El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-03-17
IRELAND'S
PATRON SAINT
The Day Celebrated Along
With the Corner Stone
Celebration.
A VERY SHORT SKETCH
OF the Lift. And History of st. Parisk.

IntEl P&sO she customary es6erVanso
OF abe day will take place, but 1ssssad
of having parade all 10 themselves
today, the Hibsrnisns will nareA With
the big corner stone procession ana ala
materially in swellina its ranks
As there are May readers OF tAe
HERALD who reverence the memery
of St. Patrick d short s.0ry Of his life
work il not out of place here. II fol-
lows:
ireland was the OILY souasry In
whish the Christian reltgios seseme
curly established without bloosshsd
The population of the island
.,ioit,. and befsrs tAs
death OF ST. Patrick in 492 tAs eshrs
population had practically besoms
Christians St. Patrick begrr ais a.
reer as q preacher ia ireland 90 years
previously, and, though he was act tRe
first 70 introduce Christianity tAers,
the attempts before made to es.vers
the natives had been few ana HE re-
suits tnconseQuenn BefDro Ais death
the church in ireland had bsea tAsr-
ougbly organized, he appointed sever
al Others bishops with whom he CON
suited 10 settle the diciplise OF the
church, asd ST.. Bernard is asesrity
for sta,ing shat he had dx.d ale metre
pelham ace al Armagh.
In the succeeding century the ehsrch
,hat he hId established became pos
sessed ui.h a passion for sissiosary en-
terprlse. Celtic preachers spread the
light of Christianity throughout the
north and west OF Europe. The pre-
sence Of those devoted Irish missios-
aries is still attested by the manuscript
volumes in Gaelic, Latin or Greek
| found in various continental LIBRARIES,
works which bear mute testimony both
TO the piety AID learning Of their al
! thors.
Hand in hand With the higher de-
veIopment of the Irish nation in the
sphere of religious Thoughts was lis
progress in knowledge aud in the arts
of civilization. The celebrated school
of Armagh, founded by 81. Patrick,
was reputed to have at one time so
many as 900 students, thst hoeked
thishcr from the island Of Rritais,
from Gsul, Germany snd other soua-
iries OF Europe. There were also
schools at Lismore, Bangor, Clanmae-
noise and Mayo which almost rivaled
that of Armagh as seats OF learning.
The products of Irish skill which
have come down to us from those early
times attest she superiority attained
by that people in the arts of civllizA-
ton. The Illuminated books, crozlers,
chslilces Celtic crosses aud Celtic
karos and other remains Of this golden
period Of Irish history ere the wonder
and admiration of art critics today.
The famous Illuminated Book OF
Kells." dating back more than shou-
sand years, is one of the greatest
mnrvels Of the caligre piers art IN the
world Those not al all Inclined to
be partial to the Celtic race admit thnt
even now. with all the sppliasces OF
our civilization and with all our skill,
we could not produce anything to eQGai
it.
The Venerable Bede relates how tke
mobiles and students Of This epoch left
Britain to see an education In Ireland.
4 fact he does not forget 10 relate also
Is that the generous Cells provided abe
strangers with teachers and books, and
with true Irish hospitality gave !aem
food and lodging at the cost OF tke ma
tion.
One of the Successors Of St. Patrick,
st. Cslum be, born in 52l, passing over
into Scotland, founded ga lena g seal OF
learu!nc which was famous in weGterp
Europe during msny GESTURES, IA
Other Irish saint and scholar, ST. Co
lumbsnus. bern in 543, preached and
established churches in France, Ger
rsany and Switzerland. In the latter
country kis disciple, Steal, establish
ed the great monEssic 6shsol ukieh
still 6esr- his name.
May Others, Immediate successors
of ST.. Patrick, were scGsiered all ever
the continent of Europe, and beth By
She .ancsity Of their lives their evan
gelisNs labers and their eTupti0u son-
tribsted greater 30 thc moral elevation
and onlighsment Of the population.
These religious teachers did aot Limit
their Iabors and their faith ints tAs
minds OF The people, sheEeh
this Of course was their Aais
work. They we're also ardent support
erE Of learning md disseminated
knowledge ia every community whore
they lnbored as religious tsaskers.
MANY OF them were mon OF culture,
and, in addition 10 trsnslRtiRE azd
translated various volumes OF the claE-
sizes into so 1e of the languages thes
spoken n Europe.
When ireland WAS known as the in
sula snnctorum ind was center OF
light and knowledge TO western Europe,
she Scandinavian was roaming a saw
nge among the fens and marshes OF
northwestern Europe when not en-
gagged in his congenial work of making
pirasioal raids upon more highly fav
ored regions than his own uhospitable
abode. Ireland retained This spiritual
and educational pre-emlueuce for some
centuries but in the eighth Gestu
ry scandinavian hOrdes began TO-
ravage the coast aEd hRally
secured firm foothOld In Ihe
country itself, They destroyed church
Is, used the sacred vessels for Ordinarr
purposes and slaughtered the clergy.
Before Brian Borhoime finally subdued
the ruthless despoilers at Ihe begin
ming of the eleventh century nearly all
the religious and educative esta blish-
ments had been destroyed and IrcleHd
lefs very much in the condition il was
before 81 Patrick began his evangel-
istic career there.
Afterwsrd dissensiOns among the ne
IL IA III q L nj Tie IN, L.