THE PRIESTS AND PEOPLE OF IRELAND IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 48, 1 December 1904, Page 3

THE PRIESTS AND PEOPLE OF IRELAND IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY

PAPER READ AT THE CATHOLIC CONGRESS

By His Eminence Cakmnal Moran.

(Concluded.)

In no country m the world will you find more practical or nwxe effective institutions in every bianjh of charity than in Ireland ; and, countless though these institutions are now, they have all sprung into existence, and have been organised, since the beginning of the century. On the occasion of my last pilgrimage to Ireland, 1 visited St. Vincent's Hospital in Dublin, and found eighty-six Sisters of Charity andi nurses there, ministering to the sick in all the most repulsive phases of disease and suffering. The same Sisters have under their charge in Dublin and its suburbs the Children's Hospital and the Convalescent Home, and the Hospice for the Dying, besides' the farfamed institution tor the blind at Merrion. The Sisters of Mercy, with no less heroic devotedffiess, minister to the sick in the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, which has been justly styled the palace of the poor sufferers ; in the Jervis Stireet Hospital, in St. Michael's Hospital at Kingstown, and in the Sanatorium at Drumcondra. AH these are public monuments and abiding proots of charity and religion in Dublin on the part of two Sisterhoods. In all the other cities— Waterford, Cork, Belfast, and elsewheie— we see the same heroism of charity linked with the religious life, 'ihere 19 no class of sufferers, or straying ones, but are brought within the sphere and influence of Catholic charity. The poor, the blind, and the deat and dumb are cared for, and are trained and instructed in various branches of industry. The Magdalens are brought to the feet of the Gojd Shepherd. Provision is made for orphans and widows. The indigent and helpless sick are visited and nursed in their own homes. May it not be truly said that in the daily work of the Irisih convents we see combined in all their perfection religious culture and charity of religion? I entered an unpretentious building, the Loreto Convent, in Stephen's Green. I found in Qne department

Seven Hundred Poor Children

receiving all the blessings of religions education. In another department two hundred young ladies were being trained under the rules of the intermediate schools, w.hnst in a third department fifty or sixty others were being prepared tor the University honors. I entered King's Inn Street School, ana imd one thousand four hundred poor children trained in every branch of knowledge that can be useful to them m their future career of life. At Gardiner street I see one thousand six hundred children under the Sisters' care ; at North William street o,ne thousand five hundred , and so on in countless other primary and intermediate schools Ido not hesitate to say that in no part of the world will you find greater religious culture or charity more happily blended with religion than m the Irish convent schools. When we speak of the Irish nuns, it rrmst be borne in mind that their apostolate is not restricted wiinin the four seas of the Western island. They are to be folund in flour isihi'ng communities in the United States and Canada, here among ourselves in Australia, and wherever the lris.h emigrant ihas found a/home. But. further, they will be met in all the approved congregations on the Continent ; tney minister to the sick and teach schools in Home itself. Irish convents of devoted nuns will be found in Kio Janenro and Gibraltar, in Madrid and Lisbon and Seville. Amongst the martyred Sisters of Charity at Tientsin, in China, was Sister O'Sulliv,a)n, f-om the County Cork, a nun whom I may claim as one of my own kith a<nd kin. An Irish bishon, on pilgrimage to Jerusalem a few years ago, visited the hospital in that holy city, maintained at the expense of the Sultan. He found three Irish Sisters in charge. He went on ,to Damascus. The schools there are under the care of the French Sisters of Charity. He asked was, there any English-speaking Sister amongst them. He found an Irish Sister from the County of Wicklow, who for sio many years had been teaching in Arabic that she had almost forgotten the English language. When I was returning some time ago from Australia, I met in Colombo six Irish Sisters who were teaching in \fop-, Singhalese schools, and whom, as children, I had confirmed when Bishop of Ossory.

