The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-02-24
Memorial Ceremonies in New
Orleans, Wednesday, February 20.
iSOLEMN REQUIEM MASS IN THE
CATHEDRAL.
The Funeral Procession
IMMENSE MEETING AT JACKSON SQUARE
Resolutions. Speeches and Poem.

There was witnessed last Wednesday, Feb.
IL }, in our city, one of those sublime ceremo.
mails of the Catholic Church which stamps her
i at once as the Teacher, Guide and Mother of
Christians, and which makes us realize With
startling vividness, the littleness Of man and
the grandeur of Religion!
The Solemn Requiem Service performed on
that day in the St. Louis Cathedral in memory
Of our Holy Father, Plus *, was pageantry
as instructive rs it was consoling, and %
touching rs it was beautifull As every word
in Her Solemn Ritual possesses q sacred mean
ing, and every action is endowed with q mys
tic Significance, We might, therefore, we'll
expect to find this Memorial Service in honor
Of Her departed Head, replets with grave and
aholiest teachings.
THE CHURCH,
sdraped with black, wac uung around with the
fags of all the nations symbolical of that
universal guardianship which the Supreme
Pontiff exercised over the whole of Christsn
dom. But the vast throng within the buildin Il
proclaimed this grand Fatherhood even more
|poteutly than did the banners on the walls
Here were gathered together people of ever,
Ire CO and color and condition. Here wore seenj
the scholar and the illiterate, the noble andI
the mean, the soldier in his golden dsoorationsI
and the begEar in his tsttered garb; the lady
Iof fashion and the Sister of Charity; thsI
savorites of fortune and the orphans of advsr-I
|Sity; all came to do honor to the memory of
THE Pontif of Chris endom, the head Of the
Catholic Church.
THE CATAFALQUE
was q grand artistic embodiment of all that
related to the history of the Holy Father inI
particular and to that of the Papscy in gem
eraI.
The base of the vast structure was of an
Egyptian type, thus leading the mind back to
the Mosaic dispensstion while above rose the
Christian temple eurmounted by the aign OF
the Cross the whole design being typical OF
the divine establishment of the Christian
Faith upon the solid foundation of the law
and tho prophets.
High over all, among clouds of misty light I
hung an image of the Dove, the Holy Spirit
whose iii apiration guided each successor in the
chair Of Moses, and still continues to direct
the counsels Of those " ho sit upon the throne
of Peter.
Tall tspers burned around the bier, emblem
attic of the light of Faith which guides the 3
Christian soul in life, sustai ns it at the hour of
death, and follows it beyo ond the tomb into s
eternity. Placed at regular intervals along
the steps leading to the bier, and conspicuous
10 every eye, W ,re four sym bols of holy and
most apostolic life. First, on the lowest step,
was seen the Pimple 6SrettG of the priest; above
this the golden mitre of the bishop; then
same the scarlet hat of the cardinal; and
highest of all was the white tiara of the Popel
Silent but most eloquent testimonials of him
who passed from the lowest order In the
Church up to it's highest, with heart un-
,hAngsd in its humility, zeal, devotion and
1eroism
TIE COFFIN,
white and unadornsd, lay upon q purple pail
'iohly friDged with gold. The two colors
White and purple, betoken the interior purity
md the exterior pomp which must belong to
;he great high priest of the Christian dispen-
IAtion. Angelic figures surrounded the bier
! visible representation, perhaps, of those
lnseen spirits who minister to "the dead who
lie in the Lord" and who in countless througs