Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1912-03-23

THE INsTRUMHNTs
OF CHRlsr's PASSION
CONTINUED from last week.)
DIvoRcE-THE NEW PAaANIsM.


Marriage is not mere civil contract
between two persons. God enters into
It. 1t is divine ordinance. 1t is q
Sacrament of grace. The law of mar
riage is the eternal law which in the be-
ginning was in God, and can never be
changed or altered by man. The auth
ority of the State, Republic, Empire
and Kingdom, is powerless before it.
Nor is marriage purely natural func-
tion. Though It was so In the begin
ming, it is not 80 now. Christ trans
formed marriage into . holy sign. He
made it Sacrament Of His Church
forever. Hear the Apostles addressing
the Ephssians: "For this cause shall q
man leave his father and mother and
shall cleave to his Wife and they shall
be two in one. flesh. This is q great Sa-
crament, but speak in Christ and In
the Church. ."-Ephesians, ch. s, v. 80.
Christian marriage is divine aud
sanctifying force, because Christ blessed
and transfgured it into the symbol of
the union of love which shall bind
them forever with His Church, His
mystical body, His chosen people!
Now, to deal with the objections,
either expressed or implied, in the case
for Divorce: Marriage is for man-not
man for marriage. 1t must not be al
lowed to be the enemy of freedom for
either the man or the woman, or a bar
to human progress. 1t ought to promote
the happiness and welfare Of the whole
family, and the best of human happi-
ness and national prosperity must be
applied to it. True; and all this holds
of Christian monogamy. But it is falsi-
fed in the terminal contracts and lease
hold marriages advocated by the vota-
ries of divorce.
Marriage is for man. Therefore, it
should be held in honor, and not pros
tituted or debased. Marriage should
benefit both parties to the contract, and
the true interests of neither should be
sacrificed.
Yes, but what are the true interests of
men and women in the state of we'd
lock?
Are they the conflicting and selfish
interests of entirely separate indlvid-
uals?
No, their highest interests are identi-
cal and they are esse ntially dependent
on the stability of the marriage bond.
Marriage creates an altruistic relation
in regard to the family and society. This
relation is founded on love, and purely
individual self-interest and pleasure are
incompatible with it.
But is the individual to be sacrificed
and deprived of happiness, because,
through no fault of his, marriage for him
has proved failure?
Better that an individual suffer loss
than that the collective body be de-
stroyed. Better a thousand times the
continuance Of isolated cases of unhappy
marriages and unhappy families than
that continuance should be lent to q
principle which would destroy the hap.
pness of the race and drain the very
sources Of the joys of marriage and the
sweetness of home. Besides these il
allsviation in case of dire necessity by
means of separation, which. though
deplored by the Church, is tolerated as q
lesser evil than divorce, since it admits
of reconciliation.
The teaching of Divorce is doctrine
of despair. Then there is the objection
to Christian monogamy as bar to ma
tional welfare and human progress. This
is baseless as the rest. Marriage Is the
foundation of the family and the family
is the basis of society. When the
domestic relation is weak and Lag, civil
izstion is snfeebled and precsrious, but
when it is strong, great Nations repose
upon its strength.
Rev. JAS. A. MOONEY.
ITO be Continued)