The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-05-25
The Editor of the Freeman Journal and
the Prayers of His Friends.

tne Prayers Oh MS frt6ti0S.
AS We have always regarded ourselves al
friends of the editor of chs ESesxsan's Jour
nat he wiil not take II anhiss IL we congra.
talate him ou the fruit Of the prayers which
he rseentiy ssked of US, for an increase Of
charity.
A few weeks 4sgo, the translation " Oui
Lord 10 with shse'' In the Hail Mary, called
forth from him rather harsh language; and
now he shows q laudabis disposition to
eosrectif. 4 !, s5s.
No sasa than that IL was ~ an irreverence
and blindness, ~" had it's origin in the nod.
die Of some conceited person." that Prince
Of the Court Of the Vicar Of Christ was Of
NO more authority in its favor 1" than the
simplest jonrneytnan tailor )" that it was
sfstssrly iadef sssiSIc,n and We hope never
TO hear this incorporation uttered In pablo
prayer .....
Now, we are happy to learn that in his
opinion emo ono will censure it's use in the
past"
II h true that before the end OF the two
columns which he writes on this subject,
he retracts his retractation, by calling it an
"eccentricity Of English Catholics, as de.
veloped in times that resulted in d general
apostasy," which we would consider some
thing very censurable indeed. But come
little backsliding must not be judged too
harshly, when there is sign of so much i'm
provement.
Az our friend informs US that he read the
Holy Fathers of the Church thirty years
ago, IL may seem rashness In us to dispute
his decision. But We would feel it more
rash to sanction, even by our silence. the
of the stigma of eccentricity "
to form Of prayer used for more. than
three hundred years, without ever being
we know of-either by
Rome or by the authorities of the English
Church and which during that time was
the consolation of numerous holy Martyrs
and Confessors. If some apostatized, our
acknowledges that it was pre-
cisely those who neglected to praise our
Holy Mother for having our Lord with her.
We are not prepared to say whether in
those times the English Catholics said their
beads in English or in Latin, but the Eng
lish Hail Mary must have, boon in very
familiar use with them, when the transla.
tors Of the New Testament at Rheims fol-
lowed it, as Cardinal Wiseman tells rs they
did, in their version of the Gospel.
We do not know whether our friend
found in che Holy Fathers, thirty years
ago, his argument that in the Litany "Lord
have mercy on us,n instead of Z" Lord have
mercy, ," ought not to be disturbed, because
other modsrn languages use similar lib
erty in the came phrase.
If it is wrong for the English to depart
from uniformity with the original, our more
limited acquaintance with the Fathers has
not shown as how the company of the
French and Germans can make the wrong
road right.
Does our eotemporary know that the
French and, We believe, the Germans, have
also their peculiarities in this very prayer.
The French commOnly say in the end, |
"prsy for rs poor Sinners" (pauvres peche-
urs), and the Germans "arme sumder."
The simple truth is, as we said before,
that the Church does not forbid her chill
dIen to use certain freedom in the trans
lation of even the prayers of her liturgy.
The authorities of the Church, local or
general, may, if they judge proper, forbid
the public use of one or another form. But
until they do so, her children have o right
to exercise their freedom notwithstanding
even its being pronounced utterly indie
Fensible" by a gentleman who read the HOLY
Fathers thirty years ago.
1t remains to justify our assertion, that
some of those Holy Fathers explain the
words of the Angel to signify Our Lord
[ncarnate was with the Blessed Virgin.
st. Jerome understands that our Lord
vas already conceived whom tho Angel first
aluted Mary, and that therefore He STYLED
Her " full Of grace" nam ct sancGo Maria Z
Eia oO'ceperat cum Jplena SratiG salwtat,;r, 4
EpistOla lxv. {65) Gd Princip. virg. N. 81 1
st. Bernard says that while God is with a
II His saints, He was especially with Mary t
y such ciose communication as to be united 4
OF only with Her will bnt also with Her o
eah-so Al of His own anhnkapoa 81 ri O