List of points

Freedom of conscience: no! How many evils this lamentable error, which permits actions against the dictates that lie deepest in oneself, has brought about in nations and individuals.

Freedom “of consciences”, yes: for it means the duty to follow that interior command… ah, but after receiving a serious formation!

An apostle must not remain at the level of the mediocre. God calls him to be fully human in his actions, and at the same time to reflect the freshness of eternal things. —That is why the apostle has to be a soul who has undergone a long, patient and heroic process of formation.

Since you want to acquire a Catholic or universal mentality, here are some characteristics you should aim at:

—a breadth of vision and a vigorous endeavour to study more deeply the things that are permanently alive and unchanged in Catholic orthodoxy;

—a proper and healthy desire, which should never be frivolous, to present anew the standard teachings of traditional thought in philosophy and the interpretation of history…;

—a careful attention to trends in science and contemporary thought;

—and a positive and open attitude towards the current changes in society and in ways of living.

You are anxious for one thing: to hurry and soon be forged, moulded, polished and hammered into the piece that fits and will fulfil effectively the work it has been designed to do. This work is the mission it has been assigned to…in the vast field of Christ.

I pray a great deal that this desire of yours may spur you on when you are tired, when you fail and in the hour of darkness… for “the mission it has been assigned to in the vast field of Christ” cannot change.