, 1870-07-16
.'eht hundrsd convents in Germany but not
v!1hstandins, the Emperur Joseph Il, Of Aus

/
OF Luther, the number Of friars Of the mendi
can't orders amounted to two million four hun
urea And hfly thousand Some founders Q
conSehtH wt1e very extraordinary m.:l; 10
instance, tls above-named st. Benc~;:., wh
n1escf7bed - his monks very sensible rule
LEY were 10 work. The Benedictine con
vents, consequently, became p1aces Of refug
lof science md art during time very unfa
Fosaole TO 10th, and we're respected. Prince
Who reitre1 From business generally chos
| tEoee c6ure3te.
} FaI different from the rule Of 81. Benedict
"as thar set down by the EisLman COLUMBIA
; nue. uozena of lashes we're his correction 10
the most triaing mistakes. Whoever contra
dleted y brother without aGdiug, nif you wi
remember correctly, BROTHER received fit,
lanes who spoke to woman got 200, vel
told, One Of the most successful promoter,
of monasteriee, and at the samo time . yer,
distinguished man, was st. BERNHARD. Luthel
says Of him: Il thero ever was true ant
plous monk, it VAS BERNHARD I never hearf
or 5ead of ons Ike him, and I value hin
ngher Ea1e thaS thai Al the monks and priests q II!
ca ascetie; and tormented his pool
body in the most cruel manner, 1iving
frequently, together with his monks, OF
6eechtIee-leayes aud coarse barley bread
when he took, for the strengthening of hi
oil and Aoney he cried bitterly. He enjoyed .
very high reputation, and when be once Gu
tered Milan lis hands and arms we're SORE
from the kisses with which they we're covered
By the faithful He might have become Arch
bishop or even Pope, but he refused all suct
honors. Neither Pope nor Emperor dared en-,
ter his conTent ut Gteaux on horseback; botl
walked. He WAS the soul Of the second cru
sade, and bis persuasive tongue caused 50
many men to take the cross, that in Some
cities only one remained tor every seven WON.
en-. But the statistics OF the sexes in those
| cities, preyIOualY are not recorded
AL the good, or at least, all the best part OF
the good, which tho Beuodirtino convcnts
might have effected, was annihilated BY the
conycntH Of the mendicant orders, which com
bined the rlost Reryilo submission of reason
to the worst superstition with scandaloua
morals.
The idea Of the mendicant orders originated
in the head OF Johan BernaEdoni, the good
for-nothins son Of shopkoeper in Assist, in
Umbria, He IL known under the name Of st.
francis, Of Assist, or the " seraphic father
Not doing we'll in his fathor's business, he be-
came asoldler, and was takon prisoner, and
fell sick. I. is not clear how ho became a
tal11t, for at frat ha appeared to be an idiot |:
Of whom the infallibla Pope Honorius himself
aaid; that lie was q aimpletou, Ho kept
and piously robbed his father to get means for
the restoration Of q ruined church. How
ever. the Bishop oi Assist took the Bimpleton
under lis protection, and Le went about tho
country begging for his church, with such ln-
expected SUCCESS that he conceived the idea
OF instftuting mcndicaut order, Though
! Pope HonoIous despised him, Innocent tie
Third. equally infalible, confirmed the code
which Francis drew up for his new order, not
withstanding His 1nfallibillty's having called
it at first IA rule Tor pigs, but not for human
beings"
"Alma," Francis declared, "are oar heri-
tage, aims arc our justice, begging is our pur-
| pose and our royal dignity ignomipy and con
tempt arc QUIZ honor aud our glory on tho day
Of Judgment" Francis was tie best example
of humility. In the commencement he
Ira ,S4so very 2, much 1ehr Laughed at but sttes
ton Of his sanctity. stood 80 high, that the
clergy snl people ealno to moet him in pro-
eesslon when he approached city, and the
bells Of all the churches welcomed him. The
With mud, the better he was pleased. When
lie went about begging in Assist. he put
everything eatable that he received into
the same pot, and when ho became
ness. once, invited to, dinner by a
dainty dislles Iut stuck to Lis pot, to the dis
gust Of all the guests, lIe loved the lower
animals very much, and called them his broti-
ers and si+sers. He frequently preached to
geese, ducks, and hens, aud. when once tie
swallows and spasrows disturbed hin by their
Il
keep quicl. For recreation, he rolled himself
on fhor1Is, went up to the neck in freezing
ponda, atd slept III The snow. He died in 1926,
but during lis life the number Of Franciscan
monks was very great, and, after his death,
increased like the Hands on the sea shore.
