He knows they feel ashamed that they haven't those curiosities that
their Vicegerents on earth had vouched for their having; he can see it in
their faces; but he considers himself in duty bound to prepare his
fellow-citizens for what they are to expect.
ARCHBISHOP HUGHES.
_TWO NATURAL RELIGIONS_.
There are two great natural religions before the world, the Roman
Catholic and the Spiritualistic; and both are adapted to the wants of the
race.
Man naturally gives expression to his thoughts by external forms
corresponding to his ideas.
The Roman Catholic religion is accused of being a system of forms and
ceremonies, but therein lies its wonderful adaptation to humanity.
Thought ever seeks expression in form, even as a mother's love for her
infant finds expression in her ardent embrace.
Love is the prevailing element of the Catholic religion, as shown by the
love of the Son of God for poor, ignorant, sinful creatures.
We do not present this to the mind ideally. We call in the outcast and
the beggar, and we expose to their view, in the great cathedrals, the Son
of God, as he appeared in all his various experiences of human life.
The parent who can earn but a scanty pittance for his offspring, sees
before him Jesus lying in the manger, equal in squalid poverty with the
lowest of mankind.
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