Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIX, Issue 38, 19 September 1901, Page 7

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR.

September 22, Sunday. — Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. Feas of the Seven Dolors of Blessed Virgin Mary. „ 23, Monday. — Ft. Linus, Pope and Martyr. „ 24, Tuesday.— Feast of Our Lady of Mercy. „ 25, Wednesday.— St. Eustace and Companions, Martyrs. „ 26, Thursday.— St. Ensebiuß, Pope and Martyr. „ 27, Friday.— Saints Coßmas and Damian, Martyrs. „ 28, Saturday .^-St. Wenceslaus, King and Martyr.

THE SEVEN DOLOBS OF THE BLEBSED VIRGIN MABT. To drink of that chalice of suffering, whioh the Redeemer of Mankind drained to the dregs, has fallen to the lot of all the saints, bat most of all to the Mother of God. Owing 1 to the closeness of the sacred tie whioh bound her to her Divine Son, she felt most keenly every danger that threatened Him, and every pang that wrung His Sacred Heart. Her seven sorrows here commemorated were the prophecy of St. Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the child Jesus in the Temple, the carrying of the Cross, the crucifixion, the taking down from the Gross, and the burial of our Lord. ST. LINUS, POPE AND MABTYR. St. Linus, the immediate successor of St. Peter, received the martyr's crown after a Pontificate of 12 yean. FEAST OF OUR LADT OF MEBCT. In the thirteenth century, when the Mediterranean was swept by Moorish pirates, a religious Order was instituted, under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for the purpose of collecting alms for the relief and ransom of Christian captives, of visiting them in their captivity, and restoring them when possible to their friends and families. Among the first members of this noble Order was a zealous Englishman named Serapion, who was received into religion by the founder, St. Peter Nolasco. His singular prudence and sanctity caused him to be selected for the important office of Bansomer, and he was sent by his superiors on two occasions to treat with the infidels for the ransom of the captives. His first journey was to the Moorish kingdom of Murcia in the South of Spain, where he succeeded in restoring to liberty 98 Christians. Being afterwards despatched to Algiers, he purchased the freedom of 87 others, but being unable to pay the price in full, he remained in the hands of the Moors according to the common practice of the Order as a hostage for the discharge of the debt. During the interval he employed himself in consoling and encouraging the Christian slaves and prisoners, and preaching the Gnupel boldly to the Mahometans, many of whom he converted to the Faiih. The Moorish Governor, enraged at his boldness, ordered him to be cruelly beaten and cast into a dismal dungeon. He afterwards condemned him to be stripped naked and fastened in a barbarous manner to two posts, his body being elevated in the air and his legs crossed In this painful position he was exposed to all the insults and outrages of the mob, and was finally hacked to pieces with knives and hachets, during which time he never ceased to preach the Name of Jesus and exhort the Christians to constancy and perseverance. 6T EUSTACE AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS. St. Eustace, a Roman general, suffered martyrdom together with his wife and two eons, shortly after the beginning of the second century. ST. EUSEBIUB, POPE AND MARTYR. St. Eusebiue, who succeeded St. Marcellua on the Papal throne, was banished by Maxentius to Sicily, where he died of the hardships inflicted on him. BAINTS COBMAS AND DAMIAN, MARTYRS. Saints Cosmas and Damian, brothers, were born in Arabia. They labored as Christian physicians, and exercised their art gratuitously. Denounced as Cbristianp, they suffered martyrdom at Kges, in Cicilia, under Diocletian, about the year 286. Their remains were brought to Rome, where a splendid church waa dedicated to their memory, and where they are still venerated. ST. WENCEBLAUB, KINO AND MARTYR. St. Wenceslaus, Duke of Bohemia, was remarkable for his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. His zeal for the propagation of the true faith led to his death at the hands of his brother, A.D. 982. ______

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