The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-10-30

in the blood-stained annals of the
Turks, until every external vestige of
religion was blotted out and our peo-
pie hunted into dens and caves on the
mountain side. And yet here it is to-
day-this significant day, the ami
versary of the dedication of the
churches of Ireland-here it is, 1 say,
after defying the ploughshare of Van
dalism and the scythe of Time, broad
based on the hearts and wills of the
most faithful people in Christendoni
and thronged on all it's ancient dio-
ceses; still strong in the strength O:
it's prime, still palpitating with en-
thusiasm, it's youth renewed like the
eagle, it's feet like the feet of the
hart, and underneath the everlasting
arms; still sending forth, as in days
of yore, it's missionaries to all parts
Of the earth, whose children have
reared a forest of towers and spires
from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from
l11C 1ACAlCdu Ouil lllWdIu W lu-
very confines Of Baffin's Bay; whose
children are stretching the cords OF
Patrick's tabernacle to Australia and
New Zealand, and to almost every is
land in the distant wash of the South
ern Pacific seas. Is it not on record
that there. were more Bishops Of Irish
nationality at the Vatican Council i'll
1870 than of any other country in the
world? Which fact alone goes 20
integral, but we'll nigh an essential
factor in the very Catholicity of the
Church. Surely there is in this some-
thing more than human, especially in
the light of all our country has gone
through; if history has any meaning,
it proves that the God who in the Old
Law had His chosen people has,
since the fall Of Jerusalem, cast the
mantle Of missionary destiny over the
Irish race. And these considerations
shed a reflex significance on the pray
er of our National Apostle.son.4Cr gh
Patriek, aaastsl1sstt ooatsyof the twilight
of legend into the clearnesSs lsn GER
tainty whichswe: accept with an as
sent second only, to that which we give
to the very articles of our faith. And
apart from its general Importance 20
the mind of the Church, in addition
to its significance as a factor in the
indefectibility of Irish faith, the con-
secration today has yet another fea-
ture that is special to itself. 1 Will
not undertake the invidious task CT
instituting a comparison between the
relative merits of the dioceses of Ire
land. But without attempting such 1
can with all truth say that certain di-
oceses, from their very origin, from
their history, from the sanctuaries AMI
shrnes they have to guard as we'll as
from the traditions that cluster round
them, are destined to hold a leading
place. And who can want the thought
that such is this great diocese of Clo-
CHER? On it's origin I need not dwell,
as it is known to you as we'll as to
| me; to many of you very much bet
| ter. Suffice it to say that St. Mac
Cairthinn was the strong man of st.
Patrick's household, whose duty it
was to carry the great Apostle on his
| hro oh Sr,
difficult travel over rivers, and bogs,
and morasses; whose duty it was, NJ
less, in those days of fierce, animal
instincts, to defend him, when nee
essary, with his strong right arm, in
which methinks, I see symbol of
the militant Catholicity which has
ever since characterised so many OF
the sons of Clogher.
! First, ancient town of
MacCairthinn, not more faithfully does
the ivy clasp the oak than his mem
ory clusters round thee-what though
| the cathedral of strange religion sur
mounts thee, nothing can obliterate
the fact that thou vert the See not
only of ST. MacCairthinn, but for q
time of the National Apostle himself
who here gave the veil of consecratior
to the first nun in Ireland. And thou
o Monahan, successor in the Epis.
copal See to Clogher and Clones, thou
hast more than present greatness, fol
here once stood the Abbey of st. Mo.
eldodius, which gave numberles.
saints to the diocese, aye, and mar.
tyrs, too, when the blood of com.
munity of Franciscans flowed in pur.
pie tide and sanctifed thy soil. AM
such being the Diocese of Cloghey
how great must have been the faitf
Of it's people. True it is Faith, like
Liberty, can dwell anywhere; but jus
as liberty shows a prediction for tn.
mountains and the seas, so faith love,