whencesoever it may come. Cling all the more unwaveringly, in union so with your Bishops, to the teaching and faith of the Catholic Church; let nothing separate you from the Rock on which Jesus Christ has founded His Church, with the promise that the "gates of hell shall not prevail against it." In view of the excitement which exists in consequence of un-ecclesiastical manifestations and movements against the decrees of the Council in several places, and which undoubtedly forms no small trial and danger to many souls, as well as considering the tremendous war which has been forced upon our German Fatherland, and which claims at the same time our intense interest and watchfulness, and which has already plunged innumerable families into sorrow and mourning, we cannot forbear from earnestly calling all the faithful to fervent prayer for the present great necessities of Church and State. Lift up, then, your hearts in faith and confidence to our Father in Heaven, Whose wise and loving Providence guides and rules everything, and whose Divine Son has promised most surely to hear us when we ask in His name.
'Pray also with faith and trust that this sanguinary war, by a complete triumph of the right cause, and a true and lasting peace, may quickly end. Pray for the wants of Holy Church, especially for all who err or hesitate in their faith, that they may have the grace of a firm, decided, and living faith. Pray for the Supreme Head of the Church, the holy Father, who most likely at this very moment is more than ever before in distress and embarrassment. Pray with confidence in the merits and infinite love of the Divine Heart of Jesus Christ, invoking the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God.
'And may the blessing of God Almighty descend upon you and remain with yon all, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.—Amen.
'At the end of August, 1870.
