"
Let us substitute for the name of Mary, the holiest of all, The Eternal
Spirit of Jehovah Himself; and will not these words be a proper vehicle
of the sentiments of a Christian pastor? Let us fix upon Christmas-day,
or Easter, or Holy Thursday, and what word expressive {382} of gratitude
for past mercies to the supreme Giver of all good things, or of hope and
trust in the guidance of the Spirit of counsel, and wisdom, and
strength--of the most High God, who alone can order the wills and ways
of men--might not a bishop of Christ's flock take from this declaration
of the Sovereign Pontiff, and use in its first and natural sense, when
speaking of the Lord Jehovah Himself? "We select for the date of our
letter this most joyful day on which we celebrate the solemn festival of
the most blessed Redeemer's nativity, (or glorious resurrection, or
ascension,) that He who has been through every great calamity our patron
and protector, may watch over us writing to you, and lead our mind by
his heavenly influence to those counsels which may prove most salutary
to Christ's flock."
In these sentiments of the present Pope there is no allusion (as there
is in the other clause) to Mary's prayers and intercessions. Looking to
and weighing the words employed, and as far as words can be relied upon
as interpreters of the thoughts, looking to the spirit of his
profession, only one inference can be fairly drawn.
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