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Show I Diocese of fielena. I : ;'? i X Progress of the Church and Doings of the Catholic People in Montana. t 4. - - BY BESSIE M. LAWLOR. : HELENA : RELIC OF ST. LEO, MARTYR, TO BE PLACED IN THE SACRED HEART CATHEDRAL. (Correspondence Intermountain Catholic.) Helena, MonL, Aug. 14. On Friday. Aug. 10, arrived direct from Rome the remains of St. Leo, martyr, a boy 12 years old, who shed his blood for the faith during the early stages of Christianity, Chris-tianity, and whose remains were extracted ex-tracted from the Catacombs of Rome in the beginning of the eighteenth cen- j tury. Marked on the grave was the inscription: in-scription: "St. Leo, Martyr, Age 12; Years." The remains of the almost infant Saint were extracted by the Guardian of Holy Relics appointed by the Pope. At that time his relics were donated to the Cistercian Nuns of Anagini. When our beloved Bishop, Rt. Rev. John B. Brondel, was in Rome last January, through his ceaseless and unlimited endeavors en-deavors he succeeded in obtaining the sacred relics of this spotless young Saint from the Bishop of this place, who had special facilities to that effect ef-fect from Pope Leo XIII. Monsignor Guiei. a brother of Father Guiei. well known in Montana, is the one who took charge of preparing the shrine and had the remains properly shipped to Helena, where thy arrived on the Feast of St. Lawrence, Aug. 10. The urn with the remains was received intact, in-tact, notwithstanding the great distance dis-tance from Rome to Montana. Six Priests were present with the Bishop when the remains arrived, and they were honorably placed in me Episcopal residence,- aw.aiting' such arrangements ar-rangements as will be made in the future fu-ture to locate the same in the Cathedral Church. At the close of the Priests' retreat, re-treat, which takes place next week, it is planned to have the remains of St. Leo removed from the Episcopal' residence resi-dence to the Cathedral Church at- twilight. twi-light. There will be twenty-eight Priests present at' the solemn ' services. ser-vices. ... Bishop Brondel is very much pleased I over the arrival "of the Saint's remains j in such - excellent Rendition, and says I he wishes to have St. Leo the patron Saint for the boys and girls of this diocese, especially .he young boys. and. he further hopes through the powefful intercession of St,;' Leo.' that Christian education will spread and flourish all over the land, tnd the young people will ever look totthic glorious young Saint as a model "to which they should all aspire, and as a holy incentive to urge them on to higher aims and nobler deeds for God's greater glory and their own salvation. On Aug. 12 the Bishop announced to the congregation the safe arrival of the remains, which were most devotedly devoted-ly viewed by the devout members of the. congregation. The shrine which encloses en-closes the sacred remains is of glass, mounted in gold, with blue lapis lazuli and gold trimmings. A vessel reposes in one corner of the shrine, resembling a chalice, which contains a glass sprinkled sprink-led with the blood of the martyr. Through this golden vessel there is an opening, where can easily be perceived the dark red snots of blood, which the heroic young martyr willingly shed for the glorious and unmistakable faith of our Holy Church. The life-like figure represents the youth dressed in the habiliments with all the grandeur and embellishments of a Roman youth of high rank. The head is surrounded by an aureola of sanctity and in the forehead is the mark of the wound he received when his soul went forth to receive the crown of martyrdom martyr-dom from his Eternal Father in heaven. The figure in wax rests on the skeleton skele-ton extracted from the Catacombs, and has an angelic, most resigned and peaceful expression. The work on the figure is perfection in the highest de- I gree, and shows no small amount 01 artistic skill thoroughly displayed. On the urn is marked the chronogram in Greek, which represents Christ, and on either side, of the chronogram are two palm branches, raised in gold, the emblem em-blem of Christian victory. In front, In plain view, is to be. seen the figure of an angel, also in raised gold. On the lower tart of the shrine are marked the words. "Sa'nctus Leo." The only noticeable result of the long journey, and one which does not materially detract de-tract from the appearance of the Saint is the palm branch which was tightly clasped in one. hand, in the transportation transpor-tation it has fallen by his side. It can, however, be replaced without much serious ser-ious difficulty. Announcement will be made Sunday as to the possible time the services in connection with placing the remains in the Church will take place. Kneeling in the hallowed and sacred presence of the remains of one whose pure life's blood was willingly sacrificed sacri-ficed on the alTar of martyrdom, the soul seems to take flight above all earthly strife and the rapturous gaze is augmented and exhilarated by the thought of such a' deed of faith and love. The ecstacles of the soul knows no bounds, and the human heart cannot find words in which sufficient expression expres-sion to the feelings could be given. At this moment my description seems vague, and my pen utterly refuses to move. In the midst of such a scene one can almost picture the ancient hills I of Rome with the lofty spire of St. Peter's Pet-er's pointing heavenword in the dis- tance, and can see the bright illumined light of Christianity reflecting over ever Quarter of the globe from the fountain head of knowledge, the Eter4-I Eter4-I nal City.' Entwined with the thoughts of Rome cling the,'thoughts of a bright and. beautiful countenance, the memory mem-ory of which is dear and sacred to every Catholic, that of Pope Leo XIII. sitting a prisoner within the Vatican. He is the greatest and grandest living liv-ing man on earth, the guide and counselor coun-selor of the Catholic Church all over the World; the Church w hich has for ages past penetrated the remotest inhabited in-habited countries where the Christian faith upraises all to the purpose for which they were created. One can almost view with terror the dim and dark ages of the distant past when to profess the faith meant only to be slaughtered by wild beasts, killed by the guillotine or burned at the stake. You can hear in the distance the undulated un-dulated waves of applause die out from the over-crowded amphitheatre, where the vast crowds were assembled with gloated eyes and blood-thirsty shrieks of vengeance to witness the death of those innocent victims whose only offense of-fense was to believe in Christ crucified. Even the ferocious roar of the wild beasts, ready to pounce upon their prey becomes almost a certainty with all the fearful horrors. It is easy in this enlightened age to be Catholics. There are no sacrifices to be made. I say no sacrifices; it should be a great pleasure to all of us within the fold to live up to the teachings of our Church. Here only we find the true happiness and consolation of this world and the Church at all times inviting us to partake par-take of her sacraments and graces. To belong to that faith hereditarily is the richest inheritance we can ever possess. pos-sess. We are very fortunate to have in our midst the remains of a Saint under whose patronage and guardianship the young people of Montana are placed by the tender and loving solicitude of our dear Spiritual Father on earth, Bishop Brondel, who has at all times the welfare of the young of this diocese dio-cese at heart, which fact can easily be concluded by a little insight to the labor, la-bor, it required to procure the remains of the martyred Saint for the Sacred Heart Cathedral. ' BESSIE M. LAWLOR. |