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Vol. XI1.—No. 50.
, Philadelphia, Thursday, December 12, 1s44.
“Whole Number 622. ,
THE CATHOLIC. HERALD
{8 PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY BY
M. FITHIAN,
No, 72 North Second Street, Philadelphia.
+; Terms.—T'wo Dollars and Fifty Cents, if paid
sn advance, or Three Dollars, payable half yearly.
“No paper'discontinued until all arrearages are
settled. .
All Communications, except from Agents or
Subscribers enclosing remittances, must be post
paid, and addressed ‘fo the Editor of the Ca-
tholic Herald, Philadelphia, Pa.’”
1 By permission of the Post-Master General, any
Post-Mastercan frank a letter containing a remit-
‘tance, fora Subscriber.
Joetrn.
For the Catholie Herald.
A. LEGEND,
There is legend ofthe olden time
(Which I would fain repeat io guileless ears)—
When Faith in ev'ry action shone sublime:
*\¢-And happily undream’d the senseless feara
That to the Saints of God were bonour giv’n,
'Twould merit well the direst wrath of Heav'n-
There then was one upon whose brow the seal
Of genius was impress'd—and he was pure
“And holy in his ife—and to reveal
‘Upon the canvass all that would allure
The soul from this world to the realms above .
Wi as this young artist's joy—his tack of love...
It chinced thai as he knelt one day in pray’r,
# he wax wont before beginnin,
ts pleasing, toil)~lo! soft epua his ear '**
@ lait whisper—him gently “urging »-'
The Virgin ang Archangel io portray
|, When to the lowly maid of Galilee,
Was borne the heav'nly messuge, #
{a _nOn'evidence si clear were iocker;
tie angel’s voice delighted 10 obeys
Full soon upon the canvass almost breath'd
Bright Gabriel's form—awhile with raptur'd eye
The artist gaz’d—but quick his brow’ was wreathed
With sadness, and exclaim'd :—* Oh | how shail I
Give form uate my high rmaginings
OF her whowe virgin praise anangel sings?
* “Lovely must she have been who ‘favor found’
~ B'en in the sight of God—and ‘full of grace’
f Saluted by Archangel —Aw the sound
+4 Comes o'er my memory of this high praise,
© My pencil urops—for how can mortal pxtoy,
“The Mother of my Loré—most favor'd want.”
” Her spirit's beauty (so to him it seemed,)
Than highest seraphim more parean and bright
Had shone in ev'ry feature, and bad
Ou her fair brow with rays ‘thea ‘aly gh
vs Wh! guide celestial, why the task unpose
"Phat I should Jare portray the ‘mystic ruse.?"
‘Ax thus be, weary, mused with anxious ‘Beart
A gentle sicep his heavy eyelis clos’
Bright were his dreams,—for, lovelier than thought
OF nan e’er fram’d, the form his eyes repes'd
“With love devout upoo—the Queen of heav'a
Bejore him stoud—" O! that to me were giv’n.”
He, waking, cries,such beauty to transfer
“Po iy dull ‘canvass, theu"—but lo!—end seia'd
) With wonu’ring awe be gaz'd—for surely there
(Unites by potent fancy still deceived)
Yes, there beside, or on the canvass stood
The Virgin pure—the Mother of his God.
: Then well he knew as calm his sense became,
«> His angel had been there~no mortal hand
tee thas essayed—and grateful, he the name
Of Gud did praise, who thus doth give command
Concerning all our cares—ia mercy bends
uid €’en Lo passing sorrow succor senda,
*Popish books t teach and inform; what we
_Know, we know much out of them. ‘The fa-
ters church story, schogl-men, all may pass
‘for popish-books, And it you lake awa
Ahem, what learning wil you feave? Besides,
who must be judge?; ‘The cussomer or the
waiter? , If be, disallows a book, it must not
>> be broughtinto, the kingdom; then Lord have
merey upon all scholars! ‘These poritan preach-
ers if they have any thing good, they have it
cout of popish books, though they will not ac-
knowledge it, fur fear of Capen the peo-
-ple.”—Selden, ‘Table talk, Book 4,
From » the ‘Catholic Advoent te.
A SKETCH OF, ‘THE. HISTORY OF
RELIGIOUS ERRORS.»
Errors. of the Fourth Century.
Sue Donatists.
