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Show j flHirtb- Universal 1 CHTTCtCH CALEND AE. 24. M. Our Lady Help of Christians. 400.4o2 for societies, works. 25. T. St. Gregory VII. 329,930 for conversions. 26. w. St. Philip Neri. 1,959,674 for sinners. 2J: Th. St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzl. 2lo,194 for the intemperate. 28. F . St. Germanus. 301,143 for spiritual spir-itual favors. 29. S. St. Cyril. 361,767 for temporal favors. s"-s- Pentecost. St. Felix. E. Acts. J II. 1-11: G. John, xiv, 23-31.-1,664,709 for Epecial. various. 31. M. St. Angela Meriei. For Messenger Mes-senger readers. THE HOLTfATHER AND THE FRENCH FLAG (Paris Correspondence of the Irish Catholic, Dublin.) The Tope kissed the French flag, the emblem of the eldest daughter of the church! On learning that Pius X had thus publicly shown his love for the French nation, all the French Catholics who had been unable to swell the crowd of French pilgrims whose applause ap-plause rang through St. Peter's at Rome were moved with infinite gratitude grati-tude to the great Pontiff. Though they hate the terrible scourge of war, there are no anti-mil. tarists among thee French Catholics, because they are patriots. And is not Joan of Arc the symbol of the purest patriotism? Yes. the Holy Father asserted it publicly several times, and added that she was not the property of any political party. The spontaneousness and sincerity of the Pope's act constituted, pedhaps, the most striking practical refutation itis possible to imagine of the assertions of the enemies of the church, who pretend pre-tend that Pius X did not love France, and that the Vatican was the enemy of the republic. Though the French prelates pre-lates and pilgrims were urged when they started for Rome to eschew politics, poli-tics, it is impossible to deny that the eert-mon'es of the beatification have led to highly important political results. The Pope kissed the tri-color flag and I recognized the powers that be. He refused to join the revolt of any politi cal party against the republic. Last Thursday, at St. Louis, Cardinal Lucon, archbishop of Rheims. gave W. '' eloquent expression to that fact. In y X the course of his oration in pra se of tr Joan of Arc he pointed to the provl- f. dential reason for her beautification at . the present moment. He showed that ji society, and especially French society, k Is suffering from philosophical natural- v ism and political and social naturalism, t I In reappearing so brilliantly Joan of I ' Arc rallied the French nation to the I faith of their forefathers and to their mission in the world. Mgr. Lucon in j sisted that naturalism was the nega- tion of all religion. Today political and social naturalism tends to make I France forget her mission. By re- appear'ng Joan of Arc refutes that I political and social naturalism. She 4 calls on the nation to resume her mis- j sion. and for thatL said the Cardinal Archbishop, there is no need to aban- I don the existing republican lnstltu- 'i tinnK T-To aAAr.A- t "Most surely if Joan of Arc could 4 return to life on this earth amongst j us, she would, in the first instance, tic j astonished not to find that form of I j'ower without which the people of her century could not conceive the exist- c-nce of another country. But if she j saw that France of the twentieth cen- tury though she had adopted a new 1 constitution still shows herself re- 1 spectful of the past, that while seeking to reform the abuses of precedlnng cen- f turies, she renders justice to their I works, merits and glory; that she con- tinues to recognize the rights of God I &nd His church, and that she remains I faithful to the secular alliance between the Franks and Christ, that would ; suffice to reassure her patriotism and j her Christian faith. She would under- J stand that nothing is eternal here below; that with time new aspirations I spring into existence, and that It is I necessary to satisfy them by appropri- ate institutions. Shewho was so com- passionate for the people would ap- J plaud all the suppressions of abuses j and all the progress realized." ! WHY PRIESTS ARE HATED. (London Catholic Times.) To men who know how sublime Is the office of the priesthood, how noble the aims and work of Catholic priests, and t how self-sacrificing their . lives, the i hatred manifested toward the clergy at different times and places must be . ' puzzling. It is very difficult to under- r S ftand why the anti-clericals of the continent betray such fierce, unrelenting unrelent-ing hostility to ministers of religion, ! whose sole object is to benefit the indi vidual and the state. Yet this hostility is a fact the existence of which cannot he denied. Since the first days of Christianity Chris-tianity it was scarcely ever more violent or more aggressive than it is at the present time. How is it to be accounted for? The holy father touched on the ' f Fubjoct in an address which he delivered deliv-ered at the Vatican on April 26, when the decrees for the canonization