Notes

New Zealand Tablet, 9 January 1913, Page 34

Notes

Movable Feasts of the Year On consulting the calendars for the current year the reader will notice that the movable feasts come very early. Shrove Tuesday comes on February 4, Easter on March 23, Ascension Thursday on May 1, and Pentecost on May 11. It is extremely rare that Easter comes so early in the year. Easter can never come earlier than March 22, as for that the full moon must be on the 21st and the following day Sunday. This double coincidence comes about once in a century, and that is the only occasion on which Ascension Day falls within the month of April . Unconscious Influence In a very readable book, entitled In a New Way, by the Rev. E. C. Hearn, consisting of a series of sermon-essays on various practical subjects, the writer introduces several interesting and instructive anecdotes by way of explanation and illustration. Here is one which carries its own moral— In an obscure country town of New England in the days of bigotry, there once lived a young man, the son of a Protestant merchant; and every morning when on his way to work he used to meet a little lad of some ten years or so, the son of a laborer. A nodding acquaintance sprang up between them; and now and then a remark was passed. Finally, one very cold winter morning, when the snow was knee-deep, and travelling was almost impossible, the young man, surprised at meeting his little friend out on such a disagreeable day, ventured to ask, him where he was going so regularly every morning, regardless of the weather or season; and this was the simple, boyish answer he received: “I’m going to serve Father John’s Mass.” “Oh!” exclaimed the

young man somewhat confusedly, “going to serve Father John’s Mass, eh?” and as he pushed on through drifts of snow, the little fellow’s answer kept ringing in his ears. What did the little fellow mean by. “serving Mass?” the seed of inquiry had been sown, and had fallen on good ground for the young man shortly after sought instruction, was baptised in the Catholic faith, and, giving up home and friends, consecrated his life to that God Whom he had learned to know and love through the unconscious influence which that little altar-boy had exerted over him by his remark about serving Mass.’ The Divorce Evil Those people in Great Britain who are clamoring for the loosening of the marriage bond by advocating greater facilities for divorce, would do well to consider the sad state of affairs which prevails at present in the United States. ‘Every right thinking man (said Cardinal Farley to a newspaper representative the other day) should raise his voice against the growing evil. It is the business of every man who loves his country to work to correct the fundamental errors which strike at family life, and it is the duty of every man to take a hand now in properly solving this most vital question. I speak against divorce, and so does every priest and bishop of the Church, because of the love of our people, because the Church now, as it always has in the past, recognises the need of protecting home and family life, and because it is God’s command. . . Just think of the facts for a moment. Statistics show that there have been some 100,000 divorces within one year. That means that the effect of a ruined home, of a disbanded family, is directly upon the double individuality affected by these divorces or upon 200,000 men and women. It means that there* a veritable army of men and women living in this country and one that is daily increasing, in which the moral rectitude has been removed. And how many children are affected by the example and direction of their parents in such cases! What an effect it has upon the lives of these children, and what an effect upon family life and homes in this country in general.’