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Show FATHER YORKE'S TRIBUTE TO ! THE IRISH fRIARS OE GALWAV i ! . S Eloquent end Insructivc Sermon At Ihc Cclc- 1 bration of the Golden Jubilee of the Augustinian Church. 1. : l ' . ulway. Ireland, Sept. On Sunday the gulden jubilee o" 'he Augustinian church here was celebrated cele-brated I - al religious ceremonies and public ro-1 ro-1 j'jioing .y m jeople. Jn tin - Augustinian church it self the , ;:' tnies were oirried out with a solemn j;raiidou! befit hig ihe occasion. At the last mass the jubilee seriuou was preached by the Rev. Father Yorke of Sa.i Francisco, and this and the other ceremonies were attended by crowded congregations. 'The public rejoicings Mere universal. The entire town was illuminated in the evening-, and a great demonstration of the piety and devotion of the people peo-ple to the faith of their fathers was witnessed. The history of t he church who.se jubilee was being celebrated cele-brated was sufficient to evoke the religious enthu-i enthu-i siasin of a less faithful people lhan the citizens of ihe "City of the Tribes.'' After eloquently revicw-V revicw-V ing- the glorious story of the church, Father Yorke said: : "Today we celebrate the fact that fifty years ago the foundation stone of this church, dedicated to St. Augustine,, was laid. Fifty years may seem a short time in the history' of the Augustinian Friars whose ministrations in this town have continued for nigh seven hundred years, and one church the more may appear of little consequence in a city that boasis so many. But it is not the building' alone that renders the .occasion significant or-the mere lapse of years. It is the circumstances that surrounded sur-rounded its inception; it is the long history to which it is a witness that makes its very stones eloquent. elo-quent. on see. then, my dear brethren, the significance signifi-cance of our rejoicing. - "In the first place, we re glad that what our enemies thought was done so thoroughly is now undone, un-done, namely, the destruction of the Augustinian Friars in Galway. Henry and Edward, Elizabeth and Cromwell. William of Orange and the priest-hunt -( ers. all are gone, but the Friars are here. In the second place, we are taking pride in what the learned and cultured amongst us condemn as crimi-; crimi-; v H;d exlravagance. lo-wit. the building up of beau- 1'id cliurches in a poverty-stricken country. We willingly lake our stand with Margaret Athy?s bus-brnd. bus-brnd. who. returning from a voyage abroad, and finding that in bis absence she hud erected the -' church and steeple, knolt down forthwith on the si rand and thanked God for inspiring her with the generous thought. Lastly, we are glad that we are .able to bind on more tightly the yoke which kings and nations have gathered together today to cast off, namely, the discipline of religion. "The sleek bishops of the state church enjoy our j revenues, and the well-fed clerks of the Establishment Establish-ment preach from our pulpits; but we conjure you not by the glory of the work! or the vain words' of human philosophy; we conjure you by the agony of the passion, by the cross and resurrection, by the death and burial of him whose wounds we bear and in whose Gripes we glory. Is it any wonder that a, people so spiritual as the Irish clung to lliem? Is it any wonder that they triumphed over, the worst efforts cf the gates of hell t Is it any wonder that they preserved the souls of their flocks to this day, and are glad that it has been given to us to see the f fruil of their great labor and the crowning glory of nil iheir toil? Not only did they preserve religion in this island, but through religion they preserved nationality. "After love of God comes love of country, and it was through love of God that love of country was kept alive in this land. We are not of the eompauy those who believe that our nationhood is a historical his-torical fiet ion and our country only a geographical I expression. In days gone by it was our religion, that was inimical to good citizenship. Today it is -ur religion that is an enemy to prosperity.. If Ave Jf lrih are poor, it is because we are piiust We have built too many and too beautiful ecclesiastical edifices. edi-fices. The time has come when we must abandon the monastery for the manufactory, and replace ihe church with the chimney. "When, therefore, we today are not a-hamed 1o oongralulate ouielves on the building of ibis beautiful beau-tiful church, we set ourselves squarely against the doctrines of ibis new school. The preachers of those doctrines very earnestly profess their friendship friend-ship for us. but so far the chief oulward and visible visi-ble sign of their affection is a generous disposition' to fralernal correction. We have long memories. Did not Henry II come to civilize us. and Cromwell to save1 our souls? Hence, even though they be sincere, sin-cere, and sincere they well may be. friendship and good intentions cannot permit us to let pass uncon-tradicted uncon-tradicted a doclrine that is false in fact and erroneous erro-neous in philosophy. If we are looking for the real ;- causes of I reland's backwardness in things material. it is no: hard 1o find them. How could we have money when the fruits of the laud were confiscated twice a year for centuries by a worthless foreign garrison that ncw.r gave anything in return for the millions they exacted? How could we have progress when we are saddled with an antiquated executive, I lliejuost stupid and expensive not alone in Christendom, Christen-dom, but in the dominions of the grand Turk? How could