The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-05-19
THE TRUE MEANING OF THE ANSWER
AT CANA.

| Dominic, one of the earliest missionaries
| to Kurdistan, when asked for an explana-
| tion of several passages and expressions in
! Holy Scripture which appear to us obscure
| or unsuitable, gave it by describing the
manners and customs of the East, which
| often throw a new light on such passages.
Among others was the reply given by our
Lord to His Mother at the marriage feast
! Of Cana, which the missionary explained
as follows:
The Prefect of the Dominican mission id
| kurdistan had resolved to place in the
hands of the Archbishop a sum of money
for the repairs of church which belongs to
| his See. Soon after, when this Prelate paid
| the Fathers visit, the Superior bade the
proctor hand him the sum of two hundred
and fifty francs IA considerable sum for that
| country and remarked that the money was
given simply to repair the above named
church, which would otherwise fall to ruin.
| At these words and at the sight of the money
the Bishop raised his hands. gazed earnestly
| at the Fathers, then leaning back in his
divan, be cried ont: "Man balm anita an
| ana !" The proctor, who understood the
Chaldean language, recognized to his as-
tonishment those words of the Savior to
Mary, which are usually translated, "What
is that to me and to thee Z" or "W hat have
1 to do with thee7" In much surprise be
communicated the answer to his Superior,
and neither of them could refrain from ex-
pressing his surprise and dissatisfaction at
this utterance.
In obedience to his Superior the proctor
asked the Archbishop why he was not eat.
listed, as the missionaries had already
made him 30 many presents. Glow not
satisfied !" replied the Archbishop, "why,
am delighted. You have surpassed my
expectations. You have OWNED my
thoughts. To obtain aid for that church
was my greatest wish; in fact, it was for
that 1 came to you" He then repeated
the words given above, and was not little
surprised that the missionaries did not un-
derstand the expression in the Bible, and
he explained to them that in Chaldee it
was an asseveration of the most intimate
union of sentiment, being meant to express:
"There is nothing between US; what s in
thy heart is also in mine )" Nous 10 drons
eu qu' 1tne Tensee 1--WE have had but one
thought between u.s."
Attention being thus called to the matter,
the missionaries soon found in the common
parlance of the Chaldee dialect full and
frequent confirmation of the Bishops asser- |
tion.
Father Albertns also related the follow
ing circumstance as further voucher for
the correctness of this Interpretation.
A rich man of some consequence "a Kur
distan chieftau, who, although Catholic,
had many times taken part against the
church), once forgot himself SO far as to
lift his arm in order to strike priest but, |
on the instant, he was visited by punish |
ment from God his arm stitfened. (In |
countries where the Faith has not yet
ia ken much root these extraordinary signs |
from God are not rare). After a while the |
missionaries took advantage of this cir |
cumstance to make an appeal to the con-
science of this officer, and 30 far succeeded |
that he took the resolution of making the |
exercises in the monastery of Mar Tacub,
cherishing the hope of thereby regaining
the use of his arm. Now, the arm contin-
or hAfn h,t fhn 10 aorkI
was changed, and when at the conclusion
of this holy time he was on the point of
departure, he was in the best possible |
frame of mind. He knelt before the Su- |
perior to kiss the hem of his holy habit |
and to receive his blessing. The Superior
admonished him to be mindful of the duty
incum bent on him to repair the evil he had |
done, and as means of thus satisfying for
past delinquencies, recommended him to
rebuild a church which had fallen into |
decay, and also to afford succor to a
Christian village, which had been aImost
destroyed by an inundation. In joyfu
tone. and without moments hesitation,
the Kurdistau chief replied "Man balm
anita an ana :" and, continuing, 'I thought
of this the whole time of the exercises 4;
Father, you have hit ou my own thought !"
and repeating, "Mdn balm anita IN ana" he
left the monastery, mounted his horse and
as he slowly rode away the Fathers heard
him again call out, as if it were the echo
of his joy: "Man balm anita asn ana y These
words ascended as a thanksgiving from the
fullness of his overtiowing heart.
In this manner the missionaries became
more and more convinced that the expires
eion "Wan balm anita un ana" which st.
Jerome has rendered in the Latin Bible by
the words, "Quid 1Iihi ct tibi ?" is incor
rectly translated in modern languages by
an equivalent of "What is that to Me and
to thee ~ Throughout the East it never
occurred to anV one to consider it otherwise
than as an expression Of the most intimate
union of soul between Jesus and Mary.
General Todleben is arranging to make Ad-
rianople his base of operations in case of war.