The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-05-14

Rome and Greece Bane of Present
Day-Woman Queen of Home-He Elk
alted Position-Co Constant Fathers.
st. Mary's Cathedral on Sunday Rev. Timothy
Brennan preached a sermon appropriate to the cele
l-aton of Mothers Day. Dealing with the sac
5ness Of marriage and dignity of mother he said
t,Eing for his text:
What Therefore God Hath Joined, Let Not Man
Put Asunder. Matt. xix. 6.
Home is a hallowed word. Around it cluster the
innocent Joys of boyhood, the strength of manhood
and the loving lingering grasp of old age Home is
that spot on earth where young loves futter forth
the glare the strife, the bitterness of life and old
Loves return to rest after life of toll disappointed
5opes and weary longings Fond memories dwell
under the old rooftree, the old fireside teens with
the faces sweet in their simplicity, strong in their
futh and Justice, loving In their constancv and
worth A nation unfolds its banner to the breeze:
# floats there In the vernal bloom of April. the
bithe of December. 1t may be the Union Jack of
England, the stars and stripes of America, the tri
color Of France, the green Of Ireland. Children of
men have their country and their flags and the
children Of men love the one and hail the other 1t
is fitting; it is right. The love of home of country
and flag is after God the good and the brave mans
boast, and that love first sprang to life by the old
freside cultured and fostered by virtuous, true,
constant father and mother.
The nation is composed of the homes there and
its greatness littleness its moral soundness or its
fostering corruption depend upon the unity the vir-
tue the brightness of the mansions that crown the
hill and the cottages that strew the valley. History
teaches us many lessons but this lesson most of all,
nation S strength, the duration Of the flutter of
nations flag, depends upon the homes. True, in
deed are the words of Emerson: F'The truest test
of civilization Is not the the size of Cities
nor the crop but the kind of men a country turns
out From the home life spring everything good
and true, and men Of God and men of country have
sprung from the firesides crowned by loyalty, vir-
iue. truth and love. Yes, the nation whose roots
are deep set in virtuous ancestral homes, be these
homes rich poor, powerful or humble, is like the
oak in the forest. 1t can defy the winds that blow
and the storms that burst because it has laid its
grip upon the very foundations Of the moral world.
The enemy Of home life is the enemy of country,
and the enemy that rises up this our day, hydra
headed. to blast home and sap the very foundations
Of society Is divorce. 1t requires no learning to
know, no keeness Of intellect to perceive that the
marriage bond is the one absolutely essential link in
The union of home, and without that you will valnly
seek Tor true home
Marriage the foundation Of the home, is the old
est contract ever formed upon this earth, and our
inst parents were the contracting parties. Adam
sazed upon Eve and pronounced these words: This
bone of my bones and flesh Of my flesh, she shall
be called woman. because she was taken out OF man,
wherefore man shall leave father and mother and
shall cleave to his wife and they shall be two in
one flesh" These words, dear brethren, contain
The whole constitution Of the human family; they
show forth the unity, the indissolubiity OF their
uon and that union only In two persons
Jesus Christ came to the dwellings of men, the
ruth the justice and the light, and His presence
the marriage feast of Cana has sanctified mar
mage TOR all time and made those words OF His the
say OF the homes, the strength of the nations: For
Tins cause shall a man leave father and mother and
snail adhere to his wife, and they shall be two IN
one flesh"
The great St. Paul. following in the footsteps of
-z HIS master gave TO the of all time these words:
inns rs great sacrament, and [ speak IN Christ
ana m the Church. Yes, the union Of Christ with
me Church is the symbol of the union Of the hus-
oand and wife. Husbands love your wives, as
lhnst also loved the Church and delivered himself
apIor II. As Christ is joined to His Church by an
Nepaiaoe union, union which de has cemented
e'm unto The shedding of His precious blood, so
qo0d the husband be attached to his wife through
e dark Of sorrow, the light Of JOY. Loyalty should
laelr watchword; aye, loyalty even unto death.
DNorce is breaking of the marriage bond. Dl-
uce IS SIN against God; SIN against the ma
i -OL II is an insult to woman and step towards
'dy degradation which she knew before Christ
llgaence lIt up the world; before Chr1st's words
g l1 Justice made it free. Go back to the days OF
y
oaay blghts society and saps the foundations of
,aCon strength, honor and purity; go back L
ny and read these records written in mud and dirt
"goo oo and tears.
seneca. in impassoned language, shows forth the
,si as Of his time and lays his finger upon the one
.5s lung tnat made the manhood Of old Rome byword
~ o rendered her women slaves. Divorce, he tells
N.Y. lae total disregard of the unity, the loyalty OF
ro oLa9e has sapped the very foundations OF an en-
S W. whose eagles floated triumphant from the vel
,.5 loeI 20 the fair Rhine Juneval the cultured
ssg I Wicked Juneval lashed the sins of olden Rome
elu has handed down to us the record that
,,5 an under the genial laws of divorce had wooed
4 A. won and lost eight husbands within five months
5r., 51 was with Rome, so it with Greece Cur
,s5 in The highest degree, as both were, strong
,,5 Prosperous because Of the genius of their leaders
n lhelr statesmen, still both fell to pieces eaten
tgT The rottenness of their own corruption, their
a5 disregard for the sacredness and unity of that
God ioie'er uhltes heSrI 70 iie''i' anu sO'i -
Ne take the Bible, the word of God, and We take