SERMONS AND ADDRESSES Rev. MICHAEL L. WALSH Formerly Rector of St. Vincent de Paul's Church Albany, N. Y. 1C14 Class - \ 1 '1 , Book , \-V 5 (^ J GopyrightN COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. SERMONS — AND — ADDRESSES BY- Rev. Michael L. Walsh Late Rector of St. Vincent de Paul's Church, Albany, N. Y. GEORGE A. SCHEYER PUBLISHER 37 Barclay Street, New York *&■ Imprimatur: + JOHN CARDINAL FARLEY, Archbishop of New York,, Per a L Mm mmt: REMIGIUS LAFORT, S. S. D.. Censor. New York, September 29. 1914. Copyright, 1914, Rev. J. L. WALSH Hudson, N. Y. dec 30 m ©CI.A388999 FOREWORD The author of this Volume of Sermons never dreamed that it would appear in the public eye. Retirement was his characteristic, and, as he ever wished to be far from the madding crowd, his natural bent was that his sermons should never appear in print. But his friends who are left behind have been urgently requested to publish the same, in order, as they say, that the world might be benefited by his spoken word. For the years that he was assistant priest at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Albany, N. Y., he thrilled his hearers with his silvery speech. These sermons have been polished to the last de- gree, as old Horace says : ' ' Usque ad unguem prae- sectam. ,, They are placed before the public in the hope of doing some good. The eminent Jesuit orator, Rev. M. J. Phelan, S. J., who, during the past winter, electrified the people of New York City, says of these sermons : "They rank with the best I have ever read." They speak for themselves ; and the hope is expressed that they may be of some assistance to the weary mis- sionary and the faithful clerics in the vineyard of the Lord.— W Feast of St. Michael, September 29, 1914 These sermons reveal deep unction of piety, and show that no care has been spared in their composi- tion. " The literary style will satisfy the most fastidious taste ; and the reader will rise from his perusal with the mind enriched and the heart warmed with the love of God. [Signed] M. J, Phelan, S. J." Sacred Heart College, Crescent, Limerick, Ireland, November 21, 1914. "It has been a real pleasure to read these ser- mons, which I believe are to accomplish much good for the cause of Christ in the Catholic Church. No doubt it has cost much time and labor to place these beauti- ful thoughts in such pleasing and inspiring form for the benefit of the clergy and laity." — P. J. S. CONTENTS SERMONS PAGE First Sunday of Advent 9 Third Sunday of Advent , 15 Fourth Sunday of Advent 239 Christmas , 18 Christmas— Second Sermon 20 First Sunday After Christmas 27 New Year's Eve 32 Epiphany 37 Fourth Sunday After Christmas 43 Third Sunday After Christmas « 47 Sixth Sunday After Epiphany 52 Purification 58 Septuagesima Sunday 63 Sexagesima Sunday 67 Quinquagesima Sunday 74 Second Sunday of Lent 77 Lenten Sermon 82 Fourth Sunday of Lent 91 Fourth Sunday of Lent 97 Holy Thursday 101 Good Friday 106 Easter ,110 Easter Sermon 114 Fifth Sunday After Easter 120 Feast of the Ascension 125 Pentecost Sunday 130 Pentecost 134 Trinity Sunday 138 Trinity Sunday < . . 141 Third Sunday After Pentecost 145 Fifth Sunday After Pentecost 147 Sixth Sunday After Pentecost 149 Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost 152 Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost 236 Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost 155 Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost 158 Assumption 159 Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost 161 Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost 163 Feast of the Seven Dolors 166 October Devotions 172 Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost 177 Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost 181 PAGE Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost 185 Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost.. 188 Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost 193 All Souls' Day 199 Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost 205 Twenty-first Sunday After Pentecost 212 Twenty-second Sunday After Pentecost 213 Twenty-fourth Sunday After Pentecost 217 Sermon Delivered at the Dedication of St. Mary's Church, Troy, N. Y 226 The Blessed Sacrament 245 ADDRESSES Religious Profession 251 Religious Profession 256 Patronage of St. Joseph 265 St. Patrick 269 Month of May 282 Address to the Graduates of St. Bernard's Academy 288 Address to the Holy Name Society 295 Address to the Delegates of State Convention, T. A. S., Saratoga, N. Y 298 EULOGIES... 309 Sermons by Rev. M. L. Walsh FIRST SUJSIDAY OF ADVENT. i i The night is past and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light/ ' — St. Paul, Romans xiii, 12. Dearly Beloved Brethren : To-day we begin the holy season of Advent. Like every season of special grace, Advent has its own distinct purpose. What that purpose is, is re- vealed not only in the Epistle of this Sunday, but also in the very liturgy of the Church. From day to day, during four entire weeks, the latter exhorts us, her children, to prepare our hearts by prayer and penance for a faithful participation in the joy and happiness of Christmastide ; for, on the blessed anniversary of our Saviour's birth, the people of every nation and race will rejoice and make merry. It is self-evident why humanity delights, as one com- plete family, on that day of days, that feast of feasts ; the imagination of man has never pictured a day of holier memories than that on which the angels sang their gladsome "Gloria"; while the human heart seeks in vain for a happier one, providing, how- ever, due preparation has been made for its coming. Time was, dearly beloved, when this preparation was deemed most essential to the proper observance of all our grand solemnities ; in fact, our forefathers in the faith laid it down as a principle that only puri- fied hearts can catch the true spirit of a Christian feast. Would that the dearest interests of immortal souls, the pious practices of other days, had remained 10 Father Walsh unchanged ! But, alas ! we are pained to note an ever-growing indifference to the thought of prepara- tion, a determination, on the part of many, to ignore this one condition of happiness, and a disposition to treat lightly the necessity and importance of mak- ing the Lord's way to their hearts and souls both straight and smooth. We need scarcely remind you, brethren, that such a course is unwise and unchristian ; for, surely you must know the feast days, such as Christmas, are bound to lose much of their sweetness, and much of their significance, when they come in upon us and find us unprepared. Moreover, the need of prepara- tion, at certain times, amounts almost to a law of God Himself; for no one will deny that it is character- istic of Him who does all things wisely and well to afford His children ample time and opportunity to prepare for His visitation, whether these visitations be made in mercy or in justice. For proof of the fact, we have only to consult the pages of Holy Writ. There, we read that prior to His visit to Moses on Sinai, God spoke to the Jewish people, com- manding them to purify their hearts by prayer, and penance, and sacrifice, as a preparation for His pres- ence in their midst. — Exodus xix, 7. Again, when the Almighty was about to destroy Jerusalem, He gave ample warning of His proposed visitation. The Lamentations of Jeremias, the sad- dest utterances that ever fell from human lips, were heard on every street and in every corner of the city. Day and night the man of God called the wicked people of the city to repentance, saying over and over again : ' ' Jerusalem, be converted to the Lord, thy God." But the people of Jerusalem had neither eyes nor ears for the things that were for their good. They continued in their career of sin ; they persisted in taking shadows for realities, and realities for shadows. The result of their failure to hear instruc - Sermons 11 tion was, that God permitted the victorious armies of Rome to destroy them and their city. Did men accept the condition imposed upon them ? Did they, taught by bitter experience, listen reverently to the voice of God ? Yes ; for, be it said to the lasting honor of the human race, the better and more respected portion of the Jewish nation piously disposed itself for the birth of the Messiah. The inspired authors of the Gospels refer, in forcible and eloquent language, to the crowds that flocked out into the desert to see the Holy Precursor of the Saviour, and to learn from His lips what was neces- sary to receive, in a becoming manner, the Expected of nations. As it was in times long past, so it is in these, dearly beloved brethren, our own days. God still visits His people, spiritually, it may be, but yet, really and truly. That He wishes us to look for and prepare ourselves for His coming may be inferred from the fact that Holy Church has taken up the work laid down by St. John the Baptist. Like him, she, too, is a living teacher, a messenger sent on before, to prepare the way of the Lord. Like the saintly Pre- cursor, she, too, has a mission to perform and a mes- sage to deliver to mankind. Do you ask, brethren, what that mission is ? what that message was ? Told in a few words, it is to convince us that the Lord is now nigh. It is to say to us that this is "an acceptable time " ; it is to re- mind us ' ' that the night is far spent, and the day is at hand "; it is to induce us, if she can, "to cast off the works of darkness, and to put on the armor of light. " In fine, it is to warn us, if the holiest and happiest day of the year, which is the anniversary of the Mes- siah's coming, finds our hearts indifferent and our souls unattuned to the spirit of Christmastide, the fault, the blame, will be our own. It will be because we are too worldly to accept of the helps and graces proffered from above ; it will be because business, or 12 Father Walsh pleasure, or selfishness, has hardened us against the maternal pleadings of Holy Church, exhorting us to rise from spiritual sleep to do penance, and to make straight the way of the Lord. Were we to reflect honestly on the far-reaching effects of closing our ears and hearts to the calls and graces of God, surely fewer men could or would live, as they do now, in fatal security. Moreover, care- lessness and indifference in matters of religion, oft- times mean more than an individual — a personal loss. It adds, no one knows how much, to the curse of evil already in the world. The example of the hard- ened sinner and the listlessness of the weak Chris- tian, teach the rising generation to reject models and standards followed and approved by the saints. In fact, we who are guilty of ignoring the exhortations of religion are simply doing all in our power to de- stroy respect for holy vigils, and reverence for the time-honored observance of special seasons of grace and prayer, all of which go to show that the claims of earth go before the rights of heaven, and that the world takes precedence over God. What fatal folly, and, oh ! my brethren, what a shameful contrast between the professions of Chris- tians and the ancient practices of pagans. In olden times the world had lost all knowledge of the true God. The people' s highest and best ideal of the Deity was the prince of the realm, their king, whom they honored to the point of worship. Whenever state af- fairs made it necessary for the monarch to visit any portion of his kingdom, he was usually accompanied by a numerous and obsequious guard of honor, while bands of laborers were despatched on before to make the king's route as direct and as smooth as possible. " Prepare ye the way of the Lord, " was the com- mand. "Make His path straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked shall be made straight, Sermons 13 and the rough ways plain. " Bear in mind that all this, and more, too, were done to express loyalty to a sovereign, to honor an earthly ruler. In the light of a larger civilization, men have frowned down such empty ceremonies, and have decreed that such cus- toms must be laid aside. But neither civilization, nor circumstances, nor time, nor place, can ever dis- pense with pomp and ceremony and preparation, when it is a question of making ready for the spiritual coming of the Son of God. Ancient sover- eigns were, at best, only faint and far-off shadows of the Messiah, who holds in His eternal hands the destinies of individuals and nations. This is the one natural thought we should keep in mind, dearly beloved brethren, during the holy season of Advent. Whether at prayer, or at work, we should remember that we are not expecting the visit of an earthly ruler. No ; we are looking for one holier than any earthly king ; we are expecting one who, alone, gives a meaning and a charm to life ; one who has the power to lift us up in His everlast- ing arms and save us to the uttermost. In a word, we have to receive Him who is justly titled: "The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.' ' But how shall we receive such a guest ? How shall we receive Sanctity itself, we who are now so sinful ? How shall we receive the very source of strength, we who are now so weak? How shall we receive light and life, we who are now so dead to the aspirations of Divine grace ? St. Paul answers these all-important questions, briefly but beautifully, in the Epistle read in the Mass of this Sunday. He says : The night is passed and the day is at hand ; let us, therefore, cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.' ' It is beyond computation, dearly beloved brethren, the number of souls saved by these warning words. Will we, who are sleeping the treacherous sleep of sin, act now like those men 14 Father Walsh and women who have ears to hear, but hear not ? God forbid that we should be any longer idlers in the service of the Master ; God forbid we should lose the graces which are now held out to us, for the acquiring of patience, purity, humility, charity, tem- perance, and the love of our Heavenly Father. If, during this acceptable time, we fail to be ear- nest in prayer, renew ourselves in spirit, and to re- ceive the Sacraments of Christ, let us cease to won- der if, on Christmas morning, Christ comes into the world, and the world knows Him not. If He comes into His own, and His own receive Him not ! Let us cease to wonder, I say, if the gayest feast of all the year fails to bring us joy, and feelings of that peace which passe th understanding; for such blessings as childlike joy and peace are intended solely for those whose hearts are open to the influence of Divine Grace, and whose souls are prepared to receive Him who is the author of every good and perfect gift. Between the sinful soul and the Saviour there is nothing in common ; the one is light, the other darkness ; one is life, the other death. This is a serious reflection for the man or the woman whose life is a scandal and a loathsome leprosy in the sight of heaven. It is a fearful thought for some one or other among us, who may be making of religion a mask for hypocrisy and vice. For this may be, brethren, the last warning of impending doom ; it may be God's last call to the sinner to cast off the works of darkness. This will be only possible, in and through the sacramental power of God, which cleanses us from our sins, makes our souls fit habitations for the Re- deemer, and gives to our hearts a sweet foretaste of that happiness which the Lord has prepared for those who love His coming. Trusting, therefore, dearly beloved brethren, to your Catholic faith and to your Catholic piety, we Sermons 15 feel confident that each one of you will realize, and realize at once, the importance and the necessity of preparation. THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT. PRAYER. 1 ' Be nothing solicitous : but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God." — Phil, iv, 6. This life, my brethren, is, according to St. Paul, a continual warfare against the powers of darkness. Like the Apostle himself, we are struggling for the immortal crown, and every individual existence is sure to close with either a glorious victory, or an ignominious defeat. Only the vanquished know what the latter means, and only the reprobate can curse, as should be cursed, that fatal delusion which told them they could conquer, independent of God. They knew that for the asking they might have put on the renown of the mighty one, the girdle of truth, the helmet of hope, the breastplate of justice, the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit. But they were self-confident; presumption prevailed over pru- dence, and they went unarmed to the field of battle. We know the rest. The night of life came, and found them numbered among the lost ; so true is it, my brethren, that ''pride goeth before destruction, and a spirit is lifted up before a fall." — Prov. xvi, 18. It is safe to assert that everyone born into this world, begins life with high hopes and sweet dreams of victory ; and yet, strange to say, comparatively few take a different course than the one marked out by the fallen. Like them, we go forth, day after day, unarmed and unprotected. We know that 16 Father Walsh Satan goeth about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour," and still, we do not manifest over- much anxiety to withstand his assaults ; for if we did, we could easily receive and find the necessary weapons of defence ; true, with God, asking is re- ceiving, and seeking is finding. Prayer, therefore, is, my brethren, the Christian warrior's great secret of success, and, once we learn to use it aright, we shall find it as efficacious as it is indispensable. Though Holy Scripture had never said it, it would still be true, that we are crea- tures in want of many things. ' ' Our days are full of misery," says Holy Job, and our help is from above ; then, let no one be presumptuous enough to say : " I want nothing," for he alone " wants noth- ing who knows nothing." Who is it that does not want a new lease of health, and strength, and life ? Who is it that does not want a continuance of prosperity and happiness ? Who is it that does not want a cessation from pain, from trouble, from worry ? Who is it that does not want broken some vicious habit, that can thrive only at the expense of honor and virtue, and by the sacrifice of principle and duty to God ? In a word, who is it that does not want to feel, when life's battle is over, that he has fought the good fight and won an unfading crown of glory ? These, my dearest friends, are wants common to all the children of Adam, and Christ Jesus gener- ously assures us that they can be relieved through prayer. ' ' Ask, and you shall receive ; seek, and you shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Long centuries ago the Lord spoke thus : ' ' Cry unto me in the day of your affliction, and I will hear you." His promise He has sacredly kept, as ecclesiastical history attests. In one instance, more particularly, we see the prayer of faith, blended with human ex- ertions, turning away disasters where human forces Sermons 17 alone had proved ineffectual. When the powerful army of Amilech suddenly attacked the Israelites, Moses quickly ascended to the top of a high moun- tain, and prayed with outstretched arms for the triumph of God's people. When the hands of Moses hung down through weariness, Amilech prevailed over the Israelites ; but when he held up his hands, the Israelites prevailed over Amilech ; so that, in fact, it was the prayers of Moses, rather than the sword of Josue, that gained the victory. It is in this way also, my brethren, that we must not only obtain favors, but also vanquish our spiritual enemies, and overcome the tyranny of our wicked in- clinations. We are sometimes amazed at the long record of wicked deeds daily committed throughout the length and breadth of our land. Traced to their sources, they reveal, in nearly every case, some name- less vice, some ignoble passion, that fully explains their perpetration. The heart of the wrongdoer real- izes the enormity of his sin, but, alone, he is unable to cope with the temptation that pushes him on, be- cause he never asked God "to teach his hands to war and his fingers to fight" against the powers of darkness. It is the same, my brethren, in our own daily lives. Every day brings its own record of sins committed against God, our neighbor, and ourselves. True, some may say : "We do pray," and, may I ask, when, and how do you pray ? Much that is called prayer is hardly worthy of that sacred name. We have the highest authority for saying that the man "who fights on his knees," will conquer any and every ob- stacle. But I beseech you, brethren, do not imagine by the name of prayer, those few, hasty, distracted words, spoken by so many Christians, before and after rest. Perhaps, like the two men mentioned in the Gospel, you come frequently to pray, but do you pray? Coming to church and praying to God are not 18 Father Walsh one and the same thing. It may be that while you honor God with your lips, your hearts are far from Him, and this, it may be, is the one defect that makes your prayers so unlike the prayer of Moses, who gained victories; of an Agar, who saved the life of her dear infant child; of a Gregory, who moved mountains; and of many saints who performed mir- acles. Evidently something is wrong, and it must be in the matter or the manner of our prayers. Certainly, the fault is not God's ; for He is the same yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow. We shall conclude these few thoughts, suggested in the epistle of to-day, with a kindly warning to those who habitually neglect to pray. Easier terms God could not have prescribed, than those on which he has suspended the communication of His bless- ings. When you see the door of mercy forever closed against you, and begin to feel the judgments from which you would not turn away when you could, you will lament, and even curse your folly for neglecting prayer. "Then shall you call upon Me," says Christ, "but 1 will not answer. " In the day of distress you shall seek Me early, but you shall not find Me. ' ' Ah! my brethren, if we be wise, we shall call upon the name of the Lord, and He will save us from our enemies. Delay not a single hour. Begin the work at once; pray piously, fervently, and per- se veringly, and I promise you in Christ's name, present peace and everlasting triumphs. Amen. CHRISTMAS. Of all the days in the year, dearly beloved breth- ren, this is the richest in sweet and tender mem- ories. That it should be so, is but natural ; for what day ever brought to the world the sunshine, the Sermons 19 hope, the joy, the love of earth's first Christmas Day ? What light ever filled so completely the human heart as that which shone round Bethlehem's lowly stable over nineteen hundred years ago this night ? What music or symphony ever seemed to human ears so sacredly soothing, as the sound of the angelic chorus singing : ' ' Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace to men of good-will.' ' When we weigh well, brethren, the meaning of Christmas, when we remember how long the world waited for these tidings of great joy, and how patiently the prophets and patriarchs of old sighed for the day of man's deliverance from the bondage of sin; when we recall all this to mind, that the birth of Christ was, and is, the gracious answer given to accumulated prayers, and supplications, and sacrifice, of more than four thousand years, we cannot but rejoice in the Lord, and lovingly repeat again and again that sweet- est of all songs : " Gloria in excelsis Deo." Yes ; Glory to the Most High for the blessing of our redemption, the sublimest evidence possible of our Heavenly Father's infinite wisdom, power and tenderness. Glory and gratitude to Him, not only for the Saviour's coming, but also for the manner of that coming. Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost, and hence, to draw the sinner as well as the saint to His Sacred Heart, He lays aside every reminder of might and majesty, every exterior attribute of His Divinity. Unmurmuringly, He as- sumes the helplessness of infancy, and submits to the weakness of childhod. As might be expected, such condescension has endeared the Babe of Bethlehem to the human family ; and therefore, is it that to-day, countless lips proclaim His arrival, and that countless hearts are prepared to receive Him. To-day He knows His own, and His own know Him ; and to them He gives 20 Father Walsh power "to be made the sons of God." Surely, brethren, this is a glorious privilege, an inestimable grace. We accept and appreciate it as such, return- ing thanks to Him who thus blessed us beyond meas- ure, and still makes merry each recurring anniver- sary of the World's First Christmas Day. As this is the acknowledged season of kindly greetings, we extend to you, dearly beloved in Christ, our sincere good wishes, praying God to bless you all, and to grant you all many returns of this holy and happy feast day. CHRISTMAS— SECOND SERMON. " This day is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord."— Luke ii, 11. The task of the preacher never seems, brethren, by half so easy or so sweet as it does on Christmas Day. Why this is, is quite evident ; the sweet memories of the world's first Christmas morning are, in them- selves, a splendid sermon, evoking, as they do, sen- timents that are enough to fill and thrill the human soul. Consequently, the priest feels to-day that the minds of his hearers are already prepared for ' ' the story, ever ancient, ever new," and that all the various circumstances connected with the birth of Jesus Christ, are indeed, well calculated to excite our grateful and thoughtful interest. Hence, the hardest part of the preacher's duty on this feast of feasts is, to convince the unbeliever, the inconsistent Christian, and the indifferent Catholic, that nothing in all history has affected the doctrines of humanity, for weal or woe, so vitally, so profoundly, as has the incarnation of the Son of God. The coming of the Son of God into this world was meant for man, and, Sermons 21 was meant to answer either eternal life or eternal death. This is a fact founded on the testimony of the Old Testament ; for, on the day of the Presentation in the Temple, more than nineteen hundred years ago, the Venerable High -Priest Simeon said to the Virgin Mary : ' ' This Child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted."— Luke ii, 34. We all know, only too well, how literally this prophecy has been fulfilled, and, like the people who have gone before, and like people who may come after us, we, too, must choose between life and death. Christ, Himself, says in Holy Writ: " He who is not with me is against me." Therefore, we must either receive or reject Jesus Christ, and this means either eternal life or eternal death. The Jews of old rejected Him; for, St. John tells us: "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not."— St. John i, 12. May it be written of us in the Book of Life : "They received Him," "For to as many as re- ceived Him are given the grace and the power, and the privilege to become and be called the children of God."— St. John i, 12. Brethren, do not allow either present joys, or present sorrows, to efface from your minds these Divine words of a Divine promise. They constitute the real happiness of this, and of every coming Christmas Day. Would that unbelievers could be induced to re- flect deeply and reverently upon this blessed prom- ise! I am sure that they, too, would be led to a ready recognition of the fact, that life's highest and holiest duty is to know, to love, and to serve God, made man. Usually, and more especially on occa- sions like this, the term of preacher is limited; there is, therefore, great danger and great difficulty in trying to prove too much in a few words. Our only encouragement is, that considerate people will not 22 Father Walsh look to us, this morning, for more than an outline of the arguments that will bring home to each one of us, the reasonableness of the duty that we owe to our Blessed Lord. When our Heavenly Father endowed us with in- tellect, He had, and could have in view but one pur- pose, namely: to enable us to see and to know the truth, no matter when, or where, or how, we found it. Hence, ever since the dawn of creation, men have sought the truth. They have been fascinated by its beauty. Indeed, it is just as natural for the minds of men to be drawn to truth, as it is for material things to be drawn by the law of gravitation to the center of the earth. In every age of the world, the universal boast has been that men longed to seek and to know "the good, the beautiful, and the true." But, brethren, Christ is truth itself. How, then, can the unbeliever, and the inconsistent Christian, and the indifferent Catholic, virtually refuse to recog- nize Him? Is the modern world, like the ancient Jewish world, disappointed and scandalized in the manner of His coming? Has science discredited His claims? Has human philosophy disproved His doc- tine? No ; for anyone to say that Jesus Christ could have been either a false prophet, or a false teacher, or a false god — such contentions are absurd. For, how could heaven itself crown the infant head of a false god with the halo of sanctity, and the aureole of divinity? How could heaven itself permit a mirac- ulous star to lead shepherds, and wise men as well, to the cradle of an untruth? How could heaven itself point out, by a direct and Divine revelation, the ex- act manner, the exact place, and the exact time, of the birth of a monstrous falsehood? Let him who will, subscribe to such a blasphemy. As for us, brethren, we unhesitatingly recognize in the Christ - Child the substantial image of the Father, and most Sermons 23 gladly and gratefully do we accept Him as the great- est gift of God to men. But here we must stop ; stop, to make an admis- sion, and we make the admission with mingled feel - ings of fear and shame. That admission is this : nowadays, we have, in our churches, unfortun- ately, too many men, and too many women, who are willing to make an open profession of their faith in Christ, but who are unwilling to follow Him in His Divine principles, and in His Divine practices. To say the least, it is hard for the world to shut its eyes to such a glaring contradiction, and harder still for us to explain upon what grounds such people pre- sume to participate in the holy joys of Christmas- tide. We have already clearly stated, brethren, the real reason, the only grounds for our rejoicing to- day : it is the blessed promise of Sonship with God Himself for receiving the Christ-Child as His Son and as our Saviour. But what does "to receive Christ' ' mean? It means, if it means anything, to receive His doctrine and respect His laws. It means, if it means any- thing, to honor and respect His church, and to use worthily, from time to time, her sacramental graces. It means, if it means anything, to do as He did, namely, to pray, "to take up our cross daily and to follow Him. " "I have given you the example, ' ' says Christ, in the Holy Scriptures, ' ' in order that as I have done, you also may do." Surely no man may be ab- solved from his indifference to supernatural graces, or neglect for his abuse of spiritual helps, by saying that neglect and indifference are characteristic of all men, or by claiming that "such is the way of the world. ' ' Yes ; and we claim that such is the way of the reprobate. The once -a- year attendant at Mass is, at best, a doubtful proof of our faith in Christ, while the once- a-year confession, and the once-a-year communicant, 24 Father Walsh hardly deserve to be called a pledge of loving loyalty to Him who came on Christmas morning to lift up a fallen world, and to redeem, at a great price, count- less creatures condemned to everlasting misery. We assure you, dearly beloved brethren, that loyalty means much more than the hearing of a few masses, or the making of a few confessions, or the receiving of a few communions in the course of the year. Loyalty to Jesus Christ means constancy in our devo- tion to Him. It means, above all, consistency in the fulfillment of every sacred duty. Hence, if people are to know the full meaning and to taste the full sweetness of Christmas joys, they must first recog- nize in the Blessed Babe of Bethlehem, the long-ex- pected Messiah, and then be prepared to give Him always and everywhere practical proofs of their obedience to His will and to His word. Indeed, His word ought to be, as Holy Writ says : ' ' a light to our eyes, and a lamp to our feet," a light and a lamp to see Him as He is : a God full of grace and full of truth. " Plenum gratise et veritatis." To know Jesus Christ is our first Christmas duty! Our second is like unto the first: We must learn to love Him. Easy lesson! pleasant duty! it would seem, brethren. Very like a wicked waste of words to insist upon any lengthy argument to prove a na- tural obligation. When our Heavenly Father gave us hearts, what, think you, did He intend? All will ac- knowledge that He simply wished to give us some adequate means of recognizing the reality of His in- finite love, and of testifying to our gratitude for the highest and holiest expressions of that love. There is no dispute among men as to what constitutes the highest and the holiest expressions of our Father's love ; all doubt on that point has been forever brushed aside by these strong words, found in the Gospel of St. John: "God so loved the world, that He gave us His only begotten Son." Do you understand, breth- Sermons 25 ren, the nature, and the value of the gift that was given to us on Christmas Day in the long ago? No; you do not, and cannot, grasp its meaning ; there- fore, let us have recourse to a comparison that will give us, at least, some faint idea of its perfection and greatness. When a human father gives up — without a mur- mur, and in loving submission to the will of Provi- dence — a dearly beloved child, the world stops just long enough to ask: "How can he do it?" But when attention is directed to the fact that the dead child was the only comfort of that father's home, and the only joy of that father's heart, the world is baf- fled by the greatness of his sacrifice, and stunned by the depth and reality of that man's faith in and love for God's Providence. His is, indeed, a true faith, a true love, somewhat akin to this human father's love ; for God is God's love for human fathers, and human mothers, and human brothers, and human sisters. He gave us His only-begotten Son without reserve or restriction. He gave Him to us, even though the giving meant a supreme sacrifice for the Eternal Father, and for the Son a species of death. Yes ; God gave us His own beloved child, despite the fact that He knew of the moral turpitude into which the world had fallen, and realized how coldly His own people would receive Him. Despite all this, I say, the Father permitted His child to divest Himself of His Divinity, and to take, as it were, the ' ' form of a slave." He allowed Him to assume our human nature, with all its imperfections and weaknesses. Oh ! how many and how great were the ob- stacles to the realization of God's plans for the re- demption of mankind ! You know, dearly beloved in Christ, that true love is strong enough to overcome such difficulties, and to even defy death. Jesus Christ demonstrated this fact when He was born, a child at Bethlehem. Is it, then, hard for us to love our 26 Father Walsh Heavenly Father, who gave us such an unheard-of proof of His compassionate love ? Is it hard for us to love the Son of God, who offered Himself so generously and so eagerly as a ransom for countless creatures condemned to everlasting misery ? The highest and holiest expressions of Divine love was, in its nature and value, simply amazing ; but, more amazing still, if possible, was the manner in which it was given to men. Our Blessed Lord might have been born a full- grown man, capable of asserting His rights, and of compelling respect for His mission. He might have been born in the palace of a king, all ready to command, by an armed force, the acceptance of His teachings- all prepared to dazzle the world, and to drench it in floods of blood, as worldly wisdom usually ends by doing. But no, brethren, He was born in none of these ways. His kingdom was not of this world ; He was to be the builder of a spiritual empire ; He was to be the lover of souls, the Prince of Peace, the friend of humanity, the strength of the weak, the comfort of the poor, the Saviour of our race. "By His stripes have we been healed "; by His sufferings on Calvary have we been sanctified ; by His humilia- tions and privations at Bethlehem has our human nature been dignified and glorified and deified. He has won the only victory worth while. He has won the endearing love of every good and grateful heart. Praise, honor, and glory be to Jesus Christ, now and forever. May He reign in our hearts unto the breaking of Eternal Day. Until then, may every recurring anniversary of the Blessed Feast, mean greater glory to God in the highest, and on earth, greater peace to men of good will. Amen. Sermons 27 FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. THE HOME OF NAZARETH, A MODEL CHRISTIAN HOME. ' ' And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth : and was subject to them."— St. Luke ii, 51. Dearly Beloved Brethren : If there be in this world a spot to which a Chris- tian pilgrim turns lovingly as the most sacred in the history of his faith, that spot is Nazareth. True, Palestine is studded all over with towns and villages justly renowned for their glorious asso- ciations and traditions, a fact that gives her a place of interest, second to none, among the nations of the earth. She has, for instance, Bethlehem, around which will ever cluster the holiest and the tenderest memories ; she has her Cana, that favored hamlet, where Christ, emerging from His solitude, like the morning star from its obscurity, first astounded the world by changing water into wine — something that was never so much as dreamed of, either before or since— she has her Bethany, beyond the Jordan a place made memorable by the burning eloquence of St. John the Baptist, whose God-loving and God- fearing spirit we may still imbibe from the pages of Holy Writ. She has, too, her Jerusalem, her ill- fated Jerusalem, whose proverbial perfidy was only equalled by her well-known chastisement. But, great and glorious as are the traditions of these and other towns of Palestine, they have, none of them, neither the deep pathos nor the moral poetry of noiseless Nazareth, for so many years the humble home of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. For reasons which we dare not question, St. Luke has seen fit to draw the veil of silence around 28 Father Walsh the Holy Family, and to condense into the conclud- ing words of to-day's Gospel a long catalogue of domestic virtues, that have been, and are, and will be, for all time to come, the only assured safeguards of both society and religion. The reason of this is evident. Being nothing else than an aggregation of families, the Church and the State have everything to gain or to lose from a rigid or lax adherence to these sacred principles of punctual and filial duty, of which God Himself is the author, and the Holy Family of Nazareth the first and most faithful ex- ponent. To be more explicit : the prosperity of re- ligion and the purity of society must spring from Christian homes, in which parents reflect in their lives, the virtues of Mary and Joseph, while their children hold fast to Jesus as their truest and high- est ideal. I wish every father and mother, every son and daughter, would go down in spirit to Nazareth this morning, and see for themselves God's model of a Christian home. The journey would not be a useless one, my brethren, for we must build after it, or else we build in vain. Remember, the closer a home re- sembles this ideal, the happier, the more heavenly, it becomes. On the other hand, let the outward appearance of a family be what it may, let its wealth be ever so great, and its members ever so refined, if the home life be not Christian, if it be not pure, if it be not hallowed by the virtues taught and practiced at Nazareth, then, that family, be- lieve me, is rapidly nearing the brink of a social and moral death. A home, such as God would have us have, should be, first of all, a nursery of piety. I know of noth- ing so potent for good or evil as a child's early home influence. Let parents be especially watchful over their youngest children, for the earliest years of a child are the most receptive, says a distinguished Sermons 29 authority. It learns more in its first three or four years than it does in all its after life. The character of the mother, her care, her looks, her soul, repeat themselves in the child while it is yet in her arms or at her knee, a fact, no doubt, which inspires the beautiful and well-known saying ' ' that she who rocks the cradle rules the world. ' ' From the nursery, or its mother's arms, a child naturally passes into the school-room. Every home should be a school, in which the hearts, and, to a certain extent, the minds of the little ones, may be prepared for the work which God has given them to do in this world. You know, dearly beloved brethren, the Child Jesus came into this world to accom- plish a great work, — a work whose nature and mag- nitude might have made the mightiest monarch mis- trust his strength and courage. — To overthrow the kingdom of Satan, and the power of evil, and the reign of injustice, was no puerile undertaking. It required a soul schooled in patience, a heart steeped in suffering, and a mind broadened and deepened by sympathy and charity for fallen human nature. Where, think you, did Christ acquire such a soul, such a heart, such a mind ? Was it from His eter- nal Father ? Assuredly not ; for the Inspired Writer says : ' ' He was like unto us in all things save sin." Hence, we must conclude that He got them at Nazareth, where He dwelt for nearly thirty years. There it was that He laid deep the foundation of all his future triumphs ; for there He found every in- centive to love self less, and, poor humanity more. In a word, it was there He prepared Himself to accomplish His life's work. Every child coming into this world has, like the Child Jesus, a work before it, and that work is the salvation of its immortal soul. Let no one presume to say, or even to think, that this is a work of small import. It is not. There is no greater, and none 30 Father Walsh harder to achieve. It is a fatal mistake for children to face the world without preparation, and it is a cruel wrong for parents to send them forth to battle for life eternal, without previous careful training. If fathers and mothers were, nowadays, to feed their children to animals, as do frequently the fathers and mothers of India, they would be accounted, and justly so, monsters of the most brutal type. But, I tell you, brethren, that such parents are not less brutal, from a Christian standpoint, when they place their children on the battlefield of this world without arming them with all the needful weapons of Christian warfare ; namely, with the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the sword of truth. To use the expression of St. Paul : "They should teach their children's hands to war and their fingers to fight. " From what we have said, it is clear, my dear brethren, that the heads of families must be teachers as well. But, oh ! how many parents prove to be worthless teachers ! And why ? The reason is an old, old story, the truest of truisms : no one gives what he does not possess. Parents who lead not spiritual lives cannot give spiritual instruction, and they who are not pious and virtuous, cannot hope to teach piety and virtue to others. Some mothers can teach their daughters more folly and fashion in the short space of one hour, than they can Christian perfection in a whole year. What wonder, then, if such children grow up very unlike the pious child of Nazareth ? I have known fathers who have given their sons more scandal in a week, than they can repair in a lifetime. Is it, then, any exaggeration to say that such homes are the playgrounds of the devil ? Is it any wonder that such homes are so different from the model of Nazareth, and that such children are very unlike the Child Jesus ? A husband who pours out vile abuse upon his Sermons 31 wife is not a fit person to speak to his children of a Fourth Commandment. An adulterous husband is not commissioned by God to say to his children, "Thou shalt not commit adultery/ ' A father who is addicted to strong drink should not dilate on the subject of temperance ; for he cannot say to his sons what St. Paul said to the Romans : "Be sober.' ' It is just as natural, sometimes, for children to inherit the failings and vices of parents as it is for them to inherit their diseases and their traits of character. Fathers and mothers, let me say to you in all sincerity, and in love of Our Lord Jesus Christ, there is only one way to make your homes model Christian homes, and that is to be, yourselves, model Christian men and women. Do not seek to inculcate virtue so much by word as by example. Your good example will draw others to imitate you. If you came more frequently, many of you, to seek Christ in His holy sacraments, perhaps you would have the consolation of growing up around you a respected and respect- able family. Your sons might follow in your foot- steps, and thereby become better boys and more honorable men, instead of an impudent brood of nominal Catholics, not to say pronounced infidels. This is strong language, but it is the truth ; we priests know the moral pulse of the people ; we have seen numerous instances where religious neglect on the part of the parents brought about the most unex- pected and the most terrible results. What we want is more mothers like Mary, more fathers like Joseph, more children like Jesus. Happy are the parents who model their homes after the family of Nazareth. The end of such fathers and mothers will be peaceful and hopeful ; even death will be sweet to them, for they will be made to feel that their lifework has been well done, and that they and their children will one day enjoy everlasting 32 Father Walsh happiness, the foundations of which were laid in their childhood's home. May the example of Jesus, Mary and Joseph sanctify all our homes. Amen. NEW YEAR'S EVE. Dearly Beloved Brethren : The present day and hour seem invested with all the solemnity of Death. We feel, as by instinct, that the year is dying, and that another decade in the rosary of life will soon be told. Custom, too, venerable in years and traditions, reminds us that ere to-morrow's sun shall have risen, a thousand bells throughout the land shall have tolled the requiem of another twelve months, thus bringing us to the con- sideration of a new mystery, namely, the New Year. This world of ours is full of mysteries, for so we are taught by nature ; but we have the strongest reasons for believing that of all things connected with human life, none is quite so mysterious as the days and the years that may lie before us. Will they be few or many ? We know not. Will they be brightened with sunshine, blessed with happi- ness ? We know not. Will they be clouded with adversity, saddened with sorrow? We know not. All we know, my brethren, is that they are secrets hidden in the mind of God, and the great realities, life and time, are among them. Still, enough has been revealed to teach us the true meaning and aim of our existence, to chasten our desires, to curb our passions, to regulate our ambitions, and to direct aright our energies and our faculties. In other words, God has put us in possession of a few facts that should enable us "to make our lives sublime, and, departing, leave behind us footprints on the sands of time." One of these facts is that the past, considered in its effects, does Sermons 33 not, and cannot die ; but gives our bearing bitter or blessed fruit during the ages of eternity, according as we have used or abused the days and the years of life. Perhaps many of us may find this a truth hard to understand, and still harder to believe. At first sight, we may be more inclined to deny than accept it, so contrary is it to existing ideas. But, brethren, it is useless to close our eyes to this great fact. It is true ; for it is nothing else but the practical applica- tion of an old law of our nature, which teaches that, by action and reaction, our daily words and works exert an influence for good or evil on the lives of our fellow -creatures, and that this influence extends to the remotest generations. Do we give to this find- ing of reason and revelation the consideration it deserves ? Do we realize, before acting and speak- ing, that we shall surely reap in eternity what we have sown here ? But, it may be said, the world recognizes no such teaching. Well, what matters it to us if the world ridicules such a law, if it rejects such a doctrine ? What care we, if it tells its votaries the past is past, dead and buried, and its relations with it severed forever ? Must we accept its dictum ? Must we bend the knee to its authority ? Are we slaves of the world ? Too long, dear Christians, has this in- genious enemy deceived us ; too long has it swayed our thoughts and ruled our hearts. It is now high time that we begin to see and understand the fact that the past does not and cannot die. We cannot meditate on this truth too often, or too deeply, nor can we begin too soon to profess, practically, our faith in the eternity of our years and days. As we are immortal, though we die, so are they. They will rise again to meet us before the judgment seat of Christ, where they will stand, as defenders or accusers, pleading for either our jus- 34 Father Walsh tification or our condemnation. Hence, you see, dearly beloved in Christ, the infinite worth, and the real duration of the days and the years allotted by God to you and me. Happy those who take this lesson to heart. Happy, thrice happy, are those who use their time to make their lives sublime, to strengthen faith, to spread charity, to kindle burning aspirations, to set noble examples, to make the aim of society more earnest, to make homes pure, to make life simple ; for those who do this, exert, beyond a doubt, a most beneficent influence upon the lives and characters of countless others, and dying, leave the world a little nobler, a little wiser, a little purer, a little better, for their presence ; and the credit thereof redounds to their eternal honor and glory. But there is another interesting fact connected with the mystery we call time, and it is this : the future will demonstrate, to our entire satisfaction, the nothingness of human calculations, the fallacy of the old saying : ' ' Coming events cast their shadow before." We cannot fathom God's designs ; and the result is many of us will find, ere the new year is done, that life is full of surprises. The past may have brought us pleasure, prosperity and peace. Will the future be as kind ? What do experience and observation answer ? Only this, and nothing more : "Man proposes; God disposes." We have seen during the year that is closing the brightest hopes brought to naught, and the happiest homes ruth- lessly and suddenly destroyed. Nor does it require the power of prophetic vision to foresee that twelve months hence little will be left to tell the story of other heavy trials and crushing disappointments, save, perhaps, some saddened, broken heart, or, it may be, some vacant chair, or a mournful silence, so suggestive of an absent voice or a missing footstep. This is an awful consequence of sin, which puts Sermons 35 a blight and a curse on all things it touches. Human misery must exist ; it has no remedy. There will be heard, perhaps, in many a household, during the year, joyous salutations of welcome ; but in as many other homes we may be sure, there will be shed the bitter, blinding tears of farewell. The cradle and the grave are never very far apart, and the solemn strain of the requiem strikes upon the ear quite as frequently as the soothing sound of a mother's lullaby. Is there nothing in this awful truth to cause us to stop and reflect? Reflection, of course, will not stop the fleeting years ; it will not even ward off the troubles that are bound to try us, like gold in the furnace ; but it will enable us to meet and bear them with patience and courage. To an earnest Christian, reflection means nothing else than a preparation to face death, if God so desires ; preparation to fight the good fight, to run the race, and to keep the faith. We all know what it is to fight the good fight. We know how hard it is to conquer sin and Satan, to break the chains of temptation, and to destroy the tyranny of habit. The best and bravest of us are sometimes surprised and overpowered by the enemies of our souls. God grant that we may not despair like those who have no hope. There is strength and victory for all in the saving sacraments of Christ, which too many of us so seldom use, and with such little profit to our souls. The result is palpable. Though sur- rounded with the greatest spiritual advantages and blessings, some people seem to degenerate : to grow, day by day, meaner and more contemptible in the eyes of God. The New Year always has a surprise in store for one or more of those traitors to the cause of Christ. Death is even now ready to purge the Church and society of their presence. If hardened sinners will not learn by grace, let them profit, at least, from the experience of others, 36 Father Walsh who have lived and died in sin. Too much cannot be expected of God ; but when kindness fails, when gentle pleadings fail, then will His anger come, and hurry off to an unholy and perhaps untimely grave, the profligate son, the wayward daughter, the care- less mother, the drunken father, the unscrupulous merchant, the dishonest official. Sinners are on the losing side ; they are the allies of a lost cause, whereas those who love and serve God, who use well the allotted years of life, fear nothing, not even the worst tidings, the heaviest afflictions. When in- formed by sorrowing friends of the near approach of death, they will be able to say with a great Saint : Yes ; I know it ; it is no news to me. I have long expected it ; I have prepared for it." These are a few thoughts, it seems to me, be- fitting the last Sunday of the year. I commend them to you all, my brethren ; but there are some to whom I commend them in a very special manner, namely, to those who are to die sooner than they or we expect. When the captains of Israel were assembled together at Ramoth, the messenger of Eliseus appeared in their midst and said : 'I have a message for you, Prince ! " And they all asked : ' 'For which one of us?" But the messenger was unable to answer. So, I feel this morning as if I had a message for some of you, in particular, though I do not know who they are. The message is that which the Prophet Jeremias once sent to Hananias : ' ' Thus saith the Lord : This year shalt thou die. ' ' How many were with us a year ago who have since joined the silent majority ? How many of you who are sitting here to-day, will be here a year hence ? It is unwise to count on the future. Let us improve the present day and hour. "Let us work faithfully, for the night is coming when no man worketh." Let us strive to become better sons and daughters, better fathers and moth- Sermons 37 ers, better Christians and citizens. Thus shall we draw ever nearer and nearer to God, until the present strife is changed into victory, and fleeting years into a blessed eternity. EPIPHANY. " We have seen his star in the East, and are come to adore him."— St. Matt, ii, 2. Dearly Beloved Brethren : To-day we celebrate the feast of the Epiph- any — a solemnity around which will ever center an interest and a charm, second only to that of Christ- mas itself. This assertion may sound to some very like an exaggeration, but it is not so, for, if each year we are permitted to re-visit in spirit the scenes of the Incarnation, and to kneel, in faith, at the feet of the Babe of Bethlehem, we owe this privilege to the love, and mercy, and goodness of God, who, on the day of the Epiphany, revealed to the whole world this great truth, namely, that the Christ-child was born to be the Saviour of all men, of every race, and tribe, and tongue, under the broad canopy of heaven. Thus, manifestation of the purposes of the In- 1 carnation was indeed a glorious revelation— espe- cially to the Gentile world, which the sin of Adam had left a hopeless, a faithless, a fatherless family. In fact, it is not too much to say that the Epiphany marks the beginning of a new era in human life and history ; it brought back joy and happiness to the heart of humanity, and proclaimed once and forever that darkness and despair must give place to light and hope, and that eternal death must cease to be the dread dream of the poor sinner, who had hither- to seen childhood fading into manhood, manhood into 38 Father Walsh old age, and old age ending in a grave, as deep and as dark as hell itself. And, how, brethren, were the plans of God, how was this manifestation of redemption to the Gentile world made known ? In a peculiar and unique way. There appeared in the streets of Jerusalem three men, whose striking garb and manners plainly showed that they had come from the East. To the curious crowd that gathered around them to inquire as to the nature of their visit, they told this strange story. They said that for many centuries a tradition had survived among their people to the effect that a Saviour was to be born into the world, and that a miraculous star was to appear in the heavens, as a sign and a proof of His advent. They added that for hundreds of years, the wisest and most learned among their countrymen had made a deep and patient study of the heavenly bodies, in the hope of being the first to find traces of that extraordinary light. But all the science of the East seemed to be of no avail. Men watched and waited, seemingly, in vain. It began to look as though the tradition was, after all, a myth, when, unexpectedly, it was given to those three strangers to discover the long-sought- for star. They assured the Jews that they had found it impossible to resist the mysterious power that impelled them to leave their homes and go in search of the Saviour. They solemnly affirmed that the star which they had seen in the East directed their steps by day and by night, until it had led them to the very gates of Jerusalem, when, suddenly, it had disappeared from their view, leaving them strangers in a strange land. Their visit had but one object : to find the birthplace of the Saviour. They asked but one question : ' ' Where is He that is born King of the Jews ? " Naturally, such a question and such a mission threw Jerusalem into the greatest consternation. Sermons 39 Herod and his friends were filled with the greatest apprehensions. The king thought that another had come to dispute with him his royal powers and pre- rogatives ; consequently, consultations were imme- diately held at the palace. The chief priests and scribes were hurriedly summoned together and ordered to examine most carefully the sacred writ- ings. This was done — so well done, dearly beloved brethren, that then, for the first time, the light and truth of God dawned upon the Jewish nation. Yes ; a Saviour had been born, and His birth- place was Bethlehem. There could be no mistake. The words of the prophecy were too plain ; for in the long, long ago, the Inspired Penman had written these words : ' ' And thou, Bethlehem, the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda ; for, out of thee shall come forth the Ruler, who shall rule My people, Israel." Having obtained this much information, the three strangers resolved to resume their pious pilgrimage. So, taking leave of the Jewish capital, they went on their way, and behold, just as the gate of the city closed behind them, their guide — the miraculous star — re-appeared in the sky. It led them first to Bethlehem, then to the stable, and finally to the feet of Jesus Christ, the God -made man. What happened thereafter is best told in the closing words of the Gospel. St. Matthew says : 1 ' And going in, they found the child with Mary, His mother, and falling down, they adored Him." This journey of the Magi, and their adoration of the Christ-child, suggest to the mind, dearly beloved brethren, two thoughts of the supreme-most impor- tance. In the first place, they remind us of the wise men's fidelity to the inspiration of Divine grace. Had we been in their place, would we have made the same generous, patient, and persevering effort to find the Saviour ? And secondly : having found 40 Father Walsh Him, would we have been as quick as they were to recognize, amid such lowly surroundings, the divinity of that poor little Helpless Babe ? On this point there is room for well-grounded doubt. But, doubt as we may, brethren, it is still true to say, that the Son of God, coming as He did, in the guise of a child, and in poverty, was the only perfect and satis- fying fulfilment of humanity's cravings. In other words, the world would have brought about the Incarnation, just as it happened, if such a thing were at all possible ; for, let us remember, dearly beloved in Christ, a poor cradle and poverty were more in keeping with the mission of Him who came to seek and to save, not a special class, but the masses of humanity, who were living and dying in misery. Christ was no class God, and hence, on the occasion of the Magi's visit, there was no flaunting of might and majesty, no vulgar display of grandeur and wealth. Those three travel -stained and weary men are supposed to have represented the sin-stained and toil-worn portion of the human family, and, had that stable at Bethlehem been a palace instead, we may rest assured they would never have approached its doors, and why ? The reason is obvious. Luxurious surroundings generally stand for human greatness, and human greatness has never had but scanty regard for the poor, the weak, and the lowly. Wealth has usually nothing better to offer poverty than a haughty look, or, at best, a patronizing smile. Hence, God did wisely, and even well, to provide against even the appearance of affluence, and the display of position and power. In doing this, the Most High taught us the name and nature, and value of humility. He emphasized, too, the fact that with Christ the humblest home may be as much as the most gorgeous palace, while without Him, the most magnificent mansion is even less than the lowliest stable. Sermons 41 But there is still to learn from the Magi's visit, the lesson of strong and deep faith. The Gospel says : * Going in, they found the child with Mary, His Mother, and falling down, they adored Him. M Modern thought, higher criticism, human science, or call it by whatever name you will, may possibly sneer at this Divine picture. Nowadays men are apt to say that this child cannot be the Son of God ; that it is beneath the dignity of the Supreme Divinity to be born in poverty, to live in suffering, and to submit to humiliation. To such an objection we have only to say that fools have, in every age of the world's existence, thought themselves great and learned men, to whom, even the mysteries of God,, must be made clear. There are, and should be, no secrets from science. Whatever modern thought cannot fathom, must be, as a matter of course, rejected as unreasonable, as well as unintelligible, at least, so say modern thinkers. We pity the pride that cannot realize that God's ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts. When human ignorance, sometimes called human science^ or higher criticism, has done its worst, it will be found to have been powerless to undo the place of omnipotence, or the work of infinite wisdom and love. We will go even further and declare, brethren, that the God of human thought never has been and never will be the God of humanity ; and why ? Because man expected and needed a God like unto Himself in all things, save sin. He looked for a Saviour with human faculties and attributes. He sought for one who, like Himself, could see, and hear, and talk, and think. For, let us bear in mind, the Redeemer was to be a teacher, a friend, and a father. Now, could we conceive of one exer- cising the functions of teacher, friend and parent, who would not, or could not, for instance, speak to us, His children, neither in our cradles, nor in our 42 Father Walsh homes, nor in our temptations, nor in our sorrows ? Why, the supposition is absurd, and so the Wise Men from the East acted rationally, as well as rev- erently, when, falling down, they adored the Child Jesus. Again, man sighed to see his Saviour. When Venerable Simeon beheld the Infant Christ in the temple on the feast of the Purification, he felt that all the pious desires of his heart had been at last fulfilled, that all the prayers of his long life had been answered. Hence his memorable act of thanksgiv- ing to heaven : * ' And now mayest thou dismiss thy servant, Lord, in peace, according to Thy word, for my eyes have seen Thy salvation/' Yes, brethren, the human family longed to hear and see its Saviour. It saw and heard Him, and was glad. And that privilege, once accorded to the Gen- tile world, has never been withdrawn. We Catholics enjoy it to-day quite as much as did the Magi. Do you ask when, and where, and how ? Whenever we kneel down with contrite hearts before the Bethle- hem of our altar. Yes, loving Lord, present in our tabernacles and upon our altar, Thou art the same Christ who was once a child in the stable at Bethle- hem. We see Thee with spiritual eyes, we hear Thy voice with spiritual ears— eyes and ears that are even more real than those of the body. This being the language of faith, we fear it may be unintelligible to those outside of the household ; we fear it may be too deep for even lukewarm Cath- olics. May God reveal its full meaning to everyone here present, and manifest its truth to every mind, even as He manifested the Divinity of His only be- gotten Son, full of grace and truth, to the Magi on the day of the Epiphany. Sermons 43 FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. CHRISTIAN HOPE. 'Why are you fearful, ye of little faith ?"— Matt, viii, 26, Dearly Beloved Brethren : It may sometimes happen to you, as it has hap- pened frequently to us, to meet persons who look upon the Holy Scriptures merely as a history of past events, and imagine that the declarations, the warn- ings, and the promises contained in them are to be con- fined to those in whose hearing they were made. That such a view of the Sacred Volume is anti- Christian no one will deny ; it is obvious that such an idea necessarily narrows the scope of the Redemp- tion ; it limits God's love for many millions, yea, countless millions, made in His own image and like- ness, and, what is worse than all else, humanly speaking, it mercilessly snatches from us the very ground upon which rests our Christian hope. Hope, as you know, dearly beloved brethren, is a blessed boon, a priceless gift, which finds its prin- ciple in faith and its perfection in charity. Like a sparkling spring, it bubbles up in every heart un- bidden, and its waters have proved to be a never- failing remedy for human fears and tears. So we say to-day, in the language of a savant and a saint, 1 ' Let an unbelieving world, whose constant endeavor it has been to explain away the sacred and saving dogmas of Christianity, think and reason as it may, we trust that the day will never come when it shall ever attempt to rob the human family of its ' Hope inGod? ,,, It were better for the newly-born babe to be stifled in its cradle than to be deprived of this ines- timable virtue, for we who have attained unto the 44 Father Walsh years of manhood and womanhood have felt, or will be made to feel, its soothing nature and its sustaining power. In sickness and in suffering, in sorrow and sadness, in disappointment and death, the children of God have no other source from which to draw con- solation and courage. Take away the bright star of hope, and there remains to us nothing but a long night of gloom and despair. There are times when, figuratively speaking, we are tossed about by the winds of trouble ; times when the waves of weakness seem about to engulf us for- ever, but, when the storm rages fiercest, and our spirits seem lowest, a mysterious light suddenly flashes in upon us, and an unknown voice gently chides us, saying: "Why are you fearful, ye of little faith : look unto me, and be ye saved . . . for I am God, and there is none other.' ' No, my brethren, there is none but God to calm and console us in distress and suffering ; none but Him to strengthen and support us under the press- ure of heavy trials. Life's struggles are not fewer to-day than they were nineteen centuries ago ; and He who stilled the roaring billows and the boisterous winds, as we are told by St. Matthew, will, and alone can drive away the fears that agitate our hearts, and soften the sorrows that all but over- whelm our souls. But, notwithstanding Christ's promise to help us, my brethren; despite His ex- press commands to look unto Him, there are those that seek elsewhere than in His love and strength a remedy for their spiritual and temporal afflictions, as "if mercy's eye had grown dim, and God's right hand had been shortened." Indeed, there are reasons to believe that the Apostles themselves fell into just such an error at the first approach of the gathering storm. For, ac- customed, as many of them were, to the sea and to sailing, they were naturally inclined to rely upon their Sermons 45 own exertions, upon their own skill in the safe man- agement of their bark. And to human judgments their calculations were correct. Only in the wake- ful mind of the sleeping Christ did there exist other and different thoughts. He wished to teach hu- manity to build its hopes, not on its own weaknesses, but on His power and mercy. Hence, He permitted a great tempest to rise in the sea, so that " the ship was covered with waves." It was a perilous position, and perilous positions always beget either great courage or great coward- ice. In this particular instance, the courage of the Apostles gave place to fear, feeling as they did, that no created power could appease the angry winds and calm the troubled sea. What, then, did they do ? What were they forced to do in such an emergency ? Let the Gospel tell us : " And His disciples came to Him, and waked Him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish/ ' My brethren, how consoling it should be for us, Christians, children of God, and heirs of heaven, to remember, in the hour of dark trial, those words of triumphant trust in Christ. Nothing should be, or could be, a stronger incentive for us to keep con- stantly the lamp of Christian hope brightly burning at the door of our hearts ; for there is not a day of the week, nor an hour of the day, that does not bring to millions of human beings its burden of misery and misfortune. According to Holy Job, our life is short, and our years are full of trial. We are born in tears, we live in suffering, we die in pain. Our pathway through this world is everywhere bestrewn with crosses, lined with thorns. To-day, a relation abandons us ; a friend betrays us ; a neighbor persecutes us ; a son, it may be, disgraces us. To-morrow, reverses over- takes us ; sickness will come upon us ; disease will rack our frames ; death will visit our homes. These are trials that must be patiently endured. 