Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 21 April 1910, Page 603

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR April 24, Sunday. Fourth Sunday after Easter. St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Martyr. „ 25, Monday.— Mark the Evangelist. ~ 26, Tuesday.—SS. Cletus and Marcelliuus, Popes and - . ; Martyrs. „ 27, Wednesday.—St. Anastasius, Pope and Confessor. ~ 28, Thursday.— St. Paul of the Cross, Confessor. ~ 29, Friday. — St, Peter, Martyr. ~, 30, Saturday. St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin. St. Paul of the Cross, Confessor, St. Paul was born near Genoa, in Italy. From childhood he showed a special devotion to the Passion of Christ. He founded the Congregation of the Passion, the members of which, besides the usual three vows, make a fourth, that they will do their utmost to keep alive in the hearts of the faithful the memory of Our Lord’s Passion. St. Paul died in Rome in 1775. St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin. Siena, in Italy, has the honor of having been the birthplace of this great saint. From her earliest years St.- Catherine cultivated a spirit of perfect union with God, and even when engaged in the most distracting occupations succeeded in keeping herself no less sensible of His presence than if she had no exterior employment. She was indefatigable in her efforts to bring souls to God, and her words and example, and even the very sight of her emaciated but saintly countenance, were the cause of many conversions. She seemed to have a special grace for effecting the reconciliation of enemies. Her powerful influence in this direction was exercised, not only in the case' of private individuals, but also in reconciling States that were ;at variance, and in obtaining the submission and pardon of rebellious cities which had incurred the censures of the Holy See, But the most important-service she rendered to the Church was the restoration of the Sovereign Pontiff to his episcopal city, after a residence of nearly seventy years at Avignon, in France, an end being thus put to the innumerable evils resulting to the Church from the prolonged absence of the Vicar of Christ from Rome. St. ■Catherine died in 1380, at the age of 47, and was buried in Rome, in the Church of the Minerva, where her remains are still preserved. GRAINS OF GOLD LOSS AND GAIN. Thou with the hollow' eyes of care, Thou with the wrinkled brow, What is it that thy hands would dare To rob my breast of now'? The captain jewels of my heart Thy rude arras bear away I see both Youth and Joy depart Forever and a day!’ * Yea, Soul, I take this wealth of thine, But in its place I bring Old Age, whose stars with promise shine; And Grief, whose hush doth sing. I change to gold your earthly dross; I give you peace through pain. Behold my face 1 Men call me Loss, But I am heavenly Gain.’ —Ave Maria. If one does not take care, one’s whole life slips away in theorising, and we want a second career for practice. — Pension. Evils in the journey of life are like hills which alarm travellers upon their road they both appear great at a distance, but when we approach them we find them far less insurmountable than we had conceived. There is nothing so delightful as the hearing or the speaking of truth. For this reason there is no conversation so agreeable as that of the man of integrity, who hears without any intention to betray, and speaks without any intention to deceive. Do you think that your surroundings are ugly? Look at the sky. You can always have its beauty in your life, wherever you go, and its colors satisfy the eye with delicate shading such as no painter has been able to transfer to canvas. Do you think that your companions are vulgar nd mean? / Look at Christ. You can have His companionship for the asking. Life is not mere living. It is worship. It is the surrender of the soul to God, and the power to see the face of God. It is also service It is to feel that when we die, whether praised or blamed, whether appreciated or misinterpreted, _ whether honored or ignored, whether wealthy or destitute, we have done something to make the world we came to better and happier have tried to cast , upon the waters- some seeds which, long after we are dead, may still bring forth their flowers of Paradise. ’