Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIX, Issue 52, 26 December 1901, Page 7

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR.

December 29, Sunday.-Sunday within the Octave of the Nativity ™ m j ot# Thomaß « Bishop and Martyr. J? 1 J ond »y— St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Widow. Iftn ", d J« Tuesday -St. Sylvester, Pope and Confessor. January 1, Wednesday .-Feast of the Circnmcision. „ A lnursday.— Octave of the Fetet of St. Stephen, First Martyr. 3, Friday.— Octave of the Feast of St. John, Apostle. 4, Baturday.-Octave of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs.

ST. THOMAS, BISHOP AND MARTYB. St. Thomas a Becket was born in London in 1118 his father 3TawsiT«assr Mass?"* the dignity, and was consecrated in 1162. From that timehe behi«hnnr C l 5 °' Clare ° don ' whi <* restrained the jnriSESSrftJj Son P After aS 6d tO clergy under secular jariadio! rco^utL^ t^z;^ir peit} ' and bani3hed ull th3kindred ° f *•£? r P^H m th raDCe ?? h °T Went to Rome - where Pope Alexander 111 received the saint with every mark of respect and veneration HrSr°Sf i qUarre1 ' P ° pe Al e«ndermade every possofe fh° Pri ac t Comp 1 J I . 8h V ec ? nciliation ***"«« the English king and the Primate King Louis of France did the same. Finding all f Pa n n 7 ltle r- th ! P ? pc at laßt * aye P««»l«ion to employ the rr n 2? It V6OOV 600 ! leßla ? tica '^ nsu^ his persecutors. Accord! onslitutiln TpV 1 "J 6 - the , Primate "olemnly condemned the BUDDor? PP r H tL Clare , nd °"- and excommunicated all advisers and supporters thereof, and all invaders of Church property Fearing that the Primate « ould lay the kingdom under an interdict, Henry began, at last, to show a sudden desire for p,ace. Thomas returned otngland where he wa« greeted by the people with transports of ]oy. He had received letters from the Pope, suspending and ex2u?TT m i?- th r . Prelate8 ' The cond ' llt °' the*? b"shojs iw i, * , ri^ at t ttvO v Carry ° Ut the P °P eV intentions. When Henry heard of th;s he broke out into one of hU usual fits Paying tni lr ere f° ° nC ttvO u r ' d me of that troublroome Priest ? ' Four knights, acting on these words immediately s< t out for Kneland and murdered the boly Archbishop, Dtcember 29 ,1170 Thomas TrTni^n^i in hllh 117 V nd 112 ° hfß were «moirfS J runty Chapel, where they were for several centuries the obiect of Sestet via deß "° yrf ih « *•*» - *-" SC. SYLVESTER 1., POPE AND CONVBSSOR. Hnrin*" f/ lv f e9ter ' a native of Rom *< w»8w »8 called to rule the Church stantinp I WC n 7; one^ar ß^hich- followed the accession of Con the Shf,r °h P" DCI P aI «« t « wa* v to provide churches for ihpr v ,J' W - Wer f T W> f ° r the firßt time ' allow «d perfect iberty .n the exercise of their rel-gion. The most ironortant ev«nV in the Pontificate of St. Syl w te, wa« the celebration rfSe *£{ General Council, which wa« prided over by t te papal legates and in which the here,yof Arius was condemned. St.^ylvestr died FEAST OF THE CIRCUMCISION. This i 8i 8 a festival celebrated on January 1 to remind us of rh« humility of our Lord in allowing Himaelfto be kerning ynum! bered among sinners, by submitting to the law.f the Jews fi£ cumcsion was a rel g.ous practice among the Jews in the otoeWanS "^ a distinctive mark was place 1 on male children rh? eighth day after their birth, and on all -dnlta whoeSbSoSthdl rel.g.on. It was established a» a distinctive sign of t?,e people of

Ha r £:S;^^