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ENTRUSTED BY POPE PIUS X TO

AN INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION

UNDER THE PRESIDENCY OF
ABBOT GASQUET, O. S. B.



Extracts of Letters received by Dom Gasquet

REGARDING HlS AMERICAN LECTURE TOUR.

* *
THE PAPAL BLESSING.

To our beloved children who, by their offerings

or by their studies, cooperate in the holy work of

the Revision of the Vulgate, with the prayer that

God may reward them bountifully, and in token of

our gratitude and special good-will, we impart our

Apostolic Blessing.

PIUS X.

* *

FROM MOST REV. ARCHBISHOP BONZANO, APOSTOLIC

DELEGATE TO THE UNITED STATES I

I hasten to welcome you and to thank you for

the benevolent sentiments you express and which

have been warmly appreciated by me. I hope and

pray fervently that the great work entrusted to you

by the Holy Father may be crowned with the great-

est success, and while I renew the expression of my

profoundest esteem I look forward to the pleasure

and honor of entertaining you at this delegation.

* *

FROM HIS EMINENCE, CARDINAL GIBBONS:

I hasten to assure you that you may rely upon my

fullest sympathy and cooperation. I shall do all in

my power to assist you. I look forward with keen

pleasure to your coming to visit me, on which occa-

sion we shall be able to discuss at length your

projects and your hopes.

* *

FROM HIS EMINENCE, CARDINAL FARLEY:

I will be most happy to welcome Abbot Gasquet to

America, and I give my warmest approval to the

Knights of Columbus in their efforts to assist him.

DeacWRted



Smaurn ttf the lihle

TN May, 1907, it was announced in the
* public press that the Pope had determined
to prepare for a critical revision of the Latin

Bible, and had entrusted the difficult and

arduous undertaking to an international com-

mission of Benedictines. The Holy Father
appointed Abbot Gasquet, the renowned his-
torian, as its head and to him addressed the
following letter:

W e value so highly the work entrusted to the
Benedictine Order of research and study pre-
liminary to a new edition of the Latin Bible
called the Vulgate, that We feel constrained to
congratulate most warmly not only yourself but
the whole Benedictine Order, and particularly
those who are associated with you in this great
undertaking. You have before you a difficult
and arduous task, in which men renowned for
their learning and among them even some
Supreme Pontiffs have cooperated, though as
yet without complete success. Now, however,
that you have put your hand to the work, there
can be no doubt that you will achieve the end
entrusted to you, viz., the restoration of the primi-
tive text of St. Jerome’s own version, which in
the course of centuries has become considerably
corrupted.

The recognized learning of the Benedictine
Monks in the field of paleography and history,
their admitted perseverance in critical research’
give Us a sure guarantee that you will thor-
oughly examine every ancient codex of the Latin

Letter

of

Pope

Pius X



Scriptures known to exist to-day in the libraries

of Europe, and that you will not fail to seek

out and bring to light codices hitherto unknown.

You must be allowed to carry on these investi-

gations with the least possible trouble, and there-

fore We strongly recommend your work to the
heads of archives and libraries, not doubting that

their own reverence for the sacred doctrines

and the Sacred Book will move them to show

you every possible favor.

A Royal The extraordinary importance of this under-

taking and the great hopes placed in you by the

whole Church; the spirit also of the age, in this

altogether praiseworthy, which requires such re-

searches to be so thorough as to leave no room

for criticism or complaint; all this makes it

imperative that the work should be brought to

a perfect conclusion in accordance with the

recognized canons of critical and historical

methods. We fully understand the length of
time necessary for such an achievement, for We
have here in hand a work that cannot be

hampered by haste or anxiety. Nor is it less

clear to Us what a large amount of money will

be required for this vast undertaking, and for

this reason We feel confident that there will not
be wanting benefactors who out of the riches

which God has given to them will be ready to

assist in this imperishable work, thus deserving

well of the Sacred Scriptures and of the Chris-

tian faith.

Therefore, We exhort them as well as your-
self at the outset of Our undertaking that they

come to Our help, for surely those who give their

lives to the work have every claim to be sup-

ported by the generosity of others. Invoking

the heavenly light and grace, and as a pledge of

Our special affection, We most lovingly impart
the Apostolic Blessing to yourself and to each



and all who will assist in this excellent work,

either by study or by material aid.