The Many Beautiful Churches

that have been erected in every diocese of Ireland during the century are a proof, which none can gainsay, of the generous enthusiasm of the faithf,ul people, and of their whole-hearted devofe'dness to the cause of religion. It must be borne in mind that such stately sacred edifices in Ireland are enduring monuments, at the

same time, of the national and of the religious life of the whole Irish race. The Government will devote its energy to erect out of the public funds palatial residences for its representatives ; its army of officials will foe fully equipped ; barracks will be multiplied for the military authorities ; stately buildings will serve as courta-of-l^w, or as prisons for the evildoers ; by a sort of mcFlvery, vast palaces, called work-houses, will serve for the imprisonment of the poor. The Irish people have aimed at higher and nobler ideas,. It ,was religion alone that sustained them in the unparalleled ordeal of the nation's martyrdom ;it was the divine lesson of their faith that comforted them and strengthened them throughout the centuries of humiliation and siuffering. bnited with their priests, they bore the bnunt of the battle for Catholic truth. As trc/phies of the glorious victories they have achieved, they will erect the most enduriing monuments' which art or religion can inspire. Thus it is that the beautiful church and cathedral in Ireland is not only a homie of piety and a centre for divine worship ; it is, moreover, a symbol and a citadel of faith amd patriotism, of enlightenment and progress.

Under the Penal Laws there were practically no Catholic churches in the kingdom. The cathedrals and other nnonuments of piety erected un the ages of faith were assigned to an alien creed, It was only in some secret recess ih the cities and towns, or in the bogs and mountains in tjbe country distiicts, that the Holy Sacrifice could be offered. It was penal to assist at Mass ; it was penal to celebrate Mass. It* the life of the illustrious Dr. Doyle it is mentioned that he made his religious profession in a thatched cabin that served for a chapel. It was in a similar hfut that he was consecrated Bishop of Kildare and Leighhn. During my stay in Ireland in 1902 I visited, in the County of Cork, one ,of those hallowed Corcig-ian-Offcrain aH ( ans that are still 'held' in veneration by the faithful. The ruide altar, consisting of a heap of ■rocks, was erected in the deep recesis of a cave that opened oin a narrow inlet of the sea. Qn the slope of the lull at the opposite side of the sea-inlet the faithful assembled. A flag signal notified to them the oSinmng of Mass, the Onertory, the Elevation, the Communion, the end of Mass. The devout Wiorshi'ppers knelt urtde" the broad canopy of heaven, bu.it theiir heroic devotedness and fervent prayers ascended as fragrant incense before God's throne. When a sort of toleriaftce at length permitted rude barn-like hu,ts tto be used as placer? of CatJhol'c w,orship, the Protestant latnd-*proprietors oiten insisted as a condition that in the harvest time the floor of these chapels would be used for threshing purposes. I lound this to have been the case in some districts i ot my old diocese of Ossoxy. In a Limerick district, where this condition was insisted on, a new pastor was appointed in oharge. The usual message was brougnt to him that the time for t ( he threshing was at ha>nd 'Go back to your master^' lie said to the messenger, l and tell him that if he dares to meddle with or desecrate my chapel, I will send him home with a sorer and perihaps a wiser head. The despot and his men camp with the corn on the appointed 'day. They did not ti!ires'h the corn, however ; the thrashing process awaited themselves. The priest w.as there to meet them at the head of a body of stalwart parishioners, who were fully equipped, for the thrashing process. And well they performed their task. T|he landlord himself fully appreciated the firmness and the courage of the priest, a,nid became his faithful friend for many years. At the present day beautiful churches and cathedrals aie to be found in every parish and diocese throjughout the kingdom.

The Work of Reconstruction began immediately on the proclamation of peace in 1815. Interrupted tor a while by the famine years, it continued unabated till the close of the century. In a memorandum presented to Propaganda in 1846 by the Irish bishops, I'lin'd it stated that withui'tjhe preceding thirty years (1816-1846) about two thousand catholic churches had been eretted in Ireland ; and the following details of a few of them are given :—

