The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-08-04
The Ministers nIedltatlons.

|
Yesterday was proclaimed in the Catholic
churches of this diocese iridium, or three
days devotion, with special prayers for the
restoration Of the temporal power of the Pope
and the deliverance of the Roman Church from
her present tribulations. This event was i'm
proved by Rev. Father McQuirk, in st.
Stephens church, to elaborate and explain the
doctrine of indulgences He refuted the idea
held by non-Catholics that an indulgence
is license to sin, and, citing
the language of the catechism, declared
| that it is nothing more or less than ''remis-
sion of the temporal punishment due to sin
after the guilt has been RENTED" We fail,
however, to see in this explanation any valid
refutation of the idea it was used to condemn;
| for if the recitation of certain number or
certain forms of prayer for three days, or any
other number of days, can secure the remis-
sion of the punishment due to sin there is a
strong probability that the subject of this
pardon will repeat the offence again and
again, knowing that he can escape 80
easily. 1t is the adequacy Of the punishment,
coupled with its certainty, that will deter men
from the commission of crime, and not
knowledge beforehand that this punishment
will be lessened or remitted altogether. The
illustrations of the two kinds of punishment
and the remission of the temporal are not, we
think, very well chosen either, and students
of the Bible will readily perceive their FAULT
ness. The good father makes the mistake
very common to superficial theologians Of con-
founding suffering with punishment. They
are distinct and not q unit, and any argument
based upon their unity of course falls to the
ground.
Prayer is the most important duty imposed
upon mankind Il is desire OF the soul
found everywhere among men, pagan or
Christian and whether it be ON instinct inn
planted in US by God, whether the desire pc
spontaneous in each heart or be taught by
sire to son, aud thus be handed down through
all generations, as DR.. Deems remarked, it is
useless for us to inquire. 1t does not make
the fact different. From the highest to the
lowest, all men, everywhere, have ct some
time in their lives felt the necessity and in
dulged in the holy service Of prayer and,
despite Mr.. Tyndall's test, no true prayer,
as the Doctor said, goes unanswered by God.
What interest does God take in us or in vir
tue are questions, Mr.. Jutten sid, which have
been rolling from side to side in the world for
centuries, until they have become the slumber-
ing place of many souls. And the occasion
for this strange remark was comment upon
the Saviours exclamation 'My God my
God why hast thou forsaken me?" But
why such questions should be seriously asked
by any one, or why doubt should arise in the
mind of any reasoning being in regard to
Gods interest in virtue and in virtuous men
it is hard to conceive, when every day history
furnishes examples abundant of His regard
and care for such, and when, also, His re-
vealed Word is SO full of assurance of the
same thing. And yet there are men who read
neither the daily record of Gods care nor the
therefore doubt and ask these questions.
Dr. Ormiston. whom tho sultry days of
July or August have not yet frightened off to
the country or the sea shore, preached sacra-
mental sermon, giving prominence to the idea
that God is present in symbols and emblems,
and yet because of our limited knowledge of
Him and His manifestations we fail to under
stand the doctrine of the atonement, or how
God the just can save the unjust But here,
as in many other forms of natural and revealed
truth, faith must accept what reason cannot
comprehend or explain We know that God
does save guilty men, that He does pardon
their iniquity, transgression and sin, and this
and die without being able to explain its
philosophy.
DR.. Bowling gave the second of his series of
discourses on Church history, showing how
corruption crept into the early Church until it
eliminated in the Popedom as it exists to-day.
The effect of the corrupting influences referred
to by the Doctor namely, the destruction of
the independence of the Churches-is what he
babe his audience beware of here.
Rev. DR.. Partridge, of Brooklyn, preached
| an excellent sacamental sermon, in
which the memorable occasion of the LAST
Supper" the guests who were present at that
meal, the right use Of the sacrament and the
blessings that flow TO Christian hearts from O
worthy participation therein, were all brought
out in living truth by the Doctor. And were
it not for this blessed sacrament and that of
baptism, as the Doctor very properly re-
marked, the union between the Church and her
living Head would long ago have been broken.
The German Catholics of Greenpoint dedi.
Gated new church yesterday, on which occa
sion Rev. Father Rector preached There are
so many good things in the sketch before us
we regret to find, even by implication, such a
contracted view Of God as is implied in the
statement that cit is in Catholic house of
worship where He will seek ever to abide. !"
We remember that the Scripture declares that
/ Cod ia no respecter of nersons: hence He