things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just,
whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame, if there be
any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things." So may
the worthiness of our lives justify us, my most dear colleagues, in
repeating the noble claim of St. Paul: "The things which ye have learned
and received and heard and seen in me, these do ye, and the God of Peace
shall be with you."

Let us continue then, dearest brethren, to pray, to do penance, to
attend holy mass, and to receive holy communion for the sacred intention
of our dear country.... I recommend parish priests to hold a funeral
service on behalf of our fallen soldiers on every Saturday.

Money, I know well, is scarce with you all. Nevertheless, if you have
little, give of that little for the succor of those among your
fellow-countrymen who are without shelter, without fuel, without
sufficient bread. I have directed my parish priests to form for this
purpose in every parish a relief committee. Do you second them
charitably and convey to my hands such alms as you can save from your
superfluity, if not from your necessities, so that I may be the
distributer to the destitute who are known to me.

Our distress has moved the other nations. England, Ireland, and
Scotland, France, Holland, the United States, Canada, have vied with
each other in generosity for our relief. It is a spectacle at once most
mournful and most noble. Here again is a revelation of the Providential
wisdom which draws good from evil. In your name, my brethren, and in my
own, I offer to the Governments and the nations that have succored us
the assurance of our admiration and our gratitude.

With a touching goodness, our Holy Father Benedict XV. has been the
first to incline his heart toward us. When, a few moments after his
election, he deigned to take me in his arms, I was bold enough there to
ask that the first Pontifical benediction he spoke should be given to
Belgium, already in deep distress through the war. He eagerly closed
with my wish, which I knew would also be yours. Today, with delicate
kindness, his Holiness has decided to renounce the annual offering of
Peter's Pence from Belgium.

In a letter dated on the beautiful festival of the Immaculate Virgin,
Dec. 8, he assures us of the part he bears in our sufferings. He prays
for us, calls down upon our Belgium the protection of Heaven, and
exhorts us to hail in the then approaching adve