The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-09-23
ST. STEPHENS CHURCH.


Sermon by Rev. DIR. McGlynn-Sorrows
of the Mother or God-"Stabat Mater
DOlor0sa." s
At st. Stephens church yesterday 1t was evident
from the large attendance that the religious season
had opened. The attendance was unusually large,
scarce seat In pew being un0ccupied. AS
usual, the congregation was treated to rich feast
OF music, Mr.. Danforth the Organist, putting forth
his best efforts to sustain the high reputation this
church has always had In that particular.
The Rev. DR.. McGlynn in making the customary
announcement before the sermon, again drew the
attention Of the congregation to the fair which Is
to be held In October next In aid Of the Home for
the Aged and at which the ladies OF 81. Stephens
parish will be we'll represented. The Doctor
took his text from John XIX, 25-27:-"N0w
there stood by the cross OF Jesus His no.
ther and His mothers sister, Mary the wife
of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus
therefore saw His mother and the disciple stand
ing by whom he loved he saith unto His mother,
woman, behold thy sonp After that He saith to
the disciple, Behold thy mothers; and from that
hour the disciple took her to his own" The Church
celebrates to-day the commemoration of the sor-
of the Mother of God. The heart OF the Church
is not satisfied with commemorative the nativity
and her assumption into heaven, but with indus
trious love she must propose to our meditation dur
Ing the course of the years in many festival the
various stages of her life and the various attributes
of her dignity And for a special reason must she
set apart a day that shall be all devoted to the
grateful contemplation of her bitter sorrows
Of the death Of our Lord The ChMrch s 80 absorbed
in the one great sorrow for the agony and death OF
her spouse that she can but glance sidelong for
whelming grief of His mother Just as the Joy and
gratitude Of the Church for ChrsIs nctlabe gift Of
ment are not satisfied by the praises which sound
IN the minor key OF sadness, In which perforce she
s Of q n
set apart festival,
to give full vent to her feelings so does she set
apart this day to commemorate with proper admi.
ration and gratitude the unspeakabe sorrows of
our heavenly mother through which she co-operated
with the work of our redemption The Church
would have us to-day to commemorate lovingly,
one by one, oil the pains and fears of her lifetime
within her, the painful Journey to Bethlehem, the
repulse from every human habtation and the rude
cave where, exposed to the winters blasts she
brought forth IN abjectest poverty the King Of
Glory. What fears for His threatened infant
! life-what painful eagerness OF flight from
His enemies, what fatigue and dangers in that
| long journey-what dreary hours of poverty
avoided had beallen Him at last as she sought Him
sorrowlng when she lost Him in Jerusalem Ia dread
abect toll lie should leave her with painful parting
| to begin that public mission that was SO soon to
LIFELONG AGONY,
| like black cloud overhanging her in the memory
Of the prophecy Of the aged priest as she presented
her infant son In the temple, "Beh0d this child Is
set tor the ruin and for the resurrection OF many In
Israel, and for sign which shall be contradicted,
and thy own soul sword shall pierce, that out
of many hearts thoughts may be revealed" This
prophecy has its perfect fulnment, and all these
sorrows are summed up and contaminated in the
| scene which the Church presents to us in the
gospel OF to-day-the mother standing by the cross
es hat 5 do st. hn
she weeps." He loved to consider her as suffering
oil mothers anguish yet, with more than
mothers fortitude, standing erect as
PRIEsTEsS by THAT ALTAR.
to offer that blood and life which was hers as well
sins Of the world. And 1t is in the contemplation
OF this awful sacrifice, as we'll as of the former
ee He esh she er
that the Christian Fathers do not hesitate to speak
wonderingly and reverently OF this august mother
as the co-operatOr In the work of our redemption.
1t Is by her superhuman sacrifice at the foot Of the
cross that she acquires the full right to the title
OF the second Eve, cooperating. as she
does. with Christ, the new Adam, in
Offering the sacrifice that reverses the sentence of
her who was called Eve, ''bccause she was the mo-
Their Of all the living" 1t was by the assent of the
her giving to her husband the forbidden fruit that
ruin was begun; and it is by her assent to the
message of an angel from heaven and her sacrifice
the fruit OF the tree OF life and acquires the right to
THE TITLE OF TIE NEW EVE.
and the new and better mother of all the living
the mother Of all the children of Christ. AS the
first Eve stood at the foot of the tree OF death par
|
lion against God, so Mary, the new Eve, stand
ing at the foot OF the cross and offering to
in sacrifice to the Father, converts shame.
full wood into tree OF lie whose fruits are
the life Of grace and blessed communion with God
| here below and the life of everlasting glory and
happiness hereafter. BY that Sacrifices Christ be-
came the father in the spiritual order Of all the
and great men OF Old, even of those who
were His progenitors according to the flesh
and so, also, does Mary become Their mother. AS
Christ restored to the spiritual life by suffering
with horrible intensity all the pains OF death, which
We're the penalty Of original sim So also was 4
bring forth to the new life In the midst of such hor
rid agony as should far more than fulfil the type oftne
elder Eve to whom 1t was said II will multiply thy
SORROWS and thy conceptions; in sorrow thou shalt
bring forth Children" The great ana consoing
truth that the mother OF God becomes our mother
at the foot Of the cross Is aptly symbozed by the
words OF our dying Savionr:'',, ,.,, ,csus there.
fore, say Els iaotFef and the disciple standing,
Tl6m He loved, He saith to His mother, Woman,
behold thy SON.; after that He saith to the disciple
Behold thy MOTHER"
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE,
who was at one time disciple, priest and apostle
with virgin heart that made him the beloved OF
the King Of Virgins, may well represent all OF us
! who would be faithful, loving children OF the dying
saviour; and to all Of us, therefore, in the person
OF John does He command His mother 10 be our
children He calls her swomSn." as if in the per-
feet ssacrl1cc which she had made OF her son she
should ss SKIP H% ag longer e ls moteg qgd
new office that she has assumed In regeneratlng
with Him the sinful souls OF men and taxing them
| FOR her children. AS she Is the mother OF all the
children OF God, so must she be by just title the
mother of all the graccs that dow from the divine
source OF Calvary and Of the Christian virtues the
| flowers of penitence and purity that spring ron
tie soil at the loot OF the cross, that ~ believed
with. the mingled blood Of Christ and the tears of
| the Magdalen. Flowers sprung ron such q soil
! find ready and congenlal shelter In the bosom OF
the Virgin Mother, who Is also the mother of
sorrows, and whom therefore, In every age the
Church loves TO salute az the 'Mother OF Divine
Gracc,u "MOther Most Pureu and
THE "REFUGE OF slNNERs.V
Let us fail not at our peril TO fulfil our part OF the
types and prophecies OF Calvarythc part fulfilled
by the beloved disciple OF whom we read-"And
from that hour the disciple took her to his own.n
II IL was wondrous condesccnsion for the Word OF
God TO take flesh even in the womb OF the purcst of