The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-11-28

In socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Cicero and seneca. and those great leaders--for thus we may regard them--confessed the inadequacy of human thought as an authoritative teacher of the destiny of man.
 "Paganism had no soul. The world was sick unto death in the grasp of a , gloomy fatalism, when the rising sun of truth appeared to dispel the mists of infidelity and pantheistic sensualism. Then was given to an anxious world the true solution of the complex puzzle of existence Man was no long, CT to be a machine of pleasure, a prey to dark. disturbing thoughts. a tool of baffIed and conflicting phifosophic systems. A future state, Heaven, with all its happiness and peace. was un- folded to the astonished gaze of those who were plunged In deep despair, and man was gladdened by the doctrines of hope and charity. which gave equal ity to the sons of Adam.
 But now behold, the legions of satan are let loose among the early Chris tfans. Torture and persecution for 800 weary yeara are the lot of the confess ors of Christ: for 300 weary years those noble men and women are forced to shun the light of day and are hunted like rats in the very bowels of the Quaking earth.
 Thus 1t has been, and thus 1t will be to the end of time.
 Work of Catholicism.
 Behold I am with you all days unto the consummation of the world said the Holy Spirit to His Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against you This challenge flung in the face of Lucifer and his myrmidons Ivy
 ''Heretics and heresiarchs, peasants and princes. subjects and monarchs have conspired against the Catholic Church, nay conspire today, but the gates of he'll shall not prevail against her..
 Having given civilization with a soul to a saddened world, she watched over its every detail and rapid pro- gress. Down the corridor of time her footsteps are echoed in every branch of science, art and literature, her whis- pering voice Is heard in encouragement and reproof.
 She has given a Benedict, from whose monasteries in the space of 400 years thousands of archbishops and of bishops and ten thousands of brilliant commanding intellects have issued. A Thomas of Aquin whose colossal ge- nius is the admiration of all times, whose knowledge was the epitome of all things knowable, and ask you is there any pattern in nature of Giotto's campanile, was there ever a figure in the human flesh to be compared with the Apollo, Belvidere; did Raphael ever see face comparable to his of the San Sisto. are there any sounds in the woods and seas to suggest the melodies of a kreutzer. the glorias of a Gounod, or hA .Tsv~a lx~
 And all this was the result of Cath olicity. But you say the church is despotic. An! my friends. confound not as too many have done the words of liberty and license. We hear much about the regaining of liberty, which was trammeled, we are told. by Catho- lie Influence, but it was not liberty that was wanted: 1t was license, and the world possessed 1t vita a vengeance. Read history impartially, as many ene- mies of the Catholic Church have done; testify, as they did. as you must do un- rder those conditions, and your testi- mony with them will be that the grand old church of Rome knows how author itativeiy to curb licentious thought and foster a liberty loving principle. since she recognizes that progress for time and for eternity Is in liberty not in license"
 Much more did Father Slevin say anent the chastening influence of Cath olicity. dwelling particularly on the so-called dark ages-ageS to which we are indebted for the preservation of the nucleus of whatever is great and grand in modern thought and science, whose monasteries are the beacon lights of history.
 At the night service Father slevin preached a beautiful sermon on the Heavenly Jerusalem" It was a fit- ting climax to the series of remarkable discourses this eminent and eloquent divine has delighted large and attent- i've audiences with, and feeling of re- gret is universally expressed that the extremely successful mission has closed so soon.
 Father Slevin left last night for New Orleans to attend to the extensive dec orations of the Church of the Immac- ulate Conception there in preparation for Novena in honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Virgin, December S. He leaves New Orleans on Wednesday to conduct missions in various towns in Louisiana.