Cathedral of Dublin, finished in 1824, £50,000 ; St. Paul's, Arran q(uay, finished in 1845, £16,000 ; St. Andrew's, W. Kow, finished in 1842, £20,,000 ; St. Nicholas's, finished in 1840, £18,000 ; St. Francis's 1 , finished in 181)0, £12,000 ; St. Audeon's, finished in 1816, £12,000 . St. Lawrence's, finished in 1<846, £12,000 : Cathedral of Armagh, finished in 1846, £1,5,000; parish church, Dundalk, finished in 1842, £15,000 ; Cathedral, Tuam, Consecrated in 1836, £30,000 ; Cathedral, Newry, consecrated in 1840, £15,000 ; Cathedral, Kilkenny (incomplete). 1840, £2.0,000 ; Cathedral Killarney (incomplete), 1840, £.20,000; Cathedral, Ardagh, commenced in 1840, £30,000 ; Cathedral, Carlow, commenced in 1832, £16,000 ; Cathedral, Killala,, commenced in 1832, £12,000. It would be difficult to form an estimate of the anwlumt expended in Ireland in the erection of

Churches and Other Institutions of Religion and charity and education during the past half-century, it was qnly the other day that the Armagh Cathedral, arr,ayed hi its perfect beauty, was dedicated to the Mo^t High. I visited it in 1902, as also the Cathedrals oi Cloyne and Kaphoe, at Queenstiown and Letterken/iy, 11 would be difficult to find in any other country ndpler edifices of religion erected In modem times, or better behtted for the Divine Worship that is offered in then). Armagh Cathedral has cost about £250,000, but it is not the diocese ot Armagh Miat has contributed such a siim As the Cardinal Primate informed me, it is from tihe United States, and from friends of Ireland in the homo countries and in the colonies, that the greater part of the funds have been derived to erect such woble monuments ot religion. Someone has remarked that sucih grand churches and cathedrals arc not in harmony with the cabins of the poor that surround them. But those > would-be critics forget that the Catholic churches are ', not mere matters of adornment. They are the House of Cod and the homes of the poor. There is perfect ', equality ot rich and poor in the presence of the ivltir of Coid. The poorest old apple-woman may enter the cathedral in her rags with as much confidence and as much aense of ownership as the richest nobleman of the <" land. Nlothmg can exercise a rrnore ennobling anld elevating and purifying influence on a religious people than such beautiful edifices erected to the. glory of the Most. High. (Here his Eminence recited the beautiful poem by John Banin), entitled ' Soggarth Aroon.') Emigration, especially to the United States, during the past fifty years has proved an unparalleled and continuous strain on the resources of Ireland, and there can be no question that the defective system of land tenure, and the maladministration ot the laws must to a great measure be held responsible for this great evil. Even here, however, a grand result has been permitted by Providence to counter balance the country's loss. If we see the dawn of a new spriingtime of religion, with all its blooni' and freshness, in England and Scotland,, the friends 1 of genuine piety owe lor all this a deep debt of gratitude to the Irish emigrant, 'ihe Canadian Church has been quickened into new lite by Irish fervor and Irish faith But it is in the United States and among ourselves that perhaps t|he happiest results have been achieved. A hundred years ago a gentleman compiling ' A Directory of Religions ' wrote to Bishop Carroll, of Baltimore, asking how many Catholics there were in the Unite! States, and received the reply that there wete only 80,000 Catholics in the whole Republic, with a few priests to guide them in the paths of piety To-day, thanks in a great measure to Irish emigration, howchanged is the Jbcene ' The Catholic Clnrch pursues her sacred mission in that great Republic with the fullest fieodom, and leckons 14,000,000 of earnest and devoted faitlhtul ih her told, whilst 80 Archbisjhops and Bishoos with a fully equipped array of clergy, giui.de them in Hip paths to heaven. Here, among ourselves, we sc« throughout the length and breadth of our Commonwealth the same earnestness of piety, the same fidelity to the sacred cause of charity and truth, the same love of religion ; and must we not, just as our brethren in the United States, tender thanks for all this to the Priests and the People of Ireland ? But by

