OCR Text |
Show HISTORICAL DAY ISLE Of ST. PATRICK Solemn Dedication of the famed Cathedra! at Armagh, the Rome of Catholic Ireland. ' (Dublin Freeman, July .10.) '1 he Cathedral of St. Patrick at Armagh w;is consecrated un Sunday v.ith all the stately ceremonial cere-monial and impressive si.lunnity prescribed by i 1 u ritual of the Catholic church. The occasion was a memorable one for Armagh, teeming though its annals are Avith events written indelibly on the page of history, for, the perform- Q a nee of this sacred function marked the completion comple-tion of a Avork in the progress of which not only the prhnatial city, but' Catholic Ireland, from th; sea to the center, was deeply interested. Fifteen hundred years and more have passed since St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, founded his prima- ' tial see, and built in this ancient ci:y a cathedral Avithin whose Avails he preached the Christian faith to a pagan people. That fa it Ii lived on. guarded through good and ill. as a priceless inheritance- by our people. But the cathedral Avhich saw the planting plant-ing of that faith and its growth into an indestructible inde-structible and inalienable possession of the Irish, race, vanished and passed aAvay under the blighting blight-ing influence of a foreign invasion that carried in its train a vandalism so ruthlessly universal and indiscrimina.tiug that it spared neither the church of God nor the humble home of the peasant. .For centuries of bitter disappointment the ancient, see of St. Patrick remained shorn of the visible ecclesiastical eccle-siastical greatness Avhich the existence of a cathedral cathe-dral conferred upon its primacy. The reign of rapine and of Avrong Avhi'-h Xormau and Elizabethan Eliza-bethan wars inaugurated throughout the country for many centuries after Turgesius led the pillaging pillag-ing Danes through all that Avas fertile and fair in the land a regime which ihe subsequent era of penal persecution converted into a veritable tragedy trage-dy threatening the extintion of the faith of St. Patrick, and the uprooting of Catholicity from the hearts of the people, left nothing to Armagh of all that its primate saint gaA-e to it, saA-e a cherished memory, carrying the minds of priests and people buck to the days Avhen God Avas worshipped amongst them in a temple worthy of the faith, and an unfading hop' which rilled their bosom. with a yearning to see that temple restored in a brightly-dawning brightly-dawning future.. An Inspiring Spectacle. The consecration of the new cathedral on Sunday Sun-day Avas the fitting and divinely-appointed reward of a trust, in Providence on the part of the priests and people of the archdiocese of Armagh and their Catholic fellow-countrymen throughout Ireland, Avhich rose superior to all disappointments and vicissitudes, vi-cissitudes, even Avhen that trust Avas tried in blood and tears. Xever in the past history of Armagh -was such a soul-stirring and inspiring spectacle Avifnesscd as that to Avhich the event of the cathedral cathe-dral consecration gave rise on Sunday. It recalled inevitably the glorious day on Avhich, more than sixty years ago, the first stone of the sacred edifice-Ava3 edifice-Ava3 laid during the primacy of the Most Bev. Dr. Crolly. and the equally historic day in August. 1873. AA-hen the Most Be v. Dr. AfcGettigan had the happiness of seeing the cathedral dedicated. Both these AA'ere events of unique and historic significance signifi-cance for the primatial see. They stirred to its depths the heart of Catholic Ireland, and appealed to the general interest of the country. With equal truth, it may be said, that Sunday's ceremonial, marking, as it did, the accomplishment, of a laborious la-borious undertaking, and the croAvning of a great national Avork Avas memorable even in a greater degree. de-gree. It brought to Armagh the biggest assemblage assem-blage of bishops, priests and people that was ever seen in Ireland. It evoked a splendid display of Catholic loyalty and enthusiasm, and. specially significant and gratifying, it brought to Ireland a delegate from our Holy Father the Pope, in tlm person of the illustrious Cardinal Yincenzo Yan-nutclli, Yan-nutclli, whose presence in such circumstances 'is rightly regarded -as a gracious tribute of affection and a nntrk or honor for thi country, which, as was to be expected, has already aroused in Ireland feelings of uim-ersal joy and thankfulness, and which Avill bind still closer, if that be possible, the. bonds of union between this country and the holy Rome's Ambassador. That it will accentuate the loyalty of the nation to the spiritual head of the grand old church, Avhich of all churches in the world is alone coeval Avith the beginnings of the Christian faith, goes without saying. It is not surprising therefore thuz the cardinal legate's