The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-18

come model Catholics if they were given a chance and directed along the right path. He longed to convert the people to the true God and to make their island that which in time it be- came, tho island of saints and scholars. As the Pantheon. one of the most am cient pagan temples in Rome, was con verted into Catholic church. in which instead of the pagan sacrifices, tho only true sacrifice of the body and blood of Christ is offered so was the island of pagans converted into the is land of saInts and all through the un- tiring labor and zeal of St. Patrick. After his escape from captivity in Ireland St. Patrick. then only youth. returned 10 his native land to friends and loved ones but amidst all the joys and comforts of home life he ever heard the voices of the children of his be- | loved 1risn crying out to him, Q, holy l youth. come back to Erin and walk once more amongst us He was not deaf to that cry and after his years of preparation under the great St. Ger main he was ordained priest. St. Ger | main sent him to Rome as a fit mis- s onary for the Irish people. Pope St. Celestine approved his choice, and sent St. Patrick to evangelize the Irish na- ton. At Turin in Italy he was conse- crated bishop and set out for his mis- sion Whole Country Ablaze Prom the hill of Tara, near which St. Patrick kndled the pagan fire. tho saint set the whole country ablaze with the light of faith and enldndled in all hearts the love of the true God. The | work of St. Patrick t Ireland is the | most marvellous recorded in history. for within a comparatively short time the entire island was Christian and there | is no part of Ireland which was not | l. al hei present day the many wells of St. Pat rick in all parts of the island mark 1 the places where the saint stopped and people love to retire to these places made holy by the presence of their great apostle Such places are especially the i island of Lough Dergh, which is known as St. Patrick's purgatory, and croagh 1 Patrick, St Patriek's mountain, where | the saint spent 40 days in prayer and | fasting and where he obtained so many | favors from Almighty God for his loved | Irish people,
 Although the mission of St Patrick was an unbloody one, and although no storm of persecution was stirred up to| assail the infant church. still his great I work of evangelizing Ireland was not | done without much suffering on his part. l He had to suffer much at the hands of l the druids and other enemies of the 1 faith. He tells us himself in his Con | fessons that no fewer than F times | he and his companions were seized and 1 carried off as captives. and on one oc- 1 ca sion in particular he was loaded with chains and his death decreed. From all these trials he was delivered and just before his death he saw in vision the whole of Ireland lit up with the brightest rays of divine faith. This continued for | centuries and then clouds gathered 1 around the devoted island and little by 1 little the religious glory faded away un- | til in the course of centuries it was only | in remotest valleys that some glfmmer | of the light remained. St. Patrick prayed | that the light would never be extn- | guished and as he prayed the angel came
 to him and said, Fear not, your aposto- | late shall never cease.' As he thus | prayed the glmmering light grew in | brightness and ceased not until once | again all the hills and valleys of Ire- land were lit up in their pristine splendor | and then the angel announced to St. 1 Patrick Such shall be the abiding splen- dor of divine truth in Ireland.'
 Those dark days which the saint fore | saw were those terrible days of perse- l cuton when the greensward of Ireland was bathed in the blood of her own chill 1 dren. the blood of her priests and her tishops who were hunted down like dogs | and a price put upon their heads. It
 vas when England st,ove to uproot the tree of faith planted by St. Patrick but thanK tO0. all her enOrtS were III vain and in spite of the most severe perse-
 cution, Ireland remained true to the faith | of St. Patrick, has remained true ever l since and will remain true unto the end of time.
 Saints and Scholars
 That holy island was rightly named the island of saints and scholars, and
 although many..-of Irelands sons and daughters have been driven from their native land by persecution and in search of decent livelihood, which they could not secure at home, there still remains
 in the dear old land many saints and many scholars, too.
 Tt was my happy privilege to spend five years of my life ia Ireland I went there to make my preparation for the priesthood, and shall never fail to thank God for those years of preparation. The
 school to which I went was built upon the spot where, hundreds of years ago thousands of monks lived together and
 daily offered their prayers of praise to Almighty God, but to me the whole of
 Ireland is a seminary, 1t is one large
 novitiate and I learned more from the living faith of the people than I could
 acquire from many books I have seen
 the living faith of the people, their trust
 in God their submission to his holy will. have heard them salute me with the
 sweet salutations, God bless you, God, St. Patrlck ana Our Blessed Mother bless
 you I have witnessed their love and
 reverence for their priests and their un-
 dying attachment to the representative
 of Jesus Christ upon earth, our holy
 father, the pope. had the unspeakable
 joy of visiting the isle as a priest a few
 months ago and 1t was then impressed upon me more than ever what reverence
 and love the Irish people have for the
 priest.
 '1n the providence of God the disper-
 sion of the Irish people to all parts of
 the world has been instrumental in
 spreading the true faIth, for wherever
 the Irish go the Catholic faith goes with
 them. Be faithful to the teaching, to
 the faith of St. Patrick wherever you
 may go, be true and faithful to your
 country in whatever way you can. She
 has had long and sad struggle. but
 now brighter days are in store for her
 and as in spirit you gaze upon the flag
 of Erin, which ere long will float over
 the Emerald Isle, repeat with the poet priest of the south:
 |" Lift it up! wave it high. tis as bright
 as of old!' g
 In the afternoon at o'clock the chil- dren of the Blessed Sacrament parish
 gave an entertainment in the largo audi
 torium of the convent, consisting of Irish
 songs and Irish jgs The place was
 crowded and the children were heartily Iapplauded
 Tn keeping with the custom for many
 years past the day was celebrated at
 Pratt City with suitable and appropriate
 exercises. The affair was under tho | A.t-