The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-25
l, oelock ye.terday at St. Peters Cath

The instruction at II: 80 o'clock Is in- I tended for the children. while the Way of the Cross at o'clock Is followed by the conference for ladies'
 The conference yesterday consisted of . very attractive presentation or the dignity of woman. Muliesem for- tenn quis inveniet? The ideal of true womanhood Is found in Mary the ever sinleas mother of the Redeemer, and it waa her beauty, her purity and her dignity that raised womankind from the nephitic air of the Tukish harem to the ethereal atmosphere In which live and breathe the admiration and the chivalry of the world.
 Apropos of this reflection came last nights discourse upon the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. interest was centered on this dis course because of the fact that 1t was the first of a series dealing with the ob- Ject of the mission. which has chief ] ly in view the fitting celebration of the jubilee in honor of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mother. Special Thanksgiving services were offered at which as we'll as the Bene- dietion, Rev. Father Eaton oficiated. Father sIevin was again greeted by | a crowded church. The best tribute to his close yet brilliant reasoning and his commanding eloquence was the rapt attention of his audience. The text selected was one in reference to the Blessed Mothers sinless con- ception, There is no stain in Thee" aftef which the breaches said in part: Then central doctrine of the Chris tian religion Is that of the Incarna- tion. Around this source of Divine light magnificent planets move driving all their brilliancy from 1t and adorning 1t in fuFn just as the Heavenly bodies of our system form a crown of glory | around the sun. Such brilliant satel- l litcs are the dogmas and the gospel facts which illustrate the motive of the Incarnation, and which have their entire reason of being in the In- carnation-
 The outside world is likely to he scandaiiged after looking upon this golden jubilee of the Immaculate Contention as a striking instance of mariolatry. If any do. however, they simply betFay their own ignorance. The worship of Latria consists in rem dering supreme honor; so mariolatry would consist fin honoring Mary, as | if she were God. He must be a very | ignorant man who would think khat Catholics doAthat. We honor Mary as a mere creature. but yet as the most | honorable of all creatures, because she was nearest and dearest to Chlrst, be- cause she is truly His mother, since by her The word was made flesh. and beeause to her the angel said,
 Hall Full of grace The honor we give to Mary is not taken from Christ.
 Bible reading Christians cannot reasonably object to all this when 1t Is fairly represented to them. Nor did any Christian ever object to 1t until the passions stirred up by the | unfortunate reformation created a wild confusion of thought which is still far from being cleared up.
 Tn the church the most devoted l clients of Mary are as a rule found to be the most faithful and heroic ser wants of God, and the millions of mar tyrs who stained the amphitheatres of Pagan days with their life blood died | for Christ and for His mother, be- cause she was His mother. Nor does honor given to Mary detract from the honor due to God, because this honor Is paid her not for what she is in her | self, but for what God makes her Her honor then terminates in God" Here were introduced striking illus- | trations drawn from everyday life to show how natural 1t is for us to reach the Son through the mother: the pow CT of mothers love was exhibited in the sublime renunciation of Corio. | Janus before the walls of Rome.
 Passing from a clear and intelligent explanation of Catholic doctrine on devotion in general to the Blessed Mother. and exposing some of the pop. ular misconceptions which the enemies of the church attribute to it through lack of a right understandinE of its nature and merits. Father Sleyir showed in particular what was meant by dogma, and the various stages through which the popular belief in the Immaculate Conception went before 1t was finally made of faith
 With trenchant logic his arguments were deployed. He showed how Scrip. ture testified to Mary's sinless birth and how from tho first days of Chris. tianity this fact commanded the at- tention and the reverence of the Cath ollie world.
 And reason" he said, shall reason the Godlike faculty of man, waver and hesitate? That God could have made Mary sinless from the first instant of her conception Is self-evident; that He should have done 1t. Is equally so, for can we even momentarily imagine that God would take up His abode in one over whom sin and Satan once held sway, that God who came pro- fessedly to destroy sin would be shell l tered by one who was stained by its pollution? Impossible my brethren God could have made Mary ever stain less. He should have done it; there- fore He did it."
 The night services will continue at the usual hour 7:sO o'clock and will consist of the customary devotions.
 Tomorrow night Father slevin will pursue the train of thought developed in last nights discourse. and on Sat urday night he will take as his sub ject The Particular Judgment"
 At the night services on Wednesday Father slevin preached to a crowded church. His subject, '"The. Angels Fall" was dwelt upon as an instance | Of the terrible consequences of sin, Luclfer's mon serviam" changed him from an angel of light into a hideous demon suffering the eternal torments l of the damned. No effect is superior to its cause. If then a single rebel l lious thought be capable of effectinR such a transformation, how hideous in the sight of God must be any thought, word, action or omission that tends to oppose His will. The nightly scintillating beauty of the water dia- mond Is but the sunlight 1t has uuiet- ly absorbed throughout the day; if that diamond be consigned to fire its l dazzling brilliancy is lost and 1t be- comes a black miss-shapen piece of l charcoal. So with the human soul, At it's creation 1t has drunk in the sunlight of its existence; 1t gives back this sunlight from the darkness of its prison, and when steeped in the fires of concupiscenee and sin 1t is black