Tho Franciscan General offered Pope Plus the
Thirl All army OF forty thousand Eranciscans
for tile war against the Turks. Though a
great many converts were destroyed by the
Reformation, there were still existing, at the
f,$ 1sa
monasteriss and nine hundred nunuerie5 Of
this order.
The sworn enemies Of the Franciscans
we're the Dominiosn=, whose origin dates
from about the sa1no time. They arc
named After st. Dominicus, SpauinrI, whose
uame wAs Domiuicus Guzman. He WAS sent
to France to convert some horetic8 (thc Wal
denses), and there conceived the idea OF insti-
tuting monks order for the instruction Of
the people. Ao received permission from the
Pope, and to this order the Romiah Church
owes the introduction Of the Inquisit;on and
the censorship OF books.
70 conclude, politely, with few fenalo
saints: 81. Theresa Was noble SpaniA.d, born
in 1915. Her admirers give her very high
Amazone, Dalinea1den organ. and Cabinet
secretary Of the Holy Ghost When still quite
young, she intended to run OIL to tho Egyptian
desert; but, at II years old, nes parents
thought it best to place her in the Carmelit1n
". =.
own account from the hand OF the admins
tcring Bishop into her mouth, and then
everybody know that tho wAR eoint- She
became ahbess OF nunnesy At Pastrana,
where seraph visited her, and "tapped"
her With fel-h ARROW several times. The
pain Was 60 sweet that she would have liked
It to continue forever. The Spauiatds still
celebrate the Anniversary OF ibis red-hot tap
ping, on the 9Th Of August.
Tho nuns Of st. Theresa had to 20 barefoot.
Blind obedience was their principal law. A
nun who made w1y face at bad bread was
stripped, tied to the crib Of the donkey, and
had to share for ten days his oats and hAy.
Such Garbarous severity enforced the blindess
obedience. When nun onco asked St.
Theresa who Waa to Sing on that day at tho
said, 1.-The cat" Therefore the nun took the
est under her arm, went to the altar, and, by
pinching its tail, made it sing as we'll as it
could.
The nuns Of st. theresa plept on thorns, or
in the .now; drank from Bpittoous. dipped
their bread in rotten eggs, and pierced their
tongues with pins, il they broke silence.
Nearly contemporary OF st. Theresa was
] an Italian, Catherine dc CAEdone. She lived
4 in 3 cave, wore dress interlaccd With thorns
| and wire, ate grass Like beast without using
| her hands, and once tasted forty days. In
this state she lived three years. vt. Passides,
| = Cisterican nun Of sienna, beat herself with
| thorns, and washed the. wounds with vinegar,
| salt and pepper. She slept on cherry stones
| and peas, wore a mailed coat Of sixty pounds
| weight, immersed herself in freezing ponds,
| and once hung herself for time; foet upper
| most, in emoky chimney
| ST. Clara, Of Amir, lived very severely. IN
stead Of q shift, she wore dogs skin, Or &
garment made OF lortehair md she was 80
humble that she would kiss tho feet Of dirty
peasant girl without permitting her to wash
them first. After she had ~ sulliod them by
her kiss "{tlen why kiss them, one would
ask p she washed them herseH! When st. Clara
died, there were found in her hoart
all the Instruments Of the pas
sion in miniature. There we're
Also found in her body three mysterlous
stones, each Of the same weight, but OF which
one was Al heavy ss all three, two were not
heavier than one, and the smallest was II
heavy IS all three together!
There are q few examples OF the miserable
havoc that abjecs and degraded snperstition
vanity, once made OF tho New Testament. It
is scarcely conceivable that such truths could
he enacted, or such lies told (for some Of
these things are founded on fact and Others
arc wholly false), with an audacious reference
to the religion Of Christ. The frequent intro.
auction Of the Divine Master himself into the
lives of female saints, We hnve purPosel1
emitted to notice, al too shocking to be re-
membe1ed-
1 Cu1losltics Of Figures.
Much has been said Of late about tho re-
markable repetition Of certain numbers in nar
ture and history; and the following may serve
as an interesting supplement- Tho hgnre 2
says German writer, plays An especially
striking role in history, and il is remarkable
that g1eat number OF the birth-years Of the
celebrated men Of the eighteenth century end
with the figure .. He brings the following
| examples in proof Of his assertion, placing
| the yeat Of birth after the name:
Glenn uas born in 1719; Leasing, 1873 ;
Schubert, 1883; Goethe, 1749: Schiller, 1853 ;
Azndt, 17es; Oehlenschlager, ITO: Ruckert,