The Lutheran Pioneer St. Louis — 1891, Page 18

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18 The Lutheran Pioneer.
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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.