Friends at Court.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVI, Issue 19, 15 September 1898, Page 28

Friends at Court.

BIOGRAPHICAL GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR. (Written for the N.Z. Tablet.) September IS, Sunday (16th after Pent.). — Seven Dolours of Mary. „ 19, Monday. — SS. Januarius andiCompanions, Martyrs. „ 20. Tuesday. — Vigil of St. Matthew — St. Agapitus. „ 21, Wednesday. — St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Quarter Tense (fast and abstinence). „ 22, Thursday.— St. Thomas of Villanova. „ 23, Friday. — St. Sinus, Pope and Martyr. Quarter Tense (fast and abstinence). „ 24, Saturday. — Our Lady of Mercy. Quarter Tense (fast and abstinence). THE SEVEN DOLOUES OP THE B.V.M. Mary's sorrow was proportioned to her love, wherefore it was as an ocean having in it abysmal depths that mind of saint or angel can never fathom. The perfection of her nature, unmarred by taint of sin, constituted in her a capacity to bear the strain of unprecedented woe without finding relief in death. Her Son is our Divine Redeemer. The pain of all conceivable pangs must mingle their bitterness in the joy of her loving. The agonies of passiontide loomed before her in the dread anguish of anticipation, from the hour that Simeon's prophecy showed her the sword that was to pierce her heart. In the flight into Egypt, the loneliness of all exiles in all times, the fears of all mothers for the life of their babies, were summed up and concentrated in her loneliness and fears, nay, increased infinitely, because of her sense of the responsibility of her charge, the Man-God. Then the loss in the Temple — what an agony of abandonment ! The ocean of sorrow rises in tumultuous billows that submerge her when she meets her Divine Son carrying the Cross. The look that passed between them pierces the soul of each. That eloquent revelation of mutual sympathy is an interchange of inconceivable suffering. Tradition points the spot of Mary's Swoon. What must have been the agony of her dereliction as Bhe stood by the Cross, and was struck by the blow of separation from Him in death ; and when she received His bruised and mangled body into her arms at the taking down from the Cross ! It was her Babe of Bethlehem lying there in disfigured manhood, in those arms that had sheltered His infancy. Poor Mother's heart ! And then she must bury Him away, and see the tomb close over Him, and still live ! All human sorrows may find comfort evermore in the heart of the Virgin Mother, for she has gone down into the darkest caverns of woe, and lit them up with the soft, calm, holy light of resignation to God's adorable will. FEAST OF OUE LADY OF MEECY. Religious Orders in the Church devoted to the relief of suffering humanity have enrolled themselves under the banner of ' Our Lady of Mercy.' In the thirteenth century, the ' Monastery of Our Lady of Mercy ' was given by King James of Aragon to St. Peter Xalasco. the founder of the ' Order of Our Lady of Mercy for the Redemption of Captives.' This convent became famous for pilgrimages, on account of the signal favours granted by the Virgin most merciful. In the early part of the nineteenth century, after the long and deadly struggle against religious persecution, when Ireland was allowed once more to live and breathe her life of faith, God sent ministering angels in the form of fair woman, to succour the Irish poor. Miss Katherine McAuley, an Irish lady, the possessor of abundant wealth, became the foundress of a congregation of religious women, like herself, consecrated to God in a life of selfdenial and devotedness. At her death, there were fourteen houses «f her Institute in full work. The Institute of ' Our Lady of Mercy' spread rapidly to England, Scotland, America, Australia, and New Zealand. Dr. Forbes, in his Memorandums in Ireland, speaks of the 'noble Sisters of Mercy so widely spread over Ireland, and so constantly to be found where good is to be done.' He adds that ' as in all Catholic countries, so in Ireland, Sisters of Charity or Mercy are found educating the young-, nursing the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, harbouring the homeless, imparting religion to improve the good and restore the bad, and all with that utter self-abnegation and self-devotion, and with that earnestness, tenderness, and patience, which can only spring from the profoandest conviction that in so labouring they are fulfilling God's will as revealed to man.' ST. MATTHEW, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST. It was in the second year of Christ's public ministry that Levi, afterwards known as Matthew, received his call. A man of t the world, absorbed in the business of an unpopular avocation — tfiiat of tax-collector — he little dreamt of the great change that was at hand. As Jesus passed along the banks of Genesareth, He cast His eyes on Matthew, and said, ' Follow Me.' Instantly the great isoul within the man wakened up to encire generous correspondence with the grace vouchsafed. His spiritual life, stifled under the dust jand rubbish of sordid gains and earthly aims, was roused into energy. Soon after his conversion. Matthew entertained Our Lord at his house, to which he had invited many to meet Him. This was the occasion when the Pharisees present indulged in secret contempt for Our Lord because of His condescension to ' publicans and sinners.' Then the Master spoke these words, the rao9t consoling and encouraging that can strike on mortal ears : ' They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill. For I have not come to call the just, but sinners.' Matthew was chosen to be an Apostle. He preached in Judea aftfcr the Ascension for several years, converting crowds. lie wrote his Gospel in Hebrew before the dispersion of the Apostles. Hid next field of labour was in the southern and eastern parts of Asia. He was martyred in Varthia. His relics are venerated at ijalerno in Italy,