Cylchgronau Cymru

L. I. C. & M. I. e^KK&b ra^D*$a<5 ^WSK?m. The Messenger of the Catholic Church (Camhro Breton Mission), LLANRWST, North Wales. Vol. I. 25th November 1909. No. 15. *s?«» •& ff<* •$• ffi* ff<? f$? •$* *$• «st<? *&* *&• •$* *&* •&* ^ •$• *$h *fa *fa *fa *fa *h *h *fc *fa *$h *fa •$• •&* •$* •$• > «»♦»■ < Jesus-Christ foretold to His Apostles that they and His Church would be hated by the world and persecuted in every ages " And you shall be hated by all men for My name's sake " (St. Matt., x., 22);—and again : " Eemember My word that I have said to you, the servant is not greater than his lord ; if they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you" (St. John, xv., 20). And so it has been since the time when the Apostles first preached the Gospel of Jesus-Christ until the present day. And so it will be until the end of time. If we read the history of the Church, we cannot fail to notice how it has been hated by the world, and its members persecuted in almost every country or state in which it has been estab¬ lished. But in spite of this hatred, in spite of persecution, the Catholic Church has lived and nourished. And it will live and nourish until the end of time. If further proof were needed to show that the Catholic Church is of divine origin, and not merely of human origin, the fact that it lives and flourishes in spite of the hatred of the world and the persecu¬ tion to which it has been subjected, should be sufficient of itself to convince the most bitter of its foes. From the earliest days of the Church we read of cruel persecutions, in which thousands were tortured and put to death for no other reason than that they professed the faith of Jesus-Christ, and belonged to His one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. And, even at the present day, we have constant proof of the hatred of the world for the Church of Christ. It is often smouldering, so that it is hardly noticed ; but, every now and then, it bursts forth in all its fury and malice. Indeed it requires but the smallest pretext for this hatred to show itself. Only the other day, because a political offender was punished, as some thought unjustly, the blame was at once fixed upon the Catholic Church ; and we read in the newspapers of angry mobs in various cities venting their spleen by setting fire to churches and threatening violence to Priests and Keligious. Bishop Mostyn, Menevia.