Chapter 48
epilogue chapter three of garcia moreno by gustin berth this libravox recording is in the public domain recording by maria the republic of the sacred heart eighteen eighty three eighteen eighty six the republic of ecuador could then calculate what the abandonment of the principles of garcia moreno had lost her in eight months the liberalism of borrero had thrown her into the hands of the radicals and during the following eight years the country had been completely ruined all the public works of garcia moreno had been stopped the treasury was empty the schools and colleges closed and nothing but bloodshed poisonings and plots were heard on every side three things only had to a certain degree arrested the total destruction of all garcia moreno's labours the conduct of the clergy who in spite of persecutions and exile had held to their high catholic standard the strong catholic feeling of the people who had clung to their bishops and in many cases forced the radicals to draw back and above all god who does not die become by the consecration of the republic to the sacred heart the official protector of ecuador had at last delivered the country from the hands of her tyrants garcia morena had prophesied after my death ecuador will fall again into the hands of the revolutionist who will govern her as despots under the specious name of liberalism
but the sacred heart of jesus to whom i have consecrated my country will save her once more that she may live honoured and free under the safeguard of true catholic principles the provisional government grateful for their unexpected victory echoed the feelings of the people by decreeing immediately the erection of a national church dedicated to the sacred heart to be billed at the cost of the state though aided by voluntary contributions of course this proposal met with violent opposition from the radical benches in the chambers they pretending that god did not need temples made with hands to show gratitude for his benefits but dr montevelle as champion of the catholic cause showed how the object of this monumental church was not to increase the number of churches but to make a public solemn and national manifestation of the catholic faith gentlemen the orator exclaimed the great crime of our days is the mean and cowardly apostasy of all the nations of the earth all governments have ceased to recognize the social rights of jesus christ and of his church what we desire is that the convention of eighteen eighty four should fall on its knees before the divine head of all the kingdoms of the earth that the republic should renew her original consecration and raise the durable monument to attest to all future generations that ecuador is the republic of the sacred heart
not of the imaginary god of the pantheists but of the true god our lord jesus christ moved by these noble words more than three parts of the deputies voted for the proposal the work of garcia moreno had thus borne its fruit and proved that his memory was profoundly anchored in the hearts of his people the hon jose maria camano one of the leading men of the conservative party had been elected president a year before the tenth anniversary of the terrible drama of quito and he determined on a solemn glorification of the christian hero whom the miserable tyrants of the preceding years had so wantonly insulted on the sixth of august the whole city being hung with black a magnificent service was held in the cathedral in the presence of all the bishops the president and the civil and military dignitaries all eyes turned lovingly to the young gabriel then fifteen years of age who for the first time publicly led the mourning for his noble father around him were grouped the widow and relations with garcia moreno the circle of young catholics which he had established the nobility of quito and an innumerable number of people of all ranks the apostolic nuncio officiated amidst the tears of the assistants
and a beautiful funeral oration was pronounced by f pirano s j in which he dwelt on his noble nature his admirable character and the signal benefits he had conferred on his country winding up with the words his murderers declared that august sixth eighteen seventy five would open out to the country a new era of peace and prosperity that the death of the ecuador colossus would give a fresh start to civilization and progress fools how have they kept their promise et nuct regis the new president was worthy to listen to these great lessons conservative and catholic devoted to the church and to the people he did not understand a policy which made a pact with revolution it is said that the day when he was to swear on the gospels not to undertake anything against the catholic church he went to see the widow of garcia moreno and asked her to lend him the scarf of her illustrious and noble husband i hold he said to people looking upon me as the humble successor of his glorious and loyal policy i will not lend it but give it to you replied the noble-minded lady no one is more worthy to wear it than yourself
on june twenty first eighteen eighty six a great eucharistic congress was held in quito to celebrate the second centenary of the public worship of the church to the sacred heart the chambers were closed on that day so that the whole of the deputies with the president at their head should celebrate this national fete at sunrise sows of artillery woke the whole city at seven o'clock the whole of the churches were filled with men and women of every rank to receive holy communion in the cathedral alone ten thousand souls received the bread of life then followed a solemn act of faith and reparation pronounced by the archbishop in presence of all the civil military and ecclesiastical authorities it ran as follows king of kings and lord of lords on whom alone depend all the empires and nations of the earth in gratitude for thy great mercies the public authorities of church and state prostrate it at thy feet offer it to thy divine heart and consecrate to it for ever the republic of ecuador deign to accept this people as thy heritage to reign over them for ever to deliver them from their enemies and to show to the whole world the happiness enjoyed by a nation which has chosen thee for its saviour and its god
