The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-05-11

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tion of their pride when He illustrates th.;
malice. by such weak means as Sign Of ~
Cross, drop of water, or lighted candle.
This ought not to be strange for any Chi,
tain who. Knows from the Gospel that dav,.
have power to tsko possession even of the In
dies of living mon. III. 49, ~
/ st. Paul speaks Of Satan, as the prince ~.
holds power over the air around Us ths s...
'spirit icko nosO scorkstA IN TIC Children Of r,,.
lief" He calls the devils, prinees and povs,,
that rule over this world Of darkness; spi,;,.
Of wiekedness in the regions above MS. ~
hesians. c. ii, W.; Q. 6, Y. 49,
Az bad mon can tise their knowledge Of H..
nature Of gunpowder, steam and poison, for N.
injury Of their peighbors, SO can the devil. ma.
their vsstly superior knowledge Of the porsr
Of the elements to work their malice,
They can do this, Of codrss, both men ana
evil spirits-only under the permission Of Goa
and within the limits allowed by Him. tn.
! most brutal man in the world, cannot harm /.
insect that God dsfsads- And evil shirt,
with all the fury Of storm and cenfiasrstio.,
cannot rufae hair, nor sooEeh 4 garment Il
God forbids. Under His wfnes thou sh.lt
trust- Thou shalt not be afraid of the thin,
that walketh about In the night, or Of IN,
MONDAY devil. A thousand shall fall at IL,
side, and ten thousand Of thy right hand:
but il shall not como nigh thee (psslu
xc.) s"aH.@ @@fzE
The Fathers tell Ms that God permits ON,
enemies to rage against us, partly as Q punish
ment Of our sins, partly to increase our merit,
in patiently bearing these aflietions, partl,
to make No feel our weakness and our need Of
he1p-and to give GOD occasions for showing
His power and love By defending MS from thu
danger. t..'e@a ~.
From what is known to MS OF the history Of
the world, it seems that God allows the devils
more power to injure mon, at times when men
show most indifference to God; and still moro
when they themselves invoke tho help of evil
spirits. .
: Some persona think they .sdy an increase Of
this power for evil. ct the present time, in the
number aud grisvousness of the disasters
which mark our day.
Whether this DO SO or not, we have reason to
fear Gods special anger in our times; and it is
well for us to mako more than ordinary use of
all tho projections which His mercy offers to
us because this Indifference to God isa
marked characteristic of the present day.
We may have different opinions rs to
whether the sins in general of our period are
greater or less than those Of some other peri
DDS. But this particular sin of indifference to
God, and to all that is supernatural- every one
must confess, that it, prevails to an extraord
nary degree Even the ancient heather ma
lions did not SO COMMONLY nor so boldly leave
'ut God, in their politics, their scienee, their
nor their marriage-as is done too
'revalently now-by those who control legis.
alton and public opinion throughout the
world.
To speak only of natural science the same
Sod who created the material world, and the
avs which govern it, created also the minds
# men: and it is He Who in each successive
Ige, gives men the power to discover of these
avs OF nature, just as much az He is pleased
o let them know, aad nothing more. In our
generation God has been lifting the curtain
title higher than before and men are learn
ng something moro about the elements and
heir mode of action. But with too many, in
tead of being thankful they have only grown
have set aside God Himself and His
Ne beneath the notice of scientific
nen and like the foolish people that under
ook to build the Tower of Bsbel-they imsg-
no that in their material SCIENCE they will
nd Immortality for their names, and provide
he world with protection against all temporal
wills. a..
1t would not be strange thou If God should
onfound their ingratitude and pride, by let
ing the evil spirits have greater freedom to
estroy their works, and battle the inventions
their science.
It is not ONT place to say that He will do so;
ut it is the place Of all who fear and love
lin, to offer Him reparation for this spirit OF
ride, by showing in every way tho opposite
brit of humble faith and childlike trust in
i'm. And one very direct means of doing
lis, is to have recourse freely, fervently and
to those little devotional acts:
Dcause st. Paul tells us God loves to use the
foolish AID contemplate things of the world
u humbling the things that imagine them
Ives to be great. (lst. Corinthians, l., II, 2sN
Finally--at the present time men are grow
g more and more familiar with the evil spirits,
Id expressly invoking their interference
srsons even of education and of high So