The Cross and the Shamrock: Or, How To Defend The Faith. An Irish-American Catholic Tale Of Real Life, Descriptive Of The Temptations, Sufferings, Trials, And Triumphs Of The Children Of St. Patrick In The Great Republic Of Washington. A Book For The Entertainment And Special Instructions Of The Catholic Male And Female Servants Of The United States.Quigley, Hugh
Religion
The Cross and the Shamrock: Or, How To Defend The Faith. An Irish-American Catholic Tale Of Real Life, Descriptive Of The Temptations, Sufferings, Trials, And Triumphs Of The Children Of St. Patrick In The Great Republic Of Washington. A Book For The Entertainment And Special Instructions Of The Catholic Male And Female Servants Of The United States.
Quigley, Hugh
Catholics -- United States -- Fiction; Irish Americans -- Fiction
A circumstance related to him, however, by the peasants, whose
hospitality Paul consented to avail himself of for a few days, served to
reconcile him to Eugene's fate, and to inspire him with the most exalted
sentiments of forgiveness and good will towards the murderers of his
brother. Every night since Eugene's burial a bright column of light was
seen rising from his tomb, and terminating in the heavens above, where
the column became gradually wider, till it became like a wide circle of
glory, similar to that which appears around the moon on a winter's
night, when the atmosphere is at the snowing temperature. In the centre
of the circle appeared a beautiful cross of most perfect proportions,
and so bright in the bright circle that it was perfectly dazzling, and
the sight could with difficulty be fixed on it for an instant.
This phenomenon was seen by the two Irish cotters frequently, and all
the neighbors around had observed the lower part of the column, but
concluded that it was phosphorus, which, they said, from some cause or
other, either the nature of the soil or from the bodies interred there,
ascended to the clouds, attracted by some atmospheric body there. Paul,
too, was blessed with this happy sight, but without indulging in the
gratification of a too curious or protracted observation of this vision;
and being fully convinced that it was no phosphoric combination of
natural phenomena, concluded to take off the body of his beloved
brother, and have it interred, in a Christian manner, in the same
consecrated tomb in which the remains of his father reposed. He was also
fortunate enough, by the payment of a liberal bonus, to succeed in
raising the body of his mother, whose tomb he was able to find out, by a
measurement which, on the day of her interment, he had made, and from
certain stones placed by him at the head of her coffin.
Thus, by the piety of a son and a brother, were the three bodies of
these members of this pious and renowned family united again after a
temporary separation. "Lovely and comely in their life, even in death
they were not divided." In a Catholic cemetery, in the vicinity of New
York, can now be seen a beautiful monument of Italian marble, with the
names, ages, and places of the nativity of Arthur O'Clery, and his wife
Cecilia, and their son Eugene, inscribed in a neat cruciform slab in one
of the faces of the monument. In another slab are carved, in "bold
relief," the little vase of shamrocks brought by the family from
Ireland, together with the _Rosary and Cross_, suspended from the hand
of the virgin holding the child. On the third square of the tomb is
conspicuous a figure of Erin, holding in her right hand a crucifix, and
with the left hand pointing it to her children, with the words, "_Sola
spes nostra, ubi crux ibi patria_"--"This is our only hope; wherever the
cross is honored, call that your country."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account