ENGLAND AND CATHOLICISM.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIX, Issue 7, 14 November 1890, Page 13

ENGLAND AND CATHOLICISM.

Ihe Loid Bishop of Salford has issued an app< al for prayers for th ' conversion of England, from which we (Nation) make the following extracts : —

C-ttholicsof this c< va ry hnve two obligations, two kinds of duty towards England — the oie of the na'ural, the other of tne supernatural ordei. By the first w • are b)und t> be good bubjacts, 1 >yal to the Coußtiiution, zealous for its improvement, ready to Berve the commonweal, ana to giv.2 our time, our care, our substance, aud O'irselvts in its defence. Thus ail go.d national movements — for instance, for the promotion of temperance, thrift, education, thedeleuco of the country, the better housing of the poor, the adjustment of differences between capitil and labour— claim our hearty co-operation. The Catholics of Kngland have never been wanting in true patriotism. Time was when, on account of their fidelity to G^d. they were uudt-r suspicion, and were treated rs aliens, criminals, and traitors. Bat peieecution was never able, daring its Inn* course, to eradicate from their hearts their love of England and their dcs-ire 10 benefit their fellow-countrymen. At the prepent moment, wnatever our shortcomings, Jack of opportunity, failure or success in public life, the Catholics ot England are not oiily proua <>t their country, but the/ account v a privilege and a high nonour to promote its welfare and prosperity.

" We have heard with griff (such a-e the words of the Vicar of Christ) thrtt a dangerous enor has been spr.-»dmg in oenain parts of Christendom — that there are even Catholics who tbiuk that they may hope for the eternal salva'ion of all who are outside the pale of the true Church of Christ. Wherefore they ask— Wdat wid be the condition after death of thoae who have not submitted to the Catholic Faith I—and1 — and their conclusions are in conformity with their unsound

reasonings. Far be it from us, venerable brethren, to pretend to place a limit to the Divine mercy, which is infinite. Far be it from us to wish to penetrate the inscrutable counsels or the mysterious judgments of God-which are an abyss into which the human mind cannot penetrate. But it is the duty of our apostolic office to stir up your episcopal solicitude and vigilance, to make every effort possible to remove trom the minds of men the opinion, as impious as it is fatal, which declares tbat men may find tbe way of salvation in any religion. Teach men with the greatest care and learning that the doctrines of the Catholic Faith are in no way opposed to Divine mercy and justice, and it must be held as of faith, 'hat outside the Apostolic Roman Church no one can be saved ; tbat she is tbe only Ark of Salvation, and that whoever shall not have entered into it will perish in the flood. On the other hand, it must be held with certainty that ignorance of the true religion, if this ignorance be invincible, is not a sin in the eyes of God. But wbo will assume to himself the right to define the limits of such ignorance considering the diveisitieaof conditions and circumstances to be found in people, countiies, and human affairs 1 When we shall have put off the trammels of the body, we shall then see God as He is, and shall understand perfectly the admirable and indissoluble bonds wbich unite Divine mercy with justice. But so long as we are on the earth, bent under the burden of tbe human body, let us hold firmly to tbe teachng of Catholic doctrine— that there is but one God, one Faith, and one baptism. To penetrate beyond this is not lawful. For the rest, let us pour out before God, as charity requires, incessant prayers that all the world may be converted to Christ ; let us labour as far as in us lies for the salvation of all men. The arm of the Lord is not shortened, and the gifts of heavenly grace will not fail those who sincerely desire and pray for the help of this light. These truths should be profoundly engraved on the mind of the faithful, so that tbey may not allow themselves to be corrupted by tbe false doctrines, whose end is tbe propagation of indifference in the matter of religion, an 'ndifference which we behold increasingly and extending on »U Bides to the eternal ruin of souls." — Singulari qvandam, December 9th, 1854.

