Newspaper Page Text
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KEY- A. J. RYAN, Editor.
AUGUSTA, GA., OCT. 15, 1870.
ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS AND
BUSINESS LETTERS FOR THE “BAN
NER OF TIIE SOUTH” SHOULD BE
ADDRESSED TO TIIE PUBLISHERS—
L. T. BLOME & CO.
THE BANNER OF THE SGUTH-
It will l;e seen by the Prospectus in
another column that the Banner of tiif.
South has changed hands—having been
purchased by the Chronicle & Sentinel
Publishing Company, who djsign making
it a first class Agricultural and Literary
journal, divested of its religious character,
but still devoted to the Memories of the
Lost Cause, and an organ of communica
tion between the officers and soldiers of
the Southern Confederacy^^"
The* mission of the Banner has been
a grand one. Its motto was “Religion
and Country;” and to these its editors
and publishers devoted all the talent and
energy they possessed ; but they had not
the capital to improve it, as the causes
which it advocated demanded ; and so
they have transferred it to those who
will make it in every way worthy of the
grand causes which it will still support
and defend, and of the extensive patronage
which we are sure it will continue to re
ceive.
We had come to look on the Banner
as fond parents would look on a beloved
child. It was our child, cherished by an
unchanging devotion and supported by
a generous public, who felt and appre
ciated its worth. To its new guardians
we commit it, with the sincere hope that
it will be nourished and sustained with
the same affection and generosity.
In parting with our subscribers and
exchanges, we cannot forego the opportu
nity of returning to them our most heart
felt thanks for the liberality of the former
and the kindly greetings of the latter.
These will be green spots in our memory,
to which we can recur with unfeigned
pleasure. And we sincerely trust that
they will not forsake the paper under its
new regime; but rally to its support
with renewed liberality and increased
kindness, for we are sure that it will be
in every way worthy of their patronage
and support.
Here, too, we would say to our friends,
forget not the cause of your beloved
South. It is the cause of Principle—of
Right—of Truth. Evil times have come
upon us, and evil men are seeking their
own aggrandizement at the cost of South
ern ruin. To defeat their wicked schemes,
will require courage, firmness, and,
above all, unity. Let no side issues dis
tract you from the right path. Set aside
your own interest, and prejudices, for
they are all swallowed up in the one
grand int .'rest, the cause of Constitutional
Liberty. Doing this, under God, you
may soon see your own dear sunny land
rescued from the hands of the oppressor
and the robber, and restored to its justice
glory and prosperity. Take heed of this
counsel, dear readers, and all will be
well. Trample Policy under your feet—
elevate the Banner of Principle. Protect
it at any and all hazards, and as it proud
ly lloats iu victory above the highest pin
nacle of the Temple of Liberty, the pa
triots of to-day, of to-morrow, of all time
to come, will bless the people who dared
and did so much for so sacred a cause.
And now, as we lay down the pen and |
step down from the cditirial tripod, we
bid you an affectionate adieu, and trust
that God may bless you one and all with
Peace, Prosperity, and true Faith, and the
deliverance of your land from Radical
tyranny. L. T. Blome k Go.,
Publishers Banner of the South.
®y rm mmK. l
EXERCISES OF THE SOUL
TO PREPARE ONE FOR THE SA
CRAMENT OF PENANCE AND
THE HOLY EUCHARIST.
TRANSLATED FOR THE BANNER,
BY MISS MARY MOON.
SHORT EXPLANATION OF TIIE APOSTLES*
CREED.
IX.
The Communion of Saints.
What has hitherto been said must be
understood as applying to the Church
militant on earth. For, in a more gene
ral signification, the Chuach is divided
into three parts, the Church triumphant
in Heaven, the Church militant on Earth,
and tlie Church suffering in Purgatory.
If is still, however, only one single
and same body, under one single chief,
Je.-us Christ. Between these three parts
of ("ie same Church, that is a corre
spondence, a continual communication,
which consists in the participation of
merits.
I believe, then, unhesitatingly, that
the Saints who reign with Jesus Christ
in glory, and who compose the Church
triumphant, intercede for us, who com
bat still upon earth; 1 believe that their
merits and their prayers obtain for us
grace from the Almighty; and I say an
athema upon those who pretend that we
ought not to invoke them. For, although
I acknowledge Jesus Christ as sole media
tor with Ilis Father, I meanwhile re
cognize the Saints as mediators with
Jesus Christ.*
Again, I believe that there is a Purga
tory, that is to say, a place where the
souls of the faithful, who have died in
the grace of God, finish expiating the
rest of their si as aud satisfying Divine
justice. I believe that they are relieved
through our prayers, through our good
works, and especially by the holy sacri
fice of the Mass that we offer up for their
intention.
