Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1900-09-20
Written for tie Beacoa.l
ST. CLEMENTS ISLAND.
Beautiful Isle, whose bosom
Rises from Potomac's flow,
Where the Pilgrim Fathers landed
Nnnr fhrnn hundred ,,nnrn nnn

4
Near three hundred years ago.
This island, n prominent land
mark Of the beautiful Potomac,
slept for thousands of years un-
known to civilized man-only to
the poor untutored children of the
forest-but twas not that sleep
that knows no awakening, for one
bright day in Spring it started with
sweet surprise to find that mes
senger from beyond the broad At
lantic's wave had planted on its
bosom TIE cross, the sacred emblem
Of Him who died to save the world.
Not with legions, strong and
powerful, did these people come to
crush and destroy, like the Roman
Caesars, whose CORY banners were
Haunted in the faces OF the down
trodden and vanquished, their motto
was peace and kindness towards all
men. They themselves had indeed
felt the keen sting OF oppression,
and the iron heel OF religious IA
naticsm, even among men upon
whose foreheads we're stamped
"Christian." None knew better
than they the real value OF libe. ty
OF conscience. They babe good.
bye to all that was dear. The hap.
Ply scenes of childhood and man
hood had been changed into scenes
Of tyranny and bloodshed, simply
because they dared to believe in the
wo Is Of the Lord Jesus Christ in
their own way. They determined
to seek what they found land Of
Freedom. No pillar Of Gre led
them at night, no column Of white
smoke to follow by day, but that
fiery zeal that burned in their souls
was the guiding star tina. lit up
their pathway across. The oceans
track lees waste. :.
On tho nigh. =. @arch 20, 1884.
tho two little ships, the Ark and
the Dove, lay at anchor a little to
the southwark Of Heron Island.
All was calm and serene; not q
sound broke the dull, monotonous
silonce save the swish Of tho rip
ping waters along the broad beach
Of the Potomac; the starry.studded
canopy Of the Heavens above rehcc-
ted in the blue, dark waters be-
meath, made mp tho panorama Of
that beautiful night,
Early next morning as the great
orb Of light began to tint the east.
ern skies with its golden rays and
the dark mantle OF night settled
away in the west, the two ships
broke anchor and gracefully, ma
jeatically moved higher up the riy.
or, cast anchor again and made
ready to land on St. Clements ISL
and, which they did without the
slightest difficulty and without OPP
position on the part OF tho natives.
Even the dove, that harbinger Of
peace, cooed welcome to their
boats from the shore. They i'm
mediately erected a rude cross and
began tue ceremony OF the holy
Mass, and, strange to say, the ma
tiycs who had flocked to tho shore
to see them, joined as best they
could in the great celebration. Says
Father White in his "Voyages to
America" who was the celebrant
of that Mass "They knelt when
we did, stood when we did; in fine,
they conformed with US in a most
surprising manner" Should we
of the present day be so unkind as
to say that what they did was
through fear or intimidation 2 AS
suredly not, Why should thay
fear ? No hostile demonstrations
were INDUCED in, not a single gun
was fred to alarm them.
That the eYangelizing hand of
God influenced these poor children
Of the wilds there can be no doubt.
This day was March 25th, which
day is honored throughout the world
in the Roman Catholic Church as
the day of the Annunciation. Now
allow me to ask, might not that
25th day of March, 1884, have been
called q second day Of Annuncia-
ton One thing is certain, never
before had the Word of God or the
Holy Sacrifice Of the Mass been Of