The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-20

land, and where it passed edifices of
 the highest beauty arose each an in- carnation of profound religious tenn
 perament. each phase Of social Ire
 that recognized gratefully the exist
 ence of God as the father of human society, and their public duty to him. The very poorest contributed. On the account book you may see how one
 gave a coat and another a bed. Then
 the knight sacrificed his gilded helmet and his blade of Damascus and his coat of mail. The parish priest gave
 up his tithes, the curate his modest
 salary. The lady sent in her laces
 and jewelry the women of the people
 their little heirlooms of gold and silver,
 and when men and women were too
 poor to give anything as individuals they clubbed d together in little ,associa- tiOns. Their pennies soon swelled to silver. and the silver was turned to
 gold and with the gold they cast in
 their hearts and so the stones in the
 building got each a tongue that is yet
 eloquent with the passion of popular devotion.
 The Enterprise Described.
 Indeed. the whole enterprise was like a majestic social song, a solemn hymn, whose notes rose slowly and surely from the earth to Heaven. tell ing of the transformation of aVarice into open-heartedness-of coarseness into refinement; of selhshness into all truism; of blank ignorance into crea- tive faith. Prayer and gratitude were finally blended Tn the great popular chorus-king and serf, princess and milkmaid. pope and peasant, in a word the whole land moved in a vast pro- oession before the throne of Christ and cast each stone on the memorable pile of religion.
 divine hand of men made infinitely cunning, transformed those crude of ferings into 10000 caskets of rarest beauty, out of which rose forever the .. I aroma of adoration, delicate perfumes of humanity and of human charity, the sweet odor of self sacrifice.
 Thus the building rose up in an at mosphere of religion all Its lines laid by men to whom it's future uses were sacred and whose families threw back into the common treasury the surplus of the artists earnings. Thus chris tianity in erecting noble churches In days gone by created the fine arts, or at least was their nurse and protecto In the middle ages the cathedral was the workshop of Christianity. It was vast because it had the whole city to train up. It was open on all sides be- society. It was high because she up- lifted both mind and heart and trailing a level for them just below the angelic and celestial Its uses were manifold in its members and elements because she permeated all society and chal- lenged every activity and interest. It was lithesome and soaring because 1t was like the mountain top whence the soul could take its flight to the unseen world of light and joy, It was long and drawn out because the long journey of life ends happily for those who rest in Jesus.
 Never did any institute create a monument that more thoroughly eX- pressed its own scope and aims than the Catholic religion when Ii uplifted the great medieval cathedrals. Thus religion alone can inspire man with the loftiest conceptions of ecstatic hights of which the human mind Is capable. Let this place then be to you hence forth a hallowed spot. place of peace "a shrine of sanctity.
 In this holy home which you are giV- | ing to God He shall ever remain your Father and serve to Tighten your labor and make your burden lose its weight. Here at least, one day in seven, His eyes shall watch your weary toll. His heart will count your dreary days and
 wait to nerve your arm and cheer your heart and give solace to your sinking soul. He will remind you that this toiling and tugging every day, this grinding here below shall not go on l Iforever-that a day will come when this struggling will be over-Where the toll ing will cease at last. when you shall
 find home of peace and place of rest
 on other shores than these Meanwhile
 cheer up and cheer on this glorious
 work. Rally round the rector of this young and promising mission and light