1889-04-01

              ¦;-) FUELISHEU   MONTHLY,

hi II,

Hi. John's University, Collogevillc, Minn., April, 1889.

Sniabcr 4.

THE RISEN LORD.

Osce more, O Lord, once more to us is brought

The  eouiul  of music's   sweet and joyous strain, To cheer our hearts, that were to sorrow

wrought. On Calvary's hill,   where   Thou   didst

die in pain.

No! not before, since e'er the world began, Had   creatures   witnessed   such   a   sacrifice;

No, not before, for fallen sinful man. Was there a ransom of such awful price. Yes.  by Thy death,  the blow to sin was

given, And  by Thy tomb were all Thy loved

ones sad. Bat when from   out its portals Thou

wast risen. Then    all    the    world    with    ecstasy

was glad.

And so today's recurring feast will bring The tidings to   our hearts that know

from Thee

The "Alleluias" that the angels sing-To Thee,  our pledge of bright futurity. E'er this we lived but in a boundless sea, We seenrd so lost in doubt and fearful

gloom,

Till by the power of Thy Divinity, Thou  show'd'st the way from  out the

silent tomb;

For Thou its powers hast fore'er defied, Thou hast its sting made harmless of

its pain, Fov death. Is now but from the earth

to glide To  our true home—while in the sweet

refrain 01 music that seems blended  with the

song

Of angels near, who whisper, we shall be, Singing with them while ages roll along, The "Alleluias" of eternity.

QUETZAL.

Without any pretension to sway the scales in favor of or against the identity of St. Brendan with Quetzalcoatl, allow me to submit some notes on this Ta&t named personality.

The name Quetzalcoatl, according to Prescott signifies a "feathered serpent/' "Quetzalcoatl, god of the air, was a divinity, who, duringhisresidenceonearth, instructed the nations in the use of metals, in agriculture and in the arts of government. Under him, the earth teemed with fruits and flowers, without the pains of culture. An ear of India corn was a8 much as a single man could carry. The cotton as it grew, took, of its own accord, the rich dyes of human art. The air was filled with intoxicating perfumes and the sweet melody of birds. In short, these were the halcyon days, which find a place in the mythic systems of so many nations in the Old World. It was the golden age of Anahuae. From some cause, not explained, Quetzalcoatl incurred the wrath of one of the principal gods and was compelled to abandon the country. On' his way, hestopped at the city of Cholula, where a temple was dedicated to his worship. When he reached the shores of the Mexican Gulf, lie took leave of his followers, promising that he and his descendants would revisit them hereafter, and then, entering his wizard skiff, made of serpents'skins, embarked on the great ocean for the fabled land of Tlapallan. fie was said to have been tall in stature, with a white skin, long, dark hair and a flowing beard.;I  (Gonq. of Mexico I. 59.)

McCulloh, as we learn on the authority of Prescott, carries Quetzal even to higher antiquity, identifying him with Noah. Mexican mythological history supplies thefollwing: The Mexicans relying on the authority of hieroglyphics and of their wise men, claim descent from a common father Itztakmixcoatl, who had two wives, with the first of whom he had six sons and with the second but one, Quetzal. To him is ascribed the foundation of Tlascala and Cholula. He was a temperate, honorable and religious man and styled a god by the natives; he lived a chaste life and practised great austerities by fasting and chastising himself; he preached the law of nature, and by his own actions set the most excellent example; he instituted universal fasts and introduced bloody offerings, not indeed by sacrificing multitudes of men, as the Indians did later on, but by drawing-blood from the eai-H a»nd tongue ay a

punishment for lying, a vice common among the nation. They do not beliere he died, but mysteriously vanished near the sea in the province of Coazacoalcd. This unexplained disappearance led them to adore him asgod of theair. ((). Moos-mueller after Gomara.)

The dress worn by Quetzal when sacrificing was a long white garment of cotton and a mantle ornamented with rod crosses.

Quetzal identified with St. Thomas the Apostle:

1.  The name signifies theserpent, royal peacock, and these two designations together signify   eminent merit,    wisdom and merit.

2.  On the authority of Tauco.   Oohuatl means a, twin;  so did the surname of Thomas, Didyrrvus, mean a twin.

3. Quetzal went to Cholula, and founded religious communities;  they were called in the Aztec dialect the Twins.

4.  Father Kircher says, that, upon the tomb of the Apostle at Meliapore,  in the Indies, was represented a peacock carrying a cross in its bill.

5. The character of Quetzal corresponds with that of St. Thomas.   He is pictured as a-venerable man. carrying the cross on his garments and  with a staff in his hands. He travelled through thecountry in  the year (>>>  A.  D.  and  was  accompanied by many disciples.   He was for a-time the high priest of Tula.  He suffered persecution for his religion, was banished from the country  and  went preaching the Gospel about the costs of the Pacific Ocean as far as Peru, where he was known as Virachoco.

G. Before leaving Mexico he prophesied that his brethren in religion, white men would come one day into that country to rule the people and preach the faith. Boturiui sa.ys that the year ceacatl was the one announced by Quetzal and that in that very year the Spaniards landed in Mexico. (J. II. Defouri.)

The Huastecas built Cholula. At then-head was a. personage combining the offices of priest and lawgiver, named Quetzalcoatl, who after a life of beneficence, disappeared in the region of Guatemala. Both Quetzal and his followers were skilled in cutting precious stones, and  vrcre  called TultecatL   ivkich