The Irish standard., 1889-03-30

lie learned OF his DIVINE Master. who
was meek and humble Of heart. His
were not the prayers nor the acts of the
Pharisee, who thanked God that ne
was not as the rest Of men; his were "a,
ther like unto the poor taxgatherer, who
asked God to be merciful to him sin.
ner, Or the Centurion, who said to
Christ. Lord, / am not worthy that
thou shOuldst enter under my r0Of.'
He was thus humble because be knew
God and studied himself. With all bis
wealth of humility one of the weak
things Of the earth, as judged by the
world 8 wisdom-he was no respecter Of
persons and the lowiv and the great
were equally chastised by him when
reprimand was needed. Thus, when q
certain prince, British and pirate,
killed some of our saints people and
took others captive, the saint was not
slow to take measures, He at once
wrote, and reminded the prince of his
wickedness, and finding that the letter
was OF no avail, he e9communicated
the wicked prince, and so forbade ali
intercourse with him until repentance
should reach his heart. Within his bo-
som there burned a holy zeal for tbs
salvation OF souls. lie knew Of Chrlst's
zeal FOL our salvation, and he initiated
it. He knew OF Chrlst's love for us,
that love proven long ago to demon
svration by His dying broken hearted
and forsaken on the CROSS. He knew
that were the love Of all mothers whose
hearts have been worm and whose eyes
have grown dim with tears. amassed
and condensed into one, conlpared with
the love Of Christ for each one Ut us, it
would be but as the ripple Of the stream
to the roll OF the ocean; or as the poor
little cottage FIRE to the great abiding
sun that gives light and neat to oil Gre
alton, And knowing this he would
spare himself nothing in order to save
even one sopl.
We are the 1nherltors Of a precious
inheritance. We are the heirs OF
faith planted without the blood OF mar
tyrs, but which afterwards required in
Vulnerable martyrs crowns TO preserve.
Our forefatbers made the sacrifice
which was demanded from them. They
gave up almost everything else but tbs
faith Of St. Patrick, and to it they clung
with tenacity and a bravery unparaZ~
Tiled in the annals Of nations. 1t is
ours to cultivate the virtues and to pre-
serve the faith pure and unsnllied
as given to our torefathers by our bril-
liant apostle. We may admire the yir-
tues Of our apostle and OF our race; we
may feel legitimate pride in the he
rojc degree in which they cultivated
these virtues, but we must not be COD
tent with being q mere admiration Sc
ciety. 1t is our duty, and it ought to
be Our ambition to initiate these VII
tues made dear 10 us by SO many tender
ties. And it is our duty 60 pluck ou;s
the faults of QUE race--for VIE may as
we'll candidlY admit, On this holy St.
Fatrick's Day that we have some.
vices begotten Of slavery { I fostsred by
British misrule. The generous impulses
Of our people were taken advantage Of
and turned to their own destruction.
The lack Of civic virtue which we some~
times sadly notice, is to be traced 10
this that flaw and order" are, and
justly so, the most detestad words in
the whole English vocabulary as used
in ireland; and to this that the VIOLA
ton Of certain u1iscalled laws, penal
laws, if you will. is recommendation
for parliamentary honors; and TO this
that Kiimainham prison has be,
come holy place, and its sad floor an
altar by reason Of the imprisonment Of
ecclesiastics; and to this that Ireland ia
the only land under heaven where it is
an honor to be imprisoned. And ,aoN'
as the age Of slavery is about to dis
appear forever from, Ireland. let us hope
and pray that the faults, which arc the
offspring Of slavery, will also be cast
aside forevermore.
You who have studied the history Of
Ireland naust have noticed that in it's sac
and fearful pages, as well as in it's tDora
joyous ones, religion and nationality,
have eyer been in some way united.
Archbishop Croke, the lllustrioue
churchnan Of Southern Ireland, says.
that the line which separates religion
and nationality in the Irish people is.
dim and shadowy. And Cardinal New
man, after twenty years Of close obser-
walton Of the Irish race, states that it is
difficult indeed to tell where nationality
stops and religion begins. Dearly have
the Irish people been made to pay for
their faith. Sometimes their very ma
t1onality has been made to suffer be.
cause Of their religious belief. But it
would appear that God intended the
race for special work, that Of spread
the gospel. And now that work is
done, for the true faith has been car.
ried by them in some way to almost
every land, and God is about to reward
them hpcaNsQ God no vvar1o nafio7oo &c