then began amidst the tears of the assistance the act of expiation and reparation for all the offences committed against the divine majesty lord and god our creator and master by whom alone all kings reign and legislatures rule the nations of the world to thee are due solemn acts of praise and thanksgiving for having defended us from our enemies and overwhelmed us with thy gifts but alas instead of corresponding with thy goodness we have sinned against thee we have trodden under foot thy divine laws and deserved all thy chastisements look not upon our iniquities o lord but only upon thy mercy then follow the litany of reparation the responses being said by the whole people for all our iniquities pardon us good lord for the sins of thy priests pardon pardon for the injustices of our rulers for the faults of our magistrates for the sins of fathers of families for the crimes of unworthy men for their impieties and blasphemies for their perjuries and sacrileges for our revolutions and fratricidal wars for the attacks against ecclesiastical authority for the plots against civil authority for the horrible crimes of the sixth of august and the thirtieth of march for the shameful excesses of the press for our political crimes for our public scandals in a word for all our social iniquities
pardon us good lord pardon us cried the whole immense multitude as with one voice a few days after this act of public expiation the feast of the sacred heart reunited again all the ecclesiastical and civil authorities who with the president at their head consecrated themselves one by one anew to the sacred heart their example was followed by the whole city and until the end of that great day soldiers judges fathers and mothers of families young men and children filled the great basilica renewing one by one their act of consecration this scene worthy of the heroic ages of faith proved that the work of garcia moreno had not died with him but an equally strong proof was given in eighteen eighty seven when the whole world prepared to celebrate the jubilee of our holy father leo the thirteenth after a magnificent speech from president camano the congress voted a decree of congratulation to the pope and a protestation of unalterable fidelity while the sum of fifty thousand francs was voted as the offering of the nation and the thirty first of december was appointed as a national fete when the te deum was to be sung in all the churches in presence of the authorities the archbishop of quito also presented to the pope in the name of the faithful a mass of silver reliquary containing a relic of the blessed marian de jesus beautifully cased with emblematic devices which included a medallion of the president martyr garcia moreno
the offering was accompanied by a touching letter from president comano which rivalled the christian utterances of our martyred hero among other gifts was the magnificent portrait of garcia moreno holding in his hand his celebrated protest against the invasion of the pontifical states but on the day of the audience at the vatican the envoy extraordinary from ecuador m antonio flores son of the illustrious flores remitted another gift to the pope and a precious casket of crystal de roche or in a minute with precious stones a gift which was more striking and significant than any which had preceded it and of which m flores gave the following explanation most holy father i am extremely touched of the honour granted to me by your holiness of being allowed in person to present my homages and those of my countrymen in addition to the humble offering which i have submitted to his eminence the cardinal secretary of state in this crystal casket i have taken it upon myself to place the autographed message which our beloved and regretted president garcia moreno bore in his hands on the day of his cruel immolation and which is all stained with his heroic blood i implore your holiness to accept this offering which i have the honour to make in my own name and in that of a catholic writer m eloy parano y vega who picked up this precious document on the site of the crime which was read to the chambers after his martyrdom and which he sent to me abroad where i have carefully kept it for the last nine years
greatly touched at the sight of this relic leo the thirteenth answered the ambassador we offer our most ardent wishes for the prosperity of ecuador and its president to whom we earnestly recommend the interests of the catholic faith which will insure the happiness of the people we accept also with joy the precious gift which your excellency has presented to us on this our happy anniversary this autograph message which the illustrious garcia moreno proposed to read to congress before he was struck down by the hands of assassins we shall religiously preserve is the touching remembrance of a man who was the champion of the catholic faith and to whom may be justly applied the words made use of by the church to celebrate the memory of the holy martyrs st thomas of canterbury and st stanislaus of poland pro ecclesia gladi simporium we will close this biography with these words of the great pontiff and we venture to hope that a new era of prosperity is opening for ecuador under the shadow of the cross for the president elected in eighteen eighty eight is the same antonio flores who presented the bloody message of his martyred predecessor to the pope a man of wisdom and experience having had occasion during his many diplomatic missions both in europe and america to meditate on the evils which rule in nations and on the errors which destroy governments
he is thoroughly inspired with the two maxims of garcia moreno liberty for all and for every thing except for evil and wrong-doers and again seek ye first the kingdom of god and his justice and all other things shall be added unto you may the god who never dies maintain his sovereignty over this nation of our martyred hero and preserve it as the type and model of a truly christian state end of epilogue chapter three and of garcia moreno president of ecuador eighteen twenty one to eighteen seventy five by augustine birth
