Enemies of the Cross

New Zealand Tablet, 26 July 1906, Page 9

Enemies of the Cross

According to the Auckland ' Herald ' of July 18, the ' glorious twelfth ' was celebrated at Otahuhu in a characteristic way. Some enthusiasts (probably from that part of ' Scotland ' which lies in or near Belfast or Newry or Portadown) saw < Popery ' in a cross that had been presented to the local Anglican church. They hotly pressed for its removal, failed, and (says the 'Herald") 1 retired from the meeting '. And the sacred emblem was stolen from the church in the silent watches o-f the night that is dedicated to the ' glorious, pious, and immortal memory ' of the little Boer monarch. The occasion was auspiciously chosen. It was the night on full many a time and oft, the scarved brethren, returning home from tip&y revels, turned aside from their path to smash (as at Moniunolin, North Wexford) every gravestone that bore the emblem of the cross. To this hour external crosses may not be erected upon non-Catholic churches in the very ' yellow ' regions of Ulster. The annual orgie of the ' glorious twelfth ' sets one a-won-dering what strange Moloch of unrelenting hate is the object of the brethren's worship. At least it cannot be the gentle Saviour ' Who heeds the sparrow's fall, whose loving Heart Is as the pitying father's to his child, Whose lesson to His children is, " Forgive," Whose plea for all : " They know not what they •do.".' lan Maclaen (Rev. John Watson), a staunch and gifted Presbyterian, could ha 1 c taught the ivngentle and unlearned enthusiasts of Otahuhu some lessons of respect for the cross. N a y, he even caught, with true Catholic instinct, the voice that speaks to eye and heart from the figure of O'hrist crucified. In his work, ' The Potter's Wheel ', we find this beautiful appreciation of the crucifix :—: — 1 When, one enters the dimness of a foreign cathedral he sees nothing clearly for awh.le, save that there is a light from the eastern window, and it is shining over a figure raised high aho y e the choir. As one's eyes grow accustomed to the gloom, he identifies the crucifix repeated in every side chapel, and marks that to this Sufferer all kneel in their trouble, and are comforted. From age to age the shadow hangs heavy on life, and me n Walk softly in the holy place ; but ever the crucifix faces them, and they are drawn to His feet and good--ness by the invitation of the pierced hands'. This extract from Potter's Wheel' might well be framed and glazed for the benefit of some of the worshippers in the church' of the Holy Trinity, -Otahuhu.