The Irish standard., 1897-03-20
The BLEST land Of SAINTS
Grafton of Rev. Terence rIoOre OF
St. Anthony Pad ua
Church.
IRISH CRAVING FOR THE TRUTH.
Through Eight Hundred Years of
Bloody Persecution
They Lived.
IRISH CRAVING FOR THE TRUTH.

They Lived.
At st. Anthony of Padua. on st. Pat
rick's Day, Rev. Terence Moore, pro-
lessor of St. Thomas College, delivered a
most eloquent sermon. We regret our
inability to print the discourse in full.
Below will be found short synopsis:
"And this is the victory which over
cometh the world-our faith" Select
ing this as the text for his theme, the
speaker said that faith had its victories
no less than war; illustrations and
proofs plenty of this truth are furnished
by many nations. But lne most signal
victories of faith were won on Irish soil.
When" said the speaker, est: Patrick
planted the standard of faith on the hill
of Tara, the faith Of Christ took possess
sion of the hearts Of the Irish people,
with firmness and permanency unpar-
allelled in history" Reverting to the
condition of the Irish people before St.
Patrick began his mission, the speaker
said: although Jesus Christ had been
born nearly five hundred years before
the event we are commemorating; yet
our forefathers, far away from Judea,
knew it not. The work OF the redemp-
ton had been accomplished but it's
fruits were not yet applied to the Irish
people, and unapplied redemption is as
If there were no redemption" Continu-
ing, the speaker said: when Patrick
arrived in Ireland he found the Irish
people universally pagan; he left them
universally Christian. Theirs, be it re-
membered, was not debasing paganism
like that of Greece or Rome. The Irish
deif1ed no debauchery or lust, but, rails
ing their eyes to heaven, worshiped the
sun and moon and stars of their own
clear western Skies
ga supernatural people, the Irish had
a craving for religious truth, a cultured
civilized and intellectual people, they
gave Patrick respectful hearing and en-
tered approximately into the force Of
his arguments. els there nobler ex-
ample of Christian heroism than st. Pat
rick promulgating the Christian law on
the hill of Tara? AS see him in spirit
standing in the presence of all the maj
esty, dignity and culture Of my native
land, there arises before my magma
ton the figure of the apostle whom he
so closely resembles by his ardent faith
and heroic fortitude.''
The speaker then told how the Irish
people received the Word of Life from
St. Patrick. The Druids made way for
the silent monastery; plumber and pill
age echoed panss of death; and hence
forth hymns and canticles made music
throughout the isle Of saints and schol-
ars. In short, within century, without
b1oodshed, by the labors of one man.
heaven was let down on Ireland, and
Patrick, the slave, became the redeemer
and preserver of the Irish people.
The reverend speaker said that the
fires kindled by St. Patrick grew brighter
and cast their effulgence on surrounding
nations. Hence, UP to the ninth CEN
tury, Ireland held supremacy over the
whole world in faith and learning. In
consequence thereof Ireland has given
patron saints to the whole civilized
world. Germany honors one hundred
and seventy-one Irish saints; France
forty-ave; England. forty; Italy, thir-
teen; Iceland and Norway, ten Irish
martyrs.
After depicting the glory and fame Of
Ireland in the domain of letters, the
speaker described the sufferings of Irish
men for their faith, and called Ireland
the "Island of Martyrs" Ee paid his
respects to those historians who sneered
at Ireland because, as they said, the seed
of faith was not made to fructify there
as elsewhere by the blood of martyrs.
He said subsequent history fully dis
proved this assertion, and cited amongst
other examples those of Bishops Punk
EFT and Hurley. Indeed" exclaimed
the speaker, "confscations exile, death
ALL could be endured, but loss of faith,
never!" Prosecutors tore down our
affairs and desecrated our shrines; but
they little knew that every spot Of Ire
land was consecrated altar and shrine
wherein lay the bones of the sainted
dead. They put the same price on the
priests head as upon wolves; but they
never dreamt that hundreds of young
Irishmen would go to the schools of
Louvain, Salamanca and Paris, and re-
turn as the Lords anointed to defy the
priest hunter and penal laws and to min
lister to their starving, crucifed country
men.
Most pathetic was the speakers de-
scription of the departure of the Irish ex
ile Mingling pathos with glowing We