The Irish standard., 1915-07-10

SfOA NoF glorious IuC0r0 was emblaZOned
i on the cross that presaged the victory
Of the as yet pagan Constantine ovel
the tyrant Maxentius.
On his accession to the throne, he
!. was baptized. Gratefully acknowl
edging the divine interposition in his
favor, he united his efforts with those
Of the pore for the establishment OF
public order and peace throughout the
empire and the protection of the
church in the prosecution of her say,
Z ing mission.
Then began that wonderful era in
4 the development of the politico-relig
/ious status of the church and it's head
as connected with the imperial person
and Office.
The successors of Constantine had
many good reasons for fostering in
themselves and their subjects the most
reverent and sympathetic feelings to-
wards the church, for signs of danger
to the very existence of the empire
were daily increasing throughout the
imperial domain. The weakness of
some of the emperors, the folly of 9TH
ers, and the turbulence of the people
generally, forecast the downfall of the
old Judicial and social polity which
had been upheld in a great degree by
the might Of the Roman arms.
The invasions of the fierce Huns and
Vandals, the Goths and the Saxons,
swept away the decaying barriers of
the Roman law and filled the mid-coun-
tries of Europe, and even remote
Spain and Gaul with widespread Desc
lation and the horrors of lawless yio-
lence.
In this extremity the church proved
herself equal to the tremendous task
which these desperate conditions i'm
posed upon her and the imperial
authority. Pursuing her primary mis-.
sion-that of saving mems souls-her
missioners went forth under the direc-
ton of the sovereign pontiff to rescue
the hapless inhabitants from the ven
geance of the barbarian conquerors,
and from the political and moral de-
struction that was threatening the
whole empire. They, too, invaded the
lands that had been laid waste by
the ruthless hordes; but they came,
not armed and surrounded with the
invincible legions of the empire, nor
clothed in the trappings that pro-
claim the pomp and majesty of kings.
They came, armed only with the gos-
pei of Christ, the Lord, and with the
blessing of His Vicar, the Pope. They
won those fierce tribesmen to the
Catholic faith, tanned their lawless
passions, and led them into the paths
OF peace and justice; they trained
them to the practice of the gospel
precepts, and inculcated with their
religious teachings, just concepts of
personal rights and duties, of hui
mainly and freedom, and of the true
bases underlying political and social
prosperity.
By thus taking in hand the moral
and social regeneration of the bar
barian nations and bringing it to a
successful issue, new and closer bonds
of union and cooperation were formed
between the pope now become the
saver of nations as we'll as the recog-
nized father of Christendom-and the
successive rulers of the Romano leu.
tonic empire.
From that memorable Christmas
day in the year 800, when Pope Leo
III crowned and anointed the Frank
ish king, emperor of the Romans,
Charlemagne concentrated his great
talents as a legislator and ruler on
the execution of mighty project
the restoration of the Greek, or East
ern division of the empire to unity
with the original western Roman en-
pire.
He desired thereby to guarantee the
perpetual and paramount authority of
the church leagued with that of the
empire for the continued peace and
prosperity of Chrstendom.
This splendid conception is factor
of the first Importance to the right
understanding of the reign of Charlie.
magne as related to the subsequent
politico-religious history of Europe,
and indeed, of the world. Through
out the fourteen years of his reign
he labored with unremitting energy to
promote the best interests of the
church. as well as of the empire.
He drew up an excellent code of
laws, supervised both the lay and the
ecclesiastical officials of the state, and
extended liberal patronage to the
learned, many of whom he invited to
shise court.
It is true that his grand political
ideal failed of the consummation
which his tireless labors in its be.
half deserved. Failure came, how
ever. not because the project of uni
versal Christian empire was in itself
chimerical, but rather. because his sue
2cessOrs lacked the wisdom and the
moral discernment that distinguished
the great ruler who had set his mind
upon proving that he was, in truth, all
that he protested himself to be-by
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