of the Blessed Clement Hofbauer and the be-atifhation be-atifhation of the Venerable Benigne Joly were read before him in the Consistory Con-sistory hall. It is, he said, the devil who has stirred up and conducts the implacable im-placable warfare against the Catholic clergy. The Jewish pastors, Protestant ministers, the leaders of the Christian and pagan sects are never assailed with the same venom. The Catholic priests are singled out for attack. Why? "The enemies of God," said his holiness, "are aware that the caxnonc priest alone is the depositary of the justice and mercy "f the Divine Redeeemer; that he alone is the minister of truth and goodness, the light of the world and the salt of the earth." In other words, the opponents oppon-ents of the religion of Christ are convinced con-vinced that the most effective method of combating it is to make war on the Catholic priesthood. h DEVOTION TO OUR LADY. (i I England, from the eleventh to the six- Ji teenth century, raised a vast number of monuments to the honor of God in J the form of churches dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, many of which 'are still standing as silent witnesses to our fore- fathers' faith. The smallest county, ? Rutland, has still eleven of these an cient fanes. Greetham dating from 1657. Nottlng-hamshire can show thirty. At-tenborough At-tenborough still keeping. Our Lady's figure on the north porch door. Derbyshire Der-byshire has twenty-one; the image of the Madonna and Child, surrounded by angels, still stands at Eyam, while at Norbury, over the tomb of Ralph Fltz-hcrbert, Fltz-hcrbert, the image of the Divine Mother and Child hangs suspended by a chain. Leicestershire has forty-four churches . dedicated to Mary from olden times. V.'oodhouse church was dedicated to St. Mary of the Elms, 1338. and Hinkley to Our Lady's Assumption, of the thirteenth thir-teenth century; in all. one hundred and six churches of Our Lady in the four Midland counties. CHRISTIAN IRELAND. Before England was born Into the family of nations Ireland was an autonomy au-tonomy recognized as such by contemporary contem-porary races. When Ilbion was inhabited inhab-ited by a barbarous and savage people Ireland was in the height of prosperity. prosper-ity. When the Anglo-Saxons were tearing tear-ing each other to pieces Ireland was possessed of a settled government and was administered by wise laws, so ancient an-cient that no one knows precisely the period of their promulgation. When England was remarkable for its ignorance and brutality Ireland was celebrated for her culture and civilization. civiliza-tion. When St. Augustine was preaching preach-ing to the heathen, when Ethelbert was receiving baptism, when Alfred was a wanderer, Ireland was sending forth her missionaries all over the world, spreading everywhere the gospel and civilization. When the foundations of the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford Ox-ford were laid the colleges of Ireland had long been flourishing seats of learning, learn-ing, imparting to all who came to her schools Knowledge and truth. Ireland can assert, what no other existing kingdom can say, that her history is lost in the mazes of antiquity, and that her era of barbarism belongs to prehistoric pre-historic times. About the eighth century the troubles of Ireland began by the invasion of the Danes, and the subsequent wars that raged within the island. Taking advantage of this stage of things, the Norman English Invaded under Henry II, and annexed it as part of his dominions. do-minions. It would appear that after so much early prosperity Ireland was to enter the school of suffering, in order or-der that by severe trials she might become be-come again the great witness for Truth when darkness should once more cover the earth. The dark hour is approaching, the twilight of civilization is long passed and the midnight of Satanic barbarism is at hand under the evil influence of which many shall fall to rise no more. The boasted civilization of this latter half of the nineteenth century is a delusion; de-lusion; it is barbarism veiled by a cloud illuminated by a light, the source of which is neither in heaven nor in the church. When men care no longer for truth for its own sake, than a shadow has fallen upon the soul. When people in high places regard the truth and untruth un-truth as a matter of indifference, darkness dark-ness has enveloped -the soul, so that it can no longer distinguish between right and wrong. When skepticism and infidelity have taken hold of the mind, then indeed has the light become darkness. dark-ness. And when indifference to the dictates dic-tates of the moral law, when impurity and sensuality are openly tolerated by society, then the conscience has become seared; and when murder brutal murder mur-der and infanticide flagrant dishonesty in business and the first principles of socialism and communism prevail, then the era of barbarism has indeed commenced. com-menced. Let England look to herself and reform re-form her ways