The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-26 00:00:00

CARDINAL WISEMAN AT MOORFIELDS

(From the Daily lelegraph.)

A. very large congregation assembled at the
Roman Catholic Church, Moorfields, yesterday
morning, as Cardinal Wiseman had been announced
to preach.

His Eminence, in the course of his remarks,
said: "In the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen, Gloria in
excelsis Deo, Glory be to God in the Highest.'
The festival of to-day, my dear brethren, may be
considered a fountain of joy from which these glad
words have issued and diffused themselves over all
the services of the Church, from its foundation,
and they will continue to be the expression of her
joy to the end of time. ' Glory in excelsis Dee.'
When, in attending the services of the Church,
you miss those words immediately after humble
confession has been made of sin, you may depend
upon it that it is some sorrowful, some penitential
office which is being performed at her altars.
Never otherwise does she fail to intone those words
so as to be understood by all the faithful. ' Gloria
in excelsis Deo'—it is the beginning of what is
ealled the Angelic Hymn, and may be considered
as being peculiarly characteristic of this festi-
val. ' Glory be to God in the highest.' What
is glory to God ? What does it signify ? We
shall, perhaps, best understand it in connection with
this day's festival, if we look back at the different
ways in which, during previous periods, this expres-
sion has been used. In two different ways, parti-
cularly, have these words been applied to God : the
first in which the inspired prophet begins one of his
most beautiful psalms or hymns. We may say that
the first, the most striking, and the most beautiful
application of these words, is to be found in this
—' The Heavens announce the glory of God,
His hands.'
and the firmament' the works of
Glory was given to God by the creation of that
which in mystical and poetical language seems to
speak. It has spoken for ever, and speaks to this
day, of God's glory. The heavens announce His
glory. Their production, their creation, their beau-
tiful relation to earth, all seem to speak of the glory
of God. Not merely of His goodness, and power,

and wisdom, hut these are so combined that it may

be said they glorify. We see whatever may be ima-
gined of grandeur, magnificence, sublimity. Divinity
must have been united in Him who could so create
these heavens and so preserve them. Therefore, the
glory of God is made known by these great acts of
creation, and it was the first way in which His
glory is manifested. That glory anteceded the
creation of those who could in any way appreciate
the magnificent works that had been performed.
God was alone 'when He created the heavens
and the earth ; the creation included the
creation of angels. Glory is not rendering
thanks to God, singing his praises, admiring
his grandeur. That may form the glory of
the great and good on earth. God was glorious
and magnificent, was infinite, in fact, before
the existence of those who have tongues that could
utter his praises, before there was inteliigence that
could bow down before his attributes. Glory is
given to God by God alone. It is shit up within him-
self. It is like the light of the suo, as it were. While
he is undergoing an eclipse or during the night he
is unseen, but i❑ the morning his rays burst forth,
for the light is 'within himself. Let us look at the
second day in which glory is given to God. A mo-
mentary darkness and doubt came over His chosen
people when, Moses having brought them forth from
,out of bondage, they saw the army of Pharaoh, the
King, hastening after them. When they saw him
in pursuit they exclaimed, "Because there were
❑o graves in Egypt hast thou taken us away to die
in the wilderness ; wherefore hast thou dealt thus
with us to carry us forth out of Egypt ?' And
Moses said unto the people, 'The Egyptians whom
ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more
for ever.' And shortly after Israel had passed
through the open sea, they saw it close over their foe,
destroying them in a moment. The pursuing army
of Pharaoh was lost ; then Moses took up the
words of the Canticle, Sing to the Lord, because
he has been glorified.' And Miriam took her tim-
brel, and struck forth sweet chords, Sing ye to the
Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously.' The first
glory was that of creation ; this is the glory of re-
demption. His people were rescued from the thral-

dom and slavery of the Egyptians. In thiathe glory
of God was manifested in his might. On the occa-
sion which we are now celebrating the Heavens
announced and proclaimed through its stars the
glory of God. When God redeemed his people from
the army of Pharaoh, the people sang his praises
beeause he had overthrown the horse and his rider.
But when Christ was born the song which was
sung was peace to man and goodwill on earth. This
showed forth the most amiable, tha most loveable of
all the attributes and characteristics of God. Let

us never forget these words—' Glory be to God on
high, and peace to man and goodwill.o We give
God thanks for what? For his having created us,
redeemed us, watched over us. We thank
God for his own great glory, we thank him for
having manifested that glory ; we thank him
with all our hearts that he has made us
conscious of that glory, that he has made us
know it and feel it, and therefore on this day, in
particular, we thank Him with all our hearts and
souls—not for anything we have ourselves gained,
but for His own great glory. We are grateful to
Him that He makes us know and comprehend His
excessive glory. I have been asked to recommend
to you a real and solid charity—the Night Refuge.
Poor people. who have no home, no shelter over
them, are admitted night by night to receive the
benefits of this charity. The stable was a night
refuge for our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus, the
infant who found no home in Bethlehem. Mary
and Joseph found a poor night refuge for him in a
stable ; and it is precisely what is here. It is a '
stable that has been turned to the use of the poor.
It has been prepared by your pastors, and there the
poor are received night after night. Within the
last two years 30,000 poor people have been supplied

with supper and breakfast. Every week 500 per-
sons receive the benefits of this refuge, which is all
we can give." Cardinal Wiseman concluded by
asking the congregation to encourage their pastors
by contributing to the eupport of this charity.