presence in Armagh on Sunday Sun-day was acclaimed with all the fervor of popular rejoicing. His visit under such auspicious- conditions condi-tions Avill add one more notable event to the glorious glo-rious record of the primatial see, already the re-. re-. cipient, in recent years, of a .signal honor in the elevation to the cardinalate of its present learned and illustrious occupant, avIio, of all comprised in the A'ast assemblage, hr.d the greatest reason to be proud and happy, for it fell to his lot to complete the magnificent temple Avhich his devoted predecessors-helped to raise to the greater glory of the faith. Well and nobly his eminence discharged the task, for, in truth, St. Patrick's cathedral is a monument mo-nument of which Armagh and Catholic Ireland may well be proud. Like the faith which it now enshrines, en-shrines, it has emerged from the mists of a troubled past, an edifice of the Catholic church massiA-e. enduring, splendidly ornate: of imposing and stern grandeur exteriorly, and effulgent within with AA-ealth of. decoratiA'e beauty and a treasury of the highest ecclesiastical art the fitting and proper environment for a faith that is God-giA-en and divine. di-vine. Dominating the old city, with its lo,fty Gothic j outlines lifted clear of all the surrounding' heights, and throAving tAvo gracefully tapering ?pires far into the sky, its position may well appeal to one's I sense of the grandly picturesque in church build- ing effects. Hallowed by the Religious Past. I It is for other Teasons, h-Twcver, that the plae- f ing of the cathedral on. the gn en-clad summit of f this towering height is associated Arith noteworthy I ' 1 ... - i '-. I importance-. The Eito is on the ground hallowed by 1hc ' plory of n srand religious iasl, dating back througli the J mists of time to the long-vanished years v,hcn saints ! ;md learned schoolmen, arid conquering kings and Ul-1 ' t tri's Red Branch Knights foregathered in old .Armagh and worshipped side by side at the same altar. The ppldcu glamour of these far-off days has not yet worn , on in the people's recollections of Armagh. Its ancient ; fame subsists nndimmed oven by the long lapse of ages. ., The memory of what the Primatial City was iu the ; centuries immediately following the advent of St. Pat- ' rick, and down to the era of the great St. Malaehy, was present to every reflecting mind at Sunday's ceremonial. t wr,s impossible to thruet "entirely aside those fascinating fasci-nating glimpses of Armagh's past. Their inseparable Association with the new cathedral was forced upon everyone's attention. 'And' in-dazing spell-bound at the giowing and brilliant beauty of the interior of the N building, how much more forcibly came home to the mind of everyone the perfect harmony between the cathedral ca-thedral that now crowns the summit of Ard-Macha and that vanished temple, which was built by the hands of ) Patrick, and to which mighty king's and illlustrious Catholic princes and chiefs brought votive offering9 for victories won over foreign invaders of their land. The new-risen temple is peerless in its magnificence. Gor-i Gor-i geous beyond conception, in a setting of mosaic, beauti- ! fill beyond dreams in an adornment of rarest marble, 1 . respondent in a glowing flame of varying colors and mcl- I! lowed lights, the cathedral 6f St. Patrick was surely an . kiral ftage for the performance of the solemn ceremo- 1 . r ji - j miu oi 1 an coutsi.'vruiiujj. Congregation Numbered Thousands. - And what a congregation of the faithful Mas there to witness the impressive function. Thousands were racily accommodated within, and edifying surely was ' the spectacle they presented, as, bowed in prayer, they 1 hanked God for privileging them to witness an event mid a scene that will live forever in the storied annals rf the premier see. Conspicuous amongst that vast congregation con-gregation were the devoted flock who own spiritual allegiance alle-giance the the cardinal primate the children of the generations that longed with inevpressible yearning to see what was seen in Armagh on Sunday the realiza- , t ion of hopes cherished for centuries. Prominent also were many distinguished representatives of Catholicity abroad men and women from far-off lands to which, perchancej missionaries who learned their ecclesiastical Jore in the grand old University of Armagh, carried the faith preached by St. Patrick. Many men noted in pub-; pub-; lie life in England were also present. The corporation of Drogheda. the tine old border town of the archdio cese, honored the occasion by appeparing in their red robes of ttate. Eminent prelates traveled far from oilier countries in order to be present, and the Irish I hierarchy was fully represented. An imposing and unforgettable personality in the midt of all. adding by his presence an unique