The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1852-1855, 1854-10-05

- WITH Z u ANN NMUAMe
Our readers bsys already been made 4,
ware that Pops Plus *. has summoud q
grand conclaVe Of the chief dignilaries Of
the Roman Catholic Church 70 meet at
Rome, during the mo1fh Of October, to
settle the question whelhcr the Virgin
Mary was herself conceiyed wi.Eout sin,
iresby birth from every tsiDt Of human
lmpuTity and imperleetion, and ;hGs d.
viniiy who may properly be nsde an OBJ
leet Of haman alteration. Hitherto this
dogma has not formed an authoritative part
Of tlie Roman creed, aud has been stoally
disputed within the bosom Of the Church
itself; but it Is expected by the more zeal.
Gus adherents Of the doctrine that it will
now be finally adopted and made obligatory
on all the faiLhful.
As far as II can be asceriaiGd By histori.
cal investigation, tie worship OF the Vir-
gin was totally unknown among the early
Christians. Neither the deciples Of Christ,
the Apostles, The founders Of the first VA
rious churches, nor tie early Fatbers, AZ
loved Of any such worship. The frst
signs Of il appear about the end Of the
fourth century among some Thracian or
Scythian Christian women living in Ara
bis. These women were called in Greek,
CJEyridians. froma small cake. eollvis,
offered by them in the new Christian god.
dess. But even ut that time the example
given by Irene, TerildiiSn, Origen, Basil,
ianl Chryso5,om, was followed, and Mary
was considered as any o.her moral. and
spoken of by theologisns with her faults
aud her virtues. Stll. the special worship
began TO extend beyond Arabia. anI Wis
accepted, to a certain degree by the church
in general. ani ilfthe following ccn;urie,
various church festivals were established
III honor Of tlic Mother Of Chris.. jl
In the twelfth century, however, tie
practice Of Mariolatry acquired certain
ldisheyeled aud extrsvagan. character
througa various orders OF monks and nuns.
The immaculate nature Ct the Virgin, how
ever, having Thus bPen recognizel in this
twelfth century, some caaohs Of Lyons
took up the idea other Immaculate coaccp-
ton from her mother, and at once marked
a day in the almanac for its commemora-
tion. This invention however, proved too
much for tie hard-heat.d order oil the
Dominicans, those bloody oGshoos Of the
persecution of the Albigenses and Of Yau.
lclcuse in the south OF France. The gloomy
Dominican foYnder and those friars were
the authors Of fsthe Holy Iaqui4f,ioa. aaJ
| the Dominicans were ordained By the Popcs
to be the managers, plrveyors. anl mas
ters of ceremonies to the au.o, da.!es. TO
THE present day the Dominiaaas are theo Of
fetal inquisitors at Rome. and the Censure
the 1ndex--is principally in their hands
As we have mentioned, the Domiuicans
protested against tie notion Of the immsc
ula.e conception, and Papal cdicts allowed
them to dispense with this theological sub
Etleiy. Thomas Aquinas,a disciple Of Aris-
to:le, wrote likewise against it, treating il
as an absurdity; but Duns Sco.us raised
his voice in its favor. The order of Fran
eiscans, founded by oneof the least intel
lec.ual Italian enthusiasts. contained the
leading defenders of the Immaculate con-
cep.ion. In the fourteenth century, the
Sorbonne, or University of Paris, decided
IdttS LhfOtJ thuS OlOstilHS " Win hIul VI
thigh theological authority. Tie Council
of Basilea, the Pope iSextus ", Alexan-
, der VI. of infamous memory, the Council
of Trent. and Gregory Kill, decided fol
maintaining the commemorative festiva
without, however, making of the questio;
a dogma for the Church.
The Jesuits, those antagonists and NOR
tai enemies of the Dominicans, espouset
from the start the cause Of the Virgin a.
gains. them. In the course Of time, The
Jesuits gave to this worship in general {
fcverish intensity, surrounding it with {
sentimental and mystical halo, bestowing OF
it the most varied explanations and signi
fcations. and uplifting it among their a
} depts, and especially the lower classes anC
women. Thus they secured to themselvel
a closer and stronger hold over excited im
laginations. Under the now overwhelming
influence and impulse of the Jesuits, tn,
present Pope seems to have determined t.
, immortalize his name by finally settling
the question. and eventually inscribing
, the Immaculate conception among the bind
ing dogmas Of the Church, That decision
we shall probably be able to announc
within few weeks.AN r Tribune.