The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-02

ecclesiastical favor without precedent
tnat gave the wife of the executive en-
trance to this forbidden place When
loag age, in France, La Trappe founded
tie order Of ascetics that bears his name
nc made rule intended to prevent his
followers from ever seeing the face of
wOmankind. He wrote it down that the
wife If the sovereign of the country II
which the monastery lay might enter
there; none other of her sex might do
30; and Rome moved by the prayers of
The distinguished abbot, sealed With ap-
proVal his prohibition by making ex-
communication the price that fcmininity
must pay for disobedience of it,
Doubtless a no less elastic rule exists.
yet was it bent to crafty a pretty
Womans whim. How looked these white
cOwlod mon, who chose a living death
that they might stand as bulwarks of the
faith, between the wrath of God and
human frailty? The woman wondered.
wished, ana 10, the doors were opened
The aged abbot, named Father Edward
as IS the abbot of this day, argues thus:
Are not the people sovereign by the law,
and does not enc who rules them through
their cnoice stand for them all, uniting
all in one sovereign? Astute old man!
ANOTHER WCMANs WISH.
So, now, another woman, young and
Ceautllul to look upon a bride, seeks to
know the mysteries denied; asks that
Vie, too, a soVerCign's wife be granted
ike her sister of the past, the favor of a
look within the somber walls where suf-
forin3 and prayer atone for thoughtless
WorldlipgS' SnS and negligences Her
wish is needed, and soon the pretty, slen-
De- wife of Gov Beckham. Kentuckv's
youthful chief executive, may boast that
SIZE has stepped out of the world and
back 2gain into a medieval age. and
thence to twentieth century strife and
frivol.
The visit of Mrs. Beckham is set for
June 4, and Father Edward Obrecht. the
abbot. is planning to make it gala oc-
casion-outside the monastery walls, of
course. Mi:tn has no place within; there
is no laughter there, no smiling faces. no
JOY, unless It's happiness to suffer for a
needless world.
The abbot has asked the governor to
the monastery, with wife and twenty
friends The ;Ubot will have twenty
ether guests of mis- own choosing. They
will, no ccubt, be young priests of near
by parishes and the heads of some of the
prominent Catholic families of Nelson
county. The seat of C2tholicity in Ken
lucky VAS formerly here, instead of at
Louisville the metropolis, rs now. The
ancient cathedral, with it's fine paintings
them gifts from royal and noble fugi-
tiVes VINO found asylum here from
storms Of state, still stands, though
merely a church today. Close by is the
mother house of a famous order of nuns
fount If learning for daughters of tic
church The Church of Rome is stout IL
Nelson county
THE LONELY ABBEY OF LA TRAPPE
Three miles away from Bardstown is
the monastery of La Trappe as it IS
often called but really, the abbey of
Gethsemane, fifty named in memory of
the garden of Christs agony, and pre-
serving. as a monument to His sufferings
examples of His love for all mankind
The abbey is towering irregular pile
of stone and mortar, dark gray from
stress of storm and heat of summer sun;
its architecture borrowed from some an
Gent cloister beyond the sea- great
thick wall of plastered stone surrounds
1t to a height of twenty feet or more.
Jutting out a one end is the cathedral,
with high, queer stalls within for the
monks. Like the cathedrals abroad
there are no pews or Seats and in this
cathedral the public does not worship
in the main portion. In the end op-
posite the altar, far away and far up,
Is loft, reached by a winding stair
way from the outer wall, and here men
may so for worship. From the loft. in
which there is never light, the Wor-
SHIPPER can see the priests at the distance
illuminated and glittering altar off in the
monastic gloom, but the monks in their
stalls chanting from great illumined
books, made centuries ago by other
monks patient and skillful, chanting the