The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-04-07

/ WEab fAiia ANGER DIS ey 81, OF Nn9b ne
under hs hards, but diving into the very
| depths of nature, gathers mp the treasures of
feoundity of forces he finds there, and bends
| them TO his profit end 60 tina. of bis fellow
men.
How grand and majestic, does not man ap
pear, dearly beloved, when he lays his bands
| on tho thunderbolt and makes IL fall powerless
| ct his feet; when he seizes the electric wire,
and sends IL, the messenger of his desires across
| the depths Of the ocean, OvOr steep mou untains,
soross inteFminable plsins! How glorious be
| wings to his feet, and carry him with wonderful
| speed over land and sea How mighty he is,
when by these various ingenious processes, be
leads il through wonderfuiiy oomblued chan
nals to give motion and intelligence to brute
matter. so to speak, which shus takes the
fatiguesi Tell me- dearly beloved, If there
| 10 not in him como spark, as it were, of hs
Creator when he svokes the light and oauses
i: to dissiPs.e the darkness of night aud deco
rate vest halls aud palaces with its splendors.
The Church, that loving mother. who knows
all this, is so far from placing obstacles in its
way, that she is. ON the contrary, full of joy
and jubilatioa at the sight of all this.
xu.
Besides. what reason could there be for the
Church to be ealous of all the wonderful sd
vancerients that our age has realized by it's
researches and disooveriesf Ia there anything
God and of faith OF which the Church is the
infallible guardian and mistressf
BACON, OF vKRULAM,
who dlstip guisbed himself in the culture of
natural sciences, has written that little
learning removes from God, bnt much learning
stiraots men towards Him. Tnis aoIden r,axim
ID always equally true, and il the Church ia
alarmed at the ruin that few vain men can
make. who imagine that they understand
everything because they have o slight smat-
tering of everything, she has every confidence
in thoee who devote their minds to the deep
and serious study of nature, because she knows
hat Mt fha II s,Y hntN 4haa xviTf
find God, who displays Himself in His works
with all the unimpeachable attributes of His
power, wisdom and goodness. II some learned
sage, in studying nature, goes away from God,
il is q sign that the heart of the unfortunate
man is already contaminated by the venom of
inhdelity that has entered into him through
the avenue of cuIpabje passione. He did not
become an atheist be oause he cultivated learn
ing. but in spite of learning, which should
naturally develop far nobler results. Indeed,
the large majority of those who scquirs great
aud lastip knowledge in the science, through
the studies they have gore through, and by
their Ingenious discoveries have, as it were,
erected a ladder with which to mount to EeS-
ven and g!ori!y God.
The great astronomer Copernicus was pro-
fouDdly religious. Kepler, another father of
modern astronomy, thanked God for the plea
sure He made him experience in his ecstaoics,
in which he was transported by the cop.em
plation of the works of His hands. (Myster.
CosmoRr) Galileor to whom experimental
petus, was led, by bis studies, to declare that |
the Holy Scriptures and nature alike point out
the works of God: the fret as dictated by the |
former of His laws (Galileo, Opere 1, xxx. } |
Lint eus, by his study of nature Was so in |
hamed that the words thai dropped from his |
lips were like those of Psalm: God eter- |
NAL" he exclaimed, Immense, omniscent, |
omnipOtent, thou hast appeared to me in come |
manner in the works of creation and have |
been overwhelmed with wonder. In all the
works of Thy hand, even the smallest and
most Insignificant, what power, what wisdom
and what uns peak able perfection do beholdw
The utility they arc to US attest the bounty
mony displsy HIS wisdom; thsr preservation
aud their inexhauRtible fecundity proclaim
His power." (Syst. Nat Fontenelle, who, it
appears, was regarded the Encyclopedia Of
Century, already poisoned by the breath of
in6delity, could not help saying: "The i'm
portsnoe of the study of physics does not pro-
ceed 80 much fro m the fact that it sat sfies our
curiosity, but because it lifts mp to less
imperfect knowledge of the Author of the
Universe, and revives in our minds the senti.
ments of veneration and admiration which wa
owe Him" Alexander Volta, the immortal
inventor of the Voltsic battery, was q sincere
Catholic and IN times that were not propitious
to faith
GLoRIKD IN BEING A CATHOLIC,
and did not blush at the Gospel. Farraday,
the illustrious chemist, sew means by which
to reach God il the science he was passionate
ly studying, and he could not tolerate infidels
We might go On enumersting other learned
men, botn living ard dead, all of whom were
unanimous in their religious svowals. Bot it
is not necessary, and it would carry MS far te-
youd our limits.
This is what true and solid learning accom-
plishes IN honest minds, in " hioh so many
usoful applications of the arts and manufac
lures are begotten ; and hence it s that no
thinking man will allow hinseif to be de-
cetved by false accusations, and will refuse to
believe that the Church views the study of
nature with suspicion, or disdaius or oombats
the happy consequences that proceed from this
study for the public good. This is part of
civilization not the most important in itself,
but one to which We must, nevertheless, give
due consideration. Now, dearly beloved, as
You see, 1t will not do to make war upon the
Church to favor the interests of civilization
which would be most happy aud in continual
progress II it was not songht to wrest it from
the hands of it's good and tender mother to
give II over into those of evil, doers W. ho carry
It on In such a blameworthy manner that ev cry
honest heart is filled with compassion for it.
XIII.
= l.