The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1921-12-17

LOCAL INSTITUTION HOLDS SOL
EMN coMMEMoRATioN OF
FEAST OF IMMACULATE CON.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES KEANE
poNTiFIcATEs AT HIGH MASS
MOST REVEREND ARcHBlsH.
cP BOWLING ASSISTS IN SANG.
TUARY-sERMoN BY FATHER
o'BRiEN.
On the Feast of the Immaculate
Conception, st. Paul Seminary was
honored by the presence of Archb1sh-
CD Austin bowling and of Archbishop
James j. Keane of Dubuque.
Pontifical High Mass was celebrat-
ed by His Grace, Archbishop keane.
The officers of the Mass were: arch
priest, Rev. Joseph T. Barron; dea-
con, Rev. Maurice Sheehy; subdeacon,
Rev. Cyril Popelka; deacons of honor,
Rev. Thomas Nolan, Rev. Henry j.
Long. Archbishop Bowling was pres
cnt in the sanctuary, accompanied by
Very Rev. II. MOynihan and Rev. John
NJ Wolfe as chaplains. The ceremo-
MES were under the direction OF Rev.
Aloysius Ziskovsky, assisted by Rev.
Walter Byron.
Rev. Patrick F, O'Brien preached
the sermon. The discourse was dis
tinguished as much for its elegance
of diction as for it's breadth and ele-
walton of thought.
After dinner, Archbishop Keane adj
dressed the students, emphasizing in
Il very impressive manner personal TO
Illness as the prime requisite in the
priest.
Vacation will, this year, begin on
Thursday afternoon, December %, and
will end on Monday, January 8. Ex-
aminations will be conducted on the
two days preceding vacation.
Following is Father O'Brien's dis
course:
Father o'Rrien's Sermon.
81 am clean and without sin; ] am
unspotted and there is no iniquity in
me-" Job XXXIII, 8.
The history of mankind is largely
the history of woman. 1t was wom-
ans face that launched thousand
ships and burnt the topmost towers
of 1lium;" it was woman's ambition
that led to the disruption Of ancient
Rome as a republic; it was wom-
ans elopement that brought seven
of n
land; it. was woman's pride that
made the political fortune of Prot
estantism; and it was woman's bau-
bic that precipitated the French rev.
olution The student of real history
knows that few of it's secret springs
have been untouched by some woman's
hand Nor is sacred history less pro-
life of her mysterious, far-fiung pow
err II was wOman's suggestion that
brought death into the world and all
our woe; and it was a woman'S con-
sent that had to bring back the lost
heritage. BE it done unto me, ac-
cording to thy word" The story of
this second Eve has reached across
the centuries from the uplands of Naz-
areth to the hills OF Rome. You re-
member the famous passage in which
Edmund Burke sketched the radiant
figure Of Marie AntOinette: 1T is now
some sixteen or seventeen years since
l saw the queen of France, then the
Dauphiness, at Versailles-and surely
never lighted on this orb a more de-
liehtful vision glittering like
the morning star, full of life, and SPLEEN
dour, and JOY" 1t would take an
equally superb gift of speech to extol
the scene of sixty-seven years ago
around the most venerable throne in
Christendom, in honor of a queen more
glittering even than the morning star
"a queen whose life and splendcr and
Joy no earthly touch could tarnish, no
earthly vicissitude destroy. 1t was
the occasion of the PRONUNCIATION by
Plus TX of the Immaculate Conception
of the Virgin Mary.
John and Jeremiah.
There had been two persons espe
cially dear to God, one in the Old Tes
lament, the other in the New. These
two were jeremiah the Prophet ant
John the Baptist Each one was 8
saint before he was born; the Virgin
Mary was not only born but conceived
Immaculate. 1t is dark and subtle
doctrine, this of original sin, which
catches the human soul at the very
first moment when it can attach itsel
to the tiny germ in the womb, anC
stamps and stains it, until washed
away in the laver of Baptism. Ever
when so washed away, it leaves mark:
and blurs where once it had been Yol
know how hard it is so remove al
traces of a stain. The more delicate
the fabric, the nastier is the stain, thu
more clinging its traces.
Now, not for single moment wa
the breath of original sin upon tn,
mirror of the Virgin Mary's soul. Sa
tan had breathed upon the souls Q
Prophet and Precursor, although hi
breath evaporated speedily. Not 70
one second was he allowed to breath
upon the soul of her who was to b
the human mother of the All-Holy One
This is her Immaculate Conception
this, her unique privilege; this, OIL
tainted natures solitary boast.
In the scheme of salvation, rare priv
ilege cOnnoteS rare function. An