Under the auspices of the citizens of Boston,
That the memory of so great an event might not be forgotten,
Hath erected this monument,
A. D. 1892.

The question is sometimes asked why are Catholics specially interested,
and why should the _Review_ trouble itself to erect this monument. The
answer is this: We wish to locate the spot with some distinctive mark
where civilization was first planted and where Christianity reared its
first altar on this soil, 400 years ago. By this public act of
commemoration we hope to direct public attention to this modest
birthplace of our Mother Church, which stands to-day deserted and
unhonored like a pauper's grave, a monument of shame to the carelessness
and indifference of millions of American Catholics.

Why should we be specially interested? Because here on this spot the
Catholic church first saw the light of day in America; here the first
important act of the white man was the celebration of the holy mass, the
supreme act of Catholic worship; here the first instrument of
civilization that pierced the virgin soil was a cross, and here the
first Catholic anthems resounding through the forest primeval, and vying
in sweetness and melody with the song of birds, were the _Te Deum
Laudamus_ and the _Gloria in Excelsis_. Sculptured marble and engraved
stone we have in abundance, and tablets without number bear record to
deeds and historical events of far less importance than this. For, mark
well what these ruins and this monument stand for.

One hundred and twenty-six years before the Congregationalist church
landed on Plymouth Rock, 110 years before the Anglican church came to
Jamestown, and thirty-five years before the word Protestant was
invented, this church was erected, and the gospel announced to the New
World by zealous missionaries of the Catholic faith. No other
denomination of Christians in America can claim priority or even equal
duration with us in point of time. No other can show through all the
centuries of history such generous self-sacrifice and heroic missionary
efforts. No other has endured such misrepresentation and bitter
persecution for justice's sake. If her history here is a valuable
heritage, we to whom it has descended are in duty bound to keep it alive
in the memory and hearts of her children. We have recently celebrated
the centennial of the Church in the United States; but, for a still
greater reason, we should now prepare to celebrate the quadro-cent