Dear Friends and Benefactors,

As we look upon the state of the world today it is easy to become terrified at its condition. Pope Saint Pius X had expressed this same fear many years ago in his encyclical E Supremi. "We were terrified beyond all else by the disastrous state of human society today. For who can fail to see that society is at the present time, more then in any past age, suffering from a terrible and deep-rooted malady which, developing every day and eating into its utmost being, is dragging it to destruction?"

Nor was he alone in seeing this state. Pius XI in Quas Primas says "With God and Jesus Christ excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, …the chief reason of the distinction between ruler and subject has been eliminated. The result is that society is tottering to its ruin because it no longer has a secure and solid foundation."

Also Pius XII in a letter of February 11, 1949 says "we are overwhelmed with sadness and anguish, seeing that the wickedness of perverse men has reached a degree of impiety that is unbelievable and absolutely unknown in other times."

One can only imagine what they might say in regard to the present state of the world which has gone far beyond the "unbelievable and absolutely unknown" degree of impiety of their times, to the point that men today not only exclude God from their economic and political lives but also from their religious life. No doubt, even amidst the fear, these popes would still tell us to have hope. God is still God, for all eternity, and He will not abandon us. The solid foundation that our Lord Jesus Christ has laid, the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, still remains even if many of its leaders have stepped off to play and build in the sand.

Considering the state of human society and the duty which was imposed upon him as Sovereign Pontiff, Saint Pius X spoke to the bishops of the world: "You see, then, Venerable Brethren, the duty that has been imposed alike upon Us and upon you of bringing back to the discipline of the Church human society, now estranged from the wisdom of Christ; the Church will then subject it to Christ, and Christ to God... But if our desire to obtain this is to be fulfilled, we must use every means and exert all our energy to bring about the utter disappearance of the enormous and detestable wickedness, so characteristic of our time —the substitution of man for God."

Among the means Saint Pius X gave to form Christ in all men and thereby "heal the wounds of the world," several seem most relevant for our age:

• faithful obedience to the Commandments and counsels of the Gospel

• formation of a learned, zealous and devout Priesthood

• proper respect and frequent use of the Sacraments

• respect of lawful authority

• education and discipline of youth

• earnest prayer allowing us to once again show our dependence on God.

Especially as we enter into the month of October let us turn to earnest prayer through the devout recitation of the Holy Rosary. It is a means available to all of us. If we are not in the habit of praying at least five decades daily let us begin. If we already pray five decades perhaps we could increase to ten or, better still, all fifteen decades. The athlete who realizes that his opponent is getting tougher must train harder to defeat him. Likewise we must use the means available to strengthen our souls for the most important battle, which rages every second around us, against a very strong opponent who is conquering very many souls. In the end our Lord Jesus Christ is still the Victor, but let us do all we can to ensure we are on His side. May our Lady of the Rosary obtain for us the necessary graces to be faithful.

Fr. John D. Fullerton