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Show If fl 43 PEACE KEYNOTE OF ST. PATRICK'S WORK Overthrow of Paganism Wonderful Achievement. St. Patrick's day! What thoughts and emotions these words arouse! A captive youth; a slave; a swineherd swine-herd but his soul Is free, while, to him, his captor are ln the bondage of Pagan darkness ! The slave escapes and begins the long task of preparing to liberate his captors. This task he finally accomplished with a success unparalleled In history. He led his captors captive! He found a nation Pagan. He left It Christian with not a life sacrificed not a drop of blood shed ln effecting the change I And this good work he accomplished In Erin while the world outside was convulsed hv the denfh strnnlea nt thm I Boman empire. St. Patrick's day more thsn any other, except Christmas day, evidences the appeal that lies In the story of the Crucified One; the great message of peace and reconciliation. It Is not merely an Irish event; it Is world-wide In its significance, and there are few things needed more In the world of today than another Saint Patrick. Ardently do we rejoice that the nation na-tion which Patrick freed from the shackles of Pagan bondage Is ln a large measure free from the political despotism which so long oppressed It. Illinois State Register. |
