Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1911-06-03

patria mori.' 1t is a sweet and be-
fitting thing to die for ones country,
but the heart of the world has taken
up the song and sung it again and
again.
1--WE cherish reverently the ashes
of our dead, but we cherish more
fondly and with deeper reverence
the interests of their immortal
souls. We turn from their graves,
not in hopeless, helpless grief, but
to the footstool of God, to the altar,
the home of prayer, where soul again
meets soul, where love still lives and
can work out in a higher and holier
manner all the tender ministrations
through which 1t tried to soothe the
parting spirit. | hesitate not to say
that If the day shall ever dawn,
which may God avert, when infidel-
ity, socialism and anarchy shall be
so bold as to rise up against the high
authority of our rulers and the law
and constitution of our land, in that
dark hour you or your successors
can call with confidence on the
Catholic manhood of this country to
show their patriotism by observing
the laws in the time of peace; and If
war must come, by giving, as their
brethren gave before them, that
supreme test of patriotism, their
own life's blood, for their country's
cause"
On the same Sunday morning the
Brooklyn navy yard held an assem-
blage estimated at $4,000 attending
the solemn high military mass in
honor of the soldiers who had fallen
in all the wars in defense of Ameri-
can liberty, civil and religious. Mem
bers of the Ancient Order of Hiber-
mans, of the Knights of Columbus,
the Sixty-ninth Regiment and other
patriotic societies took part in the
street parade and pageant. The altar
erected in the center of the field was
canopied and filled with flowers. The
Rev. Father M. G. Gleeson, Naval
Chaplain, celebrated the mass. and
was assisted by the Rev. Father
Eugene Mcdonald, of the BattleshiD
AEeFtt h De lteta Rev -Eat tAeT Iehn E
Nash, of Sacred Heart church,
Brooklyn, and the Rev. Father John
L. Belford. of the Church of the
Nativity, who preached the sermon.
The music of the mass was selected
from compositions of Gunod and
Haydn and were sung by choir of
$50 voices, assisted by the navy
yard, the Sixty-ninth Regiment, the
police and the letter carriers bands.
After the services the Knights of
Columbus, 1000 strong, headed
street parade. Spanish-American
war veterans, the Ancient Order of
Hibernians, United States marines,
blue-jackets from the North Dakota
and Hancock, the Sixty-ninth Regi-
ment apd detachment OF the Sec
ond Naval Battalion were among
those in line. The Rev. Father John
S. Belford. said in his sermon:
1T has been said that the Catholic
church is unfriendly to the republic,
holding its first allegiance to Rome,
and that no Catholic is fit to hold
public office for that reason or to
have a responsible position in the
army or navy. Now in the past 100
years in this country there is not
a single Instance of dereliction of
duty when the country needed the
services of a Catholic. They have
never shirked their duty in battling
enemies of the country. even when
they took the field agains, their
brethren in the faith. We are gath
cred under the banner of the great
est nation on earth. which has at
tained its greatness by the devoted
service in war and peace of Cath
olics. non-Catholics and persons of
no creed, but united by the bonds of
charity and patriotism"