Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 13 April 1911, Page 651

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR April 16, Sunday—Easter Sunday. „ 17, Monday— Monday. ~ 18, Tuesday— Tuesday. „ 19, Wednesday Within the Octave. „ 20, Thursday Within the Octave. „ 21, Friday— the Octave. ~ 22, —Within the Octave. Easter Sunday. ‘The festival,of^Easter,’ writes St. Gregory, is the solemnity of solemnities, because it raises us from th ' earth into eternity, which it enables us to enjoy beforehand by faith, hope, and charity.’ ‘ ‘‘You shall rise again!’ This is what the Church says to us by the eloquent voice of her ceremonies. From the holy temple all signs of mourning have disappeared. The altars are decked out with extraordinary magnificence. Ornaments of gay color and rich embroidery appear. Every face is bright. The bells are all in motion. The song of joy—the Alleluia —that word of the language of heaven, fallen on earth for our festive days, resounds on all sides, is repeated every moment ; is varied again and again ; is modulated into every key; and -when thereto are added the rays of a beautiful sun, avoid, if you can, those feelings of hope and delight which it is the mission of this great day to inspire.’—Gaume.

GRAINS OF GOLD EASTER. Sursum Corda 1 The Lord has risen indeed! Let us be glad, Rejoicing on this Day of Days: Bring your sacrifice of praise, No heart bo sad. Sursum Corda ! The Lamb redeems the sheep. O Sinless One ! Fierce conflict o’er with death and shame, The Key to Heaven, His own dear Name. 0 gift, hard won ! Sursum Corda 1 Christ lives, and reigns on high, In splendour bright. In sweet compassion for our race, He shed' His Blood and did efface Death’s dismal night. Besurgaml We shall rise, and share Eternal bliss ! 1 Christ will the prize of Life bestow On all His dear redeemed below. He knoweth who are His !

Faith is the magnetic needle which guides the soul when the polar star of reason is wrapt in darkness. When a man is his own worst enemy he really needs no other enemies. He is most unfortunate as he is. The person who thinks of nothing but a ‘ good time 1 in this world is usually also making provision for a bad time in the next. The pleasant things in the world are pleasant thoughts, and the greatest art in life is to have as many of them as possible. Catholics must recognise how precious a privilege it is to be allowed to assist their dear ones even after the shadows of death have hidden them from mortal view. Do what you can to believe, be liberal and beneficent ; still, the riches in the universe do not equal the value of these two virtues, nor the reward which they will receive.—• Bossuet. - An indiscreet man is more hurtful than an ill-natured one, for as the latter will only attack his enemies, and those he wishes ill to, -the other injures indifferently both friend and foe. Whoever will labour to get rid of self, to deny himself according to the instructions of Christ, strikes at once at the root of every evil, and finds the germ of every good.— Fenelon, The foundation of domestic happiness is faith in the virtue of woman; the foundation of political happiness is faith in the integrity of man; the_ foundation of all happiness, temporal and eternal, is reliance on the goodness of God. The slightest act may be done with a graciousness that warms the day, or with a hard indifference that almost repels us from goodness itself. It is possible to buy a newspaper or pay a car fare in such wise as to make newsboy or car conductor feel for the moment that ho is in a friendly world.