The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-02-04
A TEMPEST OF BlGOrRY.

AC ueCiuIuIlou VI Il puUllc uOlluuy
by the Philippine government on the
Sth day of December, the feast Of the
Immaculate Conception, has stirred up
great deal of controversy in Manila,
and this controversy has drawn forth
from Archbishop Harty strong and
lucid statement Of the position of the
Church with reference to the position
the Virgin Mary occupies in the Cath
Ole heart. a few weeks ago in the
Il holiday had been granted in honor
of the Virgin of Antipolo, and at that
time descriptions We're given of what
the Virgin Of Antipolo consisted Of She
was described as Il little wooden image,
rudely carved and of very great age
The image has often been referred to
rs the work Of Saint Luke. An at
tempt was made to belittle the action
of the Philippine government and to
characterize it as foreign to the spirit
of our institutions and as inconsistent
with American intelligence. Yet all
this effort is based upon misconception
and ignorance. The Filipinos do not
worship images but they use them and
look upon them as the people of other
countries look upon similar objects.
The position of the Church in refer.
ence to these matters is very we'll
understood by Catholics, and non
Catholics should not allow themselves
to be led into the belief that the Fill
pinos were given a national holiday
in order to reverence wooden image
They honor the person of whom the
image is a rough representation. The
blessed Virgin Mary is the patron
saint of the Filipinos and the image
in her honor at Antipolo is nothing
more than representation of very
great age and consequently of very
many associations. Archbishop HARRY
says: every Catholic child is taught
that the image Of the blessed Virgin
is but a representation of that spot
less creature and that we honor her
and venerate her memory by respect
ing and generating her images. No
one is accused Of wrong-doing if he
venerate the statues of Washington
Or Lincoln out of respect to these great
men. No one finds fault if some one
erects silver pedestal on which to
place statue of our first president
No one finds fault if torchlight pa
rade is held on February 90" The
statue Of Washington is surrounded by
electric lights and flags. This is all
sensible because the memory Of a
great man is venerated. The very
same principle underlies the G atll-
Ollie vcneration of a statue of
the blessed Virgin Mary and the
same principle undcrlics the Antipolo
celebration. The Catholics of Manila
and the surrounding countries are
generating the memory of the fairest
creature that ever came from the hand
of God: Il heroine in the supernatural
life: just as Washington was hero
in the natural life. The blessed Vir-
gin is veneratcd under different names
us Our Lady of Peace and Prosper
Gus Voyages" "Our Lady of Perpetual
Health "Our Lady of Sorrow" Cur
Lady of Good Counsel" etc, to ex-
press the different phases of her life,
as the titles readily explain. These
titles are the result of the strong de-
votion of the people to Mary, viewing
her under different phases and looking
ut different incidents of her life. Often
an image of Mary is made to CORE
spond to some particular title and thus
calls attention to the particular phase
under which she is venerated, just as
have Il picture of my mother when
she was Il little girl, one when she
was a young lady and one taken after
her marriage. They are pictures of
the same person but under different
phases.
When an image is called after a city
or place it simply means that the i'm
age originated there or is kept there.
Our Lady of Antipolo means that the
statue belongs there. The Filipinos
do not think it necessary to say ct
is an image of our Lady Of Antipolo"
because they think that anyone can
see it is an image. They know what
it is and simply refer to it as sour
Lady of Antipolo." People inclined
to ridicule without knowing what they
are ridiculing are the ones who should
be enlightened. and not those who are
ridiculed. 1t is probable that very
small proportion of the Americans who
read the press dispatches in reference
to the celebration of Antipolo really
had any conception of what "Our Lady
Of Antipolo" meant, and when face
tious writer told them through one of
the metropolitan newspapers that "Our
Lady" was little wooden image To-
Gated in a little town outside of Ma
Mia they We're ready to criticise at
once the Philippine Commission for
granting holiday, as they thought, in
honor of this image. More light is
what we need and the more light we
have the more charity for the beliefs
and actions Of other peoples.