The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-17
THE WAGES OF
 SIN IS DEATH'
Subject at St. Paufs Last Night-Paulists Conduct
 Mission

The second night of the mission now
 being held at St. Paul's church was, de
 spite the threatening weather, we'll at-
 tended. The regular order of the exer' cises was observed, the first b minutes being devoted to an instruction on Tn dulgences," which was given by the Rev Father Devery. Explaining the doctrine of the church in regard to the subject Father Devery pointed out that an 5n' dugence does not mean license or per mission to commit sin, neither Is itsa par don of sins already committed or to be committed, but it is the remission of the whole or a part of the personal punish nishment due to sin already forgiven and pardoned by God.
 | After the instruction the rosary of the Blessed Virgin was recited and then came the sermon of the evening, delivered by Father Skinner, who spoke on mental sin, taking as his text these words of the 1 Prophet Jeremiah: 'grhy own wickedness shall reprove thee and thy apostasy shall l rebuke thee: Know thou and see that it l is an evil and a bitter thing for thee to have left the Lord thy God.' CJer. a:1o) 1 Father Skinner spoke in part substan- tially as follows:
 Such is the destiny of man, to be | happy with God forever But We know. alas! to our sorrow, that all men do not | reach that destiny; that there Is some ] thing able to come between the soul and God: something which can prevent man l from reaching the end for which he was | created; something which has the power to thwart the designs of God himself, and | that one thing Is mortal sin. This, then, will be the subject of our remarks to- night.
 ''Sin is a violation of the law Of God l And this may be done in various ways. by thought by word and by deed. All sins are not alike In gravity: some are more serious than others. But this sven- ing we are treating of mortal sins. which are grave violation of the law of God. l committed with full knowledge, delibera- tion, malice and foresight Mortal sin is l an act of rebellion on the part of his child against the most indulgent of Fathers.
 Two things there are which we prize more than all others-honor and cour- ageousness. What is the man or woman who locks one or both? Mortal sin has robbed you of both. It has robbed you of honor and made you a hypocrite. You are father, your children re- spect you: yet you have done deeds which would cause your own children, your own flesh and blood, if they but knew, to loathe you
 :, You are a husband-a woman has promised to love and honor you; vet you have frequented places which, if revealed would cause that woman, the mother of your children, to cry out to heaven to be released from the vows which she holds sacred.
 You are young man, exerting every power to win the affections of a virtu- ous girl. You know that she is as pure as the snow that falls from the clouds. And you know. too in your secret heart, that you are not worthy to be the man upon which she wipes her feet. Why don't you be q man and tell her that you are unclean-that mortal sin has made you a hypocrite?
 You are a woman; the world has placed you a on a throne Of honor which is all your own, and men would die guarding the sacredness of your sacred Nomanhood. Yet, with a secret hand, you have done deeds in your home on the very altar of your high and holy calling, which might cause heaven itself to weep over the avocation which you have so degraded.
 70, sinner, will you be the only one who will not return to Him?
 To-day God eXhorts you to repent, and Is offering you a pardon, which He has
 
 fuse it? No, thank God, you will not You, too, vii come back like the prodi- gal son. and like Peter and like Magda- lene, and drink onGe more from the foun- tains of everlasting life. You will come back and standing here before the cross, the open book of your sins, you will ex- anime your conscience You will see there l in His naked body, your sins of selfish ness. Your Savior. stripped of all raiment bncauca of ba axtr of your life. You see there in His bow ed head your sins of pride. Your | head held high has brought His head | low. In His sightless eyes, you see the effect of your forbidden looks In his bloody mouth your sins of the tongue. l In His pierced hands, you see the atone ment for the sins your hands have com mitted. His feet nailed to the cross be- cause yours have been swift to lead you to places of sin, but slow to church. In 1 His pierced side you read all your sins Of 1 the heart, and in His parched tongue and pitiful cry, 1T thirst" your sins of glut- tony. Standing thus nere before His cross, you will rLake your act of contri- | ton:
 70 God, am truly sorry for all ny sins,
 Turn not from me, I humbly pray, as
 light begins
 To dawn upon my wayward soul, and point the way,
 | That I may nearer to Thee come, day l unto day,
 | Until at last within Thy realm again I
 live,
 And. kneeling there, my sins confess, o, God. forgive,
 | I ask this in the name of Him who died | for me,
 Who shed His blood-was crucified on l Calvary"
 The subject of the sermon tonight will be Transition to Immortalite'