CARDINAL MORAN'S GOLDEN JUBILEE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXII, Issue 52, 29 December 1904, Page 3

CARDINAL MORAN'S GOLDEN JUBILEE.

On Thjursidlay, De|cem)ber 8, the goiUde>i jubilee of the definition of tine djagma of the Immiaoul'ate Concdptiyjn was celebrated tlh/rqu. ghaut fhe world,, and th-at was the day selected by his Eminence Cardinal Moraji for the celebration of his Sacerdotal GHolde'n Jubilee." After the cerem/onres at St. Mary's Catlhodral in honor of the Immaculate Ooinceip.tijQn, and .fust before the sfnging cl the i Te D^um,' the Vicar-General of the archdiocese reaid a,n address of qdngrat?ulati!on to his Eminence.

T«he Cardinal's Reply. His Eminence replied as follows :— Th,omiais a Kempis in his g,oMen treatise, ' De Imitatiolne Chtisti,' registers the Christian saying of the Middle Ages, ' gui me laudat, me fllagellat.' In your address y,cn have, witlh no sparing hamd, administered that ca.stigati'oh tio me ; to mate amends, it may be permitted me to ask yo,ur fervent fprayars that having spent 50 years in the sacred ministry 1 may not become a castaway from the fellowship of tihe Divine Master, but that I may faiUWfully •persavere to the eral, following in His faoflsitcyps, onligjhtened by His Sacred Truth, strengthened by His mia'mflold graces, and comforted by His Holy Lwe. But I must view those remarks of your address in auotiher ligjht. It is manifest that in yiour owm enlishtetoad 7eal, you have been marking out the high ideal of the OhrisJtian Bisih'c*p, corresponding to the Redeemer's mission and fulfilling His Divine Will. Tn the exuberance of yoiu-r filial devotedness and affection, overlooking many dhortcomAngs and faults, you wauld transfer t}o me the reality atnti perfection of that exalted ideal. It will be my entdoaVior through your assistance and with tone prayers of a loving faithful people to aspire to attjain siome measure at least of that ideal, for sluc'h etadeavors witjh the blessing of heaven cannot fail to lead to the happiest results.

To the yoi<ng priest entering on his sf acred m'issijon it is in a great measure a matter of infdifferemce where his lot miay be cast, for everywhere the harvest of the Dfivine Masiter has to be gathered in, and everywhere His Divine Will has to be accomplished. The priest's mission! is divine. He is as tffluly called ito the sanctuary to44ay as was* Samfiel of old. He bdars fn 'his inn>ost sotul tflro smmmjobrs, ' sequere me,' Hist as Uie first disjcijplcts were sjummwne'd from their fishing nets to be t/he hesral|dis) of DiVirne Truth. The secret of his swecess will be his fullest recognition that the siacred ministry is tfhe wprk of God, who makes use of the weakest instruments to attain His Own Divine ptiwpnse. Use efforts as wje mtay, we can of o'ursefves do notjiittig tftiat is Dilvine. T|he smallest wdrk ol building nip God's Ohfcmch is infinitely beyond all human strength. If, then, stomeijhiing has t>o be 'done, siome progress made and siome g>octf adcomjpltehiefd, with all sincerity we must repeat ' sar,vi inbtiles sumus ' ; to God alohe all hbnor anW praise anjd gl'Qryi are due. 11l all 'humility I may cry out with the royal psial-

mist, ' sortes meiae in praecl'aris.' For tthe first twellve years of my priesthood my lot was cast in Rome, and tihe slpecial duty devolved upon me to promote tflie higher &acreid stutdies im tihe Colleges with which it was )iiy privilege IJo be qo(anecled.

Rome is the Centre of Christetidlom, the seat lof Christ's Vicar upton earth, the city of t!he skiul, sanctified by the preaohing and the miartyrdom of the jpri'ucas of the Ap,ostles, and by the relics of cewntlests martyrs for the faith. No w-onlder that it hias been at alii times Uie abode of saints, and that the faitihCul halve hastened tintlwr on pilgaini'agct> friom all parts as tio the New Jeinus'alem tipon earth, blessed by the Most High.

