The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1871-03-19

! Protesteat prsjudics, ahs n fsequently fair
ana cSadid. we sub3oin : ~ extracts:
In addition u this ststissary congrcg-
ton within, large kmbulAt0Ty one was
perpetnally circulating In the outer area OF
praying in tho little cl,Apels. A crowd,
most conslomerste in charaeter, rich ana
believed that the Lord sswas the maker OF
them ALP Here, for instance, was an old,
o very old woman, yellow ~ parchment,
her nose and chin meeting like witch's,
hor shabby clothes hanging round her
her skinny hands clutching the dirty, tat
tered breviary that was almost dropping to
pieces, leaf by leaf while beside her, SO
close that the velvet mantle rubbed against
the ragged shawl, knelt an elderly lady,
dressed In the extreme Of fashion, praying
out of o splendid gold embossed prayer
book. Yet the expression OF both faces
r"the mark of tho Beast") was strangely
similar in its intense absorption, its entire
singleness of devotion. - d.
On the other hand our traveller was very
painfully impressed by the sad sight of
woman going into a confessional and kneel-
g>down before priest. "I should like
to have gone up to the young woman" and
pulled her out of the confessional. In fact,
like many other English Protestant ladies,
Miss Mulloch considers that "the two most
obnoxious points in the Roman Catholic
Church are the celibacy of the clergy, and
the system of the confessional" Towards
pictures and. sculptures, provided their
artistic execution be good, she is indulgent,
and she can speak of them with glimmer
of intelligence, and Of Catholic truth, most
rare and most delightful in Protestant: /.
"There are" she says, speaking of the
interior of St. ROch's. " for instance, in
somewhat above e-size, of the Crucifixion
and the EntombAent, etartlingly vivid in
their conception and very fine in their ex-
ecution-especially the first one. The Sa-
viour lies prone-extended on the as yet
unified cross, to which two soldiers are in
the act of mailing, the one hand the other
foot. Both pause, as if appealing to the
centurion standing by, "mnst we do this
thing I" but the Christ speaks not at all.
Infinite submission is written on His face.
And / think even q stannch Protestant
knowing how hard is this lesson, which we
must all learn after him-might stand and
gaze at the figure, lying SO still and white
in the sacred silence of the early morning,
and accept from it a mute sermon, as
good as many an anti-papal tbunderbolt full
minated from some pulpits could name"
On Sunday she hears o'clock Low Mass
in the same church
1 found at St. Roch, early as it was, not
much past A. M, a considerable congrega-
tion-in fact, two distinct congregations,
assembled before the two principal affairs,
at each of which was going on the bGsae
brate once a day. These who attended it
we're chiefly the better order of working
people, though there were some very poor
poorer than any of she folk who venture
into our churches On N16dAy; but here
they are not afraid. There was also q large
their religious devotio0s before entering on
their day's work Of practical service-how
hard, and how nobly done, probably none
could judge except Sister of Charity.
One OF them, which happened to be close
beside me, will rest on my memory for
years. She was quite girl, certainly not
| i've and twenty, with features correct as q
piece of statuary. never saw a lovelier
outline of mouth, cheek and chin, melting
rosily down into a throat that was abso-
lutely perfect in color and form. And the
expression-so still, SO absorbed, as she
counting her beads with fingers that, in
spite of the injury Y hard work, were still
finely shaped, thorough aristocratic
hands-Ratfaelle would have made her a
Madonna at once! One could NOT help
thinking, who was she what was her his
toryf Could any great anguish have
awakened this religious ecstacy, which had
led her to resolve to be nebody's wife, no.
body's mother, bubto spend her life in the
incessant, often repulsive labors of q Sister
of Charity?
Here we see how impossible it is even for
the least prejudiced of Protestants to form
an idea of the Catholic inner life. They
cannot conceive, even, of the motives which
prompt so many Catholics of both sexes to
devote themselves to the Lord. What
"great anguish" has driven them to this :
Nay, nay, not a "great anguish" but a
great love; a burning, an intense love for
Him who for their sakes was made man, it
is that does this; love which deems no
sacrifice too great for Him who first loved
them who, weary and athirst, went forth
to, search for them in tue wilderness whittier
they had gone astray; who, tenderly car
rying them ON His shoulders, brought them
| hack tn the fold who. in retnrp for this