Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-05-26
CHURCH NOTES.
THE CHURCHES sUNDAY-BISHOPG GIBBONS
AT ST. FRANCIS CHURCH-ITEMS OF
RELIGIOUS INTEREST,

SUNDAY Was d DeduGllul udy dIu Gll0
churcher were all full except the Episcopal
and Methodist at which there was no ser
vice, in the absence Of the pastors. AT
night heavy rain brought many church
goers to grief. We give below some inter-
esting account Of the churches:
On Sunday last the Catholic Church
here was crowded with persons Of various
denominations to witness Bishop Gibbons
administer the Sacrament Of Confirmation,
to some twenty nine candidates, among
them Maj. E. Mcmahon. At ten o'clock
the Bishop, dressed in his Pontifical robes,
assembled the steps of the altar, and briefly
addressed those who were to be confirmed
upon the Importance and necessity OF re-
ceiving this Sacrament worthily. Then
the candidates, approaching in twos, knelt
He then anointed the forehead of each
with Chrism, in the form of cross, say
ing, II sign thee with the sign of the cross
and I confirm thee with Chrsm of Saliva
ton, in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' After
this he gave slight blow on the cheek,
saying, s'Pax tie cum" Peace be with you.
The scene was an impressive as well as a
beautiful one. The little girls who were
confirmed were dressed in white, with
white wreaths on their heads.
Immediately after the first Gospel of the
Mass the Bishop delivered a sermon on the
'sPerpetuity Of the Catholic Church, - TAX
ing for his text the latter portion Of the
Goth verse of the % chapter of st. Matthew:
II will be with you all days, even to the
consummation of the world" His argu-
ment showed that she has never ceased to
exist at any moment from the time of her
establishment by Jesus Christ, and that she
is destined to last until the consum nation
Of the world, according to the promise Of
our Lord. He then made mention of the
various prosecutions she endured during
the first three centuries Of her existence,
from Roman emperors, when to be a
Christian was to be a martyr. Every means
of torture which the malice Of the human
mind could invent was reSorted to by them
to exterminate the Christians from the
ldC6 VI Sll0 Gdl Uus OuO VI UllO Gulp6IOIS
thought that he had accomplished this,
and he erected monument in commem-
grafton of the event. Yet we behold that
the Church, after these prosecutions came
forth from this ordeal in all her beauty
and lustre. Although the Roman Empire
was the most formidable one in the world,
yet she could not destroy the Church.
After these prosecutions; A1tanism, Mes
torianism. and host of other heresies as
sailed the Church in the 4th, 5th, and 9th
centuries. Besides battling against these
she brought under the sweet yoke of Christ
the Vandals, Huns, Cloths and other bar
barians. She was hardly free from these
prosecutions and trials, when Mahomed-
ism threatened to bring under its subjec-
ton all of Christendom. Against this she
had to contend from the 18th to the 18th
century, and only for the Catholic Church
the Crescent, instead of the Cross, would
surmount the pinnacles of Europe. No
sooner were these persecution over than
she had to battle for her children in Ger
many, England, Scotland, Sweden, Nor
way and Switzerland. Yet we see that dur
ing these trying times, the Church was as
faithful as ever in fulfilling the mission en-
trusted to her by our Divine Lord. Again,
in the beginning of this century, Napoleon
imprisoned the Pope and endeavored to
establish a National Church in France,
but in this aim of his he was entirely frus-
trated, and yet the Pope of Rome is gov
erning the Church. He then stated that she
suffered, and still suffers, another kind of
persecution from her enemies, who have
asserted, and do assert, that she is opposed
to progress, both scientific and intellectual,
but history and mans noble monuments of
learning can truly attest that she has al
Ways been and is the patroness of the lib
eral arts, the sciences and literature. His
whole discourse showed that the Catholic
Church, although prosecuted, reviled and
seemingly crushed to the ground, never
theless, under the guidance of Jesus Christ,
does exist, and will exist with all the VI
gor of youth, until time shall be no more.
The Bishop, in giving some of the statis-
tics Of the Church said that the Catholics
in this country numbered from six to eight
millions, with $500 priests, and about
1,7OO schools.
During the morning service the choir,
composed Of Misses Lena Scherer and
Kennedy, MI. W. Fl. German and others,
sung Peters mass in D, very finely.
PRESBYTERIAN.
At the PRESBYTERIAN church on SATURDAY.
the ante-communion sermon was preached
by Rev. Mr.. Murray. There were ten in
fants of fhe Congregation baptized. On
Sunday Rev. VIM. E. Baker. the pastor,
preached and there were fourteen persons
added to the church, four on profession Of
faith.
METH ODIST.
At the Methodist church Sunday night,
Rev. J. |. Miller Of the Staunton Female
Institute preached.
ASYLUM CHAPEL.
At the Asylum Chapel, Sunday after
noon, Rev. Sam1 McCune, OF Highland,
preached an admirable sermon.
BAPTIST CHURCH.
At the Baptist Church, Sunday night,
two persons were admitted by baptism. In
the afternoon Rev. DR.. Manley preached
at Arbor Hill.
PERsoNAL.-Mr. Geo. Lightner, of
Augusta county, has successfully passed
his final examination at Roanoke College.