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Handout #227 |
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Resignation, a prime Christian virtue |
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The bloody days of June 1848 A.D. in Paris
spread panic among those with property and especially among the Catholic
nobility. Euphoria collapsed. The poor were called on to show resignation in
the name of religion, which was used as a means of social defense.
The church has said to the poor: you shall not steal the goods of others, and not only shall you not steal them, you shall not covet them. In other words, you shall not listen to this treacherous teaching which ceaselessly fans in your soul the fire of covetousness and envy. Resign yourself to poverty and you will be eternally rewarded and compensated. That is what the church has been saying to the poor for a thousand years, and the poor have believed it until the day when faith was snatched from their hearts. Montalembert, Speech to the Chamber of Deputies, 20 September 1848. We bring you, the poor, the hopes of religion, as a magnificent compensation for what fortune has refused you and as a powerful reason for resignation and patience. Mgr. Swibour, Archbishop of Paris |