significance signifi-cance to the event of the day. was the papal envoy, the 1 illustrious Cardinal Van Yannutelli ,who journeyed spe- Icially from Rome in obedience to the wishes of the sovereign sov-ereign pontiff. The ceremonial itself was solemnly im-; im-; pressive, from the moment of the entry of the grand 1 procession to the time when the last triumphant notes I of the "To Deum" rang in majestic echoes through the I farthest spaces of the great cathedral. In the sanctu- 1 nry, the presence of so many prelates, robed in-purple, i of cardinals, wearing deep scarlet, and of nearly 500 clergymen in the nave next the altar rails, impressed the congregation with a full sense of the greatness and f solemnity of a memorable, never-to-be-forgotten scene. I The effect of it all was splendidly heightened by the I chaste beauty of the lovely interior, glittering in white I and gold above and around the altar, in vermilion and I blue on the walls and roof over the sanctuary, and in I more sombre color above the Gothic columns and point- 1 ed arches of the nave. The secret music, too, was attuned to the spirit of I the occasion. It consisted mainly of the simple har-f har-f monies of the Gregorian chant and the haunting melo- dies of Palestrina. all very effectively rendered by the ? Dublin Pro Cathedral choir of men and boys. I Mission of St Patrick. I t The sermon of the day was preached by his grace I the Most Rev. Dr. Healy, archbishop of Tuam. It was I an effort of pulpit oratory eminently worthy of the I great occasion. Xo one knows the ecclesiastical his- j tory of Ireland better than the gifted and distinguishctl I preacher. That knowledge enabled him to deliver a I fascinating discourse on the Irish mission of St. Pat- rick, with special reference to the saint's close asso-i asso-i eiatiun with Armach. The eminent nreacher roe to a. I height of singular eloquence when he came to refer to t th" history of the building of the cathedral, and to the f parts played in that great work by "Primates Crolly, I Dixon, McGettigan and the present reverend occupant I of St. Patrick's primatial see. Graceful, too, and de- served, was his tribute to the Holy Father, and to his i ! illustrious envoy. Cardinal Yannutelli, and true vrns his splendid description of the assemblage of bish- ops, clergy and laity in the cathedral as the most rep- i marital ive that was ever seen at any function in the I history of the Catholic church in Ireland. ''We have J 1 before us," said the archbishop, "men and women of all I flat ions and positions, from the noblest in England no- 1 !.'l't in descent and nobler still in steadfastness and I tinirless honor down to tbj? poor, way-worn travelers 1 uh'.; have cathcred here from all the hills and valllevs of I This reference wa the first intimation many of the f congregation had of the presence in their midst of the I Duke of Norfolk, who, with the duchess, occupied a 1 prominent place next the sanctuary, and who before the I r-ereinonies began warmly greeted his eminence Cardinal i Logiif. "Bteido the duke were many men notable in pub- j lie life in Ireland, including Sir Antony MacDonnell, f - under secretary, and many of the titled Catholic gentry. I ' After the solemn high mass, a distinguished band of I collectors received ihe subscriptions of the congrega- i tiun. After that his eminence Cardinal Logue went to j the pulpit, and in tones of deep emotion and language I of most appropriate eloquence thanked the Holy Father I for pending Cardinal YanniTtelli to Ireland for the con- I serration of the cathedral. He claimed the illustrious 1 legate as a personal friend of his own, and then, after I expressing his gratitude to the members of the Irish hierarchy and to the archbishops of Westminster and Edinburgh for attending the ceremony, he joined with I ihe Mosi Rev. Dr. Healy in referring in most compli- I mentyy terms to the honor conferred upon them all by I the coming of the Duke and Duchess of Xorfolk. He I paid a beautiful tribute to the loyalty of his own flock. I and returned to his place in the. sanctuary evidently I deeply moved. . Then a hush fell upon the immense as- 1 sembly as the commanding figure of the cardinal legate I was seen moving towards the pulpit. His eminence 1 gazed over the vast congregation for a few moments, I and at last, when all were kneeling, he solemnly im- I parted the papul blessing. Then, after benediction of 11 ho most holy sacrament was sung, the "Td Deum," was intoned, and so the ceremony in the cathedral came to a fitting close. Outside the Building. ! 