The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1910-09-24
Thousands of Women Crowd the
Hall to Hear Distinguished
Lecturer,
Ireland, Said Father Vaughan, is the
Most Catholic Country in
Civilization.
The Irish Have Never Been Captur.
ed by the Glare of Pseudo
theology.

Rev Bernard Vaughan. S. j., spoke
at the Euoharstic Congress OH "The
lIucharistic Life as an Antidote for
Modern Life" The announcement Of
large gathering Of women to the hail.
After some introductory remarks
Father Vaughan said:
If a Catholic wore to search tha
Bible through for some passage in it
which might put before the world his
estimate of~the Church. what it is in
itself, and what it is to him. he could
I think, find nothing more appropriate.
nothing more clearly expressing his
thought, feeling. and appreciation of
Christ's Bride than the following in
spired passage from the seventh chap
ter of the Book of Wisdom:
II preferred her before Kingdoms
nothing in comparison to her. Neither
did / compare her unto any precious
stone; for, oil gold in comparison OF
her, is a little sand. and silver in re-
spect to her shall be counted as clay.
II loved her above health and beauty.
and chose to have her instead Of light
For her light cannot be put out Now
all good things come to me together
with her. (and innumcrable riches
through her hands. She is an infinite
treasure to men"
Behold here, cnshrned in these
words of burning eloquence, is epit-
omized what the Catholic Church
! means, and what it is to be rightly
minded Catholic
Food for the Soul.
But what, let me ask you, is all
this wondrous output of the solar sys-
wrought in Il human soul by the trans
forming powers of sanctifying grace.
which not only disarms the souls spir-
itual foes but, moreover, so fortifies
its life that in due season it puts forth
the rare bloom of supernatural vir.
tues, and the fruit of good works mer-
itorious Of eternal recompense. AS we
contemplate these matchless nlarvels
born of grace in the soul, maybe OF q
shocless. ragged, homeless little child,
we begin more fully to understand
said to be, IAN infinite treasure to
man." g.
In what has been hitherto said I
have attempted to bring home to YOU
this great and central fact, that our
rcligion-thc religion instituted by
Jesus Christ--is life--a divine life,
ural life which our Lord came from
Heaven to bestow upon us and to give
us, as He Himself declared, in no
stintcd measure, but "abundantly."
This is the divine life which you and
have so to support. to nourish and
to strengthen, that it's divine energies
may at length come to penetrate and
permeate the whole range of our
: thought and work during the mission
time here on earth.
;: This brings us face to face with
question bearing with vital importance
upon our present subject, the question
is this Upon what food must this
divine life of the soul be fed that it
imay not starve to death in ", but OH
the contrary, may grow in health and
strength and wisdom before God and
man? 81
Observe, there is 10 kind of life but
, requires for it's support some kind Of
, food Is not the organic marked of
from the inorganic world, precisely by
this, that whereas the former needs
for it's health and growth some spe-
cial kind of nutriment, the latter is5
capable of none? The crystal, if you
, WILL grows from without, but the or
, ganisnl grows from within-not by the
J addition of material which it puts on
l and uses, but by the absorption OF
, matter which 1t takes in and changes
9 might go on to show how life, as we
find it in the ascending scale of be-
ling, from the amoeba to man, require.