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Show Tatber 5 Cashman's Ledum 1 Piff ffe!f Storp of tbe Jlpostk's Life ST. PATRICK'S SAY, The anniversary of the Immortal Apostle of Ireland will be celebrated by Irishmen and their descendents throughout the Intermountain States. From Denver to Butte, from the Mexican line to Alaska in fact in every city, town and mining camp where the Children of Erin are assembled the national colors of Ireland will be seen and the true and splendid patriotism of the race will manifest itself. t Irishmen never forget their fathers and their fatherland. In Salt Lake particularly the occasion oc-casion will be marked with interesting-ceremonies interesting-ceremonies a full programme appearing appear-ing in another column of this paper. The chief featuri of the celebration will be an illusmted lecture on Ireland by Kev. Pathe:" Cashman of Chicago, and apart from the instructive and enjoyable evening that is promised our readers arr reminded of the noble cause to which the proceeds will be devoted the care and education of the orphans. ST. PATRICK. (Written Specially for The Intermountain Catholic.) Born of noble parents and tenderly reared in the Christian faith, St. Patrick Pat-rick was torn from his happy home in northern Gaul at the age when early friendships and parental love are most appreciated. He was carried off by the invading -soldiers of King Niall. There is no friendly eye to look upon him with pity and no kindly heart to feel the depths of his misery. Taken to Northern Ireland he is put herding cattle. It was indeed a Hevere change for this tenderly and piously reared youth, but the hardships and trials through which he is now compelled to pass, 110 doubt did much towards forming his sturdy and unconquerable un-conquerable energy, a characteristic that showed itself in later years in his austere piety and indefatigable labors jfo- the good of hU people. In the hunger, thirst, cold, and nakedness of his coptivity he did not omit the pious practices of hie? childhood, but. spent daily some time in prayer and meditation. medi-tation. We of the present day may think that the conditions of a mountain herder exposed to all rigors of the seasons are rit calculated to foster a love for contemplation con-templation of things divine, but we must remember that St. Patrick at this time although suffering the trials of servitude was surrounded by natural grandeuis seldom equalled; the oft sung beauties of Erin's Isle. Enlightened by the rays of Divine grace the boy shepherd read the glory, power and majesty of God's works mirrored in the lofty mountains peaks, in the solitude of the leafy forests and in the placid bosom of those matchless lakes. All those things spoke eloquently to his heart of the power of Him who had had created all and who alone could prof ct him in his exile. "If a modern poet could fell that There is a pleasure in pathless woods. There is a rapture on the lonely shore. Tht re is society where none intrudes, what murt have been the raptures of St. Patrick's heart in its daily solitary communings with the Divine being, surrounded as he was by so many evidences of his power." The idea of an Infinite Guiding Wisdom, Wis-dom, must have become firmly impressed im-pressed upon his mind and the nothing- nws of earth when compared to heaven , became more visible to his soul. ; This was a hard but beneficial school 1 for the future apostle. Here did1 he ; acquire that humility and that patience j which were so necessary to him in ! t after years. Here did he acquire that strength of body, that indifference to heat an1 cold, by which he was rendered ren-dered capable during his mission, of performing such long and wearisome journeys through every part of Ireland. Here in fine did he leArn that unbounded un-bounded confidence in Jod, that ardent love of his glory, tht enabled him to kindle virtues and eradicate vices in ho many souls. During those years of captivity he nixed with the lower classes, learning their language and becoming acquainted with their habits, manners and ideas, thus making the path of his missionary laboi's easier I and more secure. That Puch were the fruits gathered , during his lonely watchings we ir.pr from the following words of his Cocfessions: j "When I came to Ireland, I was daily J employed in feeding cattle, and oft- i times during tbe day I prayed; and the I sve ard fear of God more and more j inllamed me, and my faith and my 5 t-pirit increased so that in one day I ! have made 100 prayers, and in the night nearly an equal number. So I j also remained in the woods and on the . I mountain ana rose up before day to I . Pray, in snow, in frost, in rain, and felt ! no injury." After six years of captivity he es- j raped, by Divine assistance, in a ves sel, and reached his native land in his '"twenty-second year. Today how happy any of us are to return to the scenes of our cnildhood, although our absence ab-sence has not been forced by captivity. St. Patrick in this respect 'was as one of us. How sweet to his eyes anu ears must have been the sounds and sights of childhood, how dear the embraces and how precious the joy of his beloved be-loved mother. Surely he will remain now and comfort her declining years and taste the Joys of home, now all the sweeter from hope deferred, but a new desire has entered his soul and taken possession of his life. The passion to preach the Christian