Part 3

The report of the Orphanage is followed by the speeches which were made by several gentlemen at a late meeting of the Association, held on the 16th November last. They will be read with great interest. Canon M'Cabe's address thus sums up the results already obtained by St. Brigid's Association:--

"I thank God", said he, "that I am here to-day to testify to the glorious fact, that already 525 destitute orphans have found a home in St. Brigid's bosom; and that 247 of these, nursed into strength, moral and physical, have been sent forth into the world to fight the battle of life; and we may rest perfectly satisfied that if, at the hour of death, they are not able to exclaim with the apostle, 'I have kept the faith', the fault most certainly will not rest with the friends of their infant orphan days".

What a contrast with such happy results does the sterility of all Protestant religious undertakings present! This is illustrated in the course of his discourse by the learned Canon. We give the following extract:--

"Marshall, in his admirable book on _Christian Missions_, assures us that the sum annually raised in England for missionary purposes, is not less than two millions sterling; but he also tells us, on the authority of the _Times_ newspaper, the consoling fact, that before one penny leaves England, half a million is consumed by the officers at home. We may rest quite satisfied that out of the L88,000 annually expended here in Dublin, a very decent sum goes every year to bring comfort, elegance, and luxury to the homes of pious agents and zealous ladies engaged in the good cause. We have also the consoling knowledge that English gold and the grace of conversion are very far, indeed, from correlatives. Even in pagan lands its only power is to corrupt the hearts of those to whom it purports to bring tidings of Gospel truth. The spirit which influences the missioners whom it sends forth, and the converts which it wins, is beautifully illustrated by a story told by a missionary--Mr. Yate. He holds the following dialogue with a converted New Zealander:--'When did you pray last?' 'This morning'. 'What did you pray for?' 'I said, O Christ, give me a blanket in order that I may believe'. This same Mr. Yate innocently records a letter written to him by a New Zealand convert, which aptly strikes off the character of master and disciple. 'Mr. Yate, sick is my heart for a blanket. Yes, forgotten have you the young pigs I gave you last summer? Remember the pigs which I gave you; you have not given me any thing for them. I fed you with sucking pigs; therefore I say, don't forget'. Need we wonder that such converts and such teachers were equally strangers to the blessings of Divine grace, and that the success of their preaching may be universally summed up in the words of a report which a famous Baptist preacher gave of his year's harvest. 'During last year', he writes, 'I had 25 candidates; out of that number six died, seven ran away, six are wavering backwards and forwards, and six are standing still'. So the good man's success was represented by large zero. The same characteristics in teacher and disciple mark the history of the crusade carried on against the religion of Ireland. The Irish New Zealander expects his blanket as the grand motive power of believing in souperism. The Irish Mr. Yate gets his 'sucking pig', and very often is ungrateful to his benefactors. In one word, if any success attend the efforts made by the proselytiser, it is read in the total overthrow of the morals as well as the faith of their victims".

Not to be too long, we merely refer the reader to Alderman Dillon's speech, in which he shows that the Protestant Church Establishment has been for centuries and is at present the unhappy source of all the evils of Ireland. With him we join in a fervent wish that a political institution, the creature and the slave of the state, an institution so useless and so mischievous, may soon reach the end of its career. Its present position may be understood from the following statistics given by Mr. Dillon, and which are founded on the authority of the last census:--

"The present Protestant population of the diocese of Kilfenora--251, men, women, and children--is less than that of the Jews in the city of Dublin, and could be removed in a few omnibuses; that of Kilmacduagh, consisting of 434 persons, would not fill one room in the Catholic Parochial Schools at Ennistymon, in that diocese; the smallest rural Catholic Chapel in the diocese of Emly would be thinly filled with the 1,414 professing Anglicans in that diocese; the new Catholic Church in Ballinasloe would be comparatively empty with a congregation composed of the 2,521 Protestant inhabitants of the diocese of Clonfert; whilst, through the Cathedral of Waterford, three times more Catholics pass on Sunday, during the hours of Divine worship, than the 2,943 Protestants in the whole of that diocese. In fact, the single parish of St. Peter's, in the City of Dublin, contains, according to the Census of 1861, more Catholics than there are Protestants in the five dioceses just named, together with those in the six other dioceses of Achonry, Cashel, Killaloe, Ross, Lismore, and Tuam; the Protestant population of these eleven dioceses, amounting to 38,962 persons, and that of the one Catholic parish, to upwards of 40,000 souls. There are as many Catholics in the City of Limerick as there are Protestants in the whole five counties of Connaught; there are more Catholics, by 23,000, within the municipal bounds of the city of Dublin than there are Anglicans in the twelve counties of Leinster; there are many thousands more Catholics in every county in Ulster, save the small county Fermanagh, than there are Protestants in the whole province of Munster; and, finally, the Anglican population of the kingdom exceeds that of the Catholics of the single county of Cork by only about 70,000 souls. In no province, no county, no borough in Ireland, can the Anglican population show a majority".