The Benign Arrangement of Providence,

it so happens that not only as regards religion, but, furthermore, as regards the social and political progress of Ireland, this singular tide of emigration has achieved the grandest results. There is an assuring spirit of confidence abroad to-day in regard to Ireland, that at length the cause of justice shall adhieive a final triumph., and that the dictates oi commonsense shall be crowned with success. The voice of Ireland is no longer restricted within the limits of the parent Isle, but finds an, echo in the many new lielands beyond the sea. In every country where Irisih emigrants have found a home they take their place amongst the most industrious and frugal, the mpst patriotic and enlightened of its citizens, foremost in every good cause, in the love of justice, in the hatred of tyranny, and in the defence of freedom. TJius it happens, as an unbiassed witness attests, that 'in every colony of the Empire, and among the motley multitude of the United States, the Irish are distinguished by their energy, their industry, and their success.' New lrelands are springing up on every side, girdling the world with friendly nations. There are four times more Irishmen in the United States to-day than are to be found in the parent Island of Hie West. The Dominion of Canada has been leavened hy Iristh sentiment and Irish genius. The Argentine Republic, througih Irish settlers, has been quickened with rpligiups find national spirit second to none the" wide world over. South Africa, too, has her Irish sons.

In New Zealand and our own Commonwealth the voice of Ireland cannot but be heard. We often read in the public press of Colonial Conferences, suggested to promote Imperialism throughout the various colonies. Suc,h imperial policy is, 1 fear, destined to bring disaster, and shipwreck to tihe stately ship of State. Could not a Conference be held, say, in our own Australia, or some otlher convenient centre, at which representatives from the countries that 1 have named would formulate suggestions to promote

i'ne Legislative Independence of Ireland, and thius secure that peace and harmony for her citizen 1 ? upon which the prosperity and permanence of the Empire must, in a great measure, depend ? There can be no question that, though the sons of Erin are scattered over many lands, yet the sea-divided Gaels are one. No matter mi what clime their lot may be cast, tiheir sympathies and atiections are with the old land, and all are one m the unalterable resolve that eveTy grievance under whioh their tatherland may suffer shall be redressed. They cannot hut regard the wrongs of Ireland as their own; they cannot but cherish her aspirations as their own; and, so far as t/heir strong arms and warm hearts can accomplish, they will leave nobhing undone tihat filial piety can suggest, that they nvay achieve for her i,he fullest measure of freedom and contentment which they themselves enjoy in the remotest lands of their exile. This leads me to another great triumph which Ireland has achieved in the tiium,ph of her priesthood. In the beginning of the century, in cojisequen.ee of the wars that prevailed, the colleges and seminaries on the Continent, from which the ranks of the clergy were mainly supplied, were all closed, and their funds sequestrated. A few j of these, such as the colleges in Rome, Paris, aa,d Salamanca, have been restored, and are still flourishing. It is, however, above all, to

St. Patrick's National College at Maynootii that the Irish Church must look to keep her religious army fully equipped for uue work of the sacred ministry. 'i|here were 50 students in St. Patrick's College in the year l&«<) ; there are, at the beginning of tihe new • century, 650. In those early days the college funds weie precaiious, and men 'hostile tjo religion left nothing undone to stint or stunt, as far as possible, the education of the Irish priesthood. All these difficulties have passed away tor ever. Everything connected with St. Patrick's College bears the impress of stability and perfection. Itrt beautiful college chapel, wortihy of Ireland's priesthood, will not be found surpassed in any part of the wo,:'])d. The buildings, admirably smiled in their magnificent array ; the resources unequalled in any similar institution elsewhere ; the whole equipment, in its varied details (and all are the growth of the century), bespeak a National Ecclesiastical College of which Ireland's Elpiscopate and Ireland's priesthood may be justly proud. 1 have spoken only of one college, but it must not be forgotten that other grand diocesan colleges ha\\c, in like manner, been established, or grown in statehness, during the past 100 years — colleges which would ue the pride of the most flourishing churches in Christendom, such as Clonliffe, Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, T.h,urles, and others. And when I name those colleges, tfnore is another tcature of the marvellous development of Ireland's faith and Ireland's religious Apostolate that claims our attention. The Diocesan Colleges of Ireland have rendered immortal services to the foreign mission field in every country in wihich our faithful people are found, or in which the English language is used. But in this- reference to tihe foreign ims-Sian field, there is one college whose merits are pieeminent, and whose incomparable work has added new lustre to Ireland's missionary fame. Needless to say, I refer to the