I believe, in short, that there is a
partiepatiou of merits in the Church mili
tant even, between the different members
who compose it; that the prayers that
we make for each other are mutually use
ful to us, and that we obtain for each
other, by our good works, the different
graces of which we have need, especially
the general prayers of the Church, serve
all her children infinitely ; and likewise
sinners, in obtaining for them the grace
of contrition, and also the just, by ob
taining for them perseverence in justice.
In a word, the three parts of the univer
sal Church help each other and mutually
lend relief. The Church triumphant in
tercedes for us, whilst we applaud its tri
umphs and thank for them our common
chief, Jesus Christ, who mades it triumph;
we, likewise, here below, pray. We all
intercede for each other, and we engage
the Church triumphant even to pray, to
intercede with us, for the Church suffer
ing. All the merits, whatever they may
be, of all the particular individuals who
compose these three parts of one single
and same Church, united to the merits
of Jesus Christ, (which give all their
value), are as a common treasury, where
we all may draw, where we, indeed, re
ceive, not only for ourselves, but also for
all our brothers who are in need.
This is the Communion of Saints, iu
which I believe, and because I do believe
in it, I wish to unite myself henceforth,
and by a general intention I do unite
myself from this time, to the nniversal
Church in all my prayers, in all my good
works. In so far as it shall depend on
me, I will place myself in this society of
merits, whence I cannot fail to draw the
greatest benefits, and profit an hundred
fold.
X.
The Forgiveness of Sins.
As there is no salvation outside of the
Church, there is not elsewhere any for
giveness of sins. Jesus Christ has given
the power of the keys to his Apostles
and to their successors, and this power is
exercised, and will be exercised, always
until the consummation of the ages.
I believe that this power of the keys,
in the first place, consists, as Jesus Christ
even said, in opening and shutting the
Kingdom of Heaven, in binding and un
binding, in retaining sins and in forgiv
ing them. Secondly, that this power ex
tends over all crimes, so that there are
none from which tho Church has not the
power to absolve. Thirdly, that it ex
tends not only over the stain of the "Sin
that it effaces, but over the punishment
that it remits.
I believe, then, that the Church has the
right to grant indulgences to the faithful,
and that those who gain them truly, that
is to say, who fulfil on their side all the
conditions that the Church prescribes,
satisfy in fact, according to the intention
of the Church, the avenging justice of
God. ° J
I believe, moreover, that this power
of the keys is exercised, not only in the
interior tribunals, in the tribunal of peni
tence for the remission of secret sins, but
besides in the exterior tribunals for the
punishment of scandals; so that the
Church has truly the right to exclude from
her body those who dishonor it, as she
has also the right to reconcile them and
to admit them again.
XI.
The Resurrection of the Body.
0! the consoling article of my belief.
The idea of death and of the tomb carries,
without ceasing, into my heart, the live
liest alarm. I shudder when I think of
the terrible and inevitable decree pro
nounced against me: Thou art dust ,
and into dust thou shalt return. In
consternation, frozen with /ear, I say
then with Job to rottenness aud to worms:
I am of the same nature with you, since
I shall become what you arc. My body,
this so dear a portion of my being, will
be, then, very soon, no more than a little
infectious dust. Humiliating accompani
ment of humanity! But I console my
self by reading this beautiful point of my
faith—that the corruption to which I am
condemned is only momentary. All the
other material beings of the universe will
remain in the dust from whence they all
originally came forth, but my body will
rise again.
Yes, I believe it—that one day, at the
order of the Almighty, all human bodies
will ct me forth from the bosom of the
earth; the souls which have animated
them will be re-united to them, and we
all will re-appear in the same state in
which we shall have been, each during
our life.
I acknowledge that, in fact, it is just
that these bodies which have participated,
! whether in crime or virtue, should also
participate either in punishment or ia
recompense.
XII.
And Life Everlasting.
As there are two kiuds of deaths, that
of the body which consists in the separa
tion of the soul from the body that it ani
mated; and that of the soul, which is sin; I
acdnowledge I believe, that after the re
surrection the elect, iu the new state into
which they will enter by the re-union of
their souls and of their bodies, will com
mence a double life, both eternal. Their
bodies then, spiritualized, will be exempt
forever from all kinds of miseries, from
maladies, and from death; their souls,
likewise, will be no longer subject to any
passions, to any defects, to any* vices. O
beautiful life, this eternal life, in which
we shall enjoy sovereign good, without
feariog ever to lose it! But an eternal
death will be the share of the impious,
eternal death both of the body and of the
soul; for the body will exist eternally in
order to endure eternal punishment, and
the soul will be gnawed, devoured con
tinually by its sin, without any hope of
grace and of pardon.
