The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1882-05-26
Mankato to Blue Earth City.

industry all tend toward cemcntin:
those bonds still closer. The fraterna
friendship which exists was fully dem
onstrated last Sunday, when about ONT
hundred of our people boarded an ex
cursion train and ,journcyed to Blu'
Earth City to attend the dcdicat"r,
exercises of the beautiful Catholic
church building recently finished at tina
place. The weather WIS not very pro
pitious, being raw and cold, but moth
ing daunted. our people braved thu
elements and joined the large throng.
who were bent on the same mission.
The ride from Mankato Sunday morn
ing was without incident except to oh
serve the beauty of landscape whicl
presented itself upon every hand. AR
irving at the destination rapid walk
of few moments brought lis to tn,
church, whose tall and well proper
toned spirc can be disccrned for miles
away. The body of the building was
quickly filled until there was not 4
single available inch of standing room
remaining. And while awaiting the
time of service one had an opportunity
TO observe the interior of the cditicc
which has taken SO much labor and
money TO finish. The building is 44XlOO
feet, seated with oak grained seats, has
wide aisles and beautiful embellishcl
windows. The sanctuary has ceiling
representing the blue canopy of the sky
and whose surface is dotted with golden
stars. Upon either side of the alter are
three golden candle sticks holding tall
wax candles, while in front of the altar
is an elegant chandelier of four candles
suspended from the high ceiling by Il
golden chain. Our observations are
here interrupted by the entrance of
Bishop Ireland and Father RaveauX, of
st. Paul, Father Schnitzler, OF Mankato,
and Father Vcnn of Blue Earth City,
in their robes, who passed down
the ais,es to the door of the church, and
there blessed the entrance, then Bishop
Ireland sprinkled Holy Water upon the
interior of the building, when the choir
from the Catholic Cathedral of st. Paul,
under the leadership of Prof. Manner
rendered some very excellent music.
Father Schnitzler, Of this city presided
At Mass. Bishop Ireland, whose powers
Of eloquencc and deep thought have be-
come almost household theme, then
delivered the dcdicatory sermon, of
which We give II few principal ideas.
Synopsis of sermon delivered by
Bishop Ireland on the dedication of the
Catholic church "St. Peter IL st. Paul"
at Blue Earth City, Faribault Co., Mimi,
2lst May 1882.
Malachi Chap. 1, va
The son honorcd the father and the servant
THE Master. If. then, | am Father, where
''is my honor, and if am Master, where is
my fear, saidrhc Lord of Hosts"
The dedication of Temple of reli-
sion is IN act of supreme faith in the
living God and of deep submission to
his law. People of these times unfor-
tunatcly 10 II great extent ignore that
duty to Almighty God, although they
10 not deny, in theory, the existence of
Il Supreme Being. The existence of II
Being of Il first cause is only too mani
feet, bat practical ethorwis" tho forgot
fulncss of God this is the plague which
we nave to lament to-day. There are
men living who labor entirely for par
poses of this earth, and. although they
may recognize certain codes OF honor
between themselves obligation to
the Supreme Being does not enter into
their code. The word "rcligion" actu.
ally means II link binding us to God.
And what do we know of God Z Names
of great philosophers, such rs Milton,
Tyndall and Spencer are put forth rs
the authors of this new religion accord
ing to which God is simply the I'm
who exists So far away
from us that no practical duties result
To us from His existence; but these men
forget the very manifest lessons winch
the world around us certainly inculcates.
God, it is true, is the "Incomprehrn-
sible," whose divine nature the finite
mind OF man can never fully understand.
But we know him through his works,
through nature and through ourselves.
The cause is known 10y its effects.
Wherever you find works of human in
tcllcct you say at once "Man has been
here" and from the work you judge of
the degree of intellect and power OF
that man. Chance does not produce
things does not produce wisdom. Ma
ture itself is composed of powers, forces
and different elements. Accumulate
these elements, these forces and powers
and put them together rs you like,
without any presiding intellect, and
what will you have! Chaotic mass
Wherever there is order there is the
disposition of means towards an end,
there necessarily is intelligence. Will
you say that it is by mere chance that
the flowers and the grain grow, that the
tree bears fruit according to its Species
Will you say that there is no design
here You may rs well say that this
beautiful Temple which we have dedi-
Gated this morning has suddenly seated
itself on the prairie without anybody
having considered the plan, or any
mason or carpenter having fashioned
together the stones and wood And is
it by mere chance that this world is held
up in space, and, away beyond, suns and
moons and stars by billions of leagues
in space :; and that all these heavenly
bodies are revolving constantly for an
indefinite number of years according to
such precise rules that Il mathemati.
can can forctcll, thousands of years
in advance, the passage OF
one planet before another. SO that, to
the very minute, the portions of the diff
lcrcnt heavenly bodies can be marked
out now9 And take man himself, with
all his parts, the eye, the voice, the rca'
sou. Is IL ny Hicic Shiii'V lia', "hi'
speak, you are provided with ears which
will receive my voice, and through
which my voice will be the bearer to
you of intelligent idcas9 There is not
"a grain of sand in this world, there is
not drop of water, which does not tell
of the wisdom of order and harmony.
Nature tells us of the existence of Il
Supreme Being, supreme in intelligence
and supreme in power. We find all
things arranged subject to our needs and
wants. lie is the all good as well rs
the all wise and powerful. Next
having created us he still cares for us
and loves us, because he sees reflected
in us his own power. his own nature
God must love creation, for it is all hi,
work. And next, not only God is oul
Gro, for and loves lis bIt he is n wis,