The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-05-16 00:00:00

ROMIS.7I " SAINTS" AND .ROMISH

SINNERS.-

THREE are certain classes of individuals :to whom
Englishmen are wont-to apply, metaphorically; the some-
what coarse proverb, that " they will hang themselves if
you give them rope enough.." To no class of persons does
this more apply than to modern Anglo-Romanists in ge-
neral, and the "converts" to Romanism in particular.
Hence we have •repeatedly urged, upon the opponents of
Romanism that the 'plain unvarnished texts and facts
furnished by Romaniats themselves are far more useful
than the most laboured comments and arguments. We
venture to say that (generally speaking) a single number
of the Tablet contains better materials for exposing and
estimating the real character of existing Romanism, in
theory and practice, -than will be found in nineteen-
twentieths of the volumes, pamphlets, speeches, and lec-
tures which are being continually putting forth.
Among the leading articles of the Tablet of 'Saturday
last, we find the following :
"We cannot help calling the special attention of our
readers to a most interesting letter, given elsewhere in
our columns, under the title of " Visit to Ars and La
Salette." It contains some highly-edifying particulars
relating to the holy Cure .of Ars, of whom many of our
readers have heard, and who is regarded with -profound
veneration throughout France as a most saintly person,
whose prayers have extraordinary power. But interesting
as those particulars are, and we seldom have to communi-
cate information more pleasing to the Catholic heart,
they are surpassed by the facts which the writer has
mentioned in the same letter relative to the apparition of
Our Lady at La Salette. It is impossible to -read them
.without a sensation of awe and gratitude to Almighty
God, and we have no doubt that in this month of May,
dedicated as it is to the special devotion to Our Holy
Mother, this will add a fresh and lasting impulse to the
prayers which are offered for the conversion of England,
as well as for the sanctification of individual souls, and
for any blessings which the devout Christian may have
most at heart to obtain by her all-prevailing intercession."
We naturally turned to the communication referred to,
in order to see what kind of information it is which so
pleases " Catholic hearts" in these days ; and we venture
to say that a glance at the communication in question will
convince any sober, well-instructed and genuine Catholic,
that the "Catholic" of Rome is a very different character
from the Catholic of apostolic and primitive times, if he
takes delight in such things as are there set forth.
The Cur 6 of Ars is described as " a living saint, known
all over France," who "rises throughout the year at mid-
night, after having slept for two hours—then he goes to
the Confessional, where crowds are waiting for him" fat
midnight !)—that "an omnibus has been established for
the express purpose of conveying pilgrims to him"—that
" at twelve o'clock he takes his single meal, a small portion
of bread and-milk, never breaking his fast till the same
hour of the day following." In the first place, we very
much doubt the truth of these alleged " facts." But
admitting them to be true, we see nothing saint-like in a
man's taking upon himself, and encouraging others, to set
at nought God's Providential order and arrangement, by
turning night into day, unnecessarily, and rejecting that
seasonable rest which He who "made man," and "knew
what was in man," has appointed to be the rule and order
of the whole creation. We have never had much reverence
for those " saints" who were principally remarkable and
notorious for voluntarily and unnecessarily violating the
laws, order, and appointments, which God has established
for the preservation of health, strength, and efficiency, of
the mind and body. We have no special respect for men
or women who voluntarily and deliberately weaken both
body and mind, and shorten their lives, by systematically
and continuously taking much less food and rest than their
bodies and min4s require for healthy action. Still less
respect have we for those—and they have not been few—
who were voluntarily filthy and disgusting in their habits.
The preaching of the Cur 6 of Ars is next described as
follows :

" Dinner over, he preaches, and then goes to the confes-
sional. His preaching is absolutely nothing but a repeti-
tion of those famous words so familiar to St. John the
Evangelist, "My children, love one another." He chiefly
insists on the happiness of loving God, often repeating the
words, " Oh, qu'il est dour claimer le bon Dieu !" and at
each repetition shedding torrents of tears. The same
occurs whenever he mentions the sufferings of Our Blessed
Lord and our obligation to love Him in return. When he
preached on this subject before our travellers, he was
obliged to stop from the profusion of his tears, and such
was the effect on his congregation, that there was not one
dry eye in the whole church. His manner, though so
simple, was impressive and moving to an extraordinary
degree. Nothing more striking than his personal appear-
ance. He was the image of death, very old, had lost his
teeth, and his cheeks had fallen in. He looked like a
person dreaming, or rather walking in his sleep. He never
seemed to look at or to see every one. There was some-
thing altogether unearthly in the expression of his eye."
In all this the Romanist—fond of excitement, and reck-
less of the means for obtaining it—sees a Saint. We see
simply a poor old man, much past work, who ought to be
allowed to rest, even from the ordinary duties which his
own flock require, and upon whom it is sheer inhumanity,
and selfish indulgence, to lay the additional burden of
ministering to a parcel of idle, sight-seeing, or sentimental
men and women, who, leaving their own pastors (able and
willing to attend to them), choose to call themselves
"pilgrims," and go in "an omnibus," to bother this poor
old man to " hear their confessions" at midnight, when he
and they ought to be in bed and asleep. We should very
much like to relieve the old pastor, by undertaking the
office of imposing penances upon such people. We would
venture to say that the midnight crowds of " pilgrims "
would soon cease.