46 Father Walsh But how shall we bear with such visitations, we who by nature are so poorly adapted to physical and mental suffering ? A little worry of ttimes suffices to kill ambition, and a nervous strain is quick to rob us of our buoyancy, and to take from us the attractive glow of health. Shall we, can we, bear life's sor- rows all alone ? No ; we need help, and our help is in the Lord. Do we feel crushed ? Have we fallen by the wayside ? If so, Christian hope bids us to be of good heart, and to come to Him who alone can refresh us. Yes, God will restore peace to the heavy hearts, and calm to the troubled and tortured minds of those who trust in Him ; for His promise to hear His people on whatsoever day they might cry out to Him must be interpreted as having been made to every age, and to all classes of persons without dis- tinction. This thought should afford unspeakable consola- tion, especially to sinners, since the wilful violation of God's law brings with it the keenest anguish. The sinner, as well as the just man, may look unto God for that peace which surpasseth all understand- ing. At the first faint cry of mercy, he will find help and forgiveness. True, the sinner cannot go to our Blessed Lord and say to Him in person, as did the Apostles : "Lord, save us, we perish/ ' but the efficacy of that prayer remains unto the end of time, and its repetition at any hour of the day, in the hearing of Christ's consecrated minister, is sure to bring needed and prompt relief. What reason, then, can there be for despond- ency or despair ? One thing only is necessary to drive away our fears, and that one thing is Christian hope, joined with the determination of looking unto God. Nothing illustrates quite so clearly the nature of this duty as the state of the wounded and afflicted Israelites when they looked to the brazen serpent. They felt their wounds ; they knew them to be in- Sermons 47 curable by human art ; they were convinced that they must quickly perish if they did not use the appointed means. And they turned their eyes towards it, trust- ing implicitly in the efficacy of its cure. Immediate and permanent recovery was the reward of this act of hope. And, so must you and I, dearly beloved brethren, hope and trust in Jesus Christ, and look unto Him if we would outride the storms of life, and at its end gain the happy harbor of blessed immor- tality. Amen. THIRD SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS. "To no man rendering evil for evil." — Rom. xii, 17. Dearly Beloved Brethren : As there is a wide difference between the saint and the sinner, so there are strong marks of dis- crimination between those who are truly Christian, and those who merely profess the Christian religion, without ever knowing or feeling its transforming power and efficacy. Those, for instance, who, like the Divine Master and Model, can bless them who revile Him, and pray for them who persecute and calumniate Him. Such a spirit, where it does exist, is to be found only in God's predestined souls ; it is one of the signs of disciplehood ; for, in the long ago, Our Blessed Saviour said to His assembled Apostles : ' ' By this, shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. ' ' But like all honors worth the having, it plainly requires no ordinary effort, on our part, to win the proud title of " a true disciple of Jesus,' ' and ere we can claim it we must submit to the trying tests laid 48 Father Walsh down by Christ, when He commands, as He does to- day, to ' ' render to no man evil for evil. " These tests are trying to human nature, for there are, as we all know, my brethren, given times when most men and women deem it the very essence of weakness to show the loving and forgiving spirit of the gentle Jesus. It is, indeed, natural for us to love those who are bound to us by the ties of kinship, or by the bonds of friendship ; it is easy for us to be kind and obliging to strangers ; but is not the very name or sight of an enemy amply sufficient to stir up in the liearts of many of us revengf ul thoughts and feelings that are anything but Christian ? Say what we will, we must admit, there are times when many of us would gladly substitute the narrow spirit of pa- ganism for the wiser, more liberal, and more perfect law of Jesus Christ. And when He says: 'Love your enemies, and render to no man evil for evil, ' ' we would say : Let us hate our enemies ; let us curse them who calumniate us, and revile them who oppose us. Such is the language of nominal Christians, such the conclusions of reason unenlightened by grace. But, tell me, whither does such a doctrine, if rigidly adhered to, lead us ? Where shall we stand on the great Judgment Day, if God judges us, as surely He will, according to our own standards, and measures unto us even as we have measured unto others ? Suppose that, on this very morning, He were to vent His hatred of sin, and avenge Himself of our many transgressions ; to whom would we turn for mercy, we who now consider it a weakness to obey the law of love, and to forgive everyone, our brother, from our heart ? My brethren, were our Creator and our Judge to remember our offences, and, as Holy David says, to reward us according to our iniquities done in the flesh, Sermons 49 surely we would all be reduced to the most complete misery and utter hopelessness, even in this life. For we cannot, we must not forget that everything we have and enjoy in this world we owe to the mu- nificence of a God whom we offend so often and so ignominiously. By sin we have more than once for- feited our right to prosperity, to wealth, to happiness, to health, to life itself. Well might we say with the Psalmist: "Thy mercy, Lord, is above ail Thy works.' ' Remember, too, we are indebted to God for the wondrous planets ; they give to our earth light and heat, without which our present existence would be impossible ; we are indebted to Him for the marvelous beauties of creation that charm our senses, and for the countless secrets stolen from nature that contribute so materially to our own comfort and enjoyment. All these blessings, and more, too, are the loving and living impressions of His kindly feeling and liberality towards us whose every sin is a new insult to His Divine Majesty. To mercy, then, we owe our preservation and present happiness, and to mercy also we shall be indebted for eternal happiness, if, indeed, it be our good fortune to attain unto the end of our creation. Who are they, then, who can consider it any longer a weakness "to render to no man evil for evil," or to overlook an insult, or to show themselves generous and large-hearted towards an enemy ? To persevere in such a thought is a virtual admission that we have wilfully closed our eyes and our ears to the words and to the example of Christ, Our Lord, and that we have sadly fallen from the sublime heights where once stood our sainted forefathers in the Faith. Look back, my brethren, to the days of Roman persecution. See the children of the Church led forth to die for the amusement of a brutal and blood- thirsty populace. While the enemies of Christianity 50 Father Walsh applauded the cruel work of the wild beasts, angels might have seen the faces of the dying soldiers of Christ wreathed in smiles as their lips uttered that prayer so full of touching memories : " ' Father, for- give them, for they know not what they do." And we can well understand how the early Christians could thus pray for their enemies. Unlike us, they recognized a distinction between their neighbor and their neighbor's fault. It is an axiom in philosophy that like substances are never contrary to each other. Hence, it is not only the most unchristian, but also the most un- natural thing in the world, for a human being to hate a fellow-creature, for we have all one and the same nature, and are created in the image and likeness of the same God. We must distinguish between our neighbor and our neighbor's faults. What we should hate is our neighbor's vice, his passion, his injustice, his untruthfulness, his dishonesty, his cruelty, his avarice, and these defects are precisely what we must fight against, persecute and destroy, if possible. But this result we can never hope to accomplish by rendering evil for evil to our neighbor. To destroy effectively anything, common sense tells us that we must make use of a means whose nature is contrary to that of the thing we wish to destroy. For in- stance, a fire is never extinguished by another fire, but by water. And, as it is in the material world, so it is in the spiritual. One enmity is never over- come by another enmity, but by kindness and cour- tesy. Anger is conquered by patience, hatred by love, vice by virtue, and evil by good. There is one apparent reason why we so readily render evil for evil. We act, many of us, from mis- apprehensions. Generally speaking, we are quick to attribute mean, petty, unchristian motives to our neighbor, whenever his actions hurt or displease us. My brethren, this is radically wrong ; for it is neces- Sermons 51 sary to distinguish between the action and the inten- tion ; for, where there is no bad intention, there can be no possible cause for offence. There is no law known to either God or man that holds guilty of murder a person who kills another unintentionally. The same principle holds good for every human act. Hence, if our neighbor succeeds by fair means in sup- planting us in any enterprise, or business, or office, it does not necessarily follow that his intention was to hurt our interests. He may have intended only to advance his own. Again, if our neighbor appeals to the strong arm of the law to punish us for slander, it does not necessarily follow that his intention was to inflict suffering and disgrace upon a fellow-man. He may have only intended to vindicate himself, and do as every innocent, manly man should do, preserve unsullied his fair name and reputation. From these premises, and from historical facts, it is clear, beyond doubt, that much of the misery of the world has been caused by misapprehensions. A misinterpreted word or action has ofttimes led to the direst calamities and the darkest deeds, to cruel dis- sentions, to foul murders, and even to bloody wars. It is hard for us, Christians, the children of God, to be obliged to make such an admission ; but it were better to know the truth, for the truth may set us free, and revive in some of our hearts the generous and forgiving spirit of the Saviour. In days gone by, pagans paid to the Christians this most beautiful of tributes : they said among themselves, * ' See how the Christians love one another." To-day that trib- ute is true only in a restricted sense. It applies only to the few. The Primitive Church was too fair a garden not to arouse the jealousy of the enemy. The devil was jealous. Something had to be done to weaken one of the strongest pillars of the Christian religion. So, Satan, the inventor of ways that are dark and of 52 Father Walsh tricks that are mean, began to sow in the Christian heart the seeds of dissention and quarrels, of hatred, anger, envy and jealousy. He suggests to the proud heart, when wounded, to seek revenge, and to render to every man evil for evil. Woe to them who feed their minds and hearts on such thoughts. They are as far from the thoughts and counsels of God as heaven is from hell. My brethren, no power on earth, or under the earth, or above the earth, can prevent a creature en- dowed with free will from making a free choice be- tween God and Satan. The choice must be made, so let us make it without any thought of compromise. If you choose to follow the Lord God of heaven and earth, then repeat to yourselves on every one of the seven days of the week: We will "love our enemies " and "render to no man evil for evil." SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY. " The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which is indeed the least of all seeds ; but when it is grown up it is greater than any herbs and becometh a tree." —Matt, xiii, 31-32. Dearly Beloved Brethren : In looking for the ideals of beauty and truth in learning, literature, and eloquence, we have never found anywhere anything so truly sublime and as sublimely true as the simple parables of our Blessed Lord. The world may glory in its wealth of thought, the nations may boast of their wisdom and eloquence ; but where is the man, be he sage, savant or orator, who ever spoke as did Jesus of Nazareth, for all classes, for all countries, and for all ages ? Few, even Sermons 53 among the master minds of this earth, have been able to hold the admiration and the interest of a single century. Nineteen centuries and more have passed since Jesus opened His mouth in parables, and still, the effect of His preaching is seen and felt to the present day. The passing years have served to unfold only the truth and the beauty of His teach- ing, and to strengthen His hold on the hearts of His children. For proof of this we need not go beyond the Gospel narrative of this Sunday, in which our Divine Lord compares the early struggles and ultimate de- velopment of His visible kingdom of Heaven, namely, His holy Church upon earth, to the sowing and the growing of the humble mustard seed. A truer and more beautiful comparison was never made. In the first place, dearly beloved brethren, of all the plants, and flowers, and trees, and vines, and shrubs, and herbs, that grow in the East, none is thought so little of as the mustard tree. Its seed is merely planted, and the rest is left entirely to the care of Providence ; still, it thrives. So was it, and so is it to-day, with the Church of Christ. There is, perhaps, no place on earth where Christianity is so little prized as in the East. There, God alone may be said to keep religion alive. Mil- lions of people are conveniently near the places and the land that were once blessed and honored by the Saviour's presence. But they have not cherished His memory as they should ; neither have they held His name in reverence and benediction, as we had a natural right to expect they should. Another thought, showing the truth and the beauty of this comparison made by Christ between the Church and the mustard seed, is this : the pro- cess of their evolution is very much the same. A few words will be sufficient to make this clear to the least intelligent. The mustard seed is sown in the 54 Father Walsh ground, and though lost sight of for a time, it grows up, greater than any herbs, and bye-and-bye be- cometh a tree. Who does not perceive that this is very like the development of Christ's kingdom upon earth ? For, tell me, dearly beloved brethren, whence did Christianity spring and spread ? Was it not from the tomb of the buried Christ ? How she has at- tained to such magnificent proportions, how she has grown to be such an important factor in the affairs of the world, will always be a wonder to angels, and something of a mystery to men. Friend and foe thought that the Christian re- ligion had found a grave on Good Friday evening, when loving hands had taken the Saviour's body down from the cross and reverently laid it in the tomb. They thought, no doubt, when a few friends of humanity's friend had rolled the stone over against the door of the sepulchre, that its fate was sealed. But they were mistaken ; there was life, there was an invisible and invincible God hidden behind the sepulchre door, and the proof of it is not only in the Resurrection that occurred three days later, but also in the subsequent and rapid spread of the faith which Jesus had come to teach and to preach. In spite of persecutions, in spite of heresy, in spite of ignorance and indifference, in spite of treachery, in spite of the sneers and the scoffings of the ungodly, the Church has increased and prospered beyond all earthly expectations and all human expectations. See her stately cathedrals, majestic without and devotional within, rising up all over the land ; count her churches, her chapels and her altars, erected in all parts of the country ; reflect on the number of her devoted religious, doing God's work and saving souls ; think of her institutions of mercy and charity, receiving the wretched and the unfortunate of all creeds and of no creed ; witness her seminaries, her academies and her parish schools, blessed fruit of a Sermons 55 self-sacrificing charity. Remember all this, dearly beloved brethren, and we shall find reasons not only to cling to the inheritance handed down to us by our forefathers, but also to give the Church of Christ at all times, as they gave to her, every proof of our best love and filial obedience. These virtues have been in the past the great safeguards of religion. They brought about and have maintained among Catholics a union of minds and hearts and hands, and in that union there has been strength and promise. There are in our midst to-day millions of men and women who have the same love and obedience for the Spouse of Christ that characterized other days. Then why may we not look for a greater growth of the seed of truth which our Blessed Lord has sown in the New World ? Why may we not take the present strength of Catholicity as an earnest of her future greatness in this repub- lic ? Surely no one could blame us for so doing ; for, dearly beloved brethren, looking at her to-day, Holy Mother Church reminds us of "A beauteous face, in which were meet, Fair records, promises as sweet." Moreover, it is a common rule with most men to gauge the future by the past. But this may be taking an optimistic view of the future ; we may be losing sight of the fact that, while there are reasons to feel encouraged to believe in the ultimate triumph of our Holy Faith, there are also fears that should dissuade and discourage us from holding too high hopes. Let us give a moment's consideration to these hopes and fears. One source of encouragement for the future is that the Catholic Church never grows old, in the sense that she may some day become too feeble to carry on the work of converting and saving souls. Endowed with the life of God Himself, her 56 Father Walsh youth is immortal, and the coming years can bring no furrow to her brow. Then, again, religion is un- hampered here. We and our Church are free in this land of liberty ; this is a blessing that cannot but call forth the best and noblest efforts of both priests and people for the spreading of God's kingdom on earth. Let tyranny and oppression stand aside, and the light and influence of truth will, and must, reach into every human heart, unless they be barred out by two well-known and justly feared excesses ; I mean intemperance and liberalism in the education of the rising generation. Would, brethren, that we could grapple victori- ously with these two monsters ! We can assure you that then there would be no misgivings as to the future of our Church. But we cannot see in sight the day of this wished-for triumph, and so our holy faith must plod along slowly, almost imperceptibly. Christian parent, do you wish to hand down to others the previous inheritance of your Saviour's light and love ? If you do, then remember that the end of education is, not precisely knowledge, but wisdom and morality. Therefore, give to the little ones committed to your care and keeping all the blessed advantages of a Christian training. Afford them every opportunity of learning virtue, as well as read- ing ; and true nobility of character, as well as gram- mar. What will it avail you, later on, if your daughters become indifferent Catholics and your sons cultured infidels and refined pagans ? Woe to you and woe to them! It were better that a millstone had been tied around your necks, and that you and they had been cast into the sea. I have only one word more to add to this hard saying. That word is this : to deny spiritual instruction to souls craving for it, is to commit a sin that cries to heaven for ven- geance. It is to stifle in the men and the women of to-morrow, all love and all obedience for the Church of God. Sermons 57 Some of you people have ears to hear, but hear not ; then remember, the least of all God's priests pleaded, but pleaded in vain, for the cause of religion and the souls of Christ's little ones. In ad- vocating sound, Christian, Catholic education, let us, in the same breath, insist on the virtue of Temper- ance. The former, without the latter, is a positive curse to the world. The latter, without the former, can contribute little or nothing to the spreading of the Faith. One, without the other, is like the builder who takes down with one hand what he puts up with the other. There is, perhaps, no vice in God's world to-day that has wrecked more hopes and homes, or broken more hearts, or filled more graves, or damned more souls, than intemperance. The Church herself realizes this fact, and she can never, and will never, close her eyes to this awful evil. She has never befriended nor defended drunkenness, as some of her enemies have attested, for she knew that by so doing she would be nourish- ing in her own bosom the very seeds of death. Now, intemperance, dearly beloved brethren, exists in our own midst, in our own city, in our own parish. It is working incalculable injury to religion and a monstrous injustice to our youth. What are we doing to stamp it out, and thus save society, and to strengthen the Lord's Kingdom on earth ? Let us tell the truth. You and I have seen more than once, bright children on their way to buy intoxicants for father (?) or for mother (?). What shall we say of such parents ? Are they a help or a hindrance to the Faith ? All the infidel lectures ever delivered to wise fools at fifty cents a head have done less harm to the cause of Christ than have liquor-loving fathers and mothers ; for experience teaches that their children never find, or, at best, find only for a short time, the way to the Church and the sacraments. In the name of God, in the name of religion, in 58 Father Walsh the name of morality, in the name of humanity, let us stand together, dearly beloved brethren, and help Holy Mother Church crush out the beast, Intem- perance. We must destroy it, or it will eventually destroy us. One or the other must fall. Which shall it be ? If the millions of Catholics in this land loved, as they should, sobriety and Christian educa- tion, what a glorious triumph our faith would achieve on this continent ! The result would be the complete conversion of all America. Then could posterity sing, as did the inspired writer of old, the Church was unreserved walking in the fear of the Lord, and was filled with the consolation of the Holy Ghost. Then could they who are to come after us see the beauty and truth of this Sunday's Gospel exempli- fied in the conquest of a new world to Christ and to His Church. PURIFICATION. My Dear Brethren : As spring strews the earth with flowers, so the Church scatters over the long, cold, dreary winter a profusion of happy festivals, commonly termed by spiritual writers ' ' flowers in the life of a Christian people.' ' Lately we have had a succession of festive days. Christmas, the Circumcision, and the Epiphany, have brought us, each in its time, a spiritual joy that can be far more easily remembered than expressed ; in fact, they brought us feelings akin to what St. Paul might call " rejoicing from above," were it not for the fact that the too rapid succession and flight of these feasts have left our souls unprepared for celebrations and ceremonies, whose nature is any- thing but cheering and joyful. Thus, only forty days have passed away since the glad tidings of Sermons 59 salvation broke upon a lost world, and to-morrow we are summoned away from the cradle of Christ to witness a ceremony that must have been the first dark cloud of anguish to gather round the happy heart of the ever- virgin Mother. According to the Mosaic law, every mother was required to bring to the temple of Jerusalem, forty days after the birth of a son, a lamb, a year old, and a young pigeon. This offering was expected of all, whether rich or poor ; but in case of extreme poverty, when the cost of a lamb might be con- sidered beyond the mother's means, the requirement of the law was met by presenting for sacrifice two turtle doves. Mary, whose divine child-bearing had only made her purer and more virginal, was certainly exempted from the precept relative to this ceremony, which was called purification ; nevertheless, she religiously kept to the letter of the law, and on the prescribed day appeared at the door of the Temple prepared to make to God the sacrifice of her child— an accepted sacrifice, that was only consummated three and thirty years later on Mount Calvary. If the feast of the Purification has, my dear brethren, fewer claims to our affections than have Christmas, and the Circumcision, and the Epiphany, yet is it dear to our hearts, because of the insight it affords us into the profoundly humble and obedient character of her whom we are wont to call "our Mother and our Model. " Faithful imitator of her Son, who hid His divinity under the weakness of in- fancy, Mary wished to hide her august dignity of Mother of God. She submitted to the mandate of the law like any ordinary woman, although she was exempted from so doing by circumstances of which the world knew nothing. And the offering was that of the poorest ! None was richer in grace than this humble daughter of David, the Spouse of the Holy 60 Father Walsh Ghost, and the Mother of God, made man ; yet, being destitute of worldly wealth, she could bring to the Temple nothing but two little doves, emblematic of her incomparable purity. Oh ! my brethren, how different is the spirit that actuates and controls us in our daily life ! True, we call the humble Virgin of Nazareth our Mother and our Model, but where, let me ask you, are our virtues to Drove our rights to such a glorious title as "Children of Mary" ? On a former occasion we asserted that, by some mysterious law of Providence, children generally bear a moral as well as a physical resemblance to their parents, the former having the tastes, the dis- positions and the virtues of the latter. But where are the virtues we have inherited from our Spiritual Mother ? Can we claim her humility — that virtue which characterizes not sanctity alone, but also true nobil- ity of mind and heart ? It must be admitted that many of us, if not indeed most of us, are given to pride. Had she so chosen, Mary might have ap- pealed in a struggle for recognition to the dignity of Mother of the Word Incarnate ; but, no— humility sealed her lips, and she kept that claim secret in her heart. Never has a severer rebuke been given to the proud, who are always eager to publish their superiority, and exult in honors and distinctions. But, my dear brethren, aside from the wounds Mary suffered for humility's sake, there was in- flicted on her tender heart another one, as deep as it was real. On the day of her Purification, the mother of a first-born son was held, by the Mosaic law, to present or consecrate him to the Lord before departing from the Temple. This presentation was made for a perpetual remembrance of the mercy of God, Who, years before, had commanded an angel to kill all the first-born males of the Egyptians, but Sermons 61 to spare those of the Israelites. Generally speak- ing, the occasion was one of no little rejoicing among Hebrew women. For one only — the lovely Rose of Sharon was full of sad forebodings— the presenta- tion of her Jesus was the keenest, as well as the greatest sacrifice of her life. Hitherto, she scarcely knew what sorrow was ; but now, kneeling before the altar of sacrifice, she seemed to feel, as by anticipation, the fulfillment of aged Simeon's pro- phetic words : * ' And thy own soul a sword of grief shall pierce/' In fact, this was the first occasion that God took to reveal to her the awful cruelty of the Jews, and the mock -trial of Pilate, and the crown of sharp thorns, and the heavy, ignominious cross. On the day of her purification, God opened to her vision the first far-oif glimpse of Gethsemane and of Calvary, each bedewed with the precious blood of her child. The sacrifice was a great and crushing one ; yet it found in the Virgin Mother what it required— a most heroic nature to make and bear it for the world's redemption. A study of most lives around us, dearly beloved brethren, only seems to show how far many of us have yet to journey ere we can be said to reach the high plane occupied by our "Mother and Model." We are a perfunctory kind of Christian. We honor God and His Church, but of the penances imposed by either, of humility, of mortification, of sacrifice, we know little more than the names. Has it occurred to you that your presence in this sacred edifice at stated times is in answer to God's voice ? And have you ever felt that you come here for a purpose similar to that which brought Mary to Jerusalem ? Yes ; the law of God calls you to His holy Temple, and it calls you here to offer to Him a sacrifice, less worthy it may be, but not less real than our Blessed Mother's. 62 Father Walsh I need not specify what sacrifices to make ; for any attempt in that direction would fail to apply in many instances. I will simply say that in their lives not a few Christians and Catholics are deifying sin and worshipping vice. They have become your gods, they have become your idols. But what says He who created you, and He who redeemed you, and He who sanctified you? ''I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no strange gods before me." The God of heaven is a jealous God, suffering none to dispute with Him the empire of your hearts. So, away with the sin you have been deifying, away with the vice you have been worshipping. My brethren, make, like your Heavenly Mother, a generous sacrifice ere it is too late. Wait not for the coming of death to break your sinful habits and shatter your false divinities. If you are intellectually proud, given to incredulity, and inclined to place rea- son above revelation, bow down before that Holy Altar and make the sacrifice of your pride ; for God demands sacrifice. If your hearts be attached to the amassing of riches, and your thoughts absorbed by the acquiring of honors, renounce your inordinate love for perishable goods, to seek, first, the kingdom of heaven, for God demands of you that sacrifice. If you have formed habits of dishonesty in your deal- ings, seeking to injure your neighbor in his fortune or reputation, delay not to restore and repair the in- jury ; for God demands that sacrifice. If the demon of drink be destroying your manhood, resolve gen- erously to curb your appetites. You owe this to religion and to society, and God, too, demands the sacrifice. Finally, if you be the victim of nameless vices, oh ! break the chains of your slavery. True, they were forged in hell, but despair not. What we, the ministers of Our Lord Jesus Christ have done elsewhere, we can and must do here. No sin, no habit, no vice, however inveterate, can resist the Sermons 63 power of God's grace, obtained in the sacraments, of which we are ofttimes the unworthy dispensers. SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY. " Why stand you here all the day idle ?" —Matt, xx, 6. Dearly Beloved Brethren : These words of our Blessed Saviour have found ample application in every age ; but never, perhaps, did their true meaning come home with greater force than to these our own times. By these premises, broad as they are, we do not wish to insinuate that ours is an age of what men are wont to call idleness — that is, physical or mental inactivity. Such a deduction or insinuation were contrary to right reason and truth, for everything points to our age as one of the busiest, mentally and manually, the world has ever seen. In fact, few, if any, of the centuries that go to make up history, can show better proofs of almost boundless activity than our own century, so rich in wondrous discoveries and useful inventions. The steam-car and the steam- boat, the telegraph, the phonograph, the telephone, the electric light, and a thousand and one other secrets stolen from nature, less wonderful, perhaps, but not less useful in their way, will remind pos- terity that, in the nineteenth century, neither the human hand nor the human brain was inactive. Again, coming nearer home, what do we find ? Admirably strong and striking proofs that exonerate many of our citizens, and, brethren, I am happy to say, many of you, from the odious charge of idle- ness ; that is, idleness in the worldly sense of the word. Throughout the parish we notice that many of you are following honorable pursuits, some being 64 Father Walsh engaged in honest business, and some, in honest toil. And we see, too, as a natural consequence, not a few possessed of a goodly competency, and many blessed with their own cheery firesides and happy homes, the sweet fruit of persevering industry ; little monuments that will tell the rising generation that you were not idle, at least in the worldly sense of the word. But, dearly beloved brethren, while lauding your industry, while acknowledging the success of your efforts in the material order, I would ask you this one question— a question of the last importance to each and every one of you who are gathered this morning around God's altar : Have you forgotten the one thing necessary ? Have you carelessly thrust aside the thought of a house far more durable than the one of wood, or brick, or stone, you may enjoy ? Have you labored less assiduously for the imperish- able riches of heaven than for a competency that death will, , ere long, tear from your grasp ? In a word, have you failed to accomplish the work of your sanctification, the doing of which is a success in- finitely greater and sweeter than any known to this world ? If, brethren, you have made this mistake ; if you have toiled and struggled to lay up treasures here below ; if you have busied your hand by day and your brain by night, as many of you now do, with thoughts and plans pertaining, I might say, wholly to worldly comforts and worldly success ; if, I say, you have made such a mistake, then remember, it is to you, as well as to the faithless Jews, that Jesus speaks in to-day's Gospel when He says : "Why stand you here all the day idle ? " Alas ! too many of us do richly deserve the Divine reproach, for many of us are, indeed, idlers in the truest and broadest sense of the word ; idlers in the sight of heaven and before Him who once said : Sermons 65 M Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all things else will be added to you." To seek and to serve God, therefore, are the real works of our lives, and we can have no other. This is evi- denced by the fact that God's providence placed us in the sacred vineyard of His Church, and that, too, for an all- wise and well-defined purpose. What that purpose is, to-day's Gospel tells us. It is to be workers, to be, as the Holy Ghost elsewhere ex- presses it, not hearers of the word only, but doers. It is quite unnecessary to point out to you, my brethren, who the hearers of God's word are, and who its doers. The distinction between them is too marked to require any special emphasis. " By their fruits you shall know them," says Christ. Are you loyal, self-denying Christians ? Are you humble and practical Catholics, who serve God in spirit and in truth ? If so, you are beyond doubt the doers of the word, true workers in the Lord's vineyard, observers of the commandments, disciples to whom the Just Judge will, one day, give a reward exceedingly great. But it may be, my brethren, that you are un- mindful of God's judgments, destitute of living faith, regardless of solemn oaths and vows, indiffer- ent to the sanctification of the Lord's Day, careless of human life, embryonic or otherwise. It may be that you are inclined to scoff at religion, to rob your neighbor of his reputation or his goods, or, it may be, that, Satanlike, you tempt the weak ones to throw down the sacred barriers of purity and morality. To the man or woman who can be classed in this cate- gory of Christians, I have this to say : you are only hearers of God's word, and not its doers. Theory without practice is always and everywhere the mask of the sham Catholic and the hypocrite. Nor should such persons think they are building up and strength- ening God's Church upon earth, or laboring in 66 Father Walsh Christ's vineyard. Rather are they destroying and crushing, as far as in their power lies, the Godlike spirit of faith and piety, so long the universal and fond inheritance of Christ's chosen children. And there is still another, an awful misappre- hension, under which many persons are laboring. Some people think that religion means merely hear- ing Mass on Sundays and days of obligation. Now, this is not a gratuitous assertion, lightly or thought- lessly made. An experience of some years has forced upon me this painful conclusion, and it may be easily verified by watching the comparatively small number of those who frequent the holy sacra- ments. The majority may come to Mass, and suc- ceed in reaching their pews, but they never get any farther. They are total strangers to the holy table. What makes this thought especially painful is, that among these strangers to Holy Communion are fathers and mothers who are charged with the sacred duty of bringing up their children in the fear and love of God. No one need pretend that there is any love of God in the heart of any man or woman, father or mother, who will not and does not frequently nourish his or her soul at the fountain of living love ; and re- member, brethren, we never give or impart to another what we do not possess ourselves. And what is the result of this spiritual lethargy, this spiritual indif- ference, this spiritual idleness ? Why, just what we might have expected. The result is, that there are in the Catholic Church to-day hundreds of thousands who are worthless members, men and women who are making her,— the Bride of Christ — an object of derision. The world knows them as Catholics be- cause they hear Mass on Sundays, but the world knows them also as blasphemers of darkest dye, as shameless adulterers, as drunkards of a degraded Sermons 67 class, and as men who fall down and adore the false god of sensual passion and pleasure. My dear brethren, if there ever was a time when the Church of God, — the vineyard of the Lord— needed faithful laborers, surely that time is to-day. Do you want a motive to stimulate you to action and to work ? I shall give you this one suggested in the Gospel of this Sunday : ' ' And when the evening was come, the lord of the vineyard said to his stewards : Call the laborers and pay them their hire." Oh, would that I could stamp upon your breasts in indeli- ble letters those significant words, "When the evening was come." How beautiful they are, and how encouraging ! The longest life, compared to eternity, is but a day, and the God, who gave us the day of life, shall also bring the night. We know not when the shadows of evening will fall around us, but this much we do know : that the day of life will soon be over ; that God shall tell His steward to sum- mon us to pay us our hire. Standing before the tribunal of the Just Judge, every man shall be re- warded according to his works, and you and I, my brethren, shall receive either a curse or a crown. SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY. "Saying these things, He cried out, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." — St. Luke viii, 8. Dearly Beloved Brethren : A study of this Sunday ? s Gospel suggests to the mind one of the questions which we rarely ask ourselves, although reason recognizes its importance and demands for it a full hearing and an honest answer. Briefly stated, the question is this : What effect has the Word of God had upon this world ? In 68 Father Walsh other words, has the preaching of our Blessed Lord Jesus been a success or a failure ? Answer that question, and you know the fate that awaits the world ; you know whether the human race be worthy of love or hatred, for our eternal weal or eternal woe depends upon the success or failure of the Gospel. This is, plainly, the teaching of Revelation, and more especially the conclusion that may and must be drawn from the parable chosen by Holy Church for our instruction this morning. Christ clearly in- timates that our own souls are the soil in which He has sown the seed of the Word of God. He who sows, naturally expects to reap ; he naturally looks for some blessing upon his efforts, some return for his long days and still longer weary nights of weary toil. However, the first and most natural thought to arise in the mind is this : What of the harvest ? Will there be one or will there be none ? If there be one, one rich in good works and Christian virtues, then 'tis well with us ; our souls will be saved ; for, says the Inspired Writer: "Blessed are they who, hearing the Word of God, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience."— St. Luke viii, 15. For such, there is laid up a crown everlasting in heaven. Very different, however, will be the fate of those souls who have disappointed the Saviour's hopes and labors. He has a right to look to the whole world for the fruit and the flower of virtue ; for 'twas for this that He spared no effort, shrank from no hard- ship, refused no suffering. "Tis for this, I say, that He still causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust, only to insure a generous harvest. Imagine, therefore, with what feelings of disappointment the Son of God must turn away from those souls that are wanting in appreciation for all He has done for them ; imagine how He must regret the time, the energy, the love, the care and the devotion Sermons 69 bestowed upon a soil that yields nothing but the thorns and thistles of vice and religious indifference. Need I tell you, dearly beloved brethren, that such souls are moral failures in the sight of God— fit fuel for eternal fire ? Like the barren fig tree, such soil deserves and receives from the Master no other recognition than a blighting curse. It may be said by a certain class of people that this is strong language, and is a saying hard to bear. Perhaps it is. Nevertheless, it is true, and no one, we think, would be weak-minded enough to question its truth. For, let us remember, brethren, that the sowing of the Divine Word in this world cost Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the last drop of His blood. Therefore, He who rejects the preaching of Christ, or nullifies its effect, either in himself or in others, is simply trampling on the blood of the Lamb of God, and a greater crime than this no man could ever commit. Eventually, reprobation is the only natural and adequate penalty for such a sin. And yet, strange to say, severe and awful as this penalty is, it has never succeeded in banishing from the mind, the indifference of man for the Word of Life. This is a powerful but an absolute fact — a fact veri- fied in nearly every age. We know this from a his- tory of our own times, which is, after all, a reflection of times gone by. From the very beginning of time, God has at divers times spoken to His children. His voice was first heard in the Garden of Eden ; later on, He spoke to the world through Moses and the Proph- ets. Then He came Himself, in the person of His only-begotten Son, and with His own Eivine life in- structed many unto justice. To-day, he preaches to us in and through His Church. We cannot plead ignorance of God's Word, nor of His will ; we cannot say that our souls have not been seeded with the Word of God. Brethren, do we reverence that Word as we ought ? Have men profited by what they have heard ? 70 Father Walsh Has the Word of God led us to a better understanding of life, to a higher and better appreciation of it and its sacred duties ? Has the Gospel reached our hearts, or only our ears ? We fear not; for, witness our first parents. The Lord's voice had hardly died away in Paradise when Adam and Eve forgot His presence and shame- fully ignored His command. Again, the Lord had scarcely given the ten commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai when the" Israelites began to rebel against them. We know, too, that the Jews went so far as to stone the prophets whom God had gra- ciously sent them. They refused to listen to them, although they knew their refusal meant rejection and spiritual death. And when the Messiah came, did He fare better ? He went from place to place, preaching the kingdom of heaven. He conversed with a great number of men in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, in Galilee. His simple eloquence swayed the hearts and the minds of the multitudes, who ac- knowledged that no one ever spoke as He did. Yet, what was the result of all this ? Humanity blushes to acknowledge the truth. Jesus Christ was cruci- fied in the house of His friends, in sight of a whole city, and, after His death, it was found that He had convinced and converted one hundred and twenty persons. What indifference to the preaching of the saving truths of Eternal Wisdom ! As it was in the days of our Blessed Lord, so it is to-day ; for Christianity has the self -same sad story of indifference to tell concerning her efforts. What has she accomplished by her preaching ? Put her numbers at the highest calculation. Let us say, she has 215,000,000 members ; now let us add 150,000,000 of other Christians. Do these 365,000,000 of sup- posed hearers and doers of God's Word seem large to you, brethren? They might, indeed, be deemed so, did we not know that 700,000,000 people have Sermons 71 never heard of Christ ; or, if they have heard of Him, have rejected with contempt His name and His teachings. There is something startling in these figures. They tell a story of infinite sorrow, and il- lustrate most forcibly that momentous saying of the Saviour : "Many are called, but few are chosen/ ' Now, my brethren, we do not wish to be misunder- stood as saying that the Word of God has been a failure, or that the Most High has been disappointed. There can be no doubt that He clearly foresaw this very condition of things. He is prepared for, and expects, only partial results ; for partial results are characteristic of every undertaking and organization with which men have to do. Statistics and arithme - tic are sadly at fault when we are dealing with things Divine. What we call success, He calls failure, and vice versa. From our point of view, the harvest reaped from the sowing of the Word of God may seem very like a failure, but Christ does not account it such, and such it is not. If His preaching had saved but one single soul, He might say, and say with truth, " Gaudens, gaudebo" — "Rejoicing, I shall rejoice ; I am satisfied.' ' When news was brought to the patriarch, Jacob, that Joseph, his favorite son, was still alive, all his woes and all his sufferings were forgotten in a moment, and he said : "It is enough ; Joseph, my son, liveth." So it is with our Beloved Lord. All the unkindness, all the disobedience, all the indiffer- ence, and all the unbelief of many are counteracted in His heart and mind by the sincere devotion, the sanctity, and the sympathy of His few chosen chil- dren, in whom His soul delighteth. From the height of His cross He sees their fidelity and love ; His heart revives, and He says : "It is enough ; the fruits of the redemption are great. I am satisfied ; rejoicing, I shall rejoice." The only question that can possibly cause us un- 72 Father Walsh easiness is whether we have, or have not, earned for ourselves a place among Christ's chosen children, by unswerving fidelity to His Word and teaching. Are we numbered among the few who hear and obey Him, or among the many who are inattentive alike to His promises and warnings ? Of you, individually, we may not speak. Each one of you knows whether he is a doer as well as a hearer of the Word ; each one of you knows whether he is bringing forth fruit in patience. For the vast majority of men, experi- ence teaches that they have ears to hear, but hear not, and that Christ's teaching and preaching are dead letters, empty sounds, to them. Their lives prove it. The Word of God says : ' ' Woe to them from whom scandal cometh." If the preaching of the Saviour had taken hold of every man and woman professing Christianity, would we have so frequently, to-day, the scandals that shock and disgrace society and civilization ? Again, Our Lord commands us in the Holy Book, to keep sacred our solemn promises. If His Word had taken root in the soil of our souls, would we have so many sacred promises publicly as well as secretly broken ? Again, Christ warns us : ' ' Thou shalt not steal. ' ' If we heard the Master's voice, would men be dis- honest with one another ? Would they cheat and de- fraud their fellows ? Again, the inspired volume says : "Live soberly." If the seed of the Word of God had fallen on grateful ground, would we find in our midst so many cheerless homes— so many fire- sides made poor by the intemperate habits of sons and fathers ? Let us stop here, dearly beloved breth- ren, and ask ourselves : Why are the fruits of the Gospel so meaner, and its influence on our lives so in- significant ? There is just this one reason : we do not give the Word of God a fair hearing. "With des- olation is the whole earth made desolate," says Holy Sermons 73 Writ, ' ' because there is none that considereth in his heart. ' ' Mature men and women will think of every- thing save religion and its lessons. We are over- solicitous, at times, for what we shall eat and drink, as though man lived by bread alone, and not by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. We are forever thinking of how we shall reap a harvest of worldly pleasure, or acquire worldly wealth, or achieve worldly success. Is it any wonder, then, that the Word of God is choked and trampled down in our souls ? Oh ! brethren, let us be careful, lest we become castaways in the sight of the Most High. Let us fear, lest these words of St. John be applied to us :. "He that is of God, heareth the words of God. Therefore, you hear them not, because you are not of God. ' ' They who are to be saved must hear and heed instruction. They must ponder over the say- ings and teachings of Christ in the solitude of their hearts. Do not be shaken in your fidelity to God's Word, my brethren, by the sins and disorders of others. Do not make them a pretext for neglecting your own salvation, or taking a low standard of duty. Do not say such and such a man is a libertine, a thief, a liar, a blasphemer, an adulterer, and make out of this an excuse for your own wrongdoing. 'What is that to thee?" says our Blessed Lord. ;< Follow thou Me." His love, His life, His teaching, must be the rule of thy conduct, and not the sayings and the doings of other men. My brethren, reflect well, ere it be too late. Some day, when we least expect Him, the Lord will seek the harvest of His preaching, and the fruit of the Word of God sown in our souls. Unless you take Christ and His teachings into your homes and into your every-day lives, you will have no harvest, no fruit to offer your Master on the last day. If, how- ever, you receive the Word of God with a good and 74 Father Walsh perfect heart, you shall bring forth fruit, some of you, thirty fold ; some, sixty fold, and some, one hun- dred-fold—the reward of which will be life eternal. "Blessed are they who, hearing the Word of God, keep it, and bring forth fruit in patience." QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY. Dearly Beloved Brethren : Next Wednesday we begin the six weeks of Lent. From time immemorial Holy Mother Church has looked upon these forty days as a season of special prayer and penance, as a time of grace given by God to His loving children in preparation for the glorious feast of Easter. History vouches for the truth of this assertion, and the testimony of saints confirms it as a fact. More- over, the discipline of the Church to-day is nothing if not a reminder of her government in centuries gone by. Hence, the official letter of the Rt. Rev. Bishop, suggesting the manner and means of keeping Lent, should not be regarded as something unusual, as an unheard-of document ; rather should it be considered as the voice of an authority ever ancient, ever new ; for it certainly recalls the ages of prophets and apostles, and reads very like an annual message from God to His priesthood, commanding it "to call the people together, and sanctify the fast." Will you, dearly beloved brethren, accept or re- ject this authority ? Will you open or close your ears to the voice of God ? We cannot, we dare not, answer for you all. We believe that now, as always, the children of the household of faith will heed instruc- tion, and gladly welcome the restraints of the peni- tential season ; but it must be acknowleged (and we confess it with regret) that there are men and women in the Church of Christ who are sadly in- Sermons 75 different to things spiritual ; men and women who rarely, if ever, look up heavenward, and to whom the custom of observing Lent seems little less than use- less, not to say superstitious. Their idea is that so long as we do nothing posi- tively sinful, there is no need of curbing our appetites or holding a tight rein over our wills ; their policy is to get out of life as much pleasure as possible ; their motto reads : ' * Let us eat and drink and be merry, for to-morrow we die." Who is so ignorant, breth- ren, as not to know that such thoughts and theories are the legitimate offspring of paganism, and that their exponents of to-day are those who have most of the vices but few of the virtues of paganism. To hold that self-denial is necessary, to call fast- ing useless, to claim that abstinence is superstitious, are, to say the least, extremely flattering to poor, weak human nature. We could overlook the fallacy of such sayings were it not for their far-reaching and disastrous consequences. In fact, Satan himself could not have devised a snare more dangerous for the feet of the unwary ; could not have put forth an argument better calculated to deceive and corrupt the human heart ; for, it has been admitted in every age, and by all classes of intelligent people, that self-love and self-indulgence are the worst enemies of the soul, and as they grow stronger, the love of God grows weaker. Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, we should be on our guard against the deceptions of the world, and against the teachings which mean the sapping away of our Christian manhood and womanhood, and the setting up of standards and practices dia- metrically opposed to the precepts and example of humanity's wisest teacher and holiest model, our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To be con- vinced of this fact, we have only to consult the In- spired Book, and contrast a few of its sayings with 76 Father Walsh the cherished ideas of lukewarm Christians and indifferent Catholics. The latter say : " Let us enjoy life, and cast out all fear of the future." My breth- ren, what does Christ say ? He warns us of to-day as He once warned the Jews of old. He tells us, as He told them, ' ' Unless you do penance, you shall all likewise perish." Again, the Divine Master says : ' ' He that will come after Me, let him deny himself. Let him take up his cross daily, and follow Me." And He, as the Holy Book tells us, went into the desert, and there fasted for forty days and forty nights. To fast, therefore, is to follow in the foot- steps of Christ, and this thought alone should be en- couragement enough for us to enter upon the coming penitential season with feelings of holy joy. To those unable to comply with the law of fasting, Holy Mother Church, ever solicitous for her children's welfare, recommends other forms of penance and other means eminently fitted to prepare our souls for a spiritual resurrection. She exhorts us to meditate, from day to day, on the infinite mercy and love of Christ for sinners ; she asks us to accompany our Blessed Redeemer in spirit, not only to Jerusalem, but also to the very summit of Calvary ; she points with trembling hand to the Crucified Saviour, and tells us in pathetic language the story of the Atone- ment, hoping thereby to excite in our hearts sorrow for sin, and a pious resolution of putting our con- sciences in order, and of making our peace with God. To do penance, dearly beloved brethren, for the faults and failings of a year, or of two years, or per- haps of ten years, is an all-important work, which, to do well, we must pray much, and withdraw ourselves as far as possible from all vain, worldly amusements. Dissipation means death to devotion. Those who place themselves under the protection of the great St. Joseph, to whose honor the month of Sermons 77 March is dedicated in a special manner ; those who, having leisure, resolve to assist at the morning Mass and attend faithfully the various public exercises of the Church, have already the assurance of a fruitful Lent. And do not forget that a good beginning is half the battle. Permit no devil to say to you, there is time enough, or persuade you to put off your prep- aration. Begin on the first day, for Ash Wednes- day is one of the most solemn days of the year. ;< Remember thy last end," says the Inspired Writer, 1 and thou shalt never sin." Think of death, and you shall rise from your moral weaknesses. On the morning of Ash Wednesday, God's priests the world over will take blessed ashes, with which they will make the sign of the cross on the foreheads of the old and the young alike, addressing to each one in turn these words, once uttered by God Himself : ' ' Remember, man, that thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return." These are sad as well as solemn words, but the thought of them will, I am sure, cause some hardened sinner to think seriously of his duty and destiny. Let us all, brethren, show ourselves determined to enter upon Lent with holy intentions, and to pre- pare our souls for a spiritual resurrection on Easter Sunday. If, every penitential season, we draw nearer to God, God will draw nearer to us. By and by there will be no more need of Lent, of fasting, of self-denial, for you will receive as reward of your labors and fidelity a place in the kingdom of God, there to enjoy a never-ending Easter. SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. "And He was transfigured before them." Dearly Beloved Brethren : The scene pictured in this Sunday's Gospel is both instructing and inspiring. It throws a new and 78 Father Walsh blessed light on the life of Christ, and proves that some day this mortality of ours will put on immor- tality, and that we will then enjoy, in glorified, trans- figured bodies, the happy vision of God, as the reward exceeding great of our faith, our hope, and our love. From a human point of view, faith in the Divin- ity of Jesus, and in the truth of His doctrine, seemed for a time well-nigh impossible. The world did not quite comprehend the meaning of His mission ; neither did a weak, wicked age fully understand the sublimity of His message. Then when Pilate said to Him: "Art Thou a king, then?" Jesus answered: "Thou sayest that I am a king." But, brethren, where was the evidence to prove His claim ? Where was His palace ? Where was His court ? Where were His subjects ? Again, the Son of Joseph had proclaimed Himself the Son of God. But by what right did He assume such a title ? Could the Son of God, the people reasoned, be born in abject poverty ? Could He live for thirty years in the solitude of Egypt and the obscurity of Nazareth ? Impossible ; and still it had to be acknowledged that He wrought wonders without number. The sick, whom He had healed ; the blind, the deaf, and the dumb, whom He had cured ; the dead, whom He had brought back to life, —all pointed unerringly to the possession of a strange, supernatural power. Yet this mattered little to the masses of the people, and still less to the classes. The contemporaries of Christ could not, nor would not, accept His Divinity, claiming that if His power were not borrowed from Beelzebub, the prince of devils, it was, after all, no greater than the power possessed by Moses, who with a single stroke of his staff caused water to gush forth from the barren rock. His power, they contended, was not greater than that of Joshua, who commanded the sun to stand still. In their blindness and malice, they Sermons 79 would have it that Elias was as powerful as Christ, for he, too, had restored the sick to health #nd the dead to life. Naturally, these facts discredited somewhat, in ignorant minds, the claims of the Son of Man. But, more astounding still, even the Apostles were weak in their faith as to their Master's divinity. For obvious reasons, they shared, in a measure, the skepticism of the people. True, Jesus had taught them ; but He was ever most careful to conceal from them the Divine side of His nature. They had eyes to see, and they saw not ; they had ears to hear, and they heard not ; they did not comprehend how the in- finitely happy suffer and the immortal die. And, strange to relate, this was what their Master in- sisted upon most. He never tired of telling them of their own sorrows and of His. He told them that He would be delivered to the Gentiles, mocked, and scourged, and spat upon ; He described in detail the history of His now memorable passion and death. Under such circumstances, a weak faith was to be expected. To remove forever all doubt from the minds of His Apostles, and from ours as well, and to make faith in Him and in His teachings a natural answer to the cravings, the desires, and the aspirations of the human heart, Christ determined to prove His divinity in no uncertain way. Future ages might, indeed, wonder at the nature of the argument, but they could never consistently reject His claims nor reject His preach- ing. What He did to bring conviction to the world is clearly and concisely told in the words of our text : " He was transfigured before them." The meaning of which is, the glory of the Divine Nature, break- ing through the veil of the Saviour's human body, covering, enveloping, and surrounding Him with a happy effulgence, just as the waters of a mighty river overflowing its banks suddenly submerges nearby fields and valleys. 80 Father Walsh For the first time since His coming into the world, the human side of Christ's nature was hidden from view. It was overshadowed, covered, ab- sorbed, as it were, in an ocean of beauty and light. "And His face did shine as the sun, and His gar- ments became white as snow." Ah, brethren, here was the undeniable proof of our Blessed Lord's Divinity, here was ample evidence to confirm all men in love and hope as well as in faith. We believe, with many sacred writers, that it may be taken as the fulfillment of a previous promise, once made to the Apostles by Christ Himself, saying : * ' Some among you will not die till they have seen the glory of the Son of Man." Thabor bears witness to the truth of Christ's promise, and His words have ever brought hope and strength to human weakness and moral indecision. No doubt Peter and James and John, who had heard the Saviour's prophetic announcement, never realized for an instant its true and deep significance. Perhaps, as they wended their way up the mountain- side, their hearts were heavy and their hopes uncer- tain. It was very different now ; they had seen their Transfigured Lord ; hope revived in their hearts ; all mystery is swept away in the light of the glorious scene on Thabor, and all fear is allayed and all weakness conquered. The three favored Apostles are indeed happy. In fact, so changed, so en- couraged, so strengthened were they by what they had seen and heard, that they forthwith forgot the trials and hardships of their apostleship, and were losing sight of the bitterness of persecution and death in the contemplation of the glory that is re- vealed to them on that memorable occasion. This is the inference to be drawn from the words of the ardent Peter : ' ' Lord, it is good for us to be here. If thou wilt, let us make three taber- nacles: one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Sermons 81 Elias." It is clear, brethren, that Peter knew not what He said. The Transfiguration was not an end, but a means to an end. It was a help and an en- couragement vouchsafed to men, to make them per- fect in hope. There is something great in store for the Apostles and for us, something holier, something happier, than a home on Thabor, and that is Heaven, the eternal habitation of God's glory. Therefore, the spell had to be broken ; the Transfiguration had fulfilled its purpose ; it had convinced the world that human happiness is at best but short-lived, and, sec- ondly, it gave the faithful of future ages to under- stand that no price is too great, no cross too heavy, no humiliation too deep, for the privilege of seeing and enjoying the brightness and the beauty of infin- ite and eternal glory. Write these words, brethren, on the tablets of memory, and, believe me, they will strengthen you in time of temptation ; they will console you in the day of affliction ; they will brighten and bless the rugged way that leads through darkness to light. If the Transfiguration had served no other purpose than to inculcate faith into the mind, and hope into the heart of man, it had done a blessed service to the world and to humanity ; but it goes further, breth- ren, and shows us the rewards of love. Does it not strike us as being singular and significant that Christ chose but three of His Apostles to accompany Him to the Holy Mount ? To what shall we at- tribute the selection of Peter, James and John, to the exclusion of the others ? To the fact that the Master wished to reward fidelity and love as well as faith and hope ; for, if St. Peter is known as the Apostle of Faith, and St. James as the Disciple of Hope, St. John may be called the Exponent of Love. My brethren, we may have the faith of the Prince of the Apostles, we may have burning within us the lamp of hope ; but have we, in our hearts, the 82 Father Walsh love of God, which is Christ Jesus Our Lord? We have reason to believe that the Lord and the Lord's law are often lost sight of amid the petty cares and ambitions of life ; we have reason to believe that even God's own children are not infrequently forget- ful of their true interests, and totally indifferent to the happiness of Heaven. If we thus sacrifice our souls and starve ourselves spiritually, how can we be said to have the love of God abiding within us ? Be that as it may, notwithstanding our indifference and our ingratitude, Christ will, nevertheless, continue to care for and comfort us. In our fears, in our tears, in our sufferings, and in our sorrows, there will always be one to cling to us when all others have become helpless or passed out of our lives. He who loves us from the beginning will love us to the end. When the Apostles, affrighted and overawed by their experience on Thabor, recovered themselves and lifted up their eyes, they saw, says the Gospel, no man, but only Jesus. Yes, Christ was near at hand, as He always is. Shall not we, brethren, be henceforth true and faithful to Him ? God grant it ; for let us remember, if we would enter into life and share one day in the glory of the heavenly Thabor, we must not only believe in God, and hope in His promise, but also love Him with our whole soul, with our whole mind, with our whole heart, and with all our strength. LENTEN SERMON. ALSO SECOND SUNDAY OF LENT. " Hear ye Him/ ' Learned and thoughtful men have been forced to acknowledge, brethren, that this world of ours needs nothing quite so much as a master mind, fearless enough to rebuke it for its follies, brave enough to Sermons 83 condemn it for its crimes, and strong enough to lift it up out of the mire of its iniquities. In a word, the world needs to-day, according to its own best thought, a true teacher — one who is able to lead it back to the light and the love of God. To say that the moral regeneration of society is beyond human effort, is to utter a commonplace. For we all know that men have tried and tried re- peatedly, but always with the same results ; viz. , failure. I am here to-night to give a reason for these failures, and to tell you that the fault lies not with God, but with man. If society is spiritually weak (and it is) , it is because you, and I, and the millions who bear the name of Christian, have sat too often and too long at the feet of false gods, and turned away from Jesus Christ, whose Word is Life Eternal. If the world suffers from a moral relapse (and it does) , it is because we have opened our ears to the whisperings of Satan, and closed them to the thun- ders of Sinai. If indifference in matters of religion has supplanted piety (and it has), it is because the human heart seeks its own desires, and carelessly counts as naught the warnings of Him of whom it is written : "Hear ye Him." What fatal folly to prefer darkness to light ! What incredible weakness to listen to the promptings of the tempter, and to refuse a hearing to the teach- ings of Truth itself ! What strange madness to pre- tend that we have realized our dreams of peace and happiness in the promise of the present, and forth- with to dismiss from our minds, with childish thought- lessness, the consideration of future hopes and fears. These are important truths that constitute so large a part of Christ's message to the world ! Evidently, brethren, most of us have yet to be persuaded that heaven and earth shall pass away, but the Word of the Son of Man shall never pass away. You and I have yet to learn that man liveth not by 84 Father Walsh bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. We have yet to understand that to turn a deaf ear to the gospel of the Living God, means to merit, both in this life and in the life to come, the just judgments of the Almighty. See if ecclesiastical history does not bear out this assertion. As we follow Christ through His public career, there is just one scene that seems to point to the ultimate success of His mission ; and that is, the vast crowds gathered around Him, all anxious to hear Him speak of the doctrine of His kingdom. For a time, at least, that command, "Hear ye Him," is most faithfully fulfilled. In fact, so deep is the interest of the multitude in the preaching of Jesus, that scores of men and women are known to leave the comforts of home, in order to live within sound of the Great Teacher's voice, and to catch the words of life as they fall from His sacred lips. This in- terest in the sermons of the Saviour may be rightly interpreted as a sign of spiritual conquest. Every- where curiosity gives place to admiration and devo- tion, and, ere long, the people are heard whispering one to another : ' ' No man ever spoke as this man speaks. Blessed be the Son of David. Let us make Him our King." Here was a mistake, more or less natural, but still fatal in its consequences. The masses of the people had misunderstood the meaning of the Messiah's mission. " Christ's kingdom was not of this world." He had come among them with no greedy aspirations, with no personal ambitions. He had come solely to preach and to teach. His desire was to purify and better, spiritually, the children of Israel. His inten- tion was to unmask hypocrisy and to denounce cor- ruption wherever found, and he was honest enough to tell the nation so. To the Scribes and Pharisees he said, with a ring of reproach in His own voice : "Ye brood of vipers! Ye hypocrites! The axe is Sermons 85 even now laid at the root of the tree of your abomination.' ' This was more than pride could bear. The words of the Son of Man had, indeed, cut deeper and more dangerously than a two-edged sword. The result was a revulsion of feeling, which was taken advan- tage of by certain demagogues in high places, and by them fanned into a fierce demand for the blood of the Innocent One. ' ' Let His Blood, ' ' cried the surg- ing crowd, ' ' be upon us and upon our children. ' ' Their wish was gratified, but their crime — their failure to accept the preaching of the Great High Priest — cost them not only the destruction of their beautiful Temple at Jerusalem, but also the loss of millions of lives and their very existence as a nation. To use the language of Holy Writ : ' ' The hearts of His own children were hardened against the Sav- iour. ' ' Hard hearts always resist instruction. They are like unto strong ground— an ungrateful soil, in which the Word of God can never grow to full fruit- age. The Jews of old received the grace of God in vain, for they shut their eyes to the light of faith. ' Faith,' ' says the Apostle, 'cometh by hearing." Are we not well within the limits of truth when we claim that thousands and millions of Catholics are just as criminal in the sight of the Lord as were the ancient Israelites ? Are we not, most of us, like them, ready enough to hear, but then quick to stifle the inspirations of Christ and of conscience ? Me- thinks that some of you may object to this compari- son as odious. Had we lived, you may say, in the days of the Redeemer's public career, we would have most willingly listened to the Gospel, and most cheer- fully cherished it, as God's will and Word. We would not have hardened our hearts. Our reply to this pretense — for a mere pretense it certainly is— is this : men and women rarely expe- rience overmuch difficulty in finding a pretext to 86 Father Walsh palliate their spiritual carelessness ; if they do find it difficult to justify their almost brutal indifference to religious thought, they get over the difficulty by the very simple process of manufacturing a very weak excuse. They will say : If we had lived in the days of Christ, or had we been privileged to see the sal- vation of Israel, it would have been very different. This was precisely the principle adopted by the Jews of old, to explain away their guilt for rejecting the teachings of the Divine Master. They said : Had we been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers in the blood of the Prophets. Oh ! brethren, how injurious Satan is ! He is con- stantly busy seeking to deceive and to destroy the unwary. But our Blessed Lord undeceives people. His truth shall prevail ; and so He proves to His enemies the insincerity of their protestations, telling them that had they lived in the days of their fathers, they would have imitated their conduct. For, being at that very moment placed in similar circum- stances, they actually pursue the methods of their forefathers. Like them, they reject the warnings and the instructions of heaven, and later on they would steep their hands in the Blood of the Great Prophet, whom the Father had sent them, with power to preach and teach. Hence, it is oftentimes worse than useless, dearly beloved brethren, to attempt to justify the indiffer- ence to God's Word, and the consequent failure of our souls to bring forth fruit a hundred- fold. Why not be honest, and confess the fault is our own ? Why not admit that, after listening to the preaching of the Gospel, we go forth from the church, and, like little children, permit the cares, the riches and the pleasures of this life to crush and destroy within us the seed of the Word of God ? Few of us are serious enough to measure the misery of such a fatal mis- take. True, we may be able to put lightly aside the Sermons 87 claims of the Gospel ; nevertheless, brethren, the thought that He had preached to some men and women in vain, caused the Son of God one of the bitterest pangs of His passion. One night, in the Garden of Gethsemane, as He lay prostrate on the ground, the Man of Sorrows cried out in an agony of grief: "My soul is sorrowful unto death.' ' While men slept He looked down the ages, and, in perspec- tive, saw how quickly and how effectually pride, and worldly interests, would weed out of the human mind the consideration of things eternal. He saw that the end of all His labors, and of all His struggles, and of all His prayers ; that the aim of His life and the object of His death, would be attained only in a part. No wonder He exclaimed : ' ' My soul is sorrowful unto death.' ' And so should our souls be sorrowful, dearly beloved in Christ, when we remember the un- productiveness of the soil of our hearts. We may not know, now, what it means to nullify the life and labors of Jesus Christ by ignoring the command, ' ' Hear ye Him ' ' ; but when we look back from our death-beds, and see by the glimmer of the little blessed candle in our hands the spiritual ruin of twenty or forty or sixty years, remorse is sure to consume us. Take, for instance, the man of vast wealth. He has had no time to "hear Him" ; no time to think of his soul and of eternity. His God was the mighty dollar, his own purpose and pleasure in life, to make money. Neither was he, perhaps, over-solicitous as to the means employed in the ac- cumulation of his wealth. Still, he quiets his con- science. Of course the Lord has said, "Thou shalt not steal," but he imagines it just as easy to deceive the Lord as he found it to bribe and rob his fellow- man. Death, God's messenger, will undeceive that man, for if his fortune be not the fruit of honest ef- fort, every dollar he owns will become, at the hour of his death, a tongue of fire from hell, to torture and 88 Father Walsh to sting his soul. It is written in the Book of Life : 5 'Thieves shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven.' ' Some rich men have ears to hear, but they hear not ; and so it is that it is easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle, than for some rich men to enter the kingdom of Heaven. Again, take the thousands of convicted criminals of both sexes who are now behind prison bars await- ing the hangman's rope, or the electric current ; they feel, before dying, that the one great mistake of their lives has been the boastful regard of the com- mand, "Hear ye Him." Had the seed of the Word of God taken root in their souls as it should, had they broken away from evil company and evil habits, as the Lord commands, they would not now be outcasts to society, a disgrace to friends, and a consuming sor- row, perhaps, to an aged father and mother. Lucky will they be if they escape the vengeance of God, for it is written : ' ' Murderers shall have no part with Christ in the Kingdom.' ' Again, take the vast army of drunkards, whose lives are a curse to society, and a dishonor to re- ligion. Jesus Christ preaches to them and says : " Live soberly." But another voice appeals to them more strongly ; it is the voice of the tempter, say- ing : ' ' Eat and drink, and be merry ; for