The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-03-18
81. PATRICK S DAY.

and Locust streets. Large numbers of peopl,
were oolged to turn away without gaining
admission, so great was the interest manifested
by our Irish fellow-ctlzens. The services we're
commenced by the singing of Ponti6cal High
Mass by the Right Rev. Bishop Wood, who
closed witd the Papsl benediction.
Inc music was under the direction of Professor
Aledo, the choir singing Mozart's Twelfth Mass,
the leading parts being taken by Miss Donnelly,
Mrs. Janke, Mr. Bourke and Mr.. Keegan. The
customary panegyric o the Saint was preached
by the Very Rev. James 0'Connor, Rector OF
1T. Charles Theological Seminary, and formerly
Bishop of the Diocese OF PittsbuTg, who selected
for his text the folowing;-
Trust in The Lord; ana do good, and dwell in the
'-isP%S % and 'hon Shalt be fed with rlcheS'-f'a'"'
1IA -,
We are assembled to-day, IoSstia On
celebrate the feast OF lreland's -. .Shis
such day on such an occasion, our thou
are not at all with the present Now and tneu
they revert, very naturally, TO the land where
VIC first learned to love and honor the name OF
st. Patrick. We think OF Ireland, and the
thought awakeus thousand tender recollec-
tiOns OF the time, remote or near, when we
celebrated this day on her sacred soil. Memory
recalls the simple joys this festival brought us
in childhood, and the consultations OF faith 1t
inspired IN ua.urer years. The cross and the
mystic shamrock fastened on our young breasts
by fingers that now are dust the happy multi
tudes that hastened over hill and valley, and
through the streets of city and town, to assist
saint; the JOY that filed every heart and
beamed from every face; the secular festivities,
too, that long usage and religion had sane
hQned, come Nyidiy before our minds.
r, Shali sDoaE to you on this occasion, not OF
81 P2tricE, nor of what Ireland did or suffered
Tor religion in the past, but OF what lrish Catho-
lies are expected to do for IL here, IN America,
their adopted home, and the home OF their chll-
dren and of their children's children after them
forever. 1t u.s. indeed, right and proper that
''Erin remember the days of DID," but II Is or
still greater importance that we be mindful OF
the duties which the present and the future
impose upon us.
1t reouires no prophetic vision to foresee that
there is glorious destiny in store for this coun-
try, if only its people cultivate the virtues that
preserve and eXalt nation.
The population of the United States is at pre-
sent thlrtytwo millions, The child is now born
who will see it increase to one hundred mil
hons And, in another century, 1t VIII pro-
badly exceed that OF all Europe at the present
day. The increased and eyerncrcasln5
facilities of communication between the most
distant parts of this continent, the almost ami.
hilaton of space by the telegraph, will, no
doubt go far to remove the physical and local
difficulties IN the way Of moulding those mil
lions into one people, under one general
government: but where, my brethren, will be
the moral bond that will make their union
proof against the bad passions OF our nature,
against the liCentiOusness, selt-lnterest, and
tanatiClsm that have rent asunderso many great
empires IN the past, and which have already
brought this young republic to the verge Of
ruin?
There is no power but that of the Roman
Catholic Church that can enable this country
to realize the social and political greatness to
which it is destined in the future. The Church
Is the author OF modern ciyilZaton. She alone
understands it, is able to control and guide it,
She alone has the knowledge and the helps
that can lead them to the liberty with which
Christ hath made us free, and without which
social and political, and especially republican,
harfNY hn hTrf NI 1wf lnnN Ion Who
Church is necessary 10 preserve the unity and
the liberties of the country, and guide ii to the
temporal greatness of which it is susceptible;
but this, after ALL is but part, and, relatively
speaking, an unmportant part of her mission,
in this land
That mission is primarily and chiefly directed
to promote the spiritual welfare Of the millions
that now inbabtt 1t, and of the hundreds Of
millions that will one day fill it, from the Lakes
to the Gulf, from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
She would instruct those millions in the one
truth OF God, she would unire them in the one
worship established by Christ, train them to
the practice of the Christian virtues, and thus
lead them to the great end of all rational
creatures, the possession of eternal happiness.
What mission! What an enterprise! How
does not the Catholic heart and the Catholic
Imagination warm to this vision of faith in the
future of the United States! How cOns0ling
too, to think that the Church is well able TO
reolize it, and that she will realize it, if not pre-
vented by the malice of men!
The United States may achieve the temporal
greatness of which they are capable, and be
brought to CatholH unity by ways of peace and
prosperity, or onlyStter long years of strife and
persecution OF the Church. In either case Irish
ialth, II not an indispensable, will be a most
important element of success That faith trieC
and purified and strengthened as it has been by
long suherlng, Is as much needed to resist tho
seducuons Of uninterrupted peace and Dros
perlly as TO Withstand the storms of religious
persecution.
But how are Irishmen to fulfil the mission
which Providence has assigned them in tni
country? How are they to continue the gIo
rious work in which already they have had 6,
large share? By being true to the faith, b,
beng good Catholics. This is the way, and tn
only way, You know, my brethren, what
means TO be good Catholics. These words con
Vey 10 your minds no vague, indefinite tbeOr
of morals. They give youa rule of conducr Vol
clearly comprehend-one that is emiucntl
practical, and which you are able to apply TO
yourselves TO all the details OF life.
Love your faith; value il above all thing
earthly; let 1t be your guide and your consoli
tiOn in good and evil fortune; preserve it i
your chlloTeh, ana there Is every reason to hop
that youWill be the chief instruments in the hand
OF God in keeping this country free in keeDm,
1T united, in making II prosperous and greg
above all the nations that have preceded IT, !
bringing its people to knowledge of the tru
faith, and in making your posterity after yo
sharers in these blessings. 'Trust i'm the Tor
and do good, and dwell in the land, and lho
shalt be fed with its riches"
IN Jne dDseuCt vi OiShlAoC'ou' huCh COul
and ought to be done by local associations an
by individuals for the good of the immgran
Why, for instance, might not Irish women
every city along the seaboard form societi,
which would send their agents to every imm
grant ship that arrived, to offer at least temp
Tary shelter to such of their sex as come frien
less and unprotected among us? shame on
that such societies were not established lol
agol
There is in every country, and in almost eve
commupity a helpless improyident, ViCiO
class of poor who are such from natural inc
-. 60. -. the long