We conclude by recommending the Orphanage of St. Brigid to the charity, not only of Dublin, but of all Ireland. It is a national institution. In a few years it has rendered great services to the country at large and to religion by saving so large a number of children from error and perversion; it is conducted on principles of the strictest economy, so necessary in the depressed state to which our population is reduced; and it is especially recommended by the way it brings up the poor orphans, assimilating them to our healthy and vigorous country people, and inspiring them with the same love for God and fatherland which distinguishes the peasants of Ireland. St. Brigid, the Mary of Ireland, will not fail to protect all who assist her orphans.

THE MSS. REMAINS OF PROFESSOR O'CURRY IN THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY.

NO. III.

_The Rule of St. Carthach, ob. 636.--Part II._

OF THE CONDUCT OF A MONK.

67. If you be a monk under government, Cast all evil from your hands; Abide in the rights of the Church Without laxity, without fault,

68. Without quarrel, without negligence, Without dislike to any one, Without theft, without falsehood, without excess, Without seeking a better place,

69. Without railing, without insubordination, Without seeking for great renown, Without murmur, without reproach to any one, Without envy, without pride,

70. Without contention, without self-willedness, Without competition, without anger, Without persecution, without particular malice, Without vehemence, without words,

71. Without languor, without despair, Without sin, without folly, Without deceit, without temerity, Without merriment, without precipitance,

72. Without gadding, without haste, Without intemperance--which defiles all-- Without inebriety, without jollity, Without silly, vulgar talk;

73. Without rushing, without loitering, With leave for every act; Without paying evil for evil, In a decayed body of clay;

74. With humility, with weakness, Towards uncommon, towards common; With devotion, with humbleness, With enslavement to every one.

75. In voluntary nocturns, Without obduracy, without guile, Waiting for your rewards At the relics of the saints.

76. With modesty, with meekness, With constancy in obedience; With purity, with faultlessness In all acts, however trivial.

77. With patience, with purity, With gentleness to every one; With groaning, with praying Unto Christ at all hours;

78. With inculcation of every truth, With denunciation of every wickedness, With perfect, frequent confessions Under direction of a holy abbot;

79. With preservation of feet, and hands, And eyes, and ears, And heart, for every deed Which is due to the King above;

80. With remembrance of the day of death Which is appointed to all men; With terror of the eternal pain In which [souls] shall be after the Judgment.

81. To welcome the diseases, Patience in them at all times, With protection to the people of heaven-- It is a holy custom.

82. To reverence the seniors, And to obey their directions, To instruct the young people To their good in perfection.

83. To pray for our cotemporaries, Greatly should we love it, That they barter not their Creator For the obdurate, condemned demon.

84. To forgive every one Who has done us evil, In voice, in word, in deed, Is the command of the King of the Heavens.

85. To love those who hate us In this Earthly world; To do good for the persecutions, Is the command of God.

FOR THE CELE DE (CULDU), OR THE REGULAR CLERIC.

86. If we be serving the priestly office, It is a high calling; We frequent the holy church At [canonical] hours perpetually.

87. When we hear the bell-- The practice is indispensable-- We raise our hearts quickly up, We cast our faces down;

88. We say a _Pater_ and a _Gloria_, That we meet no curse; We consecrate our breasts and our faces With the sign of the Cross of Christ.

89. When we reach the church We kneel three times; We bend not the knee in [worldly] service In the Sundays of the living God.

90. We celebrate, we instruct, Without work, without sorrow; Illustrious the man whom we address, The Lord of the cloudy Heavens.

91. We keep vigils, we read prayers, Every one according to his strength; According to your time, you contemplate The Glory until the third hour.

92. Let each order proceed as becomes it, According as propriety shall dictate; As to each it is appointed, From the third hour to noon.

93. The men of holy orders at prayers, To celebrate Mass with propriety; The students to instruction, Accordingly as their strength permits;

94. The youngsters to attendance, Accordingly as their clothes will allow; For a lawful prey to the devil is Every body which does nothing.

