GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR

New Zealand Tablet, 3 December 1908, Page 3

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR

December 6, Sunday. — Second Sunday in Advent. „ 7, Monday.— St. Ambrose, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor.

„ 8, Tuesday. — Feast of the Immaculate Conception., „ 9, Wednesday. — St. Eutychian, Pope and Martyr. „ io, Thursday. — Octave of St. Francis Xavier, Confessor. „ ii, Friday. — St. Damasus 1., Pope and Confessor. „ 12, Saturday.— St. Melchiades, Pope and Martyr. St. Ambrose, Bishop, Confessor ,and Doctor. St. Ambrose, son of a Roman magistrate, was born in France about the year 340. In 374 he was consecrated Archbishop of Milan. His administration of this important archdiocese extended over twenty-three years, and was one continuous victory over paganism and heresy. Completely forgetful of his wordly interests and personal comfort, St. Ambrose was always at the command of anyone who sought his assistance and advice. Though full of tenderness and compassion towards all, he knew how to be firm and unyielding when the interests of religion were at stake. His theological writings and sermons have gained him a place in the foremost rank of the Doctors of the Church. St. Ambrose died in 397. Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her immaculate Conception was the first of the privileges by which the Blessed Virgin was prepared for the dignity of Mother of God. This privilege signifies that Mary never contracted the stain of original sin ; that her soul, in the first moment of its union with her body, was pure and spotless. She was thus excepted from the universal doom, in virtue of which every member of the human race enters the world stained by Adam's sin. This doctrine, so admirably in keeping with what the holiness of Mary's Son required, though expressed more or less explicitly in every age of the Church's history, was not formally defined until the year 1854.