All Hallows Great Missionary College,

at Drumciondra, which was founded, and attained all tho perfect Holn of it«s present mature gntfwth, withtoi the r/ast sixty years. I remember well the memorable day, the Ist of November, 1842, on which it entered on its marvielldus missionary work, for 1 was on that very day sailing f-om Dublin to enter upon my ecclesiastical studies im Koine. Three priests inaugurated the institution o,n tihat day, and one of them, tjhe Most Rev. Dr. Woodlock, only a few months ago passed to his reward. It is truly surprising to find that, withifri the s|>an of one missionary career, a work so vast and sio fruitful would" -have been begun, amd have overcome all tihe ailfioulties tihat beset its early course, and attained its full maturity. On that opening day the first student entered ; Mass was said in a borrowed set of vestments' ; the furniture of tihe house consisted of a three-legged table and two or three broken chairs ; the rmansioh Juouse itself was in an advanced stage of ruin. S.udh were the beginnings of the college whidh, with its beautiful Ghurch, an;d its vast and stately edifice®, ntow adjornsi the wide-spreading meafd'ows of Drumcondra. Fifteen hun-

dred priests have gone forth from its hallowed walls 1 , and the missionaries from All Hallows are to be found bringing the consolations of religion to tihe scattered exiles of Erin whithersoever thay may have roamed. From what I have said you will, 1 think, conclude with me that at no period of Ireland's history has the siety of her faithful people s-hone with brighter l'ustire, or been enriched with greater fruitfulness, than at t(he present day. Throughout th© 18th century, persecution for religion's sake cast its shadows, dark and deep and gloomy, over the land. In the beginning of the last century the first dim' rays of cheering light appeared. At the close of the century we find that the cloudsi have been scattered , and that the sun of Catholic Faith is sending forth its joyous rays in meridian splendor.

The Prophecy of St. Malaqhy

You will allow me tlo Bring- this somewhat discursive pajper to a close by presenting tjo you the betautiful prsophecy of the great Archbishop of Armagh, St. Malachy, as registered in the Life of the Venerable MartyrPrimate, Oliver Pkin,kett, who died for the Faith at Tyburn, in 1681. The prophetic virtue of St. Malachy ia attested by his bosom friend St. Bernard of Clairva<ux ; and this particular prophecy bears wit!h it the attestation of its genuineness Irom no less an authority tlh'an JVLabjillQii, who stands foremost among the famous Benedictine writers of tihe Monastery of St. Maur. It was only after seven hundred years that the prophecy wasi to be fulfilled. This explains why it was that greater attention was not extended to it in the 17th century,' at the time Mabillon attested its genuineness. Tihe prophecy is as follows : — A few years before the Anglo-Nibrnvan invasion of Ireland, St. Malachy was stricken with his fafal illness in the Monastery of Clairvaux,, i)n France. In his dying moments he seen to sfhed tears, and those standing by asked why he thus wept, and! the reply is given in that authentic document. 1 Woe < is me,' said St. M-atachy ; ' alas for my ruined country ! alas for the Holy Church of God ! How ltong, how long dost tlfto\i forget us ? How long, my country, art tihoiu consumed with sorrow ?' A little after, as if someone had spoken to him, he said—' Be of good heart, my son ; the Church of God in Ireland shall never fail. With terrible discipline, long shall she be purified. But, afterwards, far and wide, shall her magnificence shine forth in cloudless glory, and, oh ! Ireland, do thou lift ujp tiiy head. Thy day also shall come ; a day of ages, a week of centuries, equalling the seven deadly sins of thy enemy, shall be numbered unto tjhee. Then shall thy exceeding great merits have obtained mercy for thy terrible toe, yet so as through scourges as great and enduring. Thy enemies who are m thee siiall be driven out and humbled, and their name taken (away. But inasmuch as thou art depressed, in so much thou shalt be exalted, and thy glory shall not pass away. Inere shall be peaxe in abundance within tiiy boni/rtdaries, and beauty ia}nd strength in thy defences.' After tihis, MalaQhy wasi spent for a while. Then, with a loud and j<,yo<us voice, he exclaimed, ' Now, O Lord, dost 'lhou dismiss Tihyi servant in peace. It is enough. The Church of God in Ireland shall never fail, and tho' long shall it be desired, my country shall one day s'tarid forth in its 1 might, and be fiesh in its beauty, like the rose.'