95. Occupation to the illiterate persons, As a worthy priest shall direct; Works of wisdom in their mouths, Works of ignorance in their hands.

96. The celebration of every [canonical] hour With each order we perform; Three genuflexions before celebration, Three more after it.

97. Silence and fervour, Tranquillity without grief, Without murmur, without contention, Is due of every one.

OF THE ORDER OF REFECTION, AND OF THE REFECTORY.

98. The Rule of the Refectory after this, It is no injury to it to mention it; It is for the abbot of proper orders To judge each according to his rank.

99. The question of the refectory at all times, Thus is it permitted: An ample meal to the workmen, In whatever place they be.

100. Tenderness to the seniors Who cannot come to their meals, Whatever be their condition, That they come not to neglect.

101. Different is the condition of every one; Different is the nature of every wickedness; Different the law in which is found The adding to a meal.

102. Sunday requires to be honoured, Because of the King who freed it; The feast of an apostle, noble martyr, And the feasts of the saints,

103. Be without vigil, with increased meals. A tranquil, easy life From the night of great Christmas Till after the Christmas of the Star.[2]

104. The festivals of the King of truth, In whatever season they happen, To honour them is proper, To glorify them is right.

105. The fast of Lent was fasted by Christ In the desert within; The same as if it were your last day, you eat not The meal of every day in it.

106. To fast upon Sunday I order not, Because of the benignant Lord; In the enumeration of the _tenth_,[3] Nor of the year, it is not.

107. Joy, glory, reverence, In great and glorious Easter, The same as Easter every day, Until Pentecost, is proper,

108. Without fasting, without heavy labour, Without great vigils; In figure of the glorious salvation Which we shall receive _yonder_.

109. The feast of an apostle and martyr In the time of the great Lent; In figure of the righteousness Which we shall receive _yonder_.

110. The two fast days of the week Are to be observed by a proper fast, Accordingly as the time occurs, By him who has the strength.

111. Summer Lent or Winter _Lent_,[4] Which are bitter of practice, It is the laity that are bound to keep these, Who do not do so perpetually.

112. For as regards the ecclesiastics, Who abide in propriety, It is certain that of Lent and fasting All seasons are to them.[5]

113. The meritorious fast is, And the abstinence so bright, From noon to noon--no false assertion; From remote times so it has been done.

114. A tredan [three days' total fast] every quarter to those Who fast not every month, Is required in the great territories In which is the Faith of Christ.

115. From the festival of the birth of John Till Easter, happy the combat, It is from vesper time to vesper time It is proper to go to table.

116. From Easter again to John's feast, It is from noon to noon; It is at evening of alternate days That comfort is allowed them.

117. When the little bell is rung, Of the refectory, which is not mean, The brethren who hear it Come all of them at its call;

118. Without running, without stopping, Without passing proper bounds; Every man separately--it is no sad assertion Receives the punishment [of the board?]

119. Then they go into the house, And shed tears with fervour; They repeat a _Pater_ for rest in God; They stoop down three times.

120. They then sit at the table, They bless the meal, Allelujah is sung, the bell is rung, Benediction is pronounced.

121. A senior responds in the house, He says: God bless you; They eat food, and drink, They return thanks after that.

122. If there be anything more choice Which one should thirst for, Let it be given in private To a senior by himself.

123. Let relief be given, if requisite, To those [penitents] who have devoutly fasted; Let them be deprived, if not requisite, Until they have done penance--the men.

124. After this, each man to his chamber, Without murmur, without anger, To reading, to prayers, To sighing unto his King;

125. To go afterwards to vespers, To celebrate them gracefully; To retire afterwards to rest In the place which he occupies;

126. To bless the house Entirely upon all sides; To attend the _canonical hours_,[6] Without delay, without fail;

127. To pray God for every one Who serves the Church of God, And for every Christian Who has come upon the earthly world.

OF THE DUTIES OF A KING.

128. If you be a king, be a just king, You shall ordain no injustice; Illustrious is the Man who has appointed you-- The Lord of holy Heaven!

129. You shall not be rash, You shall not be prosperous and fierce; You shall be watchful of the All Powerful, Who has given thee the rank.

130. The wealth which you have obtained, If you do not be obedient to HIM, Shall be taken from you in a short time; They shall leave you in pain.

131. For it has been the full reduction To every king who has been, When you have bartered--hapless power!-- Your righteousness for unrighteousness.

