St. Paul daily globe., 1891-11-09

verse of wife and children. He needs
their presence for the filling of his own
cup of happiness; they need his pres
ence for their strengthening of charac-
tel and the intensifying of their affec-
tions. There are certain lines of labor
which permit father to obtain, so to
| speak, but hurried and furtive glanceS
OF his children. He loses in love for
them; they lose in respect for him. and
the FAMILY is broken up at an early
! period of its existence. There are men
| and these deserve most severe cenSure
| who own in freedom their Sunday, and
| yet spend it largely away from their
families. This is true not only in the
| poorer classes, but among the wealthier.
| Club rooms and boon companions de-
mand their hours, instead of wife and
little ones. After years they lament
| that their children are disobedient and
anxious to sever home links. The fault
Is the fathers own. Where father,
mother, children and intimate friends
| gather often and in innocent paStime
around the hearthStOne, where the am
| bltioh of one is to please the others and
| to contribute to the general fund Of
| happiness, hearts cOalesce. minds
| drink in the lessons of minds, and home
Is thessanctuary of love and wisdom,
whence none readily depart and whittier
Religious Purposes Of Sunday.
The Sunday in the designs of the church
is reserved not only for the repose and
freshening of body and mind. but also
for the development OF religious life il,
man. For the Christian this latter as
pect of the Sunday is of supreme im-
portance. and just as far as religion is
necessary for the preservation OF NOR
ais and the growth OF mans higher nat
ure, SO Is the Sunday necessary for the
common veal of the nation. 'Remem-
Der to keep holy the Sabbath day. Six
days shalt thou labor and shalt do
all thy works. But on the seventh day
is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God:
thou shalt do no work on it. thou nor
thy son, IOr thy daughter, nor thy man
servant, nor thy maid servant. nor thy
beast. nor the stranger that is within
thy walls" Sublime commando 1t
compelS man to lift upward his
thoughts TO his Creator, thank Him for
existence and ali its faYors, renew al
legIance to Him, and in the presence of
the Deity grow into deified being.
Man has solemn duties toward his God,
duties of alteration. praise and petition.
In the whirl of industry and commerce
there IS no time, no energy of soul for
| those duties. Theu. at stated periods
| merce cease their revolutions; let the
din of shop and counting room be stilled,
and amid the silence Of earth let Heaven
be heard. Never is man so great as
when he cOmmuneS with his God; never
is his soul so flooded with peace as
when the light of eternal hope
sheds its radiance upon his SOUL No
man should be debarred from his
right to worship God Oh Sunday; the
claims OF religion are paramount to the
rulings Of business. Woe to the man
who sacrifices his Sunday: be sells for
the mess of pOttage his birthright as AN
immortal being: lie sells his dignity and
his Independence. The labOrer should
be most jealous Of the religious Sunday;
1t Is in 1t that his dignity is recognized,
and his equality with all men pro-
claimed t or the eXaitatiOn of the lOWly
and the humbling of the proud There
are. unfortunately. several causes lead
ing RtO religious indifference, the Su-
preme da niger of our times. Among
them we must SignaliZe the tendency
| toward Sunday occupation. There are
men who have no time to enter a
church. This is often the cause with
railroad employees, hotel servants, cab
drivers, BARRIERS, etc. They lose all re-
liglouS knowledge and religious prac-
tice from their continuous inability to
enter church or listen TO an instruc-
FiOn. Their influence becomes ire
iisiouS. and the cOntagiOn of indiffer-
entiSm spreads to their families and ac-
quantances. The triumphs of modern
industry are indeed marvellous; we are
proud Of them. But the
Grandest Things on Earth
| lose their value if they impede the
SouPs flight to the skies, ii they reduce
man to mere instrument OF toll No
class Of citizens are more virtually in
terested in the observance of the Sun
day than Catholics. The life of CathO-
lie faith and virtue is entirely depend
ent upon the religious worship which
is offered up on that day, and. the relig-
lOuS instructions which il affords The
greater number. too. Of Catholics are
men Of toll, and, with the gradual elm
inatlOn of the Sunday their lot is made
the harder. And yet, for truths sake,
L must say that Catholics are not always
the most earnest in securing Sunday
observance. Many of them are lax i'm
theory and in practice. The strict COM
mandS of ecclesiastical law are alone
regarded, while they should remember
that the letter of the law stops in its
requirements at the mOdlcum, and that
when the tendencies Of the times are in
the direction of eliminating the
law it needs strengthening beyond
its vital centerS. In practice they
give way to festivals and excursions on
Sunday, which, however they may be
protected by the banner OF religious
society, are dangerous encroachmentS
upon the SacredneSs OF the day. Not Il
few Of US have come from foreign coun-
tries where reign peculiar notions about
the Sunday. These notions are not
Catholic notions, bat they are taken as
such and transplanted into America as
part Of the rights of religion. | have
noticed with much regret that in move
mentS OF citizens TO enforce the Sunday
laws Of the country Catholics are not in
large numbers among the foremost COM
batantS. This may rise from some sim
gular political ideas held by them, but
10 political ideas must prevail against
such obligations as those binding us to
the observance of the SUNDAY. The
most faithful advocates. | repeat. by
word, act and vote, should be the Cath
olics, and if eyer-which God forbid
the Sunday in America were to go down
into oblivion before the advancing hosts
of greed and irreligion. the last soldiers
to leave its ramparts should be the
Catholics.
The Legal Sunday.
The Sunday is of such Importance to
lHe COlinOlWedlIu lrOiH economic ana
social points of view that no one can
doubt of the right of the state 10 inter-
vene in favor of its observance. Direct
religious considerations can be left out
when there is question of the state,
which has no mission 10 enforce divine
worship or church attendance. As the
large majority, however, of the p0pula-
ton claim the privilege of a quiet Sun
day, in order that they may attend, if
they so wish. to duties of religion on
Sundays. legislation should protect
them in this privilege. The Sunday
laws on the statute books of the cities
! and states of the republic do profound
honor to the American people, and
place us before the world on the highest
plane of social and Christian civ
iliZatiOn. The American Sunday
has been the pride of the