Benedetto spread wide his arms, and continued:
“The Spirit urges me to say more. It is not the work of a day, but let us prepare for the day—not leaving this task to the enemies of God and of the Church—let us prepare for the day on which the priests of Christ shall set the example of true poverty; when it shall be their duty to live in poverty, as it is their duty to live in chastity; and let the words of Christ to the Seventy-two serve them as a guide in this. Then the Lord will surround the least of them with such honors, with such reverence as does not to-day exist in the hearts of the people for the princes of the Church. They will be few in number, but they will be the light of the world. Holy Father, are they that to-day? Some among them are, but the majority shed neither light nor darkness.”
At this point the Pontiff for the first time bowed his head in sorrowful acquiescence.
The New Rome
By Robert Buchanan
(See page [367])
A thousand starve, a few are fed,
Legions of robbers rack the poor,
The rich man steals the widow’s bread,