unto the increase and exaltation of the faith, and of the Christian religion, that the sacred, œcumenical, and general Council of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost, be, all manner of suspension removed, celebrated from this day, which is the eighteenth of the month of January, in the year mdlxii from our Lord's nativity, consecrated to the chair of the blessed Peter, according to the form and tenor of the letter of our most holy lord, the Sovereign Pontiff: Pius IV.; and that, due order being observed, those things be treated of therein, which, the legates and presidents proposing, shall appear to the said holy synod fitting and proper for alleviating the calamities of these times, appeasing controversies concerning religion, restraining deceitful tongues, correcting the abuses of depraved manners, and procuring for the Church a true and Christian peace?
They answered: It pleaseth.
INDICTION OF THE NEXT SESSION,
Doth it please you that the next ensuing session be held and celebrated on the Thursday after the second Sunday of Lent, which will be on the twenty-sixth day of the month of February?
They answered: It pleaseth.
SESSION THE EIGHTEENTH,
Being the second under the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IV., celebrated on the twenty-sixth day of February, 1562.
DECREE TOUCHING THE CHOICE OF BOOKS; AND FOR INVITING ALL MEN ON THE PUBLIC FAITH TO THE COUNCIL.
The sacred and holy, œcumenical and general Synod of Trent, lawfully assembled in the Holy Ghost,—the same legates of the Apostolic See presiding therein,—not indeed confiding in human strength, but relying on the aid and assistance of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has promised that he would give to His Church a mouth and wisdom,[1] doth ponder especially how it may at length restore to its native purity and splendour, the doctrine of the Catholic faith, which
- ↑ Luke xxi. 15.
