The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1913-10-09

ten affairs and the interior of the chapel
took place. The ceremonies of dedication
We're completed with the singing of the
litanies.
Solemn High Mass
There was a solemn high mass in the
chapel, with the Rev. Patrick. Turner,
pastor of the parish, as celebrant; the
Rev. DR.. William Turner, brother of the
pastor, deacon and the Rev. DIR. John
Turner, another brother of the pastor,
as sub-deacon. The Rev. Father Haclett
of Mobile acted as master of ceremonies
The propers of the mass and the "Kyrie .
the Gloria the "Credo.' the 'Santus,'
the "Bnedictus' and the "Agnus Del,
were sung by a double quartet of Bene-
dictines. with the Rev. Father Sylves-
ter, o. S. B., at the organ. The propers
We're in Gregorian chant, but the princi-
pal parts of the mass were in figured
music, composed by j. Kearn. During
the mass the bishop occupied a throne
erected within the sanctuary rail.
The Rev. William Turner preached the
sermon. His manner of delivery was
pleasing in every way, and the matter of
his discourse was referred to afterward
by the bishop and the other clergy and
by the laity in highly complimentary
terms. DIR. Turner's style was scholarly
and singularly lucid His discourse fol-
lows
Notable Discourse
The Lord is my light and my saliva
tion''-Psalm xviii.
Right Rev. Bishop, Right Rev. Abbot,
Rev. Clergy and Dear Brethren:-The
greatest thought the human mind can
think is the thought of God; the great
est word the human tongue can utter is
the name of God Ever since man began
to think and to express his thought in
words this has been true. If the savage,
in his simplicity, sees God in the majesty
of natural evei.ts it is because in them
he sees the greatest things in his expert
ence, and, with some Gin memory of a
primitive revelation ne knows that God
is the greatest reality OF all And when
reflection succeeded primitive impressions
it was still the same with the human
mind and its idea of God. God was the
greatest, the first, the most universal
of causes; the most impressive the most
sublime origin, the only answer to the
| question of the Whence of this world
| around us. Man was struck with the
calm, majestic beauty of light, and he
said God is Light. He was awed at the
| immensely of the outspreading sea, and
! he named the ocean God. He was
enamoured of the serene mystery of the
stars and he said the sky is God. He
saw how the earth in spring brings forth
| all treasures for mans comfort and en-
| joyment, and he said, not yet indeed
| that God giveth increase" but that
mother earth is herself the deity Then
| human thought became more reflective
still. and pondered such ideas as these of
goodness and beauty and truth, distin-
gushing these qualities first in human life
and human conduct
But. again, led on by the same uner-
ring instinct, man named God the high
est good, the greatest truth, the one alb
solute and undying beauty. And then,
| learning to look into his own soul, he
found there problems still more perplex-
ing. What is the meaning of life? What
is our destiny? What is the origin of
the soul, with its wizard-like power of
knowing? What is the meaning of those
half-articulate yearnings of the spirit, of
that battling but unquenchable desire for
something beyond the. flesh? To all these,
andA to wider and more searching ques-
| lions the answer of the human mind has
| been God. For God is the ultimate of
human thought reflecting, as He is the
greatest to the human senses naively
|