The Catholic World, Vol. 15, Nos. 85-90, April 1872-September 1872: A Monthly MagazineVarious
Religion
The Catholic World, Vol. 15, Nos. 85-90, April 1872-September 1872: A Monthly Magazine
Various
Catholic Church -- Periodicals
In 1865, having already preached before the Emperor of the French
in Paris, and been greatly commended by the most distinguished
people there, both French and foreigners, he was called to Vienna,
where his family resides, and where all his former associates
and co-religionists awaited him with the greatest curiosity
and interest. The six lectures or discourses he gave in the
_Schotten-Kirche_, opposite his brother’s residence, at which he
was an honored and _fêted_ guest, were attended by crowds of his
own Jewish friends, besides all the _élite_ of Viennese and foreign
society. The impassioned tone of his voice, his closely knit
arguments, the air of apostleship about his slight figure and pale,
inspired face, the presence of his nearest and dearest relations,
and, above all, his own position toward them, in the very centre
of his youthful Revolutionary triumphs--all concurred in making
this short station of Advent one of thrilling interest. At the
end of each sermon, or _conférence_, as the French say (they
were delivered in French, which is like a second mother-tongue to
Marie-Bernard Bauer), he addressed a prayer to God, and, while
the language of each succeeding discourse increased in sublimity,
that of the concluding prayers seemed to take such flights of
unparalleled grandeur that the audience could only kneel in
motionless attention and unbroken silence for some minutes after
the preacher had ceased to speak--the highest tribute, perhaps
which an impressed people can offer to an orator. Marie-Bernard
Bauer has since received the Roman title of Monsignore, and been
appointed chaplain to the Emperor of the French. He accompanied the
Empress Eugénie to the opening of the Suez Canal, and preached a
magnificent sermon on the occasion, in presence of the assembled
potentates. But whatever else he has done, whatever else he may be
destined to do in the future, he will scarcely be able to surpass
his admirable achievements of the Advent station of 1865, when he
became, as it were, the champion and apologist of Christianity
before one of those representative Jewish assemblies which
contained within itself so much enlightenment, so much talent, and
so much successful individuality.
At the time when he preached these sermons, of which we will now
endeavor to give some idea, as far as a translation will allow,
he was only thirty-six years of age, and his frail, delicate body
made him seem even younger. The following is the third in order of
the _Conférences_, and was preached on the 17th of December, 1865.
The text is given entire, and the subject, as expressed in the
published edition of these sermons, was:
CHRISTIANITY AS A HISTORICAL FACT.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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