XIII.
Amen,
I believe, yes I believe, both with mind
and heart. lam ready to confess with
my mouth, ready to attest by the effusion
of my blood, all these articles of my
Faith. I avow that my reason is lost, is
confounded in the majority of these mys
teries. I acknowledge humbly that Ido
not know, neither am I able ever to know,
how some have been, and how others
will be accomplished; but it is sufficient
for me to know that God has revealed
them. He is truth itself; He cannot de
ceive me; He is omnipotence; He has
been able, He will be able to accomplish
them.
*Of course, every well-instructed
Catholic knows that Jesus Christ is our
sole Mediator of Redemption. We vene
rate the Saints because they are God's
Saints, upon the same principle that a
Protestant venerates the Bible, because
it is God’s Bible. We, moreover, ac
knowledge the Saints as mediators of
special graces; whilst, at the same time,
every well-instructed Catholic knows
that he many exercise his “private
judgment” as to the propriety of availing
himself of the benefit of their interces
sion, and that there is no decree making
it obligatory upon them to invoke them.
Mary Moon,
View Mont, Albemarle county, Va., Sep
temben' 25, 1870.
From South Carolina.—The alleged
erudition of things in South Carolina, says
a Washington letter, is reported to be
such that the Governor (who is a candidate
for re-election) is not only going to call on
his militia, but to apply to the Genera'
Government for troops, according to the
programme followed under alleged similar
circumstances to those recently in North
Carolina.
From Woodhull and Clafins Weekly.
THE BAREFOOT FRIARS
OF
WEST HOBOKEN.
BY EMILY VERDERY.
(Mrs. Battey.)
Miracles and Relics—The Monk and
the Monastery — The Barefoot
Friar—The Chapel and Tomb of
Jesus—The Passionists and their
Founder .
If the slightest doubt exists in the mind
of any one that the Catholic Church of
the present fosters monastic asceticism
any less than she did in the past, when
she nurtured in her bosom such men as
the monks Augustine and Benedict,
Francis of Assissium and Domnic de
Guzman, Ignatius Loyola and Francis
Xavier, I invite him to visit with me
the Passionist Monastery of St. Michael
on the heights of West Hoboken.
It was a black day in January, 1869,
when I left the great roaring city, and
embarking on the ferryboat at the foot
of Barclay street, found myself steam
ing up and diagonally across the Hudson
River, under a leaden sky, to Hoboken.
The housetops of the city, the shores of
the river and bay, and the heights in the
distance, were wrapped in a mantle of
snow. It was bitter cold, 'and as I
landedjOn the Hoboken side, I wrapped
my cloak closer about my person, and
tucked my veil through my bonnet
strings, and drew it over my face, to
protect my eyes from the cutting blast.
I had long been a sufferer with threat
ened amaurosis, and—don’t be shock
ed, dear Protestant reader—l was on
my way to the Monastery of St. Michael,
on the heights, where I had heard that
the Passionist Fathers had a relic ot St.
Paul of the Cross, the founder of their
Order, and ’twas said that in their hands
wonderful cures had been made by the
application of the relic. The day was
not one to inspire hopeful feelings, but
mine was a desperate case. I had tried
all human means in my power for the
restoration of my sight, and this was my
last resort. .
I will not attempt to paint the con
flict in my mind as the cars wound up
the terraced railway along the preci
pice to the heights, and through the
town, and on and on, till we reached the
narrow wooden footpath which led across
a wide, open, rugged field to the gray
monastery’s door. I’ll leave that in
terior struggle to your imagination, and
relate the real incidents and facts of the
day’s excursion, and the result, and the
observations I made relative to the
Order of Monks I visited.
.As I proceeded along the little wooden
pathway, I was overtaken by one of the
Friars. lie was wrapped in a large round
cloak of coarse black cloth, from beneath
which hung his coarser cassock, girded
with a heavy leather belt. A string of
black rosary beads was attached to this
girdle, while upon the left of his bosom a
singular badge attracted my attention.
It was shaped like an ancient escut
cheon, and was rudely emblazoned with
a white heart, surmounted by a cross,
and bore beneath this device the legend:
“JesuX, pi passio.” This Monk °wore
thick and stout shoes, but when we ar
rived at the monastery door, the porter
who opened it for us was a regular bare
foot Friar, whose wooden sandals clatter
ed most unmusically over the bare
floors.
I could scarcely realize that I was not
in some old Italian convent; for the
cowled and cassoeked men in whose
presence I stood were as essentially
Italian in their appearance as were the
quaint furnitures and ornaments of the
apartments.
