Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 14 April 1910, Page 563

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR ; '■ i - —" ■■. April 17, Sunday.— Sunday after Easter. Patronage of St. Joseph. „ 18, Monday.—Espousals of the Blessed Virgin Mary. * „ 19, Tuesday.— Leo IX., Pope and Confessor. „ 20, Wednesday. Apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes, „ 21, Thursday.—St. Anselm. Bishop, Confessor, and ■ V Doctor. ’ „ 22, Friday.SS. Sofer and Cains, Popes and Mar- « tyrs. ~ 23, Saturday.—St. George, Martyr. SS. Soter and Cains, Popes and Martyrs. We know very little of these two Pontiffs except the manner of their deaths. St. Soter won the crown of martyrdom in 177; St. Cains, after many sufferings for the faith, died in 296, in the reign of Diocletian, whose kinsman he was. St. George, Martyr. 1 _ St. George has been recognised as patron of England since the time of the Crusades. Unfortunately, no authentic details of his life have come down to us. He is believed to have been a soldier, and to have suffered martyrdom about 303. In emblem of the victory he thus gained over the Evil One, he is often represented in pictures as a knight tilting against a dragon. GRAINS OF GOLD SORROW. When Sorrow pale, a queen doth reign Within the heart’s strong citadel. The bitter word, that calls forth Pain, Falls from her lips we know full well. And yet we love her through bleak days Of wand’ring o’er this sin-stained sod; ■ ’Tis she who lights Love’s burning rays—’Tis she who turns our eyes to God. —Sacred Heart Review. It is of faith that God always answers right prayers, and in a way and in a degree beyond our most enthusiastic expectations; but He does not yet let us see how. We must take it on faith. We are quite sure that in the long run we shall not be disappointed.—Father Faber. Willing hands can always find something to do. There is no dearth of objects claiming attention, no lack of duties demanding performance, no day which is not full of important obligations, and no hour which is not pregnant with possibilities of immense good to be garnered and of work to be done. There are myriads of little men who do know and see all they long after, but that is because their longings are so shut in by valleys and their horizons so narrow and materialistic; but the larger dreams, the greater aspirations, the more desirable ideals, are only seen as Moses saw them from Pisgah afar off over in Canaan. To forgive our enemies and to refrain from unkind judgments are obligations incumbent upon every Christian. It may not be natural to do so, but it is unquestionably Christian. He who obstinately refuses to practise charity, to this extent, at least, forfeits his birthright in the Kingdom of Christ. What more, frequent than the judgments of the motives of others, and yet we all know from bitter experience how unjust such shortsighted searchings generally are. The habits of reverence, gentleness, courtesy, honesty, courage and patience, like their opposites, are absorbed by the child from those with whom he is most closely associated. It is in these attributes that an ounce of example outweighs a ton of precept. It is a charming custom to lose no opportunity, either in reading fiction or in the I circumstances attendant on every-day living, to express an " enthusiastic appreciation of the good, the noble, beautiful, and true, but valuable beyond and above all discussion of these virtues is ‘ To be as nearly as we can what we wish our children to be.’ Deal very gently with those who are on the downhill of life. Your own time is coming to be where they now are. You, too, are * stepping westward.’ Soothe the restlessness of age by amusement, by consideration, by noninterference, and by allowing plenty of occupation to fall into the hands that long for it. But let it be of their own choosing and cease to order their ways for them as though they were children. -