THE HOLY FAMILY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 12, 21 July 1893, Page 19

THE HOLY FAMILY.

At the meeting of the Hoy Family on Tuepday evening the rev director explained in detail several of the ngulationß of the new Association of the Holy Family rf Nazareth. The " Pious Un oa ' so warmly recommended by Leo Xlil is an ape c.a ion of " familn s. 1 ' It does not interfi re with existing highly-principled Confni'trnities of the Holy Family wh.ch are societi sof "individuals." The sixth of the statutes of the new organisation is worthy of special nonce 11 The picture of the Holy Family ought to be in 'he homes of every family enrolled. The members of the family shall offer up, at least once a day, if possible in the evening, prayers in common in the presence of this picture. The formula of prayers approved by our Holy Father Leo XIII. is recommended especially for that purpose, as well as the frequent use of the well-known ejacula ions : — Jeeus Mary, Joseph, I oflLr you my heart and my soul. Je6us, Mary Joseph, assist me in my last agony. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, may I breathe out my boul id peace with you." Though the devotional •xercises enumeiated are not of obligation, the recitation of prayer? in common is highly commeuded. The Bosaiy is specially mentioned Toe rev director ..dvieed the members to become enthusiastic in furthering (he strong desire of the Sovereign Pontiff, and when the time came for enrolment o£ families to ent^r heartily into a movement which wmld powerfully influence for good modern sjciery. The subject of the ordin »ry lecture was " An eighth-century saint and scholar," Virgilius, or F<>argal, or O'Farreil was a famous Irisb missionary saint of the Bth century, He was remarkab'e for the variety and sohiity of his learning, the austerity of his life, the boldness of his opinions, and the fearlessness of his character. While abbot of a monastery at Sa zburg, in Germany, Virgilius incurred the displeasure of St Boniface. A question about the validity of certain baptisms was referred to Rome. Virgilius won the day. Then he was

denounced as one holding unorthodox opinions— because forsooth he maintained " that the e^rth was sphetical, and, consequently, a great portion of it undiscovered, and that every nation had their antipodes, or people living diametrically opposite them." Virgilius was one of the first, if not the fir B t,togo aside from the generally received notion that the earth was flat, and met the heavens at a certain point. It was represented to the Holy See that the Irish monk believed in the existence cf another race besides the race of Adam. The Pope, enlightened no doubt by Virgiliai as to the true nature of the question, does not seem to have restrained Feargal in his teaching. At a time when the world is honouring the memory of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish navigator, it may be interesting to note that the writings of Virgilius, the Irish monk, are said to be largely responsible for the opinions about a new continent held and earned into effect by the discoverer of America.