The Northwestern standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1885-1886, 1885-12-26
!" OLD" IRELAND.
Christmas in the Emerald Isle The Mid
night Mass in The Lonely and
Remote Districts.
4 Brief and Interesting Sketch Showing the
characteristics Of Her People
Upon That Day.

- IestlVdl or SChrlStInaS III '&la lreian
y is the Midnight Mass III the remote
= sad. lonely and lovely districts Of th
70 Wild West. The poor priest, and he j
y very poor, has a hard life of it#in thos
y -the-Worla regions, where til
ri highways are but boreens, and road
I are but sheep walks, and pretty par
. tlcularly uneven ones, TO boot. Hi
& Reverence is, indeed, in luck, If hi
I. means enables him to keep q rugge.
s little poneY, for his mlinistratlons ex
: tend for many an Irish mile: and hail
!. rain or snow, the sick calln will fine
Y him treading the mountain passes
S bearing the viaticum to some dying
a parlshloneF, or en- route TO hold {
E station" at the thateh- covered dwell
' Ing of some warm farmer, percheC
{ on the shoulder of an almost inaceessi-
+ bic mountain, or standlug IN solemn
: isolation in a gloomy valley, silent,save
! from the eow-bells or the barking OF
i a collie, as the very grave.
Il TO miss Mass, under any circum-
; stances, save they be Of the most ex-
) ceptional nature, is an commission OF
! which the Irish peasant is absolutely
I Incapable. No matter how often he
may have visited the shebeen, or been
{ lax IN the general tenor of his sunevant-
: full life, to miss Mass is a crime that
does not enter within the precincts Of
!, his misdemeanors; and III the snow, IN
| the rain, in the mud, Mass is attended
with the some punctuality as on a
I bright May morning, when the haW-
i thorn blossoms paint the hedges like
4 perfulned snow. 1T is before Mass ur-
| der the lee OF some friendly wall, or
/ seated on the moss and fern-caressed
stones, or daisy quilts, covering the
i village forefathers, as they sleep the
llong, last slumber, that the male por-
zion OF the congregation discuss Mr.
4 PMnell, and the good men and true,
who, possessing the courage Of their.
convietions, dare to beard the British
lion. even in his very den. 1t is after.
Mass. that Barney, in all the unspeaka-
bic neWness Of his Sunday suit-it Isl
| always new seeks and finds bis .ool4l
ieen; and, 1t Is aff55er Mass, that the Old 4
folks gossip over tie ofdanl aiie gS;5jhieifs
time, the weather, their ailments, aud
the crops.
But the great event OF the year is the
Midnight Mass, the Mass that ushers in |
the morn when the infant Savior can.e
into the wicked world for the salvation
OF sinners. Father Tom has busy
time ol st, hearing confessions. riding |
ID hot haste, from one end Of his par
ish to the other, making sick-calls, urg~
ing back-sliders to the chair of pen I
ance, consoling the afflicted. helping +
the needy The Midnight Mass takes
old and young, the lame, the halt, the
blind, from their 'fsnug cabins
Over the mountains, acrosss the boys.
sometimes through the inlSy darkness,
sometimes through the silgery moon
Light, sometimes through the white
snow, the people silently wend their
way to the little chapel whose glad
bells peal forth Justify, and whose
tWlnkiing lights are rs a bacon Of safe.
ty TO the whole country side Low back
cars jingle up; farm carts, with feather
beds Or mattresses flung across them,
jolt III; while horses Of every sort,shape,
size, and description, from the weight I,
hunter to the limping garron,
turn into the chapel yard. There is no
no legity, for nearly
every one in that vast assemDage is
about to 60 TO the altar and receive
their God in the Holy Communion" On
the cold, damp, eartlen floor kneel the
pious multitude, in silence only
broken by the long drawn sigh OF some
self accusing penitent, or the mut-
erred prayers OF tbs older people. The
priest, in black caSsoch, fits in and
1ut Of the door attached to the vestTy.
by an aeoiyte, who assists IN
lighting the candles, and generally ar
angling the altar tor the celebration of
Mass. Atmidnight the Angelus bell q
,ings forth, and the prayer is repeated &
~ the priest in English, the congrega- 4
jon responding in pioas and rapid muir i
uqring ~
Thus Mass begins. and save for All
occasional coughing, or the hnnning z
if earnest devotion, nothing distufbs z
he stiffness Of that midnight hour.
The scene resembles a strange vision.
The nalf-daTkness: tie wiiiteWashed
walls, the stations Of the Cross, like SO 2
many tiny windows; the kneeling and 8
congregation, the women
Gufiied IN their si1asIs; the altar blaz-
~ with light: the priest in his glitter Z
ne Festments: the strange silence all 2
erve TO render the scene more of a vis- 4
Oh than anything approaching reality y
In awsd bush comes over all as the Z
lost is exposed. and VIXEN che flnal tie. 2
aissa est is pronounced, and the Mass
oncladed, there IS HI ipheavai. a rnu5- 4
curing, increasing In volume at eachI +,
scond the holy water font is ap- Il
reached, those nearest - it sprina-
ng the outsiders. and then come theI
christmas greetings Id the yard. the
,ud- honest lauI8gings, and the shout Il
ags setweaa the neighbors, who arels b
Iready en- route Tor their homes. Ia n
his way Christmas IS esljcyad IN ireland. II