The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-05-31
TIE RonAr CATERING.
BY w. G. DIX.
IConcluded.l

most In all parts OF the WOrA0. One Mas
sent her faithful soldiers of the cross where
the spirit of commerce dared not go; she
was the first in the east and the first In the
west It was her lamp Of divine light which
dispelled the gloomy terrors of the barbar-
GUS north Of Europe; it was her sceptre Of
celestial beauty, which, under the guidance
of Heaven, TRANSFORMED the political and
social wreck of southern Europe into order.
In what part of the world which man
could reach has she not planted the cross
Where on the face of the earth is the noun
tain whose craggy sides have not, at one
time or another, sent back into the sound
ing air the echoes of Catholic worship7
Daniel Webster gave a vivid picture OF
the extent of the power of England, in
what, I think, to be the grandest sentence
which America has contributed to the COM
mon treasure of English literature. He
said: "The morning drum-beat, following
the sun, and keeping company with the
broken strain of the martial airs of England"
That grand figure of speech may be applied
to the extent of the Catholic Church. Yet
it is not by martial airs, but by hymns of
praise and penitential prisons and the con-
tinuous sacrifice that the Catholic Church
sun until the going down of the same" the
triumphant march of the Prince of Peace.
How like " the sound of many waters" rolls
hourly heavenward the anthems of Catholic
worship throughout the world Not only
is every moment of every day consecrated
earth but how majestically roll down
through eighteen hundred years the I'M
broken anthems of Catholic devotion
Minute after minute, hour after hour, day
after day, night after night, month after
month, year after year, century after
To the minds ear seem blended in one al
most Overpowering flood of holy harmony
the unnumbered voices which have sounded
from the very hour when the shepherds of
Bethlehem heard the angelic song to this
very moment, when, somewhere, Catholic
voices are chanting praise to the Lord and
Saviour of men.
And. in this view, how literally has been
fulfilled that conseling prophecy, "Hence-
forth all generations shall call me blessed"
Wherever the Divine Son has been duly
honored, there also she, who was remem-
agonies for a worlds salvation, has been
remembered and called blessed; called
blessed from that lonely home and from
that mount of sorrow in the distant east,
in millions of lowly homes, and under the
shadow of mountains to the farthest west !;
ploring voices through all the ages since !;
called blessed in all the languages that
have been spoken since that time in all the
world called blessed in the rudest forms of
human speech and in the most ecstatic
music of voice and skill called blessed by
the lips of the little child that can hardly
speak the name of mother, and by the lips
that tremble with age and sorrow called
blessed by the sailor on the deep,
by the piowman on the land, by the
scholar at his books, by the soldier drawing
his. sword for right upon the battlefield
called blessed by the voices of peasant-girls
singing in sunny vineyards, and by the
voices of those from whose brows have
flashed the gems of royal diadems; called
blessed in cottages and palaces, at wayside
shrines, and under the golden roofs of grand
cathedrals; called blessed in the hour of
joy and in the hour of anguish-in the
strength and beauty of life, and at the
gates of death. How long, how ardently,
how faithfully has all this loving honor
been paid for so many generations, and
will continue to be paid for all generations
to come, to that sorrowing yet benignant
one, who bore Him who bore our woe
The recent gathering at Rome indicates
that there is no demand which civilization
can rightfully make of the Christian
Church which she will not eagerly, fully,
and faithfully meet. The largest assem-
blage of professed ministers of Christ which
this age has known-leaying here out of
view the claims of the Catholic Church to
Rome by the Church, SO extensively pro-
claimed and derided as being behind the
age. If there is life, deep, full, pervading
life anywhere on earth, it is in the Catho-
lie Church and in all her movements. She
will continue to draw to herself all the
qualities and capacities of life which are in
harmony with her spirit: and this accumu-
lated spiritual force will constantly weaken
the barriers that divide her from the SYM
pathies of a large part of ChristendoH, I'M
til at length she will be acknowledged by
all as the only living and true Church of
Christ.
"The restoration of the unity of the
Church" has been the subject of many
thoughts, of many words, of earnest and
devout prayer, of much and noble effort,
and. when understood as referring to the
reconciliation of those who have left the
Catholic Church, or who are now out of it
tl,air tlntS Loft Ii the 1ll,,ns