of all Christian people. We have therefore resolved in virtue of the authority given to us by Heaven, fully to unlock that sacred treasure, composed of the merits, sufferings, and virtues of Christ our Lord, and of his Virgin Mother and of all the Saints, which the Author of human salvation has entrusted to our dispensation.

In this, it becomes us to magnify the abundant riches of the divine clemency, by which Christ, preventing us with the blessings of sweetness, so willed the infinite power of his merits to be diffused through the parts of his mystical body, that they by reciprocal co-operation, and by the most wholesome communication of advantages flowing from faith, which worketh by charity, might mutually assist each other; and by the immense price of the blood of the Lord, and for his sake and virtue, as also by the merits and suffrages of the saints, might gain the remission of the temporal punishment, which the fathers of the Council of Trent have taught is not always entirely remitted, as is the case of baptism, by the sacrament of pe

nance.

Let the earth, therefore, hear the words of our mouth, and let the whole world joyfully hearken to the voice of the priestly trumpet sounding forth to God's people the sacred jubilee. We proclain that the year of atonement and pardon, of redemption and grace, of remission and indulgence, is arrived; in which we know that those benefits which the old law, the messenger of things to come, brought every fiftieth year to the Jewish people, are renewed in a much more sacred manner by the accumulation of spiritual blessing through him by whom came peace and truth. For if the lands that had been sold, and property that had passed into other hands were reclaimed in that salutary year, so we recover now, by the infinite liberality of God, the virtues, and merits, and gifts, of which we are despoiled by sin. If then, the claims of human bondage ceased to exist―so at present, by shaking off the most galling yoke of the diabolical subjection, we are called to the liberty of God's children-to that liberty which Christ has granted us. If, in fine, by the precepts of the law, pecuniary debts were then pardoned to debtors, and they became discharged from every

bond we are also exonerated from a much heavier debt.of sins, and are released by the divine mercy, from the punishments incurred by them.

Eagerly wishing that so many and such great advantages may accrue to your souls, and confidently invoking God the Giver of all good gifts, through the bowels of his mercy, in conformity to the exigency of the prescribed period and the pious institutes of the Roman pontiffs, our predecessors, and walking in their footsteps-we, with the assent of our venerable brethren the cardinals of the holy Roman Church, do by the authority of Almighty God, and of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own, for the glory of God himself, the exaltation of the Catholic church, and the sanctification of all christian people, ordain and publish the universal and most solemn jubilee, to commence in this holy city from the first vespers of the nativity of our most holy Saviour Jesus Christ next ensuing, and to continue during the whole year one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five; during which year of the jubilee, we mercifully give and grant in the Lord a plenary indulgence, remission, and pardon of all their sins, to all the faithful of Christ of both sexes, truly penitent and confessing their sins, and receiving the holy communion, who shall devoutly visit the churches of blessed Peter and Paul, as also of Saint John Lateran and St. Mary Major of this city, for thirty successive or uninterrupted, (whether natural or ecclesiastical) days, to be counted, to wit, from the first vespers of one day, until the evening twilight of the day following, provided they be Romans or inhabitants of the said city; but if they be pilgrims or otherwise strangers, if they shall do the same for fifteen days, and shall pour forth their pious prayers to God for the exaltation of the holy church, the extirpation of heresies, concord of Catholic princes, and the safety and tranquillity of Christian people.

And because it may happen that some persons who shall set out on their journey, or shall arrive in this city, may be detained in the way, or even in the city itself, by illness or other lawful excuse, or be prevented by death from completing the prescribed number of days, or perhaps even beginning them,

and may be unable to comply with the premises, and visit the said churches, we will, in our desire of graciously favouring their pious and ready disposition as far as we can in the Lord, that the same being truly penitent and confessing their sins, and receiving the holy Communion, become partakers of the aforesaid indulgence and remission as fully as if they had actually visited the said churches on the days by us appointed; so that, though hindered by the necessities aforesaid, they may, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, obtain the effect of their desires.

