tion, what relaxations the circumstances of the times require for the good of particular churches."[1]
And here We wish to see your constancy ever watchful to defend religion against that most foul conspiracy against the celibacy of the Clergy, which as you know is daily extending its influence, and in which the ranks of the impious philosophers of the day are swelled by the accession of some even of the ecclesiastical order, who, forgetful of their character and of their duty, and yielding to the allurements of passion, have been carried by their licentiousnees so far as in some places publicly to solicit the intervention of their princes, and even to repeat their solicitations with them in order to abrogate this most holy branch of discipline. But why detain you with the recital of attempts so revolting? Having confidence in your piety, to you We commit the defence of a law of so much moment, against which the darts of the lascivious are directed from every quarter. Preserve the building entire; and in its protection and defence, neglect none of those resources, which the sacred Canons have in reserve for you.
Then on the subject of honorable marriage, which St. Paul hath pronounced "a great Sacrament in Christ and in the Church,"[2] our common cares are required to correct errors repugnant to its sanctity and to its indissoluble tie, and to put down all attempts at innovation. Your attention had been directed to this subject in the letter addressed to you by Our predecessor of happy memory, Pius VIII.; but the noxious evil is still increasing. The people must therefore be carefully instructed, that matrimony once lawfully engaged in, can never be dissolved: that God hath decreed that the society formed by those, who have once been united in wedlock, should continue during the whole of their lives: and that the tie of union can only be dissolved by death. Mindful at the same time that it holds a place among things sacred, and is consequently subject to the Church, let the people have always before their eyes the laws framed by the Church respecting and let them comply with them religiously and exactly; for it is on that depends the validity, the stability, and the just union of marriage. Let them beware of offending in any way against the sacred Canons, and the decrees of Councils, properly impressed with the conviction, that no happy issue can result from marriages contracted in defiance of Church discipline; or when neglecting to invoke the previous blessing of Heaven, and without one thought given to the obligation incurred, or to the mystery signified, the contracting parties place their only end in the unbridled indulgence of appetite.
But let us turn to another most prolific cause of those evils, which