faith in -Ireland has sprung up. in his heart and to the fullfilment of this he, must devote his life. One night, asJn i a dream, after his return honie, he heard a voice like the sound of many . persons calling from the western isle ' f ' 4 4 X 1 I ' imp-. Wmm f m- and saying: "We entreat thee, O holy youth, to come and walk still among us." "It was the voice of the Irish," says the saint in his confessions. So affected was the youth by this, that from a sense of duty he tore himself away from his newly found happiness and went where by years of study he cemld prepare himself for his great work. The long years of preparation completed, com-pleted, he went to Rome and was there consecrated first -bishop of the Irish nation by Pope St. Celestine the First. Again St. Patrick lands on Erin's sod. but now, Instead of the captive boy, it is the bishop who is soon to break the nation's spiritual chains and cause the Druid's weird fires to pale before the sun of Christianity. Unarmed, Un-armed, except by the cross, but accompanied accom-panied by zealous priests, he is about to face a proud, powerful and revengeful revenge-ful pagan priesthood. Many pitfalls were laid for his overthrowal. Tet all seemed to melt like snow before a strong sun. 1 In fact, the conversion of Ireland from the time of St. Patrick's landing to the day of his death is in many respects, re-spects, one of the most remarkable facts in the history of the church. His career, as Father Burke says, resembles resem-bles more the triumphant progress of a king than the difficult labor of a missionary. mis-sionary. The gospel with its lessons j and precepts of self-denial, purity and prayer at once became features of their very lives. They strove in every way to repay their benefactor with their veneration and love. St. Patrick found Ireland entirely pagan. He left it entirely en-tirely Christian. Ireland is the only nation that never cost her apostle a single tear, an hour of sorrow, a drop of blood. One of the grandest triumphs described in the life of St. Patrick is his meeting with the High Chief O'Leary and his subordinates subordi-nates at Tara on Easter Sunday morning. morn-ing. That must have been a spectacle worthy of the ocqasion,. The dauntless rulers of Erin in their -1 yt gorgeous trappings, the bards that have handed down Irish deeds of valor in both song and story, the aged white-bearded white-bearded druids, the guardians of the sacred mysteries and encircling all the phalanx of glittering shields and arms of the many retainers. It was on this memorable occasion that St. Patrick used the shamrock to exemplify the Blessed Trinity. Since that time the chosen leaf of bard and chief has , t been: "Erin's native shamrock To my mind the Tara of those early days was as beautiful as now." What exciting pages of Erin's history pass, in review before us as we drink in the beautiful prospect from the Abbey Ab-bey walls of Slane. The records and footprints of 2,000 years are spread before be-fore us. In fancy we see the rude rites at the pagan mound slowly disappear as Christianity dawns. We hear the vesper ves-per chime pealing from the round towers tow-ers and the clash of arms as the ford is defended or the castle won. . Since the days of St. Patrick,, bloodshed blood-shed and change seem to have been Erin's lot. Waves of famine, cruel oppression op-pression and failure have swept her. from shore to shore. While not sufficient suffi-cient to exterminate the race, we feel such epochs are sufficient to eradicate every noble sentiment and generous impulse from the human heart; yet in the breasts of all true Irishmen, it j matters not in what clime you find . them, you will ever find the indelible impress of the work of St. Patrick stamped on both heart and soul. His deep sentiments of religion and hu-mllity hu-mllity and zeal for the conversion of ; souls are characteristic of the Irish race. , . Throughout the world they have been the missionaries and church builders,) the pioneers of religion in all walks of 1 life. Their love of their fellow man and generosity towards him are proverbial "Poor Pat is often painted with ragged coat and hat, ' But heart and hospitality have much, to do with that." For many years St. Patrick labored among his people, teaching the whole cycle of Catholic truth. In old age he was indefatigable. He did not sit down to consider his increasing wants or to count his years, but as in youth ever sought the glory of God in the Salvation, Salva-tion, In contemplating and imitating a life of such remarkable piety, characterized character-ized by steadfastness of purpose, patience pa-tience under trials and generous self-sacrifice, self-sacrifice, it is no wonder that Irishmen in all lands, from the frozen north to the sunny south, are proud to acknowledge acknowl-edge their faith and nationality, when the cause has been so successfully championed by such a paragon of virtue. vir-tue. . . Twas no disgrace to be Irish In the far famed days of old. When the tale of our rodepmtion On Tara's hill was told. When the feet of the holy- St Patrick i j Biessecl the) land whos soil tVr trod I And ii pathway traced n:vcr ytc eiuUieU, .From Ireland to God. Hibernia's champion swint. croTrrred in fadeless glory, tells of that the same conditien holds todav. Let every true Irish heart prove it by adhering to thu example and teachings oi Erm'd greatest great-est son, St. Patrick. BUTTE. Thoughts