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http://www.britishpathe.com/video/pope-paul-consecrates-new-abbey-at-monte-cassino/query/DECLARATION+WAR
Given in Rome, at St. Peter’s, the 24th of October in the year 1964, the second of Our Pontificate.
Paolo PP. VI (1897-1978)
Pope Paul VI (Latin: Paulus PP. VI; Italian: Paolo
VI),
born Giovanni
Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini (26 September 1897 – 6 August 1978
Reading:
Pope Paul VI 'Pacis Nuntius'.
Less satisfactory
is the Night Office Translation, “A Word
In Season” Monastic Lectionary for the Diven Office, Sanctoral.
The two
Feasts;
Passing of St
Benedict 21 Marc
Benedict
Patron of Europe 11 July.
Original Italian and Latin
Better translation from ZENIT
We appreciate, [Translation by Diane Montagna]
Paul VI
Pacis Nuntius
Apostolic
Letter
by which St. Benedict, Abbot, is proclaimed
Principle Patron of All of Europe
In everlasting memory
Messenger of peace, molder of union, teacher of civilization, and above all herald of the religion of Christ and founder of monastic life in the West: these are the proper titles of exaltation given to St. Benedict, Abbot. At the fall of the crumbling Roman Empire, while some regions of Europe seemed to have fallen into darkness and others remained as yet devoid of civilization and spiritual values, he it was who, by constant and assiduous effort, brought to birth the dawn of a new era. It was principally he and his sons, who with the cross, the book and the plow, carried Christian progress to scattered peoples from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, from Ireland to the plains of Poland (Cf. AAS 39 (1947), p. 453). With the cross; that is, with the law of Christ, he lent consistency and growth to the ordering of public and private life. To this end, it should be remembered that he taught humanity the primacy of divine worship through the “opus Dei”, i.e. through liturgical and ritual prayer. Thus it was that he cemented that spiritual unity in Europe, whereby peoples divided on the level of language, ethnicity and culture felt they constituted the one people of God; a unity that, thanks to the constant efforts of those monks who followed so illustrious a teacher, became the distinctive hallmark of the Middle Ages.
It is this unity, which St. Augustine calls the “exemplar and type of
absolute beauty” (cf. Ep.18: PL 33, 85) but which regrettably has been broken
through a maze of historical events, that all men of good will even in our own
day seek to rebuild. With the book, then, i.e. with culture, the same St.
Benedict, -- from whom so many monasteries derive their name and vigor -- with
providential care, saved the classical tradition of the ancients at a time when
the humanistic patrimony was being lost, by transmitting it intact to its
descendants, and by restoring the cult of knowledge. Lastly, it was with the
plow, i.e., with the cultivation of the fields and with other similar
initiatives, that he succeeded in transforming wastelands gone wild into
fertile fields and gracious gardens; and by uniting prayer with manual labor,
according to his famous motto “ora et labora”, he ennobled and elevated human
work. Rightly, therefore, did Pius XII salute St. Benedict as the “father of
Europe” (Cf. AAS loc. Mem.); for he inspired in the peoples of Europe that
loving care of order and justice that forms the foundation of true society. Our
same Predecessor desired that God, through the merits of this great saint,
second the efforts of all those seeking to unite the nations of Europe in
fraternal bonds. In his paternal solicitude, John XXIII also greatly desired
this to come about.
It is natural, then, that We also give our full assent to this movement
that tends toward the attainment of European unity. For this reason, we gladly
welcomed the requests of many cardinals, archbishops, bishops, superior
generals of religious orders, rectors of universities and other distinguished
representatives of the laity from the various European nations to declare St.
Benedict the Patron of Europe. And in the light of this solemn proclamation,
today’s date appears to Us particularly appropriate, for on this day We
re-consecrate to God, in honor of the most holy Virgin and St. Benedict, the
temple of Montecassino, which having been destroyed in 1944 during the terrible
world conflict, was reconstructed through the tenacity of Christian piety. This
we do most willingly, repeating the actions of several of Our Predecessors, who
personally took steps throughout the centuries towards the dedication of this
center of monastic spirituality, which was made famous by the sepulcher of St.
Benedict. May so remarkable a saint receive our vow and, as he once dispelled
the darkness by the light of Christian civilization and radiated the gift of
peace, may he now preside over all of European life and by his intercession
develop and increase it all the more.
Therefore, as proposed by the Sacred Congregation of Rites, and after
due consideration, in virtue of Our apostolic power, with the present Brief and
in perpetuity we constitute and proclaim St. Benedict, Abbot, the Principle
heavenly Patron of all Europe, granting every honor and liturgical privilege
due by law to primary Protectors. Notwithstanding any provision to the
contrary. This we make known and establish, deciding that the present Letter
remain valid and effective, that it obtain its full and integral effect and be
respected by all those it regards or shall regard in future; so also, may
whatever judgment or definition be in accordance with it; and henceforth, may
whatever contrary act, by whatever authority it was established, consciously or
through ignorance, be deemed invalid.
Given in Rome, at St. Peter’s, the 24th of October in the year 1964, the
second of Our Pontificate.
Paolo PP. VI
[Translation by Diane Montagna]
(July 11, 2012) © Innovative Media Inc.
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