The Irish standard., 1904-10-22

/ commandments written OH EoDleS OF
stone that they might visibly affect
| the eyes of men. He had the ark of
! the covenant placed among the Jews
/ to remind them of their dependence on
i.God. We read of many other signs
also. But the most imposing of al
was the temple where mems minds
were lifted up rs the smoke of incense
and of victims assembled before the
throne of God.
In the N. L. Christ established Il
,, visible church and instituted sacra-
ments, palpable, sensible signs that
confer grace and at the same time by
appealing to our senses improve our
dispositions. So that we see that the
divine economy of salvation is by til,
use of the palpable. In the early days
of the church it was difficult for the
Christians. owing to the prosecutions,
to practice the divine mysteries not
to speak of having fine and perma-
nent place for that purpose. Yet
twenty years after our Lords ascen-
sion, st. Paul, writing to the Corin-
thians, says: First of all 1 hear til
when you come together in the church
there are schisms among YOU" l Cor
nj, IS. They therefore had IL church
and there must have been many others
also But in the first centuries the
Christians generally had to worship
God in caves and subterranean cham
bcrs. There only could they venture
to celebrate the divine mysteries of
their holy religion. Hence that period
Of the history of the churches is all
the church of the catacombs. But
after the emperor, Constantine the
Great, was converted to Christianity,
and the Christians We're no longer
afrad to walk in the light of day,
imposing indeed us those of later days,
but adorned with the best that Chris
ti;ln art aided by Christian generosity
could devise AS time sped on the
churches of Christendom improved in
quality till those products of the faith
of the middle ages as we'll as those of
later times amaze the awestruck be-
holder of the present day The great ca
thedrals Of the world are the great at
fractions for modern tourists. The old
cathedral or Catholic fame is the first
and principal object of their quest
wherever they so. These stand out
the hoary heralds Of ages long past to
proclaim the qualities of faith and art
when they We're young. 1t was faith
that inspired their erection and the
art that adorned them. They are the
crystalliZed expression of faith. They
are also the incentive to faith and APP
peal to us in Il manner peculiar to
themselves. They are beautified with
the most exquisite art that can be
produced by natural genius spiritual
lied and refined by religion. Thus
adorned they express more than the
purely natural arrangement of matter,
however skillful, ever could. They in
herit the distinctly spiritual character
Of the womb in which they were con-
ceived, viz: natural genius inspired
and elevated by supernatural religion.
1t is matter speaking with spiritual
voice, appealing with spiritual
tongue, and addressing itself to the
whole of our composite nature with
subtle, but irresistible eloquence so
that we are delighted and carried
into empyrean religions unvisited be-
fore where we bask in the heavenly
light and joy cleaning upon us
through those masterpieces of ages
long flown.
Those churches and cathedrals We're
built and adorned with view to their
object as the gates Of the supernatural.
They of old thought nothing too
costly, nothing too gorgeous to decor
ate the passage-the most intimate
point of contact between earth and
heaven. They knew as we do that
in the church the Goldman descends
upon the altar. 10 make the sur
roundings as suitable as possible for
Ills welcome they called to their aid
whatever they found most precious
ornamental. Their faith taught them
that through the sacraments which are
admonished in the church super
natural grace descends into the soul,
that to the incense Of prayer offered
in church God is more attentive, that
the voice Of the Christian preacher
conveys the heavenly message that
elevates the hearts and minds of his
hearers to heaven. The church is the
stepping stone between earth and
heaven. 1t is jacobs ladder. 1t is
more, for not only do angels ascend
and descend, but God Himself de-
scends to raise man up. GLOW terrible
is this place? This is no other but
the house Of God and the gate of
heaven" 1t is the ear Of God. 1t is
the hand Of God. 1t is the tongue Of
God. 1t is the throne of God. II have
sanctified this. house which thou hast
built and my eyes and my heart shall
be always here"
Such was the faith that inspired
their efforts. The same moves us to
initiate their example, but we are