PEREGRINANTES (Proclaiming a Holy
Year for 1750)
Pope
Benedict XIV
Encyclical of
Pope Benedict XIV promulgated on 5 May 1749.
To all the faithful of Christ, Greetings and
Apostolic Benediction.
That we are pilgrims from the Lord and seekers
after our future homeland, that we all have sinned and have frequently
abandoned the way of God's commandments and like foolish sheep have wandered
astray, is well established. If we should say that we have not sinned, we
deceive ourselves. Our conscience bears witness to our many transgressions,
which cause us to fear death and the approaching judgment of God. If we should
say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar. But of course His judgments
are true and just, and we must endure His scourges because we have sinned
against Him, have acted unjustly, and have committed iniquity. For this reason
He does not cease to punish and castigate us so that we may return to Him
before Judgment Day.
Care for sinners
The Church continually looks after its members
so that it may recall sinners to the path of salvation and obtain pardon for
their sins. The Church offers mercy to the guilty; but few listen to the
salutary warnings of the Church. Many are entangled with evil affections or
bound by the cares and pleasures of life. They fly from the spirit of penitence
and the discipline of improving their character; they despise God's goodness,
patience, and forebearance. The Church generously
offers indulgences at all times, but some neglect them ruinously and others
make no effort to acquire them properly and deserve them. Meanwhile our days
are running out, and we shall be poured out like water on the earth. But when
the just Judge has appeared, we may learn too late that our hard and impenitent
hearts have stored up wrath for us and that whatever we have not done penance
for remains to be punished by the divine Judge.
Holy Year
2. Therefore, Our predecessors chose certain
times during the course of the centuries to remind all the faithful of the
approaching end of the world, and to instill in them a greater zeal for
correcting their sins, thus obtaining the salvation of their souls. This was
done of old each hundredth year. Later, considering the length of a generation,
they decided to enact a holy year every twenty-five years. In this way, almost
everyone-at least once in his lifetime-could experience these general means for
obtaining propitiation and indulgence. The Church would also prescribe an
appropriate list of penitential exercises. This holy year, a year of
renovation, penance, reconciliation, and grace, will begin on the next winter
solstice. We beseech all who answer to the name of Catholic to observe it.
3. The kingdom of heaven is at hand; heed Our
preaching and do penance. Little children, it is the last hour; return to the
Lord and be reconciled with God. The world and its concupiscences
will pass; but eternal life is promised only to those who have done the will of
God. What is the will of God but your salvation? To fulfill this will, the
Church calls you. She devotes the entire coming year to public exercises of
religion and piety; she desires that all her children who have been nourished
with the milk of Catholic doctrine, may merit the mercy and grace of God, both
for themselves individually as well as for the whole brotherhood. She opens the
doors of the churches and her charitable heart to the arriving multitudes. To
all who ask sincerely, she promises forgiveness.
4. One can have an unshakeable confidence in
this promise for a number of reasons. First of all is the supreme power of
binding and loosing, given by the Redeemer to Peter and his successors, and
Peter's inestimable merits. The treasury of satisfaction, composed of the
merits, sufferings, and virtues of Christ, His Virgin Mother, and all the
saints and entrusted to Us for dispensation also inspires confidence. The blood
of the Apostles and martyrs of old, poured out on the earth like water to build
up the Church, cries to the Lord for pardon and peace for the faithful. In
addition, Church discipline has been conformed both to the rigor of the
ecclesiastical rule by assigning works of penance and to the spirit of
Christian clemency by granting indulgences. Finally, the holiness of the
proposed goal, the profit of the Christian people, and the example of those who
have gone before us in the faith provide still more reasons for confidence in
this promise.
5. Therefore, what time and the custom of Our
predecessors recommend, We shall accomplish. We proclaim and promulgate a great
and universal Jubilee in this Our City for next year, 1750. It is to begin with
the first vespers of the vigil of the Nativity and is to continue for the
entire year. It will glorify God Himself, exalt the Catholic Church, and
sanctify all the Christian people.
Requirements for the Indulgence
6. During this year We mercifully grant
complete indulgence, remission, and pardon of all their sins to all the
faithful of Christ, both men and women, who are truly penitent and who fulfill
the following spiritual exercises. They must have confessed and communed. If
they are residents of
Some Unable to Fulfill all Conditions
7. Some who set out to fulfill these
requirements may be physically unable to complete their visitations to the
churches. If they are truly penitent, have confessed, and received holy
communion, We want them to share in the indulgence and remission mentioned
above just as if they had actually fulfilled all the conditions.
8. Rouse your enthusiasm at the announcement of
so great a gift offered you. Undertake the task that can save your souls with
great eagerness and fervor. Let not the comforts of home hold you back; let not
the labor of the journey frighten you. Weigh the spiritual gift by the
standards of the Christian faith and do not permit the eagerness of worldly men
for earthly treasure to surpass the desire of the faithful for heavenly
treasures.
The New
9. The great reward of your journey will be
spiritual renewal. What can delight a Christian more than to behold the glory
of the cross of Christ where it shines supreme on earth and to see with one's
own eyes the monuments of victory by which our faith has conquered the world?
