catholics-from-ireland

"In looking after the interests of the child it is necessary to cultivate the heart. You must eradicate the vices of youth if you wish that they should grow up useful members of society. My idea in training children is to cultivate the heart and infuse into the mind of the child a knowledge of the law of God, and his duty to his country, to his neighbor, and to himself. In training the child I take for my model the poor, honest, industrious, hardworking, and virtuous man. Help the child as his father would help him until he is able to do for himself. Teach him a spirit of honesty, industry, and self-reliance. The heart, remember, is the battle-field of the soul."

"I can live as the boys live, and if God wishes the work to succeed, He will surely provide the means."

"I am firmly convinced that the conduct of the Irish in America has been strongly influential in winning for those at home that moral support which comes from the sympathy of strangers to the blood, and which is in itself almost as valuable as the material assistance which has been so lavishly bestowed."

"The very oppressions which the Irish suffer at home, teach them to prize the freedom of America more ardently than is always done by her native sons, who have the exalted privilege of knowing nothing of despotism, but what they learn from the description of other nation."

"I confess, that the history of religion in Ireland has always had peculiar charms for me; and although I have ever felt the deepest interest in the gallant, but gradually less and less successful, struggles for independence of my own race, I have dwelt with still deeper interest on the religious history of the same race, a history of progress and development alike in prosperity and in adversity, a history which links the past with the present and the future — a past to which we can revert with well-grounded pride, a present in which we recognize with gratitude the fruit of the struggles and sufferings of our forefathers, whose example we are called on to imitate, a future to which we may look for ward with humble but well-grounded hope."

"The fatalities which destroyed the men of another period originated in crafty diplomacy, soothing promises, and flattering expediency. Heaven guard us against a recurrence of similar evils! Unity and untiring exertion are our only means of establishing our legislative independence."

"For power and place men may intrigue; but in order to have influence they must more or less deserve it. Power may, at certain times, in all countries perhaps, be acquired by favor; but influence is surely the result of public opinion and of general consideration."

"No human vanity can be more pitiable than that of seeking to give an eternity of preservation to particles of dust, which were put into order and symmetry only for the fleeting purposes of this life."

"The story of Margaret Haughery is one of the sweetest ever told. Her life is a lesson of love in charity which this age needs to learn. While philanthropists and social workers vainly talk about problems, she solved them; for she met those problems with the wisdom that came from the love of her big Irish heart. In her simple life we read again the lesson that there is but one way to become great in the Kingdom of God. And because she found that way, Margaret Haughery, the "Mother of the Orphans," is entitled to a high place among the great wives and mothers who have brought glory to the Catholic Church."

"He was notable throughout a brief, thwarted career for the charm of his manner and his chivalrous ideals in public life. A good literary critic, he printed a few graphic prose sketches and some graceful verse."

"He has strenuously and successfully carried on the great works of education and religion begun by his predecessor, and, like him, has been a model to his clergy in his unwearying and self-sacrificing toil."

"The just and the good, of course, he leads by the hand to their glorious destination, but their pathway to it he strews with thorns; to reach the Thabor of his permanent glory, they must carry their cross up the narrow, rugged heights of Calvary; and, even should they find in their way, scattered here and there, a few flowers of joy, they must gather them with a trembling hand from amidst the many thorns that surround them."

"I have written simply as a Catholic, uninfluenced either by sectional prejudice, or undue partiality for any religious society in the Church. But I have not forgotten that impartiality consists in telling the truth. Having grown up in this Western World, a child of that ancient, rock-built Church, whose American career I have endeavored so feebly to portray, it was but natural that the heart warmed to its subject, and that the courage which is inspired by the love of justice cheered on the long hours of labor."

"You feel that these neophytes are up against difficulties which beset them from all sides. There is the indifference of some Europeans who do not set a good example; there is the influence of their pagan relatives, perhaps dragging them back; there is hostility and attempts at perversion on the part of the sects. The pagan past appeals to them; the beauty of a thoroughly Christian society is as yet unknown to them. Yet, aided by the grace of God, they profess Jesus Christ openly before men. The Holy Ghost is given them to help and strengthen them in this struggle, which is changing the face of Africa, as Europe was changed."