Lucilla, a very rich Spanish. woman,:be-
came the, instrument of great annoyance ‘10
e church. Dwelling at Carthage, she was
reproved by Cecilian archdeacon at the church
of Carthage, for having previously to receir-
ing the holy sacrament, venerated with supers
stitious kisses the dead body of a man, not
acknowledged by the church as a martyr; and
wraing with woman’s, wrath, she sought an
occasion for revenge.
suris, bishop of Carthage, was summoned to
Rome by the tyrant Maxentius, for. having
concealed a certain deacon by name -Felix,
who was the author of a famous episile against
that emperor; when leaving, be commended
the sacred veseels and ornaments to the care
of the more ancient of bis: flock. - At the
death of Mensurius, Cecilian was chosen ‘in
his place, and ordained by Felix of Apotong
um.,:When the new bishop desired those,
who had. in charge the sacred deposit, to give
them up, they. refused and separated trum
communion. Lucilla allied herself with these,
as aiso, with Botrus, aod, Gelesius, who. had
been aspiring to the episcopal dignity. Hence
originated agreat schism, bora of a woman's
_wrath, and nurtured and fed by the ambition
and avarice of men. . But in- order to givo
some color to the schism they pretended that
the ordination of Cecilian was not valid, be-
cause Felix of Aptongum, who ordained him,
had in time of persecution delivered. up‘ boly
books into the hands of infidels; and. because
Cecilian himself bad, in days past, prohibited
food to be carried to the confessors of the
faith, in,, prison. The schismatics called .10
Carthage, Secundus, primate of Numidia,‘and
chief of the traditors, with some s¢venty other
bishops of bis party; who , assembling, ) ap-
pointed Majorinus, Preduodish ‘op a
Cecilian.. os: a
~~ Majorious wee form: merly @ domestic of Lu-
cilla, and at the time Cecilian held the office |
of archdeacon, was rector in the chureh, ‘The
name of fraditor originated from: this,. that
during. the. persecutiuns of D.ocletian and
Maxentius, the aforeeaid : Secundas, with
many other bishops, had been guilty of deliv-
ering the sacred volumes up to the infidels to
be burned according to the edict ‘of she em-
perors, of which crime they were convicted
ina synod held at Cirte in; Numidia,
‘The , principal author and. favorer of this
schism, was Dunatus, Bishop of Case-Nigre
ia Nemidia, who ordained Majorinus. The
Donatists, who did notlike to.have it said
they .were named from this Donatus, were
condemned in council held at Kome in 316,
by the Pontiff Melchiades, who also confirm:
ed the claims of Cecilian. | They boasted that
theic name was derived from another Dona~
tus, and whose talents had greatly advanced
the interests of this sect.
The schism of the Donatists became also a
heresy :—The principal errors w
Is1.. That the church existed only | in. that
part of Africa which adhered fo Donatus,
tind had perished every where else. \ To jus-
| fy this, they cited the words of the spouse in
the Canticle of Canticlee :, Indica midi, quem
diligit anima mea, ubi_ pascas, ubi cubas in
meridie, ** Show me,. oh thou whom my
soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou
liest in the south.” . "They referred this text
ao. their heresy because of the situation of
Africa, as St, Augustine informs. us in his
book de nitaie Ecclesia, cap. 16,
2. There are not, in the. church, good and
bad, but only the good... Such according: to
{their own testimony, were only” the Done-
usts, t
3. Baptisin conferred out of the church i is
null, Aud because the church had failed every
where, exception: Africa, and in’ thetr sect,
and who opposed their errors, ovght to be
rebaptized.
The Donatists . perpetrated horrible scan-
dals with respect to the most holy things,
‘They treated the most holy sacramenis of
the church profanely, casting the eucharist to
dogs, and pouring out the holy ehrism,
They) were accustomed | to, overturn: the
altars, or else with sacrilegious ceremonies
to purify them, as if they had been desecrated
by Catholics. ‘They also broke to pieces the
holy vessels, as witnessed, by Optatus Mite-
viianus, or bishop of :Muevum in . Numidia,
in his sixth book, Contra Donatistas., ‘They
It happened that Men+}
sold them: even to the pagans 10 ‘be ued for
burning i incense before their idols, ‘The holy
books,. palls, veils, dc... they: pretended to
purify as if polluted by Catholics. “They prac:
tised the most horrible crueliies against Catho
lics, aud their fury raged not only against the
dead, as witnessed by the same Optatus.
