Pope Pius X has his eyes constantly fixed upon Him of whom he is the vicar. He forces himself, as far as it is possible to human weakness, to practise the evangelical virtues in their integrity, and to cause to prevail in the church the purity of the doctrines and teachings of the Master.
He declared this in his first encyclical, he condescended to repeat it to me with more abandon and unstudied eloquence in the interview with which he honoured me in October last.
A question more Roman than Christian was once asked of one of the predecessors of Pious X. A sceptic asked him how he would receive Christ should it please him to re-incarnate himself in order to pay a visit in the vatican to his representative on earth. And the questioner added, “Your Holiness would no doubt be a little embarrassed? “
“Not at all”, replied the Pope, “I would crucify him; there is a precedent!”
A profound utterance this, whether it be authentic or not, because it signifies that, during the lapse of time, the Roman pontificate tended to approach the traditions of Caiaphas, prince of the priests and of the Pharisees, and to get away from the precepts of the Galilean.
This sort of precedent does not, however, appeal to the new Pope. He has just laid a vigorous hand upon an abuse which during long centuries was rooted in the church. Jesus, returning to Jerusalem, dispersed the merchants who were blocking up the vestibule of the temple, and overturned the tables where they sold the doves intended for the sacrifices
A traffic, a hundred times more condemnatory than that of the doves, was being clandestinely carried on in the church. The masses asked of the clergy by the piety of the faithful were the object of an international commerce like the indulgences on the eve of the Reformation. Now, the Mass which is the supreme form of prayer, lends itself to pecuniary transactions infinitely less even than the doves of the ancient law, or the wax tapers and medals of contemporary sanctuaries. Jesus certainly would not have tolerated that people should speculate in his flesh and blood.
The decree of the Congregation of the Council, by which Pius X has definitely ruined the traffic in masses, is not new. It starts from June last. The French press is now occupied with it. It may, perhaps, be useful to explain to the public, which is somewhat ignorant of these ecclesiastical inner things, the mechanism of this so strange a speculation.
Pope Leo XIII (the last Pope) also, in the first years of his reign, endeavoured to restrain this scandalous abuse, and later, in 1903, he confirmed his interdiction. But the prohibitions of Leo XIII tolerated exceptions which rendered the effect of the prohibitions almost illusory. Pope Pius X has suppressed the least tolerance.
The custom of having masses said at the instance of the living or the dead is derived from the belief in Purgatory. The readers of the Matin will pardon this little course of elementary theology to which they are not accustomed. But these things must be made intelligible, even to those who have no taste for them. The sacrifice of the Mass, being the most perfect of all, since it renews each day on the altars the sacrifice of Calvary, must also be the most efficacious to shorten the remissible pains incurred by sinners.
As, moreover, the priest lives off the altar, it is just that the believer, desirous of bringing about the most prompt termination to the sufferings of his relatives, or to his own sufferings after death, should accord to the celebrant a fair remuneration according to his means. Hence it is that donations and testaments have come into existence, to form funds for saying a greater or lesser number of masses. Certain altars are declared privileged, because the masses which are celebrated on them effect a plenary indulgence, that is to say, the immediate delivery of a soul in agony. Certain sanctuaries, again, are the object of the predeliction of the devout. Offerings for masses flow abundantly to these.
It results, therefore, that the priests, who serve such altars or in such sanctuaries, receive fees for more masses than they can say; whilst other priests, less favoured, only rarely see a supplicant applying for their ministration. On one side there is a plethora, on the other side a dearth.
I was once, in Rome, told a fine story on this subject. It was, I believe, in the time of Sixtus V. The Franciscans of the Convent of the Ara-Coeli, the one which is on the side of the Capitol, the magnificent church which shelters the miraculous Barnbino, had received so many fees for masses that they could not possibly clear themselves of their obligations to the donors, no, not even in the course of many centuries. It was said that they had cash in hand for more than £600,000.
The Superior, who was an honest man, sought out the Pope, and thus addressed him: “Most Holy Father, you hold the keys which open the door of Purgatory and that of Paradise; it is within the power of your Holiness to attribute to one single mass the liberating value of six hundred thousand. Permit us, therefore, to liquidate by one stroke all our arrears. We will say a magnificent mass. Fix the day and hour.”
The Pope acquiesced.
On the day and at the hour fixed, the church of the Ara, Coeli was resplendent with lights, flowers and draperies. At the moment when the Superior was investing himself with his ornaments (preparatory to celebrating the mass—Translator) a commotion was heard at the door. The pontifical cortege entered, and the Pope in person presented himself in front of the altar. Addressing the Franciscan father, he said, “A mass so solemn as this cannot be better celebrated than by the Pope himself”. He then celebrated the mass, and appropriated to his own treasury the totality of the fees in hand!
The priests and convents with a surplus of masses to say have ceased to demand of the Pope so dangerous a liquidation. They manage to acquit themselves otherwise of their obligations. They have established a distributing arrangement. The too rich appoint those who are poor to execute the intentions of the donors. But as all masses have the same supernatural value, whether they are paid for at the rate of five shillings or five pence, those who minister in the opulent sanctuaries entrust the saying of the masses to the priests or monks who are satisfied with the lowest fee. The difference they keep for themselves.
