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Show MOTHER'S UM Nothing so Powerful or Intense Its Influence; Influ-ence; Its Effects. One of the greatest forces in the world if not the greatest, next to Christianity itself that works as a mighty barrier to prevent the world from worshiping wor-shiping at the shrine of idolic lusts and mammons, absolutely is a mother's love. No human language contains words powerful enough to describe this love. It is a principle, of divinity implanted in the feminine heart. Its branches blossom in every place of sorrow and desolation. It is well nigh omnipotent. om-nipotent. We see its influence in the prison where a manly looking young fellow pallid, from his jail existence, the consequence of a violation of the law, while under the momentary influence of drink or passiou, affectionately reading a letter from his broken-hearted mother. We get another view of it when we see an old gray-haired woman kneeling before the picture of a boy who left her years ago tto roam the continents and the seas, and probably lost to her at least this side of the grave. The boy who is being run Jo earth bv detectives for no crime maybe except stealing rides on trains has oftentimes a letter in his pocket beginning: "My dear son, I wish you would come home." And so life's tragedy of unrequited filial affection runs its course. The crime-stained form standing upon the scaffold scaf-fold waiting to be launched into eternity was, in bygone years, lulled to sleep upon a fond mother's breast. Oh the oceans of tears and prayers that have gone up like the incense of the Catholic vespers ves-pers to God's white throne of grace, from the lips of parents, for wayward sons and daughters whom they never expect to embrace in their loving arms again. The great' Queen of Heaven was the. most sorrowful sor-rowful of all lonelv mothers, but not because of a child's disobedience. The manifold dangers that threatened Christ during his infant and boyhood days well nicrht broke her heart. But the most ter- rifle of sorrows that could befall a true mother's Jjeart .took, place .when ..she, ywas., forced; to stand, with all a woman's helpless weakness, and watch her innocent child now grown to rugged yet gentle manhood, totter slowly, patiently and silently along the bloody road to Calvary and with sweet resignation resig-nation upon his torn and mangled face and body drink the chalice of death, the death of a God, in obedience to his father's will, to save the world. Oh, yes, Mary drank the cup of motherly sorrow to the very Ices. This fearful tragedy should be a consolation con-solation to the thousands of weeping women throughout the world. Wonderful is the name of mother. That one word of six letters is sufficient to demonstrate the existence of God. That name, next in honor to the name of Immanuel himself, has been uttered in every tongue and crevice of the universe. Wherever Wher-ever there is pain or weariness there exists a longing long-ing for a mother's care and love. The seven manly Hebrews successively tortured to death by Antio-chus Antio-chus must have looked at, their heroic mother to see what she would do or say. But she told the last and youngest while he was waiting for the knife to cut his flesh and the fire to roast it, that he would disgrace her and lose his own soul if he apostatized from Mosaical Christianity, and so he died, his brave mother following him and his brothers to the grave. . Mother love ! What a mighty theme. How men more brilliant than ourselves could write volumes on it. It is as restless as the sea. Death will change sooner than it. It is as deep as the eternal grave of hell. It soars to the very heights of heaven. heav-en. Nothing can stop its onward march of power. It fashions empires and their laws. It hurls from power the king that the idolized son may shine in regal robes of state. By its force governors set convicts free. Men may wallow in mire. Roam the byways of the world branded and accursed. Their wills and intellects rise in maddened rage to the very throne of omnipotence to tear from God hi3 power if that were possible, because of their bitter life that fate or their fellow men has dealt to them, but when from the halls of memory a gray-haired mother's face rises up before them out of the long ago they fall, they kneel, they moan, they sob and pray and all because of the sin of the first mother of the human race committed in the very home of heaven, just as there was about to dawn for all humanity hu-manity a happy and glorixms long, lonr summer's day. ' RICAKDO. |