The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1900-06-30
Was St. Columbian Who Lived in
the Sixth Century.
A DISTINGUISHED MAN OF SCIENCE
Saint Virgil First Taught that
the Earth is Round.

From the Queen Island of the West,
AS from source OF light,
Went fortl, the gospel messengers
That chased the old worlds night.
Nay, Gods good Providence dccrecd
That DER the worlds wide face,
Her cxilcs still should sow Faiths seed,
An apostolic race"
In April, 1874, writes M. r. Taylor
in the Jesuit magazine, the Messenger
OF the Sacred Heart, the immortal Dam
icl O'Conncll received from the dis
tinguisllcd heads of German universities
an address OF sympathy, in which Ger
many's debt to ancient ireland is ac-
knowlcdgcd in the following graceful
language: "Wc entertain towards the
ill-trcatcd people Of your beloved isle
the deepest and sinccrcst sympathy A
land signing under the yoke OF bondage,
a land red with the blood OF martyred
patriots, necessarily cn1ists the pity of
men not yet dead to human instincts
Indifference to misfortune Of this sort
would argue total loss of NATURES finer
feelings. Want of sympathy in the pres
cnt crisis would besides render us guilty
OF another and deeper crimc-tl1at of
the blacklist ingratitudc. We can never
forget that your fond country is our own
mother in the faith From the rcmotest
period of the Christian era she COM
miscratcd Our people. To rescue our
pagan ancestors from idolatry and Sc
cure to them the blessings of the true
faith she generously sent forth her
heroic sons sacrificing her own wealth
and her childrcn's blood. Along with
rich store Of merit for the people of
ireland, Catllolicity in Germany is the
result Of their labors, and VIC can never,
but by the bascst kind of indifference,
lose memory of the fact. When we
behold the native land OF these faithful
apostles delivered over to undcscrvcd
misfortune, the fact rises all the more
wildly to our mind"
! This affcctionatc expression of graft
! tudc to Erin, voiced by the learned men
OF Germany, must make every true Irish
heart throb with new emotions OF plea
sure. Faith and civilization are Of
truth Gods highest gifts to man. Hence
the propricty Of forever holding sacred
! the memory of such holy missionaries
as heraldcd by the advent of these heav-
emily blessings among people. The
church has already raised the greater
number Of them to her affairs, to receive,
as saints, the homage and veneraton
due to their heroic lives of virtue, self
sacrifice and Godlikc love-
When St. Patrick preached to her
| rowing inhabitants the truths of saliva
ton, imparting to them belief in the
Triunc God, Erin saw the dawn of her
golden age, and for centuries after she
was great and glorious among the ma
tons of the world. Schools and mon
astcrics arose, towns. and cities were
built Universities attracted the flower
Of Europc's youth, who, like St. Full
GENTS,
"What way in search OF lore his fathers
went,
To Erin, wisdom's shrine, his steps he
bent"
That was period of peace and pros
perity, when liberty stamped the golden
harp upon the emerald banner, an age
of fervcnt simplicity, alive in the one
true faith upon which the happiness of
heart and mind centered.
In this golden age Ireland stretched a
merciful hand across the wide waters,
sent her sons to distant lands to lavish
upon others the abundant blessings she
enjoyed, to bring to tribes submerged
in barbarism the light of salvation, true
religion allied with civilization.
Strange, too, that in these portions
of Germany where Irish saints planted
the tree OF Christianity it has neither
withered nor died, while in other parts
it has bent, broken and fallen, and only
scattered fragments suggest its early ex-
istence. There are indeed few lands as
thoroughly Catholic as little Bavaria,
once St. Ruperts spiritual field; as Ty-
rol, in whose towering mountains St.
Virgil (FeargaD scattered the seed of
religion; as southern Baden; or beyond