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Show ' J I bri$tma$ Day at i fflary's Altars Artistically Decorated, Music Superb and Sermon a Word Painting. Christmas at St. Mary's was ushered in with the solemnity always attaching to this glad feast of the Catholic world. At 11 o'clock Mass every pew was crowded, many persons being attracted at-tracted by the grand music which the church provides for such occasions. Solemn Pontifical High Mass was celebrated by IU. Rev. Bishop Scan-Ian, Scan-Ian, with Rev. Father Kiely, deacon, and Rev. Father Morrissey, sub-deacon. The altars were artistically decorated decor-ated with roses, carnations, 'holly and evergreens, the arrangement of which wa;; done by several ladies of the Altar society. The altar of the Blessed Virgin Vir-gin looked particularly dainty, being decorated solely in green and "white. The music was superb, the beautiful Pro Pace Mass by La Hache being rendered ren-dered with violin and harp accompaniment. accompani-ment. The programme is appended: Introduction Voluntary, "Legende Valaque" Braga Harp Miss Edna Egan Violins. Dr. O. W. Huff, Master Roy Williams. Missa Pro P. ce La Hache "Veni Creator" Giorza Mrs. Cloy Elmer. Offertory, "Adeste Fidelis" Novello "Exulta Sion" Hammerel Grand Processional Mozart Sopranos Mrs. O. T. Carlson, Mrs. Clay Elmer, Misses Owen, Rossi, Wey, Moyer, Whalen. Altos Mrs. G. E. Curtis, Misses Jones, Houghton. Tenors Messrs. Ash worth. Whiteman, Scarpa, Veltz and Locke. Bassos Messrs. Sauer, Crawford, Oberndorfer and Ho'ling. Harpist Miss Edna Egan. Violinist Master Roy Williams. Organist and Director Miss Nora Gleason. The voluntary was artistically played by Master Roy Williams and Dr. O. W. Huff, violinists; Miss Edna Egan, harpist, and with organ accompaniment. accompani-ment. It was one of the finest numbers num-bers ever given at a musical service in the cathedral. It is needless to comment com-ment on the solos rendered, as they were all excellent, but special mention must be made of the work done by Miss Lottie Owen, the leading soprano of the -cathedral choir. . She , sang, the. J "Gratias" and the "Et In Carnatus Est" and she is beyond all doubt the very best soprano ever heard at the cathedral. Roy Williams, St. Mary's young violinist, played with his usual excellence and expression. Miss Edna Egan, the harpist, is a very charming and talented young lady, and it is hoped that she will often be heard at St. Mary's. The "Adeste Fidelis" was sung with grand effect by the following soloists: Miss Rossi, Miss Jones, Mrs. G. Curtis, Cur-tis, Mr. Ashworlh and Mr. Crawford, assisted by the entire choir. At the close of the solemn service. Rt. Rev. Bishop Scanlan administered the papal benediction. After the recital of the first gospel at the altar, - Rev. Father Morrissey ascended the pulpit and delivered the sermcn of the day, first readiDg from Luke xl, 1-14. THE SERMON. My Lord, Very Reverend Father and Dearly Beloved Brethren: In the kingdom king-dom of grace, the law, which has the fewest exceptions, is the one which rules, that supernatural things shall i graft themselves on natural stocks. ! Hence it is that a man's devotional attraction at-traction is for the most part congenial to his natural turn of mind. It is with spiritual men as it is with poets. One class .busies itself with the common-j common-j place things of earth it delights in the j quiet, modest sct-nes of woodland bow-i bow-i eis. in tinkling brooks, in rivers that lapse so quietly twixt their meadowed banks that the sedge scarce twinkles in the stream, in village spires scarce overtopping a coronal of ancient oaks and elms, in the fragrance of the bee-laden bee-laden flowers, and in all those evening sights and sounds which tell of weary labor set free and wending to its home. They delight in misty plains, in the forest for-est solitude, in vast outspread scenes of moonlit sea, or in the silence of deserted de-serted cities and neglected ruins. These j are the images which recur in their" I works again and again, as if those as-I as-I pects of nature were the entire expres-! expres-! sion of .their minds. They can clothe in marvelous beauty the objects whose daily commonness most dishonors them. The streets of the city become beautiful In their word-pictures, and the trampling tram-pling of a multitude makes music in their verse, while the familiar thoughts and things of their own day impart a livingness to their souls, full of nerve and of significance, yet dignified and beautified by the excellence of their art. A second class are more bold in their flights bourne on the wings of intellect, intel-lect, imagination and genius, they soar aloft into the regions of the sublime, the mysterious and even the terrible. These are they who like to live in echoing thunderstorms, among the rifted crags of the hollow mountains, who go far out of the sounds of suffering suf-fering