The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1898-11-12
PREACHED ny ARCHBISHOP IRE
LAND IN HIS CATHEDRAL.
RElISIoN IS BASED on THIS DOCTRINE.
DEFINED As SOMETHING CAUSED 10y
SUPERNATURAL. POWER.
The IAIERVEN1I.N OF ALMIGHTY GOD.
THEY MUST BE AUTHENTIC ATsD TO
HAVE ANY VALUE.

| Archbishop Ireland preached last Sun
day at the cathedral on Miracles. He
said in part:
in the gospel read to you there are
narrated two miracles wrought by our
blessed Savior, a few out of the many
miracles that marked The passage of
Jesus over the earth. Numerous mira
cles are recorded of him by the cvunge-
lists, but st. John adds that If all he
! had said and done had been written the
volumes would almost cover the earth
The final miracle of our blessed Lord,
the one indeed which he himself al
ways marked out as his chief miracle,
and the one upon which the apostles,
more than upon any other, based their
preaching, was his resurrection. When
the miracles of our blessed Lord are
looked into as proofs of his divine mis-
sion, they are to be taken together.
Their force, SO to speak, is cumulative.
He appeared ON earth, gave Himself to
His own directly by the Eternal Father,
whose son He proclaimed Himself to be,
and as IL supernatural visitor on earth
His supernatural power was, SO to speak
to His natural; and it went forth from
Him at every step of His march through
! Palestine, and whenever an occasion Of
fered through which He could benefit
humanity He spoke as one from heaven
and things were done which could be
done only by one from heaven.
| Il mention the miracles of Christ in
order to emphasize this one great fact
regarding the Christian religion. that
the Christian religion is built upon
miracles, that miracles are It's founda-
ton. Take away the miracles the whole
{, ediilce falls. Tho great evidence given
by our blessed Lord of His divine au-
thorty was the miracle. What is a
miracle? A miracle is 4 sensible, Wis
ible act which transcends created pow-
or, and consequently denotes Il divine
agent A miracle is something which
no man through his own power or
through the powers of nature can do. IL
is something which demands supernatu-
raj and divine agency. IL must when
the miracle is taken as IN evidence OF
religion, be visible, tangible fact fall
ing under our senses in such a manner
! that such can be proved, that it can
DC established according to the rules of
| moral evidence. Christians believe that
| Almighty God constantly as it were,
| lnterfcreS in the supernatural life of
souls; that He gives answers to pray
crS in manifold methods. and so far as
J his action in those eases is q ,,lprrnatu-
raj direct intervention, We might say il.
is miraculous, but when the miracle
strictly taken is invoked aus an evidence
OF divine mission it must be tangible,
visible material.
| But how can We know that any
given fact is Il miracle? Have we not
the understanding of causes existing or
possible? Can we not trace back results
to causes? And if at times we are not
able to discover the natural causes to
results which we observe we do not
! rush without reason to tho conclusion
| that the cause is one above nature. is
divine? But let there be SupposabJc
| eases, where the result is so obviously
separated from all natural causes, DOS
| sible or imaginable. May we not know
and must we not confess that the cause
is u supernatural one? Human reason
| knows that in certain clear, manifest
J eases the result of power is not from a
| human, or a created cause That we do
not know all the powers of nature is
| trnc, as it is that persons who know less
| of the powers of nature than We our
| selves might be willing to attribute to
supernatural agencies results which wa
know to be natural, but If there Is any
doubt hold to natural power If
there is any act on the part of him who
| produces the result that would Indicate
the least possible jugglcry with natural
energies. suspend your Judgment. give
all due sway to known and to possible
human energies. But when it is evil
dent to thinking men that no created
energy is invoked or could have been in
voked then say the cause is from above.
"Of course the facts must be proved
| historically. 1t is not enough for one
TO say so many years ago this miracle
was wrought. We take the assertion as
| given and submit 1t to all the rules of
historical criticism and we abide by the
verdict. DO We doubt facts of the past
when history according to approved
rules narratcs them? No. We confess;
to political results, VIC confess to wars,
battles and victories, to The lives of men
noted on the pages Of history, and in the
| same manner and under the same rules
Of criticism VIC examine the life of
| Christ.
at is objected that miracles are
spoken Of in al rcligions-in those re-