The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-11-27

'"-- THE IRISH STAN
inhuman prosecutors. amazed by Z
fortitude which they could not appre-
ciate, attributed their devotion to mad
ness; for they could not understand
why men should prefer death to a de-
NAL of the truth, when, like Pontius
Plate. they were themselves ignorant
even of what it was"
st. Peters, the noblest temple ever
reared by human hands, to which "Di-
ana's marvel was CELL" is thus pith-
lily and beautifully described: ''How
magnificent is the approach to it-that
grandest of colonnades, the noble p.
azza, and it's obelisk, and gushing
fountains = r. There a pervading and
merit of attention to particulars, with
the most vast and sublime concep-.
tions that architect ever formed. Ev-
cry effect produced accords with the
aspiring Design which called this
erandest of all earthly temples into
existence. The colossal genius Of Mi
chael Angelo towers; exultingly to The
skies in that majestic dome, which
seems built for everlasting. There the
spectator, whose mind has become ex-
banded while pacing those glorious
aisles has no difficulty in at once COM
pretending that, in st. Peters, shc
founders designed the metropolitan
temple of the Christian world This
was, the ambition which laid its foun-
dation stone, and which has. actuatod
every succeeding rpontift ip complet-
ing or adjoining it,. 80. g
On the spot where the Prince Of
the Apostles had been crucified, Ana
cieus. Bishop of Rome, erected an ora
tory. In EOS, Constantine the Great
built basilica on the same spot. In
1850 Pope Nicholas v commenced q
new building in place of Constantine's,
which, with changes, was continued
till 1t was dedicated on Nov. 1s, 1926
"a period of construction of one hum
dred and seventy-five years. During
this long period forty-three sovereign
pontiffs had sat upon the throne of
St Peter, experimenting the construc-
ton of the cathedral church of tho
world
For hours before the pilgrim reaches
the Eternal City he sees the great
dome rising into the blue; when he
reaches his journeys end it towers
above the roofs and belfries and minor
domes, reminding him of Coleridge's
great line on Mont Blanc: But thou,
most awful form, rise from forth thy
silent sea of pines, how silently"
When he enters the mighty Pantheon
the ancient temple of all the pagan
gods, standing in perfect preservation
today after two thousand years-he
is told, and truly, that in designing st.
Peters dome Michael Angeles genius
had seized this marvel of pagan aren't
lecture, lifted it two hundred feet in
the air and set 1t as a crown upon the
cathedral Of the Christian Church;
when he crosses the bridge of st. An
gelo, passes Hadrian's mausoleum and
down the silent street of santo Spirito.
all his reading and all his imagina
ton leave him unprepared for the
Of the vision that bursts
upon him. i
He stands in the great Piazza of st.
Peters; Berninis great colonnade
opens out before him on either side;
on the right and left are two glorious
fountains shooting skyward their tor
rents of spray through which the sun
shines in prismatic hues, in the center
of the mightiest obelisk that the Phar-
oahs ever raised, before which the
pious Roman lifts his hat in vene:a-
ton for the relic of the True Cross
by which it is surmounted-and be-
hind them all is the great front of
st. Peters, the mightiest and most I'M
posing structure ever raised by man
Every pillar supporting the archi-
trave might, II followed out, conceal &.
small army Of men: The vestibule il a
vast hail. nearly four hundred feet
long, and it is recorded that visitors
have. seen 1t and departed, thinking
that they had; seen: St. Peters. But
opposite the exterior entrance. be-
tween the pillars of. the vestibule; are
two mighty doors of bronze, taken
from the old st. Peters, and exquisite
ly worked: by Christian artists when
Christian art was in it's heyday. 49,,
Enter; Its grandeur overwhelms thee
not. 1t il strange, amazins-almost
disappointing. This is not the st.
Peters you looked for. Here are no
glories Of stained glass; nothing OF
the venerableness of age. of the dim