"You are sure to get the aid of the charitable children of St. Patrick wherever you go."

"That there is no ground for anxiety about the state of religion in Tuam, and that there is nothing to be feared from the assaults of the "Soupers," — are two things I am firmly convinced of already."

"Why I love even the very sparrows of my dear Donegal."

"We regret to record the death, which occured at a Dublin hospital of Very Rev. Edmond Canon Kelly, P.P. V.F., Killenaule and Moyglass. The late Canon Kelly was born at Newtown, New Inn, Caher in 1874. Having studied a Rockwell College, St. Patrick's College, Thurles, and Maynooth, he was ordained in June, 1900, at Maynooth, his Cashel classmates being the late Very Rev. W. Canon Fitzgerald, P.P., V.F. Ballingarry, and the late Very Rev. W. Canon O'Dwyer, P.P. Boherlahan. He served on the temporary mission in South Africa until May 1911. Returning to the archdiocese he was appointed C.C., Mullinahone, where he remained until he volunteered for service as chaplain in World War I. From April, 1915, till 1918 he was chaplain to the 16th Irish Division and was in frequent contact with Fr. William Doyle S.J. In 1916 he was at Loos salient at the Somme for the battle of Ginchy and under Messines ridge ; In 1917, at the 3rd battle of Ypres on Armistice day, 1918, he was at the Menin Gate near Ypres. After the war he continued as chaplain to the army until 1920 when he returned to the archdiocese again. He was re-appointed C.C. Mullinahone, and in 1922, became C.C., Tipperary. In 1934 he became P.P. Cappawhite, and in 1937 P.P. of Killenaule and Moyglass. A very zealous priest, Canon Kelly was held in affectionate veneration by the people of the parishes in which he ministered. The spiritual and temporal welfare of his flock was his only concern. In Killenaule parish he was responsible for the building of several new national schools—buildings that could be taken as a headline for any parish in the country. They stand as monuments to his initiative and energy. His keen interest in the education of youth was also reflected in the spread of vocational education. As a member of the South Tipperary Committee he was one of the most alert and painstaking representatives that committee ever had and his wisdom and experience will be sadly missed there- from. As a man, Canon Kelly was a grand character, straight in every As a man, Canon Kelly was a sense of the word—highly eficient and brocking no slovenliness. Yet he was kindly, hospital and generous and was blessed with a great sense of humour. Benetting one who had seen so much of human misery on the battlefields of World War I, he was particularly attentive to the sick and stricken. Eternal peace to his soul. He was brother of Mr Jeremiah Kelly, Ballingeary, Cahir, and had numerous nieces and nephews, including Mrs J. J. O'Connor (wife of Mr J.J. O'Connor, sollicitor Thurles, Mrs John Crean, do. ; the Fitzgerald, Kelly and Quirke families. At the Soleman Office and Requiem High Mass at Killenaule Church on Thursday, the celebrant was Rev. T. Morris D.D. St. Patrick's College. There were approximately one hundred priests officiating and there was an over-flow congregation of spiritual and temporal welfare of parishioners, relatives and friends."

"Before ridding myself of the dust of the battlefield, I must send you an account of the death of your guide, philosopher, and dear friend, Major Willie Redmond. There is something very strange and weirdly fitting about it in all its circumstances—so fitting that if the good God had given him a choice of deaths he would hardly have dared to ask for a death so entirely according to his dearest wishes."

"The freedom of the world is at stake... Of course the idea of an arrogant Prussian imposing his will on Europe is simply intolerable. But who is to prevent him? Our soldiers; and never did soldiers fight in a more holier or patriotic cause. Irish soldiers at the present crisis are our truest patriots... Some say that they will shed the last drop of their blood if the Germans dare invade Ireland. When, say, Clonmel is being shelled from outside Dungarvan Bay they will begin to bestir themselves."

