Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 17 September 1914, Page 3

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR September ’ 20, Sunday.—Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary. ~ 21, Monday.—St. Matthew, Apostle. ~ 22, Tuesday. —St. Thomas of Yillanova, Confessor. ~ 23, Wednesday.St. Linus, Pope and Martyr. ~ 24, Thursday.—Our Lady of Mercy. ~ 25, Friday.—SS. Eustachius and Companions, Martyrs. ~ 26, Saturday.—St. Eusebius, Pope and Martