The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-02-27
IDEAS OF .PAULISTS
REV. w. w. EVERTS DISCUSSED
THEM IN HIS PRELUDE LAST
EVENING
CHAMPIONS FATHER HECKER
Bel1eves the Organizer of the Mis-
s1Onfsts' Band of PauIist Fathers
TO Have Been One of the Most
Earnest and Heroic Workers in
the History of the Roman
Church.

Church.
Rev. Father Hecker and the theories of the
fauilsts were discussed by Rev. w. W.
hVerts, In a prelude, at Woodland Park Bap-
tist church, last night. Mr.. Everts said:
-, In ms recent letter to Cardinal Gibbons and
Ine American bishops Pope Leo XIII. refers
10 the biography of Isaac Thomas 'Hecker as
having excited not little controversy be-
cause therein have been voiced certain opin-
IONS concerning the way of leading Chris
oah me. These opinions of Father Hecker
are described in the letter as follows:
Ail external guidance is SIT aside for those
souls who are striving after Christian perfec-
tlon as being supert1uous, OF, indeed, not
useful in any sense-the contention beinS, that
the Holy Spirit pours everywhere and more
abundant grGceS than formerly upon the
souls OF the faithful, SO that without human
IhterVenllon He teaches and guides them by
some hidden instinct CT His own.
Nor can we leave out of consideration the
ruth that those who striving after-psr-
Iection-slnce by that fact they walk In no
pea OF Wen known path-are the most liza
De 10 stray, and hence have greater need
than othrs Ct a teacher and guide. Such
guidance has ever obtained In the church; ii
mas been the universal teaching of those who
wisdom and sainctisy. And hence to reject il
would be to commit ones self to a path at
once
RASH AND DANGEROUS.
Although consideration Of this point in the
supposition that no exterior guide is granted
such souls, will make US see the difficulty
OF locating or determining the direction and
Application of that more abundant influx of
the Holy Spirit so greatly extoIled by inno-
vators. -
- Father Hecker, whose views are thus stated
and condemned by the pope, was brought up
Protestant, but after being a transcen-
dentelist= of Brook farm he became an ar
dent Roman Catholic Next to his religion he
took pride in American institutions. He
I loved liberty and he believed his religion was
capable of adapting itself to distinctively
american ideas. So ardent was this conviction
OF his that in vision he saw Americans
attracted by his version of the Roman Catho-
TIC faith, and, wearied of the strifs Of sects,
all faithful subjects of the see of Rome He
was the founder of the ord n of the Pauiist
Fathers. whose chief object was to hold mis-
sons among those who were estranged from
church-"a body Of free men, who love God
with all their might, and yet know how to
cling together, he said, could conquer this
modern world OF ours" Hence the Paulist
Fathers took no vows Gs>1 I-tss-.-.
= He considered, as his biographer says, that
individual liberty is an essential element In
. every Judgment that touches the welfare of
the community. Excess of liberty is better
than the arbitrary acts of tyranny. No lib
erty, guided by the spirit of God, can be too
great Other orders give the controlling in
nuence to the community, but the Paulists
give the control to the individual, as far as
entire secular and natural order is in the
direction of personal liberty and independence
Charity Is preferable to vows a security
for stability and as an incentive to holiness.
We should wait long before we bind our
selves with VOWS amidst free people Re-
ligion needs not holy states. but holy men.
Arbitrary authority breeds servility and
bondage. Spontaneity is better than obed-
ence to superiors. We may be SO overloaded
with harness that we will have no strength
left to pull 1t was his delight to hold
crowded meetings for "Protestants only"
many of whom he persuaded to accept his
views He literally offered up his life in his
arduous efforts to Americanize his religion.
'AmericanlSm as a movement OF Father
Hecker's was supported by the magazine
called the Catholic World and by such
enlightened prelates as Bishop Keane. Bishop
Keane says that the inspiration of Father
Hecker's life was "the more general sancti-
fication OF the church's members" Hecker
saw plainly that if his faith ever conquered
America the Roman Catholic masses must be
sanctified. He saw plainly that matter-of-
fact Americans would not care for his tree
unless it bore better fruit. AS the Catholic
World says, Hecker argued that "freemen,
citizens of a free nation, would like to be
free as Christians. with a minimum of ex-
ternal authority and a maximum of the spir-
it's control over the inner life Hecker
said: Il never had any other director than
the Holy Spirit. Since childhood God has
influenced me by the internal touch of the
Holv Spirit
BY divine grace the love of Gcd is difused
in our hearts. the Holy Spirit takes UP His
abode there and makes children of the
Holy Father. and brethren of Jesus Christ
the divine SIM. Go to God go to Cod" he
said, to an inquirer. Ego entirely to God.
You need no help from me, any creature.
Union with God is a personal relation a
distinct conscious one on the souls part.
Wait for the actual movements of the Divine
Spirit Rely mainly upon it, not on external
tests and symbols. The Holy Spirit is the
director and superior. The center of action
is Individual in the soul, moved by the Holy
Ghost. not in suDeriors or in the authority
of the church The internal attraction Is too
powerful and too peaceful to be other than
divine. What society most needs Is the bap-
tism of the Holy Spirit. Virtue must be
practiced not for merit but to remove OBJ
stacles in the way of the Holy Spirit. The
renewal of the age depends on a renewal of
religion, and that renewal of religion depends
on a new movement of the Holy Spirit and
that depends On our giving attention to Him
when he moves. Fit your soul by prayer
and Denance In union with Christ and His
church fer the conservation of your liberty
and intelligence to the elevation Of the human
race to union with Cod"
This age and nation.' said the Catholic
World, in 1891, will hail Father Hecker and
his teachings with greater and greater &C
clamation as time goes on
Whether Pope Leo can check Americanism
and what is mysticism akin to Protest
antism among the faithful in this country
remains to be seen. 1t was just such move
ment Father Hecker's that led to the
Reformation, in the sixteenth century 1t is
a question whether this splendid movement
of the Pauhsts which received the COM
mendation of Manning and Newman, can be
checked.