We have here, therefore, quite a market, which is subject to the law of supply and demand. The parish which has received a mandate to say masses at five francs (a franc is about 10d.—Translator) will pass them on to a chapel which will accept them at two francs. This latter in turn, when it is overloaded, will pass them on to poor monks or hermits of Italy for ten sous (ten sous are five pence—Translator) and even less There are at Rome priests called scagnozzi who make a bare living by saying masses at wretched prices. And it is to these that the greater part of the masses of the most generous donors eventually come for liquidation.
As it is necessary in all kinds of commerce that there should be intermediaries between those who supply and those who demand, so there came into existence, in Paris even, in the vicinity of the depots for the sales of religious books and objects, Banks for Masses, which bought and sold subject to double commission. These bankers had their travellers, their correspondents and their branch houses. There existed also quotations, according to the abundance or rarity of the merchandise, and the difficulty of placing same. The Archbishop of Paris was obliged, in 1880, to suppress these singular establishments of credit upon the other world.
The religious journals, whose existence is often so precarious, in order to increase the number of their ecclesiastical clients, had recourse to this traffic. They were able to make masses help to obtain subscriptions to their journals in the following manner. Through their relations with the clergy, they were able to get the most favoured amongst them to entrust to them the mandate to distribute the surplus masses. They could then solicit the subscription of the most impecunious vicar thus: “The subscription to the merchants of the temple our journal is 30 francs. Very well, instead of paying it in cash, pay it by saying 35 masses, and we will hand you five francs.”
The last journal which, in virtue of a tolerance of Leo XIII, benefited in this way was the Voca della Verita. However much may have been the services rendered to the Holy See by this popular organ, Pius X preferred to see it die than to perpetuate an exception which authorised all this abuse.
Hereafter, speculation in masses is rigorously interdicted. The priests must not accept fees for more masses than they can clear off within a reasonable time. If they desire to transmit the saying of the masses to others, they must at the same time transmit to their substitutes the full fees received without any deduction.
It is certain that in the above traffic, the merchandise (for the mass had become a merchandise) was in danger of being lost in transit. The intentions of the donors were too often lost sight of. Thus the pious soul, which might attribute more credit to such and such a Virgin of renown than to the humble Madonna of a church of the Abruzzes, would be frustrated in its special devotion. It amounted, therefore, to a sort of deception in the article sold.
Pius X thinks he has put an end to this impious traffic. Let us hope so. There still remains for him plenty of reforms to accomplish in his clergy, small and great, if he would, as is his desire, render to the entire church the plenitude of the apostolic virtue.
The above is inserted as a first-class illustration of Rev. 18. 13. This would be especially so if by “souls” the pagan-Catholic notion is accommodated, since it is these more so than the living which have become the most notable article of her merchandise. However, it is not with any Pope that the remedy for such abuses rests, but with the great Rainbowed Angel, the angelic Avenger, whose tread is the tramp of myriads whose task is to destroy the Beast and give his body to the burning flame.
The mystery of the vision is made clear in verse 20. The seven stars represent the “angels” or rather the elders or “agents”.
(See Young”s Concordance and also the Diaglott), and these would be the arranging brethren of the day in the ecclesias mentioned. The seven candlesticks or lampstands represented the seven ecclesias themselves.
In chapter 2, verse 1, we are informed that Christ “walked” among the lamp-stands. In other words His presence was among the ecclesias and would guide and direct them so long as they retained their faith and confidence in Him (2. 13).
Review of the vision
Verse 11—Seven ecclesias
While certain specific congregations are mentioned, we may again point out that there were other ecclesias. Why then only write to seven? The number seven indicates completeness when used in scripture. (See notes at back of the Diaglott and Psalm 2. 6).
Dr. Thomas points out that in his opinion Verse 11 has reference to the ecclesias from John’s day to the time of the second advent, and certainly the messages given are just as applicable to the ecclesias throughout the world today.
Verse 12—Golden Candlesticks (Lampstands)
These are the means of enlightenment or illumination to those in darkness. It is easy to see portrayed here, the function of the ecclesias then and now—to enlighten the communities in which they live concerning God’s glorious truth. We have been called out of darkness into His marvellous light and of such Jesus said in Matt. 14 “Ye are the light of the world”.
Gold indicates a tried faith—purity achieved through the fiery trial of persecution, and also points to the saints in the future.
Verse 13—
See also chap. 14. 14. Dan. 7. 23 and Ezek. 1. 26. One “like” unto the Son of Man—the angel. The garment. Exod. 28′. 4—The priests’ garment. Girt with a golden girdle—Rev. 15. 6.
Verse 14—
“Hairs white like wool”, Dan. 7. 9, Eph. 5. 27. “Eyes as flame of fire”, Rev. 2. 18 here is Divine intelligence in vengeance and judgment. Verse 15—
“Feet like fine brass” or white copper (Young’s Concordance). A process of burning or refining necessary. Of Jesus it could truly be said, “Though He was a son yet learned the obedience by the things which He suffered”, Heb. 5. 8. “His voice as the source of many waters”, here indicates a mighty voice (of authority) over many people. See chap. 17. 15.
Verse 16—
“Sharp two-edged sword” out of His mouth. The word and authority of God issuing forth from Jesus at His return. He will discipline all nations. “The kingdom and nation that will not serve thee shall perish.” Isa. 60. 12, Eph. 6. 17. Heb. 4. 12. Rev. 2. 16.
We will next consider Christ”s message to the ecclesias, and their vital bearing upon ourselves.
The Kingdom of God has been a cornerstone of the gospel from the earliest church