The first years of my priesthood witnessed ttie solemm scene, uniq f ue in the Church's history, when the great Pontiff, Pius IX., proclaimed to the Catholic world tihe dogmatical definition of the Immiaculate Conception, of tjlie Blessed Virgj;n. Two hundred Bishops and other representatives of e\ery church in Christendom were gatthere^d im St. Peter's on th>at august occasion, and from tihe hearts of 40,000 of the assembled faithful want up to heaven tihe ' Te Deum ' in thanksgiving for the gliorions wiroa'th nlow adddd tihe peerless diadem ,of the Bles.seki Virgin. The definition was !hiailejd with unparalleled emtih'usi'asm a^nd joy tihroXigtout the Catholic world. Ofar own Australia was rejp,resented at St. Peter's by the iirst lllustrioftis Archbis;hoip of tlhis See, and the Australian clergy aa'd fiaithSul .peolple were partakerb to tjhe Julldst extent of the religious enthSusiasm and delight that everywhere prevailed. In the history of tins Alustrialian Church I rea.d : ' NowJhere was tftris soleniin definition of the privilege of our Immaoul ! ate Liady recei|v<ed with greater entihlusiasm and delight t|han in the Australian Church, which, under tfhe title of Hlelip of GhriiS'tians, honors her as chief patron. Tridunnus of tlhanksgiving were celebr'ateri in the priwcilpal Qh/uxitihes, and even tthe humblest Catholic h'omesteakl in the varioius 1 colonies felt the thrill of the luniversal rejoiciing.'

T,o me it is a iriatter 'of special gxiatifi'dation that my humible jubilee commemoration even in a rempte way baj9 been by yo>u associated with the trifumip^hant celebtiati'on tlhroug'ho.ut the whole Cath,olic world of t|he grand jubilee feast of the definition /of t,his privilege of Qur Lady. T[he Immiaculate Conception was tihe first of t)he maiiifold heavenly blessings coinferrad tipon her, the beginning of her triumphs and her joys. Throughout my lcimg years of priesthood, I am wholly indebted to tVhe Bleeped Yirtgki for whatever good has bean acQomiphshed ; wlhatwer evil has been .avoided, whatever \ict|ory ad'.neive)!. Sfie has been at all times my pillar of stirengtCi, my sftiiel'd against every danger, my sjupport in weakness, my refuge m difhcwlties, my guiding ytar iin e\ery enterprise.

In Irelian'd

From Rio me I was transferred to Dublin, where for se\e)n yca^s I held the office of secretary to Cardinal Cullen, the ilUns^frrous ArchbisWoip of that See. As Primate he was identified with tlie gxeat National Ss\no/d of THurles, in whiieh the Church of Ireland Laild aside t,he weeds of mourfnpng an(d was cljoftheid once more with t<he garments of peace avnd gladness. Under his iin the See of Dublin piety and religion grew apace. Ch'iiTuhas, convents, school's, jhospitals, orphanages weire multiplied, with every /varieity of iinstitutitojas tVaat dcwld 'adid decorum to religion or bring enlig)htenment, sympat/hy, artd relief to the poor arid the Siuiterijng memjbets of Christ. It Was always been to me a most grlateiflul remembra'tice to have been in a ,very humfble way associated in auc'h a glorio.us ajpostolate.

In 1873 I was summoned to the See of Ossory, and for twelve years it was my privilege to lat>or in that diocese whlose stans ha\e ldng held a fio>rem]ost place am'onig tjbeir countrymen for tvheir patriotism and piety.

Humanly apeak ing, no mission cdukl be more pleasing to mie thain tlhQS'e 19 years thus stpent im promyotitig the Interests of religion in my native land. Among Clhris'tian natians Ireland stands alone for her earnestness ijn piety alrtd her devoted'niess to religion. A most Catholic and most religious people, they have made greater slacrifices for the Faith than any other Ohristuan nation, and in tiheir daily life it pleased heaivem to renew the heroism of piety and to m:ulti,ply the wictoriee of the Cr,oss of Christ. In olden times the sicms of Ireland evangelisod the world ; in Our own day it has beon their mission to unfurl' the baitner of the Cross triumphant in every English-speaking land.

It has been well said that the character of the Irish people in its rebgiious aspects is something excep'ti'onial. More than most other nations they lead a sluipernatkiral life ; they live by faith, they are quickened by religion, their strength is from God, their whole happiness is. in Him. They suffered more far tine faith than amy other nation in modern times has suffered. The persecMtilon wihitelh Ireland endured for religion wias more intense,

More bitter, mtore prolonged tib,an in any otflier cou'ntrv yet she was Jnot overcome. FY>r three centuries she endured her sufferings with all tthe calmness and fortitude of tftie early martyrs ; an!d by those SlurTeri^ngs not only was the triumph of Uhe Cross proclaimed to distant lands, but she achieved for herself and for countless others tihe victory of religious freedom. Religion to-^dtay lights up her 'hills wiUh heaven's light, amxl in the assertion of their just rights imparts to 'her people a (vigor arid strength that are invfncible.