to-morrow you die." This suggestion is followed. What mat- ters it to the drunkard that his hard-earned wages are wasted, that his neighbors hold him up to scorn, that his half-starved children inherit from him noth- ing but the remembrance of a cruel and sinful folly. He is having a good time ; he is satisfied. Yes, self-satisfied to-day, self-convicted to-morrow ; for when the ignominious career of the drunkard comes to an end, he turns his face to the future life with fear and trembling. He has defied the Lord and ig- nored those words: "Drunkards shall not possess the kingdom of Heaven." Wretched men ! Sermons 89 But there is yet another class of persons who must needs be reminded that they are laying up for themselves future fears and tears ; they are the vile votaries of the social vices — men and women who outrage daily the laws of decency and the laws of God. Little use was it for Christ to say to such people : ' ' Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost ? " You pretend to hear these words, but how comes it that, forgetting your noble nature, and still nobler destiny, you desecrate and defile these temples of the Holy Ghost, making them the abodes and the agents of sin and Satan. It is written in the Gospel : "If your foot scan- dalize you, cut it off and cast it away." Have you always heard and acted on these words ? Heard them ? Yes. Acted upon them ? No ; for I dare say there are scores of persons who have frequently and deliberately walked into the occasions of sin. Shame on such Catholics ! They try to hide their abominations under the cover of night or of secrecy, but there is One who knows and sees all things ; One who has said only ' ' the pure of heart shall see God, ' ' and to Him they must be responsible for their fearful excesses and dirty habits. In the meantime, we have to meet and answer the charge that Catholics ofttimes indirectly encourage vice. That there is some truth in this charge cannot be well denied. See the tendency of many of our people, who attend indiscriminately public entertain- ments at the public theatres. Every city and every town in the land is visited from time to time by theatrical performances, more or less immoral. The more immoral they are, the greater will be the crush for seats ; yes, and greater, too, will be the scandal. We are sometimes amazed at the liberal patronage accorded such theatricals. People who know better and boast of better taste, are seen to sit and witness, with evident relish, the portrayal of 90 Father Walsh illicit love and brazen harlotry. Shame on such Catholics ! It may be, brethren, a pleasant pastime for some people to look at immorality on the stage, but I tell you it will not be so pleasant to hear ringing in your d>ing ears those awful words of Jesus Christ : ' ' Woe to them from whom scandal cometh ! " No doubt Catholics who attend "racy" plays and performances at the theatre, kneel down and pray thus : ' ' Our Father, who art in heaven. . . . Lead us not into temptation." What a mockery to ask God to lead us not into temptation, and then rush into danger with our eyes wide open, as if our Blessed Master had not said: "He who loves the danger shall perish in it." Shame on such Catholics ! It were better for them had a millstone been tied around their necks and that they were cast into the depths of the sea. To conclude this instruction, let me beg of you, brethren, to love the word of life. Do not allow yourselves to grow indifferent to Christ's warnings. Be not only hearers of the Word, but doers also. When you come to church on Sunday, listen to the preaching of the Gospel with attention and with profit ; for every sermon, be it ever so short, be it ever so simple, contains some thought or some les- son which, if put into practice, is sure to lift us up to a higher and nobler standard of living. Finally, brethren, make time occasionally, and especially during Lent, to meditate on the teachings of truth itself. If you do this, your souls will soon become well-nigh perfect, for you will be growing rich in grace and in virtue, and, what is more, you will be yielding a perfect obedience to the command : "Hear ye Him." Sermons 91 FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. Dearly Beloved Brethren : The Holy Scriptures are sometimes called a choice collection of inspired paintings— word-paintings, if you will. Even the world, with all its prejudices, concedes this much to religion, for the world does, and must acknowledge that human genius is indebted to the Sacred Volume for its sublimest flights, and its grandest, happiest inspirations. This is a fact that may be substantiated in every department of human achievement, and based on the weighty words of the best masters of science, literature, and art. Raphael, whose name is the proud boast and inheritance of the art school, and whose masterpieces adorn the walls of many stately cathedrals of Europe, once said, that his greatest works were only rough sketches, faint copies of the admirable models to be found in every page of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And, true enough, if we compare the copy with the model, and contrast their relative merits, we cannot but arrive at the conclusion that Raphael's words were a grate- ful and tender tribute to truth as well as to humility. For the most part, the painted canvas and sculp- tured marble charm but one sense ; they speak and appeal principally to the critical eye ; but the word- paintings of the Gospel, ah ! they sink into the very soul. From whatever point we view them, they have a most important bearing on our eternal inter- ests, and for that reason must needs deeply concern the human heart and mind. They make us feel the majesty of God, the power of the Creator, the mercy, and the charity, and the love of Jesus Christ for us — the masses of the people. Mark, my brethren, how clearly, yet perfectly, St. John pictures, in to-day's Gospel, that deep and abiding love. A great multitude, numbering upwards of five 92 Father Walsh thousand persons, had been following our Blessed Lord from place to place, because they saw the mir- acles He did on those who were infirm. There was comfort and healing in His words. As was natural, the gratitude of the people sought some outlet, which it found in the outpouring of the masses. Christ was touched by the popular demonstration, but the Scribes and Pharisees, seeing in it a great danger to the country, felt bound to take every precaution to check the enthusiasm of the crowd. Their efforts were, however, useless and unnecessary ; for Christ Himself finally decided to withdraw temporarily from the city, and retire to some secluded place for prayer and rest. Accordingly, He hurried into the neigh- boring country, and seeing a beautiful knoll, He pro- posed to His disciples that they go there and sit down. His rest did not last long ; for, lifting up His eyes, He saw the multitude surging towards Him. What was He to do? In their eagerness to hear His heavenly doctrine and witness His wonderful works, many had followed Him, without a thought and without a care about their daily sustenance. Could He send them away fasting to their houses ? Such an action on His part might seem like an act of indifference toward the common people, whose love and admiration He wished to win and reward. As night was coming on, Christ felt that only a stupendous miracle could reward such devotion, and at the same time fully satisfy the burning love of His own Sacred Heart. So He said to His disciples : ' ' Make the men sit down. ' ' All eyes were now riveted on Jesus as He stood in prayer, and He looked what He claimed to be— the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father. The prayer ended. He raised His hand over five small barley loaves and two small fishes. My breth- ren, you know the rest ; more than five thousand prisms partook of a miraculous food, and although St. John makes no mention of the fact, it is safe Sermons 93 to say that the repast tasted sweeter to that tired and hungry multitude than the most sumptuous dishes. Did any painting, my brethren, every appeal more strongly to the human heart and mind than this im- mortal " feeding of the five thousand"? Does it not recall to your minds the power and providence of God ? Does it not convince you of His kindly care of those who trust in Him ? In a word, does it not remind you of the love and charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ for your own selves ? True, the time was when you and I, unregener- ated as yet by Baptism, were the enemies of Christ ; but since we were born again of water and the Holy Ghost, there has existed between the Saviour and ourselves, a love as true as it is tender, and as deep as it is lasting. Both reason and revelation proclaim this fact to the world, and there are none who ought to recognize it so quickly as we— the masses— the poor— the toiling classes of the Catholic Church. The very thought of Christ's love for us baffles the mind ; its length, and height, and breadth, we can measure only by His words and works, by the honors He has conferred upon us, and by the many sacred memorials He has bequeathed to us. Notwithstanding His high birth, Jesus Christ always seemed on terms of intimacy with the lowly, and at home with those of our condition. When He spoke to the proud Pharisee, and the learned Scribe, there was sternness on His brow, a keenness in His glance, and a ring of reproof in His voice, that made Him, for the time being, quite a different person from the gentle Jesus who graciously dined with Zaccheus, the publican, and tenderly said to Mary Magdalene: "Daughter, thy sins are forgiven thee." Let us go a step further, and note the honors His love has heaped on us, in the person of care- worn, ordinary people. He had no greater gift to 94 Father Walsh offer mankind than the perpetuation of His teach- ings. And to whom did He entrust that sacred office ? Was it to any king, to any statesman, to any man of genius, to any learned philosopher, that Jesus said : " Go, teach all nations " ? No ; for when those words fell from His Divine lips, He had before Him twelve poor, unlettered men, chosen from among the people, men whose lot in life was very like our own— to live and suffer, and struggle, and die, and leave no record of themselves save the record of their godly deeds, that are written and remem- bered in Heaven. And when the Church, thus built upon the Apos- tles, had been established throughout the world, and had grown strong enough to defy tyranny, whose interest did she espouse ? Was it not those of the poor and weak ? Remember, it was she who con- verted the amphitheatres of Rome into churches, and then opened their doors wide to the masses of the people. Lovingly she gathered the lowly slave around her altars, and whispered in his ears words of consolation and encouragement. The same spirit of love that characterized the Primitive Church exists, my brethren, in all its fulness, at the present day ; for if we build grand cathedrals, they are for the people, they are for you, that you may worship in them. Costly pews, sweet-sounding music, are things of little importance, if we are not a throng of the simple people, filling the place with the incense of our prayers, and finding beneath the shadows of our altars a safe and sacred retreat for our weary, aching, heavy hearts. The hearts of the poor are often heavy, for they have so much to suffer, and so little to console them — where, if it be not in Christ's Church, will they find sunshine and hope ? Happily, history has yet to point out but one single instance where ample opportunity of seeking and Sermons 95 obtaining an abundance of both was denied by Holy Church to any of her children. The sacraments are the acknowledged sources of heavenly hope and sun- shine, and where is the person, be he ever so poor, who has experienced even the slightest difficulty in approaching the sacraments ? Over yonder is the baptismal font. Does the Church ask or care about the worldly rank of the child that comes to be bap- tized ? No ; never. The same words, the same water, the same ceremonies, are used for all alike ; near the baptismal font are the confessionals. My brethren, most of you know what they are, and I am happy to believe that most of you have a practical knowledge of them. However, I will say for the benefit of care- less and unpractical Catholics, that they are places in which sins are forgiven, in Christ's name, to the humble and contrite penitent. Did anyone, even the poorest penitent, go to the confessional and have the anointed minister of God suspend absolution till he could certify to the possession of worldly dignity and wealth ? Ah ! no ; the priest dare not do such a thing, and if he did, the Church would unfrock him, and smite him with her heaviest anathemas. But let us go up nearer the altar. What do we notice ? The Holy Table, and the tabernacle, in which is the miraculous bread. When we see a goodly number of honest and sincere people kneeling there to receive the bread of the strong, we cannot but recall the touching scene so vividly portrayed in this day's Gospel. The communicants came here fasting, and out of love for Christ. Did it make any difference whether they were richly dressed or poorly clad ? Did anyone ask them whether they came from a marble mansion or a humble tenement ? You are well aware, my brethren, that our Blessed Lord made no such issue with the crowd gathered around Him ; and you know, too, that there is no change or variation in Christ. He is the same, yes- 96 Father Walsh terday, to-day, and to-morrow. He longs to feed the masses of the people to-day, as He fed them near Jerusalem some two thousand years ago. For this purpose, He still multiplies the miraculous bread by the ministry of His priesthood, and invites the people to come and sit down at His table. But, human indifference, there are those who despise His loving invitation, while many others, who, calling them- selves His friends, beg to be held excused ; some, because of business cares, and some, because of domestic cares. Thanks to the patience of our Saviour, and to the pleadings of His Sacred Heart, our procrastination has not as yet been answered as it deserves to be — by rejection and reprobation. God waits and watches for us, night and day. His vigil, a long, weary one— in the tabernacle— is that of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. But, before casting us off for- ever, perhaps Christ will try moral coercion. During the Easter- time He says to His priests what He said to the disciples of old, though in a different sense : 44 Make the people sit down." This is no longer a gentle request, it is a stern command. Let us re- member this, and let everyone who claims the Church as his mother, prepare to obey it. Let no one shirk his responsibility in this re- spect ; for to do so would be to incur excommunication. Such a misfortune was never meant to befall per- sons like hard-pressed, struggling, suffering, toiling Catholics. Your lot in this life is indeed a hard and thankless one. You buy your bread in the sweat of your brow, and I feel sure, too, that a number of you moisten it with the tears of your affliction. During this Paschal time, let us lift up our hearts to God ; let our conversation be in heaven, where at no distant day, perhaps, all will be peace, and joy, and happiness. He has so ordained it. Christ has so promised it to them that love Him. ' Come to Me," Sermons 97 says our Blessed Saviour, ' ' all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you/' Yes, draw near to Him now, and to the feelings of satisfaction that always come from a duty well done, He will add the blessed hope of delights which the human eye hath not seen, which the human ear hath never heard, nor any human heart been able to conceive. FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT. JESUS' LOVE FOR THE PEOPLE. ' ' And Jesus took the loaves ; and when He had given thanks, He distributed to them that were set down."— St. John vi, 11. The life of our Blessed Lord, my dear brethren, has been summarized " the mission of love." Although brief, these three and thirty eventful years are truly remarkable and remarkably true ; for, indeed, the Holy Scriptures, and the four gospel nar- ratives especially, contain the record of many words and works— parables and miracles which prove be- yond a doubt that Christ loved us with an eternal love, and that the human race is ever near to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ. Did time permit, we might recall the various oc- casions upon which He was pleased to manifest His intense love for His people ; but this morning we must needs confine ourselves to one instance only, the one mentioned in the Gospel of the Sunday, where it is said that " Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed to them that were set down." The circumstances that prompted our Divine Sav- iour to give this signal proof of His compassionate love are intimately connected with the miracle itself, and should be touched upon for the full and clear intelligence of our text. 98 Father Walsh The Son of God began His public career at a time when the Jewish nation was suffering untold hu- miliations at the hands of the Romans, their haughty conquerors. It was a bitter thing for them to ac- knowledge that the royal sceptre had passed forever from the house of David. The very thought was crushing hopes and ambitions from the individual as well as from the national heart, when Christ came out from the quiet of His humble home at Nazareth, like the sun from behind the Eastern hills. His presence imparted new hope and life to the Jews, for everyone saw a nameless charm in His person, they felt a peculiar magnetism in His words, and in His works they acknowledged a power more than human. Everything pointed to Him as the possible deliverer of Israel. But the expectations of the Jews were not to be realized. Christ's kingdom was not of this world. Herod, moreover, considering His presence among the people a constant menace to his position, sought His life. Christ, knowing this, quietly withdrew from that ungrateful city, which had been the recipient of His blessings and the witness of His miracles. He went about, says the Inspired Writer, doing good ; deliver- ing the possessed, healing the sick, and restoring the dead to life. Was it, therefore, to be wondered at, my brethren, if the people, mindful of these bless- ings and favors, disregarded. . . . of the civil au- thorities, and followed Him into the desert place to which He retired ? Be it said to the honor of mankind, that if Jesus loved the people, the people loved Him, at least on this occasion. They crowded eagerly around Him in His retirement, anxious to catch the words of sal- vation as they fell from His sacred lips ; anxious to hear once more the sweet and tender accents of His voice. So great, indeed, was their pious enthusiasm, that they utterly forgot to guard themselves against Sermons 99 the cravings of hunger and of thirst. They were not solicitous about what they would eat or what they would drink ; they left their homes with other thoughts, never for one moment dreaming that their unconcern about themselves would lead Christ to per- form one of those stupendous miracles that will stand for all time to come as a memorable instance of the Sacred Heart's compassionate love. "And Jesus took the loaves," says St. John, "and when He had given thanks, He distributed to them that were set down"— in number about five thou- sand. "How great was the power," exclaims St. Bernard, in commenting on this passage, " but how much greater was the love displayed." We can add only one thing, my brethren, to the simple words of the Holy Evangelist, and that one thing is this : the love manifested by Christ on all occasions, but more especially in this instance. He wished to remain unto the end of time. It was, in fact, for this rea- son, and for this reason alone, that He established His Church, to which He left as by testament, a wealth of love in trust for His people of all times and of all places. And you know, my brethren, how well the Church has fulfilled her trust, how well she has carried on the mission begun by Christ. She has been the true friend of the people ; she has always taken a kind and loving interest in the oppressed of all nations ; she has sought the advancement and the elevation of mankind, by instilling into their hearts and minds the true conception of their great dignity and destiny. My brethren, Jesus Christ loved you in the person of that vast multitude that gathered around Him in His retreat on the mountain-side. To-day, He has the same kindly feelings for you ; but they find ex- pression in and through the Church. For you the Church has her choicest blessings ; for you, her 100 Father Walsh sacraments ; for you, her favored ones, she holds in her hands at all times a bread far more miraculous than that of which mention is made in to-day's Gos- pel. She holds in trust for you, the bread of life eternal. "Whoever shall eat this bread," says Christ, in instituting the Holy Eucharist, " shall have life eternal/ ' The Blessed Sacrament of the Altar is the sub- limest proof of God's solicitude for our spiritual wel- fare, and of His special love for souls. It is, indeed, the mystery of love, the depth of which we can never fathom. The most we can do is to suggest a few reasons and means of acquitting ourselves of the sacred duty we owe to our Blessed Lord. It is evi- dent we should love Him, because He loved us first. This is a matter of simple gratitude ; but every mark of gratitude is in a sense a mark of love. There are two ways in which we may show this gratitude : First, frequent and worthy reception of the Holy Eucharist. It were useless for me to speak of the devout practices to the larger and better por- tion of this congregation. A short experience has afforded me ample proof of your piety in this re- spect. Another mark of our loving devotion to our Divine Saviour is the frequent visitation to Him in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. These two practices have made many saints ; they will make us saints. Follow them faithfully, my brethren, if pos- sible, and you will find them a comfort to your souls, oftentimes world weary ; and from them you will also experience a sweet consolation at the hour of death. Jesus will come to you then, to close your eyes softly in that long sleep which knows no awak- ening until resurrection morn, when He will open them again, we trust, in the kingdom of His glory. Sermons 101 HOLY THURSDAY. " Panem de coelo prsestitisti eis." — "Thou gavest them bread from Heaven."— Wisdom. Dear Sisters and Children of the Sacred Heart : Of all the weeks of the year, there is one that is called holy. Of all the days of that week, there are two that are called holier than the rest. One is Good Friday, bearing a message of infinite sorrow, telling a tale of incomparable suffering. The other is Holy Thursday, rich in memories that fill and thrill the human heart with a heavenly joy. For if the cruci- fixion reminds us of sin, and sorrow, and suffering, the Last Supper symbolizes, in the sublimest manner possible, the inexpressible love of Christ Jesus for the sin-laden, the tempted, and the afflicted. Blessed truth, this ! Consoling thought ! Since the worlds first Holy Thursday, souls have had no reason to despair. Nor should any trial sadden our lives, nor any trouble cause us to grieve like those who have no hope. We have our Blessed Lord with us in the Sacrament of the Altar, and He is there to strengthen and console us, as He said He would. Listen to His own words : ' I am the bread of the strong," and "I will comfort thee as one whom his mother comf orteth. ' ' Think you, dear children, it matters much when these words fell from the Saviour's sacred lips ? No ; for His promises to hear and to help us in what- soever day we shall cry unto Him, are the same yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow. They dispel dark- ness and sadness from life just as effectually as they did in the long ago, and they still bring a new courage and a new hope to the heavily laden heart and the sin-stained soul. There is, perhaps, no class of persons in all this world of ours who stand more in need of that sym- pathy and that love divine than do poor sinners, 102 Father Walsh struggling back, it may be slowly and painfully, to the light of grace, and to the arms of a forgiving father. For many of you little ones it is impossible to understand the sighings and the sufferings of those who, like Holy David, have sinned against the Lord. Living, as you are, in an atmosphere of piety, you know, as yet, nothing of the great struggle going on in the world between good and evil ; you know, as yet, nothing of the dangers and temptations that await you outside these convent walls. Virtue seems to be had for the mere asking ; victory is the easiest thing imaginable. But will it always be thus ? We know not. What we do know is this : that the sinner admits the folly of evil, and realizes, to his own sor- row, the meaning of these prophetic words : ' ' Know thou and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee to have left the Lord thy God." If you wish to know better than you do, the fearful consequences of sin, and obtain a better in- sight into the pitiable state to which it eventually brings the transgressor, read the story of the Prodi- gal Son. He went out from his father's house well clad, with a well-filled purse, and in the best of health. Temptation assails him, and he falls ; the thought of his father haunts him. He will return to his old home, even though he must go back ragged, and hungry, and broken in health. What a change ! The experiment was a bitter one, for it robbed him of everything save the boundless sympathy and the patient love of his father. But you may wish to delve deeper into the con- sideration of the sinner's life, and study its touching yearnings after God. If so, look carefully at the awful picture of the ten lepers whom Jesus met one day on His way from Jerusalem to Jericho. 'Tis a ghastly picture, to be sure ; still, it teaches us noth- ing else except the foulest features of sin. Accord- ing to the Jewish Law, lepers were classed among" Sermons 103 the unclean ; their disease was considered not only dangerous, but also contagious and incurable. Con- sequently the afflicted ones were taken forcibly from home and kindred, and sent to a lonely settlement outside the city limits, known as the "leper colony.' ' Here they were obliged to remain until death came to their relief. Come with me, dear children, and visit in thought the "lepers' colony.' ' Have you ever witnessed anywhere such misery as you meet here ? Now you see them ; for, sure enough, the lives of the victims of leprosy are a living death. Oh ! how they sigh for the happy days that are gone forever ; how they talk by day, and dream by night, of the loving friends they shall see no more ; how they recall again and again the last forced words of farewell that are never spoken but once — and then at the death-bed ! Do you turn away in disgust from the picture of wretchedness, and say you can neither see, nor im- agine, the depth of the cloud of darkness and de- spair that must have hung over that poor outcasts' colony ? Well, we are not surprised ; the misery is too deep for human understanding ; but it is not, for all that, without a remedy. You have heard it said, and it is a true saying, that ' ' every cloud, be it ever so black, has a silver lining." Wherever there is darkness, you are always sure to find behind it light and sunshine. This is a truth of the natural world, and, thank God, of the spiritual world too. Does not everyday life furnish us thousands of striking proofs ? However, there is, perhaps, nowhere a more con- vincing evidence of it than in the lives of these self- same lepers. When disease had blighted their every hope, and reduced them physically to moving masses of corruption, a strange light flashed in upon them, and, lo ! sickness gave place to health, and hopeless- ness to happiness. What was this light, dear children ? I will tell 104 Father Walsh you ; 'twas the sweet smile of God ; 'twas the love of the Sacred Heart. Yes, Jesus had come and cured them. Now, why have we referred, on a day like this, to the prodigal son, and the ten lepers, to darkness, and wretchedness, and leprosy, to sin and sinners ? Oh ! some of you may have divined the reason. Human nature has changed but little since the time of Christ ; our moral weaknesses are the same now as they were then, and they require the same almighty remedy — sympathy and love divine. I need scarcely tell you, dear children, that there are, in these our own days, prodigal sons and prodigal daughters, not a few who need the same kiss of peace and reconciliation that was given to the youth of long ago ; and we have, to-day, spiritual lepers, sinners, who are perhaps sighing for a glimpse of the Saviour, ready to cry unto Him : "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." Will no answer ever come to relieve the monotony of that cry going up to heaven from sunrise to sun- set, and from sunset to sunrise ? True, the world ad- mits, "No." Ah ! but the world is mocking us. Let it tell me, if it will, that I must struggle against poverty ; let it tell me that I must suffer in mind and in body ; let it tell me that I must lose what is near- est and dearest to me in life ; let it tell me that I, too, must become an outcast from home, and kindred, and the society of my fellow-man ; but let it not tell me there is no Jesus near at hand to hear me and to help me out of my sins. If an angel came down from heaven with such a message, I would curse him and call him a devil ; for I know that my Lord and Saviour is there — in the sacrament of His love— the same good and compassionate Shepherd of my soul that He always was. and a 1 ways will be. The object of a shepherd is to protect the flock and lead it into pastures rich and green, where the sheep may feed and wax strong. What a touching image Sermons 105 of tender love ! In the wilderness of this world v Jesus says to you : "You are the sheep of My flock. '* He tells us to sit down at the table which He Himself has prepared for us. And behold, when we have washed and wiped away our sins, He gives us bread from heaven — the bread of the strong ; the bread of virgins ; the bread of angels ; the bread of life ; the bread that contains in itself all sweetness. "Omne delectamentum in se habentem." Dear children, would that I were gifted with the knowledge and the eloquence of the blessed in heaven— with a Seraphim and a Cherubim— I would then speak to you of the greatness of the Son of God in the Holy Eucharist, not for a half -hour, not for a half-day, but for an eternity. The Lord never meant that human life, like mine, should attempt to picture the unspeakable love of Jesus Christ. The most He permits us to do, and the most He expects of us, is to see Him, and through that love to adore Him in humble faith, and receive Him frequently and piously into pure hearts. I feel, dear children, that you will often do both. May the lights and the flowers that surround Him to- day typify your faith and your love— a love and a faith that will always keep you ever at His side with Mary, His Virgin Mother. As for the rest, you need never fear neither sin, nor sorrow, nor suffering. The storm may toss and shipwreck others ; it will never harm you. And now, in conclusion, dear children, may I lay upon you a little injunction ? When you leave this blessed, peaceful convent home, be sure to carry away with you into this restless world, the sweet practice of visiting, from time to time, our Dear Lord in the Sacrament of the Altar. You'll have favors enough to ask of Him, both for yourselves and others, I can assure you. Although far from dear old Ken- wood, never forget that you owe a prayer to your be- 106 Father Walsh loved teachers, to whom you shall always be bound by the golden links of faith, hope and charity. Pray that they, and you, and I, may one day enjoy the beatific vision, which is, after all, nothing else than the taking away of the veil which hides from our view Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. GOOD FRIDAY. 1 ' Christus passus est pro nobis. "— ' ' Christ suffered for us." Good Friday ! What a day of hallowed memories ! What a day of heartfelt devotions ! What a day of deep and holy reflections ! What wonder, dearly beloved brethren, that our minds are full of tender thoughts this morning, and our hearts full of grateful feelings. Is not this the blessed anniversary of man's emancipation from the bondage of sin and Satan ? Was it not on this day, over nineteen hundred years ago, that Christ suffered for us ? " Christus passus est pro nobis." Weigh well, ye children of God, these inspired words. True, they are poor in number ; but, oh ! how rich they are in meaning ! They tell of an event that has changed the whole current of human life, lifting up humanity to a higher plane, and leading man from darkness to the dawn of a brighter and better day ; they breathe mercy, forgiveness, hope ; they sum- marize a history which, for true heroism and devo- tion, has no parallel in the annals of the world. In fine, the words of our text turn our thoughts to the most sublime proof of God's infinite power, wisdom, and love. To show you, dearly beloved brethren, the truth of this assertion, let us study together for a brief half- hour the mystery of our redemption ; let us analyze, Sermons 107 as best we can, its nature and its effects ; let us meditate on its all-important lessons seriously, and in the solitude of our hearts ; or, better still, let us go in spirit, and do our meditating on Calvary's heights. For what is there now to keep us here ? Our sur- roundings do not wear the same cheerful appearance they did yesterday ; our sanctuary lamps are extin- guished ; our altars are stripped, and (saddest of all for Catholics to bear) our tabernacles are empty. To-day, Holy Mother Church accompanies the Mother of Sorrows to Golgotha, and stands weeping beneath the cross of Christ, who suffered and died for us. " Christus passus est pro nobis.' ' Who is it, brethren, that suffered for us ? The Apostle answers, Christ. And here we have, as we said a moment ago, a sublime proof of God's infinite power. It is impossible for the mind of man to grasp the idea of a bleeding, suffering, dying God. We all feel that such a conception transcends reason, and that such a doctrine runs counter to human teachings and theories. From its very infancy the world was taught to associate the name of God with happiness, not with suffering ; with life, not with death. And as generation succeeded generation, the belief grew that He who resides in the heavens holds in the hol- low of His hands the hopes of nations as well as of in- dividuals. How, then, the world asks, could He— the author of life, the Lord and Master of the universe, the image of the Eternal Father — how could He be- come the object of persecution, and a subject of death ? How, men asked themselves, could He, the God of armies, the King of kings, be betrayed by a contemptible Judas, mocked by an adulterous Herod, condemned by a cowardly Pilate, insulted by a vile rabble, and crucified by a handful of Roman soldiers ? What men cannot readily understand, they, in their pride, ofttimes reject. Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise. 108 Father Walsh Such was, brethren, the case in this instance, and so they did not attempt to look beneath the surface of things ; nor did they attempt to read the hand- writing of God. Understand, we do not accuse the Gentile, for his heart was not yet opened to the in- fluence of Divine grace, and, consequently, he could not see the light of truth. But we do accuse of an awful crime the Jewish priesthood, who, smarting, no doubt, under the scathing denunciations of the Saviour, wickedly misinterpreted the Holy Scrip- tures, and strenuously tried to reduce to a standing folly and shame one of the most memorable of hu- man events, and one of the grandest projects ever conceived and executed by the Divine Mind. Thank God that the determination of the Jewish priesthood to destroy faith in the mystery of Man's Redemption miscarried. It had to miscarry, for truth is mighty and shall prevail. When pharisaism had done its worst, a thousand witnesses sprang forward, ready to admit the omnipotence of the Cross and to attest that Christ crucified was, in the lan- guage of St. Paul, the very power of God. And not only did the Crucifixion force such a con- fession from centurion, soldier, and executioner, but even inanimate nature lifted up its voice to proclaim the existence of invisible strength there, where the world saw nothing but pitiable weakness. "And behold,' ' says St. Matthew, "the sun was darkened, and the veil of the Temple was rent in two, from the top even to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent, and many bodies of the saints who had long slept arose from the dust." Such wonders can only point to power, and they easily explain why the blood-stained murderers of Jesus struck their breasts and said: "Truly, this is the Son of God." Living away off in Egypt, a heathen philosopher exclaimed : ' ' Either the God of nature is dying, or else the machinery of the world is going to pieces.' ' Sermons 109 I will not try your patience, dearly beloved breth- ren, by seeking to advance other and weighty proofs of the Divine, Infinite power of the Cross. All I ask is to be permitted to point out briefly the wonderful, mysterious change its influence has wrought in this world of pride and sensuality. Prior to the thrilling tragedy of Calvary, the Cross was a sign of ig- nominy. Upon it were condemned to die only the worst criminals, the most depraved characters. It was, indeed, a folly to Gentiles and a scandal to the Jews. But what has been its history ? What the story of its power, since the death upon it of the Lord Jesus Christ ? Ah, my brethren, that history, that story, is a long and glorious one. Since the blood of the Lamb of God washed it, the Cross has become a sign of truth, a symbol of virtue, an emblem of liberty. It has out- lived its old enemies, and made countless friends ; it has given to humanity new aspirations and new in- fluences ; I will not say the highest, but the only heroism worthy of the name. It has sweetly led mil- lions of tender souls from loving parents and happy homes to embrace lives of obedience, purity and self- sacrifice ; it has guided the footsteps of the saintly missionary, and strengthened the heart of the mar- tyr ; it has sanctified suffering, ennobled humility, enriched poverty ; it has kept burning within, the sacred flames of faith, hope and charity. It has blessed infancy, brightened old age, and made sa- cred the ashes of the dead. Yes, brethren, it has done all this, and more too. Is it, therefore, any ex- aggeration to say that the world to-day loves what it once despised, and implicity admits the power of the Cross ? But Christ crucified is not merely an evidence of infinite power ; He is also a revelation of infinite wisdom. St. Paul tells us that by the disobedience of our first parents sin entered into the world. 110 Father Walsh Now, my brethren, sin is nothing more nor less than the sowing of eternal hatred between God — the Creator, and man— the creature. It means simply the eternal loss of heavenly happiness. EASTER. There are times, my dear brethren, when affliction seems to divest life of all its charms ; times when tears blind our eyes to everything calculated to bind up and cheer our bleeding hearts ; times when grief closes our ears to every word of worldly comfort, to every expression of human sympathy. When death visits our homes and takes away one dear to us, oh, then it is that we would fain turn aside from the world, with its countless delusions, to go and kneel, and pray, and weep, beside the grave in which they have placed the object of our affection. Just such a time of unutterable grief is Holy Week for the Catholic Church, the Spouse of Christ. Mil- lions and millions of Catholic hearts were grief -laden while the dreadful scenes of the Passion were being enacted. There were tears in our eyes when we beheld our " Eldest Brother" standing bruised and pale before the Jewish judges and people ; sad thoughts arose in our minds when we saw His sacred flesh torn by the cruel scourge ; there were feelings of anguish in our hearts as we stood on Calvary's height and saw the emissaries of Satan pierce, with rough nails, His sacred hands and feet — those hands that were never raised save in prayer and blessing, and those feet that never wearied in spreading the gladsome tidings of salvation. To one whose frail form is racked by the intens- est pain, death must, indeed, be a welcome relief, a kindly blessing. But to the suffering Saviour, it was more than a relief, more than a simple cessation of Sermons 111 physical and mental agony. For us mortals, death is, admittedly, the hour of defeat ; but for our Blessed Lord it was the hour of victory ; and the grave, that never fails to shatter human hopes and ambitious designs, was to Him the beginning of everlasting honor and glory. This victory over sin and the grave has long been, and ever shall be, the one, great, mighty mainstay of Holy Mother Church. On Good Friday she followed the body of her Spouse to the tomb, and, in the person of the holy women, lingered lovingly round the sepulchre, await- ing with an expectant heart the dawn of a new day, to verify the prophecy of the Resurrection. And, true enough, my dear brethren, this morning her tears are wiped away, her faith is richly rewarded, her hopes fully realized ; for, quoting the words of the angel, she hastens to say to us, her children, that ' ' He is risen. ' ' And rolling back the stone from the sepulchre, she bids us enter, saying, the while : ' ' He is not here ; behold the place where they laid Him." And now that we wept with the Church in her sadness, it is only meet and proper, my brethren, that we should rejoice with her to-day in her gladness. Let us rejoice in spirit to see our God and Redeemer in the peaceful possession of the glory due to His sufferings and merits. Let us rejoice to see our Saviour, impassible and immortal, forevermore screened from the malice of men, and from the fury of hell. "He died once," says St. Paul, "but is to die no more." In arising from the dead, our Blessed Lord had two objects in view. First, He wished His resurrection to be a living proof of His Divinity, and a mark of the divinity of His Church. Secondly, He wished Easter Sunday to be a perpetual encouragement, a lasting con- solation, to His followers. Surely, in the fact of His resurrection, it is comparatively easy, my brethren, to recognize the power of One Who is omnipotent. 112 Father Walsh The power of man is, we confess, great, and his skill wonderful ; but great and wonderful as they are, they have their well-defined limits. Men have power on the earth. They have reared up magnifi- cent structures, they have achieved great things in the arts and sciences, they have drawn from nature her most cherished secrets ; but there is one thing no man can ever do : he cannot lift his dead hand, nor bring back life to the pulseless heart. Only God can do that, and when Christ Jesus did it, He proved simply, and beyond the shadow of a doubt, that He was really God. Christ, therefore, being God, it necessarily follows that the doctrine He preached, and which He com- missioned His apostles to spread throughout the world, bears the seal and sanction of heaven. In vain do we seek another cause for the constant and marvelous growth of the Catholic Church. Despite persecutions and difficulties innumerable, she has lived and flourished like her Divine Master. She has been despised in one country, only to be honored and trusted in another. She has encountered many would-be terrors, but she has survived them all, be- cause she was strong in the strength of Him who triumphed on Easter Sunday, once and forever, over the enemies of light and truth. Yes, brethren, Jesus has triumphed. His power, His influence, His name, is felt and recognized in every civilized nation under the vault of heaven. His cross is high above a thousand altars, and His followers, counted by the hundred millions, celebrate to-day the glories of His Resurrection. The second object Christ had in rising from the dead, was, as we have said, to encourage and console those who believe in Him. Like the Israelites of old, we are all journeying towards the land of promise. The way is narrow. It is full of mysterious wind- ings, and ultimately leads to the grave, through Sermons 113 which, however, we hope to enter into life eternal. Christ rose again. Then we shall also rise from the grave. Oh ! my dearest friends, what consolation should not this thought bring home to God's afflicted ones ! To the widow, it speaks of a reunion beyond the tomb, and sheds a bright light round a fond hus- band's dark, green grave. It sings the sweet song of hope to parents who miss from their side the children they have lost, telling them of a home where families never separate, and where affection's broken chain is welded once more. It consoles orphans, assuring them they shall meet their father again in the Happy Land, and look again upon mother's face— that face in which they of ttimes read more plainly than any words can tell, the lessons of deep devotion and the principles of true virtue. It hallows the resting- place of our brothers and sisters, and gives a new life to old friendships ; for we received on this blessed day the assurance that we shall meet again on eter- nity's shores, all the good, and pure, and virtuous friends whom we knew and loved so dearly in life. Hence, my brethren, the glorious feast we cele- brate to-day is a most powerful incentive to lead holy lives and avoid sinful habits. Alas ! this grand sol- emnity can have but little significance for him who is not risen with Christ, victorious over sin and death. He has, indeed, ears to hear the medley of mingled song and prayer, but he listens as one half -uncon- scious, or as from a distance, to the voice of exultation that the Church is sending up to heaven. Poor sinner, how can he have any share in our Easter rejoicing ? For him, there is no real joy, no calm, no rest, no gladness. For him, Christ is not risen. For him, there can be no Easter till the blood of the Lamb, flowing through the channels of the sacraments, washes his sin-stained soul, and re- stores him to the communion of saints. May God soon grant this grace to all His wayward children. 114 Father Walsh To those who, during the Lenten season, have sincerely turned to God, and have risen from the grave of sin, I would say on this glorious anniver- sary : Persevere unto the end, for to perseverance is promised a never-ending Easter in Heaven. Amen. EASTER SERMON. " This is the day which the Lord hath made : Let us rejoice and be glad therein. ,, — Ps. cxvii, 24. It has been said, brethren, that Christ never smiled during His life on earth. If this saying is true, there must be a reason, for philosophy tells us there is a reason for everything. In matters speculative, the Church is always silent, thus leaving everyone free to follow his or her own fancy. And so, too, we are left free— free to confess that we have been converted to the belief that Christ never smiled while on earth. For two reasons such a belief seems to be well founded. In the first place, we feel that our Blessed Saviour must have had in His Divine mind, from the very beginning to the very end of His earthly existence, a knowledge of the purpose for which He had come into this world. Time and time again He must have whispered to Himself, ' ' I am come into the world to seek and to save that which is lost " — a task quite as arduous as it was thankless. In the second place, Christ, know- ing the nature of His mission to the world, we find it must have been looming up before Him, in all places and at all times — the awful price which Divine Justice exacted of Him who was willing to redeem a discredited and disinherited race. St. Paul calls that price " great,' ' and no wonder ; for what could possi- bly be greater, or more precious, than the sacrificial atonement made for sin on Good Friday afternoon ? Sermons 115 Under such circumstances, ought we be surprised if Christ never smiled ? And should we find it hard to believe that whenever the Redeemer sat down to meditate, His soul must have been sorrowful even unto death, and that whenever He knelt to pray, His poor humanity must have sought no recreation, but rather strength to finish the work the Heavenly Father had given Him to do ? In one of the apocryphal gospels, the story is told of how the Christ-child, playing one day in the humble work-shop of Nazareth, fashioned with His tiny hands a little wooden cross. Was He thus re- vealing to favored souls the sad secrets of His Sacred Heart ? Or was He, perhaps, thus laying bare to the world the thoughts that were uppermost in His Divine mind ? Or, finally, was He thus only illustrat- ing and confirming the truth of an old and familiar saying, namely, that coming events were casting their shadows before ? We know not, brethren ; but this we do know : there were no empty dreams, no illusions, in the life of Christ concerning His " medi- atorship." He had carefully and prayerfully calcu- lated the cost, and so we cannot but believe that sorrow had stamped Jesus for her very own, and that the actual happenings of Holy Thursday night and Good Friday, long anticipated, were enough, and more than enough, to make the happiest heart heavy, and the sweetest, saintliest face sad. The power of anticipation and realization had robbed the one only Divine Life on earth of all its sunshine. Fortunately for us, brethren, we shall never know any sorrow like unto His sorrow. The nearest approach to it is the appalling blindness of men and women, who fail to find unmistakable proofs of supernatural power behind and beneath Christ's sad- ness, sorrow, suffering, and death. Because we cannot fathom the infinite depth of God's wondrous wisdom and love, many people of 116 Father Walsh to-day are inclined to be like the people of old— in- different to the cause of Christ, scoffers, skeptics, unbelievers. And, just like the people of old, mil- lions of people of to-day are tempted to look upon Christ immersed in a very sea of sadness and sorrow, not a conquering hero, nor the invincible leader of an invincible cause, but rather as a sign to be con- tradicted, as a folly to be denied, as a visionary to be disowned, as an influence to be ignored, and as a teacher to be despised. My brethren, when we think of the low estimates put upon Christ's character and career, when we think of Jesus Christ being reputed a sinner, and rel- egated to the criminal class, we cannot help crying out, in the words of Inspiration, "0 perverse gen- eration ! Thy blindness is as pathetic as it is pro- verbial. Would that thou hadst known, and that this, thy day, the things that are for thy peace, but thou wouldst not, and now they are hidden from thy eyes. ' ' Things that were for the peace of God's people, and for the glory of their immortal souls, were hap- pening every day, before the very eyes of the people of old, but they could not understand them ; they could not interpret them ; they could not read the signs of the times. Being a carnal, worldly, sensual- minded people, they could not perceive the things of God ; they could not see, beloved, the sad face of Jesus Christ, the majesty and power of God. They could not delve into the secrets of His heart and read in them the providential place of man's redemption. They could not recognize in His sublime sayings and sermons the warnings and the wisdom of heaven. "The sensual man perverteth the things of God." The people of old knew not " the Man of Sorrows." Therefore, they found it both easy and natural to re- ject Him and to condemn Him ; so true is it, brethren, that there is never a single step, and that a short step, between ignorance and injustice. Sermons 117 The cond Bmnation of the Son of Man was the most brutal blunder ever heard of in the history of humanity ; the foulest blot ever put upon the juris- prudence of the civilized world ; the most nefarious insult ever offered to innocence ; the most unfor- tunate and irreparable mistake ever made by any people, not excepting a people blinded by Satanic prejudice and malice. Ancient sacerdotalism and pharisaism, the in- stigators of that crime, soon found themselves sub- merged in a veritable sea of contempt ; a contempt heightened, and deepened, and widened by their failure to read and remember the fulfilled promises of prophecy. Were not those learned doctors of the law familiar, for instance, with the promise made in Paradise, to the effect that the Virgin's child would crush the heads of Satan and his satellites ? How could they fail to investigate and appreciate the claims of the only man whose biography was written before His birth ? Let me tell you, brethren, our world never writes biographies and histories of men and events until they at least materialize. The best the world can do is to write the story of a great man's greatness during that man's life. Jesus Christ alone enjoys the distinction of having had clearly recorded — in prophecy — the principal facts of His earthly career. How, then, could the doctors of the Old Law, and the leaders of the people of old, have been ignorant of the facts, and, oh ! how could they have been so blinded as to shut their eyes and their ears to His works and words — works and words that fairly bristle with evidence of power and life divine ? If every work of Jesus of Nazareth did not bear the stamp of supernatural power ; if His every word did not show forth the wisdom of the Father, then, and not till then, would it have been right for the people of old to judge Jesus by "the rags He wore, 118 Father Walsh and the cross He bore" ; and this world, this earth of ours, would have been spared the humiliating in- dictment of "Deicide." Knowing as you do, brethren, from the Gospels, what His works were, you know, too, that His mir- acles were never equalled, or even attempted, before or since His time. And as for His words, we defy any man of any place or time to show us one single instance in which His practice was not as good as His preaching. We defy him to show one single instance in which His claims were not verified, His promises not fulfilled, His teaching not upheld by common sense and common decency. To illustrate our meaning, permit me, brethren, to cite just one of Christ's sayings — one that is not only pertinent to our purpose, but most appropriate to our glorious feast of Easter, "the day which the Lord hath made." A short time before His condemnation, the Master had said to His disciples : ' ' Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be de- livered to the Gentiles, who shall put Him to death." Now, brethren, mark these epoch-making words : " But the third day I shall rise again." Did He fail to fulfill that promise ? Did He fail to rise again ? Ask those pious women who, to-day's Gospel tells us, went out early in the morning of the third day, bent upon anointing and embalming the dead body of Christ, according to Jewish custom. Ask them to tell you what they saw and heard. They saw the great stone rolled back from the door of the Holy Sepulchre ; they saw discarded death clothes ; they saw an empty tomb. They went out to that ever-memorable burial place, expecting to see the dead Christ. Instead, they see a living angel sitting on the right hand side of the tomb. That angel speaks words of comfort to them, bids them not to fear or fret, assures them that He whom they seek is not there. Sermons 119 "He is risen, ' ' were the angelic words. * He is not here ; behold the place where they have laid Him." After all, just as Jesus said, that newly made grave outside of Jerusalem was not a permanent sepulchre, but only a three days' resting-place for that torn and worn body, whose whole earthly exist- ence was so cruelly overwhelmed by the dark vision of Calvary and the Cross. 'Twas the strong arm of the Roman law that bound the Saviour of the world in the fetters of death, and shut up His dead body behind the great door of the Holy Sepulchre ; but it was the stronger arm of His own Omnipotence that burst asunder these fetters and unsealed the door of that tomb. And so, after death comes life, and after burial comes resurrection. These are, my brethren, a few of the thoughts that give significance to this glorious feast of Easter, this day which the Lord has made. We rejoice and are glad in the memories of the world's first Easter day, for Christ's victory over the powers of darkness is our victory as well. Our Saviour says so. Hence, we must believe that after life's struggles, crosses, trials and tears, there will come a day of eternal rest, peace, joy, and victorious vindication. If there be among us to-day any that mourn, let them be com- forted. If the grave hides away any heart treasure, let them say, in faith and hope, one day that grave will give me back again that which I have loved and lost. Infidelity sneers at the gospel of our immortal hopes. Scoffers and skeptics would destroy such a belief. What, let us ask, will they give us in ex- change ? Everlasting darkness, everlasting silence, everlasting oblivion, everlasting death. We want none of that crude breed. The mind and the heart of man will continue to cling to the promises of Christ, and the world will continue to sing the same old song of spiritual victory : ' ' Alleluia ! Christ is 120 Father Walsh risen.' ' Easter day is His and our day. 'Let us rejoice and be glad therein. ,, Alleluia ! FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER. PRAYER. It is impossible, dearly beloved brethren, to read this Sunday's Gospel and fail to be convinced of the necessity and efficacy of prayer. More than once during His public career our Divine Saviour forcibly alluded to this subject, always teaching His hearers why, and when, and how they were to fulfill this im- portant duty. " Watch," said He, "and pray, lest you fall into temptation." And again: "Ask, and you shall receive ; seek, and you shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. ' ' Naturally, the Apostles were the first to weigh these words of Christ, and to appreciate the lesson which they so plainly taught. Hence, we find St. Peter making for himself and his brother Apostles this simple, earnest request: "Lord, teach us to pray." And the Divine Master did teach, not them alone, but also the vast multitudes that gathered around Him to hear the Word of Life. He even went so far as to lay down for His followers of all times a beautiful model to imitate. "When you pray," were His words, say: "Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name ; Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." During the nineteen centuries that have elapsed since this prayer came from the lips of our Blessed Redeemer, the world has seen many changes ; and many sublime sayings of the world's sages have gone Sermons 121 down into the grave of oblivion. But the simple "Our Father" of the Christian Church has survived the wreck of time, coming down to us of to-day in all its pristine beauty and power, as if to remind us of the ever-present necessity of turning to God for needed help and strength, and of calling upon our Heavenly Father for assistance in all our wants, spiritual and temporal. "Ask the Father whatso- ever you will in My name," says Christ, "and He will give it unto you. ' ' But Christ did not consider it sufficient merely to impose the obligation of prayer ; He did something more, for in Him theory and practice always blended perfectly. He preached only what He practiced first Himself, and He was never known to commend a virtue, or enjoin a precept, which He was not the first to ennoble and exemplify in His own life. Thus, for instance, He preached purity, but He was pure Himself. He exhorted His disciples to be char- itable, but He Himself was charitable even to His enemies. He taught men submission to their legiti- mate superiors, but He was most obedient not only to superiors, but to inferiors, to His own creatures. He wished His followers to acquire humility, but He, the God of all riches and power and glory, proved Himself truly humble of heart, by living among men in the guise of a helpless child, and as one obliged to eat His bread by the sweat of His brow. Yes, my brethren, Jesus exemplified in His own life the necessity as well as the godliness of chastity, of charity, and humility, and obedience. He made for these virtues a name and a home among men. In a manner not less beautiful did He illustrate the necessity of the holy exercise of prayer. He Himself gave us an example. He prayed Himself, frequently retiring to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He was wont to pass the whole night in con- versation with His Eternal Father. If, therefore, our 122 Father Walsh Blessed Lord taught us the lesson, who will say that it is unnecessary or useless for us to pray ? Some people simply stultify themselves by so thinking ; for, my brethren, the fact that God knows our wants better than we know them ourselves, argues abso- lutely nothing against the necessity of prayer. True, God knows our needs and has promised to relieve them, but on this one condition, that we ask for blessings and favors. "Ask, and you shall receive.' ' If we received without asking, we should be tempted to attribute them to ourselves— a most fatal delusion, since we have nothing and can do nothing of ourselves. Nor is prayer useless because we oftentimes ask and fail to receive. Want of success on our part is only an admission that our prayers are not what they should be, that they are said hurriedly, without con- fidence, without humility, without perseverance, without attention. Of many Christian families and congregations, God can say what He once said of the Scribes and Pharisees : ' ' This people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." Why is it, my brethren, that society is so corrupt and rotten ? Why is it that the Church, our mother, is retarded in her onward march and held up to the scorn and ridicule of her enemies ? The reason is very simple ; it is because men and women do not pray properly. Perhaps they are afraid to pray, lest God, taking them at their word, might heal their sores and convert their hearts, and break the chains that bind them to brutal, beastly habits. It may be a very painful admission, but it is nevertheless true, that there is just such a goodly number of people in the Catholic Church. Unworthy Catholics are found in the house of God Sunday after Sunday. They are here ostensibly to ask for strength to combat their passions and conquer their base appetites. But how meaningless their prayers ! Their lips move, but Sermons 123 their hearts are far from God. We are not sur- prised, my brethren, if such prayers are useless ; nor are we surprised, when evening comes, to find such Catholics under certain circumstances that ex- cite our disgust and make them utterly unfit to as- sociate with a respectable, God-fearing people. We do not hestitate, therefore, to attribute all the spiritual falls and all the moral miseries and evils with which the world is cursed, to a want of sin- cere, earnest prayer. There can be no other cause, and both reason and experience bear us out in this assertion. The history of individuals, like the his- tory of nations, repeats itself, and shows that now, as in former times, God forsakes those who forsake Him. On the other hand, He refuses no graces to those who seek Him and pray to Him with the proper dis- positions. Moses prays on the mountain, and the enemies of God's people are defeated ; Judith prays, and her country is delivered ; the pious King Eze- chias prays, and God revokes the sentence of death which He had pronounced against Him ; the publican prays in the temple, and he goes thence justified ; the sinful woman prays, and her sins are forgiven ; the good thief prays on the cross, and he obtains mercy and pardon. Hence, it is as St. John says : 1 1 That which excites our confidence in God is that He hears in us all that we ask conformable to His will. We know He will hear us in all whatsoever we ask of Him, and we know it because we have already received the favors which we asked.' ' If we read carefully the account of Christ's mira- cles, we shall find that most of them were wrought in response to prayer. We need no further proof of this than the striking instance recorded in this day's Gospel. The son of a certain ruler of Caparnaum was lying at the point of death. The anxious father, his heart heavy with grief, seeks Jesus, and makes 124 Father Walsh known to him the object of his mission. He has con- fidence in prayer, and humbly asks our dear Lord to come down and see his son before he die. Moved by his earnest appeal, Christ simply said to him : "Go thy way, thy son liveth." Behold, my dear brethren, the worth of prayer. This was happy news, a fit answer to a humble prayer. It restored health to the sick, and happiness to the home of that ruler. Now, my brethren, how do we act when we are exposed to temptations, and are consequently dead to sanctifying grace and almost at the point of spirit- ual death ? Do we pray to God in all simplicity, in all humility, and in all confidence, asking Him to come to our assistance and to deliver us from evil ? Too many, alas ! forget their duty in times of peril to the soul. Patience they are a stranger to ; they live in sin, and they would perhaps die in sin were it not oftentimes for the supplication of some good angel or of some good friend. It is a familiar sight to see a pious, heart-broken mother wending her way to the house of God and to God's altar, there to ask for the conversion of a wayward son or daughter. Will God never hear and answer her prayer ? Undoubtedly He will, for such prayers are most pleasing to the heart of God. True, it may require long years of persistent appeal, and it may be that she shall never see the happy results of her supplications ; but, some day, in God's good time, her child, converted from its evil ways, will stand by her green grave and bless her memory. Thanks to her prayers and tears, St. Monica obtained the conversion of her son, who be- came afterwards a light in the Church of God, and one of the greatest saints. May her success be an incentive to all parents to pray for their wayward children, until God restores them to spiritual health. And in your devotions, my dear brethren, do not forget the Church Militant. Pray for her, especially during the month of October Sermons 125 —the month of the Holy Rosary — and let to-day, the feast of the Most Holy Rosary, mark the beginning of a life of prayer. Urge your petitions with confi- dence, and persevere in urging them. Then you will not and cannot be disappointed, for your good and merciful God will say to you: "Go; be it done to thee as thou wilt. ,, Amen. FEAST OF THE ASCENSION. " He ascended into heaven.' ' — Nicene Creed. To-day we celebrate, my brethren, the great feast of the Ascension. For the faithful ones of the household of God it was a day of holy inspiration and happy anticipation of exceeding great joy ; for, not only did it remind us of Eternal Love's everlasting triumph over hell's hatred, but it was especially an occasion for self- congratulation, as being, so to speak, humanity's birthday in heaven. From the time sin entered the world until the simple shepherds heard the thrilling music of angels' voices singing, "Glory to God in the highest," hu- man nature lay buried in an abyss of degradation, from which God's mercy could and did rescue it. Rehabilitated on the day of the Incarnation, it was glorified, for the first time, on that of the Ascen- sion, when the sacred humanity of Jesus, our Eldest Brother, the Just One, was ascended on high, to dwell forever more in the celestial courts above. That such a feast, and such an event in the life of our Blessed Lord, should fill every pious Christian heart with feelings of great joy, is nothing strange. Nor are we asserting too much when we venture to express the conviction, that departing, it has left to you, dearly beloved, many lessons of practical im- port, many thoughts akin to the strongest incentives 126 Father Walsh to center your best affections on that happy home which, the Gospel tells us, Christ went to prepare for you in the kingdom of His glory. Indeed, such a conviction would be altogether logical, were it not for the apprehension that perhaps many a Christian has been, and may be tempted again, to listen to the votaries of a sinful world, who are sure to miscon- strue the lessons of the Ascension and misinterpret its hard exactions as duties impossible of fulfillment. For, according to their idea, God is exacting too much from the men and women of the nineteenth century when He commands them to detach their affections from earth, and to seek first the kingdom of heaven. To them it seems the veriest folly to lift up our minds to the contemplation of heavenly desires, and to labor and pray for those things which human eye hath never seen, which human ear hath never heard, nor any human heart been able to conceive. They would have us believe that the world is everything, the world to come — nothing. They would have us believe, foolishly, maliciously, and contrary to the express doctrine of St. Paul, that we must enjoy to the utmost the present hour, and seek happiness in the things which nature and creation offer to our senses. But an intelligent Christian congregation need not be shown that such a doctrine, while flattering our pride, is pandering to our lowest instincts, is to be abhorred as being totally opposed to the dictates of both reason and religion, and that we must, con- sequently, look higher than earth, higher than na- ture, higher than creation, for the source of true and lasting happiness. Yes ; we feel that nothing less than heaven, nothing less than the God of heaven, can ever satisfy the innate and intense longings of the human heart for peace, and rest, and happiness. For God and heaven are the only good, supreme and eternal. All things else, says St. Bernard, are Sermons 127 unworthy of spiritual man ; for, whatever is not eternal, is nothing. This is precisely where the vo- taries of the world, where the creatures of time, fatally err ; they worship fleeting pleasures, and adore idols that are doomed to share the grave with passing years, Let us reflect a moment, my brethren, and see if this be not so. See, for instance, the miser : his god is his money. Few realize how industriously he has labored to hoard up his dollars, and the world knows how he must think and plan to make his fortune se- cure from eluding his vain grasp. How long will it last, this happiness, if restless days and nights can indeed be called happiness ? Ah ! death is advanc- ing every day upon the miser, noiselessly, but swiftly ; a few years hence he shall have ceased to worship this false deity, and of all his wealth, he shall not take to the grave with him enough to dis- tinguish the poorest slave that ever lived and died. Is this happiness ? Yes, the happiness of avar- ice. Is the man who seeks happiness in worldly pleasures any more successful ? Most assuredly not. For, though worldly pleasures may have their day, they scarcely ever survive the years of youth, or manhood, or womanhood, upon which they ofttimes leave the seal of infamy and disgrace. And shall I ask you, dear Christian brethren, if those who kneel at the shrine of carnal passion find real peace and happiness ? God forbid that from a Christian pulpit we should do more than to allude to them of whom St. Paul wrote: " Their God is their appetites.' ' The question is best answered by the victims of vice themselves. If any class of sinners, they seem to say, and we say it, too, with the full knowledge that we can all fall, unless we be held up by and in the arms of Divine grace ; if any class of sinners is cruelly, hopelessly deceived, it is that to which be- long the victims of impurity. This vice has its own 128 Father Walsh hell. It has untold tortures for its victims, and when they come to die, the desecrated, polluted temple of a banished God will, by contact, soil the very dirt of the grave, to which a heartless and heedless world consigns them. In showing you, dearly beloved brethren, that our innate longing for happiness is not, and cannot, be satisfied here below, and that we have here noth- ing lasting, we have been careful neither to exag- gerate the truth nor distort facts. Within the nar- row limits of our own short ministry we have met with hundreds of willing witnesses to the truth of all we have said, and though we shudder at the bare thought, we are morally certain to receive on the day of judgment further confirmation from the lips of perhaps some of you who, by a strange contradiction, are here in the presence of God this morning, only to give yourselves up again this evening, or to-morrow, to the hateful service of the world, the flesh, and the devil. In the long ago, the tempter approached the Son of Man, and showing Him the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, said : ' ' All this will I give thee, if, falling down, thou wilt adore me." As it was of old, so it is nowadays. The evil one goeth about seeking the destruction, the fall, of those who forget or ignore the Master's matchless answer. Oh ! blessed words of Christ ! Would that I could write them in letters intelligible, at every hour of the day and night, and intelligible to every people, from out of every nation under God's heavens : " Begone, Satan ; for it is written, the Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him only shalt thou serve/ ' They who have ears to hear, let them hear, and remember, the service of God alone is the only right- ful one ; for it is the only one that can or ever will satiate the unsatisfied yearings of our world-weary hearts. " Our hearts were made for Thee, Lord," Sermons 129 says St. Augustine, ' ' and they shall never rest till they rest in Thee, until they rest in heaven. " We do well, therefore, to center our truest and best affections on the eternal mansions of God, for in them is found that peace that surpasseth all understanding. So say the choirs of Angels and Archangels, the Cheru- bim and the Seraphim ; so declares the Virgin Queen, who, to use the language of the Psalmist, now stands at Christ's right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with every variety of beauty ; so sing the triumphant hosts of white-robed martyrs and con- fessors, of doctors and virgins ; so shout the hun- dred and forty thousand, signed of all the tribes of Israel. To this testimony, and the countless souls of just men made perfect, let us add the awful ac- knowledgments of the damned. They know how bright and beautiful and happy heaven is. The world deceived them ; for, speaking to them as it now speaks to unworthy Christians and bad Catholics, it persuades you to eat, drink and be merry ; to satisfy every passion ; to live in the pres- ent, as being doubtful about the future ; in a word, it robbed them of their faith and hope in another and better life. "Deprive me," says a saintly soul, "of most things else, but leave me the assurance of a happier life beyond the tomb." Tell me, if you will, that there is no lasting habi- tation this side of the star-studded firmament ; tell me I must toil from early morn till late at night for meager compensation ; tell me I must suffer pains a thousand times greater than those of my enemies, the calumnies of pretended friends and false breth- ren ; tell me I must lose things dearer to me than life itself. But, oh ! tell me not there is no heaven for me. There is a heaven, and we feel it is for us, pro- viding, however, we lead lives worthy of our high vocation. Beware, my brethren, of the world's fatal 130 Father Walsh maxims ; beware of worldly pleasures ; beware of human dignities. To most men they are stumbling- blocks in the way that leads to heaven, and may be very aptly compared to the fruit of those trees that are said to grow on the banks of the Dead Sea. Travellers tell us it is beautiful and tempting to the eye, but, once plucked and opened, it is found to contain nothing but ashes. So, lift up your hearts : Sursum corda. Center your affections on heaven ; live lives worthy of God. Thus will your years glide gently and pleasantly away, to be followed by never- ending peace, rest, and happiness in the bosom of your God— the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. PENTECOST SUNDAY, "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost."