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THE BULLETIN OF THE CATHOLIC LAYMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF GEORGIA
5
CLERICAL LIFE—SOME OF ITS SERIOUS AND HUMOROUS
SIDES
By P. H. D.
(Continued from last month).
Now, he said, may I ask you any question about
the things that I can t understand? I assured him that
I was ready and very willing to answer any questions
and to solve all his doubts regarding the practice of
the Church regarding ceremonies.
At once he unmasked a very battery of questions:
“Do you Catholics have the Church open all day?
Why? Why do you kneel when you enter the church?
Why do you have those statues there over the Altars?
Why did you wear those strange garments yesterday
while you were saying Mass? Why don’t you speak
English when you are saying Mass? Why do you
have these pictures on the wall; don’t they distract the
attention of the people? Why do I see so many crosses
all over the Church?
“Suppose we go over to the house,” I replied, “and
sit down on the porch, and I will try to answer your
difficulties.’*
We went over to the house and sitting on the porch,
I commenced: The Church is God’s house; and we
believe that He is our best friend, and so we do not
like to see the house of our friend closed when we
come to see Him; the closed door would be to us a
sign that He is not at home, or that He does not wish
to see us. We can understand why your Churches are
closed; it is because there is no presence of God there.
But ours are open all the day long, becav.se we believe
that He is there and is waiting for us, and is anxious
to see us; and we see an assurance of this desire on H**
part in the open door. We kneel as we enter the
Church because He is there VFho is our Redeemer, and
we pay Him the tribute of adoring love on bended
knee as soon as we set foot in His house.
“Do you remember reading in the Bible the story
of the visit of the wise men to the Infant Saviour, and
where and how they found Him? The Bible tells that
they found the Child with Mary, His Mother, and so
when we come into the Church and see the statue
there over that Altar we are reminded of the old story,
for there we see the figures of the Divine Child and
His Blessed Mother. You have a picture of your dead
mother or father and you prize it; why should not I
have and prize the figure or picture of Jesus and His
Mother? Our cities are filled with statues erected to
the memory of our great men. ^XTy should we not
erect the statues of God s great soldiers who fought the
good fight of faith and died for Him? The heroes
whom we comemorate died for our freedom; the
Saints, whose statues are in our Churches, died that
we might have the truth which alone can make us
free. AX^hy should we not honor their memory by erect
ing such memorials as recall their glorious deeds and
testify to our gratitude?
The Meaning of Vestments
You have already asked me about the vestments I
wore at the Mass yesterday; and I have told you that
they were worn out of respect to our Lord, but there
are other reasons as well. One of my earliest recol
lections is the fourth of July celebrations we had in
my native city every year. At dawn there was an ar
tillery salute and at noon in Mechanics’ Hall a large
crowd assembled to listen to the reading of the Declar
ation of Independence and an Oration; then we went
to Popular Lawn, where there was a parade of the mil
itary and a barbecue. The most attractive feature of
the parade was a company of soldiers in the costumes
of the Continentals of the American Revolution. I
am quite sure that the sight of this costume recalled to
the minds of all who were there the sufferings and
trials of the men, who, from Bunker Hill to Yorktown,
fought an unequal fight that we might enjoy the free
dom of governing ourselves.
“The red vestments which I wore yesterday told
a greater story of the deathless devotion of two men
one a poor Galilean fisherman and the other a tent
maker of Tarsus, who eighteen hundred years ago
died for Christ’s name and sake, and who laid firm
and well the foundation of a Church which has sent
the blessed tidings of Christ’s faith to the uttermost
ends of the world; for the faith that I preach to my
people is the faith of Peter and Paul. It is the faith
which brings true freedom; and I and all men who call
themselves Christians are debtors to these men. They
gave the supreme test of love when they willingly laid
down their lives for Him, and the red vestments yes
terday recalled the martyrs’ death. Our Churches are
not lecture halls where we come to listen to some elo
quent speaker, but they are temples where we come to
worship God, give Him thanks for His mercies, beg a
continuance of His favors, ask pardon for our sins,
and reverently listen to His Holy Word. Besides, the
vestments tell me of the olden days. For though we
have placed ornaments on the vestments yet they re
main substantially of the same shape as those worn in
Apostolic days; and so as Catholics see the Priest in his
vestments go up the Altar steps, their memory is busy
with the days of persecution and they think of the
Mass in the Catacombs where an Apostle stood at the
Altar.
The Latin Mass—and Why.
“We say Mass in Latin. But the people have in their
Prayer Books an English translation; and does it not
seem appropriate that an unchanging Church should
express faith and love in an unchangeable tongue?
In every land the self same Sacrifice is offered, and
everywhere in the same tongue; so that a Priest, no
matter where he may be, can say Mass. From Rome,
the home of the Latin speech, comes to us our Faith;
for to Peter and his successors were given by the
Lord the charge of all the Flock of Christ, and in the
speech of old Rome do the successors of Peter speak
to all his children.
The pictures on the walls not only do not distract
the minds and the attention of the people, but, as they
gaze at these pictures, they see the story of what Christ
did for their redemption, when, laden with the heavy
cross, He walked from Pilate’s house to the hill of
Calvary; and assuredly no better or more comforting
thoughts can come to them than those which the pic
tures on the walls of our Churches suggest. How
strange to us is the surprise of our Protestant friends
at the prominence given to the cross in our Churches.
The greatest preacher of Christ’s religion testifies
that he was sent to preach Christ crucified, a stumbling
block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. "God
forbid,’ says he, ‘that I should glory save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ ; I came to you not in loftiness
of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the tes
timony of Christ; for I judged not myself to know any
thing among you, but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.*
Did not He, Who saved us, ‘humble Himself unto
death, even the death of the cross’? Shall I be asham
ed to see in the Church that emblem which tells me
so eloquently of the price He paid for my redemption?
Who are those who are so opposed to the sight
of the cross? I hear the inspired words of the great
Apostle of the Gentiles: ‘For many walk of whom 1
have told you often (and now tell you weeping), that
they are enemies of the cross of Christ.’ Has not He
said that he who does not take up his cross and follow
Him is not worthy of Him? Is there any place where
the cross is more appropriate than the Church? When
a Catholic sees the crucifix in the Church on entering,
his thoughts go back to Calvary and the first good
Friday, and the One who died there for all sinners,
and he recalls his ingratitude. And the thought of
these things, at least so it seems to me, is the best pre
paration for the Mass.
When I had finished talking, Mr. W. sat looking be-
(Continued on page 7.)