The Irish standard., 1906-10-06
ST.PATRlCK'S GRAVE
Pilgrims Frola tho Ends Of the
Earth Have Come
To Worship in the Place Where
.@ Saints Have Trod.

q sister OF mercy III MANY Aduue.
"A pleasant drive on roads bordered
with hawthorn hedges leads to Saul,
where his beautiful soul went forth
to God, March, 493. The ruins of a
church mark the spot. A cemetery
used as such for over fifteen hundred
years grew up about it. A peasant
past eighty who boosted he never
knew days sickness though he spent
his four-score years among the graves
--(what have cremation advocates to
say to this ?)-opened the gates for US.
We knelt on the hallowed ground and
placed our petitions in the hands Of
the great missionary Bishop.
In the neighborhood is poor chapel
among whose treasures is an altar
stone on which the saint often said
Mass-a large grayish flag, some five
inches thick, broken in the center and
fastened with iron clamps. At Down.
patrick on one of the fairest spots on
earth, the hilltop is crowned by a
cathedral of which he laid the corner
stone over 1900 years ago. Above the
doorway in three inches are three very
ancient and much dilapidated statues
of the Three Patrons. whose relics
once filled single grave. The en-
trance to the front of this church,
many times rebuilt, is graceful and
lovely. The grass is greener than the
emerald and the trees interlace over
head The church being the Protest.
ant Cathedral is we'll kept. The names
of the bishop and his officials are
placed in Latin on the choir wallis
Outside is the picturesque church.
yard In which the saint was buried.
His grave Is a grassgrown mound.
marked at the head by three rough
stones, a sort Of cairn originally, per-
haps broken stone coffin or collins.
1t Is said that the relics were scattered
to the wind at the Reformation, but
local tradition never allowed the sa-
cred spot to be forgotten. In the same
grave were laid" the bodies of st. Co.
lumba and St. Bridgid. Columba's
penance ended only with his life, and
his bones were brought back to fault
less Erin"
The grave presents a weird and cur
the main avenue, almost under the
shadow of the graceful cathedral. To
question addressed to a peasant:
How shall 1 know st. oPatrick's
grave?" the reply came: See it yon-
der-the open grave. the authorities
could never close 1t, because every day
people come to take away some blessed
EARTH" And indeed. we saw them thus
"piously rifle the untenanted grave.
They preserve the sacred dust and ask
their nearest and dearest to place some
in their coffin. for" say they, "it is
good to have this holy clay. and who-
ever rests in the same earth as Pat
rick will rise to glory with him and
stand in his shadow on the Judgment
Day."
There is not more lovely spot on
earth than the churchyard that con-
tains this most curious and awful me.
mento of the grave of the Apostle of
q nation. The opening is chiefly to-
wards the head. It's deepest part is
about three feet below the surface.
The effect of this irregular brown hol-
low. surrounded by the greenest of
grass, is simply indescribable. Moth
ing in Westminster, or Santa Croce, or
;Pere-la- Chaise, appeals to the memory
and the emotions like this open grave
of the greatest Of missionary bishops
after the Twelve-this Father-in-G God
Of the Sea-divided-Gael. 1t reminds
one-at an immense distance, of course
of the sepulcher in which our Blessed
Lord lay for three days: and which in
consequence has always been glorious;
towards which pilgrims have travelled
with religious enthusiasm from the
earliest ages; and for which nations
have battled even in our own day,
The sepulcher, too, of this triad of
saints. has been glorious:
"1n Down three saints one grave do fill,
Patrick Bridget and Columbkill"
Pilgrims fro the ends of the earth
have come Ito worship in the place
where their feet have trod." Once,
cross marked the sacred spot, but
vandals in the shape of bigots de-
stroyed it. A monument, however, has
been raised to st. Patrick, in the splen-
did church on natural terrace, some
yards from the open grave and an
equally splendid Convent of Mercy adj
Joining, all built of reddish stone, with
white quoins and dressings.
But anything new looks out of place
in this gray old town. And while ex-
amining with appreciation the beau
ties of the new, our heart went out to
the old. There would be no mark over