— Acts ii, 4. Dearly Beloved Brethren : For the last three Sundays the Holy Gospel has fixed our minds on the memories of Pentecost. The fact is, in itself, significant, for it foreshadows in no uncertain manner the fulfilment of a most precious promise made by Christ to His Church ; namely, the promise to remain with her forever. > As this is a unique and glorious distinction, it is eminently fit, and in keeping with the solemnity of the feast, to recall briefly here and now the occasion and the very words of that promise. Gathering Hie timid, shrinking, half-hearted Apostles about Him, Christ said to them, among other things : ' ' Going, therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." " And behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world." How can this be ? was the question uppermost in the minds of His Sermons 131 chosen twelve. How can this promise to abide with them and in them be fulfilled ? Was not their Master, according to His own saying, to lay down His life ? True, He was to take it up again. He was to rise again the third day ; but did not the Resurrection mean for them His farewell to earth, as well as His final triumph over sin and Satan ? Evidently, such was their thought, and fearing that perhaps they were to be left alone in the seem- ingly impossible task of converting the world, they began almost immediately to waver in their mission. Their hearts grew sad within them. They lost both courage and confidence. No one, not even the Apostles themselves, real- ized as keenly as did the Christ, the meaning and the danger in this mistrust in the Divine promise. In- deed, if permitted to thrive and to spread, it clearly meant the failure of the Gospel, and the consequent loss of countless souls. This, a good God, a merciful Master, would not permit. On the contrary, Jesus resolved, out of pitying love for mankind, to reanimate their courage, and to change them from cowards into conquerors. How He was to effect such a change, and thus save truth from the grave, is best told in His own words — the sweetest, tenderest words that ever fell from either human or Divine lips : ' ' You are, indeed, sorrowful now," said He to the little Apostolic band, "but your sorrow will be changed into joy. I am only going to prepare a place for you. I will not leave you orphans ; in fact, it is expedient for you that I go ; for if I go not, the Spirit of Truth will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you, and He will teach you all things whatsoever I have commanded you. He will comfort, guide, and strengthen you in the deepest sorrows and in the darkest trials." True to His word, the Saviour did send the prom- ised teacher and consoler ; for, ten days after His 132 Father Walsh Ascension into heaven, or, on the fiftieth day after His Resurrection, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit of God, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, came down upon them suddenly, and filled them with a holy enthusiasm and an invincible courage. They were now changed men, changed in that they might change or convert others. But the Paraclete came— not only to strengthen and change the Apostles ; He came to direct them in the truth. Therefore, He was the infallible exponent of Eternal Truth, and hence it follows logically, brethren, that they to whom He came on Whitsunday, in the form of tongues of fire, were henceforth to preach and to teach with infalli- ble authority, with an authority like unto that which the Master Himself had taught them. No one will, for no one can, honestly call this as- sertion into question. Neither will generous, intelli- gent souls, who love the truth, or who seek the light, deny that this same Spirit of God still inspires the teachings of that Church, which was founded upon the Apostles. For be it remembered that the prom- ise of a spiritual guide, or, what is the same thing, the promise of infallibility in matters of faith, was made not merely to one Church (and that is ours), but it was made to that one Church for all time. It was to have a lasting inheritance, and the dis- tinguishing mark of the true Church of God. It was to be not only an exclusive claim, but a proud pre- rogative as well ; a prerogative destined to be trans- mitted from generation to generation, without failure and without interruption, even to the consummation of the world. It is with reason, then, brethren, that we keep this feast day holy. Its recurrence, year after year, is sure to awaken in us feelings of joy, sentiments of deep gratitude to God, Who called us, in preference to so many others, to a place in "the household of faith.' ' Sermons 133 Some of us, it may be, have never yet reflected long enough on this great grace to appreciate it ; nevertheless, it is one of the signs of predestination to have for Protectress and for Guide a Mother who can neither deceive nor be deceived. The Catholic Church is not tossed about by every wind of doctrine. Her teaching is the same, yesterday, to-day, and to- morrow ; her dogmas never change, because truth is eternal and infallible. Like the safe ship that she is, the barque of Peter rides serenely over the strong seas of doubt and error. Her enemies may ridicule her exclusive claim ; they may fear her growth ; they may hate her in- fluence in the world ; they may assail her fair name ; but to her has been committed the sacred charge of teaching and saving society, and so she is bound to triumph over every obstacle, and to conquer every opposition. Give her, therefore, dear brethren, the love of your hearts, the homage of your intellects, for she is both the custodian and the interpreter of God's word. God's word is the truth ; and the truth alone can fully satisfy the longings of the human heart and mind. In a word, guided by the Spirit of Truth, the Church will lead all her faithful and obedient chil- dren to a haven of true peace and union, to the heavenly haven where there is no uncertainty of faith, no more diversity of beliefs, no more dissension of doctrine. May the same Holy Spirit who on this day came down upon the Apostles, descend into our hearts on this feast of Pentecost ; may He renew again the face of the earth, and may all nations, see- ing the light of true faith, be brought into Christian brotherhood, and into that unity for which Jesus Christ lived, and labored, and prayed: "Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Thy love. ,, 134 Father Walsh PENTECOST. Some four centuries ago, before the Christian era, there lived in Greece a renowned philosopher, an extraordinary genius. By the light of reason, and by deep study and close observation, this man succeeded in founding a system of philosophy, or a species of doctrine, that became at once the wonder of his age, and promised lasting honor and glory to its author's name. That extraordinary genius was Socrates. New theories always command more or less attention, and they are always sure to find many friends and many foes. The theories and the principles of the Grecian philosopher found a goodly number of both, so that if the measure of his success was not as great as he had anticipated, it was not owing to any lack of in- terest on the part of his fellow-men in what he taught. Socrates labored zealously and fearlessly to dis- seminate his doctrine ; but, in doing so, he incurred the wrath of the public officials, whose conduct he censured, and whose corruption he unmasked. For this cause he was unjustly condemned to prison, and later to death. Shortly before his execution, he is said to have exhorted his friends to have courage, saying his work would survive him, and continue to command the attention and admiration of future generations. History does not tell us, brethren, just how much confidence this dying declaration infused into the hearts of his followers, but it does record the fact of its non-fulfillment ; for, to-day, the great philosopher and his doctrine may be said to share the same grave, both having ceased long since to have weight or worth in the guidance of the world or the affairs of men, and I shall tell you why. This doctrine came from a human intellect, and Sermons 135 human intellect is fallible ; and, in a little time, other intellects as powerful, or more powerful than his own, arose to confute him, and his influence was overthrown. And what is true of the Sage of Athens is likewise true of all men. Such has been the history of the world since time began, a fact that goes to show that no man has ever yet succeeded in founding a lasting empire over the minds of his fellow-men. Yet, my brethren, there has been one such em- pire founded in this world — an empire easily recog- nized by its marvelous development, by the long list of its glories, by its millions of subjects, and by a dying promise made to it of a stability that shall outlast the world itself. That empire is the Catholic Church, to which we, by the grace of God, have the inestimable privilege of belonging. The founder of this empire was a sage of Galilee, a man who called Himself and was known to His followers as Jesus Christ. His doctrine was a rebuke to existing crimes, and ran counter to the opinions of His age, and to the creeds of His fellow-men— a fact that caused His disciples not a little anxiety, and which time and daily occurrences served only to in- crease. Suddenly, their worst fears were realized ; the new Gospel offends public pride, and public hatred hurries Jesus before a guilty tribunal to re- ceive the sentence of death. And the little band of disciples — what shall they do now, without a master, without a guide ? Shall they, left alone, be able to brave the many and trying difficulties natural to so vast an undertaking as the spiritual conquest of the world ? Was there ever an efficient army without a general ? History and experience teach us that there never was. It is related that the Macedonian army once wished to turn back in its march, because there was no percep- tible way to pass over a river. The general, Alex- 136 Father Walsh ander the Great, hearing of the difficulty, pushed his way to the front, plunged into the water, and waded across the river. Encouraged by the example of their general, the whole army was soon on the other side of the stream. But in the little army of the Apostles ! They were about to lose their brave leader, and the very thought discouraged and disheartened them. Oh ! how dark and dreary everything seemed to them. It seemed as though the earth could never be a home to them again, once the loving heart of Jesus had gone silent in the cold hand of death. Yet, even when sorrow pressed the heaviest on their hearts, there was still left to them one faint glimmer of hope. Before being taken from them, Jesus made a sacred promise that kept alive the flickering flame of life in this world. It was this : Says Christ, speaking to His disciples, ' ' It is expedient for you that I go, for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you. And He, being come, will teach you all truth/ ' To-day, Pentecost Sunday, that promise was ful- filled, as we see in the Acts of the Apostles. ' ' And when the days of Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place. And, suddenly, there came from heaven, as a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues, as it were, of fire, and it sat upon every one of them, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost/ ' The effect of this coming of the Holy Ghost, my brethren, was as marvelous as it was sudden. But a short time be- fore, the Apostles were weak and tired, discouraged and disheartened. They shut themselves up in a room for fear of the Jews ; the boldest had thrice denied his Master, and in the hour of trial all fled and left Him alone. Now that they had received the Holy Ghost, they were strong and courageous. See, then, these Sermons 137 twelve fishermen, coming down from the supper room and going forth in the whole world to preach the Gospel to every creature, regardless of threats or obstacles. See Peter, standing in the very streets of Jerusalem, preaching the doctrine of Christ and of Christ crucified. See the precious fruit of the first Christian sermon— three thousand souls are won over to the cause of Christ. See James and John, Mark, Matthew, and the others, hurrying off to dis- tant lands, to announce the good news of salvation to those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of eter- nal death. See Paul, the great Apostle of the Gen- tiles, openly professing his faith in Christ in the very shadow of the palace of the Csesars themselves. See them all, eager to seal with their blood their be- lief in Jesus Christ. A tyrant sought the blood of the Infant Jesus, and tyrants, not less heartless, will seek the blood of the Infant Church. But let them plot the destruction of Christ's Em- pire. Their infamous efforts will be all in vain, for the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. It is hard to convince the world of this fact, but the war is still going on. The Church of Christ is, to-day, reviled, persecuted, calumniated, but she still stands as firm as the rock on which she was built, more than nineteen hundred years ago. Her enemies are passing away to their unknown graves, while she continues to preach and spread the Empire of Christ. We have no fears or doubts as to our ultimate victory. We cannot suffer defeat, for the God of battles has assured us that the Holy Ghost will abide with us forever, to enlighten, console, and strengthen us. And I would remind you, dearly beloved breth- ren, of this one thing, and it is the lesson I would have you learn from to-day's Gospel. The Church of Christ is made up of individual souls, and what we say of the Church may be said also of each indi- vidual soul. The wonders which the Holy Ghost 138 Father Walsh wrought on the memorable day of His coming, He still works in all well-disposed souls. You, your- selves, my brethren, must have experienced often His presence within you, for "no man/' says St. Paul, "can say the Lord Jesus without the Holy Ghost/ ' To this Divine Spirit you must attribute every noble impulse, every praiseworthy act of your lives. He must be in the heart to give efficacy to the prayers we recite, to the communions we receive, to the confes- sions we make, to the works of charity we perform, and to the kind words we speak. If this be true, my brethren, and St. Paul assures us that it is, how earnestly ought we to pray that the Holy Spirit may never be taken from us ! How care- fully ought we to guard ourselves against every sin which can drive him away ! We want the gift of His wisdom, to see better the importance of things, spiri- tual and eternal ; we want the gift of His strength, to make us honest, temperate, and pure. In a word, we want the gift and grace of His sustenance to live holily and die happily. TRINITY SUNDAY. THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. "Going therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." — Matt, xxviii, 19. There is within us, my brethren, an irresistible prompting to preserve and treasure up every object, even the most ordinary, that can bring back the memory of our dear dead, or revive the recollection of those days when life and happiness seemed to be one and the same thing. Because of its associations, we have a kind of Sermons 139 veneration for the old homestead in which our eyes opened, and those of our parents closed, to the light of day. At home, in some hidden corner, there is a rosary, whose make and material are plain, even coarse. We prize it, nevertheless, because every one of its beads has been told over and over again, by a father or a mother whose lips are now stilled for- ever in the dust. It is the same with the old family Bible ; its pages have been turned and its contents perused by saintly souls gone before— a simple fact that gives to it a kind of sacredness, a charm, and an interest characteristic of no other volume. Not less strange is our attachment to the old parish church, to which we have for years wended our way, Sunday after Sunday, in sunshine and in storm, to implore God's mercy, or to thank His bounty for graces and gifts innumerable. My brethren, this laudable instinct of our nature is not destroyed by grace. It exists in the super- natural as well as in the natural order. Divine grace elevates all nature's faculties and ennobles all its promptings. Hence, it is not surprising that we, Christians, have always held dear the sacred stand- ard of the Cross, that touching symbol of our faith, hope, and charity. Be a cross ever so small or plain, it will, or should, awaken in grateful hearts the most sacred memories of our Blessed Redeemer. As often as we look up to it, it reminds us of sin and its consequences ; how our first parents trans- gressed the law, and how the Son of God, commis- erating our unhappy state, generously took upon Himself the work of our Redemption— a work that necessitated the shedding of His precious blood, which flowed from His five wounds and crimsoned the Cross of Calvary's height. And so the Cross became a light to the world, a wonderful sign, worthy of respect and admiration, because of its association with the trials and triumphs 140 Father Walsh of our Blessed Lord. Looked upon at one time by the world as the emblem of shame and ignominy, the Cross has now become the badge of glory. It is worn on the necks of princesses for ornaments, and round those of simple villagers for consolation ; it is placed over the brows of monarchs and over the graves of beggars ; it is found in palaces and in cabins, on churches and in courts of justice. And let no one tell us, my brethren, that the Cross inspires only passive piety — a piety without life or action. The truth is, that the sacred symbol of our redemption has inspired a power and a courage beyond human comprehension. For, in virtue of what power, may we ask, did the Apostles— those twelve ingorant fishermen of Galilee— succeed in de- throning cruel, impious paganism, on whose ruins now stands the indestructible edifice of the Catholic Church ? With what weapon did they conquer the prejudice and ignorance of the carnal Jews ? Con- sult the annals of those days, and you will find that their only weapon was the Cross, which proved strong enough to bring the whole known world to the feet of Holy Church. No pen or tongue will ever tell all the various victories that have been won, in and by virtue of that sacred sign. Ecclesiastical writers have, however, preserved the account of two triumphs, as interesting as they are remarkable. The Emperor Constantine saw the Sign of the Cross in the heavens shortly before the battle of the Tiber, and on it he read the inscription: "In this sign thou shalt conquer." Immediately, the miraculous apparition gave him and his disheartened soldiers a new courage and strength. He marched against his enemy, Maxentius, whom he defeated after a long and bloody battle. Shortly after this event, Constantine, and a goodly portion of his soldiers, embraced the true faith. In the life of St. George, we read of a fact admir- Sermons 141 ably calculated to stimulate our faith and confidence in the Sign of the Cross. St. George was summoned before the tyrant, Diocletian, who condemned him to drink a cup of deadly poison in testimony of the truth of his faith. All Antioch was out to witness the spectacle. The holy man took the fatal cup in his hand, made over it the Sign of the Cross, and drank the poison. To the surprise of the assembled mul- titude, St. George felt no bad effects from the draught, a result so unexpected that thousands of the spectators could not refrain exclaiming : ' ' Great is the God of the Christians/ ' My brethren, they might have added with the same enthusiasm : ' ' Great is the power of the Cross, for it works miracles, and has the promise of victory and of life everlasting/ ' For this reason, we should always make the sacred sign with the greatest devotion, remembering the mysteries it typifies and the events it commemo- rates. At a fair estimate, some three thousand per- sons have entered this church to-day, and every one of this number is supposed to have signed himself or herself with the Sign of the Cross. Would that we could admit such supposition. The truth is, however, that perhaps one-tenth of the three thousand wor- shippers at this altar to-day realized the importance, the efficacy, and the meaning of what they did when they said : ''In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." TRINITY SUNDAY. 1 ' Baptizing them in the name of the Fa- ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Dearly Beloved Brethren : In the Gospel of this Sunday the Inspired Writer brings before our minds the mystery of the Blessed 142 Father Walsh Trinity, the fundamental dogma of our holy faith. It has always seemed to the world very like a mistake to build up a creed or a church upon such a foun- dation, for, according to its reasoning, man being a rational creature, must needs see and comprehend before believing. How plausible such an assertion is ! How extremely popular it is, especially in this materialistic nineteenth century, which imagines that the human mind should know and understand every- thing ! However, let not Christians and Catholics be overawed by assertions and arguments that are as shallow as they are deceptive. To unmask the world's sophistry, and at the same time indicate the teachings of faith, we have only to draw from human theories certain natural and necessary conclusions. In the first place, we must allow that both nature and creation are full of mysteries, full of truths, and facts, and phenomena which we do not and cannot understand. Do we deny and reject these truths and facts because we are unable to grasp their nature, and their reason, and their being ? Most assuredly not. Why, then, does the world refuse to accept faith in the Blessed Trinity ? Only the world knows why ; but it is evident to an honest mind that we must either accept all or re- ject all ; for a mystery is a mystery, whether it be in the natural or the supernatural order. In the second place, we do ourselves and God a fearful wrong when we deny and reject revealed truths, for by so doing we not only question God's right to teach us, but also blindly deprive ourselves of the opportunity and privilege of making the sincerest possible act of hu- mility and the sublimest profession of our faith in the Divine veracity. When we humbly admit, without understanding, unity in Trinity ; when we proclaim, as we do, in our creed : " I believe in God, the Father Almighty ; I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Sermons 143 Lord ; I believe in the Holy Ghost ; " we are simply accepting the words of Eternal Truth, and virtually acknowledging God's infinite, incomprehensible greatness, and man's well-nigh infinite littleness. The more we study the mysteries of religion, dearly beloved brethren, the better we realize how truly St. Paul spoke when he said : " Oh, the depth of the knowledge of God.'' We know next to noth- ing of God's nature and essence ; we have only the faultiest idea of omnipotence, omniscience, and eternity. How, then, can we, with small, finite in- tellects, fathom the Blessed Trinity. Such was once the ambition of St. Augustine, one of the most learned doctors of the Church ; but he failed in the attempt, and so must every like attempt end in fail- ure. Shall we conclude from the fact that man's mind is limited, that we must reject and deny that which we cannot fathom ? God forbid. For, if the world succeeds in taking from us belief in the Blessed Trinity, we give up with it the doctrine of God's fatherhood, and the thought of man's brother- hood. If we reject the fundamental dogma of Chris- tianity, we wipe out every evidence of our redemp- tion, every hope of our salvation. In a word, to deny that there is in God Three Divine Persons— the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, is to make of life and death an unspeakable evil and a crushing curse. On the other hand, belief in the doctrine of a Triune God blesses and sweetens human existence. It strengthens us to fight the good fight. It is a pledge of that peace which this world can neither give nor take from us. It was from faith in the Blessed Trinity that there came a spiritual power, in virtue of which the Church has thrived in all ages, and tri- umphed over her enemies in all countries. If we look carefully into the history of our faith, and into the philosophy of Religion, we shall find everywhere the power of the Three Divine Persons. See the Apos- 144 Father Walsh ties, those twelve poor fisherman, going forth to win the world to truth and morality. They had neither money, nor learning, nor friends. No ; but they had an abiding trust in the adorable Trinity. Thus armed, they went to the farthest ends of the earth, preached the Gospel to every creature, and baptized their unnumbered converts as Christ had commanded them : ' ' In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost/ ' The world could not help seeing these results. It could not help admitting the wonderful power and efficacy of the sacred sign of the Trinity, which has conquered so many prejudices, and has so often changed ignorance and hatred into admiration and love for Christianity. It is related in ecclesiastical history that the Em- peror Constantine the Great saw, on the eve of a doubtful battle, a mysterious sign in the heavens. It was the outlines of a cross. As the night wore on the sign became more distinct, and soon the soldiers were able to discern this hopeful inscription : 'In this sign thou shalt conquer.' ' And, true enough, Constantine and his army did conquer ; for, in a stubborn struggle the following day, Maxentius was defeated. This victory meant the overthrow of pa- ganism ; for, grateful to the Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Constantine and many of his men received baptism, and became the champions of the Infant Church. This miracle, and others like it, reveal the reason why Christians make such frequent use of the invo- cation : "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost/ ' With it we begin and end our prayers. In this Holy Name we begin the sacri- fice of the altar. The Church signs no psalm nor hymn without the conclusion, "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost." No sacrament is administered save in the name of the Trinity. When we were born again by Baptism, it Sermons 145 was " In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. " When we were strengthened by the grace of Confirmation, it was ' ' In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." When our sins were forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance, it was ' ' In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. " It was in the power of the Blessed Trinity, when the young Levites, kneel- ing before the altar of God, received from episcopal hands the sublime power of the priesthood — it is "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." When the nuptial tie is blessed, it is ' ' In the name of the Father, ' ' etc. . . . Finally, when we feel the death angel hovering over us, religion comes to our bedside and says : Depart, Christian soul, from this world, in the name of God, the Father Almighty, Who created thee ; in the name of God, the Son, Who redeemed thee ; and in the name of the Holy Ghost, Who sanc- tified thee." So it is in every crisis of life, in every trial, in every temptation, in every sorrow, the good Christian, the pious Catholic, is sure to profess his faith in this Divine mystery. Let us learn, dearly beloved brethren, to love and reverence the Blessed Trinity, seeking in, and by, and through it, all hope, all strength, all courage. As often as we sign ourselves with the Three Divine Persons, let us do it thoughtfully and devoutly, re- membering that we are not only the images of the Trinity, but also the objects of the protection and love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. We are told in the Good Book, my brethren, that during the three years of His public life, our Blessed Lord went about doing good, speaking as no man 146 Father Walsh ever spake, and performing miracles that could not help excite the admiration and love of those in whose presence they were wrought. For this reason, it was to be expected that a deep, strong, healthy love would spring up in the hearts of the Apostles. More- over, to them Christ had confided the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, telling them it was the will of the Eternal Father that He should return to His house of glory, and send in His stead the Holy Ghost, the Par- aclete, who would teach them all truth, and abide with them forever. But the Apostles seemed grieved. Seeing this, the Divine Master proceeded to point out an element of weakness, something of self-love in their affec- tion for Him. They loved, indeed, sweetly, but not friendly ; there was more excitement than sense in their feelings towards their Master ; they loved their Saviour, but only His visible, physical presence. They would prevent His going back to His Father, thus showing an opposition to the Divine Will. Now, my brethren, a love that opposes, a love that is not in harmony with the Divine Will, is not real love at all. We ofttimes say we love God ; but where is the proof ? Are our wills submissive to the decrees of the Most High ? Do we always admit the truth of the saying : ' ' Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"? We fear not; for in our dealings and relations with our Heavenly Father we easily mistake nature for grace, and the love of self for the love of God. How many of us are troubled by dis- appointment ? How many of us murmur because of affliction ? Remember, my brethren, love is calm and patient ; and if we truly loved God, we would pray, and then ieave the rest in the hands of the Lord, to do what He wills. Hence, the true test of a deep, strong, healthy love is conformity to the will of God ; and the ex- pression of that will is the commandment not only Sermons 147 to love Him, but our neighbor as ourselves. There- fore, see if there be in your heart no monster of re- bellion against God's law, no neglect nor contempt of His counsels. See if you love your neighbor, neither injuring his reputation nor destroying his goods ; see if you honor your parents, to whom re- spect is due ; see if your thoughts are chaste, your words decent, and your bodies untainted with lewd- ness. Then, and only then, brethren, can you have that love which God absolutely requires. Wherever such a love exists, there the Eternal Father and Jesus Christ will be, for the Saviour repeatedly says, souls that are pure from sin are worthy of the love and peace which this world cannot give. Our Blessed Lord Himself says such a disciple is worthy of Him, and His Father will love, and they will come unto him, and make their abode with him. FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. "For I say to you: unless your justice abound more than the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. ,, — Matt, v, 20. Dearly Beloved Brethren : They alone are wise to the wisdom of the saints who love to listen to the Word of Eternal Life, and to show forth its power in their daily thoughts, and words, and works. We do not say that men and women refuse to listen to the preaching of the Gospel— which is the Word of Life, but we do claim that the vast majority of Christians fail to listen after the manner of the saints— that is, humbly and fruitfully. This is evi- dent from the many imperfect, and even sinful lives, so common nowadays in every grade of society. 148 Father Walsh For not a few among us, God's Word has no reform- ing, no transforming power. This means that we are virtually hearers, and not doers of the Word ; a fact that robs us of all supernatural merit, and lowers us to the level of the Scribes and Pharisees of old. The Word of Life never made the Scribes and Pharisees true followers of Christ. It must be said that they explained learnedly and lucidly the laws and the prophets ; that they prated much ; that they fasted frequently, and gave tithes of all they pos- sessed to the poor. But all these things they did for outward show, for purely natural reasons, for earthly purposes, for human motives ; and in return they received, just as our Blessed Lord told them, a human reward, namely : the praise, the honor, the applause, the admiration and the imitation of men. My brethren, let us avoid the fatal mistake made by the Scribes and Pharisees. We were not created for the short-lived rewards of earth, but for the hope and happiness of heaven. Hence, if we would escape the rejection and condemnation of those sects, our justice, our virtue, our daily lives, and our daily selves, must be based on the solid foundations of humility, a sincere desire to think, and speak, and do these things that are pleasing and perfect in the sight of God. Let us live for this high and holy intention of serving the Master in all our words and works, as did the Apostles who first followed in the footsteps of Christ, and we need never doubt but that our justice will abound more than the Scribes and Phari- sees. Therefore will our future reward be greater than theirs. Christ shall not have preached to us in vain, neither shall we have received His grace in vain. Sermons 149 SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. The miracles wrought by our Blessed Lord dur- ing His public life have ever held, my brethren, a prominent place in dogma, controversy and history. From the earliest days of Christianity down to the present time, they have been cited and accepted as the best and truest proofs of the Divine nature and mission of Him who performed them. Who, in- deed, but a divine agent could do what Christ did ? What but a heavenly power could give back sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, and life to the dead ? But, strong as they are as proofs of Christ's Divinity, miracles are, furthermore, my brethren, unmistakable signs of His unspeakable love, and tokens of His tender compassion for us mortals. This is a fact, as true as it is touching, and one, too, that should be cherished in memory. Nowadays, we are too apt to forget that miracles appeal quite as forcibly to our hearts as to our heads. The resurrection of Lazarus was an act of love ; that of the widow's only son, a work of compassion. The miraculous cure of the helpless cripple, who for eight and thirty years sought relief from suffer- ing at the pool of Bethsaida, was prompted by ten- derness and sympathy. That feeling and love for humanity were the mainsprings of all God's won- drous works, is clearly evident from a careful study of them. In the performance of His miracles, Our Blessed Lord did not intend merely a display of His omnipotent power, but He sought in a special manner to impress upon the witnesses of them the thought of love Divine. We see this clearly in all that He did. If, for instance, He said in the beginning, "Let there be light," He consulted not His own needs, for He was the "light invisible," but He acted for our greater convenience and comfort. Again, when ISO Father Walsh He said : " Let us make man to our image and like- ness,' ' He sought, not precisely His own glory, for the beasts of the field may and do glorify Him ; but He had in prospect our future felicity, as is evident from the fact that He breathed into us rational and immortal souls, capable of loving and enjoying Him forever. Let any member of the human race reflect on this, and say whether he has, or has not, reason to adore and thank not only the power, but the good- ness of God, Who has done such great things for us. True it is, that Christ has loved us with an eternal love ; for, having called us into existence, He did not abandon us to our own weakness. No, He loves us now as ever ; or, to use the thought of St. Mark in to-day's Gospel, "He still has compassion on the multitude. Do any of us, my brethren, doubt this assertion ? What do faith and individual experience teach us ? They teach us this— that when we came into this world we were children of wrath ; that we were destined to everlasting misery, had not God, out of pure compassion, provided sure and easy means for the attainment of our last end. We know what these means are ; they are the sacraments, the living channels of grace. Here, beneath the shadow of the Cross, we have been washed from the stain of original sin, taught to love righteousness and hate iniquity. We have been brought up in such close communion with the Creator, that we must needs exclaim with the Inspired Writer : ' ' He has lifted up the beggar to set him among princes, and to inherit a throne of glory." Nor did God's love, happily for us, cease at the baptismal font ; for, had such been the case, how faint had been our hope of attaining the end for which we were made. Christ Our Lord foresaw the danger. The Sacred Heart was touched at the thought of such a loss. It had compassion on the Sermons 151 multitudes, who would have been inevitably doomed to live in misery and die in despair. A remedy had to be devised. Divine Love knows no barriers, knows no obstacles. The danger was averted by instituting the sacra- ments of Penance and Holy Eucharist. The former would break the repentant sinner's chains ; the latter would strengthen him to fight courageously the good fight and to keep the faith. We have all felt, my brethren, the efficacious workings of grace in our souls ; we have been made happy by the message of sin forgiven ; we have been strengthened by the Bread of Angels ; but have these evidences of God's goodness, compassion, and love for us worked in return feelings of love for Him ? In other words, are we grateful ? Let us look at the record of our lives, and see for ourselves. We know a tree by its fruits. We know a grateful Christian by his actions. The chief and essential test of our gratitude and love for God is a faithful observance of the commandments. ' ' If any man love Me," says Christ, " He will keep My com- mandments." How many of us are taking up daily, and carrying with generous hearts, the sweet yoke and light burden of the Saviour's load ? How many of us, every day and every night, are offering the homage of our love to other gods than to Him who created, redeemed and sanctified us ? It is not for us to answer these questions; but remember, my brethren, that all those who are giving themselves over to the desires of the world, the flesh, and the devil, have deserted the standard of Christ, to live in the thankless service of Satan, who will lead them down to perdition. These words may be treated as a familiar refrain. Sinners may sneer at them as at old platitudes. Be it so. We shall console ourselves with the thought that old platitudes are ofttimes old truths, and that sinners, like fools, are wise only in their own con- 152 Father Walsh ceits. As for you, my brethren, be wise in the per- formance of your duty towards God, your neighbor, and yourself. First, and above all, be grateful to the Most High for His mercies. Ask yourselves, from time to time, this question, which was so constantly on the lips of Holy David : "What shall I render to the Lord for all that He has rendered unto me ?" David was most anxious to testify his gratitude to God, and for this purpose he thought of erecting a spacious temple, in the construction of which he was to use the most skilled labor and the most costly material. How- ever, God did not permit him to realize his hopes. He accepted David's pious intentions for the work, which He gave to another to do. It may encourage us, my brethren, in the performance of our duty towards God, to know that that which was refused to a great king is graciously accorded to you and to me. Were we but grateful, we would refrain from sin, and thus make our bodies — those perishable habita- tions of dust— fit dwelling-places, beautiful temples of the Holy Ghost. Were we but grateful, we would eradicate every vice from our souls, in order that they might become shining lights, perfect images of Him Who made them. In a word, were we but grate- ful, we would, at all times and in all places, see God's honor and glory, and thereby merit more abundance of love and compassion both in this world and in the next. ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. SECOND COMMANDMENT. "And He spoke right."— Mark vii, 35. Dearly Beloved Brethren : There are circumstances connected with this day that make it one of the most touching of gospel nar- Sermons 153 ratives. Search the Holy Book, if you will ; read therein the long list of ills to which human kind is subject. You will find, I think, but few trials at all comparable to the affliction of being both deaf and dumb. What, in fact, could be more touching than to see a man in the midst of men, and yet separated from them, cut off from their joys, their pleasures and their pursuits, by a barrier never to be crossed ? What could be sadder than to have thoughts sur- ging in the brain and round the heart, and yet be denied the happier privilege of pouring them into sympathetic ears ? Truly, such a life seems not un- like a failure, for it tells us of days and of years made cheerless by the absence of every sound calculated to make our existence here below both pleasant and. profitable. Naturally, then, our sympathy goes out to the unfortunate subject of this day's Gospel. We feel for him, and for those similarly afflicted, and gladljr would we, if we could, return to all deaf-mutes the world over, the of ttimes unappreciated faculties of hearing and of speech. But, my brethren, our sympathy and charity may easily reach beyond the narrow limits of human skill and human power. There are times when we are powerless to help others. The power of miracles resides in God. It is essen- tially a Divine prerogative. Times when helpless humanity, weighed down by sorrows and sufferings, must look up to God for needed assistance, for He alone can give back life to the dead, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and speech to the dumb. No people recognized this fact better or quicker than did the Jews of old ; and hence it was that they brought to our Blessed Lord one that was deaf and dumb, beseeching Him to lay His hand upon him. And Jesus took the poor afflicted creature " aside from the multitude, put His sacred fingers into his ears, and, spitting, touched His tongue. Then look- 154 Father Walsh ing up to heaven, He groaned and said : " Ephpheta ;" that is, "Be opened/ ' And immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed and he spoke right.' ' These latter words, dearly beloved brethren, are significant. They embody a lesson of practical im- portance to every Christian man and woman. Briefly stated, the lesson is this : Christ's love for humanity will never and can never die. He still lives, and speaks, and acts through His Church, to whom He said in the long ago : " As the Father hath sent Me, so I send you. " Ever faithful to this commission, the Catholic Church takes aside unregenerated man. She leads apart to the baptismal font those who are spiri- tually deaf and dumb. There, in the name of and by the ministry of His priesthood, she touches their ears and their tongues, saying: " Ephpheta ;' ' that is, "Be opened.' ' We cannot believe, my brethren, that in opening the ears and unloosing the tongues of His children, God had, or could have had, any other object in view "than to make us hear right and speak right." To say or think otherwise were to contradict our natural instincts, as well as certain facts founded on daily observation. Take, for instance, a child ; naturally, it loves to hear of virtue, of heaven, and of God, while one of the first names its little lips learn to lisp is the name of God in the ' ' Our Father." The baptized child, therefore, "hears right and speaks right." But, alas ! we must anticipate a change in the child, for it is the one proud boast of time that it changes everyone ; yes, and it might add, changes, in many instances, many of us for the worse. This is certainly true of the majority of children. For no sooner have they attained the years of manhood or womanhood, than they betray a most deplorable per- version of the faculties of hearing and speech. In Sermons 155 the language of Holy Writ, they have ears, but they hear not ; they have tongues, but they speak not. Do any of us need to be convinced of the truth of this saying ? If so, let them go into our streets at any hour of the day ; let them go into our work- shops ; let them go into many of our stores, and into many of our supposed Christian homes, and they will find multitudes of Catholics engaged in prostituting their noble, heaven-born faculty of speech, or lending their ears to incarnate devils, just as if their ears were naturally cesspools for moral filth and dirt. True, my brethren, it may require time to bring about such a sad change in the child. The process of transformation is slow, because Satan's methods are cunning. His first step is to put vulgar words and expressions into youthful mouths. Then the next is easy ; vulgarity, being the grave of Christian modesty, soon undermines, and finally sweeps away altogether the strong barriers of decency and purity. And woe to those who help on the spiritual ruin of another by indulging in vile words or unchaste conversation ! It were better had they never been born, for they are guilty of a most atrocious crime, which, called by its proper name, is murder — spiri- tual murder. Many have been lost because they failed to appreciate the obligations they were under to hear right and speak right. If we hope to enter into the kingdom of heaven, let us be careful, brethren, that we use our faculties of hearing and of speech for the greater glory of God, for the edification of our neighbor, and for our own individual sanctification. Amen. THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. Dearly Beloved Brethren : To-day's Gospel suggests to the mind two thoughts worthy of deepest reflection : the one is the 156 Father Walsh thought of God's power and love ; the other, that of man's indifference and ingratitude. It would seem very like a waste of time and words to point out the evidences of God's almighty power ; for everything that He has ever made or done bears the impress of an infinite hand as well as the stamp of an infinite intelligence. This is a fact so evident, that to be convinced of its truth we have only to read the first chapter in the book of creation, and to take one look into nature's noble face. What strange wonders lie all around us ! What unrivalled beauty strikes the eye, whether we look up or down, to the right or to the left ! Truth compels us to con- fess that every feature of this vast universe tells the story of God's omnipotence, and of His everlasting love for the works of His hands. Hence, we are not surprised, brethren, to hear the Inspired Writer declare that all nature sings together the praises of the Most High. If, then, there be (and there is) one discordant note in the harmony that goes up to heaven from dawn unto darkness and from darkness to dawn, it is the failure of man to remember, at all times, and to recognize in all places, the creature's claim to His love and grati- tude. And what has been the result of such a failure ? What the consequences of our disloyalty and disobedience to our Maker ? Simply this : man became practically a blot upon creation, and our souls became tainted with the loathsome malady of sin, the foulness of which is forcibly pictured in this Sunday's Gospel by the disease known to science and to medicine as leprosy. Leprosy was and is repulsive in the extreme. As the world turns away in horror and disgust from the poor leper, so do the angels in heaven shrink from the sin-stained soul. But, happily for us, dearly be- loved in Christ, God's thoughts and feelings are not our thoughts and feelings. We may be, and oft- Sermons 157 times are, wanting in sympathy for the weak and the wretched, but to the Saviour's Sacred Heart, neither human misery nor human frailty has ever appealed in vain. The love of our Heavenly Father is always busy lifting up the fallen, healing the sick, raising to the life of grace those who are spiritually dead. And no one realized the fact better than the lepers of whom mention is made in this Sunday's Gospel ; for, in answer to their cry, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us," our Blessed Lord kindly and gently said : ' ' Go, show yourselves to the priests. ' ' From that moment they were healed. Health and happi- ness were restored to suffering exiles, and new hopes were quickly born in hearts once heavy with despair. In this instance, God manifested His power and His love. The picture would be an ideal one, dearly beloved brethren, were it not for one unfortunate circumstance. The Gospel tells us that only one of the ten who were restored to health and happiness came back to thank his benefactor. This is the old story of indifference and ingratitude. While nature rebels against such treatment of a friend, let us be slow to condemn the nine ungrateful lepers, re- membering that he who is without fault should cast the first stone. God has done as much— yes, He has done infin- itely more, for you and for me, dearly beloved breth- ren, for He has more than once healed our souls of the leprosy of sin. He has more than once given back to us the white robe of sanctifying grace, and has made us, again and again, worthy of com- panionship with angels and saints. But have we shown our gratitude ? Have we, like Mary Magdalen, gone and sinned no more, and by our saintly lives rejoiced the loving Heart of our Redeemer ? Have the impure, when God forgave them, given up the darkness and the solitude they loved so well ? Has 158 Father Walsh the drunkard, when God forgave His sin, renounced his vile associations, and fled from the places where his manhood has been often disgraced, and the im- age of his God effaced from his soul ? Oh, brethren, let us show our gratefulness by willingly giving up our sins. This is the test, and the only test, that we are truly loving Him Who loved us with an eternal love. FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. Dearly Beloved Brethren : There are men in this world of ours who seem- ingly delight in distorting the Word of God— in rob- bing Holy Scripture of its true meaning. They are guilty of such a wrong who misinterpret, for instance, this Sunday's Gospel into an excuse for idleness and indolence, claiming that Christ has forbidden us to take thought for the morrow, or to provide for the wants of the future. That such a doctrine is false is too clear to admit of argument ; for, if it means anything, such a teach- ing points to the absurd conclusion that God — an All- wise Creator — has endowed man with mind and body, with marvelous faculties and members, and yet has invited them, without any effort, without any atten- tion, on their part, to a share of the gocd things of the world— to bed and board, and something more. My brethren, we do not believe in such a theory. It is against reason as well as religion. We will always have a supreme contempt for the powerful idler, for the man who might, but will not work, and use his God-given powers. In a word, we believe with St. Paul, ' ' that if a man shall not work, neither shall he eat. ,, But while guarding the Gospel against misin- terpretation, let us not permit it to be robbed of all- meaning. God meant, it is true, that we should all Sermons 159 do our share of the world's work. He meant that we should all provide sufficiently for the wants of the future. But He did not mean that we should live and labor for earth alone. He did not mean that we should try to do the impossible : to love Him and Mammon— to serve two masters. He did not mean that we jostle and trample upon one another, in the mad, senseless greed for gold and temporal success. No ; the Lord wished us to use moderation in all things, to be charitable and just in our dealings with our neighbor. But the world laughs at rules and restrictions, and urges its votaries in the vulgar scramble, as though time were everything, and eternity nothing ; as though Mammon were the only reality, and God the only myth. Will the world achieve ultimate suc- cess ? We think not, brethren, for the spiritual is above the temporal, and overanxiety for earthly inter- est is sure to meet with disappointment. The vic- tory is not to the strong ; and sooner or later we will be emphatically convinced of the fact that it is far wiser, far more reasonable, far more blessed, to seek first the kingdom of God and His justice. Let us take this lesson to heart, brethren ; let us not be over- solicitous. Let us, the children of light, be wiser than the children of this generation. Let us, like heirs of a heavenly inheritance, like children of high birth and holy destiny, seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, and by and by the Lord will give unto us all other things necessary. ASSUMPTION. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven brings to mind not only the name of the greatest of mothers, but also the thought of that Mother's greatest and grandest triumph. If Mary's 160 Father Walsh life was clouded from childhood to old age by incom- parable sufferings and sorrows, there is, in the thought of her ultimate triumph over death and the grave, abundant reason why we should rejoice and be glad, why we should send up to heaven on this day prayer, and praise, and thanksgiving, for a miracle without a parallel in the annals of humanity. When we die, brethren, our bodies must pay the penalty of sin and return to dust. Mary was sinless ; her innocence, her holiness, lifted her above this world. Love of God had made her an exception to the common laws of nature. Dead, He would exempt her from another law that meant the complete destruction of the body. As Christ Himself triumphed over the decay of death, so would He, in justice to Himself, and in gratitude to His mother, rescue her body from the corruption of the tomb. To the Master of Life, to the Maker of Worlds, the means to that end were at hand. He robbed the tomb of its victim. Mary was soon assumed into heaven amid the joyful acclamations of the glorified and the redeemed, who proclaimed her Queen of Heaven, Rose of Sharon, Lily of Israel. Dear brethren, from the miracle of the Assump- tion, and from the great things done for Mary, let us learn to model our lives upon hers, and be assumed, like her, into everlasting happiness. We do not expect that this privilege will be ours so soon after death, as in the case of the Blessed Mother. In sub- mission to a higher power than ourselves, we shall await the trumpet call that shall summon us to judg- ment. If we pass safely through that ordeal, and be able to give an account of our stewardship here below, then we shall rejoice and be glad, for our resurrection will mean an assumption into heaven at last. Sermons 161 FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. "Weep not." -Luke vii, 13. From this Sunday's Gospel we learn, dearly beloved brethren, that it is most worthy of God Him- self to sympathize with those in trouble, and to wipe away, when we can, the tears of one another. Since the commission of the first sin this world has been full of sorrow. Every day brings to light new trials, and every hour of the night and day as well, finds some members of the human family sink- ing under the weight of affliction. At times, dear brethren, we have all been forced to recognize this fact ; for we ourselves have, perhaps more than once, passed through the fire of affliction and felt the agony of tears. But that which crushed us most was, without doubt, the thought of man's inhumanity to man ; it was the indifference, the selfishness, the coldness of the world towards us in the hour of trial. In all our sufferings, our aching and our breaking hearts found little sympathy and less love. This ab- sence of fraternal charity, this lack of kindly feeling, has added untold misery to the dark, sad side of life, and is responsible for the saying : ' ' One-half of the world knows not how the other half is living. ' ' Our Blessed Lord was the first to point out and remedy this evil. He began and ended His earthly mission by inculcating everywhere the lesson of love, and by teaching the classes as well as the masses of the people : "To share one another's sorrow, And to bring, when in our power, The coming morrow." In fact, so anxious was He to sow and strengthen among men the spirit and the practice of mutual helpfulness, that He commanded His followers of all times and climes " to bear one another's burdens." 162 Father Walsh One would think, dearly beloved brethren, that the words of Christ ought to be sufficient to open up within us the springs of sympathy, and to draw us into clear touch with the great world around us. But, no ; something more than teaching by mere word of mouth was necessary, at least so our Blessed Saviour thought ; for He always adds prac- tice to theory, and illustration to teaching ; in a word, He gave us an example. What a type of true ten- derness Jesus was when He received the centurion who came to ask Him for his son's restoration to health ! To the prayer of that grief-stricken father Christ lends a gracious ear, comforts him with kind, affectionate hope, and dismisses him with that most gladsome of all parting salutations : ' ' Go, thy son liveth." What a true, noble, generous exemplar of charity the Son of Man was, as He stood beside the grave of Lazarus, consoling the sorrowing sisters, Mary and Martha. Where shall we find a higher ideal of fraternal feeling and sympathy than the Christ of this Sunday's Gospel ? Hear how gently He says to the widowed mother of Nairn : ' Weep not." See how quickly He turns her tears into smiles, by giving her back her son who was dead. Dearly beloved brethren, we cannot, it is true, raise the dead to life ; but we can wipe away some of the tears caused by sickness, and suffering, and death. Have we frequently done so ? The vast majority of us must answer, No ; we have not. And, I ask you, Why not ? Oh ! the reason is, because the example and the teaching of Christ have left little impression upon our minds and hearts. We have no charity ; we do not love one another ; we are selfish. We do not, of course, imply that there are no kindly natures among us. There are, always have been, and always will be, in every parish, some few who have learned the lesson of love from the lips of their Master. But they are few, and in their pres- Sermons 163 ence, we deem it an honor to stand uncovered. They are God's and nature's noblemen and women. FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. SCHOOLS. " Weep not."— Luke vii, 13. The Fathers of the Church tell us, dearly beloved brethren, that many of the sayings and scenes of In- spiration have a broader and deeper meaning than ofttimes appear on the surface. Thus, when our Blessed Lord speaks of Jeru- salem, He does not necessarily mean to direct atten- tion to the ancient city of that name, a city whose grandeur was once the wonder of the world, and whose form was once the glory of the Jewish nation. No ; He would rather refer to the Heavenly Jeru- salem, to the Eternal City of God, whose greatness, grandeur and glory surpass all understanding. Again, when the Holy Gospel pictures, as it did a few Sundays ago, the pitiable state of the wretched victims of leprosy, it was not precisely the purpose of the Inspired Writer to excite our sympathy by re- minding us of the fact that the unfortunate leper was exiled from home and friends, and doomed to a most horrible death. No ; the intention was to impress upon our minds the thought that leprosy is a figure of sin, and that the wages of sin are death and ever- lasting separation from God. Applying what we have just said to this Sunday's Gospel, we may conclude, dearly beloved brethren, that the scene pictured to-day by St. Luke has not only a literal sense, but also a mystical, spiritual meaning — a meaning full of interest and instruction for us of the present hour. Ever since the world's Good Friday evening,. 164 Father Walsh ever since the memorable tragedy of Calvary, the Church of the Living God has been deprived of the visible presence of her Spouse— Jesus Christ. For over nineteen hundred years she has lived a holy widowhood, and like the widowed mother of Nairn, she has had to struggle against mighty trials and sorrows. Not the least among the sorrows of the Catholic Church has been the persistent effort made by the powers of darkness to rob her of the rev- erence, loyalty, and filial love of humanity— that child whom Jesus ransomed in His own precious blood, and whom He left to her to be trained and instructed in the ways of righteousness and morality. ' ' Go ye, therefore," says the Saviour, " and teach all nations ; teach them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you." If these words mean anything, they mean that all nations of the earth are held conscientiously to hear the voice of religion ; if they mean anything, they mean that the Church alone not only has the right, but also the sacred duty, of pointing out to men the ways and means of holy living, and to heaven. And yet, brethren, as we know, the Church is subjected, nowadays, to the humiliation of being treated with contempt. She must needs listen to the powers of darkness, boasting that the world is spiri- tually dead, and that the youth of to-day— who will be the men and women of the future— are destined to be generations of skeptics and infidels, rejecting the first principles of Christianity, and even calling into question the existence of God. Satan would de- stroy, if he could, the kingdom of truth. He would turn creation against its Creator. More than once has the attempt been made, but thus far the cause of Christ has triumphed. In the beginning of Chris- tianity, when the Church was young, twelve millions of martyrs gave their lives as a testimony to truth and virtue. The powers of darkness withdrew from Sermons 165 the struggle, dismayed, but not conquered. Five centuries later, they came back to the field of battle, and, under the guise of heresy, tried again to draw humanity from Christ and His Church, but a second time the enemy of God and man was hurled back by the learning and eloquence of the Augustines, the Basils, the Jeromes, the Chrysostoms, and other holy doctors. But this second defeat did not mean destruction. The powers of darkness were, indeed, discomfited, but they were not annihilated, and the proof lies in the fact that, in these our own times, we see them returning to the attack, more determined than ever. Their courage finds a stimulus in the belief that they have discovered at last a new and fatal weapon of warfare — an ingenious means for destroying religion and revelation. It means that that warfare is the exclusion of religious thought from the class-room. Their battle-cry is : Teach no religion to the young. ' ' Just think of it, brethren, teach our little ones nothing of God, nothing of the creation, nothing of their redemption, nothing of their sanctification, nothing of judgment, nothing of that Father Who is in heaven. What a cunning device ! But, oh ! what wickedness, what impiety ! The Church, on the other hand, insists that relig- ious instruction shall go hand in hand with secular science ; for she knows, and every honest mind real- izes, that there can be no true and complete develop- ment of the spiritual man without the supernatural. We believe that religion is absolutely necessary ; to elevate a people, to protect society, and to satisfy the relations and responsibilities existing between men. Now, how and where are our children to be in- structed in the supernatural ? How and where are they to be taught the way to honor, to happiness, and to heaven ? Surely they cannot obtain this knowledge in our system of non-sectarian schools ; 166 Father Walsh for it is not in the province of the State or its em- ployes to inculcate religion. This privilege, this right, this duty, belongs, as we have said, to the Church, and is exercised only in the excellent institu- tions of learning founded and fostered by her. To-day we plead for the school. Its success ought to be an appeal to every father and mother. Its teachers are intelligent and zealous, who have consecrated their lives to the Christ-like work of teaching many the way of justice. We can promise parents who entrust their little ones to the care and influence of the good Sisters, their children will be a credit and a joy to them. No school or academy can promise more than this. Now, I can say, in all sincerity, to Catholic fathers and mothers, if you give your children the advantages and blessed benefits of a Christian edu- cation, you will never be brought to the anguish of believing that any child of yours is spiritually dead, and dead through your own fault, and through your own criminal negligence. When the time comes, as it may come in the natural course of events, for par- ents to look down into the dead face of a son or a daughter, may they be able to say : ' ' The soul at least is happy and safe in the arms of God." May they be able to look up to heaven, to the God of all consolation, and may they hear from the Divine lips the tender, hopeful words of to-day's Gospel : "Weep not." FEAST OF THE SEVEN DOLORS. ' ' Forget not the sorrows of thy Mother. ' ' To-day, Holy Church celebrates the feast of the Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This simple announcement cannot help but awaken in grateful hearts tender memories of the past. It can- Sermons 167 not fail to turn our thoughts to days and nights of unselfish suffering. It speaks to us of the Queen of Martyrs and draws us to the side of affliction. Hence, it is only natural to expect that the children of the Church will ever hold this feast in loving remem- brance, and that the children of Mary the world over, filled with feelings of gratitude and love, will on this day gather round her altars, to sing her praises, and to proclaim anew that they have not for- gotten the sorrows of their Mother. The sacred record tell us, brethren, the number of Mary's sorrows. Had it been at all possible, some book or pen had long since made known to us their immensity and their intensity. But only from the Book of Life, only from the lips of God Himself, "shall we ever know, from the settlings (?) above the surface, the depth of the vein below. ' ' Each of the Virgin's dolors brought to her maternal heart a grief vaster and deeper than an ocean. So say the saints, who have made a study of suffering, and who, consequently, know whereof they speak. A little reflection will help us, brethren, to grasp the reason for such a belief. Let him who will, try to fathom, for instance, Mary's first sorrow — the Pres- entation of the Child Jesus in the temple. Remem- ber the maiden of Nazareth, as she comes to Jeru- salem with a glad heart, conscious of only the one fact, namely, that she is thus not only submitting to the exactions of an ancient Jewish custom, but also obeying a stern precept of the Levitical law, which commanded every Jewish mother to bring before the altar of the Lord, and to consecrate to God, her first-born male child. As the Virgin Mother enters the temple to fulfil this duty, angels might have heard her repeat, over and over again, the hopeful words of the ' ' Magnificat " : My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Saviour. ' ' There was happiness in her every feature, 168 Father Walsh joy in her every step. Her youthful mind had never fully weighed the painful prophecy of Isaias, fore- telling the passion and the cruel crucifixion of the Child she was then carrying in her arms. Like other mothers, Mary had full faith in the future, and across the path that lay before her babe, she saw, or seemed to see, far more sunshine than shadow. As she looked down into the face of the Infant Christ, she was grateful to God, Who had done such great things to her, and freely acknowledged that all her prayers had been answered at last, and all her hopes realized. But, alas, for human calculations ! Alas, for human happiness ! Their sole purpose of ttimes seems to be to deceive us, and to pave the way for painful surprises. This, at least, was the lesson that our Blessed Mother was to be taught in the temple on the day of the Presentation. Little did she expect to hear, then and there, and from priestly lips, an announcement that could not but turn the whole cur- rent of her life, and change the whole tenor of her thoughts. But so it was. Moved by the spirit of God, Venerable Simeon said to Mary : ' ' Behold, this Child is set for the ruin, and for the resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be con- tradicted, and thy own soul a sword shall pierce.' ' From that moment the Virgin Mother began to experience that deep grief which the anticipation of coming suffering always brings with it. Little by little the truth dawned upon her. Gradually the truth rose up before her mental vision, and soon she saw in dim outline a mountain, on the summit of which stood a cross, and that cross was crimsoned with the pure and precious blood of her dear Child. No mind can ever measure the depth of the anguish which this vision brought to Mary's heart. Oh, breth- ren, if that prophecy of Venerable Simeon could have been blotted out from her memory, if the memories Sermons 169 of the Presentation could have been effaced from the history of her life, she might have been better pre- pared to battle against the tide of trial and grief that now seemed to be her only portion and inheritance in this world. She might have been able to bear her second sorrow — the hardships of a flight into Egypt, and the privations of an exile from kindred and country ; she might have been greatly strengthened to endure the third sorrow — the loss of Jesus and temporary separation from Him ; and she might have been better nerved for her fourth sorrow — that awful meeting on the way to Cavalry. But God willed it otherwise. Perhaps He wished to teach the world that the way of suffering is always the way to heaven. Certain it is that He wished to make Mary the Queen of Martyrs. And will anyone dispute her claim to this title ? What martyr ever endured for thirty-three years, as she did, the sufferings of a tortured mind ? What mother ever carried before her eyes, day after day, for more than thirty-three years, as she did, the pic- ture of a crucifixion, and that the crucifixion of her son ? What mother has ever taken into hers, little hands that were, later on, to be pierced with rough nails ? What mother has ever pressed to her breast a little head that was doomed one day to be crowned with thorns ? What mother, looking into the eyes of her innocent child, has ever been forced to say of Him what she was forced to say of Jesus : " ' There is no beauty in Him, nor comeliness. We have seen Him, and we have thought Him, as it were, a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted ... He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter . . . and He shall not open His mouth." Well, this was Mary's privilege, if such it maybe called, while she lived at Nazareth. And when Jesus left Nazareth — that home sanctified by sufferings and sorrows as well as by domestic virtues, Mary 170 Father Walsh followed Him. Yes, followed Him even to Calvary, where her heart was pierced, as Venerable Simeon said it would be, with a sword or grief. Most bitter, indeed, one would think, must have been the young Virgin's sufferings three and thirty years before, on the night of the Saviour's Nativity, when, footsore and weary, she sought, but sought in vain, for shel- ter in the inn at Bethlehem. To our minds, her failure to find hospitality must have cut her to the very heart ; but to Mary, standing beneath the bloody cross, the experience of the December night seemed more like a blessed relief, or at most, a slight disappointment. She had for years anticipated the scenes of Good Friday ; but she stood face to face with stern reality. She saw the brutal soldiers tear from the bleeding body of her Son the seamless garment which she had woven with her own hands. She heard the cries of derision, and the blasphemies of the mob ; every blow of the hammer fell upon her ears, and her heart sank within her. There was no one to help her ; no one to soothe her grief. It was vain, and she knew it, to appeal to the cruel men who were scattered about the mount. Finally, looking up through blinding tears, she beheld a sight that filled to overflowing the cup of affliction, and must have made her long for death. Jesus — her son — was hanging and dying on the cross. Yes, He was dying before her very eyes, and still out of the reach of every kindly service. It is a torture for a mother to remain inactive by the death- bed of her child. Grief must be doing something. The wants of the sufferer are the luxuries of the mourner. This is a sacred privilege and a long- remembered pleasure, to smooth the pillow of the dying ; to wipe from his clammy brow the sweat of death ; to moisten the bloodless lips, and to bring back warmth to the icy hands and feet. Think, then. Sermons 171 what Mary must have suffered those three long hours beneath the cross ! Duty kept her near the Crucified, but brutality rendered her powerless to ease the agony that now ends in death. ' ' Bowing His head, " says the Evangelist, "He breathed forth His spirit.'' The crucifixion was the Virgin Mother's fifth dolor. The sixth and seventh were the receiving of the Saviour's dead body into her arms, and the con- signing of it to the tomb. When kind hands had rolled the stone over against the door of the sepul- chre, Mary stood forth alone, for all time to come, the model of suffering and the mother of sorrows. Let us stop here, dearly beloved brethren, and ask ourselves one question : Why did Mary suffer so much, so patiently, so heroically ? We answer : In the first place, to give us an example. By her sorrows she showed us with what fortitude we ought to bear our sufferings, and associate them, as she did, with those of her own Son. Secondly, it was fitting that she should suffer for her own sake, for she had to earn her salvation and glory, which is now hers in heaven and on earth. If Christ Himself submitted to every humiliation, and so entered into glory, who can claim, who would want exemption from the law of suffering ? By her sorrows, Mary purchased the rewards of eternal life. Remember this, brethren, as the one great lesson to be learned from this day's feast. Remember, too, we sinners must imitate the example of the sinless if we would share in their triumph. Remember the blood of Jesus and the tears of Mary. Both were shed for us — one to redeem, the other to encourage and assist us. Let us, therefore, stand firm in trial, in affliction and suffering, and in sorrow. Let our burdens be lightened by faith and hope and love, and we shall have the merits of Christ's sufferings secured and applied to us through the prayers and sorrows of His and our Mother. 