s original command “increase and multiply” makes

of man and woman in wedlock His co-operators in the propa-

gation of life. Christian parents are called not merely to pre-

serve and propagate citizens of earth but children of God

and citizens of heaven, man’s true destiny. They are a trust

committed by God to parents, to be restored to God on the day

of reckoning (4, 5, 6).

Those to whom God has given the power and right to have

children, possess the power and right to educate them. St.

Augustine sums this up: “Regarding children it is right that

they should be begotten lovingly and educated religiously.”

And the Canon Law clearly states “the principal purpose of

marriage is the procreation and education of children” (6).

Questions

On what does the dignity of matrimony depend?

Why does the Holy Father treat this subject?

How does he divide the subject?

Who instituted matrimony?

Why may matrimony be called both divine and human?

In what does the union of man and wife consist?

What three chief blessings of matrimony are named by

St. Augustine?

How does the child hold the first place in matrimony?

How do parents co-operate with the Creator?

Do they directly transmit holiness to the child?

Have the parents the right to educate as well as beget?

II

The second blessing of matrimony is conjugal fidelity which

means that conjugal rights belong to husband and wife and

may never be extended to another person. This conjugal faith

demands the unity of matrimony which was the Creator’s idea

from the beginning, relaxed to an extent for a time, restored

— 68—



by the teaching of Christ: “Therefore they are no longer two

but one flesh.” Not only did Our Lord forbid polygamy and

polyandry but even the thoughts against marital purity He

condemned as sinful “Whosoever looks lustfully upon a woman

has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (6, 7).

This conjugal faith is stronger when it is rooted in the

pure love of man and wife, a love not of mere passion but holy

as is the love of Christ for His Church. It is more than sexual

emotion and mere words, it is a thing of mind and will speak-

ing in deeds. It calls for mutual help and forbearance that de-

velops a true spiritual life in the souls of husband and wife.

“Husbands love your wives as Christ loved His Church.” By

this same love are the rights and duties of each regulated in

justice and charity. From this follows the order of conjugal

society in which it acknowledges the husband as the head of

the family is responsible for wife and children. Man is the

head and woman the heart of this sacred union. This does not

run counter to the dignity of woman, as wife, mother and com-

panion. Only in fact when man fails in his duty is woman

called upon to rule the family. These then are the elements

that constitute the blessings of conjugal faith—unity, chastity,
charity, honorable and noble obedience (8, 9).

These blessings of marriage are enhanced by the sacra-

mental character given by Christ to the bond of Christian wed-

lock. By His divine authority he has made this bond stable and

permanent: “What God has joined together let no man put

asunder.” “He that puts away his wife and marries another

commits adultery.” This stability belongs to every true mar-

riage even though the sacramental character is absent. No civil

law can justly destroy it. In fact no law of Church or State

can touch a true marriage that has been consummated. For

this union is an image of the most perfect of all unions, the

union of Christ with His Church. Moreover the determination

in concrete instances of the reality of the marriage contract

belongs to divine law whose sole guardian and interpreter is

the Church of Christ (10, 11).

— 69—



Questions

In what does conjugal honor consist?

What unity results from it?

What is Christ’s command in regard to it?

How is the love of man and wife like the love of Christ for

His Church?

How does it regulate all other rights and duties of

matrimony ?

Who is the head of the conjugal union?

What virtue must guide the mutual relations of husband

and wife?

Ill

The stability and permanence of the marriage bond give to

husband and wife a sense of security and dignity and build up

a defense of loyal chastity. It helps, too, in the care and edu-

cation of children as it makes for the united efforts of parents.

No less true is it that the State is benefited by the permanence

and stability of matrimony for that nation is truly happy where

there is happiness in family life. Stability and permanence are

the twin supports of this happiness. The greatest of all benefits

comes to marriage, however, because Christ has made it a

Sacrament, that is a sign and source of that interior grace

“which perfects natural love, confirms an unbreakable union,

and sanctifies both husband and wife.” From this sacramental

grace there follows a supernatural power that enters into the

natural life led by man and wife enabling them to fulfill their

rights and duties. If man and woman receive the Sacrament

worthily and co-operate with the series of graces that follow

in its train they will find the inevitable problems of their

wedded life easy of solution (12, 13, 14).

— 70—



Questions

What does Our Lord say of the stability and permanence

of the marriage bond?

Is the non-sacramental marriage the same as the sacra-

mental in permanence and stability?

Is the State or the Church the arbiter in deciding marriage

problems?

May the Church dissolve a Christian marriage that is valid

and consummated?

What benefits come from the fact that marriage by Divine

Law is permanent and stable?

How has matrimony been made a sign and source of grace?

IV

Modern thought though, through every channel of expres-

sion, book, radio, stage and screen, is attacking the traditional

doctrine of Christian marriage. The root of all modern errors

touching matrimony is the doctrine that marriage is not of

God, but of man. Hence man may adapt it to changing cir-

cumstances and alter its nature at will. Efforts are made to

legalize temporary or companionate unions. Such efforts, if

universally successful, would soon reduce human society to the

state of savagery (14, 15, 16).

Questions

In addition to sanctifying grace what other effects take

place without the co-operation of the spouses?

What is the modem attitude toward marriage?

Where does it find expression?

What is the basic error in all modern theories on marriage?

What is the sin of “companionate” marriage?

— 71—



V

Birth control or contraception is proclaimed as the modern

gospel. We declare this practice of its very nature vicious and

sinful. Virtuous continence either permanent or temporary is

the remedy, and the Catholic Church with all her God-given

authority declares “any use of matrimony whatever deliberately

frustrating the natural power to generate life is an offense

against the law of God and of nature and those practicing it are

guilty of serious sin” (16, 17, 18).