we have manufactures when our industries indus-tries were deliberately dcsl roved by government for 1be leiiefit of foreigners, and at 1 ho very time Europe Eu-rope was serving her apprenticeship in modern methods we were barred out of the school of ex-perienee? ex-perienee? How 'could we have trade when our chief f absel. agriculture, which from the nature of things must be always our great reliance, wis sacrificed by alien laws 10 the needs of the English manufactur- j ing towns ? "If men want to see the truth about Ireland's decadence, they can find abundant reason in his- f torical and political causes, and will not be driven to explain the facts that the Catholic religion of Belgium does not prevent that country from being one of the most prosperous and one of the most progressive on the face of the earth, and that Catholic Catho-lic Irishmen appear to share with honor the-burden of the greatest political offices and to manage with 1 puccess ihe most extensive business enterprises in every country of the world except their own.'' Continued 011 Page o. 1 ' FATHER. YORKE'S TRIBUTE TO THE IRISH FRIARS OF GALWAY Continued from Page 1. Father Yorkc went on to give reasons for the erection of churches, and, having given many reasons, rea-sons, said: "But there is another and not a less urgent .reason .rea-son for building fine churches in Ireland. In its attempt to destroy religion in this country the English Eng-lish government established here a ruling class based on creed. The ancient inhabitants. thTCath-olics. thTCath-olics. A-cre reduced to the position of hewers of Avood and draM'ers of Avater. The neAvcoiners,the j Protestants, Mere lords and masters. The Protestant Protest-ant ascendancy Avas a fact Avhich no historian of I Ireland can afford to ignore it is still a fact Avhich j the philosophic student of conditions must take into j account. The Protestants possessed flic land, the I political offices, the professions, the churches, the shops, and by laAV a Catholic was not supposed to so much as breathe, the air of his native land. "You knOAV the long fight the Catholics waged against that iniquitous institution. You know that the A-ictory they Avon under O'Connell's leadership Avas Avon.' not from England's benevolence, but from England's fear. You .knoAV that even Avhcn the letter let-ter of the laAV Avas repealed the spirit of the law-remained, law-remained, and still remains. Today the evil genius of ascendancy still infests the country, and you knoAV by experience that it is still a real positive disadvantage dis-advantage in every walk of life for a man to be a Catholic in this Catholic land. To bigotry our churches arc a perpetual reminder that bigotry did its work and failed. They arc the assertion of that equality in religion which our people Avon in name with such tribulation, and they are perpetual incentives incen-tives to make that equality a fact not only in religion, reli-gion, but also in economics, in education, in social life, and in the political field. We ask for nothing but what in all reason is due to us equaltiy of rights and equality of opportunities. "God knows vve have no desire to pay back wrong for AAToug, or intolerance for intolerance. Xo man can truly say that here in Gal way Protestants have been penalized or persecuted. Hoav "many of them Ave knoAV avIiosc paths arc peace and Avhose Avays arc justice. They have come amongst up, and have been . i made one vrith us by the tics of blood and friendship, friend-ship, and ay ho in this city are more respected or beloved? be-loved? Xot of them I speak. They have walked amongst us claiming no superiority because of their religion, doing no man hurt because of his creed. Xot of them I speak. I speak of those who forget that King Henry is dead, and that Cromwell has gone to his own place. I speak of those who think j that William of Oiangc still reigns, and that the penal laws, arc still on the statute book. I speak of those who look upon themselves as a superior race and a privileged people. To them wc say that Avhich the builders of this church put into stone, 'We are as good as you. God has put us in this land and has given us Irish bodies and Irish minds, and no Irishman shall be punished because. of his creed. If you are more talented, more industrious, better educated, edu-cated, enjoy in peace the fruits of your attainments, attain-ments, but. you must not, shall not, block the ways j of opportunity for us because we are Catholics. Every gate to power that is open to you must be open to us; every avenue of wealth that is free to you must be free to us, and every door to education that swings in to you must not be permitted to swing out in our face, no matter how bigots may rage and cowardly politicians dishonor their own words.' ' x , "And, dear brethren, let us not be afraid of this programme, nor think this objective point too high. We have accomplished mightier things against more poAverful adversaries, and with weapons not half as strong. You are Catholics and Irishmen. This is your country, and here should your children dwell. If they are to remain and prosper, they must have equal rights Avith the children of eA-erj' other class and creed. Especially in this age. where more than in any other age the prizes of Kf go to the educated ,must they have equal rights in school and college and university. On you their future depends, and if in you is the spirit of Caleb and the fortitude of Josue, your children's children will rise up and bless you as thisvday Ave bles bur fathers who aa-ou for us in emancipation the first installment of our rights." |