The Catholic World Volume Iii Part 107

Again, as to that other t.i.tle which the Baptist gave our Lord, "the Son of G.o.d," it admitted of half a dozen senses. Wisdom was "the only begotten;" the angels were the sons of G.o.d; Adam was a son of G.o.d; the descendants of Seth were sons of G.o.d; Solomon was a son of G.o.d; and so is "the just man." In which of these senses, or in what sense, was our Lord the Son of G.o.d? St. Peter knew, but there were those who did not know--the centurion who attended the crucifixion did not know, and yet he confessed that our Lord was the Son of G.o.d. He knew that our Lord had been condemned by the Jews for calling himself the Son of G.o.d, and therefore he cried out, on seeing the miracles which attended his death, "indeed this _was_ the Son of G.o.d." His words evidently imply: "I do not know precisely what he meant by so calling himself; but what he said he was, that he is; whatever he meant, I believe him; I believe that his word about himself is true, though I cannot prove it to be so, though I do not even understand it; I believe his word, for I believe _him_."

Now to return to the pa.s.sage which has led to these remarks. Our author says that certain persons are hypocrites, because they "take a short cut to belief, suddenly resolving to strive no longer, but to rest content with saying they believe." Does he mean by "a short cut,"

believing on the word of another? As far as our experience goes of religious changes in individuals, he can mean nothing else; yet how _can_ he mean this with the gospels before him? He cannot mean it, because the very staple of the sacred narrative is a call on all men to believe what is not proved to them, merely on the warrant of divine messengers; because the very form of our Lord's teaching is to subst.i.tute authority for inquiry; because the very principle of his grave earnestness, the very key to his regenerative mission, is the intimate connection of faith with salvation. Faith is not simply trust in his legislation, as this writer says; it is definitely trust in his word, whether that word be about heavenly things or earthly; whether it is spoken by his own mouth, or through his ministers. The angel who announced the Baptist's birth said, "Thou shalt be dumb because thou believest not my words." The {633} Baptist's mother said of Mary, "Blessed is she that believed." The Baptist himself said, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of G.o.d abideth on him." Our Lord, in turn, said to Nicodemus, "We speak that we do know, and ye receive not our witness; he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of G.o.d." To the Jews, "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, shall not come into condemnation." To the Capharnaites, "he that believeth on me hath everlasting life." To St Thomas, "Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed." And to the apostles, "Preach the gospel to every creature; he that believeth not shall be d.a.m.ned." How is it possible to deny that our Lord, both in the text and in the context of these and other pa.s.sages, made faith in a message, on the warrant of the messenger, to be a condition of salvation; and enforced it by the great grant of power which he emphatically conferred on his representatives? "Whosoever shall not receive you," he says, "nor hear your words, when ye depart, shake off the dust of your feet." "It is not ye that speak, but the spirit of your Father." "He that heareth you, heareth me; he that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me."

"I pray for them that shall believe on me through their word." "Whose sins ye remit they are remitted unto them; and whose sins ye retain, they are retained." "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." These characteristic and critical announcements have no place in this author's gospel; and let it be understood, that we are not asking why he does not determine the exact doctrines contained in them--for that is a question which he has reserved (if we understand him) for a future volume--but why he does not recognize the principle they involve--for that is a matter which falls within his present subject.

It is not well to exhibit some sides of Christianity, and not others; this we think is the main fault of the author we have been reviewing.

It does not pay to be ecclectic in so serious a matter of fact. He does not overlook, he boldly confesses that a visible organized church was a main part of our Lord's plan for the regeneration of mankind.

