To our well beloved the Catholic Clergy and People of the United Diocess of Kildare and Leighlin, Health and Benediction. We announce to you, dearest brethren, with great joy, a splendid miracle, which the Almighty God hath wrought even in our own days, and at the present time, and in the midst of ourselves. We announce it to you with a heart filled with gratitude to heaven, that you may unite with us in thanksgivings to the Father of Mercies, and God of all consolation, who consoles us in every tribulation," and who has even consoled us, by restoring miraculously, Miss Ma-. ria Lalor, to the perfect use of speech, of which, for six years and five months, she had been totally deprived! Our gracious God, "who causeth death and giveth life, who leadeth to hell, and bringeth back therefrom," has been graciously pleased to have regard to the prayers and the faith of his servants-and looking to the sacrifice of our Altars, and to the Merits of the Blood which speaketh from them better than the blood of Abel, to loose by his own presence and his own power, a tongue whose functions had been so long suspended. But we hasten, dearly beloved, to impart to you, as it is the duty and privilege of our office to do, (Trid. sess. 25. decr. 2.) the particulars of this prodigious cure. and protracted illness, which, at On the first day of the present month, we received the letters from Bamberg, marked Nos. 2 and 3, and immediately wrote No. 4. to the very Rev. N. O'Connor, Rector of the Parish of Maryborough, our rural Dean in that district, and in whose vicinity Mr. Lalor resides. The letter of this Rev. Clergyman, marked No. 5, gives a detailed account of the miracle as it occurred, and exhibits a prodigy, only different in kind, but not inferior in magnitude to the raising of the dead to life. He who, at the gate of Naim, put his hand to the bier, raised the widow's son to life, and gave him to his mother, here spoke to LI When, in last February, we had been engaged, according to the custom derived from our Fathers, in preaching a part of the Lent at Mountrath, we were waited on by Mr. James Lalor, of Rosshelton, who stated to us, that his daughter, then about eighteen years of age, had, for the last six years, been deprived of the use of speech, in consequence of a severe No. 8. the heart of a faithful servant, loosed the tongue which infirmity had paralysed, and restored a happy daughter to the embraces of her parents. We ourselves have participated in their joy, on conversing, as we have lately done, with this favoured child of heaven. Exult, then, dearly beloved brethren, and rejoice that the Almighty God has thus visited you his people, reanimating your faith, enlivening your hope, and exalting your charity, consoling your sorrows, relieving your distress, and healing your infirmities, preparing in your sight a table against all who afflict you, and urging you, by these manifestations of his power and goodness, to rely upon his providence, "whereas he has care of you." Signs and wonders are not necessary at all times, nor in all places; yet they have never ceased in the Church of God, because he is always in the midst of his people, and must fulfil his promise to them, "that whatever they ask the Father in his name will be done for them;" but in our times it is meet, that signs and wonders should, in some degree, revive, because error hath pervaded the earth, and the very foundations of the Faith have been assailed. Hence it is just, that the Lord should arise to judge, as it were his own cause.Therefore it is that ourselves have beheld him, "ruling with a strong hand, and an outstretched arm, and with anger poured out," on one day chaining a persecutor to a rock, on another dissolving the league of Infidels, or by prodigies compelling his very eneinies to exclaim, 66 surely the finger of God is here." At this time, and in this place, it is worthy of his providence that the light of his countenance should be shed upon his faithful people. We have long experienced the truth of his prediction to those who were to walk in his footsteps, and carry after them their Cross, namely, that the world would rejoice, but that they would be sad," and the present period has added sorrow to our sorrow, and pressure to our distress. Our Religion is traduced 66 our our rights are withheld good name is maligned-our best actions are misrepresentedcrimes are imputed to us, against which our very nature revolts, our friends are silenced, and our enemies insult us, and glory in our humiliation. It is meet, therefore, and just, that he, for whose name and faith we suffer, should cast upon us a look of compassion, lest we faint in the way, or be overcome by temptation-that he should comfort his people, and renew to them, by visible signs, an assur ance that he watches over themthat a hair of their head will not perish, and that, possessing their souls in patience, they may expect his return "to wipe