The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-01-06
CHURCH SYMBOLISM
is EXPLAINED BY
PREACHER
Paulist Father Answers Some
Very Plain Questions Put
by Non atholics Regard
ing the Meaning of Catho-
lie Ceremonial Why Sym
bols Are Used in Cere-
monies.

AIO11OSo
Inc question box at the Paulist mis-
sion Tor non Catholics at st. Lulxe's
church, Victoria and Portland, has al
ready weakened interest. The meeting Of
Iast night was even better attended
than that of Sunday. Rev. Father Har-
hey SPOKE on the subject, THE Neces-
sity of Faith
many interesting questions were TAX
en- from the query box, and the expla-
hatlons- and answers proved doubly
so. 4
Among others were:
Why do Catholics have so MANY
meaningless ceremonies ~
What is the Catholics conception of
God?" =
What is the distinction between the
1dolatry of the pagan when he wor-
SHIPS an idol, the image of his god, and
When Catholic kisses a picture Of
Mary or statue, of Christine image
of our God ?''
why do Catholics use Latin in their
services?"
These were answered by Father Con-
way In the briefest possible manner:
II our ceremonies do appear silly
and meaningless, remember that the
VINO do not understand their beautiful
symbolism orsknow their ancient Chris
tan origin. Not a word is said, not
a gesture made, not an action perform
ed In the Catholic church but has it's
deep and beautiful meaning to the initi-
ated. Judge not according to the APP
pearance, said our Lord, but Judge g.
just Judgment John vii, "a
We could perhaps worship God
without ceremony, but only by goi11
contrary to human nature the teach
ing OF the Old. and New Testament and
the constant practice Of the Christian
people from the very beginning
ceremonial is natural to man. We are
not dlsembodfed spirits, but creatures
made up of body and soul. 1t is a fact
t Cie1 IN everything else we give express
feel interiorly.i Why. then, should re-
l1g1on be the one exception? Why should
ceremony be the law in things human,
VIZ: IN society, in the court room, in the
army and navy, the lodge, and vet be
debarred in things divine?
we might say to one of our question
eFS: w ny DO We Americans make so
much show over our love of country?
why, for instance, when Admiral Dewey
came to New York in October. 1899, fresh
with the laurels of the victory at Manila,
dld the whole city clOthe itself in bunt-
ing, fly the American flag and our cit
lzens vie with one another to honor him
ana the other heroes of the Spanish
American war with professions on land
and sea, fire works, the playing of pa
tr1ot1c airs, etc?
9 cynic might have remarked: why
make such fuss over men that merely
did their duty?r The true. American an
swers: It was to give expression to the
feeling of patriotism
$50 Catholics believing with the GER
,tainty of faith that Jesus Christ is really
present upon the altar so that our
churches are indeed the temples of the
living God, wish to give outward express
sion to their love 7of Him. Therefore sill
yer, gold flowers. incense. lighted can
! dies, professions, architecture. sculpture.
painting. music-all strive to pay Him
homage.
Sanctions Mosaic Law.
IF it were silly or superstitious. how
| then, do you account for Gods sanction
| ritual? (Exod XVI, xii, xviii, Mum.
Lew Our Savior did not disdain to use
certain ceremonies. l. e.. in curing the
into the ears. and splitting He touched His
tongue and looking up to heaven He
groaned and said Ephpheta. which is be
ing the blind mantle spat on the ground
and made clay OF the spittle, and spread
the clay upon his eyes, etc. 90. tx, O.;
prostra ting upon the ground in the gar
| den of Gethsemane Matt. XVI, $780, in
| voking a blessing at the last supper
Matt; xxyf., 26l; breathing upon the
| apostles (Jo. Xxx, 22), etc. So in the
| apostolic church we find the sacrament
Of orders administered by the imposition
of hands q Tim. iv,, Is; Tim. 1, g.,
and the sacrament of extreme JUNCTION by
| the amounting OF oil JAS v, 14) etc.
There would indeed. be reason to OBJ
| Ject, If these outward ceremonies did
| not give expression to internal feelings
! of reverence and deVotion-f all Cath
| OlicS were merely like the PhariSees of
| old. who made clean the outside of the
| cup of the DISH, but within Were full of
rapine and uncleanlineSS' (Matt. xiii,
| 25). We readily grant that an individual
| Catholic may make the sign of the cross
orr f7aat in oh h0f thn
| sacrament mechanically out of habit, but
| it is rather gratuitous to suppose that
the Catholic people in their Onward cere-
/ monial are merely honorIng God with
| their lips Externally while their hearts
are far from Him. Isaiah xxx, 49,.
Depiores Modern Vandalism.
'"There are today many intelligent non
| Catholics who greatly deplore the ignor
ance and vandalism of the reformation
! which in doing away with the beautiful
! symbolism of the Catholic ritual deprived
men of one of the greatest aids to devo-
| ton. Indeed, there has been among GER
tain Protestants in our own country and
| England a complete return to the old
! ceremonies of the Catholic church dis
carded some 400 years ago. 1t is sad,
! however to see them borrow only our ex-
ternals, without having a priesthood for
tar appurtenances, or the real presence of
Jesus Christ, to whose honor all the cere-
monial and ritual should tend Strange
ie ee sil to what he calls the Journalism Of
| Catholic ceremonial will gladly submit
to every detail of the lodges ritual,
| whether he be Mason, Odd Fellow, Pyth-
IAN etc. Deprive man of the reality, and
sooner or later he will frame for himself
counterfeit to satisfy in some way the
| hearts inner craving for outward cere-
monial Error is never consistent.
| What Bible authority is there for
! changing the Sabbath from the seventh
| to the first day of the week?
''Who gave the pope the authority to
| change command of God?
There is no Bible authority for the
| change If the Bible is the only guide
| for the Christian, then the Seventh-Day
| Adventist is right in observing the Satur-
day with the Jew. But Catholics learn
| what to believe. and do from divine, in
fallibIe authority established by Jesus
| Christ, the Catholic church. which in
| apostolic times made Sunday the day of
| rest to honor Our Lords resurrection on
! that day and to mark off clearly the Jew
| from the Christian. ST. Justine, Martyr,
] (Apol. C. 3D. speaks of the early Chris
tian meeting for the holy sacrifice of the
mass on Sunday.
rs it not strange that those who make
| the Bible their only teacher, should in
| consistently follow IN this matter the tradi-
/ ton of the church.
| This evening other questions will be an
! swered and the lecture will be on 1.-The
| Bible
| v~-~w-nv wxTSvrrx