3 Meanwhile another interesting scene was being en- I : - acted outside the building. Thousands of people filled I the grounds who were unable to enter the church. For I I their benefit the Most Rev. Dr. O'Donnell was told off to I preach, and while the archbishop of Tuam preached in- I cide, the eloquent prelate of Raphoc was preaching out- I eid to a congregation the roof of whose church was the i sky and the incense of whosge offering was the per- I fume-laden, breeeze stealing softly up from the plains I of Tyrconnel. The spectacle was refy remarkable and I equally striking, from the view-point of mere human in- 1 terest, was the scene down in the streets and squares of J i the quaint old city. There huge crowds ebbed and flowed in an increasing tide of humanity. The arehdio- j se seat its ten of thousands: Dublin, Meath and the ! far north and all intervening towns southward of Derry : swelled the concourse by big contingents, brought to the ; railway terminus at Armagh by a dcren special trains. All made their way to the terraced front' of the great ' thpdrul, but. goon the approaches were all but impassa- ' H -and-in all-probability many who visited Armagh on . . ..... . Sunday had to be content with only a distant view of its j f-plondid new cathedral. I The city itself presented a very gay and festive ap-I ap-I pearauce. There was an elaborate system, of street decoration, in which a great display of flags was the out-I out-I standing feature, and on most of the flags, which were ! all green and gold, Avcre emblazoned cither the-papal arms or the harp of Ireland. The weather, though dark and gloomy iu the forenoon, held dry during the day, and occasionally flashes of wecome sunshine brightened the scene and added to the pleasure of all who were present. - Archbishop Healy's Sermon. At the conclusion of Ihe high mass the Most Rev. Dr. Healy, archbishop of Tuam, ascended the pulpit and preached an eloquent sermon, taking for his text: '"You have not chosen me, but I hae chosen you; and I have appointed you, that you should go and bring forth fruit; and your fruit should reniain; that whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name he may give you." John, chapter 13, verse 15. After dwelling. on St. Patrick, his life and work for Ireland, and his connection with Armagh, his grace concluded as follows: "I said in the beginning that I looked upon this splendid- temple as the latest outcome of Patrick's spiritual work in Ireland that he is, as it were, its primary founder. It is, I think, undeniable. Crolly, a great and good primate, began the work on a scale 0$ what, at the time, was daring magnificence, that is in 1S40, and funds were collected from the clergy and people throughout all Ireland. Then the famine inter vened, and the work was arrested. Dixon, learned and laborious, in.1854, took up the unfinished work, and inaugurated in-augurated if by a Pontifical high mass within its unroofed un-roofed walls, which was celebrated in a fierce' storm that might be regarded as a symbol of the fiercer storm of persecution from which the Catholics of the north were just then emerging. But the builders weathered both storms, the work went on steadily, large sums coming from America to help its progress. The venerable McGettigan Mc-Gettigan built the twin towers that rise so proudly over this sacred hill and blessed the church in 1873. Another illustrious son of Old Tirconnell has now completed the work in a style of tte highest artistic elegance; and today, to-day, in presence of the papal legate, .his eminence has given it over to God and St. Patrick. Still Patrick is the primary founder. His name is a power wherever the children of the Gael are scattered over the world. The primates I have named got the money to build and decorate this church because they are the spiritual heirs of Patrick. He lives again in his successors their voice is the voice of Patrick, their power is the power of Patrick. Pat-rick. In the past the prelate who got possession of the insignia of Patrick, his crozier, his bell and his book, was regarded as the living representative of Patrick, and bear to all his power and privileges. Armagh itself was St. Patrick's sacred city a centre of learning and authority for all the land; and it became a place of pilgrimage pil-grimage for all Ireland. The pilgrims deemed them- 1 :t A:A A 1-. on1 i'nnn KnriVrl in IJUl,) 1J. J IT'l ill Xillliafjll uuJ. .. uu" its sacred soil. The greatest of the Irish kings, who fell at Clontarf, not only visited Patrick's city while living, and made rich offerings to Patrick' altar, but he ordered or-dered his body to be taken to Armagh and buried in its sacred soil. Then succeeded evil days. Therewas a time when the Catholics were driven from Armagh, as the Jews were driven from Jerusalem; but it has happily passed away. The temple has been rebuilt, the priesthood priest-hood restored, and ih throne of Patrick again set up in his own city. His glory lightens over all those marble mar-ble altars; his name resounds from this pulpit; it is his voice that has called you here, and it is his hand and