The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-10-25

:
the force and beauty of self denial, q.
though the whole is worthy Of reproduction
for in the wofds Of the saitsf, :" The plague
In London and the plague in Florence have
Ill been described to M In the words o.
0enius but . hand unprastissd 10 capable
Of setting beside them an almost equally
impressive picture, truth in it, intssss 70
atty having . force above aRt."
The main incident, We are aware, II not
novel either in the person OF Cardinal
Altisri or In the thoassads whs preceded
him in Catholic annals. But it is encour-
aging to know that, independently Of the
rewards which such heroic deeds insure
them, moral effects are unnistaksbly i'm
pressed on souls but little given 10 award
I ing ven-handed Justice.
The correspondent writes:
at il only natural that, in reckoning up
tho names Of those who fell in tho cause Of
humanity and Christian charity, the death
Of the Cardinal Bishop of Albano, Altieri,
should have made special Impression upon
as all. The news of the cholera having
burst forth with such terrible fury among
his flock reached the Cardinal by telegram
on Tuesday evening, while present at an
examination in the Clomentins College in
Rome, of which his Eminence was director.
He Immediately returned to his palace,
near the Gesu, collected what ready money
he had, sent word to the Holy Father of
his determination to fly to the assistance Of
his people, and took his departure from
Rome with two doctors, whom no brought
away at his own expense. On reaching
Albano, he did not go on to his episcopal
residence, but left his carriage and began
ut once to exhort the people to courage,
and to give orders that every means might
be taken to calm down the universal terror
He then Immediately proceeded to visit
those attacked by cholera, to distribute
aims, administer the sacramento, and to do
all that lay in his power to relieve and
comfort his flock. From the hour of his
arrival till the Saturday following, when
he was seized by tho fatal malady, he was
occupied in charitable efforts to assuage
the horrors of the pestilence. Calling to
mind the example given by the Archbishop
of Milan, San Carlo Borromeo, during the
great plague there, the Cardinal carried
out the Holy Sacrament, barefooted, as an
act of penance, to appeass the divine
wrath He scarcely slept, and abandoned
all idea of regular meals; his every thought
was for the spiritual and corporal good of
his people. At one o'clock on Sunday
morning, his life being entirely despaired
of, he received the last sacrament, together
- with the especial apostOlical -benediction
sent him by Cardinal Sacconi from the
Pope; and, an hour afterwards he expired
in full possession of his senses, and per-
fectly tranquil, with the crucifix, which he
still held in his hand, SO closely clasped
that it was found impossible to remove it.
Orders were given that his body should be
transferred at dusk to the cemetery silently
and without followers, as the sanitary edict
demanded, A car was prepared within the
palace gates, to be drawn by a couple of
horses, led by the Zouaves, who claimed as
their privilege the removal of the corpse
But at dusk a crowd of people-in fact, all
the Albanese who were in q condition to do
so-assembled in front of the bishops pal
ace with lighted torches in their hands, all
ready and anxious tosaccOmpany their be-
loved pastor to the give. 1t was in vain
to quote sanitary laws or attempt to dis
suade the populace from violating them at
such time of extreme peril. Directly the
doors were opened, the young men crowded
In, and, detaching the horses, drew the car
slong bareheaaed, and with g silence and
decorum remarkable in this excitable peo-
ple.s The remainder of the crowd fol-
lowed, likewise all bareheaded, and, chant
ing hymns and prayers, accompanied the
the princes of whose noble house may
henceforward pride themselves on the car
dinal of their name, as the Borromeos boast
of their Cardinal San Carlo.
Upon this narrative the editor of Black
rood comments as follows:
The fate of Cardinal Altieri has, as is
natural, been received by some with ex-
aggerated plaudits and lamentations, by
others with the usual revulsion of cynicism
and opposition to what other people say.
Our sympathetic and liberal minded press,
after recording his heroism and martyr
dom one day, declares the next that it
must bean extraordinary thing for
bishop to do his duty, or his act would not
be regarded as anything out of the way.
But the fact is that, except parish priests
and parish doctors now and then, who do
the deed very quietly without knowing it,
but few people nowadays die for the sake
of their fellow creatures; and it is still
true that greater love has no man than this,
that n man lay down his life for q friend.
He might have done it moderately, taken
bis dinner, and put on his shoes. say our