The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1892-02-20
A GREAT TLECTURE.
Such Was That Delivered by DR.
Frances Eagan at Rosary
Hall Last Sunday.
HIS REASONS FOR RETURNING
To the Catholic Church Admirably
and Eloquently Told Before
a Large Audience.

The spacious hall Of Holy Rosary was
filled to it's utmost capacity last Sunday
evening to hear DR.. Eagan's lecture
The following short musical programme
was rendered before the speaker made
his appearance:
Piano selection--"Queen OF the Night" by Miss
Katie Ncrling
LEAD Kindly Light ........... Rosary Quartet
Mr.. w. KitZ, basso; MIR j. Dibb, tenor Miss
F. Baily, soprano Miss N. O'Brien, alto.
Vocal selection ..-...-..... -..... Miss }. Dlbb
Soprano solo ... -. Miss l.. AckersOn
Rev. 3. A. Enjs, assistant pastor, intro
duced the speaker. In his brief remarks
he took occasion to state the reasons why
converted Episcopalian was invited 10
speak at Rosary Hall. He said, "We
welcome our distinguished visitor who
comes to US with the dual experience of
diverging creeds. His presence and the
utterance of his burning convictions are
to us an evidence Of the cheering truth
that an earnest, honest and intelligent
Catholic has been an earnest, honest and
Intelligent Protestant"
Rev. Frances Dillon Eagan said:
Having been the greater part Of my
life Protestant, and for years Protest
ant minister, am often asked the reason
that influenced mo to become Catholic.
In answering this question bya plain
statement of my searchings for truth and
the reasons that compelled me to relin~
quish my ministerial profession and to
embrace the Catholic faith. Idesire to
say in advance that I have no intention
of engaging in an unseemly TRADE against
Protestants. In discussing this contro~
versial subject I draw wide distinction
betwean Pro&estants and Professionalism,
and while feel free to speak plainly Of
Professionalism ass system of error in
religion. yet for Protestants, with whom
have so long associated, I can cherish
feelings only of esteem ana affection.
The Catholic Church, as Protestants
understand il, exists only in their i1nagin-
alton. So understand, it is compound
OF idolatry, priestcraft and absurdity.
And, perhaps, the most fearful conse.
quence Of this utter ignorance, this deep
delusion and gr.ss misrepresentation is
to be found in the fact that every form
OF error opposed to Catholic truth bends
its untiring energies to control the edu-
cation Of the children of Catholics, and
by instilling into their young minds the
calumnies that fall from the tongue like
the poison of asps, train Them in hatred
or shame or ignorance OF the faith OF
their fathers
In these introductory remarks have
sketched my own experience. Bereft Of
parental protection in early boyhood my
first friends were Protestants who as
grew in years. taught me to believe that
Popery WAS the perversion of Christiani-
ty, that the Pope was nti-Christ, the
man OF sin, the son Of perdition foretold
IN the Bible. They taught me to believe
that the Church of Rome was the beast
with the ten horns and the scarlet woman
prophesied in the Apocalypse. They
taught me to believe that the Catholic
priests were hypocritical imposters and
that a JesuiS was crafty, cunning, polite
religious always plotting against the
we'll being of society. They taught me
to believe that monasteries and converts
were but little better than prisons where
iniquities abounded. They taught me-
to believe that priests compelled people
to GO to confession for the purpose of
getting money out of them through the
pretended power Of forgiving their sins,
and that when people died the priests
sent them to Purgatory, SO as TO obtain
more money for saying Masses to get
them out again In word was taught
to believe what all children educated un-
der Protestant teaching are taught to be-
; iieve about the Catholic Church. The
cooks placed in my hands to read and
study we're OF a character to confirm me
in this belief that the Church of Rome
was superstitious, idolatrous and anti
christian Church, in which no one could
possibly remain. without ieopardizing the
salvation Of his soul. And believing
what | read and heard from others to be
the truth | was persuaded in the sinceri-
tyof my youth to abandon this corrupt
and corruptibg Catholic Church, in which
IN my infancy was baptized, that I
might enjoy the purer light, boiler faith
ef protestantism. The state Of my mind
a'd At that tn. time, from the knowledge ] had
received, was such as to lead me to be-
heye that the Anglican Church repre-