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JOHN BEDE
of the Holy Order of St Benedict,
Archbishop-assistant to the Pontifical Throne,
Prelate to the Household of His Holiness Gregory the XVI etc. etc.
By the Grace of God, and the Apostolic See,
Archbishop of Sydney and the Vicar Apostolic of New Holland
to the faithful of the Archdiocese and Vicariate, Clergy and Laity -
Grace and Blessing.
Dearly Beloved, hear and heed the admonition of your pastor : we have sinned and grievously offended against our God.
The inhabitants of Nineveh were not more guilty than we are : as therefore they found mercy, because they humbled themselves
in fasting and in prayer, so may we hope that we shall be spared, if we faithfully comply with the penitential exercises of this holy time.
Jesus Christ has said to his disciples "you cannot serve God and Mammon", or riches. The love of wealth has taken possession of our hearts and totally destroyed the love of God. His sacred name has been profaned; His testimony has been invoked falsely by the perjurer; His consecrated day has been devoted to worldly business. Why so? Because we have served Mammon and not God. Therefore has affliction come upon us. "What hath pride profited us, or the boasting of riches - what advantage hath it brought us. All our fancied prosperity hath passed like a shadow."
Jesus Christ said to his disciples "Deny yourselves, take up the Cross and follow me" but our study has been, to avoid everything disagreeable to our carnal nature. For this reason, we have neglected every duty, omitted every obligation which required self-denial and self-sacrifice. Pleasure in its varied forms, amusements and dissipation : these we have followed, and yet we hope to save our souls, though we comply with not one of the conditions, by the accomplishment of which only we can compass that object, for which alone we ought to live!
Now, therefore, let us bend our knees and bow down our hearts: Let us rend our hearts by a true contrition, and become converted to the Lord our God, in fasting, in weeping, and in prayer. Let the love of riches yield to the love of God : let the exercises of a Christian life take the place of dissipation and folly. Since the love of our miserable bodies has caused us to offend, let us chastise ourselves by the salutary fast of Lent, in obedience to the laws of God, and under the regulations of our Holy Church.
By fasting, Moses prepared himself to receive the law of God : by fasting, Nineveh obtained a remission of the sentence which doomed it to destruction; by fasting Anna the prophetess purified her soul to see the Messiah in the flesh; our divine Lord fasted for forty days in the desert,
and sanctified the practice. "But be not as hypocrites when ye fast", abstaining from food, and yet continuing in sin; crucify your flesh with its vices and concupiscences that ye may be able to say : We have fasted and prayed, and we have found grace in an acceptable time for "prayer is good, with fasting and alms-deeds."
Enter then with fervour on the exercises of this holy-time. Have no part in convivial meetings, or in parties of pleasure. Let moderation and Christian simplicity regulate your repasts, that so from your superfluity you may have the wherewith to bestow on the poor and distressed, your brethren and the members of Jesus Christ.
Let the care of your immortal souls - the one thing necessary - absorb all your attention. Hear Mass each day, if possible, at least on Wednesdays and Fridays. Devote some time each day to prayer, to serious reflection, and to pious reading. Let the Church be the place of rest to your wearied thoughts, and a participation in the assemblies of the faithful your chief consolation. Delay not to frequent the sacraments, that, purified from sin, your fasting and prayer and alms-deeds may become more acceptable in the sight of God.
For the rest, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, whatsoever holy, if there be any virtue, any praise of discipline think on these things; these do ye, and the God of peace shall be with you.
The grace of God our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
NOTES
Archbishop Polding's simple, fervent and direct Pastoral Letter for Lent 1844 was reproduced from The Eye of Faith, pp 57-58. This anthology of the Pastoral Letters of Archbishop Polding was printed by the Lowden Publishing Co., Kilmore Victoria in 1977. The editors were Gregory Haines, Sister Mary Gregory Foster and Frank Brophy. Special contribution to the volume were made by Professor Timothy Suttor and James Cardinal Freeman.
