The Irish standard., 1889-10-26

flag of pestilence be holsted on the Oute
/. walls of the city; let the gaunt form 6
death stalk abroad in the cellar and i
j. the garret. and then behold the heroisr
4 of the priests Of Christ. Whoever com
with me to the ordination OF subdea
COD; mark the young man as he stand
erect before the Bishop This youn
!, man has prepared himself for the da
Of bis ordination by years Of study. il
silence and obscurity. He is now read
for the most heroic act OF bravery, sur
rounded by no applauding crowd to urg
him ON, but rather by friends wh
would draw him back if they could
There he stands robed in white, silent
calm, collected, ready for the final step
4 Ii be take that step he can never return
| That step means death to the world, ITS
attractions, its friendships and its
II loves. Will he finch? Will he turI
\ back from tile sacrifice required OF him
the sacrifices of every earthly pleas
I lure, and even Of izis own will? He list
\ ems to the charge. 1t is not the inspir.
4 ing sound Of the bugle; there is no fash
Of swords here no excitement to make
j him forget the dangers or his position.
4 The charge is the quiet warning of the
4 Bishop, ''Adhuc liber es'' You are
fstiIl free" Free to roam where you
\ will. to choose what profession you
a will. to love whom you will-free in
A BODY and free in soul. Beware! "adhuc
4 liber es." Young hero of the white
Irobe will you make the sacrifice of your
I self for Christ and His people? A pause
and the Bishop continues: ''In Nomine
5IDomini hue accedite"; ''In the name
OF the Lord advance" There is flash
Iof enthusiasm in the young mans eye,
The steps forward and becomes hence
forth slave of Jesus Christ and slave
IOf the people. In a few moments he is
Iprostrate on the ground, his body a
fspiritual corpse, his soul dead to the
Iworld. Such heroism is like that Of the
martyrs.
I It is then this dignity Of the priest
Ehood and it's heroism which have helped
to give all our priests their vocation.
THEY have been educated in youth to
Iadmire the beautiful and sublime; they
EhaVe read in the pagan and Christian
fcffassics the great thoughts and. the
great deeds Of the past. They have
been trained to admire the noble and
| ho ,i,if Ior ~ fo fn f11e,
material and the commonplace. They
have minds peculiarly susceptible to the
charms of the invisible aud the meta
| physical; hearts full of love for the
great and the good. They are men who
in youth aspired after the true, the
good ana the beautlful-the elements
which make the great and the heroic.
Not only their Christian training, but
even their secular education, cultivated
and developed their aspirations for the
good and the perfect. 1t is, therefore,
minds and hearts, specially susceptible
to these infu ,nces to whom God ordi
narily gives the grace and vocation.
What doctrine SO sublime as the Christ
ian religion? What hero like unto
Christ? What heroism like that unto
the saints? Take away, then the nobil-
ity Of the priesthood and none of us
would have become priests: destroy it )
heroism and not one Of us would have
entered the SD 4ctuary. Reduce the
priesthood to Russian or even to a
Grecian level; m IKE of the Catholic
priesthood the common place ministry
Of the sects, and not one of us would
have ever consented to be ordained.
No matter how much our early ideals
may have failed of realization;
no matter what may have been the
clouds of after life, there is not a
man to-day wearing the cassock of
the priest in the American Church,
who would have donned it, if the
priesthood of Jesus Christ were
not the noble, holy and heroic call
ing which it is and which it always
will be.
Waseoa.
Special correspondence to the Irish Standard.
The city officials are considering the
advisabilfty Of constructing four tubu-
lar wells with cisterns and tanks for
city use and fire purposes.
District court for this county has been
in session in this city for more than a
week, Judge BucKham presiding. MANY
important cases have veen disposed Of.
Much damage is being done in this
vicinity by the burning of marshes and
meadow lands by fires accidentally set.
In some cases the soil is burned to a