AAS 31 (1939), p. 541
grace may stir in the troubled heart of the wanderers a homesickness
for things eternal, a homesickness that impels them to return to Him,
Who from His sorrowful throne of the Cross thirsts for their souls also
and Who is consumed by a desire to become for them too the way, and
the truth, and the life (St. John, 14, 6).
As, with a heart full of confidence and hope, We place this first En^-
cyclical of Our Pontificate under the seal of Christ the King, We feel
entirely assured of the unanimous and enthusiastic approval of the
whole flock of Christ. The difficulties, anxieties and trials of the present
hour arouse, intensify and refine, to a degree rarely attained, the sense
of solidarity in the Catholic family. The make all believers in God and
in Christ share the consciousness of a common threat from a common
danger. We witnessed a consoling and memorable display of this
Catholic solidarity, greatly intensified in such difficult circumstances
—the serried ranks, the assurance, the resolution, the will to win—in
those days when, with faltering step but with confidence in God, We
took possession of the Chair left vacant by the death of Our great Predecessor.
We cherish the memory of the many testimonies of filial attachment
to the Church and to the Vicar of Christ, and of the ovation so genuine,
so enthusiastic and so spontaneous accorded to Us on the occasion of Our
election and coronation; and We gladly take this opportune occasion
to address to you, Venerable Brethren, and to all who belong to the flock
of the Lord a word of sincere gratitude for that orderly manifestation
of reverent love and of steadfast loyalty to the Papacy, in which one
could see recognition of the God-given mission of the High Priest and
of the Supreme Pastor. For, We well know it, all those manifestations
were not and could not have been addressed to Our poor person but to
the singular and exalted office to which the Lord had raised Us. And
though from that first moment We felt all the great weight of responsible
cares inseparable from the supreme power given to Us by divine
Providence, it was a consolation to see that magnificent and tangible
demonstration of the indissoluble unity of the Catholic Church rallying
all the closer to the impregnable Rock of Peter, to form around it a wall
a-nd a bulwark, as the enemies of Christ became bolder. This same manifestation
of world-wide Catholic solidarity and of the supernatural
brotherhood of peoples around their common Father seemed to Us all
the richer in fair hopes in view of the tragic circumstances, both material
and spiritual, of the moment. That memory has continued to
comfort Us also in the first months of Our Pontificate in which We have
for things eternal, a homesickness that impels them to return to Him,
Who from His sorrowful throne of the Cross thirsts for their souls also
and Who is consumed by a desire to become for them too the way, and
the truth, and the life (St. John, 14, 6).
As, with a heart full of confidence and hope, We place this first En^-
cyclical of Our Pontificate under the seal of Christ the King, We feel
entirely assured of the unanimous and enthusiastic approval of the
whole flock of Christ. The difficulties, anxieties and trials of the present
hour arouse, intensify and refine, to a degree rarely attained, the sense
of solidarity in the Catholic family. The make all believers in God and
in Christ share the consciousness of a common threat from a common
danger. We witnessed a consoling and memorable display of this
Catholic solidarity, greatly intensified in such difficult circumstances
—the serried ranks, the assurance, the resolution, the will to win—in
those days when, with faltering step but with confidence in God, We
took possession of the Chair left vacant by the death of Our great Predecessor.
We cherish the memory of the many testimonies of filial attachment
to the Church and to the Vicar of Christ, and of the ovation so genuine,
so enthusiastic and so spontaneous accorded to Us on the occasion of Our
election and coronation; and We gladly take this opportune occasion
to address to you, Venerable Brethren, and to all who belong to the flock
of the Lord a word of sincere gratitude for that orderly manifestation
of reverent love and of steadfast loyalty to the Papacy, in which one
could see recognition of the God-given mission of the High Priest and
of the Supreme Pastor. For, We well know it, all those manifestations
were not and could not have been addressed to Our poor person but to
the singular and exalted office to which the Lord had raised Us. And
though from that first moment We felt all the great weight of responsible
cares inseparable from the supreme power given to Us by divine
Providence, it was a consolation to see that magnificent and tangible
demonstration of the indissoluble unity of the Catholic Church rallying
all the closer to the impregnable Rock of Peter, to form around it a wall
a-nd a bulwark, as the enemies of Christ became bolder. This same manifestation
of world-wide Catholic solidarity and of the supernatural
brotherhood of peoples around their common Father seemed to Us all
the richer in fair hopes in view of the tragic circumstances, both material
and spiritual, of the moment. That memory has continued to
comfort Us also in the first months of Our Pontificate in which We have