Dear readers,

Who has not heard of Pandora’s box? The Greek legend tells us that Pandora, the first woman created by Zeus, received many gifts—beauty, charm, wit, artistry, and lastly, curiosity. Included with the gifts was a box, which she was told never to open. But curiosity got the best of her. She lifted the lid, and out flew all the evils of the world, such as toil, illness, and despair. But at the bottom of the box lay Hope. Pandora’s last words were “Hope is what makes us strong. It is why we are here. It is what we fight with when all else is lost.”

This story is the first thing which came to mind as I read over E Supremi, the first encyclical of our Patron Saint, St. Pius X. “In the midst of a progress in civilization which is justly extolled, who can avoid being appalled and afflicted when he beholds the greater part of mankind fighting among themselves so savagely as to make it seem as though strife were universal? The desire for peace is certainly harbored in every breast.” And the Pope goes on to explain that the peace of the godless is founded on sand. To face the present evils, he proposes the exalted war cry of St. Paul: “To restore all things in Christ.”

And, so, the present magazine offers you an array of topics ranging from impenitence to Limbo and Purgatory, and from Halloween to Christian Hope and Heaven. A place of honor is reserved for the study of the Dominican Order, celebrating its 800th anniversary this year. You may also notice a rather formidable critique of the Apostolic Exhortation on the family, Amoris Laetitia, which seeks clarification on the document’s errors and ambiguities.

Everything we do to promote God’s Kingdom and to lessen the enemy’s power is written in Heaven. The victory is God’s, ours is the struggle. Age viriliter—Act manfully!

Fr. Jürgen Wegner

Publisher