The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-03-08
The Mission.

has been, to all appearance, a great success.
The attendance has been crowded and the
attention of the people apparently most
| earnest. One of the good Fathers engaged
| in it has, we believe been faboring under a
| severe cold, which rendered the necessary
exertion of his voice quite fatiguing and
painful to him; still, an unfagging zeal
| has hitherto borne him up, to the great ejti=
fication and instruction of the faithful.
1t has never been our lot to hear more
logical, convincing and, Mt the same time,
interesting sermons than those of this mis-
sion. In fact, it seems almost mystery
how dry, controversial point can be treated
during a couple of hours, without any ap-
peal to the passions, or any resort to the
poetical embellishments of the imagina-
ton, yet with such interest as to chain the
| unfaltering attention of crowded and
mixed assemblage.
The sermon of Thursday evening could
be mentioned rs a special instance of this
kind. Its object was to controvert the
Protestant acceptance of "the Bible as the
rule of faith.''
The Rev. Father examined the history of
the sacred book for evidence of such n claim,
but in vain. 1t bears no external mark of
such'a~ purpose. 1t was not written and
promulgated as code complete and suffi-
Gent in itself; on the contrary, many years
elapseI and multitudes Of Christians died
before the New Testament~was completed,
and even centuries had passed before the
Church decided the vexed question, of the
authenticity of certain books, and adopted
the volume as it now stands. Many of the
Apostles did not write one word of it, and
large portions are the production of authors
who were not of the Apostles. Besides,
many of the writings were for the settlement
Of local questions, and seme were for the
private edifcation of a pious servant man,
named Theophilus
| The interior evidences of such claim
We're equally wanting. 1t was nowhere put
forward in Holy Writ on the contrary, it
is distinctly said that if all that our
Saviour said and did were written, the
books would cover the earth, and yet all
this, left unwritten, was equally divine
and equally rule of faith with those
things which were recorded. The unfit
ness of book, and especially this book,
as rule of faith, was manifest. In
the first place, it is written in the Greek
and Hebrew, languages of which nearly the
whole Christian world is utterly ignorant
Therefore, this rule of faith must be taken
second-handed, and from translation
which may be full of errors. Again, up to
the invention of printing, copiest of the
Bible were very costly, beyond the reach of
nearly
now cost about three hundred dollars, and
would be too expensive q rule of faith. =
Even now, with printed copies, three
fourths of Christendom cannot read, and to
them it rs a hidden rule. OfLthe rest, a.
great many read with such difficulty as to-
make it very arduous rule, and others
read so nlogically as to make of it a very
btundering rule. The Rev. Father then
expatiated ON the difficulty for the most
astute intelligences, of understanding the
inspired writings, rs compared with ply
steal science, Law, ethics, and theology
Then came the insuficiency of a book to
this end. 1t could not reproduce nor pro-
mufgate ITSELF It had never converted q
single tribe of human beings without the
direct agency of living men.
This discourse occupied fully two hours
in its delivery and, though of a strictly
argumentative and logical character, evil
IDENTIFY retained the audience in rapt atten-
ton throughout If many Professionals
attend these services, we cannot doubt that
the result of the Mission will be here, as it y
has been elsewhere, fruitful in their con-
version. For those who have been unable
to attend, but yet would like to famniarize
themselves with the spirit of the lectures
and discourses delivered, we would state
that of