The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-04-20
RELIGION BEFORE LOVE.
Father Michael, in His Sermon
on Marriage,
PlacesOneness OfReIigiOusFaith
Before Affection.
He Gives His Hearers at the Church
of the Assumption Some Good
Advice on Matrimony.

One of the largest audiences that has
ever assembled at the Church Of the
Assumption gathered there last night
to hear Father Michael preach on
Marriage, When, Where, How and
Whom to Marry" The body of the
church. although densely packed, was
unable to hold the immense crowd, and
many We're obliged to find accommo-
dations in the gallery, and even within
the altar space in the rear of the speak
er. Fully half the audience was Pro
testant
Father Michael spoke eloQuently and
entertainingly for an hour and a half.
He said: when individuals are called
to the marriage state. the first primary
or essential quality they should look for
in the young man or young woman
with whom they are to enter into mat
rimony, should be the same faith, the
same religion This is demanded by
nature and by common sense, and with
Catholics insisted upon by the church.
1t is true that the Catholic church
sometimes sanctions mixed marriages,
but it is only on the condition that the
non-CathoHc viii in no way interfere
with the Catholic in the performance
of his or her religious duties.
"The next great principle is love
Marriage is essentially an affair of the
heart True love is one; limitations are
a thousand. Pure affection should pos
sess the qualities of Immortality and
spirituality, and when once conceived
Will be everlasting
THE further primary qualities which
young women should look for in young
men are first of an sobriety. Never mar
~ man who is given to intemeper-
aroa would 7.e 4 her the xro111, O.
women here tonight dead in their pews
than we'd to drUnkards. For example.
take the scenes around you-but then
I forget, you are living in Kansas. the
omnipotent prohibition state. You
have no saloons, no. But you have the
joints the clubs, and the holes-in-t the
wall, and YOU have the whisky and the
drunkenness just the same.
THE man you choose for a husband
should be a worker DO not marry a
man who is a Ioafer, but rather man
who is able to support you, a man who
will be king in his own home
THE first principal quality to be
looked for in a young woman is true
and genuine piety. A woman who is
not pious is simply impious. Woman
/ was created as a helpmate, not a play
mate Of man. This is true not only
/ in temporal affairs, but in spiritual af-
/ fairs as We'll
~ Dung women should always be dill
/ gent They must know how to work
and be able to stand by your side in
( the hour of need and of trouble. There
seems to be an impression among the
/ young men of today that their wives
/ should be aerial creatures, with neither
feet to walk nor hands to work
/ This is all very poeticaL but if there
/ is any poetry that is quickly turned tC
/ prose, it is the poetry of marriage.
In regard to the time of marriage
/ you must be no longer children. At Is
/ or 20 years of age the average young
woman is but child and the average
young man is a mere boy They are
unable to comprehend the dignity, the
responsibility or the sacredness Of mar
riage.
And last of all the place to be mar
! ried is the church. The house of Coo
I is the fitting place for the sacred cere-
mOny of marriage. 1t is shocking tc
think of the sacredness of this cere-
mony being violated to such an extent
that marriag es occur in the show win.
dow or in the balloon!
"The subject of Father 8Iichael's ad-
! dress tonight viii be THE Church and
/ the Bible"