HE CIRCUMCELLIONS.
St. Auguetiue (on. psalm 132,) testifies that
the sect of Circumcellions, which sprang’ up
in Africa under: the. preaching ‘and » exhorta-
tions of Donatus, was. thus designated from
their. roaming about from cell tv cell. Tne
wandering from ‘village to village, boasting
themselves the vindicators of public justice.
and affecting a great desire for Martyrdom.
Under an insane idea that they could gain the
palm of. martyrdom by self-esiruction, they
threw themselves from rocks and precipices,
and destroyed’ themselves «by ) water, -fire,
and other means. Whence this» was their
thief dogma:
In order io obtain the crown of Martyr-
dom, it is lawful to kill oneself.
For three centuries, the storms of persécu-
tion had been | raging, and Hell had seemed
to array its whole. force against the church,
Ingenuity had exhausted ‘itself in’ devisio
eruelties against the Martyrs. "The world was
divided into the persecutors, and the persecu-
ted... At Jength. under Constantine, the sword
of persecution, well reddened with the blood
of the saints, was returned to its scabbard, and
peace was restored to the church.» Bot ‘in
peace was her bitterness the most bitter,” in
pace amaritudo fuit amarissima, : Formerly
the spouse, in her sufferings, was prosperous,
happy amid her miseries, increasing amid her
ruins, rich in her loss2s, reviving amid death,
the victrix of mortals and. Demons; motion:
less and .quiet amid the waves and. storms,
But afterwards in the hour of peace, she:was
only stiaken by new tempests, but by inachi-
‘aves from she hark-f Peter, and the vessel
byelf-was-menaeed:- with destruction. «| But
that bark may be. shaken by the winds and
waves of passing storms, and never can be
brecke
i
- Anau 4
“ Arius moved the waves ss of these new. tem-
pests, Although born as stated by~“St.“Epi-
phanius, in that part of ,Lybia which.is near
Egypt, snd. was tributary to. Alexandria, be
is generally ;reputed a native of Alexendria,
was a Schismatic before: he. becam
heresiareh; for; he sided with Meletius, isha
op of Licopolis -in -Egypt,.who formed
gchism, after having been deposed for the | ¢
crime of Idolatry, aud other wicked deeds, by
Si. Peter of Alexandria, and other bishops in
council. Arius» affected, to, renounce. this
schism, and was promoted to the order of dea:
¢on. by St, Peter,:, Bat: when he continued
secretly 10 commune with Meletive, whom St.
Peter had excommunicated, he was.:also
dsiven from. the church, ‘The acts of St.
(aupod Buronium ad.
~ 4 and 5) relate, that
when Arias, was iaiploring most earnestly, to
be restured 10. the church by this prelate, then
in prison and near his martyrdom, Christ ap-
fe
and said to him, asking the. cause, "4rius
tore this for me. . Beon thy guard not to re-
ceive him into cominunion. . Rather . com-
mand Achillas and Alexander the priests,
who_after. thy departure. shalt govern my
thurch, not to admit him to return... :
5 After St. Peter's snartyrdom,' Arius intru-
ded into,the church, and was received into
communion by Achillas, aud created priest,
Ambition, and envy against Alexander, who
was chosen bishop after the death of Achillas,
and whose promotion he. disliked, forced him
e fabricate a heresy. As he could not assail
the: fife of the holy bishop, he assailed his
doctrine. , The filth of bis proud mind, con-
gemal with his deformed face, moved his sa-
crilegious tongue, in the dissemination of a
new and impious dogma, and as he could not
enter into the post of honor by the dour, he
endeavoured to get in like a thief and robber,
‘Therefore: he. published abroad concerning
the, Son of God : “that there was a time when
he was not begotten of the substance of the
Futher? that he was from time, and not from
eternity; that he was by no means, true God,
of true God: but created from nothing. and
tess than the Father.’ We) spread’ abtoa
these and other impious doctsines greatly to
the affliction of the church. He at first in-
fations, frauds, deceit, ies, and beresy, many} Bythi
| of hermembers | wete « ‘borne.awey ty. the
peared to the holy bishop with his robe ‘torn, | he w
fected with bis ison, seventy virgins who
had consecrdted their lives 10° God... seven
priesis, twelve: deacons, ,and, two ; bishops,
whom a council, of a hundred bishops, from
Lybia’ and Egypt, anathematized.., But the
fury of Arius was not arrested. « Flying from
Alexandria, he labored, more and‘ more daily
to seduce others into his wiekedness,. even i
endeavoring to turn into wolves the. faithfal \
pastors of ithe flock, and disturbing privete t
families. .. Ie composed his Thalcia, a spinit- a
ual canticle, soft and captivating, in which he
infused the whole virus of his heresy, that he
might thus gain over men,. and, particularly }
women, by seducing strains of; poetry. . The i
insidious. heresiarch also -gained footing at
court, and secured to. his interests Constantia
sister of Constantine,.whose protection he
turned to advantage. %
After he had. eaticied | jp his cause Eusebius:
of Nicomediay and Eusebius of Casarea, a
council of Arian bishops was held in Bythi-
nia, which commanded. that Arias should be
received into the fellowship of the eburch. +.’
