The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1903-03-07
A TRIBUTE TO LEO.
D the Archbishop Of st. Paul In
tue Zenith City.

Most Rev. John Ireland, the eloquent
archbishop of st. Paul, delivered Il
grand discourse on the pontiticate Of
Pope Leo XIII. Solemn high mass
was celebrated at 1920 o'clock by Rev.
William McGolrick, of Rich Valley,
Mimi, brother Of the bishop Of Duluth.
He was assisted by Rev. James Ho-
gan as deacon, and by Rev. John o.
Dwyer as subdeacon. Very Rev. Dean
Corbett, rector Of the cathedral, acted
as master of ceremonies. The sacred
editice was brilliantly Illuminated by
electricity and the grand music Of the
choir added to the solemnity and i'm
pressiveness of the occasion. Every
seat was filled and hundreds of non-
Catholics We're present to hear the
far-famed prelate of st. Paul. When
the time for the sermon had arrived
the archbishop arose from his throne
and approached in front of the high
altar, facing the vast congregation
from the sanctuary, and read the epis-
tie and gospel of the day in Il resonant
voice which penetrated to all parts of
the building. He then took for his
theme the 25th anniversary of Pope
Leo's pontiticate and held the rapt at
tenton of the congregation for Il full
hour He said in part:
cat the present time there are oc-
curing in the city of Rome solemn
commemorative celebrations, of which
the significance is such that Catholics
in all parts of the world Should have
notice of them and be invited to take
part therein by homagcs of faith and
devotion, by fervcnt prayers addressed
to Christ Jesus in heaven, invoking
grace and protection upon His vicar,
the supreme pontitf of His church.
The twentieth day of the past month
was the twcnty-fifth anniversary of
the election of the present pope, Leo
NH. to the hcadship of the church.
The third day of the present month
of March will be the twcnty-lifth
anniversary of his coronation as SOW
ereign pontilf. For twenty-five years
Leo has been the ruler in Rome of the
universal church.
"In the whole course. of Christian
history, only three popcs saw in Rome
a pOntiticatc of twenty-five years
st. Peter, Plus IN, Leo Nil. One is
Peter himself, to whom the Lord said:
Thou art Peter ii. O., rock), and on
this rock | will build my church, ana
the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it, The second and the third
are pontiffS of our own age, of our
days--thc third our own Leo.
ut does seem as il the Master did
purpose in these latter times, distant
by nineteen centuries from the hour
of His Galilean proclamation, to mark
through an exceptional fact the idcn-
tity of the church of to-day with that
of earliest Christian years, and in this
manner to make us see written most
legibly upon the wings of time the full
filment Of the prophetic promise: The
gates of hell shall not prevail against
it,
'"Twcnty-ive years of pontilicatc in
Rome! To-day it is Leo, yesterday it
was Plus. 10 whom else the cXtraor-
binary honor? Hurry down the cen
turtles until you are able to speak his
name. 10 whom else? At last you
put your hand upon limit is Peter.
1t is Peter, so near to Jesus! AS you
sec Peter, you see Jesus; as you hear
Peter, you hear Jesus.
"And so, as back again you come,
the voice of Jesus is ringing heavenly
music in your ears; as link after link
in the wondrous chain passes before
your gaze, Jesus is speaking until you
stand before Plus. until YOU stand be-
fore Leo! The present is as the past,
the past was nothing but what the
present is. The Wears, the agents.
change; the chief actor remains. 1t is
Jesus in the days of Leo. as it was
Jesus in the days of Peter Oh, the
divine grandeur. the divine beauty, Of
the apostolic succession. put so clear
ly before us in the Roman pontilicatc.
moving down the ages, vivifying them
with it's spirit, adjoining them with it's
fruitage, never absent from it's APP
pointed work, never disowning it's
Christ-given mission, the apostolic sue
cessiOn in the church from Christ to
the present pontitr is so manifest that
he who runs must see, that he who
seeks must find.
"And the indestructibility of Christ's
church! Thou art Peter ii. e.. rocky,
and on this rock l will build my
church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it, What! Nineteen
centuries Of revolutions and changes,
of kingdoms and empires rising to-
wards the heavens and soon after
wards strewing the earth with their
shattered columns, of men and institu-
tons coming and going, each one of
these centuries heralding it's birth with
the message, Behold, l make all
things new,' and, despite all this, a
society planned and built in obscure
Galilee and committed to the hands OF
fishermen is to defy the very gates OF
hell, to live on, hooking time and the