The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1901-07-06
ARCHBISHOP KEANE,
The Eloquent Prelate of Dubuque II
Ireland


At the conservation of the grand
cathedral at Letterkenny on June 81,
Most Rev. Archbishop Keane, Of Du-
buque, preached an eloquent sermon,
saying in part:
Have we, the children of Erin, the
inheritors of her temperament, her
character, her Divinely given mission
have we done justice to our Mother
and to her Divine Spouse? Have we
entered as we ought into the
spirit which is Her very life?
Do we represent as we ought
tefore the world and before the
Church the enthusiasm for Jesus
Crucified, which Erin values more
than all pleasure and profit, all great
ness, all the goods of earth? The bish-
ops Of Ireland lately assembled in
solemn Synod at Maynooth asked
themselves this momentous question.
Their answer, supplied by their wide
experience and their intimate ac-
Quafntance with the conditions of their
people. they have uttered in the Pas
toral Letter Of the Synod. 1t is docu-
ment Of masterful beauty and force.
1t is the outpouring of honest and
earnest hearts that love we'll both
Christ and Erin. And running through
1t all there is an undertone Of Apos-
tolic solicitude, Of fraternal anxiety.
They fear lest worldliness may have
somewhat dimmed the lustre of prim-
tive faith and cooled the fire of prjm-
tive love. They fear lest earthly
aims-legitimate and desirable in
themselves-may have too much en-
crossed the energies of Erin's children,
and become primary instead Of sec
ondary objects of thought and action.
They fear lest immortification may
have somewhat led them away from
the Cross of Christ. Especially do
they fear that one great self-indul-
gence in particular. a self-indulgence
of the most insidious and pernicious
character, aid marred the beauty Of
their conservation to Him, had brought
grief to His heart and drawn discredit
on His holy church. 1t would Ill be-
come me to enter further into this ex-
animation Of conscience. Only be-
cause our Redeemer demands it, do
recall the anxious question, and the
note OF warning uttered lately by
Erin's wise and worthy and devoted
spiritual guides. In that question, and
In that warning there is an appeal
which ought to go straight to every
heart that loves Erin and desires her
welfare, that loves Christ our Lord,
and desires His glory. The bishops of
Ireland must await anxiously the re-
suit Of that appeal, for on it must de-
pend the fruit of their ministry, the
temporal and eternal welfare of their
beloved flock. Not less anxiously do
we, on the other side of the great
ocean. wait and watch to see what
Will be the response. The life of dear
old Ireland still concerns us deeply,
not only because Of the undying love we
bear her, but also because her life has
a potent influence on the life of her
sons wherever they may be. There
are electric. currents of affinity. of
sympathy. Of nameless but mighty in
'iuence which pulsate across the ocean
increasingly and make the throbbings
of Hrin's heart tell on the hearts that
have drawn their life from her. When
she is happy we are glad. When she
sorrows we share her grief. When she
exults in the virtue of her sons we are
proud and thankful with her; when
they bring blush to her cheek, we
smart with her shame.
IS o why does not the spirit OF st. Pat.