The Irish standard., 1907-03-23
!. .AIYoCA.. CELEBRATES
Feature Of St. Patrlck's Day
Was Father Mangan's
Address.
Most Brilliant Discourse in
S#. Recent Years In That
- 2acrinn

rt-E:-:i
The people of Avoca, Murray county,
and the country for miles around,
celebrated st. Patrick's day in a fitting
manner and attended high mass at st.
Rose OF Lima church. The occasion
was made memorable by the eloquent
sermon on ST. Patrick delivered by
Rev. Joseph Mangan of Pipestone.
which we are able to give in full.
Father Mangan spoke as follows
.r May it never happen to me from
nv God that 1 should lose those peo-
ple whom have converted to the ends
of the earth.
Fourteen hundred years and more
have elapsed since the author Of this
prayer breatheed forth bis last in the
monastery of Saul, and laid his aged
head to rest forever in the Cathedral
of Downpatrick. This is the prayer
of a Saint piercing the starry clouds
of Heaven, even to the throne of the
Most High, pleading for those whom
he had converted that they may re-
main. steadfast in the Faith. This is
the prayer of a great hero-the prayer
of the worlds greatest apostle. the
PRAYER of ST. Patrick. the apostle of
Ireland.
Fourteen hundred and seventy-five
summer. suns have bathed the earth
with their genial light since our hero
as Christs anonted set foot on Irish
soil, and fourteen hundred and four
teen winter frosts have silvered the
face of the globe since Mother earth
has claimed him as her own. but has
the tide of centuries blurred his name,
warmth Of our hearts for him abate?
Should the dust Of ages cause the
muse to therefore hasely desert us and
leave out tongues tied if we now aim
to pay him tribute? Forbid 1t, AL
mighty God. Come then, celestial
muse, you that inspire the poet of
Sorrentum, and the blind man of AL
bion. Come and help us, speak the
glory. laud the virtues and sound the
praises of our great apostle, and you,
oh, noble spirits Of the heroic dead,
first fruits Of Patrck's labor be with
us today, and you, oh, hosts of mar
tyrs, whose sacred blood has laved the
green isles from shore to shore, par
ticipate in this our demonstration of
Utmost heart, strike our spiritual Cords
} that our purest praise and thanksgiv-
ing may go forth to him who was the
instrumental winner of your fame, and
who, after the Almighty. is the donor
Of our Faith.
Like many others of immortal glory
A. cloud of obscurity hangs over Pat
rick's youthful career. To locate his
birthplace, historians have agitated
their minds for centuries. Some claim
for him the sunny shores of France,
whilst others and with greater au-
thority declare tho rugged hills of
Scotland was the scene of his birth;
but it matters not where a man is
born, it is not the country that makes
character and virtue to his country.
The fifth century had seen its first
quarter. Valentine III. was ruling I'm
perial Rome, and Celestine 1st was the
| reigning Pontiff. There was then a
( little island in the Northern Seas. onl,
a few leagues from Britain, and about
I 30 miles from Gaul. 1t was beautl-
$ full island, as fair as ever the sun
E shone on. 1t had lofty mountains and
beautiful valleys. Noble rivers and
beautiful plains adorned it's surface all
i. the way from the Giants Causeway to
l$ Old Kinsale, and from the hills Of
Il ConnauSht to the Irish Sea. Its in
i habitants were known for their war;
Il like dispositions, and while they were
mated against mankind in the Garden
pf Eden, yet they retained in their
/ idolatry some of the most endearing
W and ennobling natural qualities. 1t re-
quired only the touch Of the super
/ natural, the light of Gods revelation.
Il 10 make them the grandest nation on
earth.
sA = fair young man scarcely more
than a youth was tending his fathers
sheep on the hillside. A band of pi-
(srates land upon the shore, capture this
holy youth, and take him to Ireland
he was sold as slave After
some time he regained his liberty, and
ts#sreturned to his native land, and his
ather's home, but here, however. he
did not stay long. for the same God
that bade Abraham of old go forth
Il from his Kindred and his father's