The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1909-07-31
UNTIL DEATH DO US PART"

In last weeks Intermountain we copied from
Goodwns Weekly article illustrating the prevel-
ance of divorce in the ranks of what is termed So
cially respectable people. The orgies of these high
rollers" ended in the murder or suicide of the host
ess and in the exploitation by the San Francisco
papers of the disgraceful revelries of the guests
The word sanctity, like that of piety, is retained
in our language solely by the influence of the Cath
ohc church and we are persuaded that if it were
not for the nsisence of the Church on the practice
Of holiness and pety the words would become obso-
lete. When the tree falls the shadow is gone
God himself instituted matrmony in the begin
ming between first parents in Paradise When
God created Adam, He took from his side the sub
for the formation of Eve and constituted the
two the common parents of the whole human race
In order to make this union more fifty correspond
with the counses of his divine wisdom, God i'm
pressed upon it in indelble characters the seals of
Unity and Perpetuty or Indissoubility; So that
from the beginning of mans creation, the marriage
bond by the Divine will, unites husband AMI wife
until death do part"
This was insisted upon by our Divine LORD Him
self for when answering the Pharasees, He said:
"Have you not read that He who made man in the
beginning, made them male and female? For this
cause shall man leave father and mother and shall
cleave his wife and they two shall be in one flesh
What therefore God hath joined together let no man
put asunder. Matt XIX After the fall Of man
the original institution of holy wedock soon became
degraded and at the time of the deuge its dignity
and sanctity were entirely lost. Human passions
and lawlessness perverted the order established by
Col. In their barbarc state Moses deemed it wise
to tolerate polygamy among the Israelites and, be-
cause of their degradation, or as our Savior ex-
presses It, because of the hardness of their hearts,"
to grant bill of divorce for adultery
Among all heather or gentle nations married
life descended almost the level of the promscuous
mating of the savage and to which, in many local
tiles, cur people are now tending. Woman was made
subseryient to mans viest passion and was reduced
to the plane of mistress concubine; so that the
natural source from which the human race was
sprlnging to FIJI the earth was poisoned and by de-
groes, vas contaminated by such mass Of social
and domestic corruption and of nameess vices and
impetes, that would hesitate to believe the PRO
fame histories of past times had we not the auhor
ity of the Apostle to the gentiles. St Paul to CON
firm the records
for such universal corruption there was no hui
IMAM remedy possible; to cure the moral ganCrene
eating into the vtas of the gentle races was be-
You'd the power or knowledge of any one man or
parliament of men. Then as the Holy Ghost tells
us "in the fulness of time came Jesus Christ.
the Son of God in the flesh to raise our race out of
the corruption of the flesh. And-notice this-He
chose for his mother virgin full of purity grace
and piety, and, for one who would be father to
him in all things, save generation alone hard
working, honest and clean man named Joseph thus
creating with Himself as babe, child and young
man the Holy Family of Nazareth Henceforth this
Holy Family-Jesus, the center and source of sane
tity; Mary, the spotless virgin and pure mother:
Joseph, the industrious and honest man-becomcs
and forever remains the most perfect pattern and
model for every family in the commonwealth of
God, the Catholic Church. When about to begin
his visible and supernatural life of three and one
half years-years in which more was done for the
elevation of the human race than was done by all
the eloquence of men the disquistions of phil
osophers since the world began-He honored and
sancthed matrimony BY his presence at the wedding