The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1913-12-13

uuipH Wnere Eve na0 failed, and
should bruise the serpent's head by
the spotlessness of her sanctity? AS
grace was infused into Adam, from
the first moment of his creation,Aso
that he never had experience of his
natural poverty till sin reduced him
to it; SO was grace given from the
first in still ampler measure to Mary
and she never incurred Adams de-
privation. Hers was emphatically,
from the very beginning, "the path of
the just, which, as the shining light
goeth forward and increaseth even to
the perfect day.
Was it not becoming that as the
only begotten Son had Father in
heaven whom the Seraphim pro-
claimed thrice holy-was it not becom.
ing that He should have mother on
earth who would not be wanting in
the fullness of sanctity?
If Jeremias, because he was about
to become prophet unto the Gentiles,
was sanctitied in his mothers womb
should not the destined Mother of
God be possessed of prouder pre-
rogative? Or again, St. John the Bap-
tist was sanctified by the Spirit be-
fore his birth; shall Mary only be equal
to him? Is it not fitting that her privi-
lege should surpass his? Is it to be
wondered at, if grace which anticipat-
ed His birth by three months, should
In her case, run up to the very first
moment of her being, should outstrip
the imputatior of sir; and be before
hand with the usurpation of Satan?
You remember that when God di;
rected in the old law that temple
should be erected in His honor where
He was to reside, not in substance, but
only in figure-you remember what
splendor, what magnificence did He
exact in its construction and in it's
preparation! And when the temple
was finished, what publications, what
rites and ceremonies were deemed
necessary for that edifice where only
sacrifices were to be offered to the
Most High! But Mary was creature
fashioned by the Divine Artifcer Him.
self, in whose body His beloved Son
was to receive His conception; in
which He was not figuratively, but
substantially, to reside; which was
the flesh and blood of which His were
to be formed. How pure must not she
have been! Oh, thou art all fair, my
beloved, and there is no stain in
thee!" Yes, she, alone, like the Ark
of Noah, to which she has been so
Justly compared, rose triumphant over
| sins destructive sea. She, alone, was
not obscured in the all-embracing
cloud; or, rather, she alone burst from
above it on the world, bright and spot
less, the herald Of the Sun of Justice,
the precursor of infinite purity, the
harbinger Of eternal light and life.
"Who is she that cometh forth as the
morning, rising fair as the moon,
bright as the sun, terrible as any army
set in battle array?" Is it not Mary,
the mother of the coming Redeemer,
bursting into light, fair as the moon
in the Immaculateness Of her Concep-
tion, bright as the sun in the ardor OF
her love, terrible as an army with
serried ranks, with FURNISHED helmets
and glistening lances, coming forth to
do battle against the hereditary foes
of mankind-to crush the serpent's
Misunderstanding in the Savior, the
God of hosts, who will scatter the le-
gions of lucifer?
Not Mere Proofs, But Evidence.
am not proving this doctrine to
you, my brethren. The evidence of IL
lies in the declaration of the Church.
The Church is the oracle Of religious
truth, and dispenses what the Apos-
ties committed to her in every time
and place; and she has pronounced
with infallible voice, and with the en-.
thusiastic appreciation of her children
in every region of the earth, that: 1T
is revealed that the Blessed Virgin
Mary was, in the first moment of her
conception, by a singular privilege
from God, free from all stain Of sim
am not proving what was the belief
of the faithful, the learned as well as
the unlearned, in all ages and in all
places, and what was confirmed by the
Angel Gabriel, not only by the fact
that he. a pure spirit, saluted her, but
also by the words Of his salutation:
Hail, full Of grace; rather am n
showing you the beauty and the hlr.
mony in one out Of many instancss