Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-07-01

and wine.
But why contrast type with anti.type; shadow
with reality? While the latter alone presents
such varied and significant subjects for re-
hection? Pass in spirit from the entrance to the
sanctuary, from the door TO the altar OF this
beautiful church and observe how every object
Is traught with spiritual meanings. suggestive
OF holy thoughts and aspirations to God. There
is the smaller, or larger steeple lifting its taper
ing form high above the surrounding ediices
pointing the worshiper TO that Heaven whittier
he asplres, and saying to him in silent speech
Upward, child of tears; yonder is thy fathers
house" Far beyond those clouds is the haven
of thy rest the goal of all thy fondest hopes.
Like me, rise superior to the world beneath :;
leave behind thee the dust of earth, aud center
thy affections there, where they of right be long
Then comes the belfry, with its deep-toned
and thrlll-tongued bell, whose voice OF God
calls to watchfulness and PRAYER Now
it performs GabrielS chosen part and st
dawn OF day, ard when the sun is in his
zenith and, again, when he sinks beneath the
horizon, TO leave the weary world to sweet
repose, 1t tells how an humble virgin con-
ceived and brought forth the Emanuel the God
with us; and how He dwells among US full of
grace and truth anon, it calls 10 the early
mass, bidding the faithful to unite their
spiritual offering with the priest OF GId, as he
stands at the altar raising his eyes 10 the cruel
tx, and presenting in his own name ana in the
name OF the Church, the bread and wine that
they may become an eXpiatory sacrafice for the
living and the dead, clean oblation well
pleasing to God and beneficial to mankind
That same bell is associated with all that is
solemn at mans entrance inIo talis world au0
at his departure from it 1t rings out merrily our
deliYerance from sin, and tolls mournflliy over
our soulless body, when amid tears and siphs
IT is borne to the tomb. Let us now enter the
house OF the, Lord, and following the counsel of
the wise man, ''Son, when thou comest to the
service of God stand in justice and in fear, and
prepare thy soul ior temptation" Let us dip
our hnger In the holy water by the door and
say with the Royal Prophet Wash me vet more
from my iniquities and cleanse me from my
sin; thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop ana /
shall be cleansed; thou shalt wash me and |
shall be made whittier than snow" How sIls-
gestive is that holy water at the churchs door
With II We bless ourselves soon as we rise
ana as often as we retire; with it we sprinkle
our houses against the inieSting malice of
the evil spirit, who goeth about like
roaring lion, seeking whom he may
devour.' With it we sign ourselves in the hour
OF temptation; with ii we sprinkle the people in
our churches. the agonizing on the couch of
death, and the bier and grave of the departed.
Emblem OF purity Of heart, its illustrative power
reminds US how, like that water, our souls
should be poured out before the Lord, in the
spirit OF purifying penance and prayer.
But there is another font filed with sacred
water, and the faithful call it by its ancient
name, the "Bsptismal Font" OF that water it
is written: Except a man be born again of
water and OF the spirit. he cannot enter into the
Kingdom OF Heaven" Happy" exclaims
Tertu!lian, happy the sacrament of water,
whereby, being c.eansed from the sins of our
DIluuuCSS, we are maze Tree unto eternal
life: In that water says st. Ambrose, THE
flesh is dipped, that every carnal sin may be
washed away; every crime is buried there"
though we have all the wickedness to be
found in n en-, says st. John ChrysoS:om "he
comes forth from being plunged into that pool
of waters from the divine stream, purer than
the suns rays. II is the sepulchre of the old
man and the resurrection OF the new; it is the
saLctihcatlon, the justice, the full of redemp-
tlon, the Inheritance, the Kingdom OF Heaven
the bestowal of the spirit" y, who among US
on looking Mt that font. does not instinctivelv
recur to the day on which we, too, were cleansed
in that healing pond, stirred by the hand of an
angel-the minister OF God VINO on seeing
that font, has not n sigh and a tear for the davS
of his innocence when he came out
OF that laver u new and regenersted man
Then, there are the stations-the via cIuSis-
suspended from the walls They are the poor
illiterate mans Bible; the record of events,
whose mysterious depths no created intellect
eau fathOT, and which art reproduces as types
and emblems of the reality that lies far and out
OF the reach ef sense. Still they have their
share in the lifting up of our hearts and minds
to God. They are the stimulus of our sluggish
hearts, and move our dormant consciousness to
heavenly contemplation They cry out, in their
own mute language, "Sarsum corda'-raise
your hearts to God.
Next we meet the confessional; the stumbling
block of the impiouS, and the plank of ship
wrecked hope to the penitent Is there nought
inspiring in that confessional against the wall?
