To all the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, and
Bishops of the Catholic World in the Grace and
Communion of the Apostolic See.

Venerable Brethren, Health and the Apostolic Benediction.

A happy circumstance enables the Christian world to celebrate, at a not far distant interval, the memory of two men who, having been called to receive in heaven the eternal reward of their holiness, have left on earth a crowd of disciples, the ever-increasing off spring from their virtues. For, after the centenary solemnities in honour of St. Benedict, the father and law-giver of the monks of the West, the opportunity of paying public honours to St. Francis of Assisi will likewise be furnished by the seventh centenary of his birth. It is not without reason that We see therein a merciful intention of Divine Providence. For, by calling on men to celebrate the birthdays of these illustrious Fathers, God would seem to wish that they should be induced to keep in mind their signal merits, and at the same time to understand that the Religious Orders they founded ought on no account to have been the objects of such unbefitting acts of violence, least of all in those States where the seeds of civilization and of fame were cast by their labour, their genius and their zeal.