During the last century the power that men have of conveying their thoughts to others has been multiplied incredibly by the facility of the printed word. Thoughts uttered in speech or sermon were given but to a few hundreds who came within the reach of the human voice. Even when they were communicated to manuscript they came to the knowledge of very few. What a complete change has now been wrought. In the shortest space of time men's ideas are conveyed all over the world, and they may become at once a power for good or for evil in every place, and millions who have never seen or heard him whose thoughts they read, are brought to some extent under his influence. Again, at the present day all men read, more or less. The number of those who are unable to do so is rapidly diminishing, and a man who cannot read will soon be practically unknown. As a matter of fact men read a great deal, and they are very largely influenced by what they read. Thus the multiplicity of printed matter, and the widespread power of reading have created a situation fraught with immense possibilities for good, but no less exposed to distinct occasions of evil and of sin. It is to such occasions of sin, dear children in Jesus Christ, that we desire to direct your attention this Lent. Every gift of God brings with it responsibility on our part in the use that we make of it. The supreme gift of intelligence and free-will are powers to enable us to love and serve God, but we are able to use them to dishonour and outrage Him. So with all the other faculties that flow from these two great gifts. Beading and books have brought many souls nearer to their Creator. Many souls, on the other hand, have been ruined eternally by the books which they have read. It is dearly, therefore, of importance to us to know how to use wisely these gifts that we possess. The Holy Catholic Church, the Guardian of God's Truth, and the unflinching upholder of the moral law, has been always alive to her duty in this matter, and from the earliest times has claimed and exercised the right of pointing out to her children books that are dangerous to faith or virtue. This is one of the duties of bishops, and, in a most special manner, of the Sacred Congregation of the Index. And, though at the present day, owing to the decay of religious belief, this authority cannot be exercised in the same way as of old, it is on that very account all the more necessary for us to bear well in mind, and to carry out fully in practice, the great unchanging principles on which the legislation of the Church in this matter has been ever based.