The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-02-03
SERMON DELIVERED BY THE
VERY REVEREND JAMES C.
BYRNE, v. G., AT THE CELEBRA-
TloN OF THE FEAST IN THE
VISITATION CONVENT OF ST.
PAUL.

The radiance which shone from the
face of the youthful Stephen, as he
stood before the Sanhedrin, was an
evidence of a new order of things
harbinger in appearance at least of
new race of men. Hitherto the
radiance of God, the Shekinah, was
manifested apart from men. The CON
verse of Moses for forty days with
God on the Mount, if we eliminate
Rabbinic legends, but made the coun-
tenance of the great law-giver so
fear-inspiring that he was compelled
to wear a veil ever afterwards. But
the Holy Ghost had been sent into
the world to inflame mems hearts
and Stephen, it is written, was full
OF the Holy Ghost" and therefore the
text of the acts of the apostles con-
tlnues: land all that sat in the coun-
Gil looking on him saw his face as
It it had been the face of an angel"
This beautiful picture at the birth
of Christianity was to be repeated
again and again in the course of time
made in some less, in others sensibly
more apparent Today the Church
celebrates the feast of one, the an
gellc charm of whom, if not charac-
teristic. yet was so manifest of all
mat 1t may serve as the underlying
thought of his panegyric. ST. Francis
de Sales was an angel among men
because he brought back to the thou
sands seated in darkness the ancient
tidlngs Of great joy, because he pre-
pared the way for the overthrow of
the most insidious error that ever
Convulsed France, Behold | shall
send my angel before My face" and
finally because in an eminent degree
he spoke with 'the accents of angels"
to men. Looking upon him they saw
his face as if it had been the face
of an angel.
The Conversion of the chablais.
On the southern shore of Lake
Geneva there is a region, yclept the
Chablais once Catholic but which had
about the middle of the sixteenth cen
tury almost completely lost the Faith
Calvinism from the neighboring city
of Geneva had here spread from vii
lage to village. Smoking converts
and churches, demolished affairs, over
turned crosses and other deeds of
vandalism marked it's progress. It's
sojourn seemed to be established per-
manently by the material progress
which arose from a close union with
Geneva, by the hatred enkindled
through misrepresentation of the old
Faith, and by the doctrine preached
in season and out of season that poll
tical independence can be maintained
only through Protestant principles of
belief. Calvinism has very much in
common with the bigoted frame of
mind which was prevalent in Judea
when Our Lord was born. There is
the same Pharisaic servility to the
letter of the law and neglect of the
spirit, the same arrogance of assertion
on private grounds, the same bitter
and binding hatred of all opponents,
the same lust for worldly prosperity.
Christ, it is true, forms an element
OF Calvipism but it is not the living
and loving crucified Christ of the Cos
pels but mere cog in the iron wheel
Of law. BY law the individual is
made elect or reprobate. Away with
all devotions and their symbols, away
with sacrifice and altar, away with
vows and votaries! All Gospel-in-
spired means of bringing the human
heart in touch with the human Christ
are but idolatry. Law rules all. Let
men, they say, sternly rely on self
even though full of sin and on the
law that he is saved through Christ.
When stubborn people drinks in
such ideas with travesty of the old
Faith, as if it set aside Christ instead
heart, it is ready to apply the torch.
When it has made desolate the land
rather than apparently stultify itself,
it remains hard and bitter in it's OBJ
stinacy. Such was the people whom
the pious Granier, nominally Bishop
of Geneva but compelled to reside at
Annecy, was asked to bring back tC
I00 lOIu, he CdlI6u lOE volunteers
to this mission which meant insult
calumny, untold hardships and prob
ably death. Only one responded. He
was the provost of the Chapter al
Annecy, Francis de Sales, young
priest of noble family who having
mastered the intricacies of the law
and received his degree had choser
to turn his back on all worldly ambi
tions and to become a priest. AnC
now he chose to take the most diff
cult task in the whole diocese O
Geneva Exceptional learning, fint
presence, ardent eloquence, but above
all apostolic zeal tempered with an
gelic sweetness of disposition were
his equipment Not at once did ht
succeed. In the cold regions of tht
north the sun may blaze away fo
months on field of ice without melt
ing a crystal. Francis de Sales fount
that his daily walk of six miles t.
Thonon, where he found only sever
Catholic families, his eagerness t,
enlist sympathy for the Catholi
cause, his gentleness to all with whom
he came in contact, his single-minded
ness shown In his poverty were al