The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1872-06-30

4
| sreee9 is; as'is generally believed, Catholic
AZ ench he 10 bound, under the most solems
oongation, 70 go to confession at least onCs
every year. A man so learned as he. mnst
tboronrh,aau t0ss IhI,aues.ionably, have made himsei
tee church in reference to the adminjstratiou
OF sacrament which he is expected 10 an.
proaeh periodically. He must we'll know tha,
c"n9ssg necessarily falls within the prrcept oi
'ccnIession pct tmortal sins, and those crcum.
stances which change the species of a sin Ly
aaaing to IT another mortal transgression. Ii
duiv snosad Is %s aware that the pentent who
gleat saerapent. He must know that the
Roman ritual sternly imposes on the priest the
isss o. asstaIning from all curious or use.
theologiaDs teach that when interrocat;ons
are put by the confessor, thew must b.. mod.
crate, discreet and opportune.' % lie must U know NOW
srsai snsi Of theology the with
edge--and basiug bis Judgment on a solitary
Ease, "hlch was not judicially established, aud
MnicM no one believes-he stigmatises an en-
SIRE GeuIch y. .n,;a In the following outburst:
try and the legislature Should Know @ G that 'ais the
eosn, esss. m meant use shssa -
-, Which o., the two shall he more admired
seeasS ses gsod Of ns Gsthoa cr the osiea,
!eho intention OF converting the confessional
into aPolitical engine; therefore more than
tw9 ;s ss, thogsan9sclsEgymep, who labor unceas-
ingiy aud zealceslg in the cause Of religion,
ordinsnces Of the church, will despise the well-
considered deeSz8ans of theolo2ians--or, in
other words, exp09e themselves to eternal dam
nation, to secure tho return of a candidate for
parliamentary honor, perhaps stranger, or
differing from them in religion, whom they
never saw before, and from whom they can
never receive the slightest favor! And this is
the reason Of an educated. man, who could af.
an overworked country priest-,a priest to
whose ears the fading Language Of Ireland is,
perhaps, far more familiar than that in which
his censor poured ont his insults. " H., .'.
"But this most illogical conclusion must,
forsootb, be correct, because, although the
priests clustered in court thick as leaves in
Nallambrosa,' not one of them came for v ard to
deed, that men who disbsiisved d TSe0 the Wioie m
story would no. voluntarily come forward to
expose themselves to the treatment of fslous,
or perhaps to be threatened by the court with
incarceration for contempt. -a
"The Judge, in his impetuous zeal against
the priests Of his native country, seems TO
have completely forgotten that to this very
priesthood, so nahgned, Ireland maiBIy owes
he forget That the nationsiityof Of ireland mean.
simply tie Catholic Church! Can he forget
that il was in the sanctuary alone the sacred
FIRE Of love aud fatherland was .pressryed,
awaiting better times, when it might be
brought forth to burn more freeiyf Can he
forget that if our oouutrysnen were kept from
sinking into q state of barbarian under the
feet Of their cruel oPpressors, it was the hunt-
tains, sustained the faintipg spirit of the ma.
tion and animated the people to perseverer in
tbeir trust in God and IN hope for their coun-
tryi Does he forget that the man who struck
from the limbs of his fellew- couutrymen the
iolt fpftAua al all
ashamed to proclaim that ithout the priest-,
hood of Ireland he cause of liberty, veu u his
hands, must have failedf And surely he must
remem Der that the great Liberator of his
country bowed do wn bsfore the authority of
that Church his giant intelligence: :. that he
was docile to her authority as the simplest
peasant in the land aud why! He had seen
liberty coatendesl for by fevoiution and to
his clear vision it was evident that liberty
without religion meant slavery the most iutof-
cradle. He knew that the Church Of God was
the only authority which could at once brave
the folly Of the people and the tyranny of the
despot. He knew that in the East, where that
Church had been overturned, hopeless slavery,
benighted iuideNty, and unblushing imn,orali-
ty had firmly, perhaps unshakeably, establish
cd themselves He saw An Ambrose Issuing
from the sanctuary to reprove for his cruelty n
mighty emperor, who heard from all others
naught but adulation and encouragement He
saw an Anselm and a Thomas A'Bsscket con-
fronting tyrapuic rulers who spoEted with
mems liberties as they did with the game of
the royal forest. He saw in his own beloved
country Hurley and . Plunkett proudly con-
tending to death for the cause of true freedom;
aud he knew that there was not hamlet in
Ireland which had not sent to heaven q cloud
of witnesses to the glorious. truth, that the
Church of God is the child not of the bonds
man, bat Of the free; and that whilst che, and
she alone, can warn away the dark messengers
Of paganism, iDidelity,. and barbaFisus, she.
.and she alone, can shelter and nurture TO full
streneeh that liberty which, coming blessed
from heaven, III Lkes men truly free. All this
surely must have passed from the judges MEM
ory,.when heDade the strange announcement
to. the world, that the Church had taken her
stand against the. country, and that the priests
Of IrelRnd bad oonspired against the liberties
Of thepeople..
Bas the pai4fal anomalies Of This strange