# The Lutheran Pioneer_St. Louis_1891_S18 # Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration) 18 The Lutheran Pioneer. eee oSuNNNWWIajwwajwsS490—w—vw—0—a«>oa>or=°'_ Church of the Catacombs. day, what then, Miss Susan, what then?’’ said the kind old Uncle as he slyly looked up at the The people whom you see in our picture have | young lady. met for divine worship. Butitis a queer church in which they have assembled. They have met in one of the Catacombs near the city of Rome. Do you know what Catacombs are? They are underground passages excavated, like streets in a city, in many directions, and used by the early Christians for the burial of their dead. St. Jerome, one of the church fathers, tells us of his visits to the Catacombs when a school- boy at Rome, about the year 354. “When I Miss Susan passed on silently, and next Sun- day—it was a rainy Sunday—she was in her seat. Old Uncle Brown was glad to see her there. She had learned a lesson from what he had told her. —— s+ oro Church Festivals. In the month of May we this year celebrate two Church Festivals. The one is Ascension was a boy,” he writes, ‘receiving my education | Day, which we celebrate in commemoration of in Rome, I and my school-fellows used, on Sun-|Christ’s ascension to glory. The other is the days, to make the circuit of the sepulchres of|Day of Pentecost, which we celebrate in com- the apostles and martyrs. Many a time did we go down into the Catacombs. These are excavated deep in the earth, and contain, on each hand, as youenter, the bodies of the dead buried in the wall. It is all dark there. Only now and then is light let in to Jessen the horror of the gloom, and then not so much through a window as through a hole. You take each step with caution, surrounded by deep night.”” These dark underground passages were used by the early Christians as hiding-places during the many years of persecution. In them they would assemble to hear the Gos- pel read and to worship their God. And even there they were not alwayssafe. They had to assemble with the constant fear of being found out and disturbed by their heathen persecutors. Look at the picture again and thank God that we can assemble in our churches to hear the preaching of the Gospel without the fear of being put to death. Let us make good use of our privileges. The people whom you see in our picture put to shame many Christians that are kept from church by a Sunday rain and the sum- mer heat. Are you one of those? Let me tell you a story before I close this article. Miss Susan was the best singer in the con- Church of the Catacombs. gregation. In fact, the congregation could|memoration of the outpouring of Cy Ghost or rainy Sunday Miss Susan did not attend threw back her head and sang away lustily: “Through mighty floods and burning flames T’ll pass when Jesus leads.’ you badly Sunday before Jast.”” was such a rainy Sunday, I could not come.” was £0 hot, s0 very hot, Mr. Brown.” ‘ “Well, suppose there had been ‘mighty floods’| 4, 10. 11. _ Sunday before last and ‘burning flames’JastSun-|come of no effect unto you, whosoever of you hardly get along without her. But on a warm|on the apostles. There surely cannot be any wrong in celebra- church. And the folks were sorry to miss her; | ting such festivals, as Christmas, Good Friday, for, as I said, she was the best singer they had.| Easter, Ascension and Pentecost. It must only Well, on 4 cool Sunday evening Susan was|be done without superstition and without the present. The hymn was given out. MissSusan| vain fancy of thereby meriting something in God’s sight. With such vain fancy those festi- vals are celebrated in the Romish church. The pope’s people set aside the Gospel and think After services old Uncle Brown, passing up| that by celebrating these festivals they do God the street with her, said, ‘‘I was glad to see you} great service and thereby merit His favor. in church this evening, Miss Susan; we missed| Instead of finding salvation in the merits of Christ, they look for salvation in their own ‘Well, Mr. Brown,” said she, ‘‘you know it|doings. Their own works are put in the place of the Saviour. Of such people the apostle ' “And last Sunday?”’ said old Uncle Grown. | Paul says, ‘‘Ye observe days, and months, and _ “Yast Sunday? Oh, yes. Last Sunday it) times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain,’’ Gal. And again he says, “Christ is be- are justified by the Jaw; ye are fallen from grace,” Gal. 5, 4. And to such people God says, “I hate, I despise your feast days,’’ Amos 5, 21. The Lutheran church does not celebrate those festivals with the vain fancy of thereby merit- ing God’s favor. No. We Lutherans, in the exercise of our Christian liberty, celebrate those festivals for three reasons: First, That the sacred history may be learned in regular order. Second, That the great blessings which come to us through the events of which we are re- minded on those festival days may be particu- larly considered. Every Church festival comes to us as a welcome witness, proclaiming some wonderful work of God which He has done for our salvation. Third, That we may give due thanks to -God especially for the benefits of which we are reminded on our festival days, and that we may apply them to His glory and to our salvation. We say with the Psalmist: ‘I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work and talk of thy doings,” Ps. 77, 11.12. We celebrate our church festivals that we may “publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all the wondrous works of God,’’ Ps. 26, 7. — The Work of the Holy Spirit. wi By Dr. Martin LUTHER. Neither you nor I could ever know any- thing of Christ, nor believe in Him and have Him for our Lord, except as it is offered to us, and granted to our hearts by the Holy Ghost through the preaching of the Gospel. The work is finished and accomplished; for Christ, by His suffering, death and resur- rection has acquired and gained the treas- ure for us. But if the work remain con- cealed, so that no one knew of it, then it were in vain and lost. That this treas- ure, therefore, might not lie buried, but be appropriated and enjoyed, God has caused the Word to go forth and be proclaimed, in which He gives the Holy Ghost to bring this treasure home and apply it unto us. ———_s + o~<- eo > Flee to Christ. You may think to live very well without Christ, but you can not afford to die without Him. You may stand very securely at pres- ent, but death will shake your confidence. Your tree may be fair now, but when the wind comes, if it has not its roots in the Rock of Ages, down it must come. You may think your worldly pleasures good, but they will then turn bitter as worm-wood in your taste: worse than gall shall be the daintiest of your drinks, when you shall come to the bottom of your poisoned bowl.