St. Paul daily globe., 1892-03-13

wisdom and tact, and being mild in
manner and gentle of department, and
gifted. also, it is said, with great el0
Quence, he made his first friends and
then rapidly converts. lie invariably
made it a point to preach before the
Princes and Chiefs
of clans, knowing that if he succeeded
with one chief his whole following
would in those early times change over
to Christianity.
st. Patrick did not rudely assail or
alter existing pagan customs or cere-
monies which might be tolerated, but
he, on the contrary, permitted the
Druds to carry on their feasts in the
name of Christians, which they and
their fathers were accustomed to OBJ
serve as paganS and as native lrlShmen.
Thus their feast of Samhaim, or that
in honor of the moon, he transferred to
that of All SAINTS day, which is still
regularly celebrated i'll the Cath olic
church every 1st day of November.
That of May day, in honor of Beal, or
the sun, to which fires were annually
lighted, was transferred 10 the 18th of
June, in memory of John the Baptist.
Bontires are still as regularly lighted
or Irish hIllsides in honor of this an
cient worship as they were 1,400 years
ago in the days of pagan Ireland.
1t is popularity considered that the
chief named Dicho, whom st. Patrick
bantiZed, was ''the first born of the sons
of Erin to the faith of Christ" Nothing
could be more erroneous, as from pas
sages in the works of st. ChrysoStom it
has been asserted that Christianity was
in Erin long before St.Patrick, and that
xyicitnd from tho
earliest ages by missionaries.
King Cormac M'Art
who lived and reigned century before
st. Patrick, was Christian, and st.
Prosper expressly states that PalladiuS.
who, like Patrick, was Christian. and
st. Prosper by Pope Celestus, was sent
to preach to the Irish believing in
Christ" wide, Life of ST. Patrick"
by Father nj. l. O'Farrell, page 26.)
The facts are that st. Benedict, So
linus and Augustine-had landed in
Ireland previous to ST. Patrick's depart
ure from France, and had met with such
success that hopeful expectations had
been entertained in Rome of the con-
version of the entire island. But the
Druids, as may be expected, were hos
tile to the new religion, and had influ-
GIlC6u bnC AlHS VI 11CIuobCI dlilSI
Paladius, who then became the enemy
of the missionary. Palladius was, there
fore, driven out of the country by the
pagan priests, who saw their tenets con-
futed and their influence threatened
with ruin. in much the same manner as
their brother fiamens of ancient Rome
envied the Christians in the days of
Trajan and Tiberius.
Referring to the early civilization of
Ireland DIR. Petrie, in his learned work
upon the round towers of Ireland,
quotes from a very ancieut document
showing that Ireland was prosperous
during Cormac's time, and just judg-
ments were distributed throughout it by
him, so that no one durst wound a man
in Ireland during the short jubilee of
seven years; for Cormac had the faith
of the one true God according to the
law, and said he would not adore stones
and trees, but Him who made
them and who had power over all the
elemenis-i. e.: The one true God Ill
Him he would believe" Essay on
Round Towers, page 299). King Con.
nor Mac Nessa, who reigned before
Cormac, had also been told of
The Crucifixfon of Christ
J by Altus, and-the traditions of Munster