The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1914-04-11
The. Land of the CruCifix

NXAUNAONANNUNHNNANI
ton. Here, however, are a few ex.
amples which will give the reader a
general idea of the trend of these
peasant inscriptions:
Inscriptions.
On cross near Bremen found the
following inscription:
Wanderer, stehe still
Und verweil Elm wenig hier
Und betrachte Mich am Kreuze
Well du kommen musst zu mir.
(Traveler, stop and rest little here,
And think of Me upon the Cross;
For to Me you must come at last:)
Another cross had this inscription:
Elm kreuz am wege gehst du vorbei
Gedenk was dessen Deutung sci!
Zilh alb den Hut, au Dist Elm Christ,
Der aureh den Heran erlossest list.
"a cross on the wayside you pass.
Stay and think what it's message may
be.
A Christian, bow down and give
thanks
To the God who has suffered for thee.)
High up on. peak in the Dolomite
range found cross with this beauti-
full inscription, Again it is impossible
to give the equivalent in English:
o, Jesus, nur Elm Tropfen
Won Deinem Blut
Lass meiner armen seele
,Zu gut .- --.
20, Jesus, even q drop of Thy Blood
To my poor soul will do good.)
A Protestant View.
An English Protestant friend. of
mine will have it that the constant
image Of the suffering Christ must
blunt the mind and unfit it for a keen
appreciation of the Passion of Our
Lord. The Cross, this friend of mine
holds should be used only in church
or in the silence of ones chamber
when one is in meditation and prayer.
But why cannot one be always in medi-
tation and prayer? If prayer be an
elevation of the soul to God it is not
so much a matter of the lips as of the
mind. 1t is, therefore, frame of
mind rather than form of words, and
one can have this prayerful frame of
mind no matter what may be the &C.
cupation in which one is employed.
think that this prayerfulness is an
abiding frame Of mind with the people
of the Tyrol, and am sure that the
constant looking at the Cross is one
of it's causes. AS proof Of how this
frame of mind is constant with the
people it will be sufficient to call at
tention to the frequency with which
one finds religious notices inscribed
on the walls of the dwellings, some.
times even in the diningrooms Of the
inns. Here is an inscription which 1
saw over the door of farmhouse,
away in the hills, ten miles distant
from the nearest village or church:
"Meusch,' gedeuke, dass du NIGHT
Inner auf dieser welt lebest,
MUIR euie Kurze zeit
("Daun must du hinuber in die Ewig-
keit.")
("Remember, man, as you pass In,
You have not here q lasting stay,
In q little while the earth will pass,
And heaven will be thy home for
aye.")
Over the Intel of another door the
following was written:
"Am Gottes segan
LIST allies ge1egen."
con Gods goodwill everything de-
pends.") ....
The Mind Of the People.
These examples are eloquent Of the
frame of mind of the people. Away
| in these Alpine hills, separated from
one another and from the centres of
culture, you will find the people more
refined and religious, with a better
grasp of the realities Of life and eter.
nifty, than the people Of the crest
cities where there is supposed to be
so much instruction and refinement.
It is idle to suggest that the constant
use Of the Cross has bunting effect
ON the minds of the people; anyone
who lives among the Tyrolese peas
antry will md the opposite to be true.
a Joyful Naee.
But It must not be- supposed that
there Ii anything morose or Pufitani'