The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-25


siOning the greatest amusement by saying,
Padre b., 1 suppose your sister must have
had an extraordinary devotion to you, your
nephews are so like you" And once after
wards he remarked that il was now literally
true Of the Church that 1.-THE celibates had
many more children than those that were
married" Certainly q strange rendering of
Isaiah liv, /. II was also found that the
priestly example in this particular was sedu-'
lously copied by the peasantry. The de-
fcient sleeping accommodation, generally
one bedroom being the only resort for al
the family, gave rise to strange and revolving
crimes Ostracism does not follow disgrace,
as in England and America. A girl may live
amicably with her neighbors who is open to
more than suspicion. Education in most Of
the country parishes is neglected. There is a
school, but SO long as the children are not
driven to il, they evade it. Unless boy is
to be priest little care is taken of his edu-
cation. The estimate formed by the people
of their clergy is very low. The priest does
not in the least care for this. He regards his
profession as a means of livelihood. If he
has qualms of conscience about his own
errors, he seeks to atone by rigid observance
of his religion. For, to be religious, is not
with an italian necessarily to be moral.
The ex-Queen Isabella was always regarded
as a most religious woman, in. spite of
O0uOE anu TWO OJnSE
for she gave aims literally, regularly
attended mass, wore the chemises of Sor
Patrocinio, and was countenanced in her
"eccentricities, as he called them, by Mon
signor Claret. So, priest in Rome will earn
quite q reputation for piety and devotion by
assiduous attention to his external religious
duties. That other theory adopted by cardi-
nails and dignifed ecclesiastios is also
adopted by their interiors; that is, the man
and the priest are two distinct characters
and what is done by the man does not
affect the status of the priest. Frequently
cardinal, besides being a prince of the
Church, is a nobleman of high rank. Then
he considers himself at liberty to do freaks as
a nobleman which are very unbecoming to
cardinal. The vulgar mind, unfortunately, is
apt to regard this as a distinction without
difference. The persons concerned would say,
''Idnt piS pour eaa. "
Let us now proceed specifically TO the re-
ligious orders, promising that the foregoing
remarks apply more or less to them, and are
part of the report have used in compiling
this paper. And, first of ALL it may be in
teresting to the reader to be made acquainted
with the n,0duS 0perdndt of founding re-
hgious order. The original idea implied in it
is seclusion for the better service of God.
Much may be said for and against. 1t is
curious that the most pious member of the
advanced Oxford school that to-day is seeking
to restore monasticism wrote, forty years ago
the doctrine still advanced by those who
deem that the Christians work, like that of
his great Exemplar, is for men and amongst
them
We need not bid, for clostered cell,
Our neghbor and our work farewell,
Nor strive to wind ourselves too high
For sinful man beneath the sky
The trivial round, the common task,
Will furnish all we ought to ask
Room to deny ourselves, a road
To lead us daily nearer God.
Whether or not this last excellent aim can
be better attained apart from the busy haunts
of men-becoming the one engrossing topic
of pursuits still an undecided question.
But when a man decides that he has dis
covered "a more excellent way" whereby a
greater degree of sanctity may be attained,
and additional benefit accrue to the world, he
forms a religious order. The days of ancho-
rites are gone, and now monks as well as lay
men believe that unity is strength" A
few, perhaps one or two, are inoculated with
the founders ZEAL Let us not imagine cases,
but take such as exist. Twenty years ago
| two persons one Blessed Paul of the Cross,
! founded the Passionists, and Vincenzo Pal
lotti an order styled the "Congregazione Apos-
tolico." The Passionists are known by a
coarse frock of black serge, badge in white
representing the heart of Jesus, a girdle, and
sandalled feet. The Honorable and Reve-
rend George Spencer, brother of the
Earl Spencer, and formerly a clergyman
of the English Church, visited America
in that peculiar garb. The order of Pallotti,
which as yet has received no distinctive
name, dresses like any ordinary Roman
priest The object Of the first is to excite in
the faithful greater devotion to the passion
of our Saviour. 1t has had one very shining
light in the person of Leonard of Porto Maui
rizio, since beatifed They live by aims and
in strict poverty. A few men were gathered
together, and addressed on the grand theme
of the sufferings of Jesus. The speaker,
Paul of the Cross, at once seized on those his
eloquence had moved. They would go forth
to advance the glory of the Crucifed; their
very designation should call to mems minds
the passion of the Redeemer. The one
object of their life should be the exaltation
of the cross. In a short time men fiocked to
the new order-some who sought for
an outlet for their zeal and devotion,
others who wished clearer idea of the rule
Of life most conducive to sanctity, and some
as means of livelihood They spread ra-
pidly; for, despite all modern indifferentism
and skepticism, the grand story of the cross
| kindles in the coldest heart an enthusiasm
nothing else inspires. The rich took off their
robes to go barefooted, mobiles became beg.
gars, great lights of literature scrubbed floors
| and performed the most menial offices-all
animated by the transcendent glory of the
cross.
In an obscure street leading from the Ponte
di San Sisto is the church of San Salvatore in
Onda 1t is plain church, but in the right
hand corner near the altar rests religious
revolutionist. His name was Vincenzo Pallotti