before it is too late. The cloud Is upon her now; it is even ready to burst and to pour down upon her l calamities too appalling for adequate . expression. I am not prophesying I : am stating that which every thinker knows but does not dare plainly to express. ex-press. In England faith is gone, morality mor-ality at a very low point and crime in the ascendant. Of all the nations constituting con-stituting the British Empire there is one, and only one, wherein the luminary lumin-ary of faith and truth, notwithstanding all the sufferings inflicted upon that poor, oppressed land, still shines resplendent re-splendent and wherein the silver light of personal and domestic purity still glitters glit-ters with unsullied excellence and glory. In Ireland you see a people true to their faith, holy in their lives and virtuous vir-tuous In their conduct. From whence these fruits? From the Catholic church to which, notwithstanding the ircn policy of persecuting England, she has remained true and faithful even unto death. Ireland, renowned in her ancient history, glorious during centuries cen-turies of suffering, has without doubt a splendid future. She has not decayed de-cayed by time nor has she been demoralized demor-alized by suffering: she is like the church still young and vigorous, possessing pos-sessing within her a soul which no human power can break. Even now she has a vast moral empire, for her people are spreading everywhere, carrying with them their religion, their morality and their virtues. She is furnishing witnesses of the Truth of God in every city of England and Scotland and in the great cities of American and Australian civilization, and even on the Continent she is not unrepresented. When the aristocracy of Europe is consummated the children of St. Patrick will be lights shining in dark places, cheering the faithful remnants, rem-nants, encouraging the disconsolate wayfarer and benighted traveler who had for a long time lost themselves in the labyrinths of doubt and unbelief, struggling in the mide of abomination and wickedness. It seems, then, that in these last days Ireland and the Irish are the people especially chosen by God to fight the good fight of faith against the infernal powers of hell: and let them take courage cour-age with the thought that their fidelity to the faith is a pledge of their future glory and that their patience in the school of suffering, through which they have now nearly passed, has been their earthly purgatory to fit them for the work for which Ireland seems destined by Almighty God. Fast Becoming Heathens. Protestants may be divided, broadly speaking, into three clases, no matter what sect may claim them as members: First. The Protestants who know, and care absolutely nothing for any' particular form of Christianity and whose lives are spent in the pleasures of the world. Second. The Protestants who discuss dis-cuss and argue a great deal: and cling to their own individual opinions no matter what church they may occasionally occasion-ally belong. Th'rd. The Protestants who love the Lord and worship Hm with all their hearts, and who deplore the defection de-fection and irreligion which is scattering scat-tering their ranks. Let us look for a moment at the class of Protestants which I mentioned flrpt those who amuse themselves. The "Reformation" (so-callea began with a great display of outward piety, and a strict observance of public worship. wor-ship. By degrees the yoke of external devotion became irksome to many Protestants, Prot-estants, who, being taught to use private pri-vate Judgment in such matters, began to fall away from regular attendance at church services. They said: "Religion "Reli-gion belongs to the heart." "The groves were God's first temples." They thanked the Lord that they were not like the publican. There was no need for them to prostrate themselves be- uuu j .nr., .w nui'Wi "1ni itm "' "" " fore God. They could regulate their lives and practice their own code or morality without His help. Insensibly at first, but steadily and surely, they strayed away from any outward practice prac-tice whatsoever or religion. There are multitudes of such synar-ites synar-ites in American today. The world is their playground. If every church on the face of the earth should be destroyed de-stroyed they would not feel or know the difference; but they would be Inconsolable In-consolable should the theatres and places of amusement disappear. Protestants Pro-testants like these are absolutely blind to religion, and to its requirements. They are like heedless children, at play on the edge of eternity. It is a "danse macabre!" When the inevitable inevit-able death must come, he is met usually usual-ly with stoicism. I have never heard these modern heathen say of a dead friend: "He died repentant." They always al-ways say: "He died GAME!" Three generations ago Protestants such as these did not exist. In the twentieth century they may be counted by n lions. From Mrs. Bellamy Storer s "Peril of the Twentieth Century." |