"As with Socrates," he says, "argument is every thing, and personal authority nothing; so with Christ personal authority is all in all and argument altogether unemployed," (p. 94.) Our Lord rested his teaching, not on the concurrence and testimony of his hearers, but on his own authority. He imposed upon them the declarations of a divine voice. Why does this author stop short in the delineation of principles which he has so admirably begun? Why does he denounce "short cuts," as a mental disfranchis.e.m.e.nt, when no cut can be shorter than to "believe and be saved"? Why does he denounce religious fear as hypocritical, when it is written, "He that believeth not shall be d.a.m.ned"? Why does he call it dishonest in a man to sacrifice his own judgment to the word of G.o.d, when, unless he did so, he would be avowing that the Creator knew less than the creature? Let him recollect that no two thinkers, philosophers, writers, ever did, ever will, agree in all things with each other. No system of opinions, ever given to the world, approved itself in all its parts to the reason of any one individual by whom it was mastered. No revelation is conceivable, but involves, almost in its very idea, as being something new, a collision with the human intellect, and demands, accordingly, if it is to be accepted, a sacrifice of private judgment. {634} If a revelation be necessary, then also in consequence is that sacrifice necessary. One man will have to make a sacrifice in one respect, another in another, all men in some. We say, then, to men of the day, take Christianity, or leave it; do not practise upon it; to do so is as unphilosophical as it is dangerous. Do not attempt to halve a spiritual unit. You are apt to call it a dishonesty in us to refuse to follow out our reasonings, when faith stands in the way; is there no intellectual dishonesty in your own conduct? First, your very accusation of us is dishonest; for you keep in the back-ground the circ.u.mstance, of which you are well aware, that such a refusal on our part is the necessary consequence of our accepting an authoritative revelation; and next you profess to accept that revelation yourselves, while you dishonestly pick and choose, and take as much or as little of it as you please. You either accept Christianity or you do not: if you do, do not garble and patch it; if you do not, suffer others to submit to it as a whole.

[ORIGINAL.]

HOLY SAt.u.r.dAY.

Through that Jewish Sabbath day, Through our Holy Sat.u.r.day, Thus he lay: In his linen winding-sheet, Wrapped in myrrh and spices sweet, Angels at his head and feet; Angels, duteous alway, Watched the wondrous beauteous clay As he lay.

Through that Jewish Sabbath day, Through our Holy Sat.u.r.day.

Thus he lay And our mother Church this day Doth with solemn Office keep That strange day's mysterious sleep; Her "Exultet" breaks the sadness With triumphant strains of gladness; Paschal hope presaging morn, As in east just streaks the dawn; Darkest night ere brightest day; Such is Holy Sat.u.r.day.

{635}

Translated from the etudes Religieuses, Historiques et Litteraires.

EAST-INDIAN WEDDINGS.

LETTER FROM FATHER GUCHEN OF THE MADURA MISSION.

A very days ago I blessed a marriage in which great pomp was displayed, and I will describe the festival to you, that you may have an idea of what takes place on such occasions, for the same ceremonial is always scrupulously observed. Indeed, every action of an Indian's life from the cradle to the grave is irrevocably ordered by custom.

The solemnity I am speaking of now is called here, "a grand marriage."

My Christians are generally too poor to have to do with any but "little marriages," which are performed very quietly, though with some attendant circ.u.mstances that perhaps deserve a slight notice.

A remarkable peculiarity, and one that belongs to both kinds of marriage, is that the bride and bridegroom do not know each other, do not even see or speak to each other, until it is too late to draw back. This is the decision of custom, and has its good and bad side, like many other things in this world. "Why have you come here?" I asked the other day of a little girl hardly twelve years old, who was led into church. "My father said I was to be married, so I came," she replied. A few hours later arrived the young man, pale, exhausted, and writhing in the grasp of pangs unutterable. Begging me to serve him first in the quality of physician, he told me his story: "I had just done dinner and was going out to my palm-trees, when my father told me to go to the church, and be married; so I took my bath of oil immediately, which interfered with my digestion and caused my illness."

The bath of oil is a necessary preliminary on these occasions. That over, the bridegroom arrays himself in his finest garments. Two cloths, about one foot three inches wide, and four or five times as long, ornamented with a fringe, compose his costume; one covers his loins and the other is wrapped around him; a red kerchief is rolled about his head, and three pendants, nearly two inches long, and wide in proportion, adorn each ear. If he is too poor to own these jewels, he borrows them of his neighbors, and thus apparelled, goes to the church and presents himself before the sonami, (missionary.)