My letter of introduction to the Su
perior was received by the porter or
lay brother, and I was politely shown
into another room. This was also bare
of carpet, and as simply furnished as
possible. A few wooden chairs and
plain tables, crucifixes and pictures of
Saints and Madonnas, constituting the
whole furniture. I believe there was an
ur.cushioned “prie Dieu” iu one cor
ner.
I had scarcely taken in the details of
the room before I heard the clatter of
sandals, and
FATHER JOHN PHILIP BAUDINELLI
entered He was attired in the dress of
the Order, but nothing marked his rank
as Superior, and his manner was as simple
as a child s. llis Latin origin was as
evident in Lis clear, olive complexion,
brilliant dark eyes, and regular features,
as in the calm, sweet dignity which ap
peared in his every movement. He
spoke good English, with the slightest
j os ible foreign accent.
He seemed to anticipate my errand,
and asked me at once if I desired a
blessing through the medium ©f the
relic of St. Paul of the Cross:
“Yes, Father,” I replied. “I have
been threatened with blindness for about
three years.”
“Many, my child,” said Father John,
“have applied for the blessing and a
cure, but all are not healed. We cannot
promise anything. Faith and God’s
blessing may, I trust, restore your eyes.
Let me show you the way to the
chapel.”
He led me to the outer door, point
ed to a small postern to the lefr, and
said:
“Go in there, and may God bless you,
my child. Good-bye.”
*******
THE CHAPEL AND TOMB OF JESUS.
At the upper end of the chapel was a
singular altar, It was a symbolic tomb,
within whose inclosure was seen a
ghastly, but beautiful image of the
Saviour’s body, marred with the tortures
of the Crucifixion, and wrapped in the
cerements of the grave.
I was so shocked at the sight that I
sank at once on my knees, and hid my
face in my hands.
When I looked up, I observed above
the altat three fine and singular paint
ings. The central one represented one
of the visions of St. Paul of the Cross,
where the Saint, rapt in holy ecstacy, is
embraced by Jesus descending from the
Cross. The picture above St. Joseph’s
altar was a St. Michael’s conflict with
the dragon. The other, over the altar
of the Virgin, a portrait of St. Paul in
his symbolic dress. A little green-cur
tained confessional was at one side of
the sanctuary. The gallery opposite the
altar was closely curtained. In this
gallery the brotherhood assembled
for their devotions, while one celebrates
Mass below.
It did not take me many minutes to
make a note of my surroundings. A
few worshipers of the humbler classes
of life were kneeling in different parts of
the building. I rose, approached the
altar rail and knelt before it. In a few
minutes I heard the clattering sandals of
the friars in the galley above. It was
noon, and at that hour, as well as at
sunrise, sunset and midnight, thev as
semble and spend an hour and a half in
devotion. Think of that! Men in this
age of ultilitarianism and materialism,
and hurrying pursuit of the almighty
dollar, spending six hours out of the
twenty-four in devotional exercises!
Does it pay? You shall see. I was not
thinking of such things that morning,
but I did afterward, and, like a true
American, counted the cost and estimat
ed the value in dollars and cents of
the manner of life of my dear barefoot
friars.
While I was kneeling at the altar one
of the friars made his appearance within
the sanctuary rail. He wore the white
lace surplice and stole a Priest generally
wears when officiating at any ordinary
ceremony except mass or vespers. His
feet were sandaled. His dark, swarthy
face and gleaming black eyes wore the
expression of
THE ASCETIC DEVOTEE.
He held in his hand a little circular
red morocco case containing the relic.
He spoke abruptly and in a tone that
seemed almost rough. But kwas to the
poiut.
“Do you desire the blessing?’’
“I do,” w T as my equally brief answer.
“Where are you afflicted?”
“In my eyes.”
The relic was instantly and rapidly
passed over my brows.
“Kiss it,” said the friar, holding it to
my lips.
I obeyed, while he murmured a Latin
prayer.
He then handed me a printed form of
a novena—a nine days’ prayer—address
ed to St. Paul of the Cross.
“Repeat this for nine days, and g> to
confession during that time,” said
the friar; “and may Almighty God grant
your prayer.”
He vanished as quickly as he had
come, and I did not remain much longer
before the altar. As I related before,
while I was kneeling there I heard the
clattering sandals of the brotherhood in
the gallery above. They were assemb
ling for their noon-tide devotions, and
during the brief interview between the
friar behind the altar rails and my
self they were chanting or intoning their
office.
When I heard their retiring footsteps I
rose, and filled with an emotion at once
calm, sweet and all-absorbing, retraced
my steps to New York.
What an ep’sode seemed this strange
incident in my busy workday life in the
city! The monastery and its inhabitants
and their manner of life was a revelation
as strange and unexpected as what I
shall now relate will seem to my readers.
I thought that barefoot friars were
things of the past. I’ve learned better
since.