away every tear from their cheek, and fill them with that joy which no one can take away from them." To these and such like sentiments we desire, Dearest Brethren in Christ, that you turn your attention, and having your hearts elated to this late event, that you renew your confidence in the Lord, so that, "denying impiety and worldly desires, you may live soberly, piously, and justly in this world, expecting the blessed hope, and the coming of the glory of the great God, the Saviour Jesus Christ, who will reform the body the Right Rev. Dr. Doyle, of our humility, making it like in figure to the body of his own brightness.” Above all, we beseech you that you do not belie your pure Faith by your evil deeds, nor glory in your name and your profession, to the prejudice of those who are not gifted like yourselves. If miracles belong to you, because you are of the Household of the Faith," do not assume any pre-eminence over those less fortunate of your brethren, who have left their father's house, and gone into a strange country to dissipate his goods. Our God, the Father of all, only sighs for their return, that he may meet them at their approach, clothe them from his wardrobe, and feast them at his table. You are his own children, and all his goods are yours, "if by good works, you make your calling sure;" but you should pray unceasingly, that he who had died, should be restored to life. Before we conclude this our brief Address, dearly beloved, we shall avail ourselves of the occasion it affords us to renew our admonitions to our good people of the Diocess of Kildare, from whom we have but just returned, that remembering our charges to them they may continue to exhibit, as they did, during our late visitation of their several parishes, those sentiments of Christian piety, of patience-those habits of industry, of a willing obedience to the Law, of which we daily and hourly, whilst amongst them, received or witnessed the most convincing proofs. We speak not to those few incorrigible sinners, who, in defiance of the laws of God, and of the Country, and regardless of 263 our advice, continue to expose our good name to disgrace, our Religion to obloquy, and the peaceable inhabitants of their own country, to terror and taxation; but, we speak to you, dearly beloved, who compose almost the entire population of this ancient, and privileged, and always respectable Diocess, and we implore of you, that you continue to cherish peace and patience, and to bear with injuries rather than inflict them. We have heard, and we know that calumnies are poured out as from a full vial against you; but, let us hope, dearly beloved, that they are not wilful— that they want the malice of design! men In times when the minds of are deeply anxious, and strongly agitated, they cannot divest themselves of friendship and hatred, of fear and love; and when these passions prevail, they impart their own colours to the subjects of deliberation, and sway the subject of the most enlightened men: we ourselves have our fears which are groundless, and our antipathies which are illfounded: we are often a prey to false alarms, and impute to others thoughts which, perhaps, they never once conceived-yet, we overlook our own mistakes-we pardon our own errors, and why not, dearest brethren, mete to others as we would measure to ourselves? Is it not a rule of equity to do so? Is it not the law of the Gospel? Time will restore the dominion of truth-facts will disprove the strongest and the foulest imputations-patience will soften down the anger of our op. ponents-and charity will sweeten even the bitterness of their gall. They will yet blush at the injuries they have done us, and finding no justification for themselves in your reproaches, they may yet relent, nay, they may forgive, and be numbered amongst your friends; but the storm of passion must be first allayed. Who has ever been converted till he ceased to hate? Who has ever repaired an injury whilst he was upbraided with injustice? Recall to your minds, dearest brethren, the situation of those whose proceed ings you complain of, and see whether that " Charity which thinketh not evil," may not excuse their errors, and palliate their faults! Have they not imbibed with their mother's milk prejudices, which nothing but education, of which many of them are destitute, and a free intercourse of Catholics could remove? The Nurse told them you were a Nation of Idolaters, their Pastors pointed you out to them as followers of Anti-Christ, their books of instruction represented you as the enemies of God, the laws proclaimed to them that you were disaffecled, and the courts of justice not unfrequently announced it in judgment. When the law and the prophets were thus perverted to condemn you; when, from the pulpit as in the nursery, you were denounced as heathens and publicans; when the titles of proper ty, the pride of conquest and of ancestry, the laws of the empire, the maxims of the wise, and the conduct of those placed in authority, proclaimed you as impious or disaffected, how could you be estimated as ordinary men? How could you be considered as religious christians and faithful subjects ?