BEAUTIES OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 86, 19 December 1874, Page 10

BEAUTIES OF THE CATHOLIC FAITH.

++ Okk of the Divine characteristics of the Catholic Church is her fidelity to the cause of her Divine Lord. She never forgets the eternal glory of her heavenly Founder. In her holy offices, every hour is made subservient to the praise and adoration qf the everlasting God- Every day in the year has its peculiar prayers, -which elevate the souls of her children to heaven, and bring to mind the mighty attributes and heavenly majesty of the Omnipotent Father of the Faithful. Every week has its religious devotions, which are appropriate to the several seasons of the year, and even the months, as they roll around, are dedicated to special services, by which their recurrence marks in the Christian year the homage, devotion, and adoration of the Catholic world to that Almighty from whose omnipotent wisdom the Catholic Church has sprung. . Thuß we find the seasons, the months, the weeks, the days, and even the hours divided into religious cycles, in which the prayers of the universal Church ascend before the throne of grace, carrying with them on the wings of the morning the aspirations of millions of the faithful for peace and good- will among all men. The pious practice of dedicating the several days of the week to special devotions is still held in great favor "by the Catholic world. Thus, on Sunday, devout Catholics commence the week by offering their prayers in honor of the Holy Trinity; on Monday the Holy Ghost is duly honored in the same way ; on Tuesday we honor the majesty of God through His holy angels ; on Wednesday we implore the intercession of the celestial patriarch, St. Joseph ; on Thursday, " the day of love," as St. Mary of Pazzi delighted to call it, we are reminded of the institution of the Blessed Sacrament ; on Friday, with fasting and prayer, we call to our mental vision the sorrows, the sufferings, and agonising death of our Divine Eedeemer ; and on Saturday, the Catholic world closes its devotions by honoring the Immaculate Mother of the Son of God. In the same manner, the months of the year aa-e devoted in a special manner to bring to the minds of the children of the Church the ever living and consoling beauties of the holy faith. In January, the youngest month of the year, the faithful are reminded of the Holy Infancy of our Divine Saviour ; in February we meditate upon the passion of our Blessed Redeemer ; in March we place ourselves under the patronage of St. Joseph, the foster father of Him whose death gave life to the Christian faith ; in April we are reminded of the glorious Resurrection of our Lord, which is a type of the resurrection of the souls of the just from the grave of sin j in May, the month of floral beauties, our devotions are specially placed beneath the patronage of the Queen of Heaven, to whom our prayers are so many garlands of flowers presented through the Mother of God to the Eternal Father of all the faithful; in June the faithful invoke the Sacred Heart to receive-

their humble prayers, and to keep their affections placed upon the celestial beauties of heaven ; in July we appeal to the precious blood to wash away the sins of the world; in August the Christian souls are led to the Heart of Mary, and through the Mother of Sorrows to obtain from God the grace necessary to secure our eternal happiness ; September is known as the month of Religious Orders, during which the faithful contemplate the charity of God in bestowing upon the world such soldiers of the Cross as St. Francis, St. Dominic, St. Ignatius, St. Camillus, St. Vincent de Paul, and the other founders of Religious Orders in the Church of God. ; in October the Christian mind reverts to the angelic choirs of Holy Angels who minister around the throne of God, and to whom is committed the guardianship and guidance of every soul that is formed by the Hand of Omnipotence ; in November the devotions of the faithful are dedicated to the service of the souls of the suffering, as the Church clings to her children, not only in this life, but when they have passed beyond the portals of death, and when the world has forgotten that they ever existed, the Church still bears grateful memory of their fidelity, and devotes her prayers and holy offices to securing their eternal repose ; December marks the Nativity of our Lord with indelible distinctness upon the soul of every Catholic, and the most sublime spectacle of the Christian year is reserved for the annual adoration of the Divine Infant in the crib at Bethlehem. Thus it is that the Church keeps before the minds of her children the ever-recurring events of the institution of the Christian religion, and thus aids us in continuing in the narrow path that leads to eternal lif e. How sublime those features of our holy faith are, we can conceive, if we compare them with the cold and sterile sects by which the Catholic Church is surrounded. With us every day marks our love and veneration for the God of our holy faith ; with them, no festival marks the sanctity of the season, no occasion is hallowed by abstinence and prayer ; no pious custom marks the memory of the glorious Saints of God. Their ecclesiastical calendar is blank their churches are mere meeting houses, and they render unto Caesar the homage due to God. — •Sentinel.'