The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-02-17
LETTER To THE EDITOR
OBSERVANCE OF GOOD FRIDAY.

lnOS0 WHO T0dQ LuS IcpOFtS VI LA0
celebration in San Francisco on
Christmas eve in which 100000 per-
sons were said to have joined in
mighty chorus and sung the beauti-
full "Adeste Fideles" in honor of
Christ's birth, will not be surprised
to learn that preparations are max
ing in the same city for a suitable
commemoration of His death on Good
Friday, which falls this year on April
9Th. The movement was first inaugur-
ated in 1910, and last year special
services were held, according to the
Monitor" from II to in about TWEEN
ty Catholic churches and several
Protestant churches. About 10000
persons attended the service of "The
Three Hours Agony; or, the Seven
Last Words of Christ on the Cross. "
Forty thousand Good Friday leaflets
were distributed at the church doors
on Palm Sunday. The Mayor issued
proclamation granting freedom to
all city employees to attend services
from - to 8. The board of Super
visors, the Board of Education and the
Board of Public Works formally rec
pheum and Empress theatres deferred
raising their curtains till after
o'clock Thus religion, like water,
seems to seek it's level, and as faith
languishes in the Old World, it seems
to revive in the New World Or, is
it the spirit of the gentle st. Francis,
of Assist, who revived religious devo-
ton throughout Europe stirring up a
similar revival in America through
the great city named after him?
Why should not every city, town
and village in the Union follow this
noble example? Already in some
| States, including Minnesota, Good Fri
day has been declared legal holi-
! day by the civil authorities. In st.
Paul our churches are packed to their
| full capacity on Good Friday by i'm
mense congregations attracted by two
Of the most beautiful ceremonies in
the whole Catholic ritual, viz, the
Veneration of the Cross in the morn
ing and the Way of the Cross in the
afternoon. But according to the last
United States religious census nearly
| two-thirds of the American people
never enter the inside of church.
"Other sheep / have says the Good
Shepherd, them also must I bring
| that there be one shepherd and one
sheepfold." And on Good Friday the
church offers special prayers for
'heretics and schismatics" Now while
| it would not be feasible or desirable
to replace either. of the above devo-
tons, especially the Stations of the
Cross with it's wealth of indulgences
said to be almost beyond computa-
| ton, would it not be entirely feasible
to hold an overflow meeting under the
| auspices of some of our great Catho-
| lie societies like the X. of c., the G.
| o. r. and the A. o. H., i'm the audi
torium for the public performance of
the Three Hours Devotion" Two OF
these societies made Victor Herbert's
opera the mos. successful performance
of the recent opera season i'm st. Paul.
Why not exert their influence with
similar propriety and success in favor
of religion?
The Three Hours Devotion" is
peculiarly an American institution,
having been composed by the Rev.
Father Alphonsus Messia, Jesuit
priest of Lima, Peru. It was approved
and indulgenced by Plus vi and VII,
and liz performed every year on Good
Friday I'm the Church of the Jesu i'm
Rome and the Church of st. Francis
Xavier, Dublin.
With suitable stage settings, reli-
gious emblems, mourning draperies,
singing by the Seminarians and good
reader and speaker from the ranks of
the clergy it could be made as eff
fectiye az any morality" miracle"
or mystery" play that was ever placed
on the stage. This was the means
adopted by the church during the
most brilliant period OF her history, to
teach religion to the world, and today
even the secular theatrical manager
realizes that it In the Miracle Play"
that attracts the public, witness the