The Irish standard., 1890-12-13
A CELEBRATED DOMINICAN.
Who Has the Oratorical Honor of Civ
ing Course Of Advent Sermons
in the City Of Rome
THE GREAT PEREs M0NSABRE.

And Other Famous French Preachers Who
Have Filled the Pulpit of the Church
of Notrs Dame.
{From the Boston Republic)
One of the highest oratorical honors
which can befall a Catholic priest is to
be chosen to deliver a course of Advent
or Lenten SERMONS in any one OF the
many famous churches of the Eternal
City. PreIates. DO less than priests.
have always regarded such an appoint
lnent as an especial distinction, and be-
fore any priest can expect for such se-
lection he must have won. as it were,
an international reputation not alone
for pulpit eloquence, but also for em1
nent piety. This year the distinguished
French Dominican, Pere Jacques Mon
sabre, who for twenty years held the
post Of Lenten preacher in the famous
Cathedral Church of Notre Dame az
Paris, which he vacated at the close Of
last spring 8 conference, has been chosen
the Advent preacher in the Church Of
SAINT Andrea della Valle. and the fame
which he won IN the gay capital is
pretty good guarantee that the Romans,
who will have the pleasure of listening
to his Advent sermons, will hear elo,
qnent presentations Of the religious
topics which the distinguished Domini.
can may discuss.
Pere Didon is, so it Is commonly as
serted, to be the successor in the pulpit
Of Notre Dame. at Paris, of that other
eloquent Dominican, Pere Monsabre,
whose splendid oratory, as displayed in
his aLenten and Advent conferences,
has charmed Catholic Paris for fully
two decades Of years. and proved its
pOssessOr q worthy successor OF the
great preachers who gave N1tres Dame
its renown. 1t was in the early thirties
that Archbishop de Quelen. who was
then the incumbent OF the Partisan see,
was besought by Frederick Ozanam and
some other young Catholics to permit
Pere Lacordaire, whose sermons at the
College StanisIaush had then stamped him
as an orator of extraordinary force and
brilllancy, TO deliver from the pulpit OF
Notre Dame q series of sermons in
refutation of the many repeated and
public attacks which certain noted
French atheists were then directing
against Christianity. After good deal
of hesitation the archbishop, who
doubted the wisdom Of noticing those
attacks from his pulpit, consented. and
Henri Lac0rdaire was named the Len
ten preacher, and acquitted himself so
we'll of his task that. at the close of his
conferences, the archbishop publicly
thanked him from the pulpit for the
services his conferences had reno cred
the Church. and at that time he ap-
pointed the preacher an honorary canon
of the cathedral. Lacordaire's first
series of conferences covered two years.
and they drew the attention of not only
Catholic France, but also of Christian
Europe, to the pulpit of Notre Dame.
The great conferences frightened the
pious preacher, however, who feared
lest the applause which was so unstint
edly bestowed on him should cause him
to forget his priestly duties, and one
morning Paris was startled bv the an
nouncement that its greatest preacher
had quilted his pulpit and gone into a
Dominican convent, with the avowed
intention Of entering that religious
order and thus separating himself from
the world more effectively.
The Lenten conferences which Lacor
daire had inaugurated and rendered so
successful could not be dropped. how
ever, and the archbishop found it neces.
sary to choose some other orator to fill
his pulpit His choice fell on the
Jesuit, Pere Rayignan, who, in 1887
took Lacordaire's place and filled it so
acceptaDly that when. subsequently.
the latter preacher returned to NOtre
Dame. this time In the garb OF DO
mlnican monk, he was unwilling 70 dis
place his successor, and compromised
matters in such q manner that while he.
Eacordaire. delivered the Advent dis
courses. Pera Ravignan continued 70 be
the Lenten preacher; and this was the
order that was observed for number
Of years afterwards. OF these Advent
conferences q writer in the London
Tablet sald two years ago: IN ever. per
5haps. did enthusiasm rnn hiREer ia q
-. n 49,