The maiden also lavishes oil or b.u.t.ter upon her toilette, but on the wedding day, she is so completely swathed in the ten or eleven yards of cloth that form her raiment, that neither her jewels nor her face can be distinguished. Not only is she invisible, but she is supposed to see nothing herself, and when she wishes to change her place, the person who accompanies her, often a poor old woman hardly able to stand leads her by clasping her round the waist. I have sometimes beheld the singular spectacle of a score of little girls from twelve to fifteen years of age, m.u.f.fled in cloth and crouched against the wall of the church, repeating their prayers to satiety as they waited for me to come and hear them recite.

They pa.s.s their examination; both bride and bridegroom know faultlessly the pater, ave, credo, the commandments of G.o.d and the church, the act of contrition, the confiteor, etc.; they {636} recite the seven chapters, that is to say the little catechism, quite well; I hear their confessions, and the next morning at ma.s.s I bless their union, following in every respect the rubrics of the church, so that there is nothing especial to notice excepting that the married pair have no wedding-ring. In its place they have a golden jewel, rather clumsy in form, through which pa.s.ses a cord intended to be fastened round the bride's neck. This jewel is called _tali_. It is the sign of matrimonial union, and every married woman wears one; when her husband dies, the relations a.s.semble, and remove the _tali_ from the widow's neck by breaking the cord.

But pardon me for carrying you without transition from a wedding to a funeral--let us leave the graveyard and return to the church. Having blessed the _tali_, applying to it the prayer indicated in the ritual for the blessing of the ring, I return it to the young man who presents it to the maiden; she receives it on her out-stretched hands, and her companion, or if the latter is too old, any other woman present, fastens it about her neck. Ma.s.s is celebrated; the bride and bridegroom receive communion and the benediction, and then withdraw.

The bride remains hooded through the whole of the festive day; on the next day after she shows her face, and the husband can for the first time behold her features: a young man of my acquaintance learned twenty-four hours after marriage, that his wife had but one eye.

I forgot to mention another custom, which is quite generally observed, and seems to me charming. The bridegroom buys a _nuptial cloth_, which is blessed by the priest at the same time with the _tali_, and in this the bride arrays herself, when the marriage ceremonial is ended. She wears this cloth during the days of festivity, but the husband gives her no other garments, and the parents continue to furnish their daughter's wardrobe until she brings her first child into the world.

But it is time I arrived at the ceremonies of the _grand marriage_ that I blessed on the eleventh of this month.

The young man belonged to Anacarei, and the maiden to Santancoulam, a little town where we have a Christian settlement. As she had been baptized only two years before, she still numbered many pagans among her circle, a fact which made me willingly accede to the desire of her parents that the marriage should be celebrated in the presence of her family.

Even before dawn, two bands of musicians, making their instruments resound in n.o.ble emulation of each other, announced to the whole town that on that day there was to be a grand festival in the Catholic Church. On their side, with one accord, the Christians devoted themselves to the preparation of the church and altar; the only outlay in decoration was upon flowers, but of those there were enough to load a coach. At last all was ready, and wearing the alb and stole, I went forward to receive the consent of the betrothed, who were accompanied by their relations and friends. They joined their right hands, and I p.r.o.nounced over them the sacramental words, after which the _tali_ was blessed and given first to the bridegroom and by turn to the bride, but without being fastened about her neck, as that ceremony was to take place afterward at home. I began ma.s.s. In the lectern, two chanters were shaking the walls of the church with a clamor most delightful to Indian ears, for singing is valued here in proportion to the volume of voice brought to bear upon it. Indeed never before at Santancoulam had anything so admirable been heard.

After ma.s.s the husband and wife withdrew in different directions, and the whole day was spent in festive preparations. In the house of the young girl a great tent was built of the branches and leaves of trees, draped with cloth of various colors. In the middle of this tent, which is called the _Pandel_, upon a mound a {637} foot and a half in height, and about eight square feet in extent, arose an elegantly decorated pavilion supported on four little columns. It was truly an exhibition of painted cloth and parti-colored paper of every hue and every shade, surpa.s.sing the rainbow in brilliancy. There, upon this mound and under this pavillion, the bridegroom was to give the _tali_ to his bride.