The conversion of no other nation his been the object of suoh constant and universal trayer. While persecution was raging in England under Elizabeth, Gregory XIII. was granting privileges and indulgences "thereby to animate (as it was said) not only the remnant of Catholics left in England, but to stir up Catholics in other countries to pray for the conversion of England. In 1605 a writer said that " tbe same indulgences for the same purposes have now been lately confirmed by him that sitteth in St. Peter's Chair." These were indulgences which " those only do obtain that have devoted themselves to the restoring of the Catholic iaith in England, or do labour any way in that cause, or do pray for England." There existed also a catalogue of favours called " the indulgences of St. Charles Borromeo," probably because that saint had obtained tbe grant of them for those who laboured and prayed for the conversion of England. Both St, Charles and Bt. Philip exhibited a special interest in England, and did much to promote its return to tbe faith by their prayers and good works. Not only did a constant stream of missionaries and martyrs flow towards England from the colleges of Borne, Douai, Valladolid, and Lisbon, everywhere causing prayer for her conversion to suiing up on tbeir path, but prayer for her convereioa spread over Catholic countries, a^d amongst those enlis'ed in this spiritual army were s-iiots and great servants of God, of wh m lome were endowed with gifts of prophecy. Thus Padr<» Mancinelli, S.J., traversed Italy, Spain, Gdrmany, Poland, Bohemia, D ilm itia, and Turkey as a mtssioner. For 30 years he had never omitied a single day to pray for the conversion of England. In 160S, after many days spent in prayer and fasiing. he had a vision, at the end of which be said that ''at last God, being pac fled, will make use of England to do wonderful things for the fx*ltation of the Catholic faith among tbe Mahometan and heathen races', and that He will further it with His great special assistance so as to fill the whole world with admiration ; wbe.ice it will come to pass that many nations and peoples will come to congratulate Eogland a* happened heretofore to Jerusalem and Rome ; which things will be granted to tbat naiion on account of the merits an! graciousness in the sight of God of bo many great and illustrious saints of tbat kingdom." The Venerable Manna de Escobar, the foundress of the Reform of Recollects in Spain, bad a vision in 1618, in which the Lord asked her which of the provinces that had apostatised she wished to bring back to the Faith. She replied at once : " ' England, England, O Lord,' The Lord then told me tbat tbat province bad not tbe necessary dispositions, but, nevertheless, it will take place only not in this age but in another. I complained to His Majesty that He often spoke to me thus obscurely, and He answered that it was not fitting I should see all the things which He tells one of, but that what He said about England would happen— that it would convert itself to the Lord m future times, not signifying ■when.'" In Germany, the Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser, the reformer of the secular clergy in tbe 17tb century, prophesied that " the Kingdom of England would return to the Catholic Faitb, and tbat the English on their return would achieve more for the Church than on their first conversion to Christianity." Again, he says of England, '' I saw a ship sailing on the sea and arrive in port, 'and holy men and women were in the ship laDded, and they preached tbe Gospel. Tbey prospered, and the land re'urned to peace aud to the sanctificition of Jesus C'irist." The Venerable Father de la Columbine came to England from France in 1676. He was said to have received maivellous from God, and he lived the life of a saint. Ti ese are his words about Eogland, " O England, upon what country in days of yore did heaven more abundantly shower its blessings, to what people was ever given greater zeal for the Faith, deeper reverence for tbe Church ? Tby cities have brought forth maityrs, thy churches pontiffs of extraordinary p'ety. I will not dwell on the honours received by tbe Mother of God at tbe hands of Englishmen in other days, nor speak of their devotion to ihe Queen of Angels, so great that Eogland in their days was called the Portion or Dowry of Mary. Tbou wast tbe first to raise the standard of tbe Immaculate Conception, to (hee was

given that miraculous scapular venerated by all Christians. I have the highest hopes for the advance of the good cause in time to come. Snouldet Thou restore this people, O Lord, to the fold of the Church, Thou will find among them many true and generous hearts there to glorify, as in past days, Thy adorable name."