"Fr Michael Kelly. P.P. Cloneen and Killusty in 1805. Native of Moyglass parish, probably Curraghtarsna. Born 1735. C.C. in Killenaule for about six months in 1764. Was P.P. Cloneen and Killusty in 1792, but for how long before that is unknown. Died 16 Oct. 1805, aged 70; buried in the old cemetery of Cloneen. He was great-grand uncle of Canon Edmond Kelly, P.P. Killenaule 1937-55."

"If a man be, in all the known and tangible relations of life, an honourable and good man, he is entitled to respectful mention; nor does the fact of his being a member of an erring church, or the defender of an erring faith, deprive him of his claim to be treated with decency and courtesy in a book, any more than in private social intercourse. To assail a man's positions with strong arguments is quite a different thing from assailing himself with strong invectives."

"I know I cannot do a better work for religion, for the diocese or for my own soul than by establishing here a house of your Society, and this is the reason I have been so very anxious to effect this."

"He was a man of the most thorough loyalty to his country and to his order, of extensive learning, free from all desire for personal aggrandisement, and of an unlimited benevolence."

"The multiplicity of feasts is in fact quite a modern development, and that the guardian angels were not honoured with a special feast in the early Church is no evidence that they were not prayed to and reverenced."

"The faithful bishop prepared to surrender a life which he had spent in the service of religion and his fellow-men, and was attended by several of the city clergy. He died calmly about seven o'clock in the evening of October 10, 1878, greatly lamented by his fellow-religious and by the diocese of Hartford, which had just begun to appreciate his worth."

"Among the various pursuits that engage the human mind, there are few so attractive as Geology, none so important as Revelation. Each of these two studies has an interest peculiar to itself. The one is chiefly concerned about the world in which we are living: the other about the world to which we are hastening."

"During my missionary life extending over a period of forty years, I have received many, very many, converts into the Church, and in numberless instances I was told that many of their friends were restrained from entering the Church by ignorance of its doctrines, early prejudices and, in too many cases, by the religious indifference and carelessness of many of their Catholic acquaintances."

"In my diocese there are so many Catholics, we can say that almost 80% of the people are Catholic, however, this does not exclude an increase of sects and other groups. The Catholic Church, however, has its weight in the national tradition and a presence in the life of the country, even at the Episcopal Conference level."

"This good pastor, ready to lay down his life for his flock, remained at his post, seeking after those whom the pest had attacked, and actuated solely by the desire of gaining souls to Heaven."

"The end of Christian life being' supernatural, it is evident that the means of attaining: it must be likewise supernatural. And so our Lord has provided by instituting the Apostolic Hierarchy as the agency of faith through which salvation shall be wrought to the end of time."

"A characteristic feature of western Catholicism is manifest here as in other western dioceses, that is the ardent desire of the people for parochial schools wherever it is possible."

"Sincere in thought and action, the only one the Archbishop never understood was the flatterer or him who acted a double part. His views were large, and his heart was generous, but withal he was most economical in his administration of church funds, and unusually frugal in his personal habits. It can be said of Archbishop Feehan, I think, without exaggeration, that he was truly a Prince of the Church, in thought, word, and deed."

"It is sometimes supposed that St. Patrick's apostolate in Ireland was an unbroken series of peaceful triumphs, and yet it was quite the reverse. No storm of persecution was, indeed stirred up to assail the infant Church, but the saint himself was subjected to frequent trials."

"Though Catholic doctrine condemns tyrannicide as opposed to the natural law, formerly great theologians of the Church like St. Thomas, Suarez, and Bañez, O.P., permitted rebellion against oppressive rulers when the tyranny had become extreme and when no other means of safety were available. This merely carried to its logical conclusion the doctrine of the Middle Ages that the supreme ruling authority comes from God through the people for the public good. As the people immediately give sovereignty to the ruler, so the people can deprive him of his sovereignty when he has used his power oppressively."

"Two thoughts seemed to dominate his life—religion and patriotism; thoughts which form the basis of every true life"

"We may then easily obtain the power of calling out the members of any Religious Society established in this country when the necessities of the Diocese require it. The power is invested in the Bishops of Ireland because it is a mission country. The same reason applies much more forcibly in this country."

