The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1870-10-30

"A VOIy interesting c0remOny-tNe DlosS-
iEg of q shrine in honor of the Virgin
Mother Of Cookbook place in st. Stephens
Church, Washington City, on the 9th inst.
The shrine contained beautiful marble
statuette of the Virgin crowned with a
floral wreath, and surrounded with lighted
tapers in golden candlesticks. The Church
was densely crowded.
After the first Gospel, Rev. Father Ma
guire, of st. AlOysius Church assembled the
altar and preached an eloquent sermon. He
said. that all the glory We offer the Virgin
rebounds to God. She il, in the language
of the Church, just like the moon and just
as beautiful. The moon shines from the
reflected splendor of the sun, the Virgin
from the splendor Of the GOdheAd. We
worship God, and God alone. We pay re-
lative respact to men who are higher in the
service of the State, and we pay honor to
the Virgin because she is the mother of
God. If'you erect statues in all your pub
lie squares, If at every part of the city you
have mementos to men who have done
the State some service, where is the Chris
tain who will not feel delighted to honor
the mother of his crucified Saviouri To do
SO is dear to every Catholic heart If q
lover cherishes the picture of some dear
one who is absent, or the mother sheds a
tear over the relic of her child who is in
ton in cherishing the picture Of Him who
died upon the cross to saveEus, or of the
Blessed Mother who bore him to the world
The preacher here related an anecdote of
one formerly Presby terian, now a con-
vert to Catholicity. He went from Pitts
course. There, after some investigation of
Presbyterian tenets of faith, he looked in
to the Episcopal creed aud deemed it higher
and nobler. Pursuing his Investigations
still farther, he joined the Catholic faith,
which he conceived was the true goal of
was discarded by all his relatives. Last
year he delivered lecture on the Cata-
combs of Rome, where he had resided for
four years. H&lecture was illustrated by
charts. These Catacombs were the resort
of the early Christians for three hundred
years. In one of these illustrations was
picture of the Virgin and child. Most of
our dissenting friends say that the early
Christianity was of that pure character that
it had nothing of the Virgin and child in it;
but descend into the Catacombs and there
you will find, fifteen hundred years old,
Catholic faith. There, in the so-called
purest days of Christianity, the worship of
the Virgin Mary is in evidence. The way
ward child, continued the speaker, flies to
the mothers arms to ask forgiveness of an
irritated father. So it is with US. We ask
of the mother of God to- plead for us, to
solicit for us the, support, grace and conso-
lation for which we are always in need.
She merely asks for her divine Son to give
us all graces and blessings. Through God
we look for redemption; through Mary we
ask for assistance In our cause before the
court of Heaven. The son never forgets
his mother. From the cross of Calvary He
turned in his hour of agony to John and
said, "Son, behold thy mether." In the
person of John the Church and all her
members are typifed, and in the midst of
all the storms of life we turn and call her
by that sweet and affectionate name.