Et scietis, quia in medio Israel ego sum: et ego Dominus, Deus vester, et non est amplius: et non confundetur populus meus in æternum: ait Dominus omnipotens. (Joel ii, 26-27, Lesson for Ember Friday of Pentecost: "And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel; I am the Lord, your God, and there is no other; my people shall nevermore be put to shame, says the Lord almighty.")
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Pope Mastai-Ferreti publicly displayed his great suffering for the pain of the inhabitants of the Pontifical States, ravaged by the forces fighting in the Italian War of 1859, and for the falsehoods pronounced by the anticlerical press against the Successor of Saint Peter. It was a day like today, Ember Friday of Pentecost (on Ember Saturday, he would address the entire world episcopate):
Under all circumstances, the good wishes of the Sacred College are extremely dear to me; but they are more specially so in these days, when my soul is steeped in bitterness and mourning. Wherever I cast my glance I behold but subjects of affliction and grief. But vae homini illi per quem scandalum venit! Woe to those who have brought about these events.
Nevertheless, let us not be cast down. Let us pray, and pray with humility, with confidence, with perseverance; let us pray, above all, that the Lord may assist and sanctify us. Let us humble ourselves under the hand of God who chastises us.
And why not? If we receive from God good things and joys, why should we not accept from Him afflictions and trials? As for me, nothing can make me change my resolution; I have put my trust in God, and I am calm. This morning, when reading, at the holy Mass, the epistle taken from the prophet Joel, I thought I already heard the response to all our fears and all our wishes—Et scietis quia in medio Israel ego sum, et ego Dominus .... et not confundetur populus meus in eternum.'
Pius IX
Address to the Sacred College of Cardinals
June 17, 1859
June 17, 1859
