This article is available for download. You can download it and print it for private use and for private sharing but it cannot be reproduced in any other publication. To download a print copy click here – Casti Connubii – Part 2
In the previous article, we saw that Pope Pius XI, after noting that holy matrimony is under grave attack, gave us a basic understanding of the nature of true marriage and of the limits to the authority of the State in regard to marriage. He now looks at the blessings of marriage.
“Now when We come to explain, Venerable Brethren, what are the blessings that God has attached to true matrimony, and how great they are, there occur to Us the words of that illustrious Doctor of the Church whom We commemorated recently in Our Encyclical ‘Ad Salutem’ on the occasion of the fifteenth centenary of his death: “These,” says St. Augustine, “are all the blessings of matrimony on account of which matrimony itself is a blessing; offspring, conjugal faith and the sacrament.” (St. Augustine – Of the Good of Marriage) And how under these three heads is contained a splendid summary of the whole doctrine of Christian marriage, the holy Doctor himself expressly declares when he said: “By conjugal faith it is provided that there should be no carnal intercourse outside the marriage bond with another man or woman; with regard to offspring, that children should be begotten of love, tenderly cared for and educated in a religious atmosphere; finally, in its sacramental aspect that the marriage bond should not be broken and that a husband or wife, if separated, should not be joined to another even for the sake of offspring. This we regard as the law of marriage by which the fruitfulness of nature is adorned and the evil of incontinence is restrained.” (Casti Connubii 10)
Saint Augustine, in few words, sums up Catholic Church teaching on marriage. Our modern cultures attack these goods of marriage. The promotion of sexual promiscuity through sex-education and widespread public discourse on intimate sexual matters via television shows, radio programmes, and magazines, has led to an exponential increase in sexual relations outside the bond of marriage. A new term has been given to these relations. It is euphemistically called ‘casual sex’. The mortally sinful aspect of such sexual encounters is ignored. This in turn has led to huge increases in the numbers of children born outside of wedlock which puts these children at a great disadvantage and an increased risk of poverty. There has been a huge increase in the numbers of children killed by abortion. That these are grave evils can be seen from the next paragraph of Casti Connubii.

“Thus amongst the blessings of marriage, the child holds the first place. And indeed the Creator of the human race Himself, Who in His goodness wishes to use men as His helpers in the propagation of life, taught this when, instituting marriage in Paradise, He said to our first parents, and through them to all future spouses: “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) As St. Augustine admirably deduces from the words of the holy Apostle Saint Paul to Timothy, when he says: “The Apostle himself is therefore a witness that marriage is for the sake of generation: ‘I wish,’ he says, ‘young girls to marry.’ And, as if someone said to him, ‘Why?,’ he immediately adds: ‘To bear children, to be mothers of families’. (1 Timothy 5:14)” (Casti Connubii 11)
Pope Pius XI, by quoting Saint Augustine, emphasises that the primary end of marriage is children. Unfortunately, this primacy of children is no longer recognised in our modern societies and a greater emphasis is placed on the secondary ends of our sexual nature. This is being taught to children through the secular sex-education programmes that indoctrinate very young children with a false ideological understanding of the purpose of human sexuality. The focus has changed from being directed to the glory of God to the carnal satisfaction of man.
“How great a boon of God this is, and how great a blessing of matrimony is clear from a consideration of man’s dignity and of his sublime end. For man surpasses all other visible creatures by the superiority of his rational nature alone. Besides, God wishes men to be born not only that they should live and fill the earth, but much more that they may be worshippers of God, that they may know Him and love Him and finally enjoy Him for ever in heaven; and this end, since man is raised by God in a marvellous way to the supernatural order, surpasses all that eye has seen, and ear heard, and all that has entered into the heart of man. (1 Corinthians 2:9) From which it is easily seen how great a gift of divine goodness and how remarkable a fruit of marriage are children born by the omnipotent power of God through the cooperation of those bound in wedlock. (Casti Connubii 12)
God has deigned to give to husband and wife a share in His creative power through bringing children into this world who are destined to become Saints for eternity in Heaven. This explains the heartache experienced by those married couples who cannot have children. They are deprived of the greatest good of marriage. However, this burden must be carried as a cross given to them through the mysteries of God’s providence.
“But Christian parents must also understand that they are destined not only to propagate and preserve the human race on earth, indeed not only to educate any kind of worshippers of the true God, but children who are to become members of the Church of Christ, to raise up fellow-citizens of the Saints, and members of God’s household, (Ephesisan 2:19) that the worshippers of God and Our Savior may daily increase. (Casti Connubii 13)
“For although Christian spouses even if sanctified themselves cannot transmit sanctification to their progeny, nay, although the very natural process of generating life has become the way of death by which original sin is passed on to posterity, nevertheless, they share to some extent in the blessings of that primeval marriage of Paradise, since it is theirs to offer their offspring to the Church in order that by this most fruitful Mother of the children of God they may be regenerated through the laver of Baptism unto supernatural justice and finally be made living members of Christ, partakers of immortal life, and heirs of that eternal glory to which we all aspire from our inmost heart. (Casti Connubii 14)
The gift of children is an astonishing gift which carries with it great duties and responsibilities. Parents must realise that, whilst they have a moral duty to transmit the Catholic faith in its fullness to their children, they do not have the power to transmit sanctification to their children. So many parents today are deeply troubled because their children have fallen away from the practice of the Catholic faith. The numbers of these baptised children who no longer practice the Catholic faith is increasing at epidemic proportions. Catholic parents, despite their disappointments and perhaps their failures in keeping a close watch on the attacks that were mounted against their children, still have a duty to pray earnestly and to make sacrifices for their children that they will return to the full practice of the Catholic faith. We must always remain grounded in the virtue of Hope remembering that Jesus Christ gave His life for the salvation of the children He has gifted to us. This is our Hope for our fallen away children.
