The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-10-14

ox-Benedictinc Superior and founder of the
Abbey of Acey:-
My Much 1cnored Brother in our Lord;
God be praised for having granted YOU the
strength TO loudly confess before HIM and
before men. the truth of the cause that is
drawing the Church with rapid strides TO its
destruction. The upright minds, afflicted by
the evils of Israel, are grateful towards you
for your action, and by instinct rally arolnd
preacher of the Gospel who dares to offer
such an example to their timidity For
my part | am happy to tell you so, and !
have come to DO so, too. Being made
priest of the Roman Church when twenty
three years of age, at twenty tive entered
upon the cloister life which to my mind was
the type of Christian perfection. My acception
was great After many struggles many
twinges l had ultimately. in order not to sacri-
flee my upright conscience, to fall out with my
superior, General Dom Gueranger the leader
of the aforementioned, who had written me
as follows:-"When thing is intimated You
have but to acknowledge it. You
are not responsible for anything and l an
swer for all My errors will not be imputed
to you. Your conscience is safe.
Such q doctrine renders the inferior but a
blind serf, irresponsible before God for his
personal actions. Therefore, like You. | pro-
tested. | renew my protest before the Coun-
ell the highest and last tribunal here below.
before which l can bring my cause After
exhausting the local ecclesiastical iurisdic-
tions, who honored me, some by silence,
others by insults and threats, order
ing me to submit myself to the
iniquity, under pain OFF nfamy, /, guided bv
my artless faith, addressed myself to Plus TX.
My letter OF March 4, 1864, was filial and full
Of abandonment In order to make it more
confidential 1 had added the words, ''To be
delivered personally. Important and very
particular matters of conscience" This was
equal to a sacramental confession | had
sealed it with five seals, and placed it in an
other, addressed to the intimate Secretary of
Plus * begging him to place the enclosure
in the hands of his Holiness, personally who
alone should know the contents, in considera-
ton of the major importance and particu-
larly of the matters of conscience and the
personages thereby brought into question.
March % the secretary of Plus IL wrote to
assure me that he had himself placed the
letter in the hands of his Holiness, who would
read it in due course. l prayed a great deal,
and waited patiently, full of confidence in
him who proclaimed himself the Vicar of
Jesus Christ and the common Father of the
faithful. For eight months / remained with
out news. At last l learned from eve wit
nesses that in full of all justification Plus TX
has sent that confidential document that con-
enemies. On November 20, 1864, / demanded
their replies. On the 22d vicar-general
wrote me from st. Claude:-"His High
ness confines himself to the communica-
ton of his orders and those of the HOLY
See. That is all that yOur obedience re-
quires you to know. BY acting thus his High
ness complies with the orders received from
the Holy See, and has to render no account TO
you" On the 25th / replied that, in order to
obey reasonably, according to that maxim of
st. Paul, rGtjOHGj86 0bselujthR, my con-
science required some enlightenment on the
subject of the provoking documents contain
ing the orders from Rome, and that if did
not receive an exact and authentic copy, /
should be obliged to renounce all hopes of a
Cancellation, which have never ceased toim-
plore by all my vows On the 2Sth. in let
ter strewn with epithets familiar to an abso-
lutte autocracy who experiences resistance, the
Bishop wrote me-''Monseigneu will give
you no communication. y On
his part, as on the part of the Holy
See, he owes you ORDERS direction, and cor
rections; on your part, towards your superiors,
it is a matter of submission and pardon, not
of Cancellation. Therefore, sir, the docu-
ments you ask for will not be forwarded
This, my very honOred brother is the man
ner in which the Pope himself respects the
conscience of a Christian, of priest. Now,
if he is all in the Council and II the bishops,
like myself, are but to receive orders, direc-
tions, and, if necessary, corrections, it is easy
to foresee what kind of justice we may expect
from it. Like yourself, ] wished to make the
trial, and if l am deceived, like you, will 1
then cry, I'D tUUR, DOntjae JeSU, tri6URdI
appcN0" Therefore, courage On the path
that we have chosen others will follow. Let
the outrage and sarcasm of men, for whom
word of command of the party forms consci-
ence, shower upon u.s. that is the extent of
their knowledge and of their
argument. For us, strong in our
good right, and faithful to the
maxim of the Apostles-'It is better to obey
God than maj" n"-let the pharisaism struggle
in hatred. What it leads to is not new.
Christ even raised obstacles against it, His
word of command not being observance of
human traditions, but solely the will of God
His Father; now, that persecuted and put
Christ to death, and the disciples of Jesus
cannot be better treated at present by mod
ern Pharisees than the Master was by their
predecessors. Receive, my very honored
brother, with the homage of my admiration,
the assurance of my respectful and cordial
sympathy PIEERE DIES FILLIERs,
EI-Benedictine of Solesmes, Founder and
First Superior of the Abbey of Acey.