Does II not tell OF lofty spirits. proud stubborn
intellects, who afier travelling the world
around for peace of mind, which they could
not find, have at las fallen PROSTATE there, and
bowed their naughty heads and laughter
souls in humble submission, saying Father,
forgive me, for have sinned "
Oh how many moral wounds have been
healed in that sacred bath How many moral
ulcers, fostering for years have been probed in
that heavenly surgery How much injustice
has there received a check How many enc
mics have there learned to forgive and forget
How many unfortunate Wretches have
there been Snatplpd fIDm nntimplv nd ND
endless ruin But we must on in our spirit
walk through the sacred precincts of
the House of God. There is the pulpit, ada
mantine Mount of Oliyet, whence they
who have been sent like the disciples of old,
fulfill the divine commission; "Going, teach
all nations, teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever 1 have commanded you" How
sublime is their theme; how eloquent the sim
plicity of their style and language; " not in the
persuasive words OF human wisdom, but in the
showing of the spirit and power; they speak
wisdom among the perfect yet not the wisdom
OF this world nor OF the princes of this world
but they speak the wisdom of God" Nations
have come and hung on the lips of these simple
teachers, and the simplest of them has done
more for His people than Demosthenes ever did
for Greece or Cicero for Rome. The most re-
nowned OF civil orators never pleaded, but the
interests of time; the obscurest priest
in the obscurest village. pleads the
cause of immortal souls. > nd, oh with what
authority. Thus saith the Lord is the OPEN
ing of his every discourse. Thus saith the
LOTu lne CLOSING WOrdS OF the same. EmDaS-
sador from Heaven to man; the word of his
King is the burden OF his theme. and as such it
is received by his hearers. Other orators speak
to the peoDle the Christian orator to sovereign
and people. Around his pulpit the ignorant
and the learned, the poor and the rich, subjects
and rulers, hold the same place. They ave
the same right to hear and the same duty to
obey. Others may preach themselves. TIE
Christian orator glories IN preaching Christ cru
Gifted. With the Royal Prophet Let us now go
to the altar of God; to God,who giveth joy to our
youth" Before you is the communion table.
emphatically the table of the Lord, which .
hath prepared against all those who atflict us
None are excluded from this table, except
those who exclude themselves.
But He loves to see the little ones and to the
unwlse He saith, Come eat my bread and
drink the wine which have mingled for you;
this Is the bread of life, which Whosoever eateth
worthily shall not taste death forever This is
the wine which maketh Virgins. THAT clean
llpen cloth,' says st. lsidore of Pelusium which
Is spread under the ministry of the divine gifts,
is the service rendered by Joseph of Arimathea,
for as he, having wrapped the body of the Lord
in clean linen cloth, sent it to the sepulcher.
through which our whole race has gathered as
fruit, the resurrection, so we, hallowing
upon gp3 cloth the bread Of propitiation,
find, without any doubt, Christ's body,
which Is a weli-spring unto us of that
incouui tion which Jesus the Saviour, has be-
slowed upon us. Above our head is the sleep
less sentinel of the altar; the small silver lamp
with its bright wavy frame; emblem of the
charity of Him in whose honor it burns dey
and night before the tabernacle. How often is
that small sweet light, together with the angels,
the only companion OF Jesus solitude. Row
strongly 1t rebukes our sloth, and our neg j.
gence in attending on our loving Lord. How
warmly il condemns the icy coldness of our
hearts, and how loudly it demands of us TO live
only for God. And, then. those tapers which
burn on our altars; how eloquently they preach
the Christians faith. enliyened by the love of
God, whose works should so shine before men,
that seeing them, they may give glory
to our Father, who is in heaven The
incense, which wreatheS upward from the
censer is the emblem of our prayers. that rise
on the wings of faith and love up to the very
throne of God.
their tabernacleS and their affairs. These
rather than any other objects make them truly
the house OF God and the gate of Heaven
They are the mysterious ladder, whose base
rests on the earth and whose top reaches I'D to
Heaven, on which ascend and descend not only
the angels of Goa but the God of the angels
Beneath them sleep the sainted relics of the
martyrs our fathers and models of the faith
Yes the altar is our bloodless calvary, on which
day after day the same victim who offered HIM
self sacrifice of propilation for the sins of the
the word of the priest, changing the bread
into the very body and the wine
into the very blood of Christ, our redeemer,
Ours is truly the tabernacle of God with men
ours is the true altare del. Thither turn the
minds and hearts of priests and people. IN
them are centered the eye of faith, and the
heart of love. Without them, our churches
were scarcely more than common dwellings
set apart for particular purposes, but vet
altars make our churches unique. 1t was this
that made ST PaDi write n the HabrauS ..XVa