The narrator of this precious history continues :
" One of our party stopped him as he was passing through
the church in his old, poor, mean surplicet to preach.
She asked him to bless her rosary. He stopped imme-
diately, took it into both his hands, bent reverently over
it for a moment, blessed and returned it, evidently with-
out having seen, heard, or at least noticed her. This
rosary she afterwards dipped in the fountain of La Salette.
. . . From every corner of France pilgrims flock to
him. Our whole travelling party succeeded in getting to
confession to him, but, contrary to their expectations, he
hurried them all. On inquiring afterwards, they found
that he does this with many persons."
Here we see plainly that the object of these people is
not simply to -confess certain sins, because they felt the
burden of them, but their object is to confess to a par-
ticular Priest. They make up a confession in order to
have an interview with this poor superannuated Pastor.
Their success is in getting him to hear them.
We now come to a more painful and serious portion of
this narrative. From the Cure this "party" goes to
Salette, which, as our readers may remember, is the
scene of an alleged appearance of the Blessed Virgin, and
her communication of a secret message to a shepherd-boy
and a young girl, some years ago, which message was to
be told to the Pope alone. Speaking of the girl (Melanie)
the narrator says :

" She can describe the Blessed Virgin's appearance,
with the exception of her eyes. She says she could never
meet them, they were so intensely bright. The whole
face was luminous, and what has been called " yellow,"
merely the two children's description of sun-light, golden
coloured. The wreath of roses round the Blessed Virgin's
head was blue, red, and white., One of the party observed
to Melanie, " Blue roses are never seen." "No matter,"
replied Melanie, " the Blessed Virgin had blue roses, and
from each rose a ray of light proceeded, having something
like a star in the middle."

" The high headdress was made of light ; it quivered
all the time ; and what was most striking, the figure of
'Our Lord on the crucifix was as if alive ! Melanie saw
the blood most distinctly, and it was certainly alive, she
says. When the Blessed Virgin left them, after crossing
the brook, and walking up the mountain, she stopped at
one spot, and turning her head over her shoulder, looked
as if at some remote object. When this was described to
some Priests, they ascertained that she threw this linger-
ing look in the direction of Rome.
"Melanie is frequently found in tears. She instructs a
class of children, and the first prayer she teaches them to
say Misericorde pour la. France !' Though she keeps
her secret inviolably, yet this much she has said in answer
to the many clueations put, that no prayers can avail to
avert the predictions of the Blessed Virgin, and that what
is to happen will happen in.her (Melanie's) own lifetime !
" She and the boy (Maximin) have an ardent desire for
the conversion of England, and this conversion is sup-
posed to be in some part of their secret, so confidently do
they speak of it. When one of the party explained to
Maximin how obstinate the English were, and how far
from a knowledge of the truth, he observed with great
.emphasis, " Yes, England shall be converted." Nay,
Melanie, before making her profession, stipulated that if
any Religious of her Order went to England she should be
of the number. This was one of the conditions of her
vows, and the promise has been made her. One of the
party advised her to commence learning the language at
once, and offered her the English Prayer-books she held
in her hand, and Melanie accepted them with great
pleasure."
This boy, Maximin, who has such an " ardent desire
for the conversion of England,". and who pronounces so
oracularly that "England shall be converted," is described
as " a great lad of seventeen," who " prefers play to
study," confessing "that all learning tired him, and that
it was dull work." It is worthy of remark that girls are
always found the most apt pupils of Rome in working and
managing her supernatural machinery. She finds them,
intellectually and physically, much better dupes and de-
votees, and more skilful and attractive actors, than "great
lads of seventeen," who "prefer play to study," and find
learning "dull work."

The place where the Blessed Virgin is said to have ap-
peared has for some time beell regarded as peculiarly
sacred ; some buildings are being erected near the spot,
and many miracles are narrated in connexion with it.
The following extracts from the history before us will
afford our readers some specimens :

" The church on the top of La &kat is a fine
and nearly completed, 1 e y are also erecting two hos-