Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 20, 15 May 1902, Page 7

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR

May 18, Sunday. — Pentecost Sunday. „ 19, Monday. — Feria. „ 20, Tuesday.— St. Felix of Cantalice, Confessor. „ 21, Wednesday.— Ember Day „ 22, Thursday.— St. John Baptist de Rossi. „ 23, Friday.— Ember Day. „ 24, Saturday— Ember Day. St. Greogry 111., Pope and Confessor.

PENTECOST SUNDAY. Pentecost was the name given to the feast among the Jews held on the 50th day after the Passover, in celebration of the ' ingathering,' and in thanksgiving for the harvest From the Jewish use, it waa introduced into the Christian, and with special solemnity, as being the day of the descent of the Holy Ghost on the Apostles, and of the first solemn preaching of the Christian religion. From early times Pentecost has been regarded as one of the great festivals of the Christian year, and it was chosen as one of the times for the solemn administration of baptism. The English name of the festival, Whit Sunday, iB derived from the white robes in which the newly-baptised were clad. It is regarded as especially sacred to the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, in whose honor the services of the day are directly addressed. EMBEB DAYS. The Ember Days are the first Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of each of the four seasons of the year, set apart as fast days by the Catholic Church. According to the testimony of Pope Leo, they originated in the time of the Apostles, who were inspired by the Holy Ghost to dedicate each season of the year to God by a few days of penance ; or, as it were, to p»y three days' interest, every three months, on the graces received from God. The Church always commanded the faithfal to fast at the beginning of each of the four seasons of the year, because it is at this time that she ordains the priests and other servants of the Church, which eveu the Apostles did with much prayer and fasting. Thus she desires that during the Ember Days Christians should fervently abk of God by prayer, fasting, and other good works, for worthy pastors and servants, on whom depends the welfare of the whole Christian flock ; she also desires that in the spring Ember Days we should ask God'a blessing for the fertility of the earth ; in summer for the preservation of the fruits of the field ; in autumn when the harvest is ripe, and in winter when it is sheltered, that we should offer to God, by fasting and prayer, a sacrifice of thanks, petitioning Him to assist us, that we may not use His gifts for our soul's detriment, but refer all praise to Him, the fountain of all good, and assist our neighbor according to our means.

Vice is most dangerous when it puts on the semblance of virtue. Before every decisive resolution the dice of death must be thrown. Practical education implies the art of making active and useful what we learn. When we see the mantle of our guilt on someone else, how quickly we condemn ourselves. Prudence is common sense well trained in the art of manner, of discrimination, and of address. He alone who can resist the genius of the age, the tone of fashion, with vigorous simplicity and moral courage is a man. A psalm which cultivates the spirit of gratitude is a psalm which we ought often to read. If we were more grateful, both our joy and our strength would be increased. Gratitude is born in hearts which take the time to count up past mercies. To enjoy alone is to be able to share. No participation can make that of value which in itself is of none. It is not love alone, but pride also, and often only pride, that leads to the desire for another to be present with us in possession. There is no part of the history of Jesus but Mary has her part in it. There are those who profess to be His servants who think that her work was ended when she bore Him, and after that she had nothing to do but disappear and be forgotten. But we, O Lord, Thy children of the Catholic Church, do not so think of Thy Mother. A wise and high-principled person avoids, if possible, the office of confidant to husband and wife, to kindred or friends of long standing during the time of their slight estrangements. But if the confidence is forced upon him, he remembers, even though no reservation has been made, no pledge exacted, that it ia a confidence of a most sacred kind, He who lives without a definite purpo°e achieves no higher end than to serve as a warning to others. He is a kind of bell buoy, mournfully tolled by the waves of circumstance to mark the rocks or shoals which are to be avoided. What the suu glass does to the sun's rays — converge them until they become a blazing and irresistible pomt — that a definite purpose does to the energies of the soul. It brings them to a focus, and achievement follows as a matter of course.