Catholic World

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 36, 13 September 1923, Page 47

Catholic World

PREFECT OF PROPAGANDA VISITS DENMARK. .Cardinal Van Ross urn’s visit to Denmark is the first time for about four centuries that a Prince of the Church has set foot in any of the Scandinavian countries (says Catholic News Service, London, for July 28). From an official point of view the Cardinal’s visit was strictly private, its purpose being the visitation of a religious community of which his Eminence is Protector. Had his Eminence made an official visit, there is evidence that’ the Danish Government would have been happy to extend a welcome to him in the name of the Government and nation. '■ A peculiar incident occurred whilst the Cardinal was there. At Odensee his Eminence wished to venerate the .relics of St. Canute,’ which are in the Cathedral, alas, now no longer in Catholic hands. But, so it appeared, the guardian of the Cathedral put up a prompt refusal, - and refused so much as to allow Cardinal Van Rossum to enter the crypt, where the relics stid repose. This ungracious act has ’been 'strongly resented, not only by the handful of Danish Catholics, but by many journals of the • secular press, which have protested with some energy, at the needless slight inflicted on the distinguished visitor by an officious Lutheran parson. WESTMINSTER CATHEDRAL. Westminster Cathedral is the only one complete cathedral that has been built in England since the Reformation, according to a new reference book recently published on the Abbey and City of Westminster. It is difficult to realise this, as the Anglicans built a cathedral at Truro which seemed practically complete, while some of the Catholic cathedrals, those of Birmingham and Nottingham for instance, have very much the appearance of completed structures. But Westminster, so far as its structure is concerned, does present an appearance of completion, though of course a great deal remains to be done by way of completion in the interior. The rather severe brick walls and the vast concrete domes, will some day be covered with marble and mosaics, and the stalls for the Chapter have yet to be provided. But in essential details Westminster is complete in all those details which make a church a cathedral and not a glorified parish church. From this same source it is learned that the inside curtains of the tabernacle in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament are hung on gold wedding rings, engraved with the names of the pious ladies by whom they were bequeathed. The nave of the Cathedral exceeds in size those of St. Paul’s in London, and York Minster, which are the next largest in Great Britain. The high altar consists of one solid block of granite from Cornwall, weighing 12 tons. Also the campanile, which has a piece of the True Cross in its terminal cross, has hung in it one of the largest bells in England. It is appropriate, however, that Westminster, which symbolises the complete return of the Old Religion to England, should also be the sole completed Cathedral erected since the national apostasy. A METHODIST AT DOWNSIDE. A rather prominent member of the Methodist persuasion has been visiting -the Benedictine abbey of- Downside hear Bath, and the impressions he has brought away from this venerable Catholic and English institution are of more than ordinary interest. He found, for example, that; “Protestantism has probably no greater sin than in failing to unite goodness and truth with beauty. It is a just and a fair appreciation. For Downside, in its degree, is possibly one of the nearest approaches to the ancient, glories of Catholic England, which may be

seen perfect though empty at Gloucester or Westminster, or in exquisite decay at Rievalux and Tintern. But this Methodist visitor, who records his impression in a journal of his own persuasion, makes some shrewd observations that go really deep into the heart of thing “What can one say of many Protestant churches, with their falsetto and debased forms of beauty? It is the falsetto that affronts our aesthetic sense : the effort to imitate the gorgeous beauty of Gothic and Catholic churches that strikes the wrong note. We seem to-day that if we cannot afford the cost we’ll make a tolerable imitation instead of boldly striking a new line and discovering beauty in simplicity, and having beauty without extravagance, like the Greek ideal.” - THE PILGRIMAGE SEASON. Something like 1800 pilgrims have just gone on the pilgrimage to Lourdes, thus making the largest pilgrimage overseas from England since the days of the Crusades. Of these, quite 1500 came from Lancashire alone, with the Archbishop of Liverpool at their head, leading contingents from practically all the chief towns in the two dioceses of Liverpool and Salford. Lancashire county, which remained Catholic long after the old religion disappeared in other parts of the country, has many notable places of pilgrimage; some of them places where Mass was said in secret during penal times, other the spots where the martyrs met their death. Nottingham diocese has a famous place of pilgrimage at Padley Chapel, where Bishop Dunn has just led a pilgrimage gathered from all over the Midlands. Padley Hall was a famous hiding place for the persecuted priests, and its. owner, Squire Fitz Herbert, was condemned to death for harboring" priests in the 16th century. His life , was spared on condition of paying a fine of £IO,OOO, which was paid by a neighboring Catholic squire, but Squire FitzHerbert died in prison of vile treatment. Cornwall has its own martyr, Blessed Cuthbert Mayne, in whose honor the Catholics of Devon and Cornwall have just made the pilgrimage to Launceston, in the market place of which the martyr was put to death. CANONISATION BULL OF AQUINAS IS DISCOVERED. In view of the 600th anniversary of the canonisation of St. Thomas Aquinas, which was celebrated on July 18, it is a happy coincidence that there has been discovered, among certain archives at Haute-Garonne, the original Bull of Canonisation. The Bull is dated from Avignon on the 15th of the Kalends of August (that is, July 18), 1323, and signed by Pope John XXII. It is a document of the first importance (says the Abbe Auriol, President of the Archaeological Society of the Midi, and is justly renowned for its execution. The Bull begins with the inscription, “John, a Bishop, Servant of the servants of God. . .” It is on parchment and inscribed in beautiful script, with the signature at the end “ Johannes Papa XXHP J St. Thomas died at the Cistercian Abbey of FossaNova, in the Kingdom of Naples, while on his way to take part in the Second Ecumenical Council of Lyons in 1274. His body reposed in the abbey church, and it is to these Cistercians that the original of the Bull of Canonisation was sent. .When, on the order of Urban V., the body of St. Thomas was translated to Toulouse in 1360, the Bull had to go also, as it was the sole instrument for authenticating the relics and confirming the privileges with which they were protected. Thus there exist both the original Bull of Canonisation, signed by John XXII., and the Bull of Urban V., which ordered the solemn translation of the relics to Toulouse. ■ . ..v : —■. - —T Always welcome when nights grow damp, Always Welcome in home or camp, . Always Welcome to young and old, Always Welcome for cough or cold, Always Welcome when infants droop, In the distressful throes of croup, Always Welcome because so sure Welcome Woods’ Great Peppermint Cure.