In the mean time a palanquin had been constructed elsewhere, even more elegant and magnificent than the pavilion of the _Pandel_. At ten o'clock in the evening, by the light of thirty or forty blazing torches, the bridegroom entered the palanquin, and, borne upon the shoulders of four men, made the tour of the town, a band of music opening the way and summoning the curious who hastened at the call.

After promenading the princ.i.p.al streets with slow steps for two or three hours, they turned toward the bride's home. The young man ascended the mound and seated himself, upon the ground, you understand, for among Indians there are neither chairs nor lounges.

But do not be afraid that he soiled his fine clothes--a litter of straw covered the whole surface of the mound. In this country they know no better way of making an apartment presentable, and all Indian _parquets_ are polished after this fashion. The bride came in her turn, her father leading her by the hand. When he had seated her face to face with the young man who had been his son-in-law for twenty-four hours, he declared in a loud, clear voice that he had given his daughter in marriage to so and so, living in such and such a place, that he announced it to her relations and friends, begging them to give their consent. The a.s.sistants standing about the mound extended their hands in succession, and touched the _tali_ with the tips of the fingers in token of approval. The catechist intoned the litany of the Blessed Virgin, to which the Christians made the responses, then he gave the _tali_ to the husband, who held it near his wife's neck, and the bride's sister-in-law, standing behind her, took the cord and tied it. The ceremonies and festivities were ended for that night, and every one withdrew to take a little repose.

The next evening there was a grand wedding collation, after which the festival, properly speaking, the grand festival, began. The newly married pair seated themselves in the palanquin, facing each other, but separated by a little curtain. The bride, freed from her veil now, held the curtain with both hands, trying to conceal her face with it.

By the light of torches even more numerous than the night before, and to the sound of music quite as vociferous, they went to the church, where all the candles were lighted. The chanters and myself intoned the litany of the Blessed Virgin and the _salve regina_; the catechist recited a few prayers. I gave the benediction to the a.s.sembly with a crucifix, having no statue of the Blessed Virgin, and the ceremony closed with a _tamoul_ chant. The husband and wife re-entered the palanquin, and then began in the streets a veritable triumphal march called here _patana-pravesam_ (entrance into the town,) which ended only when the day began.

What lends to this march a character of beauty and originality is the _calliel_, a dance accompanied by songs and the clashing of little staves, and performed before the palanquin for the whole length of the march. Do not imagine anything resembling a French ball; here dancing, so called, is a disgrace, and is only permitted to the Bayaderes engaged in the service of the paG.o.das. The _calliel_ is quite another thing. Fancy a dozen well-formed, robust young people, with turbaned heads, and loins girt with a long strip of cloth draped like a scarf, some of them wearing rings of bells upon their arms and legs, and all carrying in each hand a little staff about a foot long, with which they strike the staves of the dancers, whom they meet face to face. On leaving the church, our young dancers begged me to {638} witness their gambols in the presence of the bride and bridegroom, who were looking down upon the a.s.sembly from their high palanquin. The clashing cadence of the staves, the monotonous but purely harmonious chant of the dancers, their free, elastic bounds and graceful twirls, the pa.s.sing and repa.s.sing of this troop, who spring forward and draw back, falling and rising as they drop on their knees and rear themselves up again, this whirlwind where all is ordered, timed, and measured---all presents a spectacle that enchants Hindoos and may well delight a Frenchman.

Meanwhile the big drum, tambourine, tam-tam, clarionet, bagpipe, etc, etc., announced with joyous din that the crowd must turn their steps elsewhere, and show to others all this paraphernalia of rejoicing. The palanquin was borne toward the streets. From time to time the march was suspended, the music ceased, and the young dancers resumed and continued for nearly an hour their agile feats of strength.

So the night pa.s.sed, and the first rays of the sun announced that it was time to end it all. The husband and wife descended from the palanquin to hear ma.s.s, and then entered upon real life; the wedding was over. In the evening a car drawn by two magnificent oxen, transported the bride, accompanied by several relatives, to the village of her husband, who escorted the family, mounted upon a pretty white horse.

AMACAREI, Sept 29th, 1865.

