The Irish standard., 1896-03-21
GRAFTON ON The DAY
/ nelIversd BY Rev. N. p. O,Sullivan,
s6$ssj at Holy Ro.
sery.
THE DAY WE cELEBRAgE-THE THEME
i Glowing Tribute Paid to Ire,
gss..f lands Patron
ss&s Saint.

- Saint.
At Holy Rosary Church on the evening
Of st. Patrick's day the splendid pro-
gram was carried out in a blaze OF enthus~
iasm. AS it has already appeared IN
!: these columns it is not necessary 10 re-
peat it. and it need only be sala that the
most sanguine of success more than real
lied their expectations, the various par
Elephants giving to their numbers an the
strength and beauty of their varied pow
ers. 1t would be invidious to mention
names, all having acquitted themselves
SO admirably. The reputation OF the
musical. dramatic and other entertaining
Qualities of the members OF the PARISH
being fully sustained under the careful
training and supervision OF those having
the matter in charge.
The Rev. NJ. P. O'SuIlivan, O. F., was
then introduced. who said: reel To-
night, not exactly like q fish out OF water,
but rather like an an1ph1b1ons animal
who strikes land for the first time after
a number of years in the water. He feels
he has been there before, but he has be-
came so unaccustomed to the land that
he feels awkward and loses his bearings
very rapidly. A number OF places sur
round him which he has seen away IN
the dim past, and he does not know which
place to choose for resting place. ana
in the confusion which such condition
Of affairs begets, he generally plunges OH
into the water to escape the anomolous
situation. This is precisely my position
on this public stage this evening, But
as have been named by the committee
w II IN "a.
sion. and while / would very willingly
plunge off into the audinece, If consulted
nv own feelings alone, yet l must stay
here on this platform to give expression
to some of the thoughts which this cele-
bration naturally suggests. l Will not
attempt to preach for you the panegyrlc
of st. Patrick, the apostle and patron OF
Ireland Neither will | speak the just
praises of the Irish people; and yet IN
speaking the truth this evening 1 must
give some share of praise to both; for a
Dominican on the platform, as we'll as
from the pulpit, is bound by the motto OF
his order to speak the truth. Indeed ne
firmly believes that the truth is always
and everywhere most acceptable to, as
we'll as the proper object of, the human
intellect, even while it sometimes equal
ly deals a blow to those prejudices and
passions which frequently try to usurp
urp the proper dominion Of right reason.
Wherever the children of the Green Isle
or their descendants exist their eyes anu
hearts are today turned to that land
which ST. Patrick evangelical more than
fourteen centuries ago. The universally
Of the celebration of the festival or st.
Patrick is kind of bond, uniting the
sentiments of the Irish race at home and
abroad: and the joys and the sorrows. the
hopes and the fears Of thirty-tWo millions
of that race are today centered on the
thirty-two thousand square miles of beau
tiful Ireland. How marvelously has not
the history of this lovely island borne
out the true significance of it's name, In
nisfail-the island of destiny! Yes, it
was an island whose Inhabitants were
destined to receive from the fervent, sim
cere lips Of st. Patrick the doctrine OF
our Lord Jesus Christ with an ardent love
to preserve that doctrine at All enormous
sacrifice of temporal goods and worldly
blessings, to guard and hand it down
from generation to generation. pure and
unadulterated by the heretical opinions
of anciento or modern times and to spread
that doctrine all over the habitable globe
On this festival we are brought face to
face with the history of fourteen CEN
turtles of Irish Christianity and the more
we unfold, and analyze, and dwell upon
this history the more we are moved to
admiration and delight at the sublime
view it presents to lis of the long and
never-ended struggle of the Irish people
for faith and fatherland. The Irish flag
has been Redeemed with the best blood OF
Irish martyrs for the right in nearly ev-
cry generation for more than half OF the
length of her Christian life, and yet that
flag is as green today as ever, and the
Irish race is as ready as ever to fling it
to the breezes Of heaven in defense OF the
principles of their religion and their pat
riotism. Whether in the hour of victory
over Danish invaders at Clontarf, or of
defeat before overwhelming numbers and
superior armament at the Boyne; wheth-
er it was advanced at the head Of the col
uni, Of victorious chargers at Fontenoy,
or up the heights of Fredericksburg at
the head of Meaghers Brigade, that flag
has ever waved over brave Christian he
roes who fearlessly battled for the right.
No nation on the face Of the earth can
point to record shining with more glo-
nv, than the record which history pre-
sents to us the brave but unsuccessful
people of the Island of Destiny.
Wars and famines, penal laws and per-
secutiUns have failed 10 stifle the yearn-
ings of the Irish heart for freedom, and
today after centuries of cruel wrongs,
and innumerable disappointments the
grand spectacle is presented to us OF a
people, willing as ever, to dare and die
for those grand principles which have
been beqreathed to them i'll direct Sue
cessiou through a long line Of noble an
cestcrs who cheerfully shed their blood
fol. the faith Of their fathers and the land
of their birth. The cry for justice and
right has gone out in our own time from
this oppressed people to the liberty lov-
ing of every land, and it struck a+warm
responsive chord in many generous SYM
pathetic hearts in every land beneath the
sun. This cry has assembled up before
the very portals of heavens gates from
the Representatives Of the people in the
British parliament, from the Irish hust-
ings from ten thousand platforms,
erected beside the very graves where ty-
rannical power had buried its uncofinad
victims. and from the beautiful fertile
fields which the spoilers. hand had rend
cred untenanted, and yet the island of
destiny is still in chains. Yes. poor Ire
land presented to her judges upon. earth
an unassailable case, and though reason,
wherever it exists, must acknowledge
the Justice of her claims, yet injustice
..,,,>> o,o prevailed and the ri ey1,f of Ire