The Commission fixed its headquarters at

the great College of St. Anselm in Rome, and

at once set to work. For the purpose of com-

parison and correction, 5000 copies of the

present (Clementine) Latin Bible were spe-

cially printed, each page to the extent of two-

thirds of its surface being left blank. With

this text the revisers set out for the principal

libraries of Europe to search out, investigate,

and compare the old MSS. preserved there.

Besides the textual comparison, photography progre8*

has been used to reproduce the old Codices

entirely, and already more than 40,000 photo-

graphs have been collected and bound into

large folio volumes. The foundations of an

extensive reference library have been laid. The

work has so far developed as to make it im-

perative for the Commission to find more

ample and suitable accommodations. In view

of this the Cardinal Secretary of State wrote

to Abbot Gasquet in the Pope’s name, as fol-

lows:

My Dear Lord Abbot :
I am happy to be able to inform you that the

Holy Father has heard with great pleasure of

your project to procure suitable accommodation

for the Commission engaged in the Revision of



the Vulgate and over which you so worthily

preside.

The need for such accommodation has been

keenly felt for some time, and the Holy Father

is concerned that it be procured as soon as pos-

sible so that the Commission may have the neces-
sary quiet and convenience to prosecute its

labors in a fitting manner.

The realization of your project will entail con-

siderable expense, but His Holiness feels con-

fident that the necessary funds will be forth-

coming, as nobody can fail to realise the great

advantages that will accrue to the cause of

Religion from the work of the Commission.

I am,

Affectionately yours in Christ,

Impor- Religiously, as God’s revelation to man

;

ofthe socially, as a great
moral code of humanity;

Bible and from a literary point of view, as the oldest

and best read text, the Bible is the most im-

portant book in the world; and since Chris-

tianity became centered in Western Europe,

the Latin Bible or Vulgate has been the pivot

of all religious literature.

The Fathers of the Church are full of

extracts from it; early Christian literature

is permeated with it; the charters, chronicles,

deeds of the Middle Ages are based on it, and

in many cases consist of whole phrases and



passages taken from it; and, further, several

languages of modern Europe are founded on

it. The Catholic Church has made of the

Latin Bible its authentic and official text; as

such she uses it in her prayers (in the Mass

and the Breviary), and in the teaching of

theology. All translations of the Bible into

other languages are made from the Latin

Vulgate.

If the learned world is so keen in establish-

ing the pure and original text of classical

authors, the Latin Bible, preeminent among

all texts, should surely have the best possible

care expended on it.

Toward the end of the fourth centurySt.

Divine Providence raised up a great scholar

and Saint, Jerome, to produce an accurate texttion

of the Latin Bible to take the place of the

numerous versions then current. Scholars

agree as to his competence for the work given

him by Pope Damasus. Moreover, he had

access to Greek and other MSS., even then

considered ancient, now unknown to us. He

had the ability and means of testing the value

of his authorities which are denied to us. It

is obvious that the possession of the pure text

of St. Jerome’s version is essential as a basis

for any critical edition of the present authentic

and official Latin Bible.

St. Jerome’s own handiwork perished, along

with countless other treasures, in the barbaric

invasions of Europe, so that the only MSS.

extant to-day are of a considerably later date



A Vast
Enter-

prise

than St. Jerome’s time. The examination and

comparison of these later documents, in order

to establish St. Jerome’s original text, is “the

difficult and arduous task” assigned to the

Commission by Pope Pius X.

The difficulty cannot be exaggerated. Before

the invention of printing, when books were

reproduced by copyists and scribes, numerous

errors, omissions, transpositions, crept into

the text. This is not surprising, for though

God has guaranteed us from any substantial

error in the transmission of His written word

through the Church, this does not imply

immunity from the consequences of frailty in

the human instruments engaged on it.

In the course of time these irregularities

grew and multiplied, and we find Revision con-

stantly advocated by the Church. The great

Council of Trent urged it, and the result was

the “Clementine” version now in use. But,

hastily prepared under pressing circumstances,

it was never meant to be final. Since then,

although private individuals have labored on

the MSS., nothing official was undertaken until

Pope Pius X put his hand to this “imperish-

able work” and entrusted it to a Religious

Order renowned for its paleographical, his-

torical and critical work.

