The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1900-05-19
DEATH OF THE VENERABLE
CATHEDRAL.

CWritten for the Intermountain Catholic
Denver. May 15.-The old st. Mary
Cathedral was last Saturday the seen
of memorial service such as has Dev
er before been held within its cracke
and age-stained walls.
A solemn high mass of requiem wa
celebrated, which, while it did homo
10 the memory of all the dead clergy
men who had labored IN the parish
seemed to include in its mourning th'
end OF the structure itself. Every pill
lar was draped in black, as were altar!
and DewS.
The music was in accord with the
spirit of the occasion, and Rev. Father
Callahan, who preached the sermon
paid reverent tribute TO the building
The service began at $3.50 o'clock. Fa-
ther Phillips was celebrant and was
assisted by Fathers Casey and Duffy
as deacon and sub-deacon, respective
ly. Rt. Rev. Bishop Matz was also pres
eHt in the sanctuary. The church was
Wei filled with the parishoners, who
seemed to appreciate the significance
of the service. The Mass was offered
up particularly for Bishop Machenheuf
and Rev. Fathers Raserdy, Driscoll,
Burke, Lyons and Sullivan. They had
toiled for this building and with its
destruction il was but fitting that they
should be remembered.
Yesterday they We're dead, just as the
old church viii soon be. Today they
viii live in the memory of those who
know them for what they did, Just as
St Mary's dying yesterday viii yet
live on in the new structure % be
erected.
Father Callahan preached the ser
mon, saying, in part:
Tomorrow we shall be assembled
er,- II He gNf
this VSnera BILE church. The scene VIII
then inspire hope and jubilatiOn. Al
tars and veStments in crimson and
gold, evergreen entwined with the rose,
the lily, the lilac and the coumhine,
VIII speak to us of JOY and triumph
The scene, however, in which we
take part this morning calls up Temin-
iscences the most tender, and memory
carries us back into the past where,
like music, it fills our souls with min
gled feelings Of JOY and sadness.
Forty long years ago this now fad /
ing edihce stood like a sentinel out in
The plains, and every brick in its walls |
preached to the miner on the banks 4
of Cherry creek of the vanity 81 his (
eager pursuit after wealth, and like I
angels. tFumpet-tOngued, urged him TO /
lay up riches. in a home where thieves /
do not break through nor steal
In those pioneer days, when brick |
and mortar We're as rare in Denver as
in an Indian village, this antiquated
building was a tower of responsibility
and strength But soon, alas, ike the
oid schoulnlaster in the Deserted Vii
lage." all its fame viii be past and
gone. and the very spot where many
a time it triumphed viii pass into OBJ
liViOn The Denver of its youth ana
vigor has grown into the proud city
of today and long since trades unfeel-
iF,rr in IA Rlgn1nTsing around
its tottering walls. COrinthian domes,
palatial residences. smoothly paved
thoroughfares electricity and steam
in their multiplied forms, have rele-
gated to the past the log cabins, the
dugOuts and the oX-carts that We're
the comDanions Of its earlier years; but
amid these varying scenes Of wealth
and splendor and civilization this time ]
h0nOred church has stood in its iSoia-
tion like an aged prophet, eXclaiming ]
to its .pretentious neighbcrs, Vanity of
vanities and all is vanity.
And this morning. my dear friends,
as It's hour Of dissolution is fast ap- J
preaching. we are gathered like child
rem around the bed of . dying parent I
10 treasure up in our hearts its parting [
exhortations Words. indeed. on this I
solemn occasion, seem to crate on or
ears. The mournful drapery that ev- 2
tryNyhere meets our eye invites US to 7
Sl5EDfe. he GtIElllblAlES III men NCA , I
simplicity are sublime and The spirits I
OF our departed friends seem to hover ?
in our midst. Ii our mental vision we r
behold them this morning reviSillng ! \
The scenes Of their zeal and laDors, +
their. sorrows and their joys The ven =
cradle bishop who abandoned his home Z
in sunny France for the perilouS life +
of missionary in the Rockies leads Y
the train For him as for no other ev- 7
cry brick in this structure, every seat =
in this interior, every step on TINS altar ,,
must have q fascination uneQualed. \
Side by side stands his faithful vicar r
general and lifelong companion Fa- n
Their Raverdy. whose zeal. like the h
poets river, was strong without rage y
without 0VerfiOwing fun. y
And then follow some later laborers \
IN the vineyard Of Christ who, like .
blooming flowers, were stricken down =
IN the MONDAY of life by consumption s !,
Siling frost Fathers Burke, o Dris- :,
soil Doyle and later my two predeces- y
7ors and never-to- -be-forgotten fT1ends' !,
he aroma of whose virtues is. still in :,
lur midst-Fathers Lyons and Sulli- -
-au. -
And IL we may reasonably expect u u
hat the shepherds Of the flock take an =
interest in these rites today, may we -
lot also hope that the souls to whom q
hey ministered in days gone by are =
lgL lDilLEIkNl 10 Oul ONH SUI AphAANA- 4 -
ngs. Which Of you here present has ~ =,
lot some near and dear relative or :,
commemorated in the Re -
.uiem services this morning? And do !,
.ou not seem 10 behold them in the =.
ong train Of departed ones that have -
,een washed in the blood Of the Lamb? a
DO you not recognize among them a y,
ind self-sacrifcing father, a tender a.
owing mother "a darling child, an af d
ectt1nate spouse, a devoted brother or
lister a cherished friend2 Do they not a.
low gaze upon you, some in ecstacy of y.
elestial bliss, some with glance Of VI
oleful supplicatiOl. exclaiming, in the ee
words Of job Have pity on me, have -
ity on me, at least you my friends. for 10
he hand Of the Lord hath touched IN
le% Ie
May God grant dearly beloved that
his piteous appeal may not fall upon 81
eaf ears, and may the resolution in IT,
pired by the touching services of today y
e never to forget those departed -
riends who 50. often, like yourselves. ac
at in those pews and approached these y;
liar rails to be refreshed with the i
lood Of their eucharistic Savior; but OF
'hO, unlike you, We're carried from this W.
anctuary TO the cold, silent grave, bi
here their bodies viii await the great al
ay when Gabriels trumpet will sound us
ne Snell Of this busy, feverish world"
Last Sunday St. Mary's Cathedral di
as crowded to the doors, and the isl
lrong stood out to the edge Of the TO
rect in the endeavor to catch some ris
ord Of the solemn Pontificial High Fe
lass Of thankfulness which marks the
assing away Of the old Church an
1t was the last service, and a tinge of fol
pervaded the whole. even th
lough the music carried the joyful m;
Ote of Easter and meant to express a sts
brit Of than6fulness. a low sigh of re- 1eC