Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-06-22
REV W.NJ. sLocUM.
Spoke to Members of the Knights of
 Columbus Last Evening.

Es !.
 The memorial services for the de
 ceased members of the Knights of Co., lumbus in thes city were held at tho I'm,
 maculate Conception church last night and were largely attended. There were few seats unoccupied. The aisles in
 the center were reserved for the meln-
 bers, who marched to the church in a
 body from the K. of c. hall shortly be- fore the services. All the councils
 were we'll represented. The procession
 was headed by Grand Knights F. !. Finn. w F. Ryan, c. B. McDonaldy T. < F. Hallinan and District Deputy T. F, x McCann.
 Solemn high vespers was celebrate ed the following priests officiatirtg: Celebrant, Rev Father Broderick; dei-
 con, Rev Father O'Brien; sub-deacon, Rev Father Brennan. The same priests ofhciated at vespers for the dead, which
 were celebrated after benediction. The Rev pr Martin was also present.
 The sermon was preached by the Rev
 Father Slocum, who in his intr0fluc
 tory remarks said that inasmuch as the
 order was only recently organized and consequently had nothing in particu.
 lar historically to commemorate, 1t
 would be good occasion for each and everyone present to take lesson unto himself. He referred to the unwilling.
 ness of mankind to think of death. which they would push aside as some thing undesirable. Tn the midst of
 their ambitions, in their hunt aetae riches and honors, in their desire for pleasures, the people have no time to devote to the consideration of deathI They forget that death must come4to all. that it is the great Ieveler, tie great evener. It has no mercy for4fhe 1 rich or the poor, the high or the low.
 Tn the midst of life we are in daahA.,'
 The graves in the cemetery teachsn mighty lesson--that no matter 3lh0sw rich or how important one may con.
 sider himself in this life, after death he is no more than the poorest mdr. 1 tai. Each and every one, high md 1 low, occupy a few feet of earth. In one of the Capuchin crypts in Rome are 1 innumerable bones of the dead. They stand out on every side, reminder of what one really is. It is a most gruesome sight. Tn the center of the crypt is the skeleton of q member Eof
 one of Romes noblest and proudAaE families and on it are written the | words, Here lie ashes, dust and
 nothing" He wanted his remains to
 be placed here with those of the poor l that the lesson might be thought that
 after death all are equal.
 l Father Slocum referred to the changing conditions in this country, A and said that the members of the l Knights of Columbus should be prerar 1 ed to meet these changes. The order was founded on the great principles of religion and freedom. No one knew
 better than the speaker the almost hi-
 surmountable obstacles which the found
 CT encountered in having the order apf 1 proved by the ecclesiastic authorizes 1 It was only after he had succeeded in I proving, as 1t were. that the order
 would not only make the members bet ter Catholics, but better citizens. Tha first supreme knight of the order was 1 Union soldier. James T. Mullen Of
 New Haven carried musket for three long years as a member of the Irish Ninth" And the founder of the order, { the late Father McGivney, was q
 Catholic priest, so that patriotism and religion were combined in the forma- X ton of the order.
 In the past the Irish immigrant was looked upon as the typical Catholic, but now times are changing. There IS
 a great influx of people from the Latin and Catholic countries of Europe, also from the east. They are settling in our midst. They come here with an err roneous idea of authority. All author itv must be resisted. But these people can be hardly blamed for holding such opinions. For in their own country they have been ground with the iron heel of authority, they have been bullied by the rule of the soldiers, they have been awed and terrorized by mili- tary rule That such people should hold wrong opinions of liberty and au- thority was nothing to be wondered at.
 'Tt is our duty" continued Father Slocum, " to change their ideas. for which in many cases they are not too blame, never having known anything better. by example and otherwise. The laws here are the laws Of the people, made by the people and for them and those who are coming here now will be the future lawmakers. They must be educated and taught to make them such as the country will live and pros- per under"
 In conclusion he urged the members to always bear in mind the exalted mo tives Of loyalty to the church and the state, which actuated the early found CTS of the order, to guard themselves by them and then the order would be what it was intended to be, bulwark to the church and to the state.
 The music was of high order, fine program being rendered.