humanity and are dwellers with the eagles. The stun of the thundering avalanche, the black, mountainous and j shipless seas bursting on the iron-( iron-( bound coast, the cloud pageantry of ! magnificently appalling storms, the I creaking of huge cordillera as the earth quake stretches its stiff limbs upon the ' rack, the unwitnessed volcanoes that wave their red torches over the silent, ghastly whiteness of the creatureless poles, the impenetrable wastes of icebound ice-bound regions, shapeless waving forms and throbbing silences, shadows in the gigantic gloom of uiisun-lit caves, immense im-mense precipices that sleep forever in shadows of their own even when the brightest sun is shining these are images, expressed or unexpressed, which overcast the works of such minds and are at once their genius, their inspiration, in-spiration, their native grandeur. It is in a world of these dread forms that their minds breathe most, freely or rather, they breathe freely nowhere else but there. It is to this latter class that we may compare those souls whose attraction in the spiritual life is to the Divine Perfections His omnipotence, Continued on page S.) -MJ r:x?h$jM?KA f'Hr !Mv) '"- Loll i-?T 't 'J- Z!fA'"it' ' " ' 'A mail And she wrapped Kim up in svvad-linrj svvad-linrj clothes and laid Him in a manger: man-ger: Because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country coun-try shepherds watching, and keeping keep-ing the night watches over their flock. And behold an Angel of the Lord stood by them: and the brightness of God shone about them: and they feared with a great fear. And the Angel said to them: Fear not: for behold, 1 bring you good tidings of great joy,' that shall be to all the people: For this day is born to you a Savior, Sav-ior, who is Christ' ...the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of heavenly host, praising Cod and saying: Glory to God in the highest: and peace on earth to men of good will. -St. Luke, ii., 7 14. BETHLEElEM. . Bethlehem, forever glorious as the birthplace of the Saviour of the world, is situated on a limestone hill, and stands 2,7.50 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, Mediter-ranean, in the midst of valleys planted with trees and vines. The town extends from east to west. The pop- . ulation is about (S.n'OO, of whom 4,000 are Catholics, 800 Greek and 700 Armenian Schismatics, 100 ilohamme-dansy ilohamme-dansy and a few Protestants. o BETHLEHEM'S GSOTTO. The grotto of Bethlehem, to which the Blessed Virgin and Joseph retired and in which Jesus was born, still exists. It has been closed within the precincts of a great church the Church of the Xativity. You descend to it by a. flight of sixteen steps. It has a natural cavern, part of which has been covered with masonry, and subsequently the vault and ceiling coated with marble by the piety of the faithful. The pavement is itself composed of white marble, with incrustations in-crustations in jasper and porphyry.' In the center is seen a silver star, laid m.ll ivKich has been inscribed in-scribed in Latin these Words, at 'ohceo simple and so touching: ''On this very spot Jesus Christ was born of the Blessed Virgin." What an impression must not the reading of these words make on the Catholic .heart ! Emperors, kings, patriarchs, thousauds.of travelers have read them, and were so struck with awe that they fell prostrate on the floor and adored Him who ' was born on the spot for our salvation. 2Iany sovereigns desired to have in the grotto of Bethlehem a perpetual mark of their faith and piety; hence there are as many as thirty-two magnificent mag-nificent lamps continually 'burning there, which were given by the republic of Venice, emperors of Austria, kings of Spain and Xaples, and finally by the pious liing Louis XIII of Trance. 0 Blessed Night! 0 rich delight! When, joy with wonder blending, To us from heaven .A son was given, Angel hosts attending. For when, in thrall From Adam's fall, The world in death was lying. In flesh like mine The Life divine Rose sunlike o'er the dying. 0 God of Might! Eternal Light! In swaddling bands they boundThee; Thrust from the hall, To lowly stall, The herdwas gathered round Thee. That cradled Child Lay mute and rnild,-That rnild,-That "Word" whose voice is thunder. The world's great Light Withdrew from sight,--Oh, who can solve the wonder? God stoops to dwell In lowly cell, For shame nor want refusing: He leaves His throne, His foes-to own, For heaven a manger choosing. Christmas Day at St. Itlary's I (Continued from Page 1.) . His justice. His immensity, His ubiquity. Majestic deserts as they are to the limited intelligence of man, yet some souls find better nurture there : than in the verdant pastures lower down. These are eagles among the spiritual; spir-itual; but the eagle chooses his dwelling dwell-ing with as faultless an instinct as the nightingale deep-hidden in its bush, or