Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 21, 22 May 1902, Page 7

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR

May 25, Sunday. — Trinity Sunday. „ 26, Monday.— St. Philip Neri, Confessor. „ 27, Tuesday. — St. John 1., Pope and Martyr. „ 28, Wednesday. — St. Urban 1., Pope and Martyr. „ 29, Thursday.— Feast of Corpus Christi. „ 30, Friday.— St. Felix 1., Pope and Martyr. „ 31, Saturday.— Feast of Blessed" Virgin Mary, Help of Christians.

TRINITY SUNDAY.

On Trinity Sunday we are not asked to imitate the virtues of some saint, or to contemplate the merciful dealings of God with men. We are taken up, as it were, into the Holy of Holies, and invited to gaze on the radiant perfection of God, as the blessed see Him — One God in Three Divine Persons. Until the fourteenth century this feast was not generally celebrated in the Church, for the reason that all festivals in the Christian religion are truly festivals of the Holy Trinity, since they are only means to honor the Blessed Trinity, and steps to raise us to It as the true and only term of our worship. Aa Pope Alexander writes, in the eleventh century : ' The Roman Church has no particular festival of the Trinity, because she honors It every day, and every hour of the day ; all her offices containing Its praises, aud concluding with a tribute of glory to It.'

ST. PHILIP NERI, CONFESSOR.

St. Philip Neri, the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory, was born at Florence in 1513, and died at Rome in 1595. He established (1548) the Confraternity of the Most Holy Trinity, destined to take care of foreign pilgrims. Having been ordained priest (15,-)1), he devoted himself to the education of children, and for this work associated himself with other ecclesiastics, who were called Oratorians. He soon formed a congregation of these associates, whose statutes were approved by Gregory XIII. in 1575.

ST. JOHN 1,, POPE AND MARTYR,

St. John was chosen to succeed Pope Hormisdas in 523. Oast into prison by the Arian king of the Goths, he succumbed to the hardships inflicted upon him (A.d. 526).

ST. URBAN 1., POPE AND MARTYR.

The pontificate of St Urban lasted from 223 to 230. Though the Church generally enjoyed peace at that time, a local outburst of pagan fury claimed him as a victim.

THE FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI.

Pope Urban IV , in his decree concerning the festival of Corpus Chri3ti, gives the following explanation of its institution :— ' Although we daily, in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, renew the memory of this holy sacrament, we believe that we must, besides, solemnly commemorute it every year, to put the unbelievers to shame ; and because we have b'-en informed that God has revealed to some pious persons that this festival should be celebrated in the whole Church, we direct that on the first Thursday after the octave of Pentecost the faithful should assemble in the, church, and join with the priests in singing the word of God,' Hence this festival was institued on account of the greatness of the divine mystery ; the unbelief of those who denied the truth of this njystery, and the revelation made to some pious persons.

ST. FELIX 1., POPE AND MARTYR.

St. Felix I. was Pope from 269 to 274. Of the acts of this Pope nothing is known with any certainty, except the part he took in the deposition of Paul of Sainosata from the See of Antioch. Felix, who is said to have" confirmed the custom of saying Mass on the tombs of the martyrs, suffered martyrdom under Aurelian.

BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS.

This feast was instituted by Pope Pius VII. at the beginning of last century. Napoleon, in his ambitious attempt to become autocrat of the world, found a formidable obstacle in the opposition of the Supreme Poutiff, who refused to surrender the patrimony of the Church, or to allow the French Emperor to control the management of ecclesiastical affairß, As a consequence of his firmness, Pius VII. was detained in captivity for several years. In gratitude for his liberation, which seemed an answer to the prayers of the Church, invoking the intercession of the Blessed, Virgin on his behalf, he ordered the present feast to be celebrated. Under the title of ' Help of Christians,' the Blessed Virgin Mary has been selected as principal patron of the Catholic Church of Australasia.