‘To repress the evil which was spreading far
and. wide, Alexander sent letters, 10 pop
Sylvester, to. whose office,it:particularly be- ‘,
longed to pass judgment ia concerns of Faith,
He also implored the emperor Constantine to
restrain by his.authority, the flames..of the
Arian conflagration. which raged among . the”
prople on every .side, Sylvester in con-
sequence sent to Egypt) that. celebrated
Osius, bishop of Cordova in Spain, who sume
moned a council in Alexandria, but so far from
his succeeding to check the heresy, it appear-
ed rather ta rage with sill greater fury and
violence,
It was then manifest to Sylvester | that’ the
best remedy for the growing malady would be
an ASeumenical council. ,. This. was sums
moned by the Pope, with the sctive sid of
Constantine: the: Great, lo .
province of Asia,,: Some. of the
ned ligtte of he work: the. relics. °
eofigregated. there, ,dmomg.'whom .
were conspituous, Nicolaus, bishop of Hera-
clea in Egypt, and Spindion, bishop of Myra -
ip Lycia. ;. Constantine : was presen}. ia. the
synod, not as judge, bat: a consesver of peace
and patron, for the majesty ‘of the Emperor
would repress all insolence, and keep all. per=
sons in proper bounds. Osius, bishop of Coi-
cova, and. the pries’s, Vitus and, Vincentius,.
the aposiolic legates appointed by Pope Syl-
vester, presided over the council, -Arius there
present was condemned by three hundred and
eighteen fathers, and the, son was declared.
equal to the futher, and. co eternal with hime
fhanestnes then young and a deacon, w
present, having. accompanied Alexander hie
bishop... By his great skill and power of i:
tellect, detecting and exposing the. cunning
arguments, evasions, and sophistry of Arius,
he obtained great. glory with Catholics, and
drew upon his head the implacable hatred and
envy ofthe heretice, Afler the council was over,
Arius was conde.oned to exile by Constantine.
‘the Eauperee i in his decree, ordesed “Thaleia,
and whatever books of his, were extentto be |
t penalty ol death prohibited ©
Pithem, ' But vfer some years, 3
caifed to court, at the instance /of~
Constantia she: sister of the Emperor, who
being neae her deatti, solicited his recall as a
singular favor. . Hence, after having. fradu:
lendy subscribed | to the formula of Nice, et
the command of tbe Emperor, he went: +6
Alexandria$ and: was bearer of a letter [row
Eusebius of ; Nicomedia, w: Athanasius, suc
eessor to St.. Alexander in the: patriarchaits
imploring unis prelasé to receive Arius: Athen
asius refused, nor guuld. he be moved to dv
so byletters from qe Exnperor, threatening
him ‘with depositipn ‘and exile; so intrepid, ,
fearless, immovesble, and invincible was this
heroic defender of the purity ot the faith, and
guardian of the fold.;'The Eusebianists, more’
txoeperated by the constancy / of the Holy,
ishop. held a synod at-Jerusalem, where
they had essembled for the de.tication of tbe |
temple: erecied by the: muniticence. of Con-
stanune, aifd being requested to examine the
profession of laithy which Arius had at: court
fraduleatly presented, and. being ordered by
Constanune, to: reonite this heresiach . with
the church if. the said formula were otthodox,
they declared that the formula conwined, nu=
thing but what was: orthodox .and Cathole,
and adwitted to communion with we .churcb,
not only Atiug, bus all Arians, ae if formerly -
they had. been anathematized vroveh, envy,
~