The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1917-09-29
DOMAIN OF TEMPERANCE
A VICIOUS CUSTOM.

FOr many, Sp6cldl OccdSlOH OIL
drunkenness is the awful custom of
distributing intoxicating drink at the
wake of the dead; awful, for if there
be time when the mind should be
filled with sober thoughts, and the
heart stirred to kindly sympathy for
the afflicted, it is when the hand of
death has stricken down some dear
relative or friend, and all that re-
mains mortal of the departed awaits
the pious offices of affection to con-
sign to it's last resting place on earth.
Then our reverential regard for the
dead, if indeed it be enlightened and
sincere, should shield the lifeless and
decaying body from dissertation, and
reminding us of the necessities of the
immortal spirit that is gone, make us
have immediate recourse to the pow
erful influence of prayer and of all
| the sacred ministrations of religion to
secure it eternal repose.
Liquor at Wakes
How sad it is to see senseless
| pride or hospitality pervert the house
of mourning into scene of debauch,
of drunken revelry, where prayer
but there can be no prayer from the
mind that is supplied the lips
that are dyed with the stain of liquor,
where in place of the angel of peace,
waiting in silence to carry the offer
ings of the just to the throne of God
| to plead the cause of the departed
soul, stands the demon of discord,
the demon of intemperance, joyous at
the sight of the foul crimes, at the
aims of drunkenness that ascend as
insults before the face of God. What
a dissertation to the dead! What a
blasphemous hypocrisy on the NOR
row to bend the knees before God
in His Tabernacle, to utter their IRE
quiescat, and to stand with bowed,
uncovered head, as, on the brink of
the grave, the solemn words are
spoken, Remember, man, that thou
art dust, and unto dust thou shalt
returni'
1t is often on such occasions that
children receive their initiation into
vice, that the virginia. bloom of their
youthful innocence is first furnished
and their early habits of temperance
destroyed. Often the young man
with his fair companion, through hui
man respect, or fear of ridicule, or a
false sense of sympathy, is forced to
break through the barriers which
were raised around them when at the
moment of First Communion or Con-
firmation, they raised their hands to
heaven, and uttered the solemn prom
Use never to yield to the temptation
of drink And so that house of death
becomes den of sin, seducer of
youth, an insult to the sacred mem
DRY of the dead.
Cost what it may, we should re-
move this disgrace from our midst
for if we believe in the Immortality
of the soul, in the resurrection of the
dead, in the sacredness of the body
which is the temple of the Holy
Ghost, and we do profess this belief,
such conduct gives the lie to our
| faith. In many dioceses of ireland
| the serving of Intoxicating liquor on
such occasions is so grievous an Of
tense that the Bishops have refused
to permit the remains to be brought
to the church, and the prayers of the
/! faithful to be asked on the following
Sunday. A very severe regulation.
but one which the authorities deemed
necessary to correct an abuse which
is only too prevalent.
| Stop the Abuse. :.
| Refuse the offerings of the friend
whose sympathy seeks inspiration
from the fumes of liquor, whose
words ring not with the sound of
truth, but with base sycophancy, who
seizes the hour of sorrow to satisfy;
he comes not to condole with the
living, nor to mourn for the dead-he
comes because the glitter of the Ii
quor bottle draws him. If the wake
of the dead means revelry, it were
better that the dead remain without
attendants, that the door of the Chris
tan home be closed, and the sorrow
stricken family left alone in the hour
| of their grief.