"Let us no longer listen to the voice of blinding passion, but act in public and private affairs as thinking and reasoning human beings, vindicating our own views as best we can, and making all charitable allowances for others. Let us have honorable ambition; yes! but let us be moderate and modest in our pretensions."

"By his tact he soon removed the ill-feeling that had existed between Catholics and Protestants in Nova Scotia. He took a great interest in public affairs. He was strongly opposed to Fenianism, and was a warm advocate of the confederation of the British North American provinces. At the Vatican Council he was a prominent figure, and, while opposed to the declaration of the dogma of infallibility, he loyally accepted it as soon as it had been declared."

"Although a rigid disciplinarian, and ascetic in his personal tastes, Croke was on occasion a noted raconteur. His generosity and hospitality were unbounded."

"He devoted himself in a very special manner to the evangelising of the Maoris, with whom he became exceedingly popular, not only as an ecclesiastic, but as an athlete. A bishop who never inquired about gates, but took at a jump every fence or obstacle that came in his way, was just the type of prelate to captivate these brave and high-spirited children of nature."

"When the bishop took over, his territory was in a very discouraging condition owing to a succession of years of drought and crop failures. Many settlers abandoned their farms and availed themselves of the opening of the new Territory of Oklahoma. Since then, the Kansas portion of what had been formerly known as the Great American Desert has improved under better methods of farming, and is now justly described as the garden spot of the West."

"Our Holy Mother the Church here reminds the Just that it is only by a perseverance in the pathways of religion, and by partaking of the refreshing fountains of the sacraments, that they can hope to attain to that crown of immortality to which they aspire—:To the avaricious she exhibits treasures, surpassing all the riches of the Nations of the earth—: To the sensual she displays pleasures beyond the power of human imagination to conceive — To the describe she exposes the deformity of bis degrading passions, and points to a love more pure than earthly hopes could promise."

"There was no law in the statutes of the country penalizing the exercise of the Catholic Religion, but the penal laws of Ireland were supposed to be applicable to Newfoundland. However, the principle would not work both ways, and when Catholic Emancipation was granted to Ireland these same interpreters of the law held that the privileges of Emancipation did not apply to Newfoundland. During the whole course of his episcopate Bishop Fleming fought against, these injustices and finally succeeded in obtaining full freedom for the Catholics."

"Bishop Gibney's work will leave a lasting mark on the history of Western Australia. A simple, earnest man; he toils eagerly, at all hours, for his fellows. Of kindly disposition and generous nature, he has widespread popularity, and is loved, not only by his own people, but by all who know his goodness throughout the colony. He watches over his flock as carefully and zealously as the shepherd tends his sheep, and he leads them to the good pasture land, where their souls may fatten. Guided by such altruistic spirits as he, it is no wonder that the Roman Catholic Church becomes a great power in the land."

"Our Lord Jesus Christ sent forth His Church to electrify the world and to startle the old Caesarism by proclaiming the dignity and the inalienable rights of every human being — dignity and rights based, not on the power and glory of empire, but on the immortality of the individual soul and its relation to the Infinite and Eternal God. The proclamation was a battle-cry."

"The strain of getting through ecclesiastical work in the pioneering days of Australia demanded a strength and a mental firmness of no ordinary capacity. The work accomplished by Archbishop Goold from 1848 to 1886 proves him a man of wonderful endurance and great organizing ability."

"He proved to be a successful church builder."

"Jesus Christ reigns here over the minds of his servants by faith, and over their hearts by charity. The greatest enemies of his spiritual kingdom are errors and vices, heresies, schisms, and scandals. Christ himself has foretold that his Church on Earth should have such enemies to encounter. She is not here below in the place of her repose, but in a place of trial, and in a foreign country. She must of course necessarily expect to meet with severe trials and persecutions, and must be prepared to combat them."

"Anyone familiar with the history of Ireland under English and Protestant domination will recognize that it was natural enough for such organizations to be formed among Irish Catholics. When the laws were made against the interests of the great mass of the people, it was the necessary to erect a barrier of defence. No doubt, some abuses were occasionally connected with the operation of these societies, but, in the main, they defended the religious and civil liberties of the Irish people."