The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-06-09

, WHICH some entnueiastlc persons seem
entertain as to the early conversion of tn
British people, we are convinced that tn
, Church is steadily. If not rapidly, winnin
hold over the beet and most earnes
minds outside her communion both IL
England and in Scotland. And this pro
cess of spiritual reconquest is not withou
its concrete manifestations. Bishops ono
monks once more chant hymns in placer
which for three hundred years had no
known true pastors or the sweet sounds O
the ancient liturgy. Nay, in one or two
| instances the very edifces which at the
time of the So called Reformation were
diverted to the uses of the new religion
| have been at length restored, through one
means or another, to the purposes for
| which they were originally intended. But
perhaps the most notable fact in this con :
| nection is the building of the Beuedictine
monastery at Fort Augustus, in aid of which
the Very Rev. Jerome Vaughan. o. s. B.,
now appeals to the generosity and the well
proved zeal of Irish Cath olics in the propa
cation of the faith.
The name Fort Augustus brings to the
mind many bitter recollections. Scotland
like England, was once Catholic. It could
boast of q stately hierarchy of laity
which, at least in the northern portion,
attached to their religion of splendid
array of sacred edifices which had been
reared by the piety of many generations.
1t is needless to say that in the day of
persecution which was inaugurated by the
beastly tyrant, Henry the Eighth, the
Church in Scotland did not escape the gem
eral destruction of things religious. The
shepherds were slain or banished, the
flock was dispersed, the temples of worship
and the houses of learning were razed to
the ground or desecrated. Whereas at the
time of the Reformation" Scotland pos
sessed two archbishops, eleven bishops,
three thousand priests, one thousand
churches aHd chapels, and two hundred
abbeys and religious houses, in 1900 there |
were only two missionary bishops, forty |
priests, thirty thousand lay Catholics, |
twelve chapels, and two small seminaries |
10 the whole land. But it was in the
Highlands that the gloomy and blood thirsty
performed it's most hideous orgies. After
the battle of Cullodeu it ragged with the
fury of hell itself in that romantic but
unfortunate region. A brutal soldiery set
itself deliberately to burn churches and
,hapels, to plunder the castles of the lairds
and the houses of their retainers, to slay
,he priests and the people wholesale and
'hus whole districts were at once depopu
ated and denuded of almost every mark
IF civilization. Over this diabolical work
here fitly presided the butcher Duke of
and his headquarters were in
OLe augustus ouEcIy bu0 g6UeUS LOCI
vould be likely to preserve such a spot for
,ver as the shrine of religious intolerance
3urely the last thing to expect would be
he conversion of the place into q strong
lold ofthe banned creed! The unexpected,
lOwever, has come to pass. Ae the Roman
which its tutelary saint closed his apostle
ate by an ignomiDous death, So the first
monastery erected in Scotland since the
will stand on the site of the
tropghold which was built to stamp out
he last lingering traces of Catholicity In
he Highlands. The frowning bsttlement,
powder magazine, and military hut will
i've place to a vast edifice, the architecture
# which will bespeak in its every line q
of prayer and house of learn
ng instead of men equipped for the mur-
er of their fellow beings, for religions ]
AXE, Fort Augustine will hencefOrth contain ,
he robed missionaries of peace, truth, and
utilization instead of blasphemous i'm.
recations, or the bugle- call summOnipg to
lidnight slaughter, the only sounds emit ]
I'd thence will be the ringing of the chapel
ell, the intoning of the hymn Of praise 1
nd Thanksgiving, the multitudinous hum 4
t students. The spirit of retributive I
ould seem to have guided the steps of the
enedictine Fathers in their wanderings
lrOugh North Britain.
We must not forget to add that this
onastic revival IN Scotland has for Irish
atholics an interest apart from that aris-
g from community of religious belief.
o educated 1rishman is ignorant that the 81
sottish Highlands were the scene of one
those missionary enterprises that casta
ernal halo AROUND ancient Ireland and
70 ancient Irish Church. 1t was there
lint COLUMBIA founded the monastic insti- T
tion which for seven centuries continued
epread the light of the Gospel and
'ersry and scientific culture over Europe. T
he very region in which the Benedictines
Q now about to carry on similar propa Il
ndism was once hallowed by Columba's
otsteps and witnessrd his miracles. That
has memories which irresistibly attract II
9 missionary to it's wild mountains and
gged glens, and infiame his zeal, is, in
It, due, under Providence, to Irishmen.
1850 memories, in short, are Ireland's as nj
lch as Scotland's, and we have, therefore, se!
least as much right, from the national Re
int of view, as Scotchmen have to rejoice
the prospect of their preservation. We -
. heartily wish long career of prosperity e
Fort Augustus, not only because it will - -
q rafnO for the faith xuhirh | ~