on St. Patrick and th Day "We Celebrate. (Written for The Intermountain Cafhoac. By F. Campion.) Butte, Mont., March 13. The faith, which St. Patrick implanted on Irieh soil over 1.40i years ago is still, and has ever been the religion of the Irish people, who have clung to it with a loyalty unequal'- l by any other peepi in Christendom. Thin i the leading fact as exemplified in Irish history; by it we explain the glorious, as well as the sorrowful pages of our annals. All that, the pat teaehes concern? either the wonderful effects produced by that faith or the terrible struggles, tho fearful sufferings endured i:t its defense. For terrible, indeed, is the history of Ireland's sufferings' for that ancient faith which her noble sons and daughters daugh-ters have ever been ready to defend with a heroism and a courage that has excited the astonishment and elicited the pity and sympathy of the civilized world. Never was tyranny so displayed in all its hideous colors never did human hu-man malice more actively exercise itfl influence for the destruction of the old faith and never, also, did generosity, self-devotedness and self-s-acrifice appear ap-pear in brighter light. All the instruments of persecution were employed the rack and the gibbet, gib-bet, the triangle and halter were alt used successively, but without avail. Poverty, with all its bitterness, exile with all its sorrows, nay, even death with ail its terrors were faced with cheerfulness, but the old religion would not be abandoned. It waa too closely connected with the heart of the nation; it wras too deepiy interwoven with the deepest affection of the people to be given up at the nod o' the'r English oppressors,' Though their churches might be destroyed, they could still adore their God in the open air. with the blue vauit of heaven afl Dheir canopy, the green hills ast their meeting place, and all nature tsilently reverencing the glorious victim offered up at the Mass, and when driven from the woods and the hillsides, they betook be-took themselves to the silent recesses of the rocky caverns, where, like the primitive Christians in the Catacombs, they worshiped their God in . sincerity j; ar.a truth. I No tongue nor pen could describ'? the horrors of those penal laws even the mosc harrowing details would fall far short of the reality. It was truly a rare phenomenon one, perhaps, unequalled in the annals of Christian heroism to see an entire peoplj thus- voluntarily preferring stripes and scourges, imprisonment, torture and death sooner than kneel before be-fore new aitars or renounce the religion relig-ion of their fathers. And in seeking the true reason for the existence of this unaxampled devotion. devo-tion. thL3 inextinguishable love which the Irish people have ever manifested for their faith, one must raise hi3 thoughts from earth to heaven. Eor it was no human motive, no feeling of national dislike which infused such courage irio the Irish race and enabled them, like the primitive martyrs, mar-tyrs, to sacrifice home and country, friends, property and life for their ancient an-cient faith. It was the grace of the Most High which was poured into the:, hearts; it was the spirit of St. Patrick that had descended upon them, that spirit which, in early days, had fiiied t'he land with Confessors and Virgins, and which now covered it with martyrs that spirit which, it is to be hoped. 1 will ever be transmitted to the latest descendants of the Irish, to be prized by them as their distinctive slory. to be valued beyond all that the world ; can give or take away. Next to their loyalty for their Church and their religion, the Irish race has always cherished an intense devotion and undying love for the motherland. For love of country". 1(ve of motherland mother-land has been a leading trait in Irish character. Though England has endeavored for over 700 years to crush out this national spirit, it is as bright, as warm, as ardent ar-dent today as ever it has been. Brute force may subdue the bodies, but it can never trammel the souls of Irishmen. Fire cannot burn it out, famine cannot can-not starve it out, the power of England can never crush out this national spirit from the hearts of the Irish nation. For it seem3 to be an instinct of their being, which grows with their growth, until ft absorbs their lives and makes them superior to every accident of fate and -Cn- v,rniir a !1 The WeO uppi esjun. iiiiwuf . of Irish history, woven as it has been in much bitterness, dimmed with many a scalding tear, and not infrequently stained with bloodshed, through all that web, one golden thread has ever shone forth in undiminished lustre, and be it Ireland's proudest boast today to record the fact, the great and undeniable unde-niable fact, namely: The uncompromising uncompro-mising and unflinching adherence o. Irishmen and Irishwomen in their loy and devotion to the sacred cause of Iris-h nationality. . . The cause with which Irish people have been identified for centuries is a grand and a noble one; t is the causa of justice and of truth: it is the cause of the oppressed asain the oppressor, the cause of a gallant and noble ro-ni ro-ni fio-htin" for their rights. And suii a caui is still destined to conquer andl j triumph until its consummation ia , found and attained in the regeneration and emancipation of a nation, jvhich stUl exists as a nation in at $d Iad of ours. - vi-J-t I ' I ' f I f |