From the Dublin Review

ROME THE CIVILIZER OF NATIONS.

1. _Le Parfum de Rome_. Par Louis Veuillot. 3me edition. Paris: Gaume Freres. 1862.

2. _Rome et la Civilisation_. Par EUGENE MAHON DE MONAGHAN. Paris: Charles Douniol. 1863.

The useful little work which stands at the head of this article, by M.

Mahon de Monaghan, (whose name would, perhaps, be more correctly printed M. MacMahon de Monaghan,) may be regarded as a supplement to the more important volume of the Abbe Balmez. "The study of church history in its relations with civilization," _he_ told us, "is still incomplete;" and the writer before us seems to have taken this as a hint, and to have conceived the laudable plan of pursuing further some of the Spanish divine's arguments, and strengthening them by new ill.u.s.trations gathered from history. "Le Parfum de Rome" is a work of another description, but bearing on the same subject. It consists of many discursive reflections on Rome, as the residence of the Vicar of Christ, and is full of point, brilliancy, and humor.

When a Catholic, who has enjoyed the advantage of a good education, and is accustomed to habits of reflection, arrives for the first time in Rome, he is usually overwhelmed by the mult.i.tude of objects offered to his attention, and requires time to select, arrange, and a.n.a.lyze them. The light is too vivid, the colors are too varied, the perfume is too strong. Two thousand years, richly laden with historic events, crowd his memory; the united {639} glories of the past and the present kindle his imagination; the sublime mysteries of religion, marvellously localized, exercise his faith; long galleries thronged with the rarest productions of art court his gaze, and a presence peculiar to the spot, which he feeds, but cannot yet define, completes his pleading bewilderment in heart and brain. By degrees the tumult of thought subsides, and order begins to rise out of chaotic beauty. The traveller is resolved to render his sensations precise, and he asks himself emphatically, "Whence springs the resistless charm of Rome?

Wherein does the true glory of Rome consist? What _is_ this nameless presence that mantles all things with divinity? Where does the Shekinah reside?"

Then more and more clearly, the voice of Rome herself is heard in reply: "This is the home of the vicar of Christ, the throne of the fisherman, the seat of that long line of pontiffs who, like a chain of gold, bind our erring globe to Emmanuel's footstool. This garden is fertilized by the blood of Peter and Paul, and of thirty Popes: hence all its amazing produce; hence its exquisite fragrance and perennial bloom. These are the head-quarters of the commander-in-chief of the church militant; and Christ himself is present here in the person of his viceroy, promulgating a law above all human laws, inflexible, uniform, merciful, and strict. _He_ diffuses this grateful perfume; _he_ colors every object with rainbow tints; _he_ sheds this dazzling light which causes Rome to shine like a gem with a myriad facets. The Lord loveth the gates of Rome more than of old he loved the gates of Zion; he lives in the solemn utterances of his high priest, and speaks by him as of old he spoke by the Urim and Thummim that sparkled on Aaron's breast. Here he so multiplies sacraments, that all you see becomes sacramental; and here you find, in the father of the faithful, the most perfect representation of your Incarnate G.o.d, and the most certain pledge of his resurrection."

If the peculiar presence of Christ thus hallows Christian Rome, it cannot be matter of surprise that she also should be an enigma to the world, and have a twofold character; that she should be one thing to the eye and another to the mind; one thing to Gibbon and Goethe, [Footnote 132] and another thing altogether to Chateaubriand and Schlegel; that she should have her seasons of gloom and jubilee, of persecution and triumph; should require in each to be interpreted by faith; and that every page of her history should share in this double aspect. Thus Rome resembles Christ; and in this resemblance lies her glory and her strength. Other glories she has which do not directly come from him. She had them of old before he came; the inroad of barbaric hordes, age after age, could not trample them out, and they endure abundantly to this day. These the world understands; these she extols with ceaseless praises, and sends her children from every clime in troops to do homage at their ancient shrines. The worldling, enamoured of these, exclaims:

"O Rome! my country! city of the soul!

The orphans of the heart must turn to thee, Lone mother of dead empires." [Footnote 133]