The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-06-24
MARY AND IRELAND

" 800 Hubw - nm nm - ~ NO
FIDELITY or THE IRISH TO THE
FAITH DUE TO DEVOTION
TO MARY.
The long rays of the sun that was
low in the West stretched lovingly and
shyly across the quiet meadows and
up to the dear old church on the hill;
they crept through the stained-glass
windows and fell slantingly across the
Virgins altar, on which were vases Of
beautiful flowers and lighted candles,
and in front of which the altar-boys
were giving, in their clear, fresh voices,
the responses to the Hail Mary's" Of
the Rosary, says writer in the Irish
Messenger And down through the
church tie sun-rays strayed, caressing
many white lock and many a, brown
curl and playing round many face
aglOW with love for the Mother Of God.
And the birds sang outside in the
trees, and the murmur of many voices
went up towards the Virgins altar, and
there was such a holy peace over all
the place as | have never known since
then. That evening at the May devo-
tons in the old country church will
live in my thoughts for ever: it is a
facing from my memory, no more
than | would the thought that seemed
to find expression in the murmur of
the old voices and the young, in the
scent of the flowers, in the songs Of
the birds, in the caressing touch of
the suns rays as they said Good
night" to the Virgins altar.
The Royal Name of Mary
That thought was that the fidelity
of the Irish race to the Faith which
Patrick brought them is due above all
else to the love and devotion they have
always borne to the Mother of God
the Queen of the Irish May. They
were always jealous of their titles and
of the names they gave to their kings
and queens, to their scholars and their
warriors. And to mark their love and
their reverence for Mary, their shield
and help and comfortress in all dan
gers and trials and troubles, they gave
her a name that was to he hers alone
for ever-the sacred name of Muire-
and no Mary Of the Irish race, no mat
ter how high her station or how grand
her gifts of mental or physical beauty,
has ever been allowed to call herself
by that honored name, set specially
apart for the Mother Of Jesus. Has
any other race on earth ever paid such
signal honor as this to Mary, the
Queen of Heaven? And the highest
compliment the old poets of our land
could think of when they wanted to
praise our own st. Brigid was to call
her Muire nan Gaedheal-the MARY of
the Gael" What wonder is it that
Gods Mother should look lovingly on
the children of the Irish land!
In Sunshine and Shadow.
The name of Mary has ever been a
talisman among the children of the
Gael. There is nothing more inspiring
or more glorious in the history of any
land than the victory on the field of
Benburb, when, outnumbered and to
all appearances defeated, the irish. SOL
diers rallied at the inspired battle-cry
given to them by Owen Roe O'Neill--
"Sancta Maria! faced their foes in
a final charge and sent them flying in
all directions, completely routed and
dismayed! And when Red Hugh
O'Donneil reused his men to valiant
deeds at the battle of the Curlew
Mountains, it was of Holy Mary's
honor, defiled by the tainted lips
of the heretical invaders, he spoke,
and no higher or holier cause could
those brave and simple men desire to
do battle for. In the penal days, in
the days of famine and pestilence and
eviction, on the bleak roadside, on the
deck of the emigrant ship or amid the
horrors of enforced exile, it was Mary's
name and Mary's aid, implored through
the holy Rosary, that kept Faith and
Hope and Charity alive in many sor.
row-clouded soul!
A Thought for Today.
Such was the thought that came to
me. that calm May evening in the
peaceful old church on the hill; such
is the thought that has come to me
many time since then, when / have
felt respondent and sad at heart. 1t
is the thought would like to impart
this month to every reader of the Mes
senger at home or beyond the seas
when the name of Mary ceases to be
loved and honored in Irish hearts,
when the last Rosary has been said in
Irish homes and the last flower has
been placed upon the Virgins altar in
Irish churches, then, and only then,
may we bow before the forces of in
fidelity; then, and only then, may we
fear for the final perseverance of the
Ganl