Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 26 December 1912, Page 3

Friends at Court

» GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR December 29, Sunday .—St. Thomas, Bishop and Martyr. ■ „ 30, Monday.St. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary. • /- „ 31, Tuesday.St. Sylvester 1., Pope and Confessor." January 1, Wednesday. —Feast of the Circumcision. Holy Day of Obligation. „ 2, Thursday.— of St. Stephen. ~ 3, Friday. —Octave of St. John the Evangelist. ~ 4, Saturday.—Octave of the Holy Inno- ••-•.. cents. St. Thomas, Bishop and Martyr. St. Thomas A'Beckett was born in London in 1117. Having embraced the ecclesiastical state, and given proof of singular ability and fervent piety, he was soon called to occupy very important positions in the Church. In 1157 he was appointed Lord Chancellor of England by King Henry 11., and in 1162 was elected Archbishop of Canterbury. Though remarkable for humility and meekness, he did not hesitate to boldly defend the rights of the Church against the unjust attacks of the English King. His firmness cost him his life. He was murdered in his. Cathedral by four knights at the instigation of the King, A.D. 1170. St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Widow. St. Elizabeth was the daughter of the King of Hungary, and the wife of Louis, Landgrave of Thuringia. She was remarkable for her charity, and took a special delight in serving the sick with her own hands. On the death of her husband, St. Elizabeth was driven from her home, and reduced to take shelter, with her children, in a building that had been used for swine. These and other privations she bore uncomplainingly. She died in 1231, in the twenty-fourth year of her age. GRAINS OF GOLD THE LARGESS OF THE YEAR. What does this New Year hold for me, What is its largess like to be, What shall mine eyes ere its wane see, As the morrow succeeds the morrow? Shall peace or strife fill each passing day, Life's sky be sunlit or sober gray; Will flowers or thorns strew my future way— Does the New Year bring joy or sorrow? Ah ! the New Year holds whatsoe'er I list; And my way will be dark with the shrouding mist, 1 Or bright by the golden sunshine kissed, Just as I choose to make it. We fill as we please all the years that run, them with rain or gild them with sun; Life's truest joy dwells in duty done, Its grief burdens those who forsake it. —Rev. Arthur Barry O'Neill C.S.C. The character of a man is formed by his daily thoughts, and daily words, and daily actions, until it becomes fixed. His principles stiffen into habits. As he thinks often, so he is likely to become permanently. Envy is the worst of evils, the one that pays least, because it never excites pity in the breast of anyone, and because it causes you to waste lots of time, concerning yourself about other people's business instead of spending it all in minding your own.