Folio 584

Pius X, 1903-1914

printed p. 552 · pdf p. 584

raised as to whether the sacred dogmas on purgatory and on the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary were acknowledged by the holy men of earlier years;— . . . regarding the constitution of the Church . . . first of all an error, long since condemned by Our predecessor, Innocent X, is being renewed [cf. n. 1091], in which it is argued that St. Paul is held as a brother entirely equal to St. Peter;—then, with no less falsity, one is invited to believe that the Catholic Church was not in the earliest days a sovereignty of one person, that is a monarchy; or that the primacy of the Catholic Church does not rest on valid arguments.—But . . . the Catholic doctrine on the most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist is not left untouched when it is taught inflexibly that the opinion can be accepted which maintains that among the Greeks the words of consecration do not produce an effect unless preceded by that prayer which they call epiclesis,1 although, on the other hand, it is well known that to the Church there belongs no right whatsoever to innovate anything touching on the substance of the sacraments; and no less inharmonious with this is the view that confirmation conferred by any priest at all is to be held valid.

These opinions are noted as "grave errors."

The Author, the Time of Composition, and Historical Truth of the Gospel According to Matthew2

[Response of the Biblical Commission, June 19, 1911]

2148. I. Whether after noting the universal and constant agreement of the Church from the earliest times, which is clearly shown by the eloquent testimonies of the Fathers, the inscriptions of the manuscripts of the Gospels, even the most ancient versions of the Sacred Scriptures, and the catalogues handed down by the Holy Fathers, the ecclesiastical writers, the Highest Pontiffs, and the Councils, and finally the liturgical practice of the Eastern and Western Church, it can and should be affirmed with certainty that Matthew, the Apostle of Christ, is in fact the author of the vulgate Gospel under his name?—Reply: In the affirmative.

2149. II. Whether the opinion should be considered as sufficiently supported

  1. That epiclesis is not required for consecration the following, before Pius X, taught: Benedict XII by the communication, "Iam dudum," in the year 1341, condemning among the errors of the Armenians, error n. 66 (cf. above 532 ff.); Clement VI by the letter, "Super quibusdam," to Consolator, Cathol. Armen. (Bar [Th] ad 1351, n. 11); Benedict XIII, Instr. 31st of May, 1729 sent to the Patriarch Melchit. Antioch. (CL 2, 439); Benedict XIV in the Brief, "Singularis Romanorum," Sept. 1, 1741, confirming the synod provinc. Maronit. (CL 2, 197); Pius VII in the Brief, "Adorabile Eucharistiae," 8th of May, 1822, to the Patriarch Graeco-Melchit. Antioch. (CL 2, 551). ↩

  2. AAS 3 (1911), 294–296; EB n. 401 ff. ↩