132. For it is through the unrighteousness of kings That all peace is disrupted Between the Church and the laity-- All truth is broken.

133. For it is through their contention Comes every plague, it is known; It is through their excesses that there comes not Corn, or milk, or fruit;

134. It is through them come all mortalities, Which defy every power; It is through them that battle-triumph attends Every enemy over their countries;

135. It is through them come the tempests Of the angry, cold skies, The insects--the many distempers Which cut off all the people.

[There were a few stanzas more, but they are illegible.]

It is unnecessary for us to dwell at any great length on the importance of this venerable document. It not only illustrates in an extraordinary manner many points of Catholic dogma, but also shows that several of the disciplinary observances now in force in the Church were faithfully observed by our fathers in the seventh century. For instance, the respectful and loving homage due to the Blessed Mother of God is insinuated in the fifth strophe; in the ninth and following strophes we are taught the authority with which bishops are invested in the Church--authority which extends over every class no matter how exalted: "Check the noble kings: be thou the vigilant pastor". In the eighteenth and following we are instructed in the duty of honouring superiors as we honour Christ Himself. From the thirty-eighth to the sixty-sixth we are taught the great and most important offices of a priest, especially with regard to offering the Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord, the practice of daily Mass, the celebration of Requiem Masses for the dead, the administration of the Holy Communion in life and death, and the necessity of receiving the confessions of the faithful, both before Communion and at the last moment.

The disciplinary observances which we chiefly remark in the _Rule_ are the raising up of the hands, the striking the breasts, and the genuflexions prescribed at the time of prayers and of the Holy Sacrifice; the perpetual psalmody: "To sing the three times fifty (Psalms) is an indispensable practice"; the purity of life required in the priest: "There shall be no permanent love in thy heart, but the love of God alone; for pure is the Body which thou receivest: purely must thou go to receive it" (strophe 65). The use of the sign of the Cross is mentioned at strophe eighty-eight; and at eighty-six we find mention of the canonical hours, and at eighty-nine of the ancient custom, still preserved in many parts of the Liturgy, of praying erect, of not kneeling on Sundays, and of genuflecting on entering the church or place where God's glory dwells. The practice of fasting, and of other corporal austerities, is also inculcated; and while in the 102nd and 106th strophes, Sundays and festivals are exempted from the law of fasting, the fast of Lent (strophes 105, 109, and following), of Advent (strophe 111), of two fasting days in each week, (strophe 110), and of the Quarter Tense (strophe 114), are specially mentioned. We also find an enumeration of the festivals as they are celebrated by the Church even at our day; the Sundays, festivals of the apostles, of noble martyrs, and of all the saints; the "night of great Christmas", the Epiphany, when the star led the wise men to Bethlehem; Easter; "the festivals of the King of Truth"; Pentecost; and even the festival of the birth of St. John the Baptist.

On reading over this remarkable document we are struck with the truth of the remark of the eloquent Ozanam in the chapter of his work _Etudes Germaniques_, he has devoted to the "preaching of the Irish". He says: "We must not here repeat that accusation so often brought against the Church of Ireland, viz., that being instructed in sacred learning from Asia, she rejected the authority of the Popes; and that in union with the Culdees of Brittany, her monks preserved their religious independence in the midst of the universal spiritual bondage of the middle ages. If the founders of Irish monasteries, in the provisions and very terms of their rules, often recall to mind the institutions of the east, it was at Lerins and in the writings of Cassian they learned them. It was from Rome that Patrick received his mission; from Rome he received the language of his liturgy, the dogmas he taught, and the religious observances he propagated. Run over all that remains of these first centuries (of the Irish Church), the decrees of national synods, the penitentials, the legends: you will find in them everything which the enemies of Rome have rejected; the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the invocation of saints, prayers for the dead, the practice of confession, of fasting, and of abstinence. The differences between her and the Churches of the continent are reducible to three points: the form of the tonsure, some of the minor ceremonies of baptism, and the time of keeping Easter, and these slight differences disappeared when the Fathers of the Council of Lene (A.D. 630), 'having had recourse', as they tell us, 'to the chief of Christian cities, _as children to their mother_', adopted the customs of the rest of Christendom. The religious communities of Ireland were not, then, the jealous guardians of some unheard-of heterodox Christianity. They were the colonies and (as it were) the out-posts of Latin civilization. They maintained learning as well as faith, and their schools imitated the Roman schools in Gaul, whence had come forth the bright luminaries of the Church, Honoratus, Cassian, Salvian, and Sulpicius Severus".