| OCR Text |
Show I DESECRATION OF SUNDAY. While not advocating a revival of the Puritan Sabbath. Catholics ought to stand, when possible, against the unlawful desecration of the Lord's day. Bishop McFaul, in a recent pastoral to his people, speaks thus against it: "We would remind all Catholics, especially the members of Catholic societies, to protest against the tendency of our times to change the Lord's day into a day of sinful amusement. "We further deprecate and strongly condemn the un-Christian action of these employers, both public and private, who. actuated by greed, and in absolute and scandalous disregard of the sanctity of the Lord's day. force their employes to perform unnecessary and servile labor thereon. Where necessity nec-essity really requires such labor, we demand that the employers make some provision so that their employes may be enabled to assis,t at divine service. serv-ice. "It is evident that the desecration of Sunday is on the increase, for we are told that nearly 15,-000,000 15,-000,000 people never enter a church on that day. It, therefore, behooves the Catholics of the republic, by word and example, to insist on Sunday observance. observ-ance. "Some people claim that we should have here what is known in Europe as the continental Sabbath. Sab-bath. There, in the afternoon, places of refreshment refresh-ment and amusement are opened. It is but fair to add that these places (in Europe) are so conducted that people in general do not consider them objectionable, ob-jectionable, although there are occasional abuses. "Whatever may be said of the European custom, it would not be suitable for America. The American bar and our habit of treating would render the opening of saloons on tlje Lord's day destructive of that quietness, solemnity and sanctity which Americans expect on the day of rest." |