172 Father Walsh OCTOBER DEVOTION. Dearly Beloved Brethren : According to a custom that has now obtained in the Church, October is called the month of the Holy Rosary, just as June is called the month of the Sacred Heart, and May the month of Mary. There are well-known and well-grounded reasons to explain the setting aside of our seasons of spe- cial prayer and devotion, but the real motive that prompted the dedication of October to the Virgin Queen of the Most Holy Rosary may be said to be practically unknown to not a few of our otherwise well-informed Catholic laity. Hence, have we deemed it, dearly beloved breth- ren, a sacred duty to ourselves, as well as an humble service to the Church of Christ, to lay before you this morning such considerations as may move you to take a living, active, personal part in the simple devotions now being held every day throughout the Catholic world. I need scarcely remind you that this is an age of co-operation, an age of union, and that in union there is strength. This is one of those immortal truths that require no demonstration, but one from which the suffering and oppressed of all times and all places have derived the greatest courage and reaped the greatest results. To-day, as ever, it is the watchword of the weak, and as a consequence, we see right, everywhere, slowly but surely emancipating itself from the cruel, crushing grasp of might and despotism. Let it be distinctly understood, brethren, that we are not now referring to a co-operation merely physical in its nature, and local in its application. On the contrary, the co-operation to which we allude is moral rather than physical. It is a union not so much of hands as of hearts and sentiments. It is a league that knows no limits save those of Sermons 173 earth itself. It embraces all countries and classes, calling upon us, its members, not only to feel and pray for the victims of persecution, wherever found, but also to lift up our hearts to God in behalf of Holy Church, upon whom devolves the ofttime thankless task of preserving intact our dearest rights of con- science, and that freedom wherewith Christ hath made us free. The war now going on between religion and the powers of darkness, though bloodless, is, neverthe- less, a relentless one, and no effort is being spared to wreck the Barque of Peter, as is evident in even a hurried glance at the present sad condition of the Church in many countries of Europe. Many years ago, the government of France again declared itself as against the Catholic Church. For many years it has opposed her at every step, heaping every species of indignity upon her children, and ended by sending into exile religious orders that had shed lustre on the French name long before the Re- public saw the light of day. Not long since, this same Masonic government passed a law, by the pro- visions of which thousands of young Levites were taken from their seminaries, deprived of their books, of prayer and piety, and sent into barracks, ostensi- bly for the purpose of learning the military art, but virtually to learn impiety and impurity. Hell itself could not have devised a better means to injure Christianity, and imperil the salvation of immortal souls. Sad admission to make. Its boldness has only been equalled by its success ; for we are in a position to assert that France is to-day the most impious, and one of the most immoral nations on the face of the earth. St. Paul says there are sins, the very men- tion of which must be excluded from among Chris- tians. In obedience to his injunctions, we shall refrain from reciting certain facts and figures found 174 Father Walsh in the latest official reports of the French criminal and divorce courts. They are too horrible for a Christian tongue to utter, too horrible for Christian ears to hear. Suffice it to say, that this same spirit of hostility is not confined to France alone. Like a foul epidemic, it has spread far and wide, seriously infecting in its course Switzerland and Italy, and parts of Germany and Belgium. In the latter coun- try, the war is to the death. Here the struggle is for the soul of the child, into whose hands the Gov- ernment will place only such books as make no men- tion of the name of God and Jesus Christ. My brethren, let anyone whose heart is not on fire with the malice and hate of the demon, take up a crucifix ; at home, study its deep, pathetic lessons ; let him ask himself whose bruised image and torn body is represented on that cross — and why it hangs there ; and let him, if he will, efface from the minds and hearts of our youth the name and memory of Him Who died that we might live, and that little chil- dren might come unto Him. As you perceive, it has come to this : that our enemies are trying with might and main to destroy the blessings of the Redemption. In view of this fact, the question for you and for me to ask and answer is : Will they succeed ? With God's grace and our sympathetic prayers spurring on our brethren across the waters, the impious undertak- ing cannot and will not triumph. Every day during this month we will ask the God of battles to teach their hands to war, and their fingers to fight. If God be with them, we know that even armies will be powerless against them. After many trials and much suffering, the Church in Germany enjoys a cessation of hostilities. She fought nobly for the right, and the Lord blessed the brave ones who trusted in Him. No army ever showed more courage on the field of battle than did the brave bishops and devoted priests of Germany, Sermons 175 many of whom died in exile for daring obey God rather than man. You know how Bismarck boasted some years ago to bury the Catholic Church. He was branded a failure by his own sovereign, and his name, like his faded popularity, was doomed to an ignominious grave. But if peace be the present happy portion of the Church in Germany, the reverse is true of religion in Italy. Italy is the home, the cradle of Catholicity. It was from the catacombs of Rome that the Church came forth to Christianize and to civilize the whole of Northern and Western Europe. History tells how well she fulfilled her saving mission, and how unsel- fishly she championed the cause of the ignorant and weak against the unscrupulous rulers of the East. When abandoned by their kings and left to the mercy of the Mohammedans, the people of Europe, and especially the people of Italy, always found in the Vicar of Christ, the Pope of Rome, a friend, a father, and a protector, to whose personal intervention and official influence they owed more than once their lives and their liberties. And how have the kindly offices of the Church been repaid ? By ingratitude, insult, and spoliation. Yes, brethren, the Italian Government has gagged and robbed the Church of Jesus Christ and shut up in the Vatican His vicar, a man innocent of every charge save that of being the Spiritual Father of 215,000,000 Catholics. Some years ago the news was flashed across the ocean that Cardinal Pecci had become Pope, but it forgot to add, did the same Masonic government of Italy, that he became a prisoner as well. True, this thought bows us down in sorrow ; but we concede to no human government the right to spoliate and imprison our Supreme Pontiff. It is an outrage on justice and an insult to humanity. These are our views, brethren, and we would fain believe 176 Father Walsh they are yours also. They are the message of filial love which we ask the celebrant of the divine mysteries to lay at the feet of our Holy Father when he shall again be privileged to receive his paternal blessing. But this expression of devotion were very insignificant indeed, if unaccompanied by a promise to work and pray for the triumph of the Church and the liberation of our common Spiritual Father. He himself has suggested, from time to time, the means to the end. It is simple, it is easy. It is nothing more than the recitation of the Holy Rosary during the month of October. We are well aware that this means seems weak and inadequate, to say the least. Nevertheless, we are reminded in the holy book, if God wishes to perform anything unusually grand and sublime, He makes use of small, and apparently contemptible, in- struments. Thus, He used the rod of Moses to effect great miracles, and to rescue the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. He chose the young shepherd boy David to slay with a small stone Goliath, the great enemy of God's people. He bade Gideon to select 300 out of 32,000 warriors, to confound the power of the cruel Madianites. He chose the cross, once the sign of ignominy, to be the means of our redemp- tion ; and, finally, to convert the world, He sent forth twelve poor, unlettered fishermen. Should we, therefore, distrust the efficacy of the Holy Rosary as a means of victory ? Prayer is al- ways a mighty weapon, and we all remember of at least one instance in which it accomplished precisely what we are now asked to pray for, the freedom of the Sovereign Pontiff. Many centuries ago, St. Peter, our first Pope, was languishing in a prison cell. He was chained hand and foot, and awaited calmly the day and hour of execution. A great fear fell upon his spiritual children, who were not, how- ever, idle. The whole Church made incessant sup- Sermons 177 plication to heaven, and God sent an angel to break the captive's chains, and led him triumphantly from the dreary dungeon. It is true to say that what has been done once can be done again. God does not grow weak with lapsing years. His right hand has not been short- ened. He is the same yesterday, to-day, and to- morrow. He is merciful, and will hear our prayers. The Rosary will save the Church now, just as, 300 years ago, at Lepanto, it saved Christian civilization from the barbarous Mohammedans. Remember, my brethren, whosoever fails to pray for the Church is not doing his full duty to God. He is not loving as he should his suffering brethren, to whom he is bound by the triple tie of faith, hope, and charity. Whenever possible during the month, come to the devotions. Let pious Christian parents see to it that the members of their household be gathered together at evening to pray for the inten- tion of our Holy Father, and let us ask God that the Church may soon be as free and untrammelled throughout the world as she is in this our own glorious land of civil and religious liberty. SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. "They watched Him. ,, — Luke xiv, 1. It has been said, dearly beloved brethren, that the Gospel of Christ is a force capable of conquering and converting the world. Were its teachings heard and loyally heeded, there would be, without doubt, far more light than darkness in the moral world, far more rejoicing than repining in the human heart. There would be more sincerity than hypocrisy among men ; more edifica- tion than scandal in social and domestic life. But 178 Father Walsh most of us are so heedless or so thoughtless, so indif- ferent or superficial, as to be almost beyond the serious impressions of the Gospel. We are very like the man mentioned in Holy Writ, who, beholding his countenance in a glass and going his way, presently forgot what manner of man he was. Impressionless, like such a one, we hear the Gospel truths as though we heard them not. Their reading or their preach- ing is quickly forgotten. The result is that God's precious promises are virtually unknown, while His salutary warnings are practically ignored. A proof of this assertion may be drawn from to- day's Gospel, and more especially from these words of our text: "They watched Him." These words are not new to you, brethren. I am sure that you have all heard them before, and more than once ; but I am equally sure they have had, heretofore, but little meaning for not a few of you ; that they have fallen, as it were, like seed upon ungrateful ground ; for had they taken root in your souls, had they yielded, as they should, a spiritual harvest, you would be to-day more cautious as to your words, and more careful as to your works ; you would be more conscious of the fact that you are being watched ; and that, therefore, it behooveth everyone so to reg- ulate his or her life as to win the approval of God. Every life that bears the seal of Heaven's approval is, indeed, a testimony unto the power of the Gospel, as an uplifting, transforming, and conquering force. If we would succeed in leading lives, thus show- ing forth the power of the Gospel, we must first know and feel, brethren, that God is ever watching us. Holy Writ says that we are before His eyes, day and night. Neither is there any place in all creation where we can veil ourselves, even if we would, from the all-seeing eye of God. If we ascend to heaven, He is there ; if we descend into the bowels of the earth, He is there. To be just in His future judg- Sermons 179 merits, God must see, and hear, and know all things ; for, one day, He is to render to every man according to His works. What higher, what holier motive could there be for watching us ? What an en- couragement for the children of promise ! What an inspiration for us to persevere in "doing good," despite the machinations of the evil one and the withering scorn of the world ! The world still clings to the spirit of pharisaism. It watches us as it watched Christ in the days of His public ministry, primarily to ensnare us, and then to condemn us. Those who fancy its ways are welcome to its rewards ; but never was greater mistake made than when a man or a woman, freely following its principles or its practices, deceives himself or herself into the belief that it is possible to escape the consequences of his or her folly. After the commission of their memorable sin, Adam and Eve planned to flee from the face of their Maker ; but it was a useless attempt, for He who was an eye-witness to their transgression revealed to them the very secrets of their hearts. Cain— the murderer — sinned, and would fain hide himself frcm the gaze of the Almighty, but the Almighty found him out, and reproached him with his crime. David sinned. To show that He was cognizant of it, the Lord hurled against him the sentence of death, which would have been carried into execution had not the deep and sincere repentance of the criminal excited the pity and the mercy of God. There is, and can be, no hiding-place from the Most High. It is now more than two thousand years since the Inspired Penman wrote: "Thine eyes, Lord, are upon us." Yes, God sees and watches us. While this thought should recall the wicked from his evil ways, it should also be an incentive to the godly to reach out after a larger perfection. For if God sees and punishes wrong-doing, it is clear that 180 Father Walsh He also sees and rewards well-doing, high thinking, and noble living. Remember, brethren, it is a law of our nature to grow spiritually as well as physically, and thus bear witness, each in his or her own humble way, to the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Blessed Lord Himself seems to intimate as much when He says : ; ' Let the saint sanctify himself still more." Again He says: "Be ye perfect, even as your Heavenly Father is perfect." Hence sanctity, perfection, holiness, are necessary and becoming the children of God, inasmuch as they are supposed to represent Christ and His cause. Grown, as many of us are, to the weak principles and practices of the world, this may seem like a strange doctrine ; but what we have said ceases to be strange when we bring to mind the fact that he who fails to represent the heavenly model is sure to misrepresent Him— and misrepresent Him ofttimes— to the spiritual detriment of countless others. The Apostle says that no man liveth unto himself, from which we draw but one conclusion, namely : that whether we represent or misrepresent Christ, we are sure to be watched. We are a part of society, and, necessarily, our influence, be it ever so insignificant, is bound to work either good or evil. Therefore, brethren, knowing that the eyes of our fellow-men are upon us, and that God is watch- ing us, we should strive to imitate the Son of Man, Who was prudent, wise and cautious, fearless in doing good, slow in giving offence, instant in prayer, instant in patience. Our words do indeed apply to all men and women desirous of leading Christian lives, and bearing witness to the power of the Gospel ; but they apply more especially still to those who hold an- other's place and power in the family. In the home circle the eyes of the little ones are upon the parents. Woe to you, fathers and mothers, if your works or your words scandalize the young and innocent. Par- Sermons 181 ents, in common with others who are burdened with less responsibility, are too apt to forget that they are being watched. SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. , CONFIDENCE IN GOD. The doctrine of Jesus Christ, my brethren, may be resumed in three words : Faith, hope, and charity. Like trees planted in a fertile soil, so has God im- planted these virtues in the very souls and hearts of His children, in order that, as St. Paul tells us, we might bring forth fruit unto salvation. Unfortu- nately, however, there is one great obstacle to the complete realization of this glorious end, and that one obstacle is sin ; for sin is the death of the soul and of every virtue. In a moment of weakness, our first parents sinned, and as the terrible result of their transgres- sion, we find the human race plunged in the greatest degradation for upwards of four thousand years, dur- ing which time the world had little faith, less hope, and no charity. Men had strayed away from the path marked out for them by God, and they con- tinued to wander in the mazes of spiritual darkness until the coming of Christ, Who was the Light and the Life of the fallen world. Enlightened by Him, men soon began to see clearer ; their faith in the Deity revived, and, seeing the wonders wrought by the Son, they began to love the Father, their neighbor, and themselves. Yes, my brethren, the coming of Jesus Christ into this world signalized in the human heart the revival of faith, hope, and charity. In to-day's Gospel our attention is directed to the first of these virtues, namely, faith, the depth and the strength of which may and must be measured 182 Father Walsh by our confidence in God. St. Jerome calls confi- dence in God the best test of faith in Him, and this assertion is fully confirmed by many touching and wonderful miracles recorded in Holy Writ. In the fifteenth chapter of his Gospel, St. Mat- thew relates that a certain woman came to Jesus, and, falling down at His feet, besought Him to re- store her daughter's health, saying: "Have mercy on me, Lord, Thou, Son of David/ ' At first the anxious mother's request went unnoticed. A second attempt was no more successful than the first ; but, nothing daunted, she pressed forward a third time, and finally obtained from our Blessed Lord the de- sired answer : ' ' woman, great is thy faith : be it done to thee as thou wilt." Behold, my brethren, the kind of confidence that should accompany our faith. Another remarkable incident which goes to prove that God measures our faith by our confidence in Him, is found in the Gospel of this Sunday. A poor, afflicted man, so completely struck down with palsy as to be unable to walk, is carried, at his urgent request, to the place where Jesus is known to be. Doubtless this poor man had heard of the many cures already wrought in behalf of other sufferers from his own illness, and was filled with hope that he might be cured as others had been. He fully appre- ciates the difficulties of the situation, but he bravely faces them all ; and our Blessed Lord generously rewards his confidence, saying to Him : ' ' Rise up, take thy bed and go into thy house." And the man sick of the palsy rose up and returned to his home, restored to health. In the face of such a miracle, we are not sur- prised at the favorable impression made upon the multitude, nor should we dismiss from our minds the account of this miracle with only a passing thought. We should think well on it, remembering that what- Sermons 183 soever things have been written, have been written for our instruction. We have, it is true, faith in the same Christ Who, nineteen hundred years ago, cured the afflicted man mentioned in to-day's Gospel ; but, I would ask you, have you the same faith as the palsied man ? Is your faith, like his, strong, prac- tical, open, convincing, confiding ? This, I fear, is a doubtful question with many of us, for it is precisely want of such faith that constitutes the great curse of our age. Nowadays, people boast of self-reliance in all the crises of life ; men rely on themselves, and teach their children to look on their own capabilities and resources. In our undertakings, in our reverses, we show the littleness of our faith by want of confi- dence in God. In business, we try to make success depend entirely upon our own personal merits and ex- ertions, quickly setting aside the providence of God. But in the Gospel of this Sunday our Blessed Lord indirectly censures such a course. By a mi- raculous cure, He teaches us to confide in Him ; and in our own day, and as an incentive to rely upon Him, God performs even greater miracles in favor of confiding Christians and Catholics. It is a soul- stirring sight to see the army of the sick who visit annually the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, and to listen to the open, public profession of faith in the power and goodness of God, and in the intercession of His Blessed Mother. Like the centurion, they travel long distances, sustained and encouraged by Him Who, in other times, caused the deaf to hear, the blind to see, the dumb to speak, the lame to walk, and the dead to rise from their graves. But, my brethren, if God rewards so munificently the confidence of those who have recourse to Him in their physical ailments, with how much more con- fidence should we fly to Him in our spiritual afflic- tions, of which the bodily infirmities are only the types and figures. The palsied man did what any- 184 Father Walsh one in the state of sin may and should undertake. He felt his state, and was determined to make every effort to be healed. With this end in view, he did not simply pray to God, but he did something more. He had recourse to outward means, which he felt were at his disposal. He had heard of One Who was going about doing good to all who came within His reach, and he appealed to his friends, requesting them to convey him into the presence of this kind benefactor. If you, beloved brethren, looking into yourselves, should find any palsy, any sin about your souls, you may, indeed, call out to God for mercy, saying with the Psalmist : ' Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am sick. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are trou- bled.' ' But count not this sufficient. There is an outward act which you can perform. There is a means within your reach which you can adopt, and which can bring a cure to you. It has cured others, and it can cure you. Go to God in His Church, and ask for the application of that means, and these words can and will be pronounced over you : 'Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven thee." Have confidence, therefore, in the goodness and mercy of God. Be as courageous and as earnest as the sick man mentioned in to-day's Gospel, in your efforts to be relieved from your spiritual disorders. Consider it no weakness to come into God's presence and ask the forgiveness of your sins. For that act is the Catholic's greatest mark of confidence in God, and confidence, as St. Jerome remarks, is the measure of our faith. Remember the words of Christ to the clergy of His Church : "Whose sins you shall for- give, they are forgiven. Whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven." My brethren, we want, not a new faith, but more of the old faith. We want to rely more on God, and less on ourselves, and in our spiritual necessities we Sermons 185 want confidence in the Church. The Church can do precisely what Jesus Christ did, because He has given to her all the power which, as man, He had re- ceived from His Eternal Father. She can, therefore, extend her hand over the penitent sinner who comes to her in sorrow and confidence, and can say : "Be of good heart, son, thy sins are forgiven. ' ' And, no doubt, every time you hear those words pronounced over you, you will join with the angels, who will re- joice at your pardon, and with them you will gladly praise and glorify God, Who hath given such power to men. Amen. SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. Almighty God has so many ways of teaching us, my dear brethren, that it is only wisdom on our part faithfully to observe the commandments of love laid down by Christ in these few words of to-day's Gos- pel : " Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy mind." To some of us this lesson is imparted through the oft-repeated admonitions and exhortations of Holy Church, which, like a tender mother, is ever guarding her children against the seductive wiles of the devil and from the follies of a sinful world. To some others, the lesson comes through a special light and grace from above ; but for the larger portion of the human family it will, and can, come only through the sad experience of those who have loved the world and the things of time, only to find themselves at the end of life friendless and hopeless. Nor should we be surprised that darkness and despair are the natural result of having wilfully wasted the talents and the time given us by God for His time and glory. The service of this world always was and always will be a most thankless one. Moreover, passion and -^ 186 Father Walsh pleasure, for which so many of us live, are the hardest of hard masters, for when we can love and serve them no longer, they will cast us aside and leave us to acknowledge, even on our death-beds, and in bitterness of spirit, that we are going out from life without ever knowing the reason of our coming into it. Oh ! my brethren, such admissions (and they are not few), are well calculated, one would think, to teach us to profit by the fearful and fatal mistakes of our less favored fellows. And yet, strange to say, it requires no extraordinary power of vision to see numberless souls still straying away, every day, from the love of God and His Christ. We need not go far to find abundant evidence bearing on this point ; for, looking around us, do we not perceive numbers of men and women who are deeply engrossed with a multiplicity of worldly cares, and who are drawn away from their higher interests by a thousand and one whims of their capricious hearts ? Such people have virtually forgotten God, and forge tfulness is, dearly beloved brethren, one of the surest signs that they have ceased to love their Creator, the Eternal Source of infinite happiness, per- fection and power. And as it is with them, so must it be with you and me. If we love and serve any but God alone, we are simply forgetting His good- ness, and overlooking a perfection and a power that we recognized at all times and felt in all places. It is He Who preserves and governs this universe of ours by His Sovereign Intelligence, of which our minds are but the faintest scintillations. It is He Who commands the winds and the waves, and Who says to the angry billows of the deep : ' ' You shall come thus far, and no further.' ' Again, it is He Who says to the sorrowing sinner : ' ' Be of good heart ; thy sins are forgiven thee. Go, and sin no more." Finally, it is He Who whispers words of Sermons 187 consolation and encouragement into the ears of the afflicted and the oppressed, saying to them, as He said of old : M Weep not." When we think of all this power, and perfection, and goodness, we cannot but recall the words of a pious writer : ' ' The beauty, the mercy, and the ten- derness of God are reflected in the myriads of creatures that still grace our fallen world." Yes, brethren, ours is a good and great God. Therefore, admiration for God's perfections is at least gratitude, for His goodness demands that we love the Lord, our God, with our whole heart, and with our whole soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind. But how shall we best show the love of our Maker and Master ? This question is best answered by Jesus Himself in the Gospel of St. John, where it is written : ' ' If anyone love Me, he will keep My com- mandments." Hence, fidelity to the Saviour's com- mandments is the supreme test of our love for God. Knowing the rich reward that is in store for all those who love and serve the Lord, let us resolve, dear brethren, to attach our hearts to something better than this world and the things of time, to seek some- thing better than the short-lived pleasures and soul- destroying passions. Let the learned and ambitious man remember that fame and fortune may make him, as they have made others before him, forgetful of his Creator. Let the miser refrain from making a god of his gold. Let the drunkard bear in mind that he should not enshrine in his heart the vile demon of intemperance. Finally, let the sensual take heed, lest death find him prostrated at the foulest of altars, worshipping the foulest and the falsest of divinities — his own bad passions. And you, Christian parents, teach your children, in whom are wrapped up so many hopes of happiness for time and for eternity, that the love of God is paramount to all things else ; teach them that God 188 Father Walsh alone can satisfy all our cravings after happiness ; teach them that with His love in their hearts, they will be great— even in humiliation ; cheerful— even in sufferings and misery ; rich— even in poverty, and strong— even in death. In a word, tell them that there is nothing beautiful, good or true that is not in and from God, and that consequently He is to be loved by us with our whole heart, and with our whole soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind. EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. "Son, be of good heart, thy sins are for- given thee." There are, dearly beloved brethren, two powers that belong exclusively to the true priesthood of Jesus Christ. What these two powers are, and when and where and how they were conferred upon the priests of the Church, are all matters of great moment to the human family, and form one of the most interesting chapters of the Holy Gospel according to St. John. He tells us that after Jesus had changed the sub- stance of the bread and wine into the substance of His own body and blood, He turned to His Apostles, and in spirit to their successors, and said to them : "Do ye this in commemoration of Me." These words, uttered at the Last Supper, constitute the power of consecration, which is the first, and, per- haps, the most sublime prerogative of the Catholic priesthood. But our Blessed Lord did not stop here. We read in the twentieth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John, that three days later, on the very day of His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His assembled Apos- tles and said to them : "Peace be to you. Receive Sermons 189 ye the Holy Ghost : whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven : and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. ' ' If these words do not mean to convey the power of forgiving and retaining sins, which we claim for the Christian priesthood, then, I ask you, dearly beloved brethren, in all seriousness, what do they mean ? We know that modern infidelity has done its worst to destroy faith in the teachings of Inspiration ; we are all well aware of the fact that pride and pas- sion, prejudice and ignorance, have each, in their turn, sought to discredit the validity of the priest- hood's powers ; but we are prepared to prove that their efforts have been only partially successful. God-loving and God-fearing men and women realize that both heaven and earth shall pass away, but the Lord's words shall not pass away. They realize, too, that whatsoever things have been written, have been written for our instruction, that is, for our salvation ; and that it is neither safe nor honest to play the fool, or the sophist, where there is question of a matter that concerns the interests and the destiny of our immortal souls. There are a goodly number of Christians still too wise to forget that warning given to us by our Divine Master and Model, when He said : "Nothing defiled shall enter the kingdom of heaven." Hence, people do, and will, trust in the mercy of God, as manifested in and through the Sacrament of Pen- ance. It will not avail a man anything on the judg- ment day to say to Jesus Christ that he questioned or doubted the existence in the Church of a power to wipe away sin ; it will not avail him anything, I say, to acknowledge he found it hard to kneel down, and only half thanked God for giving such power to men. Indeed, such a one deserves no better treatment at the hands of Christ than would the most miserable of the ancient Pharisees, who called Jesus a blasphemer because He dared to exercise such a prerogative. 190 Father Walsh " Woe to you, hypocrites/ ' said our Blessed Lord to the Scribes and Pharisees of nineteen centuries ago ; and so we say to modern hypocrites, to the world, and to its legitimate offspring, infidelity : Woe to you ; you may hold fast to your own theories and thoughts, but they shall never succeed in effacing from the human heart and mind the beauty and the truth of the teaching of the Son of Man. The fact that the fool has said in his heart, " There is no God," does not necessarily destroy the existence of a Sovereign Master and Maker ; so, also, the fact that certain classes of people reject belief in the power of absolution, or the Sacrament of Penance, cannot, and should not, lessen our love for confession, much less weaken our gratitude to God, Who has given such power to men. If we sift down, dearly beloved brethren, the objections usually raised against the telling of our sins in order to obtain forgiveness of them, we shall find that they are for the most part far more imaginary than real. First of all, people unacquainted with the nature of a sacrament usually look upon the confession of sins as a heavy burden and a galling yoke. We understand such a feeling ; it is the natural repug- nance of a heart that is always proud and ofttimes vicious, vicious sometimes to an extent little dreamed of by the world. They love the darkness rather than the light. They are unwilling to lead virtuous lives. They do not hesitate to do wrong, but they are too weak, and consider it too great a humiliation, to follow the advice and the example given us by St. Augus- tine, who says : "Be not ashamed to confess that which you are not ashamed to do." Such people look only at the burden, and lose sight of the blessing and the happiness that are sure to follow from a worthy confession. "Son, be of good heart, thy sins are forgiven thee," is a saying that has sent a thrill of joy through many a loving Sermons 191 but sin-stained soul, and we know it has brought, in numberless instances, relief, and comfort, and hope to man and women who were suffering and dying of spiritual palsy. Witness Mary Magdalen. Her name was a by- word throughout Jerusalem. She came one day and knelt down at the feet of Jesus. And He, the good and merciful Lord that He always was, and always will be, forgave her sins. " Daughter,' ' said He to her, ' ' go, and sin no more. ' ' Witness Holy David. He sinned most grievously in the sight of Heaven, but he repented, and God received him back into friendship. Witness St. Peter. He denied his Mas- ter, but he afterwards wept over his fall, and Christ absolved him. Why, then, should we remember the burden, the yoke, the humiliation, and forget the comfort that comes from the thought of sin forgiven ? It has oftentimes been said that the confessions made by St. Peter and Mary Magdalen were different and preferable to the ordeal through which Catholics pass nowadays in order to obtain the forgiveness of their sins. We are told that it is unnecessary and un- scriptural to confess our sins to any particular class of persons, and to declare their number and kind. According to the ideas of those who hold this view, it is sufficient to make known our transgressions against the moral law in a general manner, and always directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. We admit that such a confession would be sufficient and prac- ticable in the case of Mary Magdalen and St. Peter, because Christ, who then walked the earth, was the searcher of hearts, and could read the most secret thoughts of the mind. But since Jesus perfected the law, and delegated His power of forgiving or retaining sins to His Apostles and to their successors, there is, and can be, no other manner of confession save that now in vogue among the children of the 192 Father Walsh Catholic Church. This is no new doctrine, dearly beloved brethren, for it flows naturally and logically from the words of St. John : " Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained/ ' The power of absolution presupposes a knowl- edge of the sinner's heart, for otherwise, how shall the priest know whether he is to forgive or retain, to bind or to loose ? He cannot read the human heart as Christ did. Therefore, his duty is clear only when he has heard from the lips of the penitent himself the record of his crimes and the story of his sins. If this be not the implied and logical meaning of the Saviour's words, conferring the power of absolution upon His priesthood, then His words are meaningless. Nay, more, if we could fulfil our obligations of receiv- ing, at stated times, the Sacrament of Penance, by confessing directly to the Lord Jesus Christ, then we say the Lord Jesas Christ deceived St. Peter when He said to Him : ' ' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church, and I shall give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatso- ever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.' ' But we cannot, we shall not, admit even the shadow of deception, either in the nature or the teaching of our Blessed Lord. Hence, we believe that when He perfected the law, He changed confes- sion from a general to a specific declaration of our transgressions. We Catholics find no difficulty to give a reason why we believe in the forgiveness of sins in and through the Sacrament of Penance ; in other words, it is easy to show the Divine origin of confession, or the power of absolution. But it is difficult to prove, at times, its worth and its efficacy. We judge a tree by its fruit ; a man by his works ; a Christian by his virtues. Naturally, we judge of the Sermons 193 efficacy of confession by its results. The results ought to be, brethren, the highest and the best. Are they ? Not always ; because some children of the Church hardly ever use the Sacrament of Pen- ance, while others use it with doubtful dispositions. These are two awful abuses of God's grace, and those who are guilty of them have done more to destroy morality and religion in this world than a legion of devils. See the father or the mother who never approaches the tribunal of penance ; what love and respect can their children have for confession ? And what are we to think of the man or woman who, having heard these words pronounced over him or her, "Thy sins are forgiven thee," rises up and goes back to sinful habits, to lives of gross immor- ality and drunkenness ? What are we to think of such a man's or woman's contrition, sincerity, and honesty of purpose ? Oh, brethren, let us who know how sweet the gifts of God are, cherish a deep love for the Sacra- ment of Penance. Let us receive it often and with sincere dispositions. Then shall it be given us to know and feel the peace which the world cannot give nor take away ; that peace which Christ gave to Holy David, to Mary Magdalen ; the peace that can only come from the thought of sins forgiven, and spiritual life restored to us. NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. "For many are called, but few are chosen."— Matt, xxii, 14. Dearly Beloved Brethren : We must reasonably doubt if ever the Divine lips of Jesus Christ uttered a more momentous truth than that contained in the closing words of this Sunday's Gospel. 194 Father Walsh It naturally divides the human family into two distinct classes : the one numbering the many — aye, the vast multitudes who are called to know and love and serve God in this life ; the other containing the few who achieve, I will not say the greatest, but the most meager measure of success in their heavenly calling. Hence, our text may be taken as expressing a momentous truth, a reality of deep sig- nificance and unusual sacredness. To some of us that truth cames in the nature of a holy and happy message from heaven ; for, naturally, it cheers and swells with feelings of hope, the hearts of all true and courageous Christians, who, like valiant soldiers, are bravely fighting the good fight until the day of life is done, and its beautiful afterglow tells of an eter- nal victory. But to some others, my brethren (and they are the immense majority of mankind, if not in- deed of Christians), that simple declaration of Jesus Christ comes with all the forebodings of a thunderbolt from heaven. It is the death-knell to many souls, the seal of many and many an eternal reprobation. The saying is, we admit, a hard one, but let it be at least rightly understood. It is hard only for cowards and traitorous children of the Church, who persist in wearing the mask of hypocrisy and the cynical smile of indifference ; in fact, it was more especially intended for these victims of a cruel self- delusion, whose religion is in their mouths rather than in their hearts. For I would have you know, dearly beloved brethren, that it is not enough for a man to have inherited from pious parents the pre- cious principles of the true faith, not enough for him to proclaim from the housetop his belief in the saving teachings of Christ's Church. Something more than a mere profession of faith is required of him, and that something more is the tribute of his humble, loving and persevering service. Do not imagine that this is a newly discovered Sermons 195 doctrine, for it is not. It was Christ Himself Who said in the long ago : "Not every one who saith to Me : Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of God ; He who doth the will of My Father, Who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.' ' Oh ! how many of us are doing God's will in this life ? We answer unhesitatingly— few. And how many of us, brethren, are drifting down the stream of time, totally indifferent to the work that has been given us to do ? Countless voices answer— many, multitudes. If, therefore, the few accomplish what the many should and might do, it is altogether nat- ural and logical on our part to infer that the number of elect be in direct ratio to the number of sincere, practical Christians who have not received the grace of God in vain. In a word, the future citizens of heaven will be the little number of those who have generously followed the light of revelation, and used unto salvation the numberless blessings of Christ's Incarnation and Cross. Graces and blessings bought at so great a price can be neither despised nor ignored. True, foolhardy attempts have been made in every stage of the world's existence to do one or the other, or both ; but they have always and ever ended with the same sad results. Sooner or later God's hand falls heavily on those who reject His proffered favors, and, like faded garments, they have been cast off forever. Sacred History keeps a melancholy record of both nations and individuals who have been thus treated. Would that men would read it often, and learn to be wise ere it is too late. Do you ask me, my brethren, who in our land and in our day are likely to call down upon themselves the curse of ever- lasting rejection ? The truth, as revealed by reason and Catholic doctrine, may pain, perhaps shock, some super-sensitive natures, but this will be neither our fault nor our intention. We have a duty to perform, 196 Father Walsh and that duty is to preach God's Word as we find it. Hence, we say and believe, brethren, that God will cast into exterior darkness those who reject the light of truth, and for any reason permanently refuse it. It is clear that such people are walking in the footsteps of the Jews of old. They resisted the light of faith, they refused to heed the call of Heaven. That their sin might be a warning to all succeeding generations, God commanded it to be written in words of inspiration, and these words we read, substan- tially, in this morning's Gospel. The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity saved, sanctified, and ennobled the soul of fallen man. More than that, He made her His spouse, the object of His tenderest love. Nuptial events are usually followed by the gathering together of guests, who participate in the feast and rejoicing to which inti- mate friends are invited. So the Eternal Father made a marriage feast for His Son. He inaugurated a per- petual banquet, that is still being held in a hall that is none other than the Catholic Church. And yet, within it are food and drink abundant for all. There is only one obstacle to our participation in this great marriage feast mentioned in to-day's Gospel, and that is the want of a nuptial garment of faith and grace. For a beautiful and touching explanation of this sublime truth, we can do no better than quote for you, beloved brethren, what may be called Christ's valedictory to His friends. Seated at the Last Supper, the Saviour took bread into His holy hands, and, having lifted up His eyes to Heaven, He gave thanks to the Almighty Father, blessed, broke, and gave to His disciples, saying : "Take, and eat ye all of this, for this is MY Body." In like manner, He took tne chalice, blessed, and passed it to His disciples, saying: "Take, and drink ye all of this, for this is MY Blood. And verily I say unto you, My Body is meat indeed, and Sermons 197 My Blood is drink indeed/ ' Thus, while souls out- side the pale of the Catholic Church are fed on signs, and figures, and symbols, and shadows, we, the brethren of the bridegroom, are satiated with spiritual nourishment, the Bread of Angels, infinitely sweeter than any known to man, and the wine that rejoiceth the heart of man. What inconceivable folly to refuse to enter the King's great banquet hall ! What malice for men to turn a deaf ear to the in- vitation of God ! Woe unto them who are led, by no matter what pretext, to sin against the light ! Their doom is an assured fact, as is the doom of a second class of persons, called bad Catholics. Equally hopeless will be the fate of a second, and numerous class, whom we may very properly call the weaklings of the household of faith. They think our faith a galling yoke, although Jesus expressly declares in the Holy Book : ' ' My yoke is sweet, and My burden light.' ' They are anxious to thrust upon us their so-called sympathy, and, to be candid, we must acknowledge that the deception has already be- gun to bear poisoned fruit in the minds and hearts of certain indifferent, lukewarm and hypocritical Cath- olics. This is sad, my brethren ; but this is not so strange, for, as among the twelve there was a faithless Judas, so among the members of God's household there are some, I cannot say many, who have entered upon the broad road that leads down to eternal de- struction. They were once, and let us pray that they may be again, of the few who were in God's mercy deemed worthy of their high vocation. Because of their hypocrisy, they wished to be what they are now. They call themselves Catholics, but they act and live like pagans. Why is this, brethren ? Because small, weak minds are incapable of appreciating the gift of faith, of realizing the fatal consequences of indif- ference. By putting on the nuptial garment of grace they might be privileged to return to Him Who says : 198 Father Walsh "Without Me you can do nothing." But they fool- ishly imagine that they can serve both God and man. In an evil day they left the banquet hall of Christ, to seek happiness where they can never find it. One sees the end of his existence in the accum- ulation of wealth, to acquire which he does not scruple to do as Judas did : to sell his honor, to offend justice, and to betray His Master. Another practically gives up his faith for social distinction and political favor. My brethren, we have nothing to say to the man who, like Esau, sells his birthright for a mess of pottage. Common sense, however, calls such a man "a fool." Finally, there are some bad Catholics who have been morally forced to leave the banquet hall of the Church because of the too great purity of its atmos- phere. It is a curious phenomenon, brethren, that the higher we ascend from earth, the more difficult our breathing becomes. So is it in the Church, only in a different sense. Some people cannot remain in the Catholic Church because its atmosphere of sanc- tity is too pure. I take it as an unnecessary outlay of words to add that there are men and women who hate the light of day, in order that they may better grovel in the filth of their own abominations, even as the animals in the pen grovel in the mire. Perhaps it were just as well that such people leave the Church, if they would only give up the name of Catholic ; for what possible acquisition can such people be to any feast ? Watch them, and what do you remark ? That they are ashamed to look decent people straight in the face ; decent people know only too well that everything the impure man or woman touches is soiled, and spoiled, and turned into dirt. One great and general cause may be as- signed for the rejection of mankind, of many Chris- tians, and of some Catholics, and that cause is their failure to co-operate with God's grace. Nowadays, Sermons 199 men cannot be induced to think of their souls, and hence the wail of the Prophet, "With desolation is the whole earth made desolate, because there is no one who thinketh in his heart/ ' Oh ! my brethren, let us reflect and learn from the experience of others to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. Let us do all things, let us suffer all things for Christ. In a word, let us fight the good fight, to run the race, to keep the faith. Then will the serenity of the last hours of life be an assur- ance to the world that all has ended in victory and in eternal life. "ALL SOULS' DAY." 1 ' Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you, my friends, for the hand of the Lord hath touched me."- Words taken from the Office of the Day. Dearly Beloved Brethren : A reflecting mind cannot but be impressed by the marked harmony existing between nature and religion. Both are ordained teachers of the human family. The former proclaims and defends the ne- cessity, the wisdom, and the sanctity of the latter ; while, in her turn, religion draws from nature many excellent lessons, and gives to many of her laws a meaning which, though mystic, is always touchingly significant. More especially is this true of the laws of motion or change, so noticeable in the natural world. For instance, the seasons come and go, and would, perhaps, leave no thought behind them of a message divine were it not for the action of religion, and the heavenly interpretations she gives to such changes. For each season she has an appropriate theme and especial music. 200 Father Walsh In the springtime she speaks to us of hope — the first fruit of the Resurrection ; in winter, the voice is attuned to sadness, reminding us of the Ad- vent season, and the long, dreary night of spiritual misery and darkness that preceded the birth of the Blessed Babe of Bethlehem ; in summer, religion shows us the Blessed Saviour going up into heaven on Ascension Day, and bids us rejoice in the glorious promise of Whitsunday ; in autumn — the season of withered grass and dried leaves and faded flowers- she would remind us of the dead, the father and the friend we once loved, but now see and meet no more. How deep and unselfish are the love and charity which religion bears towards us ! Would that we had as much for ourselves and our neighbors. But, alas ! true love and Christian charity seem to be dying out from the earth. ' ' Out of sight, out of mind, ' ' seems to be a saying quite as true as it is familiar ; and thus the fact that they can and may be forgotten when they are gone, is, to the dying, a reflection more bitter by far than even the thought of death itself. To die is sad ; to be forgotten is still sadder. True, the vast majority of men cannot be brought to believe that they themselves will, one day, be a papable proof of this truth. Nevertheless, it is a fact, based upon the teaching and the testi- mony of every age. Parents fondly hope, as surely they have a sacred right to hope, that they will live in the affections of their children ; while children, on the other hand, rely upon brothers and sisters, and intimate friends, to cherish their memory and pray for their happy repose. Need I say, my brethren, that such hopes are, as a rule, little more than day-dreams. Can it not be shown by arguments drawn from the practical side of our own lives that they are nothing more ? We cannot reasonably presume on treatment better than we mete out to others. We have no right Sermons 201 to expect it. But how do we treat the loved ones who now sleep the last long, fitful sleep of death ? Can it be said that we always remember faces once familiar, and piously think of the hearts that once beat responsive to the feelings of friendship and affec- tion ? Do we give a daily momento to our dear dead in our daily prayers ? How answerest thou, son, daughter, brother, sister, friend ? Ah ! nearer to the truth would it be to say that the larger portion, even of the household of God, seldom think of the faithful departed. And this cold indifference seems to belie our belief in that consoling doctrine of our faith : " It is a boly and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins." True, brethren, we were not always so indiffer- ent ; for we can all recall, with feelings akin to joy, the days when it was our highest, and in fact our only delight, to soften the sorrow or alleviate the suffering of a kind parent or friend, whose soul has now gone before the judgment seat of Him who gave it, while the body mingles with the dust of Mother Earth, from whence it came. A few years ago — it may be a few months ago — sickness, the dread precursor of death, entered your home. Who can picture your feelings, bordering almost on despair, when the awful truth dawned upon you, and you began slowly to realize the full mean- ing of that visitation ? For days and weeks, perhaps, you hoped against hope. You looked with unspeak- able sadness to medical science for encouragement ; you stood nearer the sufferer's side or knelt close to the dying bed. Touching scene ! Oh ! how you longed, then, to soften that dull, racking pain ! How you tried, then, but tried in vain, to cool that tongue parched by the burning fever ! How you then labored, but labored in vain, to ease that heavy breathing, so fitly called the prelude of dissolution ! 202 Father Walsh And when the last sigh had gone forth, when the silver cord of life had been broken, and the spirit of the loved one had flown heavenward to its Creator, oh ! how you fixed, even then, your sorrow-clouded eyes upon the cold lips, sealed in death, and sought from them a last word, or a message that never came ! Did I say, message that never came ? My breth- ren, it did come, but you heard it not, because of your great grief. It has come, every day, perhaps for years, but you fail to hear it, because grief has now been superseded by worldly concerns, and sor- row has given place to forgetfulness or indifference. And what is that message to you and to me, especially at this season of the year, when we are drawing near to the dawn of another November — the month of the suffering dead ? It is contained in the words of our text : " Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you, my friends, for the hand of the Lord hath touched me." Our friends, our brothers, our sis- ters, our parents, are in pain, and to us they turn beseechingly for help. In the name of affection, in the name of grati- tude, in the name of charity, do not turn a deaf ear to such an appeal. Think of the happy past. Oh ! how, at its mention, says the poet, memory turns her pages old and pleasant. Everything around us re- calls it. The homes we visit, the houses we occupy, the property we enjoy, the very name we bear, all should be, it seems to me, so many perpetual re- minders not only of past kindnesses, but also of present distress. We know, dearly beloved in Christ, that the guilt and eternal punishment incurred by the com- mission of mortal sin are wiped away in and by the Sacrament of Penance. That there still remains a temporal punishment to be undergone, either in this world or the world to come, is an article of Faith ; for St. Paul says : ' ' Souls shall be saved yet so as by fire." Sermons 203 Of the nature of the fire we know nothing. We may, however, infer that the suffering caused by it is excruciating, beyond the power of words to ex- press, since only the purest souls are worthy of God, and nothing defiled can enter the kingdom of heaven. Nor do we wonder that such a thought has been able to reclaim countless sinners, only to make them countless saints. Indeed, not a few of God's ser- vants were led by a holy fear of the chastening flames to retire into deserts, where they endeavored, by the greatest austerities, to satisfy as far as pos- sible the Divine justice, ere death had placed its seal upon their brows. Naturally, we look upon such death-beds as beacon-lights of heaven, and we treasure up their last words as we would messages from above. But what were their last words ? What was the last re- quest made by many among the saints ? It was to ask as a favor, the prayers and suffrages of those whom they called their friends. When St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, fell sick at Ostium, it gave her little concern where her body would be buried ; but to her son, who stood by her bedside weeping, she said : ' ' All I ask of you is that you remember me at the altar of God.'' My brethren, the same appeal will come to us from the fiery furnace of purgatory, especially dur- ing the month of November. To some, it will come from once indulgent parents ; to others, from loving children ; to one, from a kind-hearted brother ; to another, from a once affectionate sister. In the name of the faithful departed, therefore, I ask you, their friends, will you not have pity on them and help them ? There was a time, as we have already said, when it would have afforded you untold happiness to re- lieve their distress ; but then you were powerless to assist them in the least. To-day, however, relief is in your hands. 204 Father Walsh In the days of the Blessed Lord, there was in Jerusalem a certain pool of water, around which the sick and the suffering from bodily diseases were accustomed to congregate. At certain times an angel came down from heaven and stirred the waters, and the sick man who was the first to go into the pool after the visit of the angel was cured of his infirmity. One day our Divine Saviour was passing by that pool, and He saw, sitting near its edge, a man who seemed quite helpless. Moved with compassion at the sight of such misery, our dear Lord approached the sufferer and inquired of him why he did not avail himself of the blessing which God had at times given to the water. The poor man, drawing a deep sigh, full of sadness, replied: " Master, for eight and thirty years I have dragged myself here, hoping that, day after day, like others, I would soon be cured of my infirmity. But I have hoped in vain ; others were stronger than I, or they had friends to help them, and they went down into the water and were healed. As for me, I have no man who, when the water has been stirred, will cast me into the pool." Oh ! my brethren, was there ever a sadder story told in fewer words ? For thirty-eight years this man bore his infirmity, when he might have been re- lieved had he had one kind friend to assist him. For thirty-eight years he waited— the certain remedy before his eyes — and none— no, not one to help him to avail himself of its efficacy. For thirty-eight years he begged of the by-standers to aid him, but, fact almost incredible, he begged in vain, till one day a good Samaritan, Our Lord Jesus Christ, came and cured him. No doubt you condemn the heartlessness of this unfortunate man's friends ; or, if he had no friends, you reprobate the hard-heartedness of the inhabitants of Jerusalem. But, right here, it would be well for many of us to heed the injunction of Sermons 205 Christ, and let him who is without fault cast the first stone. There is a land of pain beyond the grave, my brethren ; and in that land lies many a friend of yours whom your heart cannot forget ; persons whose friendship you once enjoyed, whose voices and whose faces were once familiar to you in days gone by ; who were, perhaps, members of the same household, who worked at your side during the week, and on Sun- day, knelt by your side at the same altar of God. They died, and are now in purgatory. They now suffer more than bodily pain, and beg of you to help them ; but you— their friends — you pass by heedless, or forgetful, or indifferent, it matters little which— you pass by, and you give no help. If Christian charity still burns in your hearts, I feel that help will be forthcoming, and that you will look upon my feeble words as faint echoes of the cries that ascend daily from the prison-house of the suffering souls. Let us be generous, brethren ; let us do something for the faithful departed, especially on next Wednesday and every day during November. Let us remember them in our charities and in our daily prayers ; let us remember them in our good works ; let us remember them in our Holy Commu- nions ; and above all, let us think tenderly of them at the holy sacrifice of the mass, as often as we shall have the blessed privilege of assisting at it. TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. "Himself believes and his whole house/' — John iv, 46. Dearly Beloved Brethren : The doctrine preached by our Blessed Lord may be summed up in three words : Faith, Hope, and Charity. 206 Father Walsh These virtues, like seed sown in fertile soil, have been infused into our hearts and souls in order that we might work out a noble destiny, or, to use a thought of St. Paul, "in order that we might bring forth fruit unto salvation." Would that man had justified the expectations of his Maker, and the hopes of Him who left undone nothing that could in any manner contribute to a generous harvest. But, alas ! the human heart proved to be stony ground, ungrateful soil. For once, at least, effort and time and care had found unproduction ; nor have we far to go for the one real cause : sin has ever been near and around us, and sin, as we know, is not only the blight of all promise, but also the curse of the soul itself, that sacred soil upon which virtue alone buds and blos- soms. We need no further argument to convince us of the truth of this assertion than the well-known though sad history of the human family, which may be told in a few words. Created for the noble pur- pose of knowing, loving, and serving Him, man re- ceived from God the gifts of Faith, Hope, and Charity. But, in a moment of weakness, our first parents sinned, and the result of their awful transgression was that they and their immediate descendants were plunged into an ocean of moral degradation. For four thousand years and more the world had little faith, less hope, and no charity. Virtue was well- nigh dead. Men had strayed away from the path marked out for them by their Creator, and they con- tinued to wander in the mazes of spiritual darkness until the happy advent of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who was the Light and Life of the fallen world. Enlightened by Him, God's favored creatures be- gan to see more clearly. They listened, and lo ! they recognized the voice of a Divine Teacher. Revela- tion quickly followed revelation, like flashes of light- ning in a clouded sky, and the world was soon seated Sermons 207 at the feet of Christ, where, under the magic of His eloquence, and from the warmth of His tender, truly loving heart, virtue lifted its drooping head, and faith in the Deity once more revived in the human heart. Thanks to the watchful eye and tireless efforts of Holy Church, the precious legacy of faith, once de- livered to the saints, has been handed down to us from generation to generation. Our faithful fore- fathers cherished it in adversity as well as in pros- perity, and, dying, taught us that its fairest flower and best test is a loving trust and confidence in the goodness and mercy and power of Christ. To measure, brethren, the depth and strength of the confidence which animated the members of the primitive Christian Church, we have only to recall to mind the heroism of the martyrs and to read the his- tory of the lives of the saints. And then what a wealth of forcible facts, what scores of striking scenes, illustrating the spirit of faith, do we not find in the Gospels and Epistles of the inspired writers ! A most pathetic instance of filial confidence in Christ is recorded in the Gospel of St. Matthew, who relates that a certain Canaan woman came to Jesus, and, falling at His sacred feet, earnestly besought Him to restore her daughter to health. At first the anxious mother's pleadings were all in vain ; her presence seemed very like an intrusion ; a second attempt to interest the Saviour in her sorrow was no more successful than the first ; but, nothing daunted, she pressed forward the third time, when Christ, deeply impressed by her trustful persistency, granted her prayer, saying : "0 woman, great is thy faith ; be it done to thee as thou wilt." But why, dearly beloved brethren, go beyond this Sunday's Gospel for an exemplar of perfect confidence in the power and goodness of God ? The sacred text tells us, to-day, of a rich ruler who came to Jesus, seeking for his son a respite from suffering 208 Father Walsh and a new lease of life ; for his child was then lying at the point of death. Imagine, if you can, brethren, the deep, heartfelt emotion with which that father had set out on his journey into Judea ; he knew there were breaking hearts at home ; he realized that at that very moment, perhaps, the supreme struggle with death was going on in the sick room at Caphar- naum, and he trembled as he thought of the flushed face and parched lips and feeble breathings of his beloved child. Sorrow and anguish like the centurion's can be understood only by the members of a household who have taken in theirs the pulseless hand of a loved one, or knelt round the bed of the suffering, looking down into the eyes over which death is already holding its impenetrable veil. You parents who have given back to God the flower of the home circle, you can appreciate the feelings of that sorrowful father, and gladly would you, if you could, stay the blow that turns for the time being the world into a veri- table vale of tears, and life into a martyrdom. But this cannot be. Human sympathy is frequently little less than a confession of weakness, for to God alone belongs the power of life and death. He gives, and He takes away. He strikes, and He it is Who spares ; He tries the human heart, and in time of need He strengthens us. For the most part, brethren, the visitations from above are extremely painful ; would that they were, proportionately, teaching us to recognize in them so many providential acts designed to lead us to the foot of the altar and the cross, and there to say, as did a saintly soul : " Lord, Thou canst do all things, and Thou canst heal my sorrows." Can we doubt this blessed truth, brethren ? Men of little faith do doubt it. Will we, then, ape their incredulity ? God for- bid. When affliction comes, let us think of the cen- turion, remembering how he hastened off to seek the Sermons 209 Saviour, the only physician, the only power capable of restoring health and strength to his beloved child. See how kindly the Son of God receives him, how consolingly He speaks to him and assures him of the success of his mission : "Go, thy son liveth." What a magnificent record for faith and trust in God ! That such a miracle should bring spiritual health and strength to many souls was not to be wondered at. The centurion and his family could not believe. Others, too, accepted the teachings of our Blessed Lord ; for His love, His compassion, and His power, thus made manifest in the healing of the sick and dying child, was too forcible an argument to be ig- nored or resisted. But let us come nearer home and ask ourselves : ' ' What effect has that miracle had on us ? " We ask this question for a purpose— to warn you against the fatal mistake of dismissing the whole narrative, much as we would dismiss a legend that has long since ceased to interest us and our age. Woe to them who presume thus lightly to brush aside the lessons of a Divine Teacher ; who forget that wholesome things are written, have been writ- ten, for our instruction. Woe to them, I say, who lose sight of the fact that Christ lived, and labored, and breathed, for all peoples and for all times. Therefore, the question of questions to-day is : Have we the faith of the centurion ? Is our trust in the power and the goodness of God like His — strong, open, simple, practical ? We are ready to believe, brethren, that you have faith in the same Christ Who, nearly two thousand years ago, restored strength to the wasted body of the centurion's son ; but have you the same confidence that the Son of God will hear and help you in the time of trial, even as He heard and helped the ruler of Capharnaum in the day of his sorrow ? We doubt it, brethren, for faith and trust and confidence are not precisely dis- tinguishing marks of this age. Nowadays, material- 210 Father Walsh ism rules the world, and the world is fast relegating all "dependence on God" to the realms of supersti- tion. In this twentieth century, men are prone to believe more in themselves than in supernatural principles ; in all their undertakings, in all their successes and failures, in all their afflictions, in all the crises of life, they rely almost entirely on their own resources and on their own strength, thus showing the littleness of their faith by a want of loving confidence in the Divine assistance. In the Gospel of this Sunday our Blessed Lord indirectly censures such a course, and reminds us that He is at all times our refuge and our strength. He points to the fact that His promise to help and hear us is too well known, and too clearly sub- stantiated, to be called into question. Finally, He tells us that the passing years bring no shadow of change to Him, and that He is to-day what He was yesterday— the same Almighty Father Who, in other times, caused the blind to see, the lame to walk, the dumb to speak, the deaf to hear, and the dead to rise again. Now, careless, thoughtless Catholics may say : 1 We are not afflicted. On the contrary, we are fairly happy and prosperous, and consequently there is no reason for us seeking out Christ, as did the centurion of old." While such an assertion maybe true from a natural and material standpoint, few will fail to see it in another and different light when they come to consider the superior side of our nature, and take into account our spiritual infirmities and spiri- tual necessities. There is more to think of than the things of time ; there is more to trouble us than the worries of this world. Who among you can bear alone the memory of a life of wrong-doing ? Who among you can face unaided the judgments of God ? And which of you is without sin ? Ah, brethren, there is a disorder, there is a disease, the treatment Sermons 211 and the cure of which call for the skill, the power, the hand of God Himself. If, therefore, looking into your soul, you find there the symptoms of sin, lose no time in hastening to the feet of Christ. Recall the words of Holy David, and cry out: "0 Lord, have mercy on me, for I am sick ; hear me, for I am trou- bled.' ' In the sacrament of forgiveness, where Jesus may be found, you shall receive what you ask, and find what you seek, namely — spiritual health and strength ; for to each humble penitent the great and good Physician says : " Child, be of good heart ; thy sins are forgiven thee." "Go thy way; thy soul liveth." Fortunately or unfortunately, the remedy is within your reach. You who refuse to avail your- selves of it, thereby acknowledge more concern, more solicitude, for the things of time than for the happi- ness of eternity. You are less courageous, less earnest, less Christian, than was the centurion. In- deed, in a certain sense, you deny Christ ; for the asking of absolution is the highest proof and pro- fession of our confidence ; it is, as we have already stated, the measure and the test of our faith. Dearly beloved in Christ, we want not a new faith, but more of the old faith, more of the trustful, confident kind. We must learn to lean more on God, and less on ourselves and our self-sufficiency. Then we must resolve to use aright the Sacrament of Penance ; for in that holy sacrament alone is to be found the mysterious, supernatural power which conquers the diseases of the soul, checks the fever of sin, and soothes the sorrows born of vice. There- fore, seek the Saviour in His Church, and you will go away rejoicing and gladly praising God, Who still works miracles of love, and still brings back to life souls that were once lying at the point of death. 