Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 21 July 1910, Page 1123

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR July 24, Sunday.— Sunday after Pentecost. St. Vincent de Paul, Confessor. „ 25, Monday.—St. James, Apostle. „ 26, Tuesday.—St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. „ 27, Wednesday.St. Veronica Juliana, Virgin. „ 28, Thursday.—St. Victor 1., Pope and Martyr; St. Innocent 1., Pope and Confessor; SS. Nazarius and Celsus, Martyrs. „ 29, Friday.—St. Felix 11., Pope and Martyr. „ 30, Saturday.—St. Martha, Virgin. St. Vincent de Paul, Confessor. St. Vincent was born in the south of France. Having been ordained priest, his. heart was touched by the state of spiritual destitution in which he found the remoter country districts of France. The remedy for this appeared to him to be a series of retreats or missions, by which the people might be taught their duties to God and man, and at the same time earnestly exhorted to fulfil them. For this purpose St. Vincent instituted a congregation of priests, popularly known in English-speaking countries as Vincentians. He was also led by a spirit of ardent charity to found numerous hospitals, asylums, and orphanages, and to establish confraternities for the education of youth, the service of the sick, and the relief of the destitute. St. Vincent died in 1660, at the age of eighty-five. St. Martha, Virgin. St. Martha was the sister of Lazarus, whom Christ raised from the dead. The family resided at Bethany, near Jerusalem, where they received frequent visits from our Divine Lord. According to a French tradition, Lazarus became first Bishop of Marseilles, while the tombs of Martha and her sister Mary are still venerated in Provence. GRAINS OF GOLD CONSIDER NOT MY LITTLE WORTH. 0, Thou! Who lovest not alone The swift success, the instant goal, But hast a lenient eye to mark The failures of the inconstant soul. Consider not my little worth— The mean achievement, scamped in act, The high resolve and low result, The dream that durst not face the fact. But count the reach of my desire; Let this be something in thy sight— I have not, in the slothful dark, Forgot the Vision and the Height. Neither my body nor my soul To earth's low ease will yield consent. I praise Thee for my will to strive, I bless Thy goad of discontent. To lessen the sorrows of others is the best way to assuage our own. What a person believes is often better judged by what he does than by what he says. There are sadder hearts than yours; go and comfort them, and that will comfort you. What have I done for God, religion, humanity? should be the daily question of every earnest Catholic. It is winter in the soul when, cold and hardened, it no longer feels God, nor grace, nor divine things. Have pity on those who struggle against the difficulties of life, and who are on the point of yielding to discouragement, and perhaps to neglect of duty. Let us not leave the smallest - interval between our duties. Let one duty interlace with another like the branches of a hedge, like the links in a chain. If our religion brings us courage, joy, and peace, wo shall not rail at the faults of men, but shall rather strive from a happy and loving heart to lead them towards the light. What a blessing is a friend with breast so trusty that thou mayest bury all thy secrets in it, whose conscience thou mayest fear less than thine own, who can relieve thy cares by his conversation, thy doubts by his counsels, thy sadness by his good humor, and whose very look gives comfort to thee. In the conduct of life habits are of greater importance than maxims, because habit is a living maxim that has become flesh and instinct. To remodel one's maxims means nothing. This is only to alter the title of the book. But to acquire new habits is everything, for it is to grasp the meaning of life, which is only a tissue of habits.