The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1882-03-18
OBSERVING LENT.
from Texas siftings.I

OBSERVING LENT.
From Texas siftings.I l.
Lent Is the tine of the year when a
great many people shut down on tough,
strlngy beef, and open up on fat oysters
and eggs. Keeping Lent is a serious
matter. It is serious thing to do with
out dinner for one day, much less to be
put on short mtions for forty consecu-
tive days. st. Thomas Aquinas, and
several other saints, agree with as
entirely that. sweating Oh from
eating, and like penitsntlal exercises,
only exercise a beneficial efEaa xtsn
accompanied by. true repentance, etc.
Mel~.y missing your dinner does not
put you In good hutnor. You must be
glad that you got left, otherwise the
effect is only to exasperate the ipciPient
saint. AT least, this lis the view st.
Thomas Aquinas, and the ;s rest q y! us
theologians, who have given up the
whole Of our minds TO- 1T, take q 'fhe
question:. fsiysrs, +ti tlfsl7ie2lt - ',t,.>,
Mortifying the aesh. engaging in
peniteptial exercises. and making one
self miserable, is not, entirely Christ
ian sport. The Mahometan derviskesI
and the Buddish monks are also much
given to Furnishing their fleshy taber-
nacles. In fact, when it comes to treat
ing their bodies with, severity, the derv-
ishes see the saints, aud 60 them ten
better, In fact they eat SO little, and
at such long intervals, that they cannot
mortify the flesh, for the reason that
they have no flesh to mortify. All that
Is left Is hide and bones, and HanaH-
cal pressure of thousand pounds to
the square inch. But that does not
make the dervish amiable, sfor if a dog
of an infidel,' as, he calls orthodox
Christians, happens to remark: HGood
morning to your Holiness as the devil
said to the Pope, the dervish will quit
whatever he Is doing and will chase the
scoffer half mile with cheerful aiac-
rity and drawn butcher-knife. It is
a great mistake to suppose that starwa-
tion promotes good hamor. - ."[
No class of people are more particu-
lar about observing Lent than the Greek
brigands. Col. synge, a rich English
man, who fell into their hands few
years ago, bears fearful testimony 70
their piety. They .kldnap rich travel.
ers, carry them on to the mountains,
and ii the ransom IL not promptly paid,
they cut OF an ear or nose, and send it
to the agent of the unfortunate young
man. II this s1ght.draft goes to protest,
a few more features are cut off, and
finally, II nothing is to be made out of
the victim, he ia dispatched. Although
closely pressed by the police and their
professional duties, the brigands never
omitted any of the Lenten ceremonies,
which goes to show, as ST.. Thomas
Aquinas very properly observes, that
there are several kinds of piety. At the
same time, there are myriads Of excel
lent, good people who are sincere and
ievout, by whom lent is observed in a
proper and dignified manner. There
are really very few austeritFes practlaed
nowadays. The most severe restric.
ton is giving up meat for dinner, and
dS 0USt RcOp1cC xak tOO uuC1l tdAyIlVW,
Lent has beneficial effect physically,
at least. At Galveston, where Lent
beef Is tougher and harder to swallow
than the yarns in the Globe Democrat
about Texas, is a comfortable place to
mortify the flesh. Besides oysters and
vegetables, there are six Or eight kinds
of fine fish, shrimp and mock.t,irtle to
fall back on. -.i..'... ~ f/.it
During Lent the man who keeps ii
can be readily detected by his circum-
ference and the satisfied, happy, look
that comes from contented stomach,
aud a consciousness Of having complied
Will, the requirements of the church,
Mr.. james r. Randall, OF the Au-
gusta Constitutionalist, in a recent let
ter says: al called on, Senator TIN re-
Gently. He has had all the glands on
the left side Of the throat reMo veu, An
operation which was painlessfy per-
formed, thanks to the blessed, discovery
of ether. His hopes are that the dis