Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1873-10-05
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THE cBUKcHEs.

There will be divine service in all our
city churches, as usual, to-day, and IN
the Catholic church a special demon
stratfve ceremonial in honor Of the day,
it being Rosary Sunday. The rosarium
of the Catholics is of very ancient ori gin,
traced, as we read, to an early period Of
the christian church. Without speaking
cr cathodrd, we may inform our non
Catholic readers that the rosary, in its
present form, was introduced by st.
Dominic, the founder Of the DOmini-
cans. about the middle of the
thirteenth century. 1t consists Of
certain prayers, devoutly reeited and re-
peated 8 given number Of times, the
repetition Of which is marked by beads,
to serve, as we suppose, the better to
fix the attention Of the person repeating
the rosary. 1t bears to the laity the
same relation as the breviary does TO the
priests, the number of psalms in the lat
ter being equal to the number Of petit
tons in the former. We read Of rosary
e0nfraternities having been formed in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries,
the members Of which, by telling the
beads in concert, hoped to avert
from the church the cslsmities
that then threatened her, especially
from the advance of the Turks.
Pope Gregory XIII founded IN l57S a
FESTIVAL OF the rosary" in commemors-
ton of the victory won over the Turks at
Lepanto. This was to be celebrated on
the first Sunday OF October, wherever 3
church was found, and is doubtless the
festival to be celebrated to-day by our
Catholic fellow-citizens at st. Peters
church. After the victory over the
Turks at Peterwardeire, August 5th,
ZIG, Pope Clement XI ordered the
festival TO be annually celebrated
throughout the whole church. The
Buddhists and Mohammedans also
use a string Of beads for counting their
prayers. The name rosary has been va
riously derived-from rosa Blystjcd, one
Of the beautiful appeIIations of the Vir-
gin Mary, and also from the rosewood
out Of which materially the beads were
formerly made. We doubt not the eere-
monisl at st. Peters, this morning, viii
be imposing as they certainly must be
interesting, linked as the day is
. With so many historical associations.
We are happy TO find that
all the churches continue to keep their
doors open to their several congrega-
tons. The churches are the great COM
forters of the people at all times, but
m st especially in times of distress and 1
aifiiction. Only from the pulpit can
come the voice which unites the force |
and power OF reason and inspiration to 4
encourage and strengthen the people to I
bear patiently the heavy burden Of their /
woes. The press can do much, but I
from the house of God there goes out
an influence for good which no
secular element can possibly equal. 1
When Moses spoke to the peo-
pie "Thus saith the Lord they heark-
enedto his voice, because behind the man
were the veiled and sacred mountain /
aud the thunders of the living God. |
Let there be as full an attendance at all
the churches to-day as the exigencies of
the times viii permit, and let the people
unite in fervent petitions to the Throne
Of Grace to keep the angel Of death from
further visitation Of their homes.