The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-08-21

yoke OF the gospel; while close to that cross, as
on Calvary, stood also for them the sweet mother
Mary, compelling not alone their deepest admira-
ton, but ehciting also their hearts love. Her
name Will they HONOR for her will they henceforth
draw their swords. She will govern their homes
while they go forth, and homecoming they will
BRING to her shrine the treasures that they gather
And as they honor Mary, so they will honor their
own wife and daughter and mother for of all these
Mary is the type, and God has honored her. so
shall her sex be honored. So we have, in the be-
ginning of chivalry under the influence of faith,
the proper place finally accorded to the wife and
mother and daughter in the economy of the Chris
tan world So that if today the degradation and
miserable lot of the women of pagan times has given
way; II the woman is no longer regarded the
property and slave of man; if she reaches up to
her dignity and can assume the proud position she
holds today; if, [ say, woman is honored in the
home, 1t Is because that Nazareth home where Mary
ruled has been It's type and forerunner If the Chris
tian matron and mother is honored today, it is be-
cause the mother of the Christ on being herself
exalted has lifted her up and ennobled her. The
slaves OF antiquity are the ladies of today-gentle
women, queensland they owe it after Christ to the
first Lady who could say that henceforth all genera
tions shall call her blessed.
"But not alone for woman's elevation has the
blessed Virgin been a power. Her refining in
fluence Is felt in every form of life She becomes
an inspiration unto all noble endeavor, unto all
heroic sacrifice, unto all holy and exalted living
She enters the temple and there her htanies
chanted. She appears to the little children, and
there her shrnes builded. She enters the heart
of the artist, and he seeks to fix canvas-but all
in vain-the majestic presence that fills his soul
Yet he would try and behold! the canvas gows with
his creation. There is the Madonna virginia.
face, all pure, mother all tender, a mater
doorosa' wrapped in the mantle of despair. Whence
comes these effects2 He can see in that youthful
face of the Virgin, shining through her eyes, the
dawn of the eternal day. He can see the hues of
the morning, the solemnity of the eve the gadness
of the accomplished promise, the sorrow of the
sword-pierced heart-all gathered in that beau
tlfui, plying Madonna face. Whence comes 1t that
all this could be seen and set on canvas by the
artists of the long ago, while today those who would
be their successors cannot even be their lmtaters,
and can only look with despair on these master
pieces of ages of faith? 1t was because when Rafael
lived and Correggio and Murillo and Fra Angelica,
the hand that painted clean and the heart of
the artist was filled with visions of faith and pure
love- Mary was the queen over all hearts, and at
once their inspiration and reward
"My brethren if ever in the worlds history, this
day is the day and this nation is the nation when
we must take the blessed mother-her place. her his
tory and her example, and apply them to the social
conditions that surround u.s. We may boast of
advanced civilization; we may boast of great com
mercial prosperity; may boast of a commanding
position among the nations of the earth, but what
be a beginning of our decay and fall? What solace
there in riches power influence if the standard
of life is lowered; if the home begins to fall and
with their failure happiness that heretofore dwelt
therein also disappears What use to speak of
greatness abroad, if we only have to contemplate
weakness at home? And yet is it not true that
paralleing advancing wealth and prestige there
is also through the nefarious influences around us
the gradual decay of the home and all it stands for?
Is it not true that the position of great multitude
of women is made miserable, if not impossible, by
the deadly action of the divorce court while those
who have not had recourse to this same tribunal
await with anxiety the outcome of the injustice done
their sisters before them, expecting that their time
viii soon come to be made wives that abandoned
mothers that compelled to struggle for them
selves and their children alone! The upbuilding of
2 600 years in the blessed mothers influence the
out of the Christian home and all it
stands for are now imperiled, and it looks if
that first and best result, humanity speaking of
Christian civilization Is apparently to pass
away. Have not reason then to turn to her
whose influence has been for womans elevation,
whose example has been for the stability and the
of the home, and whose life has by its
many virtues ennobled all her sex? Have we not
right to turn to her today and to pray to her that
she may restore Christianity to the home and such
blessed influence as she exercised in Nazareth long
ago. guiding still and guarding those who would
claim kinship with her divine Son and membership
in the family of Christ
''In truth it is high time to call a halt, and say
to the neo-pagan-the destroyer of the home, the
leaders in this ruthless revoutionto say, before it
is too late, that the homes have buided are
-uaries and that none may enter either by the de-
cree of the court or the desire of the libertne to
desecrate these homes or pillage them of their
that with all the strength of Chris
tan faith and devotion we shall uphold what has
cost much and long to make permanent
Institution and foundation at once for all future
progress and prosperity; that shall honor and
continue to honor the names of wife and mother,
and will not allow to become broken links those we
hold to be the golden chain binding our civilization
together, uniting generation to generation in the
solid bond of their devoted lives.
"This new and hopeful land of ours has been
specially dedicated to Mary under the title of her
Immaculate Conception 1t is our duty as Catholics,
as well as citizens to uphold that which Mary our
mother, represents to make her reign complete in
5he duty and strength of her daughters; in the
Dermanency and stability of our homes; and there
by in the enrolling and strengthening of our ma