Whenever God erects a house of prayer
The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be read more

Whenever God erects a house of prayer
The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be found, upon examination,
The latter has the largest congregation.

The nearer the church, the further from God.

The nearer the church, the further from God.

"What is a church?"--Our honest sexton tells,
'Tis a tall building, with a tower and bells.

"What is a church?"--Our honest sexton tells,
'Tis a tall building, with a tower and bells.

It is not about the pasture of the sheep, but about their wool.
[Lat., Non est de pastu ovium read more

It is not about the pasture of the sheep, but about their wool.
[Lat., Non est de pastu ovium quaestio, sed de lana.]

An instinctive taste teaches men to build their churches in flat
countries with spire steeples, which, as they cannot read more

An instinctive taste teaches men to build their churches in flat
countries with spire steeples, which, as they cannot be referred
to any other object, point as with silent finger to the sky and
stars.

To support those of your rights authorized by Heaven, destroy
everything rather than yield; that is the spirit of read more

To support those of your rights authorized by Heaven, destroy
everything rather than yield; that is the spirit of the Church.
[Fr., Pour soutenir tes droits, que le ciel autorise,
Abime tout plutot; c'est l'esprit de l'Eglise.]

Oh! St. Patrick was a gentleman,
Who came of decent people;
He built a church in Dublin read more

Oh! St. Patrick was a gentleman,
Who came of decent people;
He built a church in Dublin town,
And on it put a steeple.

In that temple of silence and reconciliation where the enmities
of twenty generations lie buried, in the Great Abbey, read more

In that temple of silence and reconciliation where the enmities
of twenty generations lie buried, in the Great Abbey, which has
during many ages afforded a quiet resting-place to those whose
minds and bodies have been shattered by the contentions of the
Great Hall.

A beggarly people,
A church and no steeple.

A beggarly people,
A church and no steeple.