the robin trilling its winter song upon the window sill. We must not, therefore, call such souls ambitious. They" are, no doubt, humble, and therefore there-fore they are not deluded. Is it not the men of the loftiest conceptions who for the most part have the humblest hum-blest minds? They have been lured thither by wiles of grace as gentle and as gradual as those who have been drawn to the crib of Bethlehem. We, brethren, for the most part are of the number of the latter, but we do not envy the flight of the former. We have no ambition to soar with the eagles, but with the nightingale and the robin, we range ourselves 'round the crib of Bethlehem this morning and carol our songs of homage and adoration adora-tion to our new-born Savior. And while we cluster round there we cannot but feel that our devotion, or rather its attraction, at-traction, is as noble aye, and I might say, more noble, more grand, and more sublime than that which lures our more favored brethren; it is more, noble, be- . U ! V cause it has accomplished nobler ends because it has done more to aid humanity, hu-manity, to reach, to touch, to draw, to civilize and Christianize the human heart, than aught else which God or man has ever wrought on earth; it is, in a word, more noble, more sublime, because it is . more simple, for simplicity sim-plicity is the essence of true nobility and sublimity, and the simplicity of soul which comes- from Bethlehem claims kindred with that sublimity of spirit which hover - almost unalarmed around the mountain tops of God. Wherein does this sublimity consist do you ask? I invite you, brethren, "to come and see." You are familiar enough with the circumstances surrounding sur-rounding this day's . mystery of mys-, teries, without anyirepeating them here, in detail. -The Gospel, after describing the Journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem, their wandering wander-ing 'round the city in search of accommodations, accom-modations, its failure and their subsequent subse-quent discovery "of an old stable hewn in the rock, into which they retired for shelter, goes on: to 'say: "And it came: to pass that when they were ' there, Mary's days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first born son, and wrapped Him up In swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger." Behold the palace in which the King of kings is born a stable; these were, the royal i purple garments and brilliant finery in ! which the new born King was wrapt ! swaddling clothes, the few tattered ! garments which the poverty of Mary could procure' this was the cradle that received His tiny for.m, ar manger of straw; the retinue that surrounded Him were only Mary and Joseph, and two dumb brutes whose breath .served to keep the warmth in His . shivering limbs. Oh! incomprehensible mystery! that the Eternal Son of God should thus be born In the flesh as the outcast of mankind, rejected by His own chosen people, who will not afford Him a shelter shel-ter under their roof "they have no room for Him!" "He came unto His own and His own received Him not." And why did He choose to be born in this lowly condition? Ah! brethren, look at that poor beggar at your door; see his emaciated face; see those rags that scarcely cover his trembling limbs and then ask your conscience, Why? See those myriads of countless poor that invest our towns and cities; look upon those faces, pale and .wan, of the orphan waifs in your streets, . bereft, disowned, abandoned; look at that widow wi-dow weeping by the grave Into which her partner, her hope, has fallen, and then ask your conscience. Why? Why, indeed, but that He might open our hearts to the misery that surrounds us . that He might confound the pride, the haughtiness and the greed of wealth and worldly pomp: "The foolish things of this world hath God chosen that He might confound the wise, and the weak things of this world hath God chosen that He might confound the strong." Why, indeed, but that as the Savior of mankind, He might be within the reach of all that He might bring hope and salvation to all to the poor and lowly as well as to the rich and exalted to the shepherd in the hills as well as to the wise kings of the east. Why, indeed, in-deed, but that He might teach us by His example thus at the very outset of His mortal career, those three enobling virtues humility, poverty of spirit and fraternal charity virtues as necessary to the Christian practice as they are inseparable from its belief. Take away from this day's mystery its humility and poverty, and you destroy all that is grand and noble in Christianity you destroy the hope and consolation of the poor, just as, by taking away from the life of Christ its suffering and persecutions, perse-cutions, you destroy the hope and consolation con-solation of the afflicted and distressed. Jesus, who was rich, for our sakes became be-came poor to enrich our