212 Father Walsh TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. From to-day's Gospel we learn, dearly beloved brethren, the lesson of faith and confidence in the power, the goodness, and the mercy of Christ. We are told that a rich ruler came to Jesus with a request to go down to Capharnaum and cure his son, who was lying at the point of death. Human remedies had failed, human skill had proved power- less. Already the supreme struggle with death was going on in the sick room, when suddenly, the name of the Great Physician, Jesus Christ, flashed across the mind of the grief -stricken father, who deter- mined to go into Galilee at once and seek His sym- pathy and His services. And when the ruler came nigh to the Saviour, this is what the Son of God said to him : "Go thy way; thy son liveth." What a magnificent reward paid to loving trust and confidence in the goodness of the Most High ! What a lesson for us, dearly beloved brethren ! Henceforth we must bear in mind that we must look higher than earth, higher than friends, for true sympathy and consolation in afflic- tion. Let us bear in mind, too, that our afflictions, our diseases, our infirmities, may be of the soul as well as of the body. Oh ! if, after looking into your souls, you find there any sin, consider yourselves as lying at the point of death, and that your only hope lies in having recourse to Jesus in the Sacrament of Penance, Who alone can save you and bring you back to the life of grace. Therefore, in all your afflictions, spiritual and temporal, have faith and confidence in the power of the Saviour, for He is still the same good and mighty God Who, in other times, caused the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. Trust in Him, and tears will turn into smiles, and misery into happiness. Sermons 213 TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. 1 ' Render unto God the things that are God's."— Matt, xxii, 21. Dearly Beloved Brethren : Nothing could be more just and reasonable than the precept laid down by our Blessed Lord in these words of our text : ' ' Render unto God the things that are God's." Reason as we may, we must needs recognize the sacredness of the right which every person has to his own, to his property, to the product of his physical, intellectual or creative ability. We must recognize such a claim, I say, or else stand convicted before the whole world of a sacrilegious attempt to subvert social order and moral law. If proofs be wanting to place this principle beyond the province of doubt, we have only to appeal to our own innate sense of justice and to our own common interests. If a man, by his industry and economy, succeeds in purchasing a home, or in accumulating a com- petency, to whom does that home or that competency belong by every right ? Evidently to him who labored for their acquisition. Again, let the human intellect succeed in formulating a new and practical theory. To whom does the honor, if any, accruing from it belong ? Undoubtedly to him who first advanced it. Or let what we call "genius," fathoming the depths of human nature, bring forth some invention useful to the human race. To whom does the benefit of it, by right, belong ? To him who first discovered the secret. Now, my brethren, what is true in the natural, is also true in the supernatural order. Right may be divine as well as human. The intelligence and power of the Supreme Being have wrought countless won- ders. We meet them at every step. By His will and 214 Father Walsh word God called into existence the thousand things of beauty, and the thousand things of loveliness, which even this fallen world of ours still preserves. To whose name and to whose glory, therefore, and to whose service, should the credit of all these things be given ? We answer : To their Maker's. They are His, for He made them. "The earth is the Lord's, and the full- ness thereof, the world, and all that dwells therein," says the Inspired Writer. Hence, it is evident, my dear brethren, that we, too, belong to God, because we are part and parcel of His creation. We are His images, His coins, His properties, or, as St. Paul has it, ' ' He is our Master and we are His servants. ' ' To God, therefore, belongs every title to our services ; and Christ is simply insisting on His right when He says : "Render unto God the things that are God's.' ' And here is suggested to every thoughtful mind a very simple, but withal a very momentous question : How are we fulfilling this precept ? My brethren, we shall not, for we cannot, answer accurately. The most we can do is to exhort degenerate Christians, and they are not few, to go and learn wisdom and the lesson of duty from creatures less favored than them- selves. See the myriad worlds around us ; they have no understanding to know their Maker, no will to love Him ; yet they are all paying a loyal and an unceas- ing tribute of praise to His name and to His glory. All visible nature is obedient to His laws. The still and the sunny day have, it is true, no tongues with which to tell His gratitude. Yet the very calm of the one, and the radiance of the other, bear eloquent though silent testimony of the greatness of the Most High. The morning stars, says Holy Job, praise Him together. The birds of the air, the beasts of the pas- ture, the flowers of the field, and the fishes of the sea, adore Him in and through generous and noble hearts ; for in the presence and the sight of so many gracious gifts, noble hearts are moved to their very Sermons 215 depths, and generous souls are sweetly attuned to the music of Divine love. Oh ! my brethren, would that all God's children might be induced to learn the lesson of duty as taught them by God's inferior creatures. Then, indeed, would His right to us, and to our service, find full recognition and adequate expression in all our lives. In other words, we would learn to love and serve the Lord, and Him alone, and end in perfect accord with the plan divine. St. Augustine says: "We were made for God ; therefore, we may not serve another master, for if we dare do so, then we defraud Him of His acknowledged rights, and refuse to "render unto God the things that are God's." It is the aim of the world, my dear brethren, to enlist us in its hard and thankless service. It strives to attract our attention and to win our admiration, that it may spoil our God-given faculties and waste them on things that fade and perish in the bitter end. This is the experience of every-day life. For every day we see Christians and Catholics, redeemed by the precious blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, turning away from the Creator to creatures. We see them, I say, seeking pleasure and happiness where they never can be found, spending their lives and the powers of their souls upon the world and its vanities, upon the flesh and its allurements, in the service of sin and Satan, who will rejoice at their folly when life is done, or leave them in their old age, desolate and despicable, amid the ruins of their wasted years. If we could look into the sinner's soul, my breth- ren, we would see nothing but a mutilated coin, a coin from which God's image has been well-nigh effaced. Surely this is an awful crime, the malice of which is heightened beyond measure by the fact that the de- struction of the soul's grace and beauty is ofttimes the work of those whom God has most richly blessed. What, in truth, do we do when we sin against the 216 Father Walsh Lord ? Remember, brethren, I do not ask this ques- tion of heathens — a people to whom God's name is unknown, a people who have no light to guide them, no sacraments to strengthen them. No ; I ask you — you, who have been placed in the true Church of Christ ; you, who have sworn allegiance to God in baptism ; you, who have knelt before His altar and received His sacraments, those precious pledges of eternal love,— I ask you, what have you done when you offended God by sin ? Did you deny or forget His existence ? Indeed, you did worse than that. You recognized His exist- ence by your admiration of the works of His hand ; you admitted His goodness by accepting His graces ; you attested by the sacraments, which you once fre- quently and fervently received, that He was the author of virtue ; and then going forth, like Judas, you betrayed Him. You cast off His sweet yoke, you refused to serve Him, and to render unto Him the things that are His. To His children, my brethren, God looks for ser- vice and for love, to which both creation and redemp- tion entitle Him. By our fidelity to the command- ments we might easily manifest our eagerness to act justly, and to preserve in all its pristine beauty the image of the Most High in our souls. But, no ; the sinner will not be counselled ; he will not be turned back to the path of duty. He must continue to sin. It will not be thus always. Some day, in God's good time, Jesus Christ, the Supreme Judge of the living and the dead, will demand an account of the sinner. The moment death severs the silver chord of life, that moment the Creator will ask, in tones of thun- der: " Where is the coin of the tribute? Where is the soul ? ' ' And if it be discovered, on that awful day, that the affections of our hearts and the powers of our souls have been consecrated by us to purposes for Sermons 217 which they were never intended ; if it be discovered on that day of calamity, that we served another master than God, then His justice will cast us aside as failures and mistakes, as coins mutilated beyond recognition. Therefore, let him or her who is living in sin, open or secret, take warning ere it is too late ; let him or her who is tempted to lead a careless, in- different life, take heed ere it is too late, and pray piously and confidently, asking for every necessary grace ; for remember, my brethren, it is by the Divine grace alone that we shall be enabled to fight the good fight, and to "render unto God the things that are God's." TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. "And they shall see the Son of Man com- ing in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty." — Matt, xxiv, 30. Dearly Beloved Brethren : In its incessant and measured march, time has brought us once more to the closing weeks of another ecclesiastical year. It need not be said that such a time as this is naturally invested with unusual solemnity, that it suggests to the Christian mind thoughts as serious as they are salutary. Who can think of the flight of time, and still remain indifferent to the thought that we are passing away with it ? Who can reflect on the failings and faults of the past, and still stand out solidly against both the warnings of reason and re- ligion ? Do we receive the grace of God in vain ? Is human existence without responsibility, and human life without eternal hope ? Is there to be demanded of us no account of our stewardship ? 218 Father Walsh Will virtue go ofttimes unknown and unrewarded, while vice sits unblushing in high places or stalks triumphantly through the land ? Will might be right always ? In a word, is there to be no judg- ment to right the wrongs done to God, to our neigh- bors, and to ourselves ? Oh ! well does the world know the truth. Of course, the world can deceive its votaries ; it can, and does, lull fools to fatal sleep ; but from time to time even the world must bow down and make its profession of faith ; it, too, must say with the Cath- olic Church: "Credo, " "I believe in Jesus Christ, Who now sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty, from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead." To reject this article of the Christian faith, to doubt of a day of reckoning, is to deny reason itself, to destroy conscience, and to con- trovert the most solemn sayings of Inspiration. St. Paul tells the Hebrews : * ' It is appointed for all men once to die— and after death, the judgment." The author of the Acts of the Apostles assures us that God hath appointed a day in which He shall judge the world in righteousness, Nor is the fact of a future judgment known only to the New Dispensa- tion. Thousands of years before the coming of the Messiah, the Prophet of Israel penned those signi- ficant words: "I shall distress men," saith the Al- mighty, "because they have sinned against the Most High, and neither their gold nor their silver shall de- liver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord." How very like in sense and coloring are the pro- phetic pen-picture and that portion of St. Matthew's Gospel from which we have taken the words of our text ! Both are strong and sublime expressions of the same eternal truth— with this difference : in the New Testament Jesus Christ delineates with a master-like hand the smallest details of the world's last agony — that fearful preliminary to man's appearance before Sermons 219 the tribunal of Divine Justice. He says "that the sun shall be darkened, that the moon shall not give her light, that the very stars shall fall from the firmament. ' ' " Then shall the powers of the heavens be moved : and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn." For, looking up, their eyes, already heavy with the mists of death, shall behold two strong sights. They shall see : first, the sign of the Son of Man, and then they shall see the Son of Man Himself, coming in a cloud, with great power and majesty. And why coming in a cloud with great power and majesty ? Evidently to vindicate truth and virtue ; to convince the world of sin, of justice, and of judgment ; to render to every man according to his works. Has this great truth, brethren, no mean- ing for us ? Recall, Christian soul, the record of your days, and doings, and tell us : Will all be well with you in eternity ? Look into your lives, Catholic men and women, and read there the findings of the all-seeing and the all-searching eye of God. St. James says : " So speak ye and so do, as they that shall be judges by the law of liberty.' ' Take the Gospel — the law of liberty— and prove to the whole court of heaven, and to an assembled universe, that you have been grateful to God for every grace, true to every trust, faithful to every responsibility. To every member of the human family has been given almost infinite possibilities of usefulness and untold opportunities for good. Let us, individually, point out if we can, the results of the fruits of such possibilities and such opportunities. On the last day, brethren, some souls shall see written on the lumi- nous sign of the Son of Man, heaven's highest ap- proval of their humble efforts ; and St. Paul is our authority for saying that ' ' some souls shall be saved yet so as by fire." But (and this is the saddest of all sad thoughts) there are immortal souls, not a few, 220 Father Walsh who shall be made to feel on the day of retribution the failure of their Creator and the justice of a just judge. In the wreck and ruin of a wicked world they shall read their own fate, and by the lurid light of expiring nature they shall see written in the heavens the sentence of their own condemnation. No wonder, dearly beloved in Christ, that such thoughts as judgment and eternal reprobation have brought multitudes of repentant sinners to the Saviour's side ; no wonder Holy David wept at the memory of his sins, crying out: "Have mercy on me, God, according to Thy great mercy ; " no won- der Mary Magdalen bathed in her tears the sacred feet of Jesus Christ ; no wonder St. Augustine told to the whole world the story of his excesses. They calculated, no doubt, that their tears and their mis- takes, known to all men, might prove to be, for all time to come, not only touching testimonials of God's boundless mercy, but also perpetual reminders of hell's unquenchable fire, while they feared with a holy fear. And the fact that the world is no better to-day for their tears and their mistakes, is not their fault, but ours. It is because we love the danger ; it is because we love darkness better than light ; it is because we do not appreciate the value of time, or the nature and need of Divine grace ; it is because we are dreaming life away, like the poor uncivilized savages of Africa, of whom travellers speak so pathetically. In a word, our disregard of spiritual warnings, and our indifference to the fact of the coming judg- ment, are directly traceable to a want of sincere, earnest, intelligent thought. "With desolation is the whole earth made desolate,' ' says the Inspired Writer, ' ' because there is none that thinketh in his heart." Yes ; a little honest thinking is all we need, dearly beloved brethren, to save us from a desolation Sermons 221 and a destruction that have no parallel in human history. For thought and meditation alone can afford us a true insight into the ordeal that awaits us on the judgment day. Therefore, let us consider a few characteristics of Him who shall judge the world in righteousness. Our ideas of a judge and justice are necessarily incorrect ; for God's ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our though ts." We have, and ought to have, the profoundest respect for those who wear worthily the judicial robes ; but we must not forget that the exponents of human law are, like ourselves, only men, and consequently liable to error. They may be deceived. Their judgment may be appealed from, and even reversed. It is not the same with Jesus Christ, the searcher of hearts, the Judge of Judges. He never errs, neither can He be deceived by lying criminals or perjured testi- mony ; and from His decision there is and can be no appeal. "Where the tree falleth, there shall it lie forever." Another consideration is this : In our human courts, the case of an accused depends largely on the number and influence of friends. Justice is too often meted out, not according to the enormity of the crime committed, but rather with an eye to friendly services or future good-will. This travesty of equity justifies the saying. We regret, brethren, to make such an assertion, and yet it is true ; and so is it true to say that in this world of ours there is one law for the rich and influential, and another for the poor and friendless. Thank God, this state of things must give place to the findings of a court higher than any earthly tribunal. For justice, thus insulted and prostituted, is bound to be, and will be, vindi- cated. There is coming a day when the lowly and the great ones of this earth must stand on the same level, and before a Judge who knows no friends save those who have kept His law, and no enemies save those of "the cross of Christ." 222 Father Walsh "Enemies of the cross of Christ ! " Why, who and what are they, methinks I hear you ask ? Are there any enemies of the cross of Christ among Catholics ? Truth compels us to answer, Yes. Are there any in this parish ? Yes, scores of them. Are there any in this congregation ? Would, brethren, that there were none. To say that there are none would be to say that there are no sinners among us, and it would be to say that we can deceive Him Who shall "search Jerusalem with lamps/ ' Would that each one of you could say, "Thy commandment, Lord, have I kept from my youth.' ' Were we able to say this, then might we claim there are no enemies of the cross of Christ among you. But how many of you can say it ? How many of you have always loved the Lord's law ? How many of you are now keeping faithfully the commandments of God and of God's Church ? Can you, indifferent, lukewarm, fair-weather Catholics, you who wilfully omit to hear mass on Sundays and holydays ? No ; you cannot be the friends, so you are the enemies of the cross of Christ. Can you, drunken fathers, and you, neglect- ful mothers, who are doing all in your power to damn the immortal souls of your children, can you say that you respect the law of Christian charity ? No ; and therefore you have become the enemies of your Saviour. Can you, foolish young women, who have stifled the voice of conscience and trampled under foot the advice of a prudent confessor, to listen to the insinuating, smooth words and seductive promises of some incarnate devil, can you say that you are loving and keeping the law of your Divine Teacher and of decency ? No ; and so you, too, may be classed among the castaways— the enemies of the cross of Christ. Can you, wealthy criminals, you who plun- der the public, rob and oppress the poor, can you say that you have even a little reverence for living up to the law of Justice ? No ; consequently, remember Sermons 223 you are not the friends of God, but His enemies. And although your money may buy and debauch human judges and jurymen, bear in mind that up there you shall be distressed on the last day, saith the Almighty, and neither your gold nor your silver "shall deliver you in the day of the wrath of the Lord." I might go on in this strain, dearly beloved brethren, but I shall not tax your patience further. Only let me say to the enemies of the cross of Christ, here or elsewhere— to all who are in mortal sin : " Beware ! You are dangerously near to the brink of the bottomless pit ; dangerously near to the damned house of the doomed, over whose portals might be fitly written these words : ' ' All ye who enter here, leave hope behind/ ' For out of here there is no re- demption. If you are wise, rational beings, you will say to yourself and to the world : Long enough have I scorned the precepts of my Maker ; long enough have I played the hypocrite ; long enough have I in- sulted and betrayed the God of sanctity and justice ; long enough have I indulged my shameful appetites and my nameless passions ; long enough have I loved and served strange gods. I will rise up and go back to my Father's home, to my Father's arms, to my Father's love. Holy Writ says that the love of God caste th out fear. Repenting sinners need not despair when the Lo^d sends forth His angels with trumpets and a loud voice, to summon sleeping generations to judg- ment. They need not call upon the mountains to fall and screen them from the gaze of an angry God ; for, by perfect contrition, by a sincere confession, and by a firm purpose of amendment, our sins, even though they be as numerous as they are, shall be blotted out and wiped away and made as white as snow, so that if they persevere unto the end in the love and service of the Master, throughout eternity, their place will 224 Father Walsh be at the right of the Redeemer, and their lot among the saints. If, however, sinners continue to sin, and to scorn alike the warnings and the promises of Jesus Christ, they should not and cannot expect aught else but eternal rejection from God, and eternal separation from those who once loved them, and whom they loved in days agone. My brethren, there are, in this life, as we all know, sad partings and heartrending separations. We have seen, for instance, the poor immigrant saying farewell to aged parents, and turning away perhaps forever from the scenes of his childhood. As we recall such scenes, the loving heart did struggle against grief until it was bruised and all but broken by the never-to-be-forgotten good- bye. Again, we have seen more than once cruel death invade the household and take from the family circle the brightest and the fairest flower. Oh ! how unutterable was the grief of father and mother, sister and brother, as they stood by the side of the open grave— the deep, dark, damp grave that was to hide away for all time the form and the face of their loved ones, the object of their tenderest affec- tions. Well, these are but a few of life's sad partings and separations ; and, after all, what are they com- pared to the partings and separations that must take place on the great day of retribution ? To the eter- nal separation of the just from the unjust, of the saint from the sinner, of the good from the bad, of parents from children, of sisters from brothers ? Among the friends of God will be a venerable and pious mother, who, dying, left to her daughter the priceless legacy of a holy life. Among the enemies of the Saviour will be, perhaps, that same daughter, who bartered away her inheritance for some brutal passion. To the right of the Redeemer we shall see an honest and honorable father, a man who earned and ate his bread in the sweat of his Sermons 225 brow ; to the left of the Judge will stand that man's son — the self-confessed thief, who preferred a life of ease, bought at the expense of honor and honesty. Here we shall recognize the Spouse of Christ— the young woman who left father and mother, home and kindred, for religion's sake. There we shall see, trembling, the young worlding, whose heaven was a questionable dance-hall, and whose highest ambition in life was to marry, or as the world says, marry well, even though marriage did mean the sacrificing of her faith, the selling of her immortal birthright. Among the elect will be the earnest, sincere, prac- tical Catholic, the man who respected the precepts of God's Church and received the sacraments at least once in a year. Among the castaways will be the nominal Catholic, the man whose sinful habits or sinful associations blocked his way to the Holy Table. One word more, brethren, and I have done. Stand in spirit before your Judge. Imagine that He has now, finally and forever, convinced the world of sin, of justice, and of judgment ; realize, if you can, that all is now over, and that eternity is about to begin. Whither are you going to spend the eternal years ? Will you spend them in heaven or in hell ? Remember, there is no alternative. If you are to reign with Christ, your entrance into the abode of peace will be hailed with gladsome alleluias and hymns of praise. If, however, you are to dwell in everlasting misery, you will go down into endless darkness, into unquenchable fire, with foulest blas- phemy upon your lips, and with a piercing cry of despair. That cry will be your farewell to friends, your eternal adieu to God and to glory. My brethren, God never meant that people whose lot in this life is ofttimes little more than a hard and thankless task, should be unhappy in the hereafter. Hence, our prayer is that the Lord may give you, His 226 Father Walsh children, grace, and strength, and courage to fight the good fight, to run the race, and to keep the faith. Do God's will ; keep God's law, and you have now the assurance that you shall taste all the sweet- ness of victory and peace and happiness, " when you shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with great power and majesty, to render to every man according to his works/ ' SERMON DELIVERED AT THE DEDICATION OF ST. MARY'S CHURCH, TROY, N. Y. The dedicatory sermon was preached by Rev. Michael J. Walsh, of St. Vincent de Paul's Church, Albany. It was eloquent and scholarly. His text was : "Jesus Christ, the World's Only Great Teacher. What He Teaches and How He Teaches. ' ' ' ' For this was I born, and for this came I into the world : that I might give testimony to the truth." — John xviii, 37. Rt. Rev. Bishop, Rev. Fathers, Dear Brethren : We are assembled here this morning to dedicate, with solemn and impressive ceremonies, a new edifice to the cause of religion. Naturally, we "searched the Scriptures " for a text and a theme appropriate to the occasion. We believe we found both when we found those words of St. John which we have just quoted for you. The full meaning of those few words is best brought out by a study of the real rea- son for which this church has been built. There is, as we know, a reason for everything— for the little leaf on the tree, and for the green grass in the fields ; they speak of our Heavenly Father's special solicitude for us, the children of His predilection : for ' ' if God so clothe the grass of the field which to-day Sermons 227 is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much more you, ye of little faith 1" There is a reason for the coming and going of the seasons. They warn us of our own passing away, and tell us that the lul- laby at the cradle is soon followed by the requiem at the grave. Our lease of life is, indeed, short, and we have here below no lasting dwelling-place. There is a reason for the beauties of nature and the har- monies of the world above and about us. They pro- claim the omnipotent power of an Unseen Hand, and reveal the perfections and the purposes of a Being infinitely good and great. And so with this stately pile— so majestic in its proportions, so rich in studied tintings and storied windows — it, too, must have a reason, a meaning, a purpose all its own. Let us say here that this new St. Mary's was not built to add one more to the number of Troy's beautiful buildings ; nor was it built to emphasize the incom- parable and the inexhaustible charity of a generous, faithful people. Neither was it built to crown the well-nigh forty years of consecrated love and labor given by our venerable and devoted pastor to the service of his Divine Master. No. No such purposes as these, commendable though they be in themselves, ever inspire the building of a Catholic church, for the end proposed and constantly sought after by a Catholic church is purely spiritual — supernatural. Consequently, this new edifice was built to be a spiri- tual means to a spiritual end. And, indeed, to a Catholic mind there is far more spiritual than mate- rial meaning in its construction and equipment, for its foundations, so massive and so solid, seem to say : " Here is the pillar, the ground of truth/ ' Its altars are suggestive of that "clean oblation of the new law, which is offered daily from the rising to the setting of the sun." Its holy table reminds us of that same blessed bread which Christ Himself broke and gave to His Apostles the night before He died,. 228 Father Walsh saying : ' ' Take and eat ye all of this, for this is My body." Its fonts and its confessionals are eloquent with victories over the power of the evil one. This pulpit will recall to us, and to generations yet unborn, memories of Divine mercy as well as warnings of Divine justice. In a word, our surroundings to-day prove conclusively that Jesus meant to make His Church a spiritual means to a spiritual end by making its mission to the world one with, and the same as His own. If we understood, brethren, the full meaning of the words of our text, we would then understand the nature and the scope of that Divine mission ; for then we would not only realize that Jesus Christ is the world's only great Teacher, but we would also know what millions of others do not and never can know, namely, what that Teacher teaches, and how that Teacher teaches. Let us try to make these premises clear. Our text says : ' ' For this was I born, and for this came I into the world : that I might give testimony to the truth." No one can give testimony to the truth without exercising, in some measure, the functions of a teacher. Such a one must be for others a source of instruction. Now it is beyond doubt that our Blessed Lord brought into the world the deepest philosophy, and the highest and holiest knowledge ; for He taught His Apostles and His followers of every race and age, that they would know, through Him, the truth, and that the truth would make them free — free from the bondage of sin and Satan. The history of man's redemption verifies His claim. Once we admit that man sinned, we admit in the same breath that he lost the way to Heaven. 'Twas not a great while before the misery of that loss began to make itself felt ; for soon humanity was groping in the dark, hopeless and helpless, crying out in its Sermons 229 despair for a hand to lead it fca?k to the Light, "for a voice to teach it the way of God is truth/ ' From time to time this task was attempted by different master minds ; but each in turn found it beyond the power of man to remedy existing- condi- tions and to inspire confidence in human leadership. And so the long night of spiritual darkness wore wearily on. Finally— in the fullness of time— Heaven stooped to earth, and gave us for three and thirty years the kindest, the mildest, the purest, the wisest, the best of all teachers— one who took humanity by the hand ; wiped away its tears of despair ; dispelled its blight- ing doubts, and solved, for all time, the mysteries of life and death. Man was, indeed, free— at last. What a signal service to render to a fallen world ! And, oh ! brethren, what a benefactor that Heavenly Teacher was ! Yea, and more than a benefactor, for I tell you that the Son of God was, and is, and always will be, for us, a Divine Model to copy and a Divine Exemplar to follow. For proof of this fact we have only to recall to mind these words of Holy Writ : "I have given you the example (Christ might have said : I have given you the light, the strength, the grace), in order that as I have done, you also may do." Therefore, what Christ did, we also may and should do. Do we appreciate, dearly beloved in the Lord, all that this means ? It means virtually that the work of the redemp- tion must go on while there are souls in the world to save, and that each one of us who has attained unto the years of manhood or womanhood ought to be "another Christ" — a teacher in the highest and holiest sense of the word. It may be true that we cannot have, as our Master had, the whole world for a class-room ; but what is there to prevent us from giving testimony to 230 Father Walsh the truth, and thus doing what we can to save our- selves and others round about us in the street, in the store, in the workshop, in the office, in the home, in society ? Everyone can do something that will help perpetuate the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Will we be faithful to our high calling, or will we be false to the teachings of our Master ? Bear in mind, brethren, that if this world of ours ever falls from the high plane to which the Son of Man lifted it (and students of sociology seem to see signs of such an impending fall) , the responsibility will be ours — ours collectively and individually. For in the court of final judgment the Just Judge — our Teacher— will have a right to demand of us a fair return for the thought and time given to our instruction. He will have a right to look for the practical illustration of His principles, especially in the lives of His professed disciples. He will have a right to examine into the dealings of man with man, and to condemn that degrading selfishness and commercial greed which threaten to turn the world back to the worst days of paganism. Let men and women once forget the practices of their Divine Model and the lessons of their Divine Teacher, and they will soon learn to forget all that makes for human progress and human perfection. We might enlarge on this part of our subject, breth- ren, but the ceremonies are long to-day, and we must not presume too much on your kindly indulgence. From the little we have said, it ought to be evident to all fair-minded men that He Who by His preaching was the first to save mankind, and then gave us the means of preserving it from moral ruin, must be indeed the world's one great Teacher. Were more and greater proofs of this fact needed, we might easily find them by asking : What does the world's only great Teacher teach ? We have not far to look for an answer. Our Sermons 231 text tells us : "For this I was born, and for this came I into the world : that I might give testimony to the truth." Here we have, brethren, a word that is quite as full of mystery to most men as the Trinity itself. Why ? It may be, because the vast majority of people are too superficial to attach any special spiri- tual significance to a little monosyllable like " truth." As a matter of fact, however, there is a whole world of spiritual meaning lying behind that term, and we know it not. We do not even suspect it. And what we do not know or even suspect is always more or less mysterious. But another and perhaps better reason why the word "truth" is so mysterious to the many is be- cause it represents so much. It stands for an almost infinite number of spiritual things— for the thoughts and theories, for the principles and practices, for the duties and desires, for the words and works that have glorified Christ and regenerated the human race. A common and dangerous mistake made now- adays is to depend too implicitly on a definition. Christ never defined truth. When Pilate put to Him the question, "What is truth?" our Blessed Lord made no answer. He could have defined it, but not in ten words, nor in ten thousand. This we infer from the fact that He took thirty-three years to give testimony to it. If our Divine Saviour gave expression to new thoughts, advocated new theories, inculcated new principles, followed new practices, performed new works, lifted up the human mind and heart to new desires ; in a word, if He taught the world a new doctrine, it was because the world had lost all knowl- edge of the truth ; while He knew the Father, and knowing Him, saw in Him everything that is right and real— everything that is pleasing and perfect in His, the Father's, sight. 232 Father Walsh As man, Christ did not create truth. No. As God, He knew it in Himself. He saw it in the Father. As man, He simply copied it, followed it, practiced it. Consequently, everything that the Son of God said and did during His mortal career, was in its nature supernatural, and in its effects as eternal as the "everlasting hills. ,? Hence the memorable saying of St. Matthew: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." Mind you, brethren, we do not claim that the world hears, or obeys, or even respects, as it should, the testimony or teaching of its great and good Master. Indeed, it is quite the other way. You know why. Men are inclined nowadays to turn aside from their Redeemer as the highest and holiest ex- pression of the truth. They have begun to follow other examplars, and to copy other models. They are building largely on the shifting sands of " hu- man' ' knowledge, of " human' ' opinions, and of "human" judgment. And what has been the re- sult ? Just what we might have expected : revolu- tionary theories threaten the peace and the security of governments. In many places the darkest clouds hang over social and domestic life. In this and in every Christian community, the religion of a great many men and women is a counterpart of paganism, and a counterfeit of Christianity. Let us briefly explain our thought. The Son of God, our Teacher, blessed poverty by accepting it as His portion during His mortal life. Holy Writ says, "He had not whereon to lay His head." To-day a large number of men and women consider poverty more or less of a curse, and to escape it they do not hesitate to descend to the lowest degradation. Women yield ofttimes to the vilest temptations, while men frequently stoop to public plunder, and some- times even to cold-blooded murder. What contempt- ible specimens of Christian manhood and womanhood are harlots and thieves and murderers ! Sermons 233 Again, Christ sanctified trial, and sorrow, and suffering by accepting cheerfully the bitter chalice of His own passion and death. The good book says : " He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and He opened not His mouth." How very different it is with many, if not most of us, in times of sickness, sorrow and suffering. Usually we murmur and com- plain. We are apt to question the wisdom as well as the mercy of God. Some have even gone so far as to advocate self-destruction as a justifiable relief from human misery. What mockery of Christianity ! What inconsistency in the children of a Heavenly Father ! How can such people say, ' ' Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven ' ' ? How much more manly and womanly it is to stand up or kneel down in all humility, and say with the Christ-model, " Father, not my will, but Thine, be done." Again, our Blessed Saviour points out the way to moral cleanliness, and immortalizes social and domes- tic purity, saying, ' ' Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." We blush to acknowledge it, brethren, but there are here, and everywhere through- out our fair land, men and women ' ' whose glory is in their shame. ' ' From day to day they commit shock- ing sins, and are guilty of nameless crimes— sins and crimes that make them, in life, defiled temples of the Holy Ghost, and in death— little handfuls of dirt that are undeserving of burial in a barnyard. Shame on such Christians ! Shame on such Catholics ! Jesus Christ did not disdain to assume and elevate our human nature, but some so-called children of the household of faith do not scruple to drag down into filth and iniquity that masterpiece of omnipotence— the soul that was created in the image and likeness of God Himself. Do such people give testimony to the truth ? Purity is truth. And so is temperance, and so is honesty ; and so are charity and mercy and justice. 234 Father Walsh And so is everything that is real and right, and so is everything that is perfect and pleasing in the sight of God. We pass to a last consideration of our text. We know that Christ is the world's only great Teacher. We know what that Teacher teaches. We want to know now how that Teacher teaches. One of the most eminent of modern statesmen, orators, critics and scholars, the late William E. Gladstone, once said that the Bible is the best book ever written. Such is the verdict of all ages. It is no exag- geration to say that we find only in the inspired vol- ume the best thought expressed in the best way. We have but to read the Master's matchless sermons to know that He was, indeed, a "true speaker." His eloquence, so simple and yet so sublime, is even to- day the dream of the orator. His parables, so nat- ural and yet so striking, still furnish inspiration to the sculptor's chisel and the painter's brush. No wonder his enemies said among themselves : " No man ever spake as this man." They might have added : "And no man ever will speak as this man spake." As an oral teacher, Christ has no equal. He stands alone, again a model for us to copy and an exemplar for us to follow. Like Him, we must not spare our words when the honor and glory of God are at stake ; when justice is outraged ; when revela- tion is assailed. We must not cringe or crawl away when "Right " is being trampled under foot. No. We must speak out in its defense, even in the face of the most plausible opposition. We find in the world to-day not a few like Pilate of old— men and women who are afraid of the sneers and the jeers of the rabble. Such weaklings frequently crucify Truth, just as the Scribes and Pharisees crucified Jesus Christ. We cannot gainsay the fact, brethren, that speech Sermons 235 or eloquence has won great victories for Truth. But we do seriously doubt that it was either the first or the most efficient method employed by Christ in His mission to the world. Surely Christ knew as much as we know, and we know that speech is silver, while silence is golden. Speech or eloquence is strong, but silent example is stronger. If I wish to learn to pray, it is not necessary for me to sit at the Master's feet and hear Him repeat the ' ' Our Father. " No ; I go by night to the Garden of Gethsemane, and there I see my Model lying pros- trate on the ground, spending whole hours in holy converse with His Heavenly Father. If I wish to learn humility, it is not necessary for me to hear those blessed words from blessed lips : ' ' Learn of Me ; for I am meek and humble of heart. ' ' No. I look in at the door of the room in which Jesus and the eleven are eating the Last Supper. There in that little room I see my Saviour — the Son of God— wash- ing the feet of His own creatures. If I wish to learn to forgive injuries, it is not necessary for me to catch these words of warning : "And so shall My Heavenly Father do unto you, unless you forgive every one his brother from the heart." No. I steal away in spirit, on Good Friday afternoon, to Mount Calvary, and there I see the dis- figured and dead body of my Master hanging from the cross. The sun, the moon, the stars, the stones, the torn veil of the temple, the opened graves — all nature tells me that He died in order that His ene- mies might live. Yes ; example was Christ's favorite method of teaching and preaching. Brethren, ' ' Go and do ye likewise." We thank God, on this auspicious occasion, that it was our privilege to hear for the first time the les- sons preached here to-day, from the pulpit of old St. Mary's, and to have first learned them from the lips and life of a dear old saintly pastor. Father Haver- 236 Father Walsh mans was the first to sow the seed of the Word of God in our souls. When we recall to mind his eloquence and his example, we are not surprised to find this a pious congregation. Nor do we wonder that the oldest families of this parish have banded together, and, in gratitude, erected this beautiful main altar in loving memory of his long and useful ministry. He was truly " powerful in word and in work/' We cannot but believe that he is present here in spirit this morning, to bless you, brethren, and to bless his zealous successor, who has brought to completion this magnificent "House of God." Methinks there is in all this newness and beauty the promise of a fruitful future. Priests and pastors and pulpits may pass away, but the faithful will ever have the Gospel preached to them. They will hear, from generation to genera- tion, the same eternal truths of God. And so, to the remotest ages, they will hear of the world's only great Teacher, and they will know what that Teacher teaches, and how that Teacher teaches. TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST. * "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God."— Luke x, 27. Almighty God has many ways of teaching us, my brethren, the precious secret of all true wisdom, which is to " love the Lord, our God, with our whole heart, and with our whole soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind." To some this secret is imparted through the oft-repeated admonitions and exhortations of Holy Church, who, like a tender mother, is ever guarding * The two following sermons were found while the printers were preparing the book for publication. Sermons 237 us against the seductive wiles of the devil and the wickedness of the world. But to the far greater portion of the human family this more than worldly wisdom comes from the sad experiences of their fellow-creatures, whose noble faculties of heart and mind have been weakened, and whose lives, according to their own testimony, have been wasted by a too constant and close pursuit of pleasure and passion, as the only objects worthy of love and devotion. _ In the struggle between right and wrong, virtue and vice, they lost sight of the standard of Christ. They stopped to look backward in their flight from sin. The arch-enemy of God and man caught their atten- tion, and won them over, little by little, to the hard and thankless service of the world and to the love of earthly things. The natural result is, my brethren, that many among those with whom we are brought into almost daily contact are making of this life a most disastrous failure, although neither they nor we will fully realize the fact until, placed face to face with death, they surprise us with the declaration that they are about to leave the world without ever knowing practically the reason for coming into it. My brethren, such admissions are well calculated, one would think, to bring us to a sense of our duty, and teach us how to profit by the awful mistakes of our less favored and less fortunate fellows ; and yet it requires no extraordinary power of vision to see num- berless souls still straying away, every day, from the service of the love of God and His Church. We need not go far to find abundant evidence bearing on this point ; for, looking around us, do we not perceive on all sides numbers of men and women deeply engrossed by a multiplicity of worldly cares, and drawn away from their higher interests by a thousand and. one whims of their capricious hearts ? They have virtually forgotten God, and forgetfulness is, my brethren, the surest of signs that they have 238 Father Walsh ceased to love their Creator, Who is the eternal source of infinite happiness, power and perfection. So must it be with us. If we give our best and truest love to any but God, we are simply forgetting, overlooking, His promises and perfections— perfec- tions whose presence we recognize, and whose effects we feel at all times and in all places. It is He Who preserves and governs this world by His sovereign intelligence, of which ours is only the faintest scin- tillation. It is He who commands the winds and the waves, and says to the angry billows of the deep : "You shall come thus far and no further.' ' "Thy sins are forgiven ; go and sin no more." It is He who whispers words of consolation and encourage- ment to the afflicted and oppressed, saying : ' Weep not." His beauty, His tenderness, His mercy, are re- flected in myriads of beings that still grace our fallen world ; wherefore, admiration for His perfections, or at least gratitude for His goodness, demands that we love Him. But how shall we show our love for the Lord ? This question is best answered by Christ Him- self in the Gospel of St. John, when He says : "If any man love Me, he will keep My commandments." Hence, fidelity to the commandments is the most su- preme test of our love of God. The number and nature of these commandments our Blessed Lord summarized when He said : ' ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind ; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."— Luke x, 27. Love, therefore, something better and more dur- able than the things of this world— ephemeral pleas- ures and soul-destroying passions. Let the ambitious man remember that fame and fortune have made others forgetful of their Creator ; let the miser re- member that he should not make a god of his lucre ; let the drunkard take heed lest he make a deity of Sermons 239 rum ; and let the sensual be careful lest death come and surprise them, prostrated at the foulest of all altars, worshipping the foulest of divinities. And you, Christian parents, teach your children, in whom are wrapped up cherished hopes of happiness, temporal and eternal, that the love of God is para- amount to all things else ; teach them that He alone can satisfy all our yearnings after happiness ; teach them that with His love in their hearts, they will be rich even in poverty, great even in humiliations, cheerful even in suffering and misery ; in a word, tell them there is nothing good or beautiful or true that is not in and from God, and that consequently He is to be loved by us ''with our whole heart, with our whole soul, and with all strength, and with all our mind." FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT. "Prepare ye the way of the Lord/ '—Matt, iii, 3. Dearly Beloved Brethren : The holy season of Advent is well-nigh spent ; another day in the world will hear again the merry midnight chimes ushering in the feast of feasts— that blessed anniversary around which will ever cluster the holiest and the happiest memories. The coming and the going of most days so swiftly tell us of the flight of time. But this is not true of the twenty-fifth of December. That day means more than the passing of a few fleeting hours ; for it recalls an event that renewed the face of the earth, changing the whole current of human life and thought, in bringing to humanity new hope and new aspirations. Through the mercy and the love of God, what man lost in Paradise he found again in a stable at Bethlehem on Christmas morn. Hence, those 240 Father Walsh happy, hopeful feelings that usually find lodgment in the human heart on the anniversary of Christ's Nativity. Joy there is, indeed, and joy there always will be, brethren, in the memories of the world's first Christmas Day ; providing, however, we make time for an earnest, intelligent and humble study of the Incarnation, and fail not to enter into the spirit of Holy Church, whose aim and whose mission it is, especially during these closing hours of Advent, to stir up our hearts, and so prepare the way of the Lord. Knowing, as she does, that Christians can never fully appreciate the sweet smile of the Divine Child without having first prayed and fasted and performed penances, is it any wonder that for these three Sun- days past, and again to-day, she has persistently placed before us in the Gospel a picture of repent- ance, and insisted upon making it the sole topic of our preaching ? Through ways that are mysterious the Church keeps in touch with heaven. She alone knows the mind of God. She alone understands the necessity of bringing low every mountain and hill ; of filling up every valley ; of making the crooked road straight and the rough ways plain. She alone assumes re- sponsibility for souls committed to her care and keep- ing, and hence it is that she points with authority to the teaching and the example of the Eternal Father Himself, and bids us, in His name, to dispose our minds and our hearts for the worthy reception of Him Who came to seek and to save that which was lost. Will we, brethren, refuse to hear the Church ? Will we refuse to hear instruction ? Will we turn a deaf ear to the pleadings of conscience, and be so in- different to the grace of God as to ignore His voice— the voice of a Father and a Friend— calling upon us at this time to do penance, and to make straight the Sermons 241 path of the Lord ? Men might easily spare them- selves such mistakes if they would but look back and remember the past. There is no more pathetic page in the annals of the world than the record of the all but hopeless waiting of the Jewish people for the coming of the Messiah. Generation followed genera- tion, and still no deliverer appeared. For four thou- sand years and more the sighs and supplications had ascended to heaven, and all seemingly to no purpose ; for no answer ever came back to break the awful monotony of the weary watching and waiting. Oh i brethren, think this morning of those people of ancient years ! How they prayed, fasted, per- formed penance, that they might be privileged and prepared to receive, as we may, the Saviour of our race ! How they longed to see the things that we see, and saw them not, and to hear the things that we hear, and heard them not. What would they not have given in exchange for the opportunity and those graces that are ours for the asking or the seeking, but which we, through either ignorance or indiffer- ence, ofttimes neglect and sometimes scorn. With the sacraments of the Church within our reach, and the Book of the Holy Gospel opened before our eyes, it becomes easy for us to anticipate the bliss of the saints and to enjoy a foretaste of heaven itself ; for, at little inconvenience to ourselves, and whenever we will, we may go to that Bethlehem, to that house of bread, and there kneel down beside the cradle of Christ. In other words, with little effort on our part we may kneel down in the Church of God, and by contrition and confession make these poor hearts of ours like the favored manger — a fit dwelling- place for the glory of God. There is not one here this morning who can reasonably doubt that such is the will of the Most High ; for was not the Most High Himself the first to prepare the way of the Lord ? Was it not He Who 242 Father Walsh fashioned, with infinite care, the body and soul of the Immaculate Mother, that she might become a living temple, a beautiful tabernacle, for her Only Begotten Son ? Was it not He who decreed from the begin- ning that that mother should be "full of grace,' ' and blessed among women, because of the child she bore ? Surely this is proof sufficient that the Eternal Father Himself did not disdain to have a part and a place in the preparations for the coming of the Just One. Nor did the part which the Most High played in our redemption stop here. There is absolutely noth- ing to justify us in believing that Almighty God's interest in our deliverance from sin ceased with the creation and lavish endowment of the Virgin Mother. Such a conclusion is, in fact, very wide of the truth, for it is universally admitted that when the time drew near for the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity to assume human nature, it was the Eternal Father again who gently prepared the world for that never-to-be-forgotten event. He turned man's tnoughts to the prophecies of old ; He enlightened His children to read therein the signs of the times, and to detect palpable evidence of the fact that the kingdom of heaven was at hand ; that the old order of things was about to pass away, and that all flesh was about to see, at last, the salvation of God. The effect of this supernatural enlightenment was magi- cal : immediately expectancy took possession of the wise ones of the earth. Everywhere, the people began to prepare and to pray for the Prince of Peace. Young and old flocked out to the banks of the Jordan, and listened with rapt attention to the burning words of John the Baptist, who was that "angel" chosen by Providence to go before the face of Jesus Christ and to make His path straight. We can never realize, brethren, how well John the Baptist succeeded in his appointed task. What is Sermons 243 clear is this : If there was ever on earth a human being capable of touching the most hardened hearts and of drawing the multitudes in true repentance to the feet of the Lamb of God, surely it must have been the Precursor's gift of sacred eloquence, which convinced and converted all hearers. In the whole range of inspired writings we have no stronger calls to penance, no more earnest pleadings for prepara- tion, than the sermons of that God-fearing and God- loving Saint of the Judean desert. As we read his memorable sayings, we involun- tarily ask ourselves : How could the people have refused to forsake their sins ? How could the nations have done otherwise than to have prepared the way of the Lord ? See how he scourges the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees, saying: "Ye offspring of vipers ! Who hath shown you to flee from the wrath to come. . . . " " Bring forth fruit worthy of penance and do not begin to say : We have Abraham for our father. For I say to you that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham.' ' He threatens the lukewarm, the indifferent, and the irreligious in these words, saying: "The axe is even now laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, therefore, that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire. ,, " Do penance, or ye shall all likewise perish. " * ' There shall come One mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to loose. " "He will purge His floor and will gather the wheat into His barn ; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire. ,, Hear how he condemns the selfishness of his own age : " He that hath two coats, let him give to him that hath none ; and he that hath meat, let him do in like manner."' This is how he inculcated gentleness and charitable- ness : "Do violence to no man, neither calumniate any man." ik^ We can all fancy the moral influence of these and. 244 Father Walsh similar sayings. Those that heard them could not resist their force. The natural result was, that hundreds of people became penitents and applied to John for baptism, feeling that that ceremonial rite would do much to purify and prepare their souls for the birth of the Son of Justice. To them, indeed, was given ' ' the power to be made the sons of God. ' ' It is not enough for us to admire the strong, manly eloquence of St. John the Baptist ; it is, indeed, all an empty sound, if it fails to touch our hearts to repent- ance, and to lead us in spirit to the cradle of Christ. Such is, in truth, the intention of God, for in the Holy Book it is said : ' ' Whatsoever things have been written, have been written for our instruction.' ' Inspired words were never meant for any special class or condition of men, nor were they meant to be circumscribed by the limits of space and time. They were spoken and written to and for us of to-day as well as to and for the people of two thousand years ago. To know this, brethren, ought to bring to the average Christian a sense of grateful pleasure, im- posing upon us the grave responsibility of hearing and obeying. If we had no inspired writings to in- struct us, we might perhaps find some pretext for failing to enter into this season of prayer and peni- tence. We might perhaps argue that though such or such a requirement was the will of God, we knew it not. We cannot make such excuses now. We have the words of St. John the Baptist. The words of St. John the Baptist are the words of the Church itself, and the words of the Church are the words of God. The time has long since gone by, brethren, when men and women were wont to sit indifferently in their pews, and feel that, although steeped in sin, they had fulfilled every requirement of conscience and religion. They were not doing their duty, neither are they who are imitating them, doing their duty to God and to themselves, for their duty obliges Sermons 245 them to come near to the Saviour's side, just as did the shepherds of old. Our inaction must be taken as an evidence of contempt, and our conduct must be considered even more harsh and heartless than the treatment accorded to the Son of God by the ignorant innkeepers of Bethlehem. The Saviour of the world proposes to come unto His own ; will His own receive Him? We cannot answer these questions as we would wish, brethren, until we have first seen every moun- tain of mortal sin brought -low, and every hill of venial sin razed from our souls ; until we have first assured ourselves that the valleys of omission and the hollows of spiritual deficiencies have been filled up. All around us in the world to-day are weak, shallow characters, lives that are empty of every- thing save moral meanness. When we have ceased to belong to this class, and lifted ourselves by repent™ ance above a sinful, self-seeking world, then, and not till then, shall we be able to assert in truth : Thy ways to our heart have been prepared, Lord. $ God grant that on Christmas morn we may all put forth such a claim. 'Tis in this hope that we say to you again, brethren, in the words of John the Baptist, ' ' Do penance, for the kingdom of ^God is at hand." THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. This afternoon, my brethren, the usual proces- sion in honor of the most Blessed Sacrament will take place, and judging from the numbers present on former occasions of this nature, we bespeak for our dear Lord an imposing guard, such as few American cities have ever seen, and one that will be in every respect a fair test of the depth and sincerity of our faith and love. ;;. .. Owing to circumstances, public processions have 246 Father Walsh been practically unknown in this country. For many years, and in tact until quite recently, we possessed none of those elements that wouid warrant us in making the attempt. We lacked numerical strength ; we lacked position ; we lacked organization. But this old order of things has passed away. In ac- cidentals we have changed with the times. We have walked up the road to progress with giant strides, until to-day we are the admiration of the world. We understand our rights better to-day than ever be- fore ; we appreciate more fully our obligations, and the future gives promise of more than passing inter- est in the proper and solemn celebration of our grand feast days. We feel that the time has now come when religious hatred must give way to charity, and bigotry to reason. People are being educated nowa- days ; they are beginning to see clearer, and ere long we hope to hear of every denomination joining with the leading lights of the Presbyterian Church in rejecting the old belief that Roman Catholics are idolaters. Because of our faith in the God of the Holy Eucharist, many of our separated brethren have treated us with mingled feelings of pity and deri- sion. They delight in calling us " idolaters." If treatment so unchristian can contribute in any wise to their happiness, we shall be doubly pleased ; pleased, first, because it gives them pleasure ; and secondly, it neither hurts nor surprises us. Christ Himself prepared us for aspersions of this character ; for He told us very emphatically that the servant is not above His Master, and that if the world reviled Him, it would revile us also. But, my brethren, is the derision of unbelievers the only objectionable feature of our public pro- fessions of faith ? Unfortunately, it is not. Tnere is something worse, something meaner, something more despicable than derision to be apprehended, Sermons 247 and that is the cold indifference and the moral cow- ardice of God's own children. For I would have you know, my dearest friends, that there are in our midst not a few Catholics, subjects, and therefore slaves, of human respect. I need not tell you the nature or the extent of its dominion over its victims. Suffice it to say that it is the most tyrannical of masters, since, at its bidding, men and women will stifle the noblest instincts of their manhood and womanhood, and desert one Who has ever been a friend and a father to them and their kind. And let me say to you, my brethren, that the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, which we treat so coldly and negligently, is the truest of friends and the kindest of fathers. It was not enough for Him to call us into existence, to rescue us from the power of Satan, to tell us of our high dignity and happy home in heaven. His paternal tenderness would go further still. He would busy Himself with every detail of our journey heavenward. He would even provide a miraculous bread and beverage — His own most Precious Body and Blood. "I am the Living Bread that came down from heaven/ ' says the Saviour. "If any man eat of the bread he shall live forever, and the bread that I shall give is My Flesh.' ' Truly this is a mystery of love, a stupendous miracle of grace. To meditate upon it is to lose one's self in the ocean of Divine goodness. The most we can do is to prostrate ourselves before our Friend and Father, veiled under the appearance of bread and wine, and proudly proclaim, under all circumstances and on all occasions, that there is no God like unto our God. Naturalists tell us that no bird rivals the pelican in generous instincts. When its little ones are in want of food, the pelican is not content to feed them grain. It opens its own breast with its beak, in order that they may feed on her blood. St. Gertrude once saw Jesus under the appear- 248 Father Walsh ance of a pelican, wounding its own breast and giv- ing its blood to feed its little ones. Greatly troubled by the vision, she cried out : ' ' My God, what is the meaning of this?" It is related that our Blessed Lord answered : ' ' I want you to understand how great is My love for My creatures. It induces me to give My own blood to feed them." This is one of those sayings which the world finds so hard — nay, impossible to believe. It seems to say, as it said nineteen hundred years ago: 'I cannot comprehend how this man can give us His flesh to eat, and His blood to drink. " On this point we must leave the world in ignorance, for God has not yet seen fit to reveal His mysteries to man. On the last day, everything hidden from us in this life will be made clear. In the meantime, however, it would be very kind of the world to tell us just how ignorance can excuse unbelief. There are many things, to us unintelligible, which we can, and must, and do believe, and we thank God that the Holy Eucharist is one of them. We are not ashamed of our belief in the sacrament specified. Every day we will cling closer and closer to our heavenly friend, and bid a holy defiance to an un- believing world. We will multiply our altars, our processions, and our benedictions, and if the world believes not, we will carry the Lamb of God on high and fearlessly expose Him to the hard gaze of in- credulity, and leave it with Him to convert the world. But it is not, my dear brethren, your faith in His adorable mystery that I would seek to strengthen, so much as your devotion and reverence towards the Sacramental King. Exceptional facilities are offered us for visiting Him in this — His own abode. We may be grateful for this favor, but most of us are too apt to forget that great privileges bring with them dan- ger proportionately great. We have reason, there- fore, to esteem ourselves fortunate if, contrary to Sermons 249 experience, our frequent approaches to the Blessed Sacrament do not beget a spirit of carelessness and indevotion towards this heavenly mystery. To avoid such a misfortune, we must needs meditate on the wonderful goodness and compassion of our Blessed Lord in bestowing on us so Divine a gift. We must remember, too, that much will be required of them to whom much has been given. Heaven could confer no greater favor upon us than to nourish us with the Sacred Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. That the saints brought forth worthy fruit is evident from the holiness of their lives. But where and what are the proofs that we have partaken of that bread which came down from heaven ? Can we appeal to our Christian lives ? Holy Communion is called the food of the strong. Have we been strong in temptations ? Have we stood above open disgrace and public profligacy ? Have we risen above the petty quarrels and jealousies ? These questions must be answered. Again, the Holy Communion is called the bread of the pure, the bread of angels. Have we done nothing impure to stain or destroy the beauty of our souls ? We fear for some of our brethren ; their hearts are as unproductive of goodness as a desert is of fair flowers — and why ? Because they come to the Holy Table without sufficient contrition for sin. Infinite perfection will not assimilate with gross imperfections. Only when our hearts are given unre- servedly to God will we see the wondrous effect of the heavenly nourishment. This fact was vividly impressed upon me by something I saw some years ago in a small village in Belgium. There lived in the village to which I refer, a child noted for her piety to the Passion of Our Lord and to the Blessed Sacra- ment of the Altar. For her devotion to the Passion, God imprinted upon her body the five wounds of the crucified Saviour, from which there flowed every Friday of the year a considerable quantity of blood. 