— But you will ask me, are we then to suffer in silence and not vindicate our good name? Far from it, brethren-you should uphold, by every lawful means, your own character, and promote your own interests. These interests are the interests of truth and justice, and they must advance. The ways of their progress are obvious, and nothing can retard them but your own imprudence. You have increased in property, in numbers, and in strength; these give you a moral weight which carries you forward with an accelerated motion. Education has arrived to a state of excellence amongst those of you who are blessed with the means of obtaining it, and is united with a pure and sound morality. These will illuminate, and enliven, and direct the movements of our body, that we may act in concert, dissipate prejudice, make our merits manifest, and attach to our cause the virtuous and intelligent of every creed and class. The progress of our religion, which is such as to excite even our own surprise, will, of itself, make known our principles and refute every calumny-the piety and zeal of your priesthood, the appearance of your places of worship, the multitudes who frequent them, their pious demeanour, their strict integrity, their faithful attachment to the ever uniform creed of the saints-these, of themselves, will have, as they daily have, an insensible, but yet a powerful effect; but, when aided by the exertions of your friends, and the violence of your enemies, joined to your own willing obedience to the law, were a Balaam to be found, they would compel him to exclaim, "how lovely are thy tabernacles, O Jacob, and Leighlin. and thy tents, O Israel!" these are the lawful and efficient means of mitigating the evils you now endure, and a few of the grounds of your future hope. These will plead for you in a language which will speak to the understanding of the wise, to the interests of legislators, and to the hearts of men. Supported on these pillars, let your cause rest;-do not, dearest brethren, justify intolerance by your own imprudence; do not verify the imputations of calumny by deviating from your usual course; do not paralyse your own energies by dissensions, and enable your opponents to rivet your chains anew. A momentary cloud has overcast the legislature; a bad spirit has breathed on their councils. Some of those who lead in the Senate have adopted a false maxim, others have unwisely exalted an unholy league over the King's subjects, and placed it perhaps too near the throne. These men will regret having cast away principle, or acted on a bad one, and the collective wisdom of the nation will yet penetrate this cloud which overhangs it, and by a new effort of its power and its justice, secure the throne, and fill with gladness the heart of the people. Our great interest for your welfare, dearest brethren, in these appalling times, has dictated these sentiments, and we deserve to be heard by you with attention. We are no hirelings "who feed ourselves, and leave the flock to starve," we can "call you to witness, that we have not desired the silver nor the gold, nor the clothes of any one of you."-We have at an early period of our Life rejected the favours of the 265 great, and fled even from the smiles of a Court, that we might, in our native land, from which we had become an exile to procure an education, laboured in the most humble department of the Sacred Ministry; and since we have been amongst you, 66 we have not made our life more precious than our soul, provided we could finish our course, and the ministry of the word which has been transmitted to us from the Lord Jesus. We do not glory in these things, but we offer them as arguments of the purity of our intentions, and the sincerity of our love for you, inviting you by our example, as well as by our words, to suffer patiently for the sake of Christ, and to remain in allegiance to your king, as we ourselves have done, when imprisonment in a foreign country, and all manner of distress, as well as the most alluring prospects tempted our fidelity. We conclude, dearest brethren, charging you in the words of St. Peter, that " ye be all of one mind, having compassion one for another, being lovers of the brotherhood; merciful, modest, humble; not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise, blessing; for unto this are you called that you may inherit a blessing; for he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips that they speak no guile; let him decline from evil, and do good; let him seek after peace and follow it; because the eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers; but the counte nance of the Lord is against them that do evil things; and who is he that can hurt you if you be |