Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1900-03-08
TALMAGE'S SERMON.
TALKS OF NEEDS OF the
CHURCHES.
Lessons From Fsst-PenitentiAl season
MAY Be Helpful to All Charches--Im-
portsncs OF an Observance That Leads
to Reflection.

Text: Acts H.. /: And when the
day Of pentecost was fully come they
were all with one accord in one place"
He said:
The blessings OF Episcopal Lent
from Presbyterian minister's stand
point is the theme of this sermon. The
histories of hermits, ascetics, penances.
macerations, sackcloth and ashes, pill
grimages, monasteries. juggernauts.
human sacrifices and medicine men
prove that days OF fasting and suppli-
cation have been among the sacred Gus
toms Of all nations. tSt. Agnes day.
Candlemas day, st. Blaze day, valen-
tines day, Hoke day, St Patricks day,
St Georges day, Shrove Tuesday.
Maypole day. Holy Innocents' day, ALI
hallow Fen, ST. Urban's day, Royal
Oak day, st. Nicholas day. st. vitus
day, IS. Swithin, Margaret, Bridget.
Catherine, Andrew. James, Ethelburgh.
Elizabeth, Barnabas, Simon, Jude days,
Holy Rood day, Martimas day, Cor
pus Christi day are only few of the
many We could name in the cleaning
consultations Of past holy days, as
well as holidays.
'The present close communion Of the
Covenanters dates back to the time OF
Scottish bigotries, when Lord Claver-
house. like Paul, prosecuted them even
unto strange cities AS ii meant life
or death IL an enemy discerned the
worshipers, they had their tokens or
little pieces of leaden metal about the
size Of an English penny. When these
Covenanters came to the door where
the communion was to be held they
presented these tokens, which were the
same as a soldiers countersign. So
the modern custom of eating hot cross
buns on Good Friday finds It's origin
In heather times when the devotees
would bring the sacred bread to lay
upon the affairs. Down to the reign of
Henry VIII. the Catholic church in or
der to celebrate the triumphant entry
of Palm Sunday, made wooden ass.
and astride this ass they placed the
wooden figure Of Jesus Christ, and the
people would drag 1t through the
streets before which the worshipers
bowed in holy rapture AS was quaint
ly expressed in the ancient poem:
A wooden ass they have and image
great that ON him rides.
But underneath the ass's feet a table
broad there slides.
Being borne on wheels which ready
drest and all things meete there,
fore,
The asse is brough abroad and set be-
fore the churches door.
Feast of the Jews.
Not only did the Jews have the
feast of the Passover, the feast of the
Tabernacles, the feast Of the Pentecost.
the feast of the New Moons, the feast
of Charity, the feast OF dedication. the
feast OF trumpets, the feast OF the Sab
bath, for these feasts were only an
other name for fast, but in Zechariah
we read, THE fast of the fourth month
and the fast Of the fifth, and the fast of
the seventh, and the fast of the tenth
shall be to the house of Judah Joy and
gladness and cheerful fasts.' After the
ascension. when they were all with one
accord in one place. the little band OF
l20 disorganized followers Of Jesus
Christ gathered together In an upper
chamber In Jerusalem, and there they
tasted and prayed day after day until
at last the Holy Ghost came in the
sound OF q mighty rushing wind and II
filled all the house where they were sit
ting. and there appeared unto them
cloven tongues of fire and 1t sat upon
the heads of each.
The sacredness of the Lenten sea-
son is the natural outgrowth of heath
en- as well as Christian worship.
Though We hold not allegiance to any
bishop, nor reverence the idea OF apos-
tolic succession. and use not the Lit
urgy. let us gather next Ash Wednes-
day in the different parishes under the
shadow Of the cross, and for forty days
bow the knee In worship, side by side
with those who are merely sheep of
another fold, OF whom Jesus Christ Is
the same shepherd.
I'm the first place the text honors
the Episcopnlian Lenten season be-
cause 1t is protest against social dis
sipations. In order to dissipate some
people believe one has to be drunkard
like Edgar Allan Poe. libertine like
Lord Byron. or an opium fiend like
Thomas de Quincy. who on account
Of his physical infrmities made that
marvellous mind SO weird and unbal-
anced that In dreams he wandered
a ~ an az fho rloYda Tha 90. ra ,r~~1 A. n
shining knobs which opened the dark
doors of the night. In the strange pal
aces of vision which fatal narcotics
built, he heard his little baby playmate.
the loving sister who died In childhood.
sing the songs Of the nursery. As an
artist he painted his pictures, and as
| q magician waved his wand until vast
professions. passed along in mournful
pomp, friezes of never-ending stories.
that to my mind were as sad and SOL
emn az II they were stories drawn from
times before Oedipus or Priam. before
Tyre, before Memphis. And at the
same time change took place In my
dreams: thester seemed suddenly
opened and lighted within my brain.
which presented nightly spectacles OF
more visions than earthly splendors.
Visions Fade ut Last.
But at last in Thomas de Quincey's
visions the angels Of heaven and the
sweet incense Of the fields and the
bright eyes of hope were driven away
by the Satanic influences which sent
him flying and shrieking through
space. He was maniac shivering in
the clutches of despair. The cemeteries
were turned into mobs Of chattering
skeletons. The resurrected spirits of
loved ones were stretching forth their
protesting arms across the dark