ALMARIA VELLA — His Eminence the Cardenal Marín, preaching at the cathedral yesterday evening, devoted his homily to the virtue of charity in a season, as he put it, "of many alarms and few consolations." The Primate, who has lately divided his hours between the chancery and the Palacio de Santa Eulalia, spoke feelingly of the fishermen of both shores and of the correspondents whose whereabouts remain unknown.

"Let us not confuse prudence with indifference," he told a full nave, "nor firmness with cruelty. There is a steadiness that is merely comfort, and a steadiness that is a virtue. We are called to the second." The Herald, whose own correspondents he named in his intercessions, records the remark with gratitude.

His Eminence's recent commentary on the Church and the Nation, published earlier this week, has been read in many quarters as a counsel of the middle path. Friday's homily, shorter and plainer, seemed to reach for the same register.