250 Father Walsh For her devotion to the Holy Eucharist, God took from her all liking and craving for food and drink, and sustained her for more than twelve years with no other nourishment than His own most precious Body and Blood. This sight firmly convinced me, my brethren, that we must give our heart to God before we can hope to obtain from Him a sign of acceptance and promise of life. Let every one of us, therefore, give his heart to our Blessed Saviour as He is carried among the people. Let us do so frequently in the Holy Communion, and, when the veil is removed from our eyes by death, we shall see the grand reality in heaven face to face. Addresses 251 ADDRESSES. RELIGIOUS PROFESSION. ' 'Thou hast chosen the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his way, . . . and obey his command.' ' — Deut. xxvi, 17. Dear Sisters in Christ and Children of the Sacred Heart : As there is in the history of every nation some one accomplishment and one anniversary that is sure to be held by the people in loving and lasting remembrance, so there is in the life of every individ- ual some one day and some one event around which will ever cluster the holiest and the happiest memories. Seldom, perhaps, is this fact brought home to us so forcibly as on occasions like the present, when we are assembled amid hallowed associations and before a favored altar, to participate in the joy of a triumph, the meaning and magnitude of which are more easily felt than described. It taxed the genius of poets and historians to tell fittingly the story of Caesar's wonderful success in subjugating the enemies of his country. How, then, can we hope to speak worthily of a greater, because spiritual, conquest, all the more sublime because it is spiritual— a conquest in which you, dear postulants, have played so successful and so important a part ? Indeed, he who would claim the privilege of doing full justice to such a vast subject, must, by the very fact, lay claim to much time and talent. As for us, we cannot presume on much of either, and hence, in / 252 Father Walsh this instruction, we shall attempt to do little more than congratulate those future brides of Christ, and say to them, in the language of Holy Writ : ' ' Gaude et laetare" — " Rejoice and be glad, for this is the day which the Lord hath made : you shall call it most solemn and most holy." No doubt, dear children, you have looked forward to this day with feelings akin to the truest and deep- est joy. In fact, we would fain believe that ever since you heard the still but strong voice of God call- ing upon you to leave father and mother, and home and kindred, you have ofttimes innocently amused your minds with fancied pictures of this blessed scene. Perhaps, many times during the past two or three months, you have knelt here in silence before your Divine Master and Model, and in spirit taken Him for your portion and inheritance. Perhaps, too, you felt a constantly increasing happiness welling up in your hearts, and you knew not its secret. We dare say you see more clearly now. Your souls were being attuned to the music of Divine love, and coming events were casting their shadows before. What was yesterday but a dream, becomes to-day a sober, happy reality. God has not been insensible, dear postulants, to your yearnings for a place in His dwellings. You have waited patiently and prayer- fully. Patience and prayer prevailed ; this is your hour of triumph. In a few moments you will cast aside those rich robes, so suggestive of the world and its vanities, to put on the humble habit of a religious. Believe me, there is a deep meaning in this change of dress, for you must ever bear in mind that it is not the garb alone that makes the monk or the nun, but rather generous and willing fidelity to the require- ments of your heavenly vocation. If I understand rightly, it is your ambition to be- come spouses of Jesus Christ. I know of no greater dignity to which you could aspire. Surely, it is no Addresses 25 ;> exaggeration to say yours is a very holy, heavenly ambition, for you indulge in hopes and desires more than earthly ; still, you may confidently look for their fulfillment if you can promise to Christ a sacrifice proportionate to the coveted dignity. You know, dear postulants, there can be but one such sacrifice, and that is the sacrifice of yourselves. Anything less than your own selves would be unworthy alike of the lover of your souls and of you. Hence, you must be ready in the near future to offer to God, and without reserve, your souls and your bodies — to Him, and to the high purpose of re- ligion ; you must be ready to consecrate to Him every faculty of your minds, every affection of your hearts. Without this, your profession would be an insult to the whole court of Heaven. I know, beloved in Christ, there are other sacrifices besides that of self. I have even heard it said that the greatest sac- rifice known to human nature is not the renunciation of self, but the renunciation of the world, its riches, its pleasures, and its possible honors and dignities. Of course, this assertion comes with perfect grace from worldlings who are unaccustomed to think and talk in the spirit of Christ, but to us Christians, it sounds very like sacrilegious. My dear young friends, let me assure you of a fact of which you are perhaps already cognizant ; it is this : in more senses than one, giving up the world is not a real sacrifice, and, consequently, nothing greatly to regret. On the contrary, we hold it to be a most signal blessing, and the highest wisdom. Do not right reason and revelation prove our theory to be the correct one ? We cling to a thing, that is, we are loathe to sacrifice it, on the principle that it may contribute to our happiness. But whom has the world ever made happy ? To whom have riches ever brought peace ? Their accumulation costs untold anxiety, days and nights of ceaseless toil and worry, 254 Father Walsh and still they have never yet given either balm to a wounded conscience or ease to an aching heart. Nor is this contentment, when the golden har- vest has been carefully gathered in and counted ; for no man— no, not even the rich man, has any assured claim upon his future, and, therefore, none on his fortune. The grim messenger, death, will force his way into the magnificent mansion just as surely as he will knock at the door of the humblest home, and when the rich man comes to die, he carries with him to the grave naught of his vast wealth save the small silver plate that glitters on his coffin-lid, and recalls what few people care to remember — his name and his age. So much for the riches of the world. Now, what do you sacrifice, dear children, when you "give up " the honors and dignities of the world ? Simply shadows, and nothing more. To say the least, they are most deceptive, and may be very aptly compared to the fruit that is said to grow on the banks of the Dead Sea. Travellers tell us it is both beautiful and tempting to the eye, but once plucked and opened, it is found to contain but ashes. But how shall we characterize, dear postulants, your action in foregoing the so-called pleasures of the world ? Shall we call it a mistake — a species of madness ? No. Shall we then dignify it with the name of sacrifice ? God forbid. In virtue of our office, we priests must know a great deal of the world. We see on every side pitiable falls, all directly traceable to worldly pleasures. Owing to this fatal fascination, manly young men are being lost every day to the Church and to God, and, not infrequently, we find beautiful and talented young women, grad- uates of convents, too, going down in the common wreck and ruin. I could tell you more of worldly pleasure, my dear young friends, but this much will suffice to show you that when you spurned them, you simply refused to Addresses 255 play with shackles and chains cunningly used by Satan to bind immortal souls, and then to drag them down to eternal perdition. Hence, neither regret nor sadness should have place or part in this cere- mony. Rather should joy and gratitude fill your hearts, dear postulants ; ' ' for the Lord hath broken your chains, and hath remembered you, pitying your youth." Now, the Inspired Writer tells us that Christians must temper even their joy. Let me, therefore, temper your happiness with one word of kindly warning. Remember this is only your first step into the religious life. To-day a new and promised land is opened up to your admiring gaze, and we have reason to believe that you enter it with souls full of fervor and full of hope. The end of your careers will be quite as glorious as their beginning was con- soling, if you will but keep these two bright lights burning at the door of your hearts. Renew, every day, your spirit of fervor in prayer and in medita- tion ; for you need hope and help. Come to the sweet Sacred Heart of Jesus, and to the feet of the Virgin Mother, whose special wards you become this morning. Finally, to perfect yourselves in the love of God, which is the primary object and ultimate end of your vocation, come frequently and receive Him whose poverty and chastity and obedience you vir- tually promise, to-day, to mirror henceforth in your lives. In conclusion, I pray God to bless you, dear children. May He measure out to you a generous meed of grace and strength to pursue your journey to the end. May you find the cloister all that you expected. There are many saints, living and dead, among the religious of the Sacred Heart ; follow in their footsteps, and you cannot go astray. True, doubt and temptations may assail you from time to time, but fear not. Look up to heaven for light and 256 Father Walsh comfort. Thus, living in grace, and growing in years, you will calmly look on while the lamp of life burns low, and time gradually fades into eternity. And when the end comes you will be glad. Angels will receive and lead you to the Great White Throne of God, Who will clothe you in spotless robes of innocence and immortality. In your heavenly home, dear chosen ones, you will find upon your lips the mystic song that only virgins sing, and you shall be forever and forever of that happy band, ' who follow the lamb whithersoever He goeth." RELIGIOUS PROFESSION. " One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. ,J — Ps. xxvi, 4. Dear Sisters and Children of St. Dominic : A study of human nature reveals the fact that we are creatures born with an almost infinite craving for happiness. If that craving be not satisfied, life is counted a failure ; and we welcome as the best of friends, the shroud, the casket, and the grave. There is no fate by half so sad as to be compelled to live unhappily. How, then, are we to avoid such a fate ? How are we to appease the longing of our poor hearts for happiness ? In a word, how are we to make life a sweet success and a holy triumph ? To these ques- tions there is and can be but one answer, and that answer is dictated by reason as well as by revelation. These two infallible guides tell us, in the lan- guage of the living saint, and in the words of the dying sinner, that the only way to achieve true sue- Addresses 257 cess and to find lasting happiness is to ' ' live for God." We are well aware, brethren, that the world may take exception to this teaching ; in fact, we feel that it cannot do otherwise than neglect, with a cynical, incredulous smile, this simple solution of a problem that has long baffled its so-called superior wisdom. Why it should take such a stand and dispute the claims of both reason and religion is evident ; the world is synonymous with pride. Pride may be wounded ; rarely, if ever, can it be conquered. The world will not submit to instruction. It may, from time to time, modify its policies for expediency's sake, but nothing will ever change its principles. The world cannot be convinced of the error of its ways, neither can it be brought to acknowledge the fact that man's highest happiness has always been found in " living for God." Nevertheless, we may and must insist upon this fact, and if further argument were needed to prove it, we would hardly know where to begin or where to end. There are, as it were, too many proofs of its truth. It is the testimony of generations wiser than ours. It is, moreover, the plain teaching of the very best of masters— of Truth itself, of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Words fail, dear chosen ones, to tell of the happiness that filled to overflowing the Saviour's Sacred Heart as He went about doing the will of His Heavenly Father. He came, as we know, to save souls, and although the undertaking meant sorrow and suffering, and difficulty and danger, and even death, yet the thought that He was living and labor- ing for Him who sent Him, made His mission any- thing but a hardship. And so Jesus was happy. Let the world think and talk as it will ; we believe that the last words uttered by Christ from the cross expressed the deepest feelings of satisfaction and 258 Father Walsh proclaimed the gladdest tidings of victory. We believe, too, that those last words of His, "Con- summatum est" — "My work is done," will go down the ages not only as the noblest tribute ever paid to " duty well done," but also the strongest of incentives to God-loving and God-fearing souls to follow courageously in the footsteps of their Master, and thus learn how to be happy— a lesson clearly inculcated on nearly every page of Holy Writ, and concisely but beautifully put forth in the inspired words of Holy David when he sang : ' ' One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house"— i. e., in the serving — "of the Lord all the days of my life." That these words have not lost their meaning ; that the light of Christ's example and the beauty and truth of His life have not faded from the mem- ory of man, are, dear Sisters, facts too palpable to be denied ; for, now and here, even as in other times and in other places, certain scenes of almost daily occur- rence serve to remind us that there are still in our midst souls seeking after happiness and finding it— but only in " living for God." To-day we are the personal and privileged witnesses of just such a scene. How impressive it is ! To you of the cloister, it may, indeed, seem commonplace ; but, oh ! how strange in every feature must it be for those who are living in the world, and building their hopes of happiness on the shifting sands of time ! Such people cannot understand the significance of a ceremony like this ; they cannot understand how the young and the fair can give up their places at the banquet table of pleasure (?) to kneel at the foot of the cross ; how they can cast aside the rich robes of fashion to don the humble habit of a ' ' religieuse. " They cannot understand, I say, how these favored few can leave father and mother, and home, with its endearing associations — Addresses 259 even though it be to dwell in the house of the Lord. Well, let us try to enlighten these worldly minds. In their infancy these children of St. Dominic learned at their mother's knee to lisp the holy name of God. From the memory of those first lispings sprang up, in girlhood, the thought and the conviction that God had made them for Himself— to know and to love and to serve Him in this world, and to secure eternal beati- tude with Him in the world to come. This thought and this conviction sank day by day deeper and deeper into their souls, until finally they asked themselves and their Maker the safest and the straightest way to the attainment of the end for which they were created. Full many a time they knelt in chapel and in church, and with eyes riveted on the "little golden door," they thus addressed themselves to the lonely Prisoner within : ' ' Lord, speak, for Thy servants trust in Thee and wish to do Thy will." And Jesus did speak. To each of them He said, in the gentle, loving language of a Divine friend : ' ' Daugh- ter, give Me thy heart." "Learn of Me ; for I am meek and humble of heart." "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, with thy whole soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." She who loves father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me." "And, behold, leaving all things behind them, they followed Him." "If any one will come after Me, let her deny herself ; let her take up her cross and follow Me." This is, brethren, the simple, true, and only explanation of their will- ingness and eagerness to renounce the world, with all its pomps and pleasures. They wished to follow the surest path to heaven ; they wished to make their lives a sweet success and a holy triumph ; they wished to make secure their right and their title to heavenly happiness. And they knew the best way to crown their efforts was to live for God, laboring in His holy service "all the days of their lives." 260 Father Walsh Who is it that will question the thought of their action or choice ? As usual, the world insinuates that this is asking too much of human nature ; it holds that self-renunciation is a cruel sacrifice offered on the altar of religion. Is the world right ? Before answering any question or insinuation, let it be dis- tinctly understood that we are not here to combat either prejudice or sentimentality ; consequently, there are two things with which we must be perfectly familiar : first, with what is demanded of the aspir- ants to a religious life ; and, secondly, with what is promised them in return. From the life and example of Jesus Christ, we know that the price of a place in the house of the Lord is poverty, chastity, obedience, mortification, and self-abnegation. For these are the virtues that made our Blessed Master what He was— namely, a model, and without them, there is and there can be no perfect service. As to what is promised to the faithful religious for the days and years of her dis- ciplehood, we have it upon the word of God Himself, that she " shall follow the lamb whithersoever He goeth," that heaven shall be given her in exchange for earth ; a blessed eternity in exchange for a brief span of time called life ; spiritual joys in exchange for carnal, perhaps beastly, pleasures ; everlasting peace and happiness in exchange for wealth and social distinction— those miserable baubles for which immortal souls are bartered away every day. We are now better prepared to ask and to answer the questions : Is this demanding too much of human nature ? Is the renunciation of self a cruel sacrifice offered on the altar of religion ? The foe of Chris- tianity says, "Yes" ; Our Lord Jesus Christ says, " No. " Which are we to believe ? Women of fashion and folly, the selfish slaves of sin and self-indulgence, say, ' ' Yes. " The woman of women — the loveliest lily of Israel and the purest rose of Jericho— the Blessed Addresses 261 Mother of God, says, "No." Which are we to be- lieve ? Which is worthier of acceptance— the Word of Christ or the dictum of the world ? Which is the more trustworthy guide to follow ? We leave it to any healthy mind to decide between God and the world, and to say whether or not these have done wisely. In passing, let me remind, especially the young people who have gathered here to-day, that the ques- tion of vocation is one worthy of serious thought. The time comes in life when every young woman must pause and ask herself : "What is God's will in my regard ? Where and how am I to work out my salvation ?" Only a fool will take risks in a matter upon which depend, in a large measure, her hopes for time and eternity. Do not be deceived, my dear young friends. Things in this world are not always what they seem — "All that glitters is not gold." There is, here below, as you will learn later, far more shadow that sunshine, far more falsehood than truth, far more sham than sincerity. Unworthy motives have more than once led young people into marriage. If God has refused to bless them, if the passing years have shattered their dreams of bliss, the fault is all their own. They were thoughtless, and experience gen- erally teaches the thoughtless many a sad, painful lesson. We are not predicting a dark future for anyone who, after prayerful consideration, may elect to remain in the world ; we are simply pointing out stern realities, and reminding you of the solemn obligation we are all under of seeking and following honestly, intelligently, and courageously, the path marked out by the hand of God Himself. If any of you should hear the voice of God calling you to a con- secrated life, let her not close her ears ; let her not count the cost ; for remember, the very thought of such transitory interests and deceptive promises as 262 Father Walsh those of earth have sickened millions of noble hearts, and have driven thousands of generous souls into the desert and into the cloister. We can all recall, I presume, one remarkable proof of the truth. I refer to the entrance into religion of St. Bernard and his five brothers. Every inducement was held out to them to cast their lot in this world, but they refused. Methinks there has never been written a more charming or pathetic page than that which tells of the parting of St. Bernard and his four brothers from the youngest members of the family— a boy of some twelve summers. The narra- tive says that on the day appointed for their entrance into the monastery, they were turning away from their ancestral home, when they saw Mivard, their youngest brother, playing near the gate. At first, the thought of his tender years, and their deep affec- tion for him, made it quite impossible for them to take leave of him ; but Guy, who was the oldest and the bravest of the little band, finally found courage enough to say to him : ' 'Good-bye, Mivard, we are going away forever ; all our estates and land will be yours." Quick as a flash, the little fellow felt in his heart a supreme contempt for earthly riches and the distinctions that usually go with them ; so, drying the tears that were now coming down his cheeks, the youth said, as one inspired: "This is unjust; for you are taking the imperishable riches of heaven, and leaving me the perishable goods of earth. This is unfair treatment. This is an unequal division." That child had detected the emptiness of worldly happiness, the nothingness of earthly greatness, the littleness of the things of time. It was not many years after this parting at the gate when those six brothers met again — this time at the gate of the monastery ; four of them were already Cistercian monks ; the sixth— the youngest brother— had come to beg admittance. His prayer was granted. Addresses 263 By such incidents, of which ecclesiastical history- is full, we are taught, dearly beloved in Christ, to see the hand and hear the voice of God, Who lovingly leads favored souls into solitude, that He may there speak to their hearts, and whisper into their ears words of heavenly happiness. "Come unto me," He says, "and I will refresh you. I shall be your portion and inheritance forever. ' ' " Take upon you My yoke, and you will find rest to your souls ; for My yoke is sweet and My burden light.' ' May we not believe, brethren, that the same hand and the same voice which led Bernard and his brethren to a consecrated life have also drawn those devoted children of St. Dominic " from the midst of iniquities,' ' to set them among the princesses in the house of the Lord all the days of their lives ? Oh, yes ; we may believe it. Aye, more, we must believe it ; for only an infinitely great and good father could have inspired such a step as this, and given to them what many a young life has ofttimes lacked, the moral courage to follow in the sacred footsteps of their Divine Lord and Master. Dear Sisters in Christ, you have been brave be- yond your years, and hence, turning to your Blessed Saviour, you may say to Him, as did the Apostles of old : " Master, we have left all things to follow thee ; what, then, shall our reward be ? " And the answer, inaudible to the world, comes back in the sweetest of voices: " Centuplum accipietis " and "Vitam aeter- nam possidebitis " — "You shall receive a hundred- fold, and possess life eternal." What a magnificent promise! What a generous reward ! No wonder, dear young religious, that your hearts are happy to-day. Most cordially do we here present congratulate you, and say to you, in the language of Holy Writ : ' ' Re- joice and be glad, for you have chosen the best part, which shall not be taken from you forever." In conclusion, we may be permitted to address 264 Father Walsh a few words of special felicitation to them whose brows are already veiled. One year ago to-day, or thereabouts, you came before this altar to give over your hearts into the keeping of a Divine Friend. To-day, you are here again to plight unto Him love, fidelity and service, and to put on the adornments becoming the spouses of Jesus Christ — the crown of obedience, the necklace of poverty, the wedding ring of chastity, the bracelets of mortification and self- abnegation. May the future be powerless to dim the luster of such priceless jewels, and may their bril- liancy be a light to your feet, leading you to the promised land, where the Immaculate Spouse, the Heavenly Bridegroom, the Lamb without stain, awaits your coming, ready to crown you with dia- dems of glory. Would you, dear postulants and novices, justify our hopes ? Would you dispel from the secular mind all doubts as to the wisdom of your choice ? Would you realize your own lifelong desires of happiness ? Then accept this one word of affectionate advice and warning : Take the Blessed Mother of God for your model. Invoke every day her maternal help. Pledge unto her an honest imitation of her virtues. If you do this, she will impart unto you the secrets of holy and happy careers. Remember, morning, noon, and night, that you have renounced the world, and that henceforth you belong to God. Therefore, deem not that the work is done until you have, as far as in your power lies, shut out from the cloister the spirit, the temptations, the conversations, and the interests of earth. Worldliness is the rock upon which many a religious life has been wrecked. When you have removed this obstacle from the path of perfection, then, indeed, your lives will be, as St. Paul says, "Hidden with Christ in God, and when Christ shall appear Who is your life, then shall you also appear with Him in glory.' ' — Col. iii, 3-4. Addresses 265 This is our prayer for you, and may the angels ever re-echo it, even to the throne of God, to Whom Holy David prayed when he said : ' ' One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." PATRONAGE OF ST. JOSEPH. "Well done, thou good and faithful ser- vant: enter thou into the joy of the Lord." —Matt, xxv, 21. Dearly Beloved Brethren : Were it the good fortune of a stranger to religion to wend his way to-day to this beautiful and stately edifice, he could not but find many and strong reasons for asking himself the meaning of this solemn scene and the object of this vast gathering. Why these flowers and lights ? Why these soul- stirring strains of the organ and the choir ? Why this presence in our sanctuary of a prelate, robed in all the insignia of his sacred office ? True, these features of this service have a message and a mean- ing for the people of St. Joseph's Parish, but they fail to reveal the nature and purpose of this celebra- tion to him who is not of the fold. Such a one, on such a day, and in such a place as this, must be left to his own thoughts and musings. Had the Catholic Church ever proved recreant to her Divine mission, had she ever bowed low before worldly greatness or worldly achievement, possibly might that stranger conclude that we are here as- sembled to honor the genius of some statesman, or to praise the hero of some battlefield. Oh ! how far beyond the comprehension of the worldly mind are the ways of God and of God's 266 Father Walsh Church ! We admit, in the long ago there was no religion save humanity ; that men deified their fel- lows, and erected altars to science and to learning, to eloquence and to art. We will not dispute the fact that in the temple of fame were written high the names of the favored few who had, wittingly or unwittingly, used their talents and the opportunities of life for self-glorification, rather than for the greater honor and glory of the Gracious Giver of all good gifts. But will we, and can we say that these principles and features obtain to-day ? No ; for the world has grown older and wiser. Christianity has burst the bubble of human egotism, and the light of the Gospel of Christ has shown how shallow are all the claims of earthly ambition to renown and to everlasting re- membrance. With a faith as infallible as God Him- self, we have inherited, brethren, more lofty stand- ards of excellence, more sublime ideals of duty, truer measurements of worth, and so we differ from the world as to what constitutes greatness. We say in the same breath with religion and with religion's handmaid — right reason— that there is no greatness but goodness, and that only the good are great and worthy of prayer and praise. Hence it is that we build our most costly churches to the honor of Him "Who went about doing good " ; that we consecrate our grandest altars to the memory of the Good Shepherd ; that we hold up, in story, in art. and in song, for the admiration of succeeding generations, the name and the works of the Good Samaritan. As might have been suspected, brethren, the life of Jesus, the Good Shepherd and the Good Samari- tan, left its impress on the world. His lowly birth was a blow to selfishness and to pride ; His very pres- ence touched and thrilled men's hearts, and filled them with a courage and a constancy hitherto un- Addresses 267 known to earth ; His example ennobled humility, en- riched poverty, and blessed obedience. In a word, so great was the power for good which went out from Him, that the greater and better portion of mankind soon began to forget its false gods, realizing the emp- tiness of human greatness, and the foolishness of human wisdom. Another effect of this new influence was that many of those who came within the influence of the Saviour's teaching sought the things that are above ; that is, they soared above and beyond things temporal, and left littleness to the world. They became other Christs, great saints, men and women whose names will live in memory to the end of time. Among those most worthy to be called truly good and great, and consequently privileged to live in lov- ing and lasting remembrance, is St. Joseph, the fos- ter-father of the Son of God, the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the head of the Holy Family, the guard- ian angel of purity, the exemplar of humility, the type of obedience, the model of the Christian laborer, the Patron of the Universal Church — that good and faithful servant, the feast of whose patronage, the world over, we keep to-day with glad and grateful hearts. The story of St. Joseph's life never will and never can be told in detail ; for, according to a seem- ingly preordained plan, God's greatest and dearest ones are without biographies. History is careful to record the wars of an ambitious Alexander, and to tell us of the conquests of a conceited Caesar, but she had no time to transmit to us an account of Christ's sayings and sacrifices during eighteen long years. The chronicler found leisure to gather legends with- out number, but he had no spare time to devote to many interesting incidents in the life of our Blessed Lady. Whole volumes have been written in the vain attempt to justify, or at least palliate, the crimes of profligate kings and queens, but not one authentic 268 Father Walsh chapter was written by his contemporaries to remind us of St. Joseph, the illustrious son of an illustrious house. And yet, brethren, this indifference of history, this oversight of men, or call it by whatever name you will, has not impaired the luster of our Saint's goodness and greatness. His memory has survived the test of time, for even now, after a lapse of nearly two thousand years, the name of that Just Man, Faithful Father and Holy Spouse is a household word wherever the Gospel has been preached. Heaven itself has fitly and forever interwoven the story of his simple, unselfish, God-fearing life with the mis- sion of Jesus and the name of Mary. Like them, he belongs henceforth to the world, and his altar is found in every Catholic Church, side by side with theirs. We have no apologies to offer, dearly beloved brethren, for thus honoring St. Joseph ; we are simply carrying out the injunction of sacred writers. St. Paul says : " ' Render, therefore, honor to whom honor is due." Again, it is written in the Book of Ecclesiasticus : ' ' Let the people show forth the wisdom of the saints, and the Church declare their praise." Finally, we read in the Book of Esther these significant words : ' ' Thus shall be honored, whom the king hath a mind to honor." But, brethren, what are the specific reasons or arguments for our deep devotion to the ' ' Ruler of God's house," and for the holding up of his life as a model to be imitated ? We can all understand why the world loves Jesus Christ ; we can all explain the well-nigh world-wide honor paid to Mary Immacu- late ; but why do we, intelligent men and women, turn to noiseless Nazareth, and cherish the memory of a once obscure carpenter ? Will the Church which spoke thus over nineteen hundred years ago betray now the interests of the Addresses 269 masses ? Will she refuse to lend a helping hand for the righting of labor's wrongs ? Never. To-day she invokes for you, and for the whole working world, a friend's intercession. St. Joseph knows the sorrows of the poor ; he feels for the op- pressed ; he will obtain for you and for me strength and grace to bear with life's ills, to sanctify life's sufferings, and to fight bravely life's battle. Nay, more ; we feel that he will obtain, especially for the ideal father and the ideal laborer, a place in the ever- lasting house of peace and rest. This is, after all, brethren, the only adequate answer to our aspira- tions, and the only sweet reward for honest, upright living. Be true to yourselves and to your God. Love labor, for it is one of nature's first laws. The day is coming when the great ones of this world will be- come little, and the little ones great, and when the faithful imitators of the humble, pious, temperate, honest St. Joseph will hear from the lips of a Divine Master the consoling words of our text : "Well done, thou good and faithful servant : enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." ST. PATRICK. 1 ' He was beloved of God and man, and his memory is in benediction." — Eccles. xlv, 1. Rev. Father, Dearly Beloved Brethren : These words, taken from the forty-fifth chapter and first verse of Ecclesiasticus, were written of Moses, the patriarch leader and lawgiver of Israel. They epitomize the worth of a true man, and sum- marize the highest tribute ever paid to human good- ness and greatness. If we make bold to quote these words for a text, and to apply them this evening to Ireland's Patron 270 Father Walsh Saint, our only justification maybe found in the fact, that they are well calculated to remind us of the sanctity of his life, and of the success of his labors in behalf of a nation that still holds his memory in benediction. From his earliest years the Apostle of Ireland seems to have been beloved of God, and predestined by Heaven for high and holy things ; he seems to have been called, as was Moses of old, to be a leader and lawgiver, for to him came, under very peculiar and very pathetic circumstances, the pleadings of a pagan people for the light and law of the Gospel of Christ. Needless to say, brethren, our future saint could not have honestly mistaken the nature of that call, neither could he have wisely ignored it ; for it was precisely to prepare him for just such an arduous mission that Almighty God had so severely disci- plined his soul in the school of sorrow, suffering, and sacrifice. To all lasting fame, such a preparation is, indeed, the common preface ; for human experience teaches us that no man has ever yet succeeded in achieving anything truly great and enduring without having first passed through the Divine crucible of trial and affliction. Trial and affliction are the infallible tests of character, strength, fidelity and virtue ; and passing through the Divine crucible is what we call "mould- ing the natural to supernatural ideals/ ' It is what we call "lifting us out of ourselves and making us other Christs" — men and women strong enough to do and to dare, and to bear all things, even death itself, if needs be, for the glory of God or the good of humanity. Hence, if the labors of St. Patrick still yield an abundant harvest, and his memory be still in bene- diction, the reason is not far to seek nor hard to find. Like his Divine Master and Model, he was no stranger Addresses 271 to the dark side of life. When only sixteen years of age he was taken from his home by a band of pirates and sold as a slave to an Irish landowner, who made him the shepherd of his sheep. Imitating the exam- ple of the one true Good Shepherd, Patrick strove faithfully to fulfill his humble duties. He soon learned to love privations and discomforts. Uncomplainingly, and for ten long years, he bore with hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and cruel treatment, and loneliness. One might reasonably suppose a mere youth incapable of such endurance and unequal to such a struggle ; but, strange to say, the misery of his life and the hardship of his lot only served to make him a better, a braver, a stronger, manlier man — one who was willing to abide God's good time, and to trust implicitly in the wisdom of His ways. What a lesson there is in all this for Christians and Catholics of these our days ! With such an exemplar before our eyes, who among us can, in the future, fail to have courage in adversity and confidence in Divine Providence ? At times, brethren, there comes to us all a mo- ment of dereliction — days of darkness — when even God seems to abandon us. Why do so many of us lose heart at such times and on such occasions ? Men and women of little faith, as most of us are, we sink beneath the waters of discouragement and de- spair, just as if there were no God to hear us, no Father and Friend to help us. What a strange con- tradiction between profession and practice ! What if our struggles be against principalities and powers — is not the Lord able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat ? And what if the night be long, and dark, and dismal ? Will morning never break ? Will the sun that sank to-night behind the western hills never rise and shine again ? Why mistrust the promises of the Eternal One ! Surely, He is able to bring light out of darkness and good out of evil. Did Provi- 272 Father Walsh dence permit the young slave whose feast we keep to-day to remain always a slave ? No. In due sea- son God brought him back to his home, restored him to the eager arms of friends and to the aching hearts of loving parents. Here, in his old home — amid the scenes and associations of his childhood— Patrick might have lived his Mfe in ease and in luxury, as happy and as free from care as the birds of the air. Fortunately for himself and for us, Ireland's prelate-to-be resisted the temptation. Just think, brethren, at what a fearful cost he would have bought selfishness and self-indulgence ! The truth is, had he listened to the temptation, he would have lost the one opportunity given him of winning the love of God and men, and of securing to himself the honor of an undying name. What a pity it is that men and women are not more self-sacrificing and less self-seeking. Nowadays, Christians have be- come intensely selfish, thus virtually burying the talents entrusted to them by a good God, and prac- tically losing their chief est claim to eternal life. For in the Gospel our Blessed Lord says: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, let him take up his cross daily, and follow Me." But most of us are so selfish, so self-seeking, so self-indulgent, that we have but little time to follow Christ ; little time to do as He would do. We have but little time to think of our less fortunate fellows, and still less inclination to stoop down and raise them up out of their moral and social degradation. Hap- pily, no such charge can be laid up against him whose name a grateful nation whispers to-day in prayer and shouts in song ; for our dear St. Patrick early resolved to live and to labor for others, and so, giving himself up to duty, and becoming a priest of God, he awaited only a sign from heaven as to where lay the field of his ministry. He had not Addresses 273 long to wait, for the Most High revealed His will to him in a most extraordinary manner. One day, as the young priest was kneeling, ab- sorbed in prayer, he saw in a vision the little children of his old-time master running towards him with out- stretched arms, the while weeping and crying out : "Oh! priest of God, come back and save us— we are perishing. ' ' Yes, they were perishing ; not, in- deed, for the want of bread, but rather for the want of the Word of God. For, so it is written, "Man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This inspired invitation was promptly heeded. Patrick lost no time thinking of the magnitude of the task that lay before him ; it was enough that he had been called. It was enough for him that his eyes had been opened to the saddest of all sights, his ears to the pleading of charity, his heart to the needs of a nation. He was young, zealous, pious. In a word, he was all that a trained soldier of the cross should be. But before beginning the battle for immortal souls, the young Levite felt the need of a commission from his superior officer ; for, recalling to mind the words of St. Paul, he said within himself : ' ' How shall I preach unless I be sent V Hence, about the year 431, our saint turned his steps towards Rome. There he obtained an audience with the then reigning Sovereign Pontiff, Clement I. , to whom he explained the purpose of his visit. The Vicar of Christ was deeply impressed not only by the simplicity and sincerity of the stranger, but also and more espe- cially by the truth of his story. As an evidence of his interest and approval, the Holy Father com- manded that Patrick be consecrated Bishop. This having been done, the Supreme Head of the Church blessed the new Bishop, and bade him in the name of the Lord to enter at once on his mission of mercy ; namely, the conversion of the Irish race. 274 Father Walsh As we turn over the pages of history, we find there, brethren, no work more wonderful, no achievement more glorious, no undertaking more successful, than was the conversion of Ireland to the faith of Christ. There is an old saying to the effect that "Rome was not built in a day." Whether it was or was not, is now of no consequence. But we say that in the land of our forefathers there was accomplished, some fifteen hundred years ago, a feat incomparably greater than would have been even the building of Imperial Rome in a day. That feat was the perfect and peaceful submission of a whole nation to the sweet yoke of Christianity within an incredibly short space of time. Upon his arrival, St. Patrick found Ireland entirely pagan. When he died, he left it entirely Christian and Catholic. Another feat worthy of note is this. : the sowing of the seed of faith in new fields usually costs years and years of unstinted labor, and of ttimes floods of martyrs' blood. Erin alone is the one edifying ex- ception to this law of spiritual resistance. Hence, it has been wittily remarked that an Irishman is a Christian and a Catholic even before he receives the Sacrament of Baptism. Indeed, it seems very like a truism to say that Divine Faith is the natural birth- right of every son and daughter of Ireland. History attributes to Caesar the boastful saying : 1 Veni, vidi, vici ! " — "I came, I saw, I conquered ! " Panegyrists and biographers are not offending either truth or humility when they say the same of Iver- nia's first Bishop. For he came to an island then the most unknown, since then called the ' ' Emerald Gem of the Ocean. ' ' And as he was about to take possession of his new home, he saw before him the most rugged of shores, above him the bluest of skies, and all round about him the most verdant of valleys and the greenest of hillsides. And he saw there, too, a people blessed with the kindliest of natures, with Addresses 275 the brightest of intellects, with the noblest of souls. But, over and above this picture of a fair land and a fair people, there hung one dark cloud. Patrick had seen the nation — its clans, its bards, and its chiefs — prostrated before the altars of false gods. This sight grieved him to the heart, for here indeed was, to his mind, a misery a thousand times worse than his erstwhile slavery. Then and there he determined to strike a bold blow for that ' ' freedom wherewith Christ hath made us free." The time chosen was the eve of Easter ; the place, the halls of Tara. Every student of history knows how the sound of that blow, namely, the lucid and earnest plea of St. Patrick for the faith of Christ, reverber- ated from one end of the Emerald Isle to the other, and resulted in a new nation springing into spiritual existence, a nation which from that day to this has steadfastly refused to bend either its knee or its head to any altars save those of Catholic faith. The servant of God had indeed conquered for Christ. Like Caesar of old, St. Patrick could say : ' ' Veni, vidi, vici ! "— " I came, I saw. I conquered ! " Gratitude does not permit such victories to go un- sung ; and hence it is that the children of the old sod make merry to-day and gather in thousands round the altars of God. Nor are the absent ones unmind- ful on this anniversary of their mother's festive happiness ; for, though separated from her by many a league of land and sea, every exile of Erin is sure to revisit in memory to-day, the home of his youth, and the scene of his childhood. Would that Ireland had escaped the jealous eye of the prince of darkness ! Would that it had con- tinued to be what its first apostle and his co-laborers made it, namely, a nursery of piety, a center of learn- ing, and a fruitful mother of saints and scholars t Does the world consider these titles extravagant ? 276 Father Walsh No doubt it does. Well, we are not surprised, nor would we be surprised if they elicited the cynical smile of those who are forever paying tribute to modern methods and seeking the apotheosis of latter- day genius. But we do not hesitate to call such people " fanatics "— fools who believe in one idea, in one system, in one civilization, and that, of course, their own. They are too narrow to be just to men of times past. Nevertheless, aside from some discov- eries and inventions of undoubted worth, the fame of ancient Ireland for learning, and her superiority in the arts and sciences, are known and recognized by all men. Thousands of the youth of Europe flocked to her shores, and from the halls of her universities carried back to their homes the light of knowledge, and a knowledge of the light of Him who was and is the Light of the world. " Ego sum lux mundi." Incal- culable, therefore, might have been the benefits to society, and to the world at large, had Ireland been permitted to prosecute her work of instructing and uplifting humanity. But this was not to be. Her peace was too profound, her happiness too unalloyed, her fame too great, her faith too bright. Spurred on by the promise of rich spoils, the barbarous Danes began to invade the land. Suffice it to say that the country never fully recovered from these cruel attacks. True, heroic efforts were put forth by the people to rebuild their Church and their institutions of learning, but much of the glory and splendor of Irish civilization had departed, never to return, at least not in the same fullness. In the year 1156 a power-seeking king completed the conquest of "the Green Isle," and made it a dependency of Great Britain. No wonder, then, that the strings of Erin's harp are silent, or at least turned (keyed) to the note of sadness ; no wonder her language and her literature are sleeping beside Addresses 277 the tomb in which her liberties lie buried ; no wonder her art is most perfect, when it pictures smoulder- ing ruins and crumbling cloisters ; no wonder the rhymes are tenderest and truest when they tell of the poor exile's fond farewell to home, and kindred, and country. Show me the man whose feelings are untouched by the story of Ireland's sorrows, and I will show you a man in whose body the Lord has placed a soul without sympathy and a heart without pity. But while weeping o'er ' the most distressed country that ever you did see, ' ' let us not lose sight of the fact, brethren, that Ireland has still some claims to distinction, some rights to the world's ad- miration. Invasion and devastation and oppression did not blot out every vestige of her greatness and glory. They did not break the last link binding her past to her present and her future, as was the case, for instance, when Attila — the scourge — conquered a tribe or a nation. Tradition says that when Attila passed by, even the grass withered and died, to grow no more. Thank God, extinction was not the lot of Hiber- nia. True, barbarians and tyrants destroyed her liberties, revised her laws, changed her customs, and remodelled her cities. But there was just one thing that neither tyrant nor barbarian could destroy, revise, change, or remodel, and that was the faith once sowed by St. Patrick in the Irish hearts and homes. Brethren, the world may say many things against our kinsmen across the sea, but this it can never say : that they were traitors to their con- science. We admit that now the people of Ireland have not the same churches and the same altars as of yore, but they have the same essentials of the Catholic faith, the same sacrifice, the same sacra- ments, the same prayers, the same hopes of heaven. These things do not change. They cannot be de- 278 Father Walsh stroyed. They are of God, and, like God, they are forever the same, unchangeable and indestructible. Yes, the faith of Ireland is the one beacon light between her past and her future ; and it will be the one only ray of sunshine and hope to illumine her future. For more than fifteen hundred years the Irish race has clung to the faith of Jesus Christ, and for the greater part of this time she has been faith- ful through the most inhuman and relentless of per- secutions. I will not, for I cannot, tell you, breth- ren, the whole sad story to-night ; time would not permit it. Besides, that story ought to be first writ- ten in letters of blood. We can excuse a down- trodden people for seeking the recital of their wrongs and sufferings, but, after all, it is better to leave the history of seven hundred years of unparalleled out- rage to the silence, execration and condemnation of all just men. Just men, like a just God, must condemn this monstrous abuse of power, and they and we cannot but turn away in horror when we think of a generous, gentle people being cast into prison, led to the scaffold, thrown to the flames, and put to the sword. And for what ? For daring to cherish and profess in the open the faith once delivered to our forefathers by saintly lips. There is not, in all Ireland to-day, a single cave or a lonely hillside, but has been reddened by Irish Catholic blood. This fact may in a measure explain why the shamrock grows always so green. Blood flowed freely over the soil, and someone has said that blood is a good fertilizer. But this was not all. The prison, the scaffold, the flame and the sword were not the only weapons used by licentious kings and queens for the dethrone- ment of religion in Ireland. Baser methods than these were brought into play. Tempting bribes were freely offered to weak apostates, and the most allur- ing promises of wealth and social prestige were Addresses 279 openly made to men of genius and influence if they would betray, as did Judas, the cause of God and of His Christ. Borrowing the thought, and always the most exact words of Ireland's patriot poet, history can say : "Unprized were her sons till they learned to betray, Undistinguished they lived if they shamed not their sires ; And the torch that would light them through dig- nity's way, Had to be caught from the pile where their faith expires. If Celtic Catholics of to-day have one reason more than another for feeling grateful to God, surely it ought to be the constancy and the fidelity of their ancestors to the faith. When the storm of religious persecution swept over Europe, not a few countries are known to have meekly submitted to the dictates of intolerance, and to have meekly surrendered their religion — the price- less gift of God. Not so with Ireland. Her faith was a deathless inheritance, a possession to be de- fended at any cost. And so we see the Isle of the Sea, like the giant oak of the forest, bravely with- standing the tempest, and baffling even the brutality of bigotry. Remembering the days of old, we may make our very own these soulful words of Ireland's sweet singer, Moore, when he says : "You may break, you may shatter, the vase if you will, But the scent of the roses will hang 'round it still." The heavenly aroma of Catholicity still hangs over the land of our forefathers, and every newly born Irish babe breathes it in with the health and the strength and the life-giving air. Posterity will never write for the Irish race 280 Father Walsh either a motto or an epitaph. Both were written in the long ago by St. Paul, when he said: "I have fought the good fight. ... I have kept the faith/ ' Holy Scripture says that the ways of Provi- dence are mysterious. We have never doubted the truth ; but, brethren, we find to-day a fresh confirma- tion of it in the history of poor Ireland. It is passing strange that she has never had a friend at court. Surely the Lord must have a noble destiny in store for her whom he has thus kept so long in political bond- age and in the Divine crucible of trial and affliction. Such at least are the fond hopes of her children and of her friends the world over. Their hopes have been beautifully voiced in the words of the poet : ' ' Erin, oh ! Erin, though long in the shade, Thy star will shine out when the proudest shall fade." Be this as it may, one thing is certain : England has succeeded in deceiving the world on the ' ' Irish Question/ ' Cuba has not suffered one-half the wrongs to which Ireland has patiently submitted ; and yet Cuba found in our humane government a friend and a deliverer. My brethren, we believe that wrong is wrong everywhere, and that injustice and inhu- manity, wherever found, ought to be righted. No need to prove to an intelligent gathering like this that Ireland is, even now, suffering from the mistakes of government. No soil on God's footstool is more fertile or more fruitful than hers. Her har- bors court the commerce of the world ; her rivers are capable of the most effective navigation ; and yet she suffers to-day from such industrial stagnation and abject poverty that a celebrated writer called her, only a few years ago, the " poorhouse of Europe." Is this right ? Is this just ? Her sons and daughters are brave, generous and intelligent, and yet they must seek foreign shores ere they can rise to promi- Addresses 281 nence and distinction. Is this right ? Is this just ? During the last fifty years misrule, coercion and evic- tion have driven more than 4,000,000 Irishmen and Irish women into exile. Is this right ? Is this just ? Where is the president, the king, or the queen that has any legitimate right to take the young maiden from her mother's side and to send her adrift into the wide world, to battle, ofttimes single-handed and alone, against the temptations of human devils ? Why, brethren, such a contention is ridiculous. Rea- son, humanity, religion, call such a claim a brutal abuse of power, which has helped to fill with lost souls the slums of your city — and the slums of every city. Yes, thousands of the fair daughters of Erin, driven into exile by poverty, and deprived of their mother's watchful care, have fallen into the moral pitfalls of distant lands, and have ended their lives in sin and shame. Is it right ? Is it just ? To justify the harsh treatment of a conquered people, England tells the world that the Irish are violent and ignorant. If the accusation of violence is true, we ask, in all honesty, who made them violent ? After seven hundred years of oppression, it is hard to see how they could be more patient. Here is a case where patience ceases to be a virtue. As for the charge of ignorance, we have only this to say in de- fense of our Celtic brethren : if they be ignorant, they are not so by nature ; therefore, they have been made ignorant by tyranny. And hence, England stands before the world accused and condemned of a most monstrous crime, a crime which for enormity is second only to the crucifixion of Christ. We have done. On this feast we pray that a better and a brighter day may soon dawn on the land of our love. May her children keep sacred each re- curring seventeenth of March, as the Memorial Day of her country's past sorrows, present struggles, and future aspirations. So, Irish fathers and mothers. 282 Father Walsh tell your children and your children's children to be proud of the shamrock and the land of their sires ; tell them not to blush for the wearing of the green ; tell them the story of their forefathers' suffering for the faith. Teach them to imitate the virtues of Ire- land's Patron Saint. Teach them that he was gentle, pure, and true to his God. Teach them that He hates and despises him who degrades himself by drunken- ness, and thus heaps contempt upon his creed and ridicule upon his country. Finally, teach them that St. Patrick was "beloved of God and men, and that his name must be kept in benediction." MONTH OF MAY. "Hail, Mary, full of grace." Dearly Beloved Brethren : To-day we begin the month of May, calling us away, as it does, so soon from the tomb of our risen Saviour, around which many of us have lovingly lingered in spirit since the morning of the Resurrec- tion. Its bright and beautiful dawning naturally and happily turns our thoughts to one who now snares with Him, in heaven, His immortal victory over Satan and sin. It brings before our minds, does this first day of May, the purest of flowers, the Rose of Jericho, the Lily of Israel. It tells us of the fairest of maidens, of the holiest of women, the truest of friends, and the fondest of mothers. It reminds us vividly of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose name and whose glory are second only to the name and glory of Jesus Christ. Son and mother, they were ever bound to- gether by the tenderest ties that can unite two human hearts. Who, then, would dare separate them ? In prophecy and fulfillment, Mary's place has always Addresses been beside her Divine Son. Who, then, can ever know Him and honor Him without at the same time knowing and honoring His Mother ? This is the simple, though solid and sufficient reason, dearly beloved brethren, why we Catholics love so tenderly our Blessed Lady. This fact ex- plains, too, why we consecrate to her name and memory so many of our churches, chapels and altars ; why we celebrate with happy hearts her chosen feast days ; why we wear so constantly the scapular ; why we tell so often our rosary, and why so many of our pious children repeat, morning, noon and night, that touching prayer known as the Angelus. All this seems, of course, strange to non-Catholics, who for the most part are prone to ridicule, and treat as idolatrous every form of devotion to Mary Immac- ulate. We can discover but one possible excuse for such a mistake ; it must come either from deeply seated prejudice or deeply rooted ignorance. Ignor- ance and prejudice have been from the beginning the enemies of light and truth. What most people want nowadays is a better in- sight into Catholic teaching. For we feel sure that a little sober thought and study would reveal to our bitterest enemies a world of moral beauty and harmony of which they know nothing. In a word, a little honest study would point out nothing in the whole system of Christianity more natural or just, and more spontaneous, than devotion to the Queen of Heaven. It lies in the depths of our hearts like a spring of pure water, which must work its way into outward expression, unless we do violence to our nature and prevent it. Let us briefly prove these premises. It is cheer- fully admitted by everyone that it is natural to love persons in whom we find graces and virtues. All are agreed, too, that the greater the graces, and the more numerous the virtues possessed, the greater 284 Father Walsh deeper will necessarily be our love and admi- ration for the possessor. Even those who do not practise virtue will allow as much as this. But, my brethren, what tongue or pen will ever tell us the measure of Mary's graces, the number of her virtues ! Eminent writers, profound theologians, saintly men and women of every time and clime, have all shrunk from the undertaking as from an impossible task. In all the range of our reading, we have never yet found but one adequate expression of her great- ness and goodness. On the day of the Annunciation a messenger of the Most High sought her in her humble home at Nazareth. Finding her soul, as it ever was, in holy and perfect communion with her God, he said to her: "Hail, Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee ; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." Never were words more pregnant with meaning ; but it is only when we meditate on the mighty mys- teries they contain that we begin fully to appreciate the unique and privileged place Mary holds in the Divine economy. Chosen by God to be the future mother of His Son, was it not meet and proper that she should be blessed above all other creatures ? Was it not meet and proper that every grace and virtue should be lavished on her, whose virginal body was to be the most sacred of dwelling-places and the most honored of homes ? In that home — the body of the Virgin Mary — and from its substance the Son of the Living God was to frame His own body, which was to save and sanctify the world by its blood. mystery of mysteries ! We do not seek to fathom such depths, but we do seek to know, my brethren, if there exists in this world a man who, loving His Saviour, and grateful for his redemption, deny to Mary the plenitude of grace and virtue. Addresses 235 For the honor of the human race, we dislike to think of a possible case ; but if such a one should exist, then we say, with Holy Church, let him be anathema, let him be accursed. For right reason and revelation forbid us to hold such a doctrine. And, as for us, the grateful children of a gracious mother, let us sing to-day, and every day of May especially, the praises of our Blessed Lady. Let us say to her to- day, and every day, in the language of the Arch- angel : "Hail, Mary, full of grace;" or with the inspired author of the canticles : ' ' Thou art all fair, my love, my beautiful one, and there is no stain in thee." Where there is no stain, no sin, there, my breth- ren, is rarest purity, is perfect beauty. These graces we naturally love and admire whenever and wher- ever we meet them, as we now assuredly do in the life and character of the Blessed Virgin Mother. In the second place, we say it is just to love and honor Mary, because it is just, as well as natural, to love and honor a benefactor. Gratitude is one of the glories of the human heart. Without it, we can never rise to the full dignity of our manhood or womanhood. Its absence abases us to the level of a brute beast. Now, my brethren, we may and should accuse of ingratitude the man who refuses love and devotion to Mary, for she has proven herself a most munificent benefactor. Her blessings, countless in number, have been scat- tered broadcast over the whole world. She has been a star of hope to all nationalities, the friend of the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the saint and the sinner. We all of us are indebted to our Heavenly Mother ; but on none has she such strong claims as on her own sex. To womankind she has given, as it were, a new life, a welcome resurrection ; for the condition of woman, even among civilized nations, was most degrading before the coming of the 286 Father Walsh Immaculate Virgin. The most virtuous and promi- nent of pagan writers scoffed at chastity, while they applauded the public games of ancient Rome and Greece, which were nothing if not shameless exhibi- tions of the absence of womanly modesty. In the days of the Caesars, and for some time after, there was no equality between the sexes. Woman had no rights, no privileges — she was a slave. To-day, how- ever, every self-respecting woman is a queen, thanks to the justice of God and the sweet magic spell held over the hearts of men by the Virgin Queen of Heaven. Women are now mistresses of their homes, and when they leave them to go abroad in the world, men give place to them, and rival one another in their attention to them. In centuries gone by, women were put to death with impunity. To-day, the man who lifts his hand to strike one of the weaker sex, be she sister, wife, or mother, is branded as a most contemptible and despicable coward. And how shall we account, my dear brethren, for this change ? Simply in this way : Going back in spirit, over nineteen hundred years ago, to the morning of the Annunciation, we see an archangel kneeling at a woman's feet. This vision gives to womankind a charm and a loveliness which otherwise she would not have. More than this — that vision has filled every generous heart, from that day to this, with a deep reverence and an ever-increasing filial love for the humble handmaid of the Lord. We shall not, for we cannot, forget the large part she took in the work of our redemption. For our sakes, her whole life was one unbroken series of sorrows. Even those quiet years, when she had Jesus to herself in Nazareth, even they were not cloudless, because of Venerable Simeon's words, foretelling the blackest crime, the saddest event recorded in the annals of the world — the crucifixion of her Son on Calvary's height. She could never Addresses 287 kiss the brow of her child without thinking of the crown of thorns, nor take His little hands in hers without seeing and feeling the bleeding prints of the rough nails. One would naturally imagine that when the Mother of Sorrows pressed to her heart, on Good Friday, the lifeless body of Jesus, there remained in it nothing but the bitterest aversion towards us sinners ! Ah, how little we know of Mary's heart ! Remember, my brethren she was then, is now, and always will be, our Mother ; consequently, she has for us a mother's love. Most of us duly realize what this means. In fact, we who have felt such a love can duly sympathize with those who have never known it ; for we believe that such a loss robs life of more than half its sunshine. In affliction, in sickness, and in death, there is no balm so soothing as a mother's care, no touch so gentle as hers, no look so loving, no voice so sweet. Men may and do change with years. They love many of the virtues that sweetened childhood, honor manhood, and will bless old age. Not so with the mother and her love ; these are as unchangeable and immovable as the eternal hills. The world may cor- rupt the child ; vicious companions may ruin her son ; misfortune may overtake her daughter ; still the mother's hand, and heart, and home, are always open to receive the sin-stained but repentant prodigal. Now, my brethren, if an earthly mother can be so loving, so tender, so patient, so forgiving, what shall we say of the unselfishness, the patience, and the affection of Mary for us, her children ? Is she not the help of Christians, the refuge of sinners, the hope and the guide of weary wanderers over this bleak world ? Yes ; she is all these, and more too. Let us, then, my brethren, renounce our past ingrati- tude and remember only her love ; let us consecrate ourselves anew r to her during this month of flowers. 288 Father Walsh She will not expect that we bring to her altars tokens of affection in the form of flowers that fade away with the dying day, but rather shall she expect from us the roses and the lilies of graces and virtues. May we acquire during these days, especially conse- crated to her honor and devotion, the precious gifts of patience and purity, of charity and humility. Finally, let us ask her to intercede for us, that we may persevere unto the end in God's holy service. Then shall we live our lives in peace and in hope : for the passing days, and weeks, and months, and years, will slowly but surely brighten and blossom into the more perfect day of a blissful eternity. ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATES OF ST. BERNARD'S ACADEMY. Cohoes, N. Y., June, 1912. Members of the Graduating Class : It were indeed passing strange if this scene and the memories of this day did not touch and thrill your hearts with mingled feelings of joy and gratitude. To our mind, this scene is a magnificent tribute to your worth and work as pupils of St. Bernard's Academy. Nor will anyone deny that you ought to be supremely happy on this occasion. Persevering industry has brought, as it aways does, its own sweet rewards, and a splendid devotion to duty has earned for you the affectionate felicitations of family and friends, the gracious approbation of pastors and teachers, and the sincere plaudits of an interested community. We take it for granted, my young friends, that you are sighing this afternoon for new worlds to con- quer, and that it is your dearest and deepest desire to be as successful in the future as you have been in Addresses 289 the past. How are you to reach this goal of your own hopes, which are, by the way, our hopes as well ? How are you to make real the dreams of your youth and the prophecies of your graduation day ? To help you answer this question is the one and only reason of our presence here to-day. Hence, without further preamble, let us say to you, that if you wish to hold the esteem of the world and hope to make secure the rewards of "the life that now is and the life that is to come, ,, it will be necessary to take with you from your little class-room in St. Bernard's Academy, and carry with you into the new and broader fields of activity that now lie before you, a virtue that has evidently and fortu- nately characterized your student years. By this we mean that if you are to succeed in life, you must continue to cultivate in yourselves, and honor in others, the virtue of self-consecration to duty. We are well aware that the vast majority of men and women will associate the meaning of duty with that of " drudgery.' ' Such being the case, why wonder if the majority look upon devotion to duty as a "hard saying' ' ? Why wonder if they be dis- gruntled and disheartened over their prospects in life ? Why wonder if they parade the world, bitterly complaining and vociferously contending that there is, after all, in devotion to duty, nothing either helpful or new ? This assertion naturally opens wide the door of discussion. But we positively decline to enter that door, or any door leading to long debate, and for this good reason. In accepting the kind invitation of your pastor to address the graduating class, we promised ourselves strictly to observe all the proprieties of the occasion. Firstly, that we would carefully consider the time, the place, and the weather ; secondly, that we would abstain from all acrimonious argument ; 290 Father Walsh thirdly and lastly, that we would endeavor to be brief in what we had to say. In the language of a distinguished fellow-citizen, that was a great promise and a "bully " provision, for we realize already how unfortunate any other course would have been. The whole world has de- clared unanimously against long sermons, and long talks, and long addresses, especially in oppressive summer weather. We are not among those that are seeking trouble, neither are we of those that delight in defying or ignoring public opinion. To defy or ignore public opinion is to defy or ignore common sense ; and to have ignored or defied common sense would have been to mar a well-nigh perfect pro- gramme, to punish a kindly audience, and to stamp ourselves as utterly devoid of both taste and tact. We feel, however, that you will forgive us for seizing this opportunity and snatching just time enough to remark that the vast majority of men and women fail to grasp a great truth when they fail to see in self-consecration to duty an uplifting force and an unfailing help to success. Of course, we did not come to Cohoes claiming that we were going to dispense some "new" suggestion, or some "new" advice, or some "new " thought, or some "new " pan- acea. Some malicious person must have started that wicked story, and started it in face of the fact that more than three thousand years ago, Solomon, the wisest of men, wrote : ' ' There is nothing new under the sun." We quite agree with Solomon. Don't you ? If you don't, we might just as well tell you that you must henceforth be classed with the heathen and the publican. We would not be so heartless, my dear young graduates, as to class you among the publicans. Everybody knows, although everybody isn't "savin' it," that there is no such thing as a 'new" truth, or a r 'new' : taste, or a 'new' thought. Addresses 291 What we did claim was this : that all sane and safe people recognize in devotion to duty a safe and sure stepping-stone to honor and success. Why quarrel over a fact ? We allow that this fact may be, and usually is — to youth— an undiscovered truth. We assure you that it is only a roundabout way of saying that "virtue is its own reward.' ' We believe that the virtue of self -consecration to duty is bound to help us to attain success in life, just as any other vir- tue, say, patience, or purity, or honesty, or temper- ance, or charity, is bound to help us reach the kingdom of heaven. Do you seek further confirmation of this teaching ? You will find it in the words of another wise man, this memorable quotation : ' ' The test of true merit lies in the performance of duty." To quarrel over facts is to invite other people to quarrel over the question of our sanity. Show me a dutiful man or woman, and we will show you a successful one. Among the more distressing and disedifying faults of youth may be mentioned a lamentable weak- ness for laying aside advice, and a deplorable habit (almost amounting to genius) of not knowing a good part of the time just what it is talking about. These faults could not even thrive if we realized that there is much knowledge bound up in human faults and frailties. Of ttimes we are only intimating that it is in the definition of such small words as " Love, Law, Justice, Truth, and Duty." The best definition of "duty" is "to do the right thing at all times and in all places." Reduce that definition to every-day practice, and we guaran- tee you shall never know aught of "the blinding tears and ugly fears " of failure. We are persuaded, my dear young friends, that in spite of your youth you have thus far mastered both the practice and the theory of "duty." So far, so good. But will your after-lives show that you have persevered to the end in doing the "right 292 Father Walalfci thing, at all times and in all places " ? Or will your future present the pitiable picture of a great virtue, "more honored in the breach than in the observ- ance" ? You are about to launch out into the "deeps " of broader activities. You may, or may not, know that changed conditions and new surroundings beget other and weightier responsibilities. There is here no question of new duties, but of more comprehen- sive ones. The coming years will hold you to a stricter account as to your dealings with your fellow- men, with yourselves, and with your Father Who is in heaven. Remember, the expression, "your fel- low-man,' ' is synonymous with "your country.' ' In St. Bernard's Academy you have been taught to think. Therefore, do not be deceived by the sense- less and shameless clap-trap of many modern writers. Sift the empty mouthings of the mountebanks who will come to you in the garb of philosophers, but who at heart are only dangerous demagogues — men and women bent on pulling down what wise men and vir- tuous women built up at the cost of enormous ser- vices and sacrifices. My young friends, you shall forfeit, and deserve to forfeit, the esteem of the world if you fail to con- secrate your best powers — yes, and your blood, if need be, to the defence and development of your country, the grandest country under the stars of heaven. Duty to yourselves in these crucial years of your careers is sure to save you from many a folly and many a crime. Self-duty is best accomplished, as Macintosh would have us understand, by strength- ening our social affections and weakening our private desires. For, the moment we begin to weaken upon ourselves the grip of our own appetites, that moment we begin to build up hardy constitutions as well as healthy consciences. "Menssanain corpore saiio." Finally, your new surroundings will place you Addresses 293 under weightier obligations to your Heavenly Father. He will expect you to study more deeply the word of truth ; to obey more generously the law ; to give more attention and more meaning to prayer ; to love your neighbors more intelligently. He commands you to help put down agnosticism— the false god of the ignorant— and to enshrine and ennoble in your lives faith, without which ' * it is impossible to please God." Our address, all unworthy as it is of this gath- ering, would be still more disappointing if we failed to refer to the gratitude which should well up in your hearts this afternoon. My young friends, you have very much to be thankful for. Your education has called forth magnificent praise on the part of your devoted teachers, magnificent sacrifice on the part of Catholic parents, and magnificent zeal on the part of respected pastors. Your parents, your teachers, and your pastors, enlightened by an infallible Church, have been blessed with almost supernatural fore- sight. They seem to have peered into the coming centuries and to have noted the corroding work of wealth and worldliness. Quick to follow her Divine leader, they have lifted up their voices and pro- claimed to the four quarters of the globe that the only power capable of saving the individual or the nation from ultimate misery and destruction is Religion. Anyone who would not look kindly into the face of this self-evidence ought to be branded as a fool. See ancient Egypt, with her Babylon ; see ancient Palestine, with her Jerusalem ; see ancient Greece, with her Athens ; see ancient Ilium, with her Rome. They opened their gates to great genius, to great learning, to great pleasure, and to great wealth ; but closed their hearts to the warning of that Creator Who holds in the hollow of His hand the destinies of both individuals and nations. What happened ? Those peoples, and those cities, and 294 Father Walsh those nations, were blotted from the face of the earth. They are now as though they had never been. Thus does the Lord teach generations yet un- born that He alone rules upon the earth, just as truly as He reigns in the heavens. No man, or body of men, can sneer at the Almighty with impunity. No nation, or body of nations, can resist " instruction,' ' and expect to escape His avenging hand. ' Ven- geance is mine, saith the Lord. ' ' My dear young friends, lend us your ears and open to us your hearts, while we warn you, as citi- zens of no mean country, to have in your souls at all times gratitude enough to accept and respect the guidance of that Holy Church which has never ceased to be '"the salt of the earth, and the light of the world. " By the religious training given her children, she is, even now, fighting the battles of the Stars and Stripes. Will you stand by later on and play the part of cowards or cowardly critics ? Will you refuse to do your duty, and to uphold and sustain, in your turn, the only educational system that can save us and our country ? Boys, when you grow older, be Catholic young men, resolved to do the right thing, even though the heavens should fall. Girls, when you grow older — we'll have to make another start, for girls never grow old— be Christians, loving your dear School, Mother Church and her institutions as you love your earthly mothers. Your earthly mothers may, it is true, nourish and nurse and clothe your bodies, but bear in mind that only Mother Church can robe your souls in the spotless and priceless rai- ment of Christian morality. Just as the young man should eschew the brutal- izing and blighting pleasures of the " saloon," so should the Christian young woman shun the society of the ungodly and fear to seek unholy alliances out- side the fold of her faith. Your pastor has just nodded that time is up, so Addresses 295 let us close by recalling what the Blessed Master once said : "By their fruits you shall know them. " If we mistake not, yours is the largest class in numbers ever graduated from your " Alma Mater.' ' Will you also be the greatest in achievement ? We must wait for the ' ' time of the harvest. ' ' We shall know you better then than we know you now. We shall know you even as you are known, ' ' and we shall see you even as you are seen." In saying to you graduates, farewell, we must apologize to this most attentive audience for violat- ing one of our sacred promises ; namely, to be brief in what we had to say to-day. We sincerely repent and ask absolution for consuming so much time to say so little. The great poet Shakespeare said a great deal more in two lines : "To thyself be true, ' 9 and ' ' act thy part well." In other words, do thy duty, and let each passing day and hour ' ' Die as the vernal flower, A thing of self -reviving power : That every word, and every deed, May bear within itself the seed Of future good and future need." ADDRESS TO THE HOLY NAME SOCIETY. Mr. President and Members of the Holy Name Society : I deem it an honor to be identified with this meeting. The cause you have espoused is a sacred one, the triumph of which means greater glory to God and an increased admiration for the Church, whose children you are. Surely, this is reason enough for your existence as an organization ; encouragement enough for sus- tained effort in a holy undertaking ; incentive enough 2% Father Walsh for all our Catholic young men to join the ranks of the modern Crusaders. Eight centuries ago, thou- sands of the children of the Catholic Church banded together and fought against fearful odds to save from desecration the places once hallowed by the presence and the preaching of the Saviour. For obvious reasons, the Crusaders of old failed of their pious purpose ; nevertheless, all history has praised the faith that gave them birth, and lauded the enthu- siasm, the self-sacrifice, and the courage of the Cru- saders as a most splendid proof of love for Christ and of loyalty to God. The present age seems ripe for another crusade, but one very different from any of the past, as to the object to be attained, and as to the methods of war- fare to be pursued. The end of your Society is purely spiritual ; so also must be the means to that end. To teach love, respect, reverence, for the Holy Name of God and of His Christ, implies no bearing of arms nor hardship of war. You and they who may join you in the crusade against profanity will not be expected to die in defence of a Christian principle. No ; for the Church that blesses you suggests as your only and natural weapon : first of all, Godlike exam- ple, and, secondly, gentle admonition. Hence, in handing you a badge — the distinctive mark of mem- bership and mission— religion sets her seal on you, and offers you the watchwords, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." "Re- prove, entreat, rebuke with all patience and doc- trine/ ' But there is another manner in which your crusade will differ from any in the past. Our fore- fathers in the faith were obliged to fight against an ignorant and superstitious foe. Your work will be among your own kind— among men whose spiritual interests are supposed to be the same as yours, and whose souls must be saved like yours, in and through Addresses 297 the power of the Holy Name of Jesus Christ ; for Holy Writ tell us that " there is no other name under heaven given to man whereby he may be saved." Hence, your charter, like Christian charity, would seem to enlist your services, first of all, for home duty. Seek, if you will, converts to your cause from every quarter ; but remember, it is the evident desire of Holy Church that you begin your labors at home. Before reaching out to members of other creeds, help offending Catholics to clean out their dirty mouths. It matters not who he is ; the man who prostitutes the noble faculty of speech by cursing, or swear- ing, or blaspheming, is guilty of a fearful wrong in the sight of High Heaven — a criminal monster. If he be a Catholic, so much the worse, for his respon- sibility is immeasurably greater, and his damnation will be infinitely deeper. Why ? Because such a man is both a scandal to society and a foul contra- diction in religion. Let me explain briefly. Whom do we Catholics say is the founder of the Christian Religion and the first preacher of the Faith ? Jesus Christ. And yet there are hundreds and thousands of our co-religionists who practically deny this truth, by insulting daily and hourly the majesty of the world's benefactor. Again : When we Catholics kneel at the Holy Table, whom do we receive ? The answer is : " Jesus Christ. ' ' And yet there are hun- dreds and thousands of men, who, while pretending to admit the dogma of faith, do not hesitate deliber- ately to drag His name into the common, vulgar con- versations of every barroom and every street corner. If this be not a foul contradiction, a vile incon- sistency, a well-defined hypocrisy and fraud, then what is ? My friends, remember this saying of In- aspiration : "From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speak eth." Show me a man who uses habit- ually and flippantly, the name of God, and I wilJ 298 Father Walsh show you one who harbors in His heart no real reverence for Him Who came down from heaven to seek, sanctify, and save immortal souls. When such a one comes to die, do not seek for an epitaph. It is already written : He defied God, and died. If you believe in justice and right ; if you believe in the truth of the Christian religion, and in the efficacy of the sacraments ; if you believe in common decency; if you believe in the power of good ex- ample ; then give up, once and forever, the disgust- ing habit of taking the name of the Lord thy God in vain, and promise that, wherever you are, your pres- ence will be a solemn protest against profanity. ADDRESS TO THE DELEGATES OF STATE CONVENTION, T. A. S., SARATOGA, N. Y. Rev. Fathers and Delegates to the Diocesan Conven- tion : There is a peculiar fitness of things in the selec- tion of Saratoga as the place for our annual conven- tion. This is pre-eminently the convention town of our State. Here many a hard-fought political contest was begun ; here the members of nearly every profes- sion and the advocates of nearly every cause have assembled to contribute what they have been pleased to call their mite, to the enlightenment and advance- ment of the world. What more appropriate, therefore, than that we should gather here and vow again our devotion and our allegiance to the principles of Total Abstinence ? There is no cause more sacred than ours, for it is the cause of God and country. Total Abstinence means the saving of society from degradation ; it means the strengthening of the Addresses 299 nation ; it means the holding out of a helping hand to a multitude of poor unfortunate fellow-creatures, who are perishing not only mentally and morally, physically and financially, but also eternally, notwith- standing the fact that Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and bled and died for their redemption. Total Abstinence is the most sacred of causes ; for every intelligent, thinking man knows that In- temperance is fast becoming a blot upon our common humanity, a crime against society, a curse to our be- loved country, and one of the worst kind of obstacles to the spread of our Holy Faith. Do not imagine, brethren, that these are gratuitous assertions. Far from it ; for e very-day life affords us ample and pain- ful proof of this truth. Show me a deeper disgrace to the human family, a blacker blot on the fair face of human nature, a more degrading and disgusting spectacle, than the rum-soaked man. See him as he reels through the streets ; boys hoot, men laugh, women sneer at him. Do not call him a man ; he is only a counterfeit, and a contemptible one at that. True, he was created to the image and likeness of his God ; he was once robed in dignity, and destined for higher things, but drink has changed all this. He is no longer the creature God made him ; he is a moral failure, and a reproach to the human family. What a subject for thought and tears ! Have you ever stopped to think, dearly beloved brethren, that Intemperance is thus degrading and enslaving, every year, not this or that man alone, but thousands and thousands of your fellow-creatures ! Enslaving them, did I say ? Yes ; and enslaving them ofttimes before the very eyes of a Christian, Catholic people, who are too indifferent to utter one word of protest. Shame on such Catholics ! An indifferent Christian is a contradiction. He is a traitor to his conscience and to his God. Oh ! how deep will be, in eternity, the damnation 300 Father Walsh of the indifferent Catholic ! If a Christian really believed in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, how could he refuse to co-operate with the Church of Christ for the salvation of souls ? If he had a living faith, how could he stifle sympathy and fraternal charity in his heart, saying : ' This is no business of mine. I am not my brother's keeper." I tell you, brethren, that an indifferent Catholic is a mon- strosity, a demon of selfishness ; his life is a living lie, for he is not, and perhaps he never will be, a Chris- tian " in spirit and in truth." Neither is he a good citizen ; for a good citizen loves his country, and will never sanction nor meekly tolerate the existence of any power calculated to enslave the people or to weaken the nation. A proof of this is the memorable uprising of all loyal Americans some years ago, when a cry of dis- tress was heard throughout the length and breadth of these United States. Men stopped to listen, and their hearts were moved to pity ; for that cry proved to be the soul-stirring appeal of nearly four millions of slaves, who sought to shake from their hands the shackles of serfdom, and to become, as they had a right to become, free subjects of a free country. Proverbial for the spirit of fair play, the American people readily recognized the justice and humanity of the negroes' cause. Everywhere Christian sentiment and sympathy were aroused in their favor, to such an extent that indignation soon grew apace with pity. Finally, our national pride and liberty-loving character asserted themselves in all their might and majesty. The effect was magical, and resulted in the public conscience proclaiming equal rights for all. My brethren, you know the rest. An army was sent South, and the infamy which a monstrous traffic in human flesh had put upon our fair name, was wiped out in a flood of blood. Little did we think, as we stood beside the grave of slavery, that there Addresses 301. would ever again grow up in our midst, in this modern, envied Eden of the earth, any power save that which comes from God, for the protection, peace and prosperity of our people. And yet, brethren, it is the unexpected that has happened. For I must say to you, and I say it in the name of more than six millions of slaves, that such a traffic and such a power have sprung up in our land, and are even now sowing misery and misfortune in every quarter, debasing our very manhood and womanhood, weakening the bone and sin^w of the nation, pauperizing and brutalizing men and women, to whom both nature and nature's God once held out the highest hopes and the fairest promises. Now, we do not ask you, brethren, to accept these assertions as Gospel truths, simply because we make them ; for, it might be that we are exaggerat- ing just for the sake of effect. Perhaps we, the advocates of Total Abstinence, are not honest in our pretensions ; or it may be that we are extremists, alarmists, would-be reformers. Our first answer to such accusations or insinuations is this : Let the rum-soaked and the rum-seller accuse and abuse us to their heart's content. Our second answer is this : If it be not presumptuous to say it, we are reformers, and we glory in the title. Was not Christ, the Son of the Living God, a reformer in His day ? More- over, it strikes me that He was sneered and jeered at, accused and abused, by a disreputable, beastly crowd, known as Scribes and Pharisees. We are not above our Master. We look for opposition ; but opposition and ridicule should never, and shall never, prevent good Christians and Catholics from becoming other Christs, or cause them to grow weary in the Godlike work of reclaiming and saving from the slavery of drink, the thousands of wretched victims who cry out to us for help. But to show you, dearly beloved in Christ, that 302 Fattier Walslb. we are not alarmists ; to convince you that our as- sertions are far from being exaggerated, let us recall a few homely truths known to you all, and a few figures that cannot be seriously questioned. These facts and figures will speak more eloquently for Temperance, and more effectively against Intemper- ance, than could the tongue of the most gifted orator. We asserted a few moments ago that there ex- isted in the world to-day a power pregnant with misery and misfortune, and that that power was the demon Intemperance. We prove the truth of this assertion by the testimony of men whose positions, in a measure, forced them to look the evil squarely in the face and suggest remedies tending to its sup- pression. You all know what the late Rt. Hon. William E. Gladstone says on the subject of strong drink. He asserts that Intemperance has destroyed more men than war, pestilence and famine com- bined. It is not easy to number the victims laid low by war, pestilence and famine ; therefore, it is hard, if not impossible, to compute the number of unfor- tunates killed by rum. The late Cardinal McCabe, Archbishop of Dublin, speaking to the people of his jurisdiction, and, in fact, to the whole of Ireland, once said that Intem- perance is the source of nearly all of Ireland's misery, and that thousands of premature graves tell of its ravages. The opinion of the late Archbishop of Canter- bury is that Intemperance eats out the very heart of society, destroys domestic life among our working classes, and does more harm than any other evil that can be named in this age. He adds that it is the prolific source of misery, poverty and crime. A former Governor of Massachusetts made the fol- lowing statement in his annual message to the leg- islature : ' ' Intemperance has filled the State with its destructive influence, and its progress every- Addresses 303 where heralds only misfortune, misery and degra- dation." My brethren, those authorities knew whereof they spoke. They were not alarmists, for the truth of their words may be verified by personal observation, by the sights and shadows that may be seen at any hour of the day or night, in the wretched homes of drinking men and women. To find such homes, we need never go far ; for ruin and wreckage are scat- tered all around us. Follow me to the poorest and dirtiest and darkest part of any city or town ; that is generally the quarter set apart for the improvident and the drunkards. The houses are in keeping with their surroundings. Let us open the door and enter one of those so-called homes. Great God ! What a pitiable picture meets our gaze ! Want and wretch- edness stare us in the face ! Indignation alone keeps back the tears that would well up in our eyes. Yes, we are indignant at the miserable man, the willing victim of drink, who can honor with the sacred name of home a few small, ill-ventilated and scantily fur- nished rooms. On the other hand, we have nothing but the tenderest pity for the unhappy wives and children who are doomed to live and die amid such environments. God knows they deserve, do many of them, a kindlier lot— a better fate. No doubt they hope for brighter days and sigh for happier homes. Poor creatures ! Their hopes and sighs are as a rule but empty dreams. To them existence will ever be a hopeless struggle, a living death, until the hus- bands and fathers, conquered by Divine Grace, shall determine at last to be men, not brutes. There are hundreds of cheerless homes in this town to-night ; hundreds of hungry children ; hun- dreds of heart-broken wives and mothers, daughters and sisters, — and all because unprincipled husbands and fathers, sons and brothers, will not free them- selves from the grasp of Intemperance. 304 Father Walsh My brethren, these are painful sayings, and they are all the more painful because they are true, and well calculated to convince the most skeptical that the human race is fast forgetting its ancient tradi- tions, and dragging in the mire the record of its past glories. To give you a faint idea of the extent to which drunkenness is carried on in our day and in our land, we have only to read the police court records of any of our cities. It is safe to say that half the arrests made in this or any other town are made because of liquor. In 1881, the total number of arrests made in the city of San Francisco was 25,669 ; out of this num- ber, 19,500 were for intoxication. In Boston, the total number of arrests for one year was 16,297 ; 12,227 were for drunkenness. In 1883 there were 71,669 persons arrested in New York City ; 48,191 were for over-indulgence. Now, brethren, what becomes of the charges of exaggeration ? Will anyone say that the advocates of Temperance are alarmists ? Without the least shadow of doubt, Intemperance is a curse, and it is a power too deadly in its effects not to be keenly felt and feared. I use " advisedly " the word feared, for, unfortunately, it is an evil that is spreading every year with great strides. In 1881 there were 200,000 licensed saloons in the United States. If placed side by side, it is computed that they would reach from New York to Chicago, a distance of more than a thousand miles. In Boston there is a saloon to every 150 persons ; in Chicago, one for every 140 persons ; in New York, before the Raines' law went into effect, one for every 135 persons. If the growth continues, who knows but that in time every man will have a saloon of his own. What are the conclusions to be drawn from these figures and facts ? Many conclusions might be drawn from what we have just said, but I shall con- Addresses 305 fine myself to the pointing out of just one obvious truth ; namely, that the quantity of liquor consumed over the bar must be simply enormous. Statistics col- lected by the Government puts it at over 500,000,000 gallons a year, a quantity sufficient, it seems to us, to float a boat around the world. I feel, brethren, that I must be tiring you with so much arithmetic. A jester might call this a dry meeting ; but let me give you one more fact — a real eye-opener. The drinking man never gets anything but what he pays for dearly. Now, the drink bill incurred by the patrons of the saloons of this country amounts to the modest ( ?) sum of $1,000,000,000 annually. Think over the bill, dearly beloved brethren, and tell me, to-morrow, if I was right or wrong when I stated a few moments ago that the rum power is fast pauper- izing the masses of the people. We pay every year in this country, $92,000,000 to the liquor dealers- more than we do to our bakers and butchers and clothiers combined. We give, in this country, ten dollars to the saloon for every dollar to the school, and still we wonder at the vast ignorance of the peo- ple. For every dollar paid in salary to the clergy- men of the United States, fifty-five dollars is paid to the saloon-keeper ; a fact that goes to show that the spirituous is far dearer to the hearts of our people than the spiritual. Last October, a man of undoubted authority wrote in a New York journal: "New Yorkers spend annually $30,000,000 for beer and $90,- 000,000 for wines and spirits— about $86.75 for each person per year. Again I ask you, brethren, is it true or false that the liquor traffic and drunkenness are making the people poor and miserable ? I hold it is true ; while I will add, without the least fear of being contra- dicted, that there is no reason in God's world why the humblest workman in this glorious land of ours, providing he be sober, industrious and economical, 306 Father Walsh could not have his own bank account, own his own home, dress himself and his family in the best of taste, and educate his sons and daughters for honor- able and useful careers. I know this, brethren, and I know it because I have seen men who have accomplished the feat. Would to heaven there were more of them ! Their ex- ample is worthy of both admiration and imitation. I wonder if every man in this town to-night can say : 1 * I wish my sons or my brothers would follow my ex- ample. I wish they could do as I am doing, or as I have done. Would to God they had followed in my footsteps ! " I cannot think that every Trojan can say this consciously, for that would mean, in too many instances, the leading of an unchristian, dis- graceful, dissipated, drunken life. Children have too often followed in the footsteps of drunken parents, and we know the result. The bad example of intoxication has placed hundreds of thousands behind prison bars, and has led thousands of our young men even to the scaffold. I can recall now one very sad instance that came under my own eyes. It was that of a young man, only nineteen years of age, who was arrested and tried for wife murder, and convicted of the charge. I remember that poor unfortunate young fellow well. His name was Jones — James Horace Jones— and he was hanged in the Troy jail some years ago. Among other things that condemned man said to those that were per- mitted to speak to him, was this : ' ' I was always reckless and worthless, because my parents were careless and intemperate. ' ' My brethren, I have never forgotten those words, uttered within the shadow of the gallows, and I have ofttimes thought it preferable to dangle at the end of the hangman's rope than to assume, before God, the responsibility of that young man's parents. His execution reminded me of the eminent writer, Addresses 307 South : ' ' Such children are, because of drink, not so much born into this world as damned into it." If, therefore, the slavery of drink is so wide- spread, and fraught with so many and so great evils, will we stand idly by and refuse to better, if we can, the conditions of our fellows ? Can nothing be done to check Intemperance ? Is there nothing to crush out a power that debases so many men, wrecks so many homes, breaks so many hearts, peoples so many asylums, fills so many jails, starves so many chil- dren, digs so many graves, and damns so many souls ? Religion answers : Yes ; there is a remedy for such an evil. There is relief for the wretched, freedom for the slave— men and means inspired by God, and blessed by the Church of Jesus Christ. Next to prayer and the sacraments, there is no more effica- cious means for holding up the work and strengthen- ing the strong than the binding together of men and women— rich and poor, young and old, married and single — pledged to observe religiously the principles of Total Abstinence. Every man who takes the pledge and keeps it, is, by that very act, lifting himself up socially, finan- cially, and spiritually. Total Abstinence will make a man respectable and respected ; it will put money in the house, money in the pocket, money in the bank. It will give us more cozy houses, more comfortably dressed wives, and mothers, and children ; it will put provisions in the pantry, coal and wood in the cellar, meat on the table, and butter on the bread ; it will bring down upon us a blessing for time and eternity. Fidelity to a temperance pledge will make us happy, in the hope that we are doing something, by our example, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to console the heart-broken, and to make the world brighter and better. Members of the Temperance Societies of the Dio- cese of Albany, may our Father, Who is in heaven. 308 Father Walsh abundantly bless you for the noble work you are doing in the name of the Church, and for the still nobler example you are giving to your fellow-men. Be faithful to the sacred cause you represent. Work for it with a will. Have persistency and persever- ance in your holy purpose. Keep before your eyes the name and memory of the great Apostle of Tem- perance, the immortal Father Matthew. Strive to catch some of his enthusiasm, and to imbibe a little of his unselfish spirit. His name and fame are en- shrined in men's hearts because he labored for hu- manity and saved souls for God. His body now sleeps in an honored grave, but his work still goes on, for his mantle has fallen on the shoulders of abstainers the world over. My prayer for you to-night, breth- ren, is that you may wear that mantle honestly. You will thereby teach others to fight the good fight, and help them to save their immortal souls. Eulogies 309 EULOGIES. ' He was a man, mighty in word and in work." — St. Luke xxiv, 19. Rt. Reverend Bishop, Very Reverend and Reverend Clergy, Dearly Beloved Brethren of the Laity : The part assigned me in these obsequies is most painful. Deep affection chokes back much that could and should be said in praise of a dear dead friend. Death has touched one so near to me that I can hardly think, scarcely speak. Should I fail in my task, you may read in one another's faces a better eulogy than has ever been written or spoken. The sigh of sincere sorrow sounds far more sig- nificant than any words, while the tears that well up in the eyes of both priest and people have a meaning far deeper than any language. They tell the story of our loss, and prove beyond a doubt that Father Cunningham was, like his Divine Master and Model, a man mighty in word and in work. We have more than the mere assertion for proof of this fact. His priesthood lifted him above most men, invested him with a dignity more than angelic, and made him, according to the saying of a saintly writer, another Christ — alter Christus. Oh, brethren, here was the secret of his claims to your affections and to mine ; here was the source of his power. If he was mighty in word and in work, it was because he endeavored through the years of his priesthood to walk in the footsteps of the Master ; it was because he tried honestly to be a good and faithful disciple. What Christ did and 310 Father Walsh taught in His life and ministry, that our deceased brother labored humbly, but earnestly, to do and to teach. Some spiritual writer has said that the chief characteristics of Christ's early career were its sim- plicity and its sincerity. Like the Saviour, Father Cunningham was from childhood to manhood sublimely simple and intensely sincere. From the day he left his happy home to prepare himself "to go unto the altar of God" ; from the time he invoked the priestly blessing of his vocation and his studies about to begin, he seemed to realize all the responsibility of the high and holy office he was later on to assume. To reflect honor on that office and to fit himself for the successful and conscientious discharge of its duties, he applied himself to learning with laudable ambition. We who were the companions and the classmates of his seminary life, easily recall to mind to-day how profitably he employed his study hours, and how well he used the talents entrusted to him. Even in those days, now treasured in lasting and loving remembrance, fond friends could see the future usefulness of his career. Interested profes- sors and observant superiors could indulge in proph- ecy, and predict for him a ministry rich in blessings and fruitful in good works. They were not mistaken. Their calculations were correct. The student was father to the priest. From the halls of St. Joseph's Seminary, Troy, Father Cunningham brought out into the world, on Rosary Sunday, 1887, a soul schooled in piety, a heart disciplined in virtue, and a mind well stored with knowledge. From sacred sources he had drunk in wisdom and learning. It was necessary, brethren, that he and we should do so ; for we were to be of Eulogies 311 that privileged band to whom Jesus Christ once said : *'Go and teach all nations/' He was to be a priest of the Most High, and Holy Writ tells us that from the lips of the priest the people will seek knowledge. Having attained the goal of his heavenly am- bition, the newly ordained began at once, and in all earnestness, his labors of love in the midst of the good people of St. Ann's. Here he spent the last eleven years of his life, and all the years of his priesthood. Is there, in the diocese of Albany, any ecclesiastic who has not heard of his burning zeal for souls ? Is there, in this parish, a single Catholic who has not felt the magnetism of his power and the influence of his personality ? When the history of this congregation is written, one of its most charming and cherished chapters will be the record of Father Cunningham's charity and Christlike sympathy. Knowing from Revelation the infinite value of a soul created in the image and likeness of God, he has, time and time again, generously sacrificed comfort and ease to lift up the fallen and save the wayward. They did not always come to him ; he, like the good shepherd who feels in duty bound, went to them. He pleaded with them ; he reasoned with them ; he entreated them in God's name and in God's love. His efforts were, as a rule, rewarded ; and so he was always happy. He had shown to his own satisfaction, and he had proved to the doubting, that just as the rays of the sun can draw up again from the polluted pool the pearly raindrop that has fallen from the clouds, so also can a ray of heaven's sunshine or of human love lift up again to heights of holiness a sin- stained soul — once a pearl beyond price. Father Cunningham loved his kind. His charity was as high as heaven ; his sympathy as broad as earth. 312 Father Walsh It is no exaggeration to say that he fed, clothed, and housed more poor people than any other clergy- man in this city. He had a pure and deep affection for the little ones of the household of faith — for the lambs of the flock, and that affection found a fitting expression in his visitations to the little school at Kenwood. There he was a child among children. His genial smile and kindly words were an encouragement and a blessing to both teachers and pupils. The school children will sadly miss him. And so will other children. In his daily and nightly rounds of this parish, the tireless assistant has more than once come across little waifs, little outcasts, the victims of unlawful love. Like a second St. Vincent de Paul, he gath- ered them up and found for them in our asylums the comfort of a home and the care of spiritual mothers. Have I failed to show you, brethren, wherein the dead priest resembled his Master and Model ? If so, reflect, and in memory see him standing round the death-beds of your sick and suffering ones. How kind he was ! What a messenger of peace ! How mighty he was in word and work ! The most hard- ened sinners responded gratefully to his invitation to repentance, and dying, blessed him for the light shed over their path to the tomb. It is, indeed, a marvelous power, that given by Jesus Christ to His priesthood, whereby death is virtually robbed of its sting and the grave of its victory. My brethren, this is not the time, nor have I the heart to-day to make an extended reference to the long, weary hours this spiritual father spent in yonder confessional. Suffice it to say that the laity can never know what it means to "hear confessions." It is wearying— it is trying. At times, I have reason to believe, it has been an irksome task for him, were Eulogies 313 it not for the fact that the good he accomplished in and through the Sacrament of Penance would be recorded and remembered in heaven. One thing more. During the last eleven years, you, the people of this parish, have seen our brother- priest standing at this altar hundreds and thousands of times. You were glad to hear him sing the praise of God, and to see him offer to the Lord the sweet in- cense of prayer. You were glad, because you knew that he came unto this holy mount with a pure heart and with clean hands. This church shall see him now no more ; for to-day he is vested for the last time, and for the last time he holds in his hands the chalice— the gift of your generosity and the symbol of his consecration. Members of St. Ann's congregation, you will not fail, will you, to pray for him who has prayed so often and so fervently for you ? It may be said that, judging from the picture I have tried to draw of him, he needs no prayers. God forbid that such a thought should enter your minds. Remember, brethren, that the Lord alone is holy, "Tux solus sanctus." He does need your prayers. He needs them to help pay the last farthing and to atone for the failing of poor, weak human nature. If I have pictured him as perfect, the fault is chargeable to my admiration of him as a man, and to my affection for him as a priest. I simply held him up to you as I knew him. But why prolong this agony ? We must give back this precious clay to Mother Earth, ' ' whence it came." And so, in full submission to the decree of heaven, we bow and say : "Thy will be done." Before proceeding, however, to the last sad scene, I would ask you, his brethren and his friends, to pray on bended knees for those whose hearts are breaking this morning. To the reverend uncle, and to the reverend 314 Father Walsh cousin of Father Cunningham, we offer our sincere sympathy. To his brothers, we say : ' ' Look up to God, from whom consolation cometh." To his loving sisters, and especially the two who watched over him in his fatal illness with gentle, angelic solicitude, to them we say : " May God and Our Lady of Sorrows come and comfort you." Finally, to the aged mother, now bending under the burden of three score and ten years, and under the weight of this heavy cross, to her we say, with affectionate regard : ' ' Weep not like them who have no hope." You have given to the world a true man, and to the diocese of Albany a noble, pious priest, 11 one who was mighty in word and in work." There are occasions, dearly beloved brethren, and this seems like one of them, when the human heart is quite overcome by feelings of unspeakable sadness. At such times as this, we naturally look around about us for the comfort and the strength we crave ; but, generally speaking, we fail to find them. We listen to catch the word of consolation, but again we are sorrowfully disappointed, unless we have the wisdom and the inspiration to do what holy David did in the hour of his affliction ; that is, to lift up our minds and hearts to Him from Whom alone can come the truest consolations of life, the tenderest proofs of Divine sympathy. When God speaks to drooping hearts, there is in His Word a secret and a sacred balm that soothes sorrow, that consecrates suffering, that lightens the cares that bear us to the ground. Around them who sorrow and suffer in and with Christ, there will ever be the everlasting arms of God. Such people cannot— they will not— weaken like them who have no hope. And to them who trust in the Eulogies 315 care and the providence of a loving Father, there can never come but one thought and one prayer — the thought of the heavenly home and the prayer of per- fect resignation : ' ' Father, not my will, but Thine be done. ' ' On this occasion, dearly beloved brethren, I do not know of any words of consolation. We must look to God, and, as it is said, He is sure to sustain us. In all the trials of life we must go to Him, and if we forget Him, then indeed shall our hearts be sorrowful and sad. With His great strength He holds us up, and the moment we look to Him He will wipe away our tears and strengthen us as He strengthened holy David. To-day, dearly beloved brethren, there is great reason for sorrow. This scene here suggests to our minds one of those natural mysteries of which this life is so full, and with which we have all grown so familiar. As I gazed for the last time on the fair form of this Christian maiden, I could not but stop and ask myself why the young, the strong, the good, the useful, are called so often from earth, from home, and from friends. The world has no explanation, no reason to offer. Not so with religion. Religion faces the problem and solves the mystery, assuring us in all faith, that whatsoever is, is best ; telling us that we poor mortals are prone, in our short-sightedness, to misinterpret the purposes of God, and reminding us how apt we are to forget that God hath but given His beloved one sleep. For her there are no more pains ; for her there are no more aches. The poor head that endured the tortures of a crowning with thorns is at last free from suffering. She sleeps the sleep of the just. If we find it bard, dearly beloved brethren, to reconcile our losses with the teachings of faith, I only ask you to bear patiently awhile and abide God's time. The day is coming when we shall see, even as we are seen, and we shall know all things, even as 316 Father Walsh we are known ; and then we shall see and know that this beloved child of God enjoys the rest and the peace of heaven, and that she has, by suffering, en- tered into the heavenly home, even as Christ entered by suffering into His glory. But, notwithstanding these consoling assurances of religion, we may and we must have our personal, our natural griefs. Surely no one will blame us for shedding to-day the tears of farewell from one whose character and whose life endeared her to us all. Of course, no one will miss her genial smile, her happy laughter, her kindly face, more than will her own devoted sisters ; no one knew better than they her lovable nature and her kindly disposition. Her pres- ence was the sunshine of their lives, it was the happiness of their home. And there is one who is at a distance to-day, dearly beloved brethren, whose heart is, no doubt, breaking and bleeding. It is a younger sister, one who was attached to her, one who loved her as we can only love a sister. She would fain be here this morning, but she has made sacrifices to God, and she will make this sacrifice. And to-day she kneels alone and in sadness, to offer this great sacrifice to heaven. This parish has lost a willing worker. Never have the clergy at this Cathedral found her wanting in sympathy and in loyalty when it was a question of doing anything for the material interests of the Church. Others might hold back and criticise ; but she always came forward and encouraged our efforts. She was indeed our friend. Nor did her interest in religion stop here. She was interested in all the societies connected with the parish. She was a de- voted member of our Young Ladies' Sodality, and she cultivated always the most tender devotion to the Blessed Mother of God. She was a member of our excellent choir, whose members have come here this morning to sing her requiem. She was a member of Eulogies 317 our Rosary Society, a teacher in our Sunday-School, where scores of little children sat at her feet every Sunday to hear her speak of God and to hear of His love and of His tenderness. She was also a zealous, conscientious promoter of our League of the Sacred Heart. Why should we not, dearly beloved brethren, have a personal share in this bereavement ? It may be hard to believe that this is for the best, but we submit to God's providence and the teachings of faith. To-day we look up to heaven, and we ask God to remember her works. We will try, dearly beloved brethren, try hard, to bear with the thought of separation from her. We owe her a sacred duty, and that is to hold her memory in affec- tionate remembrance and to pray for her. We feel that God in His mercy will reward her for the deeds done in the flesh, and we shall wipe away our tears as we stand by her open grave this morning, feeling convinced that she now rests from her labors, and that her precious clay is now awaiting only the sound of the angel's trumpet to summon it to a blessed and glorious immortality. " Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Our surroundings this morning tell us, dear breth- ren, an old and familiar story— a story ever ancient, ever new, namely : that another grave has been opened, that another life has ended, that another link in the chain of family affections has been broken, that another good and faithful servant in the vine- yard of the Lord has been called home to rest. Sacred as is this story, and solemn as is the les- son to be drawn from a scene such as this, we regret to say that its endless repetition is apt to jar on the sensibilities of a restless world, and cause a countless Father Walsh multitude of thoughtless men and women to close their ears to a heavenly warning and to shut their eyes to a heavenly reality. Thank God, all of us are not thoughtless, that is, indifferent to the spiritualities of this life. Not all of us are deaf to God's warnings or blind to His purposes. We would fain believe, brethren, that at least you few who are gathered here this morning have come into this presence with minds and hearts open to instruction. I believe that you, at least, can read down in the very stillness of death, a premoni- tion of the future and another illustration of the old inspired saying, ' To-day for me ; to-morrow for thee." As Mother Earth to-day clasps our friend to her bosom, soon, perhaps to-morrow, will she reach out again and take from us our fathers and our mothers, our brothers and our sisters, our children and our friends. This thought is, I allow, repellent ; but the fact — the truth— remains, that ere long God's summons will come to you and to me, that His voice will soon be heard calling upon us to bow in meek submission to a decree as old as time itself, "Thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return." Act as we may, think as we will, we must all bear individual witness to the awful fact that this earth of ours is, after all, little else than a spot upon which to dig graves. When you and I were born, brethren, we were born to die. When the lapsing years have whitened our hair, and we have left behind us the dreams of childhood and youth, we are easily con- vinced of the fact that the cradle is never very far removed from the grave, and that our mother's iulla- bys lulling us to sleep are quickly changed into the Church's— our spiritual mother's— mourning requiem. Does this truth affright us ? It should not ; and it would not, were we all that we ought to be— good and faithful servants of Him Who doth all things Eulogies 319 well. True, the thought of death is oppressive to an unbeliever. Ought it sadden you and me, who pre- tend to have humbly accepted Jesus Christ and His teachings ? No ; for the servant of the Lord is sure to see, in his last surrender to nature, not a defeat, bat a victory ; not darkness, but light ; not despair, but an incentive to a holier hope and to a firmer faith. If there be life after death (and there is), why should the Christian grieve at the sight of death, like them who have no hope ? If there be, beyond the smiling and the weeping of this world (and there is) , rewards for obedience, for humility, for purity of life, and the patient bearing of the ills of this world, why should the soldier of Christ regret falling upon the field of honor ? If there be (and there is) , a place and a time of happy and everlasting reunion with the loved ones who are gone on before us, why should we think regretfully of the partings here, and lose sight of the meeting and greeting there, when the song of welcome fills forever the mind with visions of eternal rest, and the soul with an ecstasy of delight ? The saints of God, who fought and bled and died in service and sacrifice to the Master, obtained the true meaning of death. To them it meant a happier existence, the fulfillment of a hope long deferred ; the putting off of this mortality and the putting on of immortality ; the putting off of earthly corruption, to put on heavenly incorruption. No wonder St. Paul longed to be dissolved and be with Christ. I do not mean to say, brethren, that your friend and mine was a saint ; that she was comparable to a St. Peter or a St. Paul in courage and character ; but I do claim that she differed from them only in degree, not in kind ; for she, like the great Apostle of the Gentiles, could say : "I have fought the good fight ; I have run the race ; I have kept the faith." 320 Father Walsh There is nothing in this wide world, dearly beloved brethren, that comforts and consoles the sorrow-laden more quickly and more effectually than the Word of God or the teaching of religion. Let our loss and our cross be ever so heavy ; let our grief be ever so deep ; let the day be ever so dark ; let the clouds that hang about us be ever so black, — we shall never falter in the hour of trial, we shall never fail in strength and courage, if we look up to the God of all consolation, to the Fountain-head of hope, to Him Who has sacredly promised to hear and to help us in the day of affliction. What a consoling truth, what a blessed message, to them who mourn this morning the sweet young life that has gone out from among them, leaving behind it naught but memories of purity, piety and innocence ! How the tender prom- ises of our Blessed Lord must fill up and veil over the void that has been made in the hearts of her brothers and in the heart of her cherished little sister ! Were it not for the loving assurance of Our Father, Who is in heaven, their sorrow might seem indeed unbearable, and the darkness of the grave might seem more than impenetrable. But, strength- ened as they are by the teaching of religion, there is hope behind their sorrow, there is light behind the clouds. For we find infinite relief in the thought that the Lord doth everything wisely and well ; that He hath care over us ; that He watches over His own, in life and in death, and that everything that happens, happens for a divine purpose. We trust, dearly beloved brethren, that you may realize and feel the force of these truths better and better every day. May you reflect on them this morning, and as you journey on your way to the consecrated city of the dead, may you see with the eyes of Faith the same compassionate Saviour Who once went about doing good, healing the sick, raising the dead again to life. May you hear with the ears Eulogies 321 of Faith, from His sacred lips, these words so full of heavenly hope : " Weep not, like them who have no hope ;" for "the maid is not dead, but sleepeth." Oh, brethren, let us not disturb the slumbers of our dear dead ! What could be more welcome to the weary, worn-out body, than sound sleep ? What could be more refreshing, more soothing, to the poor patient sufferer, than to rest in the arms of Jesus ? That she is destined to enjoy such a sleep, and such a rest, is the only conclusion we can derive from her short but lovely life, and from her holy death. As we think of her, dead, in the spring-time of life, and in all the beauty of her innocence, we can- not but regret, dear brethren, that our days and years were not cut short. For, reckon as many of us will, we cannot escape the conviction that our sins have multiplied with our years. Many of us loved God more in our boyhood and in our girlhood than we do now. In years gone by, many of us had a deeper reverence for the laws and the teachings of Holy Mother Church than we have now in our man- hood and our womanhood. The simple prayers of childhood are now well-nigh forgotten, and the con- fessions and communions of our youth are now, and in many instances, nothing but a memory, fraught with far more shadow than sunshine. We do not wonder, brethren, that so many tremble at the hour of death and at the sight of the open grave. Why should we not fear the face of the Just Judge ? As no one could number the drops of falling rain during last evening's shower, so, dearly beloved brethren, no one can count the afflictions that have fallen upon the human heart, or number the tears that have welled up in human eyes. Proofs are not wanting to show that this assertion is no exaggera- 322 Father Walsh tion. Measure, If you can, the sorrows of one day, the trials that come to the people of one city. Think of the sufferings of the countless millions that have peopled this earth, and you will find that the griefs and the tears of this world almost outnumber the sands on the seashore, or the rain-drops that have ever fallen on this earth. I recall these facts at this time, dearly beloved brethren, to show you that God does not punish some and spare others ; that each one, in his or her turn, must bow in submission to the will of Divine Providence, and pay tribute to the law of suffering and sorrow. To parents, there is no sorrow like that caused by the death of a good and promising child. If this be true in a general sense, who could blame the father or the mother of this lovable child for giv- ing vent to feelings which no language can fitly ex- press and no tongue can possibly soothe. The home which her presence once lighted up and made happy will be lonely without her. Her voice, which was as music to her loved ones, will be missed as much as sunshine from the rooms where she sat and worked and died. There will soon be nothing left of her this side of the grave, but a sweet, loving memory, and a picture that looks down from the wall, reminding those who gaze upon it of one of the sweetest natures and one of the purest souls which it has been our privilege to meet in all our ministry. From child- hood to maidenhood she was ever the same, gentle and pious ; a little Christian in the home and on the street ; a devoted child and imitator of our Blessed Mother. Oh ! had it not been for the natural ties of affection that bound her to home and to family, how joyfully she would have longed for and accepted the final summons. As It was, she could hardly conceal the satisfaction she felt in the face of death She seemed to see visions of her far-off home, and to hear ten thousand voices speaking of the beauty and Eulogies m the beatitude of the security and the rest of heaven. Good as she was, do not wish her back ; she was not too good for Him who made her and us, for another and a better world. May God grant us grace and strength to love and serve Him here, that we may one day enjoy His pres- ence for all eternity, with the angels and the saints, with the just made perfect, with our dear, cherished dead, who now sleep the long, last sleep of a holy and happy death. Among the beautiful and memorable sayings of Solomon, the Wise, there is, my brethren, one that may have possibly been suggested by just such a scene as this. Measuring, as only an inspired writer could measure, the shortness of time and the awful uncer- tainty of death ; reflecting deeply on the nature and number of temptations and trials with which the world is sure to beset young people, Solomon cries out in warning accents : ' * Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the silver chord of life be broken, and the body returns to Mother Earth, whence it was, and the spirit returns to God, Who gave it." Holy Church gladly accepts and readily endorses those words, repeating them time and time again to those of youthful years. The age in which we live, and the tendency of the time, my brethren, make it a sacred duty of the Church and of religion, that she keep this warning ever present to the minds of the young. Youth is the short season of high hopes and boundless ambition. It is the period of day-dreams. Young men and young women anticipate great triumphs. They are restless and eager for the battle of life. Neither their restlessness nor their eagerness would give us overmuch concern, were it not for the fact 324 Father Walsh that many, yes, very many of them, are in imminent danger of growing unmindful of their true and eter- nal interests. Oftentimes it does not take long for youth to forget that a due proportion must needs be kept between the services of the Creator and that of the world. In other words, young men and young women fail to recognize in a practical way the prin- ciple that life's work and life's battles should be God's work and God's battles. To allow, as oftentimes is done, the claims of the world, to encroach upon the rights of God, to throw all youthful energy on the side of the material, to center all budding affections on the passing, fleeting shadow, is both wicked and unworthy of a child of God. It is more— it is fatal, and eventually leads to spiritual shipwreck. One day this will be made evi- dent to those who are now relegating God to a second, inferior place in the world which He Himself called into existence. Of late our parish has been saddened, dearly be- loved brethren, by a large number of deaths. Three times within the week our office has compelled us to give expression to the plaintive words with which Holy Church consigns her faithful children to the grave, and to ask for the departed the charity of their loved one's prayers. Naturally, a bereaved family finds it a melan- choly pleasure to remember their dead ; but there are good reasons for believing that there will be a general and generous response to an appeal made in behalf of one whose fidelity to friends and neighbors, as well as to family, has often been tried and never found wanting. In her Christian charity, she never thought that death ended the chains of friendship, neither did she look upon the presence of a friend at the open grave as the last service to be rendered to Eulogies 325 the dead ; her prayers, her penances, her commu- nions, followed her own and others of the household of Christ beyond this material world, even into that place of suffering where souls pay the last farthing to the justice of God. Thus did she teach us the practical meaning of a most consoling truth, namely : that in the Church of the Living God there exists a sweet communion of saints, and that by prayers and good works, souls precious in the sight of the Lord may be released from purgatory and brought to the fruition of the blessed hopes of eternal life, so deeply implanted and so lovingly cherished in every Christian heart. God forbid that her friends should forget her or her life work, so simple, if you will, but yet so godly, so edi- fying and so grandly inspiring. Let the hard-hearted, let the indifferent, let the ungrateful, consign their dead to oblivion ; let them permit the weeds of f or- getfulness to grow around their graves ; but, as for us, brethren, let us hold in everlasting honor and per- petual prayers the names and memories of the just. She was indeed one of the just, in the deepest and fullest sense of the word, for she was an ideal Christian woman, fearing God, and striving under all circumstances to shape her life according to the teachings of Jesus Christ, our great Master and Model. Those who feel her death most will acknowl- edge that she was a mother of whom any family might feel justly proud, and, to my mind, earth knows no holier presence, no lovelier face, than the presence and the face of good, pious, God-fearing mothers. Such a one must needs be missed from our midst, and more especially from the Church and from the home. Her house, now so desolate, will never again be what it once was. Sickness came into it, as it always does, sooner or later, in every home, and has taken away from it much of its sunshine and happi- 326 Father Walsh ness ; for mother is now gone away, let us trust, to those mansions beyond the reach of darkness and death, of which Christ Jesus is the Lamp and the Light. Let this thought console the sorrowing ones, and let it, dearly beloved brethren, recall to our minds once more our infinite dignity and our immortal destiny. We shall soon enter into the home of our eternity, for such is the decree of God and the law of nature. Are we preparing for our exit from this world ? Are we putting our accounts in order ? Are we following in the footsteps of the saints, walking in the narrow way that leads up to God and to heaven ? Oh, brethren, let us be wise, working out our salvation in fear and trembling, and putting forth our best efforts to love and serve God. For those who do this there is the hope of a glorious reward, and the promise of an everlasting reunion in heaven, where parents and children will meet and greet each other again, and rejoice in the loving assurance of Christ, that there will be no more tears, no more sorrow, no more separation, and no more death. This world of ours knows, my brethren, knows no more heart-rendering sight than that of the open grave. In the minds of most people, the grave is asso- ciated with all that is saddest and darkest in life ; for it seems to epitomize all our heartaches and all our heartbreaks ; it reminds us of buried hopes and broken ties, recalling the sorrowing, smiling face that they shall see no more, or some friendly, hearty greeting that they shall hear no more. It is, therefore, no exaggeration to say that the sight of the open grave is, humanly speaking, heart- rending beyond expression. The kindliest word Eulogies 327 seems to detract so little from its poignancy, that we would gladly turn away from the very thought, were it not for the valuable lessons it teaches us, and the consolation we may draw even from this dark side of life. It is a mistake, my brethren, to imagine that God has confined His revelations and His teachings to one book only— the Bible. The truth is that the Almighty has a thousand different ways of impress- ing upon us our duty and our destiny. It is also true to say that chief among these Divine teachers is the very thing we are teaching now — the grave. For, every time the grim messenger calls a friend from our midst, we have one additional and emphatic proof that our true and lasting home is heaven. Every time the grave opens to receive a brave, worthy Christian, we know that another voice has been added to the choir that sings God's praises forever and for- ever. Every time an honest, upright father, or a devout, loving mother, goes forth from this world, we have the assurance that it is only to exchange days and hours and years of labor and trial, and per- haps of suffering, for an endless age of happiness. Hence, it is evident that we may draw, even from the tomb, lessons of fidelity to God, and some measure of consolation that ought to soften our sor- row for the dead, or at least prevent us from griev- ing like them who have no hope. St. Paul would have us, dearly beloved brethren, fix our faith and our hope solely on God, for everything else but Him shall pass away, even as will pass away the bright, sunny autumn day. We need not insist upon the transitory nature of earthly things. How forcibly, yet how painfully, is the truth brought home to us this morning. Only a few short weeks ago, she who is the object of our prayers and tears was apparently in the full enjoyment of health and strength. She was happy. Everything that indulgent parents and a 328 Father Walsh refined Christian education could do, was done, and the result was, she had a happy heart and a genial disposition. Of one thing there seemed to be no doubt, that around about her was far more sunshine than shadow. But behold the change ! See how light has been changed into darkness, and joy into sorrow ! The young bride of six months lies before us cold in death, wrapped in her bridal robes. Is not earthly joy, after all, only a dream ? Is not human happiness, after all, only a fleeting fancy ? Is not life, after all, with all its crowding scenes of successes and failures, only a play upon the stage ? Humanly interpreted, yes. For, whatever is not eternal, says St. Bernard, is nothing. But, spiritually speaking, it is very different. A Chris- tian life is more than a passing scene. Life is real, says the poet. We may, by grace and union with God, give to it, and to joy and to happiness, an eternal charm and an infinite value. Our young friend seemed to have grasped this truth better than many of more mature years and wider experience. Though her stay here below was a brief one, yet she lived and labored for God and the sanctification of her soul. She never lost sight of her duty and her destiny. She acted well the part God had given her to play, and now hers is the reward. Surely, this is a consoling thought, and one that will enable the bereaved ones to bow down in humble submission to the will of Him Who doth all things wisely and well. Let our prayer be, 'Thy will be done," or let us say from our heart of hearts : "The Lord hath given, the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be the Name of the Lord.'' She was not too good nor too pure for heaven. If her untimely demise will make us poorer, well, it will make heaven richer. Above her newly made grave the autumn sun will shed its bright, warm rays. Winter will, ere Eulogies 329 long, sift upon it his unspotted covering of snow ; spring will bedeck it with green grasses ; summer will bring to blossom flowers of rainbow hues. Sea- son after season will thus pass away, and the mem- ory of this dear child of God will be kept tenderly and sacredly enshrined in the hearts of an affection- ate family and numerous friends. "Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the silver chord be broken, and thy body return to Mother Earth, whence it was, and the spirit return to God, Who gave it. ' ' Such, my brethren, was the practical advice, the salutary admonition, given to the world more than two thousand years ago by the Inspired Writer of the 'Book of Wisdom.' ' Like all warning voices that come from heaven, this one has found myriads of hearers, while the number of those who carry the lesson into their youthful lives are, indeed, exceed- ingly small. Every child heeds and learns the lesson at its mother's knee, for nearly every child is taught to know, and love, and serve God, and that is to ■ remember its Creator. But childhood's day soon passes away, and the child of yesterday begins all too soon to forget its God, to ignore the Creator's just and salutary laws. It begins to know the devil, to know its passions, and to serve the world. The awful results that follow are clearly seen in shat- tered hopes and broken hearts ; parents bowed down in sorrow ; homes become shattered and sad, because of the wayward career that ends oftentimes in tardy regrets and useless promises. But, thank God, there are some children, con- sciously or unconsciously I know not, who take this command to heart, and who do remember their Creator in the days of their youth ; who continue to 330 Father Walsh love and serve Him even after the dreams of child- hood have given way to the realities of manhood and womanhood. Among the latter we must number Ada Maria Martin, for she may truly be said to have made the love and service of her Creator the guiding principle of her life. She was a Christian maiden, and this parish, so singularly blessed in virtuous lives, knew few young ladies more estimable and more esteemed than she. To love her, one should only listen to her words as she spoke of her illness, her long suffering, and her approaching death. Like St. Theresa, she knew what it was to suffer, but her patience never flagged. I was, myself, deeply impressed by one thing she said a few hours before death released her. She seemed quite op- pressed by shortness of breath, and I requested her to kiss the Crucifix she held in her hand. She did so most affectionately, and immediately after, with eyes turned towards heaven, she said : " My Jesus, what are my sufferings compared to yours ? " These, and other sayings of hers, are sweet souvenirs of a noble, true soul, and such words seem like the very echoes of the young virgin martyrs, who defied death and pain for the love of Jesus Christ. It is interesting to trace the secret of her calm and courageous end, and the secret, methinks, is told in her devotion to her whose Immaculate Conception we commemorate to-day. Few sodalists had a greater confidence in Mary than our deceased friend, and it was only natural that the Virgin Mother should hover near her pillow, and whisper in her dying ears words of comfort which those around could not hear. With reason does the Apostle write : ' ' Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." Weep not, widowed mother, for your child. Weep not, sorrowing brothers and sister, for your affec- tionate sister. She has gone from a vale of tears and sadness to a home made bright and gladsome by Eulogies 331 the exclusion of possible sickness and suffering and death. There you shall meet her again, dressed not in material that moulders, but clothed in immortality ; and as a mark of personal esteem, I shall not forget to pray God for her, and to ask Him that her long sleep in the grave may be followed by a glorious dawn, and that she shall rise from the earth, to contemplate the Redeemer in the land of the living, face to face. Amen. ' Weep not ; for the maid is not dead, but sleep- eth." These words, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke, were first uttered, my brethren, by the Divine lips of Jesus Christ. Like all sayings that came straight from the Sacred Heart of the Son of God, this one is tenderly suggestive of heavenly sweetness and infinitely rich in loving sympathy. It dries up human tears, and makes it quite impossible for the members of the household of Faith to grieve like them who have no hope. Lift up, dearly beloved brethren, your sad- dened hearts to heaven ; fix your thoughts on Him Who has loved us with an eternal love, and tell me if there be a just cause to despair in the midst of intens- est suffering and hardest trial. True, the struggle may be a fierce one. But I would have you remem- ber, when the storm rages fiercest, Christ is nearest to us, ready to bear us up in His everlasting arms. It was so on the occasion that inspired the words of our text. Jairus had lost a daughter, fair and full of promise, who had just grownup to the years of young womanhood. In her were centered, as we may well believe, the hopes and happiness of a dear mother, the best love of an affectionate family circle, to which her presence was as sunshine and her voice as sweet- 332 Father Walsh est music. What wonder, then, that the distracted father had instant recourse to the Father of Light and the God of all consolation ! It is well for us to recognize this truth to-day, dearly beloved brethren, for it strikes me that there is a great similarity between the occasion that in- spired the words of our text and the present one. Here was a young maiden, fair and full of promise, who had just budded into beautiful young woman- hood ; her own loved her as part and portion of themselves, so true was her heart, so tender her na- ture. No mother ever had reason to cherish a child as this afflicted mother had this sweet girl, who was so unexpectedly stricken down by the hand of death in all the freshness and fragrance of a perfect day in June. How many memories come back to me, as I speak over her mortal remains ! Nevertheless, I see her still walking from her home to her desk in the Capitol, or at evening wending her way homewards, sometimes weary and worn. She was ever faithful to duty. She was an ambitious girl, but ambitious in a Christian sense. Indeed, she could not well have been otherwise ; for God had most lavishly endowed her as to her intellectual side. She was quick to learn, slow to forget. She was one of the brightest ornaments of our Cathedral Academy. But she enjoyed a still higher distinction among us. She was a virtuous and pious Christian. She may have had a delight for work, but her real delight was to serve God with scrupulous exactitude. I have had ample opportunity to study and know her spiri- tual life, and I can say that she was first and foremost a child of God. It is sad to think that we shall see her never again approaching the Holy Sacrament ; never again kneeling in devout prayer ; never again coming in the church or going out, as she did almost daily ; never again reciting the office with the Chil- dren of Mary. Eulogies 333 There is nothing in human language, dearly beloved brethren, so beautiful in thought, so rich in imagery, and so touching in simplicity, as the immor- tal sayings of our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. How sublime, and withal how simple, is the Master's Sermon on Mount ! How beautiful in thought and rich in imagery are His parables ! How full of Divine hope is His oft-quoted declaration : ' ' I am the Resurrection and the Life. He that belie veth in Me, even though he be dead, shall live, and he that liveth and believeth in Me, shall not die forever." Again, how touching is the Saviour's farewell to the grief -stricken disciples : ' ' You are, indeed, sorrowful now, but your sorrow shall be changed into joy. I go to prepare a place for you." Finally, how infinitely tender are His words to the widowed mother of Nairn : * ' Weep not. ' ' That the inculcating of faith and hope, in God's saving power and compassion, was one of the chief ends of our Blessed Lord's teaching, we will not deny. That He, the Great Consoler, wished to brighten the path of the exile from heaven, and lighten the cross and the burden of the heart-sore and the heart- weary, we must all acknowledge ; for we find, upon reflection, that it is this very purpose that gives a distinctive charm and coloring to most of the Divine Teacher's sacred sayings. We do well, dearly beloved brethren, to recall to mind, from time to time, this consoling and sustaining thought. It is a duty we owe ourselves to remember it, especially this morning, and to cherish to-day more fondly than ever before, the words of eternal hope and promise. They were meant to soothe our sorrows and to keep our bleeding hearts from breaking. They will com- fort us here and now, if aught in heaven or on earth can strengthen us, as we look into the open grave, and think of our dear friend, this Christian woman and gentle lady, sleeping peacefully beneath the green grass of God's acre. 334 Father Walsh What sad and solemn feelings are associated with death ! Who has ever visited a tomb without living over again long days of suffering, and still longer nights of weary vigils ? Does not the casket bring back to memory some sweet, wasted face, and tell us of the loved ones whom we have lost ? Alas ! life holds no picture more dismal than that. For, as we look into the face of the dying and the dead, we re- member, it may be, the last parting from parents, or the last faint clasp of a brother's hand, or the last loving kiss of a fond sister. To-day, in their pres- ence, we can recall the fact that blinding tears dimmed our eyes and loud sobbings closed our ears, lest we should catch the last shudder and sigh of the departing soul. We thought then, and we think now, that death is hard ; and had it not been for heaven's helping hand, we should have sunk into the grave, and there gladly welcomed quiet and rest. But, amid the outbursts of grief and above the din of distress, we heard a voice. You have heard it, dearly beloved brethren, and I believe they who mourn to-day have heard it. 'Twas the voice of Christ, saying : " Weep not." "I am the Resurrection and the Life." "You are indeed sorrowful now, but your sorrow shall be changed into joy." To the faithful Jesus has promised the crown, and they are blessed who die in the Lord. To have been faithful to God, and to have died in the Saviour's love, were the privilege and the hap- piness of this good woman. The fact that she was true and honorable in all her ways, will cause a wide circle of friends to regret her death. The thought that she was a devout Catholic, interested in the Church's welfare, has evoked from the clergy of this parish an expression of sincere sorrow. Our char- itable societies will miss her, and many a poor, neg- lected child of the world will feel the loss of her sympathy and generosity. If I dared, dearly beloved Eulogies 335 brethren, I would lead you to the house of mourning and show you the void made there by her demise. But the home and its gloom are too sacred for the gaze of the vulgar. In School Ten the teachers will see an unoccupied desk and chair. The pupils will hear no more the voice of a revered superior. But, oh ! what are such memories to the vacant chair in her home circle, and the hushing of that voice that was as sweetest music to the ears of the children of her dead sister ! They called her Aunt. In love and gratitude, they might have called her Mother. We believe that such a generous, unselfish, noble soul as hers is saved. St. Paul says that some souls must be saved yet so as by fire. If, in her case, the last farthing has not been paid, we may pay it for her by our good works and prayers. For Holy Writ assures us : * ' It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from their sins/* This Book may be obtained from George a. Scheyer, publisher and bookseller, 37 Barclay Street, New York City, or from Rev. James L- Wai,Sh, St. Mary's Rectory, Hudson, N . Y. Price, $2.00, postage prepaid. Deacidtfied using the Bookkeeper process. Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide Treatment Date: Jan. 2006 PreservationTechnologies A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive Cranberry Township, PA 16066 (724)779-211} LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 017 286 468 5 ■ • ■ SmSqcwWp 2 JTrin i fTa W | ' Mw W j g p gffi