The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-18


 Montgomery yesterday by solemn high mass at o'clock in St. Peters Catholic Church. attended by the mem- bers of the two divisions of Ancient Order of Hibernians, and by an elab- crate dinner at Yung's restaurant last evening, in which the spirit of the day was voiced by the Sons of Erin.
 Rev. Father Eaton celebrated mass at the o'clock service at the church, and was assisted by Rev. Father Saw age and Rev. Father Slevin.
 The sermon by Father Eaton was list ened to with great interest and he held the attention of his audience from be- ginning to end. The celebration of St. Patricks Day and the meaning of the day were features of the address.
 Sermon by Father Eaton.
 Father Eaton spoke from the text: He went up into a mountain alone to pray" est. Matthew xiv. 23.)
 Brother Hibernians and brethren" said Father Eaton, Not very long ago I stood in the shadow of Ireland's vest ern hills as I watched a procession wend its slow circuitous route. The grass was fresh with the dew of natur's gladness, the air laden with the per- fume of many flowers and the morning bright with beautiful sunshine. S.- In the distance loomed a mountain whose peaks were raised to Heaven, as If anxious to woo their Masters love be- fore it descended to flood the earth and whose summit was the mecca of the pilgrims.
 Slowly they proceeded with heads bowed and faces grave with the solemnity of the occasion. The day was the 18th of August. called in Ireland, Lady Day; the mountain was Croagh tNfo the occasion was the annual pilgrimage to a scene of sweet consoling memories dear to the generous hearts of a simple people.
 Thousands passed in staid review before my eyes. Wealth and poverty were reduced to that equality which can be effected only by the mysteries of the Lord. Returned exiles of pros- porous men made sorrowfui the hum- bier garb of those whose very life blood had been almost drained by per- sistent systems of iniquitous persecu- ton. but there reigned the calm of in- finite peace upon the brows of all- a peace that unmistakably disclosed the characteristic of their race. fideli- ty to the priceless heritage of the faith that Patrick ministered.
 'In lonely northern hills St. Patrick heard his childrens' cries; he yearned as did his Master centuries before to gather to him his beloved, as the hen doth gather her chickens; he prayed and struggled across the sea an exile from the land he sighed for, the music of it's aspiring hills and smiling wales forever playing a prelude in his ears to nobler efforts for its enlightenment. A suppliant finally before the Throne of Peter. armed with the benedictions and authority which the vicar of Christ could alone confer, we can imagine with what transports of love and joy unutterable he went forth to place one more jewel. and that the fairest, in the crown of Christian nationhood.
 St. Patrick's Early Life.
 "Regarding the birthplace of St. Patrick there Is room for much argu- ment, which the limits of the present discourse will not permit me to adduce The balance of probability inclines to Scotland. The confessions of the saint indicate that he first saw light in the village of Bonaven Tabernial. or Kill patrick, in the neighborhood of Glas- gow. The circumstance of birth is at most fortuitous and does not in the least effect the character of Irelands patron and apostle.
 Taken captive In his early years, his youth was passed amid the exposures and the perils of the Irish forest noun tains. Strengthened by prayer, con soled by the visitations of the Lord, his months of weary waiting were at length bathed in golden hopes. and after an arduous course of studies on foreign shores he was sent to Ireland by Pope St. Celestine In the year 432.
 He may not have been the first to preach the truths of Christianity that antagonized and finally superseded the Druidic tendencies of our ancestors, but his role of apostle enshrines him in our hearts and the extraordinary conquests achieved by him entitle him undoubted- ly to the proud and glorious title of Ireland's patron saint.
 There are other saints whom we re- were, but none can be placed on the lofty pedestal of St. Patrick. Mosheim, a by no means Christian authority, tells us that this famous missionary, though not the first who brought among that people the light of the gospel, has yet been justly entitled the apostle of the Irish, and the father of the Hibernian church, and is still generally acknowl- edged in that honorable character The stream of Irish sanctity that developed in later years into the mighty river irrigating the entire is- land, had its source in the healing wa ters of baptism poured by Patrick on his generous sons. His great achieve ments are so chronicled in your mem ory as to pail by repetition. Need I tell you of his sacrifice and labors-- how he braved the opposition of his friends; how he travelled through the island from the hills of Tara, the seat of organism and idolatry, where he the ruling monarch. to Dub lin and the Munster counties; how he the seven sons of Con- naught's king. their subjects, and in- deed. almost the entire population: how he founded convent after convent, mon- astery after monastery, how he restor- ed sight to the blind, strength to the weak, and life to the dead; how he preached, and prayed. and lasted. and how he died in saintliness?
 "of those things I shall not speak.