The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-05-27

with lIS IOuIlQSF S eternity Inc ISoiii
of the Caesars passed away; the Rom
of Peter remains. Nineteen centuFie
o went by-eentuJies of revolutions an
e changes, centuries of kingdoms an
:, empires now towering in strength an
!, power to the very skies, now stTewin
: the earth with their ruins and thei
dusts, of men and institutions cemin
today and going at the dawn of tn
: InoFFoW--each of those centuries her
n aiding its birth-morn with the MESA ge
I Behold, / make all things neW"-but
L | meanwhile, Rome stood. the Rome o
. Peter, challenging the very gates o
| hell; victorious ever, immortal ever
The indestructibility of Rome! w
: bow in awe before it, 1t reveals tn
: divinity to which alone indestructi
| bility may be ascribed-the divinity
which spoke in Galilee to Peter. which
in fulfllment of solemn promise wa
with the empire built upon Peter
which with it will be until the con
summation of the world"
Thy mission, Rome, is to sway witt
imperial rule the peoples of earth
Such the bidding of the Mantuan poet
such, too, the meaning of the commits
sion of the Galilean Christ to Peter
Material arms, the sword and the mace
Virgil would have put into thy hands
Only the arms of truth, justice and
holiness does Christ allow: none other
are worthy of thy God, worthy of the
spiritual empire which lis thine by his
appointment. Through truth, justice
and holiness thou dost sway the IA
tions. Great and wondrous is the sway
of Rome. Great and wondrous il was
yesterday; great and woudrous 1t is to-
day. Catholic, it is, this empire OF
Rome; it embraces all nations,
The mightiest of human empires are
limited; sea, a river, mountain
| range bid them go no further. The
sons and subjects of Rome are every
where; across every ocean, through
every continent, upon every island the
standard of Rome is uplifted; beneath
it souls culver in love and devotion to
Rome, separate otherwise, but united
as if all were one being, when Rome
edicts the law Deep-reaching and
penetrating it as the spirit of the Al
mighty, this empire of Rome. 1t is not
| outward obedience, not bodily submis-
| sion that Rome obtains, it is the yield
| ing up Of mind and heart. Rome tells
what the faith is that was taught by
| Christ; it's subjects believe. 1t pro-
claims the law of righteousness; its
subjects obey in word, in act, in
thought. Rome speaks, the voice of
Christ is heard. Purely spiritual, pure
ly moral is the might of the empire of
Rome. Rome is the great moral power
in the world, having authority solely
in the name of truth and righteousness.
All that conquerOrs and lawgivers
count upon is absent from Rome;
naught is there but weakness and help
lessness; yet it's speech reaches to the
end of the earth. honored everywhere
and revered as it wings itself on its
way, illumining the intellect, cheering
the soul, strengthening the heart, ele-
waiting the whole man to more blissful
regions, making earth know that truth
and righteousness are mightier than
stoutest navies and most valiant arm
les. What is there then in Rome that
its empire be so mighty? Peter is
there-Christ is there.
Never in the story of Christendom
was there such need as there is today
of the mightiness of the moral power
of the pontiff of Rome. This is an age
of revolutions and of upheavals in re-
ligion and in every form of thought, in
civil society and in every form of pub
lie poIity and public order. Men and
nations are departing from old moor
ings. venturing upon new seas, driven
from billow to billow by uncertain
winds, no guiding star o'erhead, no
haven visible beyond the maddening
waters. The need supreme is a voice,
proven and authorized to ring out clear
and Sonorous above the roar of storm
and wave-and proclaim where safety
lies, whittier the ship must turn its
PROV The voice-the herald of saliva
tion-is the voice of Peter, who. as the
pontiff of Rome, speaks in defense of
religion and of revela ton; who, as he
proclaims the law of social justice and
social rights; who, as he guards the
family hearthstone, shields the weak.
warns the oppressoT, and by building
up a moral conscience, fits men sep
arately and collectively to live human
lives on earth and aspire to the better
life of the skies hereafter? The moral
power of the pontiff of Rome is an
unspeakable blessing to all mankind
Peoples are recognizing the fact. and
the more the seas around them rage, |
the more readily will they turn toward |
the rock to which Christ made prom
ise of Immortality. Thy mission, Rome, |
is to sway with the imperial rule-the |
rule of truth and righteousness-the |
nations of the earth.
will name the pontiffs of today, |
Leo and Plus. The sun of Leo's day is |
but setting; the skies are still illum-
ined with the brilliancy of its rays, the |
earth is still fragrant of the sweetness |
of its light. Leo's task was to Startle |
an Indifferent and forgetful world into
a consciousness of the power of Rome |
His grandeur of personality fitted him |
for the task. Eyes were at once riveted !
upon him; ears were at once alert to his |
words. He rose into highest attitudes
accessible to human genius. and with |
him rose into sublime mountain tops |
the spiritual power of Rome. All |
saw and heard, and all wondered. |
The humblest wage-earner and |
the most potent prince, the scientist |
and the philosopher, all felt that Leo |
knew them and understood them, and |
all bowed before the majesty of his |
thought and word The vatican shone !
with new and brightest effuIgence; the |
moral power of Rome was as supreme |
as ever in the most glorious epoch of !
its story. When Leo died the world |
was silent in it's grief and in its rever-
ence. His task was done, the world |
was conscious of the greatness and the
power of Rome.
And now another sun sheds splendor
upon the horizon-Pius is the master
the teacher Other is the mission of :
Plus; it is the complement of that of
Leo. Plus is the reformer the strength
ener of the inner life of the church.
The highways of the world were
opened TO her by Leo; her spirit must
be verified, her arms of power bur-
lished, that she may reach triumph
antly over those highways in conquest
IF souls. 1t is not that Leo did not do
he work of Plus; i is not that Plus
will not do the work of Leo; but Leo
vas eminent in one form of work. as
Plus is eminent in another The work
If Leo and the work of Plus together
ire destined by Providence to show
orth with especial effect in these mod
,rn times the fullness of the divine life
'f the church, the fullness of the gran
leur and the power of Rome-both men |
If the hour Pontiffs of their age. both |
destined, each in his manner, by Proyi-
lence, to rule the Church and feed the
lock in these modern times-both born