A little rustic chapel In a wild yet fair retreat, Where the hardy sons of the mountains On hallowed mornings meet. * * * * * The priest at the lighted altar Is reading the blessèd Mass; And the place is thronged from the chancel, Clear out to the churchyard-grass; All kneeling, hush'd and expectant, Biding their chosen time, 'Till the bell of the Consecration Rings forth its solemn chime; When lo! as the Host is lifted, The Chalice raised on high, Subdued yet clear, the people Send forth one rapturous cry: "Welcome! A thousand welcomes!" (While many a tear-drop starts:) "Welcome! _Cead mille failthe!_ White Love of all our hearts!" Oh, the passionate warmth of that whisper! Oh, the grace of that greeting strong! On the tide of its glowing fervor, All hearts are borne along! And the blaze of the Son of Justice Lights up that dim old spot, And kindles in every spirit A flame that dieth not! Ah! friends in our stately churches, When we gaze on the gorgeous shrine Where the Sacred Host reposes, Like a great white Pearl divine,-- Let the voice of our faith find utt'rance In a greeting free from guile; Let us cry with our Irish brothers In Erin's far-off isle: "Welcome! a thousand welcomes!" (What bliss _that_ prayer imparts!) "Welcome! _Cead mille failthe!_ White Love of all our hearts!" ELEANOR C. DONNELLY. John Scotus Erigena. During the ninth century there lived few more remarkable men in Western Europe than John Scotus Erigena, the celebrated Irish theologian, philosopher and poet. Little beyond mere conjecture is known of his birth and early education. Indeed, the first well-authenticated facts in connection with his life is that in the year 851 he held the offices of rector and professor of dialectics in the famous Royal School of Paris, and that he occupied at the same time apartments in the palace of Charles the Bald, son of Louis le Débonnaire, and grandson of the Emperor Charlemagne. It may, however, be interesting to see what historical critics have to say of his birth and early antecedents. Almost all writers of weight are agreed that John Scotus Erigena was an Irishman. In fact, there is hardly any room for doubt on the subject. If all other evidences of the fact were absent his very name furnishes proof enough that John was a son of the Emerald Isle. John Scotus Erigena simply means John the Irish Scot--Erigena being a corruption of a Greek word, the translation of which is "of the sacred isle," and every school boy knows that Ireland was known at that time throughout the nations of the earth as the "_insula sanctorum et doctorum_," the "island of saints and sages."