The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-12-27

chimneys, but of waving wheat. smil-
ing meadows, fragrant haystacks and
browsing kline in places which were
SO lar as the western states are con-
i cerned-until recently extensive wastes
or vast plains of sagebrush.
and the ringing of the bells for Mass
| or Benediction or the Angelus-O what
solace their peals bring to Weary and
Durdened humanity. What sweet rec
objections OF the incarnation of the Vir-
| gin motherhood of the treasures of
| God with u.s.; of the exaltation of our
fallen nature through the unspeakable
riches of grace.
How pleasant, then, should it be to
| read of the erection of new churches.
THANKS to the truths preached in these
sacred temples, slavery has been abol-
lshed, the aged and the crippled are
no more put to death as useless bur-
dens of society, women are no longer
doWntrodden, nor laborers oppressed,
nor the sick and the poor utterly neg
lected, whereas millions of children and
adults are wrenched from the demons
! of spiritual ignorance, sensuality and
crime. Yes! if truth, charity, a deep
sense of human dignity, of liberty and
| equality are the true elements of civ
llization, then the church is, indeed,
! beyond all comparison, the most pow
erful civilizer on earth. At the sight
| of the cross-topped edifice the way
tarer learns that Christ reigns in the
/ region he traverses; that there the sin
laden are absolved and .cleansed at the
1 tribunal of penance; that there the
souls of landlords and peasants are
alike fed by the Body and Blood of our
| 1JIt doc
of mortals are taught that they are
all children of the same Heavenly Fa-
Their, knit together not by ties of hui
man blood, but by the bonds of uni
Versal brotherhood cemented by the
blood of the Lamb of God; and, finally,
that there eXiles in this valley of tears
are trained to bear with courage and
resignation the troubles. and trials of
this life because of the certain hope
| of everlasting peace and happiness.
After this lengthy Introduction, over
which, | trust, my readers will not
grumble, as | have no rows of. Devil
dering figures to spread before them, [
! now proceed to examine. the Oldest di
reetory in my possession, that of 1888.
The number of priests given is, regu-
lar, 8; secular, 3. AS far as the do
cesar clergy was concerned, only one
place had a resident priest, Haley.
And ere six months had elapsed the
| church of this town became widowed.
Thus about June l or thereafter the
bishop, in order to have a solemn Mass
with deacon and sub-deacon, would
have been compelled to gather all his
clergy at the altar of his pro- cathedral.
Even then he would have lacked the
luxury of a master of ceremonies.
OF nuns stablishments-those in
nf
culture-there were hardly two, viz:
at De Smet and Lewiston, and before
the new year dawned there was but a
single one left. Such a condition of
affairs would have broken the spirits
of any bishop save of a man of indo-
mitable courage and energy; the more
SO as his predecessor, Mgr. Lootens,
Idaho's first vicar apostolic, had re-
signed in utter encouragement and
disgust. The Catholics of Idaho's vi
cariate apostolic fourteen years ago
scarcely numbered 1850, one thousand
of these being Indians. Now the do
cese of Boise counts seventeen secular
and nine regular priests, forty-five
churches, and chapels, 10000 Catholics,
seventeen places with resident pastors,
and nine Sisters institutions, to-wit:
hospitals at Boise and Wallace, acad-
emies at Boise, De Smct and Lewiston,
parochial schools at Boise, Genesee,
Pocatello and Keuterville, besides one
in course of construction at Lapway.
There would be several more churches
and schools in existence but for Bishop
Glorieuxs careful administration,
which is dominated by the principle
Keep out of debt" A mere enthusiast
would yield to the first solicitation for
a church and school, but there would
- L.
mortgages on such prematurely erected
buildings Let no one judge from this
remark that Idaho's prelate is slow or
unduly conservative. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Anyone who
comes in contact with him is at once
strongly impressed with his optimism
and mis- enthusiastic confidence in this
young states future growth and devel-
opment How often has our popular
bishop fired the zeal and raised the
dropping spirits of his fresh priests
who had grown disheartened at their
small congregations and their diff
ficulty of securing a, decent support,
not by financial aid, but by warm
infusion OF his own. sanguine tempera-
ment
A peculiar drawback of western do
ceses lies in the number of little towns, |
the great distance between them, and
their scarcity of Catholics. Yet the |
Very isolation of the latter from the |
society of their co-religionists renders |
the regular ministrations of pastor
all the more necessary. To do his |
work with any degree of satisfaction a |
priest must live among them; but I'M |
like the shrubbery of the desert, he |
more than air, water and sun
shine: nor is. he a bird or an automo-
bile Whence then, shall his wants,
limited though they are, be supplied?
To obviate this and kindred embar-
easements our worthy bishop sought to
have a measure enacted through the
of the United States archbish-
obs whereby the wealthy eastern do
ceses would reach out a helping hand
to the struggling sees of the far west.
IN default of such financial aid, a lit
lie consolation came through the adj
mission of one of our priests into the
Missionary union. This coveted priv
Iege fell to the~lot of the eminently
successful worker, Father Hendrick of
How helpful is the $500
yearly allotment he receives from New
York TO pay railroad and buggy fare,
1all rent for lectures to nom Catholics,
pamphlets, prayer books,
SIC Would to God, Bishop Glorieux