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Abba Ghebre Michael, Priest of the Congregation of the Mission of St.
Vincent de Paul, Decree for the Beatification and Declaration
of Martyrdom of the Servant of God .

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African Missions, Letter from the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation
of the Faith prescribing a Collection on behalf of the

Apostolic Letter to Cardinal La Fontaine, Patriarch of Venice

to Rev. Octavis Marchetti, S.J., of the School of Ascetico-

Mystical Theology in the Gregorian University

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Blessed Gabriel of the Congregation of the Passion, Decree regarding
the Solemn Canonization of

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Joan of Arc, Decree regarding the Solemn Canonization of
Mary Alacoque, Decree regarding the Solemn Canonization of

Boundaries of certain Parishes, Decision of the Holy Roman Rota

fixing the

Cardinal Mercier is nominated President of the 'Pia Unio Cleri' for all
Belgium.

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Christmas Day and All Souls' Day, Doubts regarding the Masses to be
Celebrated on, in certain contingencies

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East Indies, A New Diocese is erected in the
Exsequial Rite as prescribed in the Roman Ritual in certain circum-
stances, Doubts regarding the Obligation of the

Florentine Temple ' S. Maria Novella' is raised to the dignity of a Minor

Basilica, The

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Lists of Feasts suppressed in the Universal Church

Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Doubt regarding the validity for
Indulgences of certain Methods of Chanting the

Mass Honoraria, Decision of the Sacred Congregation of the Council
in a case connected with

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Missions of China and the neighbouring Kingdoms, Decree regarding
the Nomination of an Apostolic Vicar for the .

New Parisian Temple erected in Montmartre, and Dedicated to the Sacred

Heart, receives the Title of a Minor Basilica and is granted

Privileges

Pontifical Commission for the Interpretation of the Canons of the New
Code, replies to a number of proposed Difficulties

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Public Funds, Decision of the Holy Roman Rota in a case connected
with the Administration of

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HAPPINESS CONSIDERED AS A MOTIVE

BY THE BISHOP OF SEBASTOPOLIS

ALMIGHTY GOD has not only commanded us to obey His Law, and to be 'perfect, as also our Heavenly Father is perfect' (Matthew v. 48), but He has greatly assisted us in the fulfilment of this task, and made it comparatively easy, by threatening the most appalling punishments upon those who neglect their duty, and by promising inconceivably great rewards to those who love and obey Him faithfully. These two motives are, no doubt, of immense power in themselves, but the help which we actually derive from them will, of course, depend upon the amount of attention which we bestow upon them, and on the greater or less vividness with which we are able to keep them before our minds.

The thought of the dreadful punishment of sin, and of the eternity of atrocious agony awaiting the impenitent breakers of God's Law, does, most certainly, exercise a very strong and a very wide influence, and restrains millions and millions from evil, but the question, which we wish to ask, is: Does the ordinary and average Christian make sufficient use of the other motive, which, after all, is a much higher and a much worthier one? Does he bear in mind and ponder over as he should the marvellously generous manner, in which God rewards His good and faithful servants'?

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So far as our observation extends, we should say that this most powerful motive is very much neglected, and that its influence on men's lives and conduct is nothing like what it might be, and ought to be.

Anyone, even with but a slight acquaintance with the world, will realize that nothing so attracts a man as pleasure and the prospect of happiness. In fact, man is made for happiness, and what is more, he seeks it unintermittently and most assiduously to the very end of his life; although it must be admitted he generally seeks it where it is by no means to be found. For the sake of a little worldly pleasure or

FIFTH SERIES, VOL. XV―JANUARY, 1920

satisfaction man will exert himself to the utmost. Indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that this indiscriminate thirst for pleasure and self-gratification is the source of the greatest number and of the most deadly sins and crimes that are committed in the world. To take a single instance. It is the deliberate opinion of both Saints and theologians, that sensuality, or sins of the flesh, are the most prevalent of all deadly sins; in fact, some (as St. Alphonsus, for example) are fully persuaded that more souls are lost through sins of impurity-not merely than through any other class of sins, but than through all other classes of sins united. And this, of course, means that vast numbers of reasonable men (or at all events, men endowed with reason) are so strongly attracted by even these low and unclean pleasures that, in order to gratify their lusts, they are ready to face not only disgrace, remorse, and the anger of God, but even hell itself.

It is the same, in a lesser degree, of other earthly pleasures. Consider, for instance, what power the mere prospect of pleasure exercises over men, when it presents itself in the form of wealth, honours, dignities, position, influence, and the rest. How it attracts, allures, fascinates and seduces, and takes possession of their whole being; how it influences and sways and controls them, and sets their very hearts on fire. Now, let us ask, if the weak, sordid and wholly inadequate pleasures that this world contains can wield such influence and exercise such a thraldom, and arouse such fierce passions, what an immeasurably greater influence would be produced by the infallible promise of those infinitely superior delights which God has in store for those who do His will, if only men would consider them and call them to mind.

If there be infidels who do not believe in any future life, and who imagine that all ends with this, well, we are not addressing such. No; we are thinking of Catholics, who most firmly believe and openly confess their unwavering faith in the truths of revelation, and who therefore should be extremely sensitive to their influence.

If man is prepared to do and to suffer so much for purely earthly happiness, what should he not be ready to do and to suffer for a happiness which is incomparably greater? There are three considerations, in particular, which seem to prove to us how extraordinarily and exceptionately great this happiness must be.

The first consideration is that God, whose very nature

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