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4 ?<gpJ 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.