The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-01-28

cCmDlalneQ OIL SeeillS ~ De SiONliiS'
Catholic young people are not marrying
a.. they ought to do, and fifty-even
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS hence the Church
viii be the loser. Is the young gene
ration becoming one of towards?
AN AMERICAN IN FRANCE.
went TO France doubly prepared
to love the country and its people, tor
il was the home of my ancestors, and
has been the eldest daughter of the
church for more than a thousand
years. | have seen the French in every
condition of life, in city and country,
a, home and abroad; in church. cafes
at the theater, OH the bouleVards, the
Bots. etc.
AS the result of what l have seen,
heard and know, l declare that, deep
down in the heart of the French people
the spirit of Catholic faith still lives
and it is something more than name:
The French are essentially a religious
people. a pious people, people deVot-
ed to the religion of their ancestors.
| The present government of France does
not represent the great body of the
people any more than the revolution
a,y government of RobeSpierre repre-
! scented the majority of the people III
1898 The so-called French republic was
rot esta blished by a majority of the
people but it was the creation of an
| responsible Partisan mob maddeneu
| by the surrender of Sedan and the dis
grace brough upon France by the
| Franco PruSsian war. The government
| IS un-ChTistian, intidel, atheistlcal. III
hates with diabolical hatred the
truth. the beauty and the goodness or
! the Catholic church. UntauSht by the
| history of two thousand years ana
/ blinded by a wicked bigOtry the pres
| ent rulers of France are trying to eX-
tinguish the religion which all the pow
CT of the Roman empire failed to put
| down. 1t has closed Christian schools,
and driven Christian teachers into ex-
| lie: it has ceased the homes of the
Peaceful and Industrial monks, ana
| turned them adrift; it has driven good,
devoted and helpless nuns from the
! shelter of their cloisterS into the cold
IIeartless, pitiless world. In fact there
| is a new reign of terror in France. but
! tie people are not quietly SUBMITTING
20 its tyranny as they did in 1898. 1t is
| impossible to see what more the people
can do unless they only revolt, and
| that would be a bad policy. Over all
France and in Corsica-everywhere
apparently, where there has been an
expulsion. the people have gathered in
great crowds for the impossible task
of resisting the military. The religious
houses have been barricaded, the bells
rung blood has been shed, the people
have been dispersed at the point of the
| bayOnet.
That 3S.000O00 people. mostly Catho-
les. would submit to be prosecuted by
tyrannical minority is a proposition
| Il at an American cannot understand,
! especially as we know how brave,
| high-spirited. and fiery Frenchmen are.
| Yet. these infamous prosecutions in
the name of the law have been going
on for five years, getting worse and
worse each year.
In travelling through France, from
! D:eppe to Merseilles, l saw many
stately cathedrals which stand as the
enduring monuments TO Catholic faith
The generosity and piety of the French
people is not dead. but living. as have
| seen. Upon Montmartre's loftiest
| height a stately church in honor of the
| Sacred Heart has been erected in
atonement for the outrages and sacri-
lCges committed there by the COM
/ rnune in the spring of 1871. At
| Lourdes beautiful basilica has been
built over the grotto where the Blessed
| Virgin appeared to Rernadette. l was
present there at midnight mass on
| Christmas eve. Never have / seen a
church more crowded with devout wor-
slippers. 1t was a striking congrega-
| tiOn-the southern French peasants in
their picturesque costumes. people from
the neighboring towns and villages,
visitors from the more distant parts Of
/ France. a few pilgrims from England,
Canada and the United States. togeth-
e. with the inhabitants of Lourdes.
Few strangers go to Lourdes in win
ter but. even at that season, l never
visited the grotto. day or night, with
out seeing people kneeling before the
shrine
When in Tours ] heard mass in the
house of Leon Dupont, whose sanity
life won for him the name of the Holy
Nan of Tours. He was a beautiful
example of the piety of. France in
these days of rampant infidelity which
has made the world think that the
land of st. Louis. of st. Vincent de
Paul. and the Cure Drs has lost the
faith that has been its brightest jewel
from the early days when St. Remy
ttCld Clovis to burn what he had re-
vered and revere what he had burned"
NJ Dupont's drawing room has been
transformed into the Chapel Of the
Holy Face, where mass is said every
cay by the priests of that order. At
! the gospel side of the altar hangs the
COPY of the Holy Face which was i'm
! pressed UPON Veronica's handkerchief.
During my stay in MarseilIes I Wis
tied the Church Of Notre Dame da la
Garde. which is built upon the too of a
high rock commanding a splendid view
of the Mediterranean and the sur
rounding country. This church is the
first sight that greets the vovager re-
turning from distant and dangerous
seas; and ii was TO this sacred shrine
that perhaps his last visit was paid
before sailing for home To tais same
srot -.the-~wives. mothers and sweet
hearts of the absent, ones conesto pray
for their safe return. Here. also I
saw the simple votive offerings of sail
ors and travellers who had been saved
from the dangers of the sea; the
clutches of the lame who have come
as pilgrims to this holy spot and been
= restored to health by prayer and faith:
and here. as l heard the sweet sound OF
TIE angelus and saw the kneeling
crowds praying before the different
slirines, I knew that the piety of the
French people had not changed in spite
Of the insidious attacks of infidelity
and the SCOTS of tn irroligious.
In the center of the brilliancy, wealth
and gaiety of Paris the. beautiful
Church of the Madeleine has been erect
ed at a cost of SO. 000,0 O0 l have beef
present there during wedding. whei
all was bright and joyful: while linger
ing in the church after the marriag
ceremony. a funeral procession entered
and a coffin was horne to the front of tn
altar, where. a few minutes before
happy bride had stood. The black robe
of the priests and the solemn Do Pro
funds were. \ striking contrast to TIL
gay music, bright flowers! and joyful
tout ensemble of the wedding. Afte
the funeral procession passed slowl,