The Irish standard., 1892-12-10
ARCHBISHOP IRELAND.

He Confirms Glass of Three Hundred and
Twenty Persons at Ascension Church.
Last Sunday was memorable day for
Father Alexander Christie and the mem
bers of Ascension parish. In the morn
ing Archbishop Ireland preached an elo-
quent sermon on the priesthood, show
ing the Office to be of divine origin, hav-
ing been ordained by Christ when he
sent out the apostles to preach the gospel.
Through them He had spread His teach
ings and diffused His graces. From the
time of the apostles to the present day
the priesthood had been maintained in
unbroken succession. 1t naturally fol-
lowed then that the priesthood Of to day
was fully endowed with the divine
spirit as in the time of the apostles and
earlv fathers of the Church. While the
discourse was very scholarly throughout,
it was couched in such simple, though
elegant language that it held the rapt
attention of the congregation from be-
ginning to end. In the afternoon a class
of 800 children and adults was confirmed,
sixty of the latter being converts to the
faith through the fundamentally OF
Father Christie during his passionate in
this city. The customary white wells
and confirmation wreaths by the girls,
who formed the larger part of the class,
made the scene pretty as we'll as impress
sive. Archbishop Ireland's sermon was
in explanation of the ceremony about to
be performed, and was adore -sed to those
who were about to take the sacrament.
Beginning with scriptural times he
told how the apostles laid their bands on
new corners, blessed them, and how
the latter then received the Holy Spirit.
From that time down to this the Church
had thus received new members, and as
the priesthood of to-day was the same as
that of the olden times, so the priesthood
Of the future would continue to be-.
''rhis day is to you your Pentecost, y
continued the archbishop land the mira
Gle of that day is to be enacted on you
here to-day with the same reality as then.
What for? To make you strong; to make
you soldiers of Christ; to give you
strength to do battle against the enemies
of God and Of your souls passions of
crime, passions OF eensuality, passions of
lntemperance and lewdness which darken
our minds and seek in every way to turn
us away from God, the Father. II we
rely on our own forces we do wrong. We
are creatures of sin; the world around us
is full of it, the sky above us is clouded
with error. We need strength from God
to enable us to conquer. In spite Of
temptation The fortified by grace is sim
ply invincible, and the sacrament of con-
firmat1on is the most powerful instru-
ment of grace
The sermon closed with an explanat' on
Of the process of conservation, and an
appeal to all to see to it that they did
not turn away from means Of grace.
At the close Of the discourse the holy
sacrament was administered to the class
BY the archbishop, who assumed his
ponti6cal robes, with mitre and staff for
that especial part OF the ceremony.
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