The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1875-12-10
VOLUME 1S.

christians in the world? Will they
tell US that Christ, who promised to
be with the teachers of his word TO
the end of the world, wholly left
them, and gave up hundreds upon
hundreds OF millions of people TO be
led in darkness to their eternal per
dition by one whom his inspired
followers had denominated the
imam of sin and the scarlet whore ?
Will they, indeed, dare to tell US
that Christ gave up the world who'll
Iy to tAnti-Christ' for twelve hun
dred years2 Yst this they must do |;
they must thus stand forward with
bold and unbiushing blasphemy +,
or they must confess themselves
guilty of the most atrOciOus CAL
umny against the Catholic relig-
ion."
D reason. oh, common sense Of men, where
are your
And that very book of Revela-
ton, whence does il come? This is
a question of great Importance.
Come, Mr.. II the question is fair
answer II, tor IL is a matter of deep
interest TO us To know whom 1t was
that this book came from to you,
through what channel you received
il, and what proof you have of its
authenticity What q shocking
fact, should you have received it
from that Pope and that church
whom you style respectively the
beast and the whore of Babylon ?
But then the massacres of mill
lion of those poor WaideDses; OF
nine hundred thOnsaDd orthodox
christians of no name ;'Of the thirty
six thousand Dutchmen; OF the
hundred aud fifty thousand martyrs
of the inquisitiOn in thirty years!
Who will get over that2 Mr.. r.,
you may well smack your lips over
the delicate dish but for nay part l
would respectfully refer him to a
former communication of mine in
The News some time last winter,
when justice was done of similar
statements of the Reverend gentle
man. Iwould remind him also that
statements are not facts, Proofs are
what we want. 4
"The mark of the beast denotes
spiritual bOndage......it is believed
by some interpreters to be the sign
of the cross"
What! the sign of the cross the
sign of the beast? "God forbid"
said st. Paul gal. vi. 14), "that L
should glory, save in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ" The cross
is therefore our glory, our honor.
/ ask St. Paul again in regard to
the title on the cross aud he replies,
saying, "blotting out the handwrit-
ing of the decree that was against
u.s.. land he hath taken the same
cut of the way. fastening it to the
cross. ii. 14.) The title
upon the cross is therefore the re-
cord of our redemption and the
andwriting of our freedom. 1t
ia no wonder then, that when speak
ing to the Galatians Iii. 19) he
glories in the saying; "With Christ
1 am nailed to tho cross" With st.
Paul then, and with the early chris
tians aud Catholics of all ages the
cross is the sign of victory and
peace which Christ has given to all
the nations of the world, and it is
the throne of love upon which the
Savior died and the ladder by which
he assembled to heaven. With Mr..
IL. the sign of the cross which Jesus
carried on his divine shoulders il
the sign of the beast.
Catholics, it is true. and We are
proud TO acknowledge it with the
great apostle OF the Gentiles, do
make the sign OF the cross-and by
thus doing, they bow to no super
stiIious feeling, but two most sub
lime acts-One of faith, one of char
ity. Crossing themselves, they say
':in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" an
act OF faith in the mystery of one
God In three divine persons, the
Father, the Son. aud The Holy
Ghost. At the same time, their in
tention is carried back to the great
sacrifice of the crOss-ihereby max
ing an act of love towards God who
died on the cross for us. This has
been the practice OF the early chris
tiaus, as Tertulliam testifies with
scores of others. sat every STEP"
he says, cat our coming in and GO
ing out, when we sit down table,
when we go {" bod. we imprint on
our fOreheads the sign OF the cross"
With tho above, | close nay re.
marks. | might haYe made my ex-
PLANTATION longer, as the subject is
inexhaustabIe; but wishing to be
brief, trust that "a word to the wise
will be sufficient" I do not wish to
engage in further controversies.
have simply taken up the cudgel in
defense of a principle, and fact of
history as well.
F.Thou shalt not bear false testi-
mony," is 8 commandment for every
christian to follow.
do not expect have succeeded
in pe-suading Mr.. r. ever to cross
himself, but would invite him for
the sake of charity not to cross any
other people. We have much to do
TO keep our garden free from rocks,
without amusing ourselves by
throwing them into the garden of
our neighbor. am, Editors News,
Yours respectfully,
FELIX T. SwEADER1fI,
Catholic Priest.