The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-09-23

fellow passengers that there stood by him in the
night the angel of the Lord, and said, Fear not,
Paul. thou must be brought before Caesar, and God
hath given thee all them that sail with thee" he
shows his own faith in the reality of the angels
visit by saying: "Wherefore, srs be of good cheer
for believe God that it shall be even as it was told
me-" and what subsequently happened to the ship
and its crew proved that his faith was we'll ground
ed. So in regard to the appartion of Our Lady
to the saints They believed and acted on their be-
lief and when the Catholic Church saw the fulfil
ment of the alleged vision in after events, the
Church herself believed
Asa modern instance, take the appaPition OF the
Blessed Virgin to the peasant girl at Lourdes The
hundreds upon hundreds of well authenticated mir
acles of healing which have taken place at Lourdes
and are still of constant occurrence, have been
enough to confirm the faith of Catholics the world
in the reality of what the peasant girl report
cd; and it is no proof of our superior order as ra-
tional beings il We processing and calling ourselves
Anglo-Catholics refuse to accept such evidence as
is thus afforded
The great Jesuit society, which for the mentali-
ty and scholarship of its members probably has 10
equal III the world, had for q founder hard-headed
strong-minded soldier, whom it would be absurd to
style fattle-bgained visionary and yet whosoever
is at all familiar with the history of Ignatius Logo
la must know how firmly he believed that he was
visited bv the Mother OF God and that he was inn
mensey helped by her in all he undertook ad majo-
rem Del Gloriam. Just within the gates of ST. An
drew's novitiate at Poughkccp6ie where hundreds
OF Jesuits receive their magnificent training, is
beautiful stone chapel which is dedicated to Our
Lady of the Wayside, and stands there monument
IN stone to the unquestionng faith of every Jesuit
IN certain appearance of the Mother of God to
St. lgnatius, as he knclt at the wayside shrine
erected to the Holy Virgins honor. Were all the
proofs which the archives OF the Church contain of
the active part which the Mother of Jesus has
INFO to1- tbo of
fairs of Catholic believers on earth, volume
would have to be compiled much larger than the
Bible.
To reject all this testimony and hold oneself SUI
perlor to the combined wisdom and experience of
the Catholic faithful since primitive times, is not
to give evidence of finer intelligence than Bon
ayenture or Thomas Aqunas possessed, but
rather of irrational unbelief. There may be
hundreds of legends extant in Catholic literature
unworthy of credence, but to reject because of
these the whole mass of testimony concerning Our
Ladys ability to hear and prayers is to cast
dlscredlt all testimony in every age and by every
author to the miraculous and supernatural And
this surely who is Catholic enough to believe
that the religion of Jesus Christ is itself the most
stupendous of miracles would wish to do
Ii we accept the witness of the Catholic Church
in regard to other matters of faith there can be no
valid reason for rejecting what she bids US believe
about the efficacy of prayer addressed to Our Lady
and Mother III heaven. There Is no better way to
realize the truth of the Catholic religion all the
way through than to practice it, and if our Angli-
can brethren would know for themselves the reali-
ty Of Marys love for them personally and her read
mess to help and intercede with God on their be-
half let them test it by calling upon her devouty
in every hour of need and just take it for granted
that the Catholic Church knows what she is talk
ing about when she afirlns and reiterates so con-
tinually that Christ, in addressing ST. John on the
cross, in reality addressed us all saying, Behold
thy Mother" and at having constituted her the
universal Mother of all the redeemed Almighty
God has qualified her for her Office by assuming
her into heaven enthroning her at the right hand of
Jesus Christ, her Son. and giving her command
over great retinue of ministering spirits to do
her bidding in ministerng to those who look up to
her from every part of our far-off world and who
never cease to cry, holy Mary, Mother of God
pray for sinners now and at the hour of our
death"