poverty. He has sanctified poverty forever, and poverty pov-erty embraced, voluntarily or bourne with patience leads to Christ and His eternal kingdom. Christ has sanctified poverty by His example through life fropi Bethlehem to Calvary. He never taught what He did not Himself practice; nay, He first practised what He would afterward inculcate by words. He gave us an example ex-ample that we might imitate it, and no one ever better, recognized the truth of the adage: "Example 4s better than precept; actions speak more forcibly than words." Thus we behold Him born !in the most abject poverty and from the crib to the cross leading a life or j poverty. - "The birds of the air have nests," but the Savior of mankind when he came unto His own, was destitute of all earth-lv earth-lv comfort, and "had not whereon to rest His head." He could have jbeen born in the midst of pomp and splendor, surrounded by all the luxury that wealth could command; he could have been born of some mighty princess prin-cess of the earth. But no: Mary, the poor virgin maid of Nazareth, He chose for His mother, and Joseph, the poor carpenter of Galilee, for His foster-father. foster-father. They owned a small dwelling at Nazareth, yet not even here was He born, but at Bethlehem, whither His parents had repaired in obedience to the decree of Caesar, in order to have themselves enrolled among the descendants de-scendants of the royal house of David. Here He was born, choosing a stable for His palace, a manger for His couch, and swaddling clothes for His purple. Thus He sanctified poverty by His own example and by His humble birth, silently, but eloquently, declaring, declar-ing, that the splendor and opulence of the world, and the glitter of pomp and pride, did not become the greatness of the God-man among men. In poverty He came into the world, in poverty He-lived He-lived all His life, and in poverty He died on the cross. He possessed no real estate, had no bank account, nor a richly furnished house; He owned absolutely nothing. He wore a seamless seam-less garment. He ate and drank only to sustain life. In His travels He stopped with humble, pious people and ate whatever they set before Him, seasoning sea-soning it with instructive and edifying discourses. When they treated Him in a manner becoming His dignity He rebuked re-buked them, as when Martha troubled herself about many things, whilst Mary, her sister, sat at His feet, drinking drink-ing in the heavenly doctrine that fell from His lips. He may also imagine how many hardships He endured In His rounds of well-doing. Who knows how often He suffered from hunger and thirst; how often, fatigued by His labors and journeys, He had no resting rest-ing place but the bare ground, no shelter shel-ter but the canopy of heaven? The strongest proof of His poverty is that at His death on the cross the soldiers found nothing to divide among themselves them-selves but His clothes, as it had been foretold by the royal prophet: "They parted my garments amongst them, and upon my vesture they cast lots." (Ps. 21, 19.) But Christ sanctified poverty by word as well as by example. He preached the gospel first to the poor, who always al-ways stand most In need of consolation; consola-tion; and who receive it thankfully, but not to the rich, who revel in pleasures and cherish pride. He said to His disciples: dis-ciples: "Go and relate to John what you have seen and heard the poor have the gospel preached to , them." It is the poor He calls blessed; It is to the poor He promised heaven: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for ' theirs is the kingdom." "Blessed are , ye that hunger now; for you shall be filled." And, again, He says: "Come to me, all of you that labor and are heavy burdened, and I will refresh you." This is chiefly said to the poor, for in recompense for the goods of this world, of which they are destitute, He sends them peace and consolation that surpass all understanding. And hence the annual recurrence of this day brings with It into the homes of the poor of every land a peace, con- ' solation and holy joy which would be inexplicable without the poverty of its mystery. Their mutual greetings of "Merry Christmas' come forth from their hearts today with more genuine sincerity than those which fall from the lips of the rich. And why? Because Be-cause in their poverty of means they i have caught a wealth of spirit which ' the rich have missed. Did Christ ever call the rich blessed? No. What did He say to them? You remember when a rich young man once came and asked: "Good Master, what shall I do that I may have life everlasting?" ever-lasting?" He replied: "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the command- ' ments." And when he urged that he had kept the commandments from his youth, Jesus said to him: "If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast and give to the poor; and thou shall