The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-06
Rev. Frank L. PhaIen
Deals With It's
Lessons.
CALLS IT A NEGLECTED. DAY.
Saints Should be Exemp-
lars For Us
Today.

terday morning at the Church of the
Unity. Rev. Frank T. Phalen spoke on
"All Saints day; its lessons for the
present hour" The text was from
Revelations, xiii:1O, Here is the pa
thence and faith of the saints"
Rev. Mr.. Phalen said in part: There
are two neglected days in the eccles-
astical calendar, which ought to be OBJ
served by all branches of the Chris
tan church. l mean All Saints day,
which occurs on the first, and All Souls
day which comes on the second OF
November. 1t is pity that these two
suggestive days set apart by the an
Gent church, in the interests of hu-
manity and religion, should be forgot
ten by the majority of Protestants and
only remembered by our brethren In
the Roman Catholic, the Greek and
other ecclesiastical communions There
lis no reason why those who trace their
spiritual descent through an honora-
BILE ancestry, to the Puritans, should
not find instruction and inspiration in
these two significant festivals
After speaking of the origin and
meaning of All Souls day, the pastor
said: But there is one step higher. On
All Souls day, the church not only
prays for her own fold and her own
wayward children, but she lifts up her
voice and offers her petitions for all
souls so that in spite of what critics
and defamers may say, we find here
in the festival a standing witness ito
the fact, that the charity and love of
the church of Rome go out at least one
day in the year to every human soul.
Prayer is
AS MUCH A FORCE
as any form Of energy, and if our pray
ers do not alter the wise providence Of
| God, they often alter, soften, ennoble
and strengthen the will of man. So
think it would be in the line of rea-
sonable and effective. service of human
lily, if this festival of All Souls, which
has fallen into neglect among US, could
be revived. Its best traditions and its
Christian spirit should be perpetuated
| If we do not now share the old theo-
logical tradition, we certainly share in
the old love of humanity, in the old
! trust in divine goodness, in
the old belief that we can do some
thing by our efforts to affect for good
| the lives of our brothers and sisters"
! The speaker then went on to speak
of All Saints day: If there is one
need in the civic, social and religious
life of men, more important than an
other, it is the constant need of re-
membering the past. The present and
tits tendencies cannot be understood
without reference to the past We
stand here in the midst of this marvel
Gus nineteenth century like men on the
banks of a mighty rushing river. If we
would learn the meaning of the CEN
fury we must look beyond the limited
vision OF the moment, and see from
what distant places and different CON
ditions both the river and the century
come. Today in this country men may
worship in liberty and in peace, but
there are lands where he who CON
fesses the Christ and seeks to worship
COD at the altar of Christian church.
still runs the risk of assassination.
Alas, that after nineteen hundred years
of battle, it should be still necessary
for men to die, and to die by torture
simply because they are Christians,
and will not deny their Master. Did
you ever stop to think that our relig-
ion did not spring out of the quiet study
of philosopher, or the dreams of an
enthusiast, or the complacent atmos-
phere of those who were living in
sweetness and light? No, the blood of
the martyrs was
THE SEED OF THE CHURCH.
Everywhere for the first two or
three hundred years, the Christians
We're regarded by the official and arts
tocratic classes, as fanatics and out
laws.
Even as every city and town through
out the republic has it's memorials to
the heroism of our wars, so those early
Christians moved by a sense of love
and reverence, set apart a day, which
has now come to be the first day of No
Vember, as a perpetual memorial of
ha Il
martyrs who had lived and died for
the faith of Christ They called the
day, 'All Saints day." and we can
trace it's observance back to the fourth
century although it was not until the
time of Pope Gregory ", in S35, that it
was appointed to be celebrated on the
first day of November. In All Saints
day, | find an opportunity to com
memorate not only the saints and mar
tyrs, but the heroes and leaders of the
modern world Who can recount the
noble deeds, the patient integrity, the
courage of men, the self-sacriflce of
women, that have gone into the up
building Of this wonderful institution
we call our civilization. Every step
taken. every wrong righted, every gain
in liberty and justice and well being,
has cost the world a fearful struggle
The price has been
PAID IN TEARS,
in blood and death. From Socrates
drinking the hemlock, from Servetus
burning at Geneva, to Lincoln and the
brave heroes of our Spanish war; the
upward path of man is marked by the
graves and sepulchres of earths no
blest men and women.
Is it too much to remember them?
Nay if we forget them, we deserve the
execration and scorn of the world. Be
cause our friends and kinsmen and
neighbors have passed into the
silence, is it any reason we should
forget them and their labors? No, we
ought to cherish their memory more sa-
credly and tenderly, now that they have
preceded us into "the undiscovered
country" There is special need at the
tent is so pervasive and potent that we
should keep in touch with the great
souls of history, that we should under
stand the movements of the time, in sci
ence, in politics and religion; that we
should discover those dangerous and
sinister tendencies in civic, social and
religious affairs, which must be checked
before they breed damage.
Where, but from history. which is
Gods revelation of himself to humanity,
can we learn those lessons of expert
ence. which are fitted to guide us not
only in the minor details of our habits
and private life, but our conduct
and hope as citizens of the republic.
and servants of the living God?
One thing we should bear in mind. No
human character is safe, no home is
secure, no social circle is healthy no
state can prosper, no church advance
no nation flourish, where Gods laws
are violated, where selfishness and sin
run riot where honor is betrayed and
truth and justice crowded to the wall
in the mad scramble for sordid and SEN
suous ends. If history teaches any les
son plainly, If experience sheds any
licrh H. !.