Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-11
LARGE CLASS CONFIRMED.
Cardinal Gibbons Pledges Boys to Alb
stain From Use of LIQUOR.

At a special service held yesterday morn
ing in st. Martins Church, North Cap
itol and Streets Cardinal Gibbons con-
hrmed more than seventy boys and girls
according to- the impressive ritual Of the
Catholic Church. The girls, about thirty in
number, in dainty white gowns and flowing
wells. and the boys. most all in somber gar
ments. formed only a small portion of the
audience The church was crowded, and the
kindly advice and thoughtful words of the
cardinal to the children were listened to
with close attention.
The girls came into the church in charge
of Miss Sands and Miss O'Hara, and took
seats to the right of the altar. The boys.
under the direction or Mr.. James Simpson
and Mr.. M. F. Shea, followed Immediately
and were seated on the left After the usual
prayer and song service the cardinal adj
dressed himself to the children. His entire
discourse was made evidently with the idea
of impressing upon the candidates for con-
frmation the extent and Importance of
their moral and religious responsibilities.
Prayer" said the cardinal, lis the only
way you can talk to Christ. Now, 1 pre-
sumo all of you children live here in Wash
ington, but 1 venture to say very few of
you have ever seen the President of the
United States much less spoken to him. l
remember the last time / saw him; he was
very busy. He is always busy, attending
to this or that detail of his Office, and If
you should go to the White House and ask
told The President is too busy.
But children, it is not so with the Lord.
He is the King of Kings and the Lord of
Lords, but he is never too busy to listen
attentively to the prayer of every child who
will pray. He will not only listen, but He
will answer your prayers, provided you
talk to Him with unfaltering faith. This,
then. is one of the promises | am going to
ask you to make to me today. that you Will
seek the Lord in prayer every morning and
every evening. 1t will establish the dignity
of your souls, and your souls will become
the temples of the living God
In talking to the boys the cardinal asked
all under twenty-one years of age to take
the pledge that they would refrain from
the use of intoxicating liquors until they
shall attain their majority.
Il don't mean by this he added, that
when you arrive at the age of twenty-one
you must go to the first tavern and make
up for lost time. l mean that If you re-
frain from the use of these liquors until
you are that old, you will then know
enough to leave them alone for all time. or
all things I warn you against intemper-
ance-'
All the boys stood up and repeated the
pledge after the cardinal. Then the chill
dren one at time, approached the altar,
where the cardinal awaited them. knelt be-
fore the distinguished Catholic prelate ana
received his blessing as he confirmed them
Individually Cardinal Gibbons was as
sisted in the ceremony by Fatner q H Ia
tor of st. August tines; Father Brosnahan
of the Catholic University, and Raymond
Clarke who acted as master of ceremonies
A committee composed of the following
members of the Holy Name Society was
present: Messrs. Frizzell, Shea, Cunning
Rooney Maggie, King, Finn Marsden, Simp-
son, Maloney and Judge. The church was
prettily decorated with palms, plants an0
ont flowers forming striking background
for the immaculate apparel Of the little
pir