These things we announce to you, beloved children, with a fatherly affection, that you, who labour and are burthened, may hasten thither, where you know for certain that refreshment awaits you. Neither is it allowable to remain indifferent and heartless about acquiring those salutary riches from the eternal treasures of divine grace which the most holy and indulgent mother, the church, throws open to you, whilst men are so eagerly intent on amassing earthly possessions, which the moth consumes or the rust eats away. And when from the earliest times there has been a great and constant concourse of people, of every station, flocking from all parts of the globe, in defiance of the length and the dangers of the journey, to visit this principal residence of the fine arts, which they admire like a brilliant prodigy, for the magnificence of its buildings, and the majesty of the place, and the beauty of its monuments, --it would indeed be base, and most foreign to the desire of never-ending happiness, to pretend the difficulty or dangers of the journey, and similar excuses, to decline the pilgrimage to Rome. There is, beloved brethren, there is in reserve what will most amply remunerate you for every inconvenience and hardship: yes, these sufferings, if any such occur, are not fit to be compared to the weight of glory to come, which, with God's assistance, will be secured to you by the means prepared for the sanctification of your souls. For you will here reap the most abundant fruits of penance, by which you may offer to God the sacrifice of your bodies, chastised by continued acts of self-denial; may religiously perform the works of piety prescribed by the conditions of the indulgence; and may add a new force to your fixed and persevering resolution to satisfy for

your past crimes by penitential austerities, and to avoid all sin for the time to come.

Therefore ascend with loins girt up to this holy Jerusalem, this priestly and royal city, which, by the sacred chair of the blessed Peter, become the capital of the world, is seen to maintain more extensive dominion by the divine influence of religion than by earthly authority. "For this is the city," said St. Charles, exhorting his people to visit Rome in the holy year, "this is the city whose soil, walls, altars, churches, tombs of the martyrs, aud every visible object suggests something religious to the mind, as they experience and feel who approach these sacred abodes with proper dispositions." Consider how much it conduces to excite faith and charity, to proceed round those ancient places, by which the majesty of religion is wonderfully recommended; then to place before one's eyes so many thousand martyrs, who have consecrated this very soil with their blood-to enter their churches, to witness their honours, and venerate their shrines. Now, "if heaven is not so resplendent when the sun darts forth its rays, as is the city of the Romans, possessing those two luminaries, Peter and Paul, diffusing their light through the universe," as St. John Chrysostome said, who will dare, without the affection of the tenderest devotion, to approach their confessions, to prostrate before their tombs, and kiss their chains, more precious than gold and gems? Who, in fine, can refrain from tears, when, perceiving the cradle of Christ, he shall recollect the infant Jesns crying in the manger; or, saluting the most sacred instruments of our Lord's passion, shall meditate on the Redeemer of the world hanging on the cross?

Since these venerable monuments of religion, by the singular bounty of divine Providence, are collected in this city alone, they are truly the sweetest pledges of love,--that the Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the tents of Jacob; and they affectionately invite you all, dearest children, without delay to ascend the mountain, where it has pleased the Lord to dwell.

But here our solicitude demands that we especially address all ranks in this holy city; reminding them that the eyes of the faithful, arriving from every part of the world, are fixed upon

them; that, therefore, nothing but what is grave, moderate, and becoming the Christian, ought to appear in them; so that all may seek from their conduct an example of modesty, innocence, and of every kind of virtue. Hence from this chosen people, among whom the prince of pasters has pleased that the chair of the most blessed Peter should be fixed, let the rest of mankind learn how to reverence the Catholic Church and ecclesiastical authority, to obey its precepts, and always to render great honour to ecclesiastical things and persons.

Let the respect that is due to churches be conspicuous in them, so that nothing may be observed by strangers of a nature to bring the sacred rites of religion or holy places into contempt or disrepute ; nothing that can offend decency, purity, or modesty ; nothing what will excite admiration and edification. Let all be correct and regular in their conduct; let them show by their external behaviour that they attend the duties of religion, not merely by their corporal presence, but in the true spirit of piety and devotion.

We also press on their attention, not to appear engaged, on the days appointed for sacred offices and the honour of God and his saints, in the celebration of feasting, and amusements, aud unseasonable mirth, and wanton licentiousness. In fine, "whatever things are true, whatever are modest, whatever are just, whatever are holy, whatever are lovely, whatever are of good fame, let these shine forth in the Roman people, so that we may congratulate them that the glory of faith and piety, for which they were recommended as an example by the Apostle Paul, and which have been transmitted to them by their ancestors as their best inheritance, has received no tarnish, but has even been illustrated in their zeal and edifying conduct.

We are indeed refreshed with this consoling hope, that each one will be zealous for the better gifts, that the sheep of the Lord's flock will run to the embraces of the Shepherd, and that all will be as an army in battle array, having charity for their banner. Therefore, “Jerusalem, lift up thine eyes round about, and see: thy sons from far shall come to thee, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged." But would to God that the children of them that afflicted thee would come bowing down