This is the primary purpose of Our Lady of Banada prayer association. Catholic parents entrusting their lapsed children to Our Lady of Banada imploring her to bring back the ‘lost sheep’ in our families.
You can sign your children and relatives up for the monthly Holy Mass prayer intentions list that is celebrated for this cause by clicking on the image below. There is no charge for this service, the only requirement is to pray one Memorare per day in front of the image of Our Lady of Banada for the conversion of our children and families.
“If a true Christian mother weigh well these things, she will indeed understand with a sense of deep consolation that of her the words of Our Saviour were spoken: “A woman . . . when she has brought forth the child remembers no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world”; (John 16:21) and proving herself superior to all the pains and cares and solicitudes of her maternal office with a more just and holy joy than that of the Roman matron, the mother of the Gracchi, she will rejoice in the Lord crowned as it were with the glory of her offspring. Both husband and wife, however, receiving these children with joy and gratitude from the hand of God, will regard them as a talent committed to their charge by God, not only to be employed for their own advantage or for that of an earthly commonwealth, but to be restored to God with interest on the day of reckoning. (Casti Connubii 15)
This last paragraph tells us that our children are not our own. They are a ‘talent’ entrusted to us for which God will one day require an account of us. Children are the most precious gift of marriage but parents have a duty to train their children in the proper Catholic worship of Almighty God.
“The blessing of offspring, however, is not completed by the mere begetting of them, but something else must be added, namely the proper education of the offspring. For the most wise God would have failed to make sufficient provision for children that had been born, and so for the whole human race, if He had not given to those to whom He had entrusted the power and right to beget them, the power also and the right to educate them. For no one can fail to see that children are incapable of providing wholly for themselves, even in matters pertaining to their natural life, and much less in those pertaining to the supernatural, but require for many years to be helped, instructed, and educated by others. Now it is certain that both by the law of nature and of God this right and duty of educating their offspring belongs in the first place to those who began the work of nature by giving them birth, and they are indeed forbidden to leave unfinished this work and so expose it to certain ruin. But in matrimony provision has been made in the best possible way for this education of children that is so necessary, for, since the parents are bound together by an indissoluble bond, the care and mutual help of each is always at hand.” (Casti Connubii 16)

Photo Alexander Mackle – Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
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Catholic parents have a moral obligation to fully understand their serious duties when it comes to the education of their children. This is not a task that can be handed over to others. It must always remain under the control and watchful eye of the parents. A grave danger exists in our modern cultures where the civil authority has taken over the role of parents in the education of their children. In our western societies the State has turned rogue in regard to children and seeks to indoctrinate them with false ideologies which lead them away from God. The State indoctrinates the children so that they will serve the material needs of the State, which amounts to nothing more than serving the needs of giant financial corporations. Catholic parents have a duty to intervene in these situations and to protect their children from the harm caused by civil authorities who are hostile to the teachings of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XI reminds us that he wrote an encyclical on the subject of the Christian Education of Youth.
“Since, however, We have spoken fully elsewhere on the Christian education of youth, (Divini Illius Magistri) let Us sum it all up by quoting once more the words of St. Augustine: “As regards the offspring it is provided that they should be begotten lovingly and educated religiously,” (Saint Augustine – De Genesi Ad Litteram) – and this is also expressed succinctly in the Code of Canon Law – “The primary end of marriage is the procreation and the education of children.””(1917 Codex Iuris Canonici – can., c. 1013 & 7) (Casti Connubii 17)
My previous set of articles on the Legio Sanctae Familie website goes through the encyclical letter ‘Divini Illius Magistri’
You can access those articles here – Divini Illius Magistri Articles
“Nor must We omit to remark, in fine, that since the duty entrusted to parents for the good of their children is of such high dignity and of such great importance, every use of the faculty given by God for the procreation of new life is the right and the privilege of the married state alone, by the law of God and of nature, and must be confined absolutely within the sacred limits of that state.” (Casti Connubii 18)
When something is “God given” it means that inevitably, there will be negative consequences for going against God. We learn this basic principle from the garden of Eden and Original sin. Thus, it is no surprise to learn that the greatest predictor of poverty for women is single motherhood. Engaging in sexual activity outside of marriage is a grave sin. Grave sins have grave consequences both in this life and in the life to come if they are not repented of with true contrition. Procreation is intended by God to take place within sacramental marriage. This is because married parents, whose love for each other is based on their love for God, are in the optimal state to provide for the best educational and spiritual needs of their children.
To be cont’d…
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