It will even be possible to see the summit of the ages bowed in reverence to
religion. This one-time
Those Who Have Left the Church
10. Our great hope is that those who long ago,
deceived by lies of the devil, left the Church might now return to the unity of
the Catholic faith. Do they not hear her voice calling them most lovingly to
her embrace? Do they not understand that when they left the faith they began to
direct their course by human conventions and they handed themselves over to be
taught by others who willfully led them astray with various foreign doctrines?
But alas! How many there are among them who are not ignorant of these things!
And indeed they do not deny that the foundations of each individual sect are
weak and, if shaken a little, collapse easily. But what is more to be deplored
is their evil lack of interest in the things of God. Because of this they
despise the light of truth and the voice of their conscience. As enemies both
of the Catholic Church and of their own souls, they refuse to understand what
they ought to do. Nor do they wish to examine the straight way of the Lord
which is the only way back to the portals of salvation. May they at least be
awakened by the example of your faith and devotion to consider that they will
have no excuse on the Judgment Day if they continue to spurn the reasons which
have been offered to them for recognizing the truth.
May your obvious agreement in the worship of God, in the discipline of
Christian life, and in reverence toward the Pope, spiritual Father of every
Catholic, all serve as an incentive for emulation and an occasion for shame
among those who have left the Church. Our whole desire
is that the earth be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, the honor of God,
and the purity of the Christian faith, and that holiness of character flourish
and increase among all nations. We ask this as though drawing up a line of
battle. We hope to obtain this through the intercession of your prayers. The
most clement Lord says that He is moved by your intercessions. At the same time
We shall pray for peace for the Catholic Church, for the happiness of Christian
princes, and the safety of all the faithful.
Wage a New Kind of War
11. But you, Venerable Brothers, leaders of the
Catholic religion, Patricians, Primates, Archbishops, and Bishops who serve as
ambassadors among the Christian people, call a meeting, gather the people,
announce to them the holy year. Endeavor to see that our plan is effective,
both for the glory of God and the benefit of the whole Church. God has granted
His people peace after the calamities of a long war; may this gift which God
gave for the temporal tranquility of His people lead also to the improvement
and, finally, to the eternal salvation of this same people. A new kind of war
against the enemies of our salvation must now be waged. The license of thinking
and acting must be curbed. The luxury and the pride of life must be restrained
and cupidity for gain must be kept in check. All impurity must be purged and
all enmity eliminated. All hatreds must be abolished.
12. To action, therefore, you priests,
ministers of God. Sound the trumpets and declare a spiritual war against the
enemies of the cross of Christ. Strengthen the languid hands of your soldiers
and straighten their bent knees. In the first place, make straight the path for
those who have decided to come to this citadel of religion, this impregnable
stronghold. Let them hear from you that they are not called here for leisurely
roaming nor to view strange sights; but they are summoned to carry arms in a
Christian militia and to undertake the labors of fighting and war. What are the
arms that Satan fears if not the vigils of the pious, their prayers, fastings, almsgivings, their works
of Christian humility and of mercy? By these the tyrannical domination of human
cupidity is overcome, and the kingdom of love is strengthened and extended.
13. While going forth into this pious war, it
is fitting that those protected by the cross of Christ and those gathered
together in the armor of God advance so that no occasion of doing harm is given
to the attacking enemy. Let these peaceful, harmonious, modest, and religious
soldiers proceed on their journey. While they ask the guidance, mercy, and
assistance of God (whose banner they profess to follow), may His discipline
prove them worthy so that they may deserve to obtain the promised crown of
victory. But you, Venerable Brothers, while you strive to inspire them with
these goals, bear in mind that the office of exhortation and persuasion is
easy. Example, however, is stronger than words; it is more effective to teach
by doing than by talking. Therefore, let the splendor of your holy actions
shine before them, so that seeing your good works they may conform their lives
and habits to the standard of yours. Do not forget hospitality, service, and
sharing. While the Church shows a more abundant mildness for the spiritual
needs of the faithful, let the temporal necessities of the poor also be
relieved with greater mercy.
Advice to Secular Leaders
14. Our most dear sons in Christ, the Emperor
elect, the kings, and all Catholic princes, have received blessing upon
blessing from Him by whom kings rule. We beg that they
may be ardently inflamed with pious zeal to promote the glory of God. Above
all, may they aid the zeal and vigilance of Our Venerable Brothers, the bishops
and higher leaders, and order their magistrates and ministers to help them, so
that the license of evildoers may be restrained and the zeal of the good
supported by kingly aid and favor. Especially let them show generosity toward
pilgrims. Let them see to it that they travel safely without being harrassed by wicked men. Rather, let them be received
lovingly in hospitals, homes, and public inns and, after being refreshed with
food and necessities, let them proceed happily on their journey returning with
joy to their fatherland. In this way kings and princes may incline God
favorably toward themselves, so that they may live long and happily on earth.
Then in the end, they may be received into the eternal tabernacles by these
same poor people toward whom they showed mercy and in whom Christ is fed and
nourished.
15. Now in order that the knowledge of this
letter may more easily reach all the faithful, We desire that copies of it,
printed and signed by a public notary and marked with the seal of an
ecclesiastical dignitary, have the same authority which the present letter
would have if shown and displayed.
16. No one may weaken or oppose this document
of Our indiction, promulgation, concession,
exhortation, petition, and will. But if any one does presume to do so, may he
know that he will incur the indignation of the omnipotent God and of His
apostles, Peter and Paul.
Given in