have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me." The rich youth could not resolve to do this, but went away sad and returned no more; wherefore 1 Christ said to His disciples: "Amen. J I say to you that a rich man shall , hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven." hea-ven." And again: "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." j Now, for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle is an impossibility. Shall no rich man, therefore, be saved? Christ does not say so. He only says It is hard for a rich man to be saved not because of his riches, but because, 1 with his riches, generally speaking, he possesses a richness, a pride of spirit; because he sets his heart and affec- ; tions entirely upon his riches; because he thinks more of gold than of God, ! 1 and is greedy and hard-hearted toward ' God's poor. It 13 to this class of rich I men that Christ applied the parable of Dives and Lazarus. The rich man was clothed in purple and feasted sumptuously every day, and Lazarus ' full of sores, lay at his gate, desirous I of being fed on the crumbs which fell i from the rich man's table, and no one ! gave him them; only the dogs, more ! i merciful than man, came and licked ' ' his sores. But Lazarus died and was 1 carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom; the rich man also died and was buried in hell. Men of Dives' de- i scription are farthest from .God and from salvation, because they have ! not the spirit of Christ. They close up I the bowels of their substance against i' the poor and have no ears for their 1 piteous cries, and to them the words:' i . of Christ apply: "Woe to you that are rich." Or, as St. Francis expresses it: "Christ cails the poor in spirit blessed, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, consequently cursed are the rich in spirit, for theirs is the torment tor-ment of hell." There is another class of the rich who shall indeed be saved, because with their riches they possess the spirit of Christ the spirit of poverty. These ar ethe humble, who possess their riches as if they possessed them not, who make use of them to obtain the j riches of eternity, who consider them not as the end, but as means to the ' end, and who, after the example of the . Good Master, "go about doing good to all.' And oh, brethren, what a nobility this love of well-doing, this benevo- ; lence, beneficence and generosity ' toward the poor, lends to the grace and charms of wealth and beauty! It is this virture which makes the true hero or heroine: and, thanks to the Lord, j we are not wanting in our midst of examples of this heroism heroes and j heroines, who open the doors of their substance to the poor and raise monuments monu-ments of charity which will tell their greatness, their heroism and their worth to future generations when they are sleeping beneath the shadows. To these I would say: Vale, vade et pros-pera' pros-pera' (You have done well; proceed and prosper). The Lord, has blessed you with the goods of earth, but He has blessed you with, a far more precious gift, the gift of a noble spirit, the spirit of Christ, the spirit of poverty, and He will bless you a thousand-fold with the goods of eternity. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God." This, then, brethren, is the lesson taught by this gay's mystery the blessedness of poverty a lesson profitable profit-able alike to rich and poor. Let us who are rich come to'the crib and learn to be poor of spirit, and let us who are poor come to the crib and learn there to be resigned to our condition as becomes followers of Him who, though, rich, became poor to enrich our poverty. We do not have to go to Bethlehem to learn this lesson, for He teaches it daily by His presence on our altars. In a few moments He will be born for you here on this altar as really ami truly as lie was in testable te-stable at Bethiehem. and the nitce;, will sing His praises as of old: ;i.,tV to God in the highest, and p-.-n ,,u earth to men of good will." Jt. join our feeble voices with ths.- n:i-.. istering spirits and pour forth !,. grateful hearts in their celestial son. Let us. with the shepherds awl th' wise men of the east, come and wi:;. humble hearts kneel down In-fore H; i, at the altar, offering Him the honi i ; . of our praise, adoration and t hunks-giving, hunks-giving, sweetened with the incen'.' ', our love. Let us beg of Him to imp u ' to our hearts the spirit of poverty, humility hu-mility and resignation virtues love.i i v Him and exalted by His exam;.!.-birth, exam;.!.-birth, in life, and in death. And. ab.,. all. let us beg of Him tr establish amongst us that peace which II.- ui.L'' n bestow on mankind peace wrV God, peace with our neighbor ;.p peace with ourselves a peace vlu?h 1 heartily wish you all this morning. r,, gether with all the graces, jovs a-.; blessings of the season, a M r. v Christmas to all. |