the Pope's that will bless you when this sermon is over. This vast assemblage prelates, priests and peoples-have come from afar, but it is one purpose inspires them all to give glory to God and honor to Patrick and to Patrick's Pat-rick's heir. Our Holy Father the Pope, successor of that St. Celestine who sent St. Patrick to preach to our fathers, has sent here art illustrious cardinal all the way from Rome, as his legate, to preside in this assembly, to bring his blessing to us on this great day, and to show the whole world that this new temple, like that which Patrick first built in Armagh, is built upon the rock, and that, as we are Christians, so we dre Romans, as united and as devoted to the see of Peter now as our fathers have always been in the past. Last night X heard the letter read which he bears from our Holy Father the Pope to his "eminence the cai-dinal primate. It is a beautiful and touching letter, and shows the ardent ar-dent affection which our holy father has for the Irish people. It woirld be impossible to read or to see any thing more touching or more beautitul. l believe l can speak in the name of the prelatc'here, of the clergy here, and of the people here, when I say that we return to our holy father and to his eminence the cardinal our most grateful and heartfelt thanks, and assure him that it is ; a favor we can never forget, and that the mission of ; his eminence to this church today has been the means ', of binding us closer in intimate and loyal union with ; the see of St. Peter. And the Irish bishops are here to- . day to' show their love for Patrick, and for the heir of Patrick, and pay their homage to the primate of all Ire- land. The clergy, secular and regular, are here today in J greater numbers than I have ever seen before to join their pastors in paying this loving homage to the chair of our national apostle. Many prelates of England and Scotland are here, headed by the successor of Augustine, to testify to their union with us in faith and charity, j and pay the homage of themselves and of their flocks to the memory of the great saint who came to us from Britain and whose spiritual children of Irish birth or blood are today the- mainstay of their flocks in the ' Britain of Columbia, Augusdne and Bcde.. In theSamo spirit, and for the same purpose, we see. here today i countless crowds of the laity of all ranks and condi- j tions in life from the first of England's nobles noblest j in blood but nobler still in unswerving faith and stain- less honor down to the dusty wayfarers, who have come : hither from Ulster's farthest hills and valleys to join in the ceremonial of this great day." Xeither Armagh nor any other part of Ireland has ever seen an assemblage assem-blage like this on a similar occasion. It is no wonder then that this primatial city of holy Patrick should rejoice re-joice today. The ancient land of Oriel is glad. The hills of old Tirconnell feel a thrill of joy all Catholic Ireland at home and the greater Ireland beyond the sea, exult in the advent of this glorious day. which gives . .1 1 1: a- n j 3 Ci xi:-u a .,.1 over mis national tempie iv uuu uuu i. j. aim.-., ami they exult'not only in the dedication of this splendid teniple, but they also rejoice on this the episcopal jubilee of him who so worthily wields the crozier of St. Pat- rick. His eminence is the 109th primate who has sat in Patrick's chair on this royal hill a long and illustrious line including saints and coniessors and martyrs great 4 and holy names like Patrick and Bcnen,' Celsus and Be- ' nienus, Malachi and Gelasius, Creagh, Plunkett and 1 McMahon. whose virtues and sufferings light up our j chequered story as with a light from heaven; but his j eminence is the only one of that illustrious line that sat H in Patrick's chair clothed in the purple of Rome. My lord cardinal, primate of all Ireland, and heir to St. j Patrick, we bring your eminence cordial greetings today to-day not only from our cities and towns, but from the i remotest hills and valleys of holy Ireland; wc offer you our hearty congratulations on this jubilee of youv episcopal epis-copal reign ; and we pray God to prolong the life of your eminence for many years to come. We rejoice that you -have been spared to see this great church completed and given o'er to God and to St. Patrick on die very crown , of this royal hill. And looking back today from this mystic summit, where the milk-white hind 'so often i doomed to death yet fated not to die,' like Patrick's 'hunted stag, has at length fotuid shelter and repose; looking back through the perilous ages that are gpne is it not our duty one and all with grateful hearts to give a nation's thanks to. God today who guided us with the p light of His grace and shielded us with ihe strength of His arm through the stress and the storm of the past." - '. - i |