POPE PIUS IX.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 70, 29 August 1874, Page 9

POPE PIUS IX.

The Ret. Db. MttluEH 1 in'the course of an eloquent panegyric on the late Cardinal Barnabo, in St. Stephen's Church, Ohicago,Jthus speaka of the Holy Father :—

Whilst we see these great columns of the Church torn away as it were, we cannot but turn our gaze to that great central pillar wMoh, rough and rugged, seems as firm as ever, and as it were, alone capable of sustaining the mighty maBS. Whilst we see the noble oaks of the forest scattered and laid low, we Btand in amazement and wonder before the majesty of that hoary tree which seems to defy the attack of the storm and the waste of time. Whilst we see the great ones whom. God has raised to direct His people pass away, we cannot but admit that Pius IX. himself engrosses the attention in a greater degree of every considerate Christian mind. His life has extended as it were into futurity to meet the mighty events of this the strangest age since the time that the Son of God appeared upon earth. His mind, calm and strong amidst the infirmities and decrepitude of age, is a marvel of strength — a tower rising firm, raised and sustained by the hand ot the Almighty. .But we may live to see him also taken away, and the Church renew herself and her members ; yet, still living, young »nd fresh, generation after generation sending her noble and glorious children away to the futurity of eternity, she gathers up new pillars and new materials wherewith to perform the great mission that was left her, of taking the place of the Son of God amid men on earth. And when we consider the lives of the glorious ones passing away, we are cheered with the brilliancy of the endless days of eternity, reflecting on the words with w hioh I opened my discourse, that although their bodies indered are " buried in peace," their fame and their "glorious name deserve to live generation after generation. " Let the people narrate their wisdom, and let the Churoh sound forth their praise."