The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1903-08-22
TOO MANY HOLY SHRINES.

bpO HlHN1 null SuRlNCO
No impious thought helps to urge the convic-
ton. No design of turning away from the Virgin
the homage due the Mother of God, for such devo
ton corresponds with the worship of the Redeemer
No attempt to halt pious souls in their veneration
of saints and martyrs nor to cease their prayers
for intercession But the time has when in
telecual devotion should assume the place of ultra
piety of the kind that is misleading. of the kind
which is forever pleading for material benefit and
is disconsolate unless it appears as if by magic.
Such piety is not based upon patience upon resig
nation to the will of God. Such is the religious
condition suggesting the heading of this article.
Too many shrines confuse our devotion; too many
times our prayers are scattered. Often have pious
persons been observed to enter church, spend half
hour before saints shrine and five minutes be-
fore the altar in which the Holy of Holes, con-
ceaIed in the tabernacle, impores us to task and
you shall receive seek and you shall find, knock
and it shall be opened unto YOU"
This criticism applies to "a devotion recently
aroused in Wisconsin, at place called Holy Hill,
in Washington county. The Chicago papers make
much of it through heavy headlines over special dis
patches, giving accounts of pigrimages thither at
reduced rates of railroad fare. As result of
these ''pilgrimages" (the doubter calls them Eek
cursions'O a thrifty town settlement has rapidly
grown about Holy HILL Lunch counters are we'll
patronzed, shop keepers happy, everything
fourshes like green bay tree. The same CONNER
cial benefit is apparent in every place that presents
attractions to strangers, whether it be shrine
anything else to draw the crowd.
Rev. j. J. keenan,, pastor of ST. Patricks
church, Fond du Lac declares that Holy Hill is
misnamed, and that none of the marvellous and mir
aculous cures claimed to have been made at the
shrine have stood the test of investigation.
In 4 sermon recently on 'Pilgrims and Shrines,"
Father keenan, declared that the church had never
approved Holy Hill shrine. He said he de-
sired to explain the matter before the place OBJ
tanned preseriptive antiquarian right to the
claims made for it. Some years ago. he said, the
papers told of a supposed marvellous alleged
to have been effected for lady of that city, but
she candidly admitted short time afterward that
she had not received anv benefit from her pilgrim
age to the Holy Hill shrine. In the course of his
remarks Father keenan, said:
An ancient proverb says, When God builds
church, the devil puts chapel there" So we find
sacred places and sacred names copied and initiated
for temporaf advantage. AS example, the speaker
cited the Kirmess. This originally was sacred cell
cbraton or feast il honor of the patron saint of a
church We all know to what it has degenerated.
Another instance is the so-caled Holy Hill. Father
Keenan, said that he was pastor near the place so
called before the misnomer was applied The only
reason he find for that name is that man,
guilty of manslaughter lived and died the life of a
hermit the top the hill 1t is claimed also that
Father Marquette went to the top of the hill to To-
cate the source of a river However it was shortly
after the hermit's death that priest from Mil
waukee following the European idea in many
tries. thought it would be fine to have church built
mott MA nf mir
ulous events Next some of the clergy. for OBJ
scure reason advocated holding services there upon
certain days of the year. Since it has been claimed
that miraculous events have taken place there. but
thus far no case has stood the test of investigation
The church has approved that place as a
shrine and Catholics who go there simply go an
outing oror recreation as long as it has approval
The continual booming of Holy HILL" he added
indicates that some one is reapng pecunary bene-
fit therefrom otherwise it would have long since
been forgotten The only that benefit from
the agitation of the subject the local clergy the
and the railroad companies. The local
clergy Father Keenan, considers too conscientious to
in any fraud and he said that
the people discover that it is simply business mat
ter of corporation they will wait till the church
gives its approval.
Miraculous shrnes, he concluded cannot be manu-
featured or produced by any mythical history, and
much less by booming and advertising
Notwithstanding this plain talk from Father
Keenan, ii has had little effect upon the excursion
SITS to Holy HILL The last Chicago Tribune at
land describes the visit of 1000 people to the shrine
IN the Feast of the Assumption in downpour of |
ain. The priests at Holy Hill naturally entertain
in opinion opposed to that presented by Father
Keenan,, although Father Bertram said: "Few peo-
Die come to the hill for the purpose of receiving
physical cures or to see others cured. They come
tut of venerationlo of the Virgin, to whom the
lurch is dedicated or to fulfill VOW to make the
pilgrimage taken IN the time of some sorrow or
leFf q brS4 IL ~,
here are more often spiritual than physical cures"