Once life has begun in the womb it is as sacred as any self-

sustaining life. Abortion is murder. The claims of mother

and unborn child to life are equal. One cannot be taken to

save the other. Sterilization in the name of eugenics and not

as a punishment for crime is wrong as it destroys a natural

faculty which is not within the lawful competence of State or

individual to do (19, 20, 21).

Questions

Why is birth control wrong?

What if only one partner practices it?

Is there a right form of birth control?

Why cannot the Church allow artificial birth control for

health or economic reasons?

May abortion be justified to save the life of the mother?

Is sterilization ever allowed and is the State the sole judge

in the matter?

VI

Extramarital relations under whatever name constitute the

sin of adultery. The modern cry for the social, economic and

physiological emancipation of woman is in direct enmity to

the reasonable and exalted liberty of the Christian wife and

mother. Those are true rights that belong to the dignity of

the human soul and are proper to wedlock. As marriage forms

— 72—



a society there must be order and subordination in the range

of rights and duties. There can be no such thing as absolute

equality in any society (22, 23).

Provided the essential order of marital society remains

intact, the civil law should adapt the civil rights of the wife

to modern needs. Another error prevalent today asserts that

true marriage rests or falls on compatibility. Such a founda-

tion would not be an enduring rock, but sand. For true mar-

riage rests on conjugal chastity and spiritual union of heart

and mind. Again others maintain that marriage belongs ex-

clusively to the State and that human law may make it or

break it. Reason itself rejects this error for history shows that

in all ages the common sense of mankind has given a religious

significance to marriage. The explicit teaching of Christ makes

such erroneous teaching still more plain (24, 25).

The Church opposes mixed marriage because of the obvious

danger to faith in regard to the person concerned and the

children that may be born. The blending of mind and heart

moreover is more difficult when there is difference in religious

viewpoint. The successful mixed marriage is the exception.

The marriage is allowed with dispensation (25, 26).

Questions

Does any claim justify extra-marital relations?

What is meant by the modern term “emancipation of

women” ?

What is the true equality of rights in the married state?

Does compatibility determine the real union of man and

wife?

What indications does history give of the sacred character

of matrimony?

What is the Church’s teaching on mixed marriage?

— 73—



VII

Divorce is opposed to the plain teaching of Christ and so

condemned by the Church. All the many reasons given for

divorce, many of them at first sight plausible, the Church

answers with the remedy of separation. Not only is there no

necessity for divorce but there is no power in Church or State

that can justly grant it. For the good of all, individual, family.

State, there is nothing better than the maintenance of God’s law

that prohibits divorce (26, 27, 28, 29).

Questions

How can separation meet all the alleged needs for divorce?

What does the Council of Trent decree regarding

matrimony?

How is divorce a menace to society?

Why must we return to the Divine Plan if we are to save

marriage and society?

VIII

The Divine Order in conjugal society has been disrupted

by the evil of men
;
only a return to the Divine Plan regarding

matrimony can save society. Lust has been the root of the evil

and until man subjects his lust to the command of God in the

married state there can be no remedy. Not natural science but

sacramental life is the need of those in the married state (30,

31,32).

The interpretation of the Divine Plan God has left to His

Church. It is to the Church and her teachings that man and

wife must turn for a guide to true happiness. Catholics who

think otherwise are only Catholics in name. The Teaching

Church and Christ’s Vicar hold the key to morality in the

subject of marriage, its rights and duties. Bishops and priests

must explain to the faithful the teaching of Christ on marriage

— 74—



so they may not be misled by modern errors. To live up to

the ideal of Christian marriage calls for true knowledge and

good will on the part of husband and wife (32, 33, 34, 35).

Man and wife must co-operate with the grace of the Sacra-

ment. Marriage as a life contract demands adequate prepara-

tion. Hasty, ill-considered marriage is doomed to fail. Two

people about to spend their lives in intimate association should

know each other thoroughly, seek counsel from their parents,

and pray for guidance before taking the responsibilities en-

tailed (36, 37, 38).

Questions

What means are more powerful than science to curb lust

which is the destroyer of marriage?

Why must recourse be had to the Church in this matter and

not to private judgment?

What does the Church expect of bishops and priests regard-

ing matrimonial instruction?

Is instruction sufficient to insure the observance of God’s

law on matrimony?

Why is due preparation, thought and prayer necessary be-

fore entering wedlock?

IX

Economic conditions prevailing in the State should be such

as to enable the head of the family to earn sufficient for the

maintenance of that family. If this economic order is lacking

then private charity and public relief is due to the family that

is struggling against economic odds. And this not only for the

good of the family but for the good of the whole body politic.

And not only should just law regard the temporal welfare of

families but their spiritual welfare as well. Religious authority,

the teaching of Christ’s Church are indispensable in combating

the evils that threaten the sacredness of married life. The State

— 75—



should co-operate with the Church in standing by Our Blessed

Lord’s teaching. While the spiritual power is distinct from the

temporal, both are to act in harmony as is plain from right

reason and the plan of God. That this is not mere theory may

be shown from the action of modern Italy, which in the Lateran

Pact declares: “The Italian State, desirous of restoring the in-

stitution of matrimony, which is the basis of the family . . .

assigns as civil effects of the Sacrament of matrimony all that

is attribute to it in Church law (38, 39, 40, 41, 42).

Questions

If there is economic difficulty hindering a proposed marriage

how may this be solved?

On whom does the removal of this difficulty rest?

Is the State alone capable of preserving the dignity of mar-

riage and safeguarding the moral order?

What does the Lateran Pact show regarding the relations of

Church and State in regard to matrimony?

-76 —