Abbot Gasquet, the Chairman of the Com-

mission, is now in this country, at the wish of

the Holy Father, in order to collect funds for

the continuance and completion of this gigantic

undertaking, from which the Holy Father



anticipates that “the greatest advantages will

accrue to the cause of Religion.”

We are accustomed to speak of the Catholic
Bible, the Protestant Bible, and the rest.

There is and can be only one Bible, and any

success in establishing the earliest, purest

wording of it must necessarily be a great step

toward that Christian Unity we all so devoutly

hope and pray for. The establishment of the

most correct possible text of the official and

authentic Latin Bible will have the most far-

reaching consequences in the Church’s Liturgy

and in the clearness and exactness of all the

versions into modern tongues in use to-day.

America, on account of its youth, has not

been able until recently to take a leading part

in intellectual and literary movements; but,

conscious of its responsibility for the vast

material resources given to it by Divine Provi-

dence, it has initiated, supported and carried

to successful conclusion some of the grandest

works for humanity and Religion. Here is a

work of which the Pope realizes the extra-

ordinary importance, and declares that the

whole Church entertains the greatest hopes

from those who have undertaken it.

The undertaking must be carried through

in accord with the best modern critical

methods, for the Church’s credit for learning

and its reverence for the Sacred Book are on

trial. The Holy Father feels confident that

benefactors will not be wanting to assist in

this imperishable work and thus deserve well

But One
Bible

America's

Oppor-

tunity



of the Sacred Scriptures and of Religion.

And at his bidding and with his blessing, an

appeal is now made to the American people.
Of Inter- Jt is an undertaking worthy of a great

AiiMaecenas, who would thus immortalize his

name in the annals of history as a great bene-

factor of Christianity and of sound learning.

But if that is too much to hope for, there may

be found generous persons who, by a gift of

$1000, will become “Founders,” or, by a dona-

tion of $500, will become “Benefactors” of the

work—whose names will be singly presented
to the Great Shepherd of Christendom, and

then immortalized on marble at the headquar-

ters of the Commission, under the shadow of

the Vatican. Smaller contributions, too, will be

gratefully received and acknowledged on an

artistic certificate, signed and sealed by the

Chairman of the Commission, and communi-

cating to them the special blessing of the Holy

Father.

The heartiest welcome has been extended

to Abbot Gasquet by the Hierarchy of the

United States.

Abbot Gasquet hopes to visit several cities

in the United States, but even so it will be

impossible for him to reach personally all those

whose interest has been awakened in the

undertaking and who may desire to assist it.

He begs to say that any contribution sent to

ST. MARY’S ABBEY,

528 High Street, Newark, N. J.

will be thankfully received.



FROM HIS EMINENCE, CARDINAL O'CONNELL:

I am very glad to hear that you have arrived in

America, and I shall be happy to see you and do

all that I can for you.

* *
FROM MOST REV. ARCHBISHOP IRELAND, ST. PAUL, MINN.:

I am very glad to know that you are again in

America. Certainly it will be a great pleasure for

me to meet you again when, in the course of your

wanderings through the continent, it will be con-

venient for you to come to St. Paul. You have a

difficult task before you. I hope your work will meet

with the success which it deserves.

* *

FROM MOST REV. ARCHBISHOP PRENDERGAST, PHILADEL-

PHIA, PA.:

I beg to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of

your letter in reference to your tour of the United

States, in the interest of revising the text of the

Vulgate. I trust that your visit to our city will not

only be cordial and pleasant, but also remunerative

for the work in which you are engaged.

4* 4*

FROM MOST REV. ARCHBISHOP RIORDAN, SAN FRANCISCO,

cal.:

I need not assure you that we have this great

work of yours at heart, and whatever can be done

will be done most cheerfully. At all events, your

presence will always be most welcome, and my

house will have a room for you.

4* 4*

FROM MOST REV. ARCHBISHOP KEANE, DUBUQUE, IOWA:

I beg to assure you that Dubuque would be glad

to welcome you. If you cannot reach us, I shall do

what I can to arouse some of our people to an interest

in the cause for which you are come to plead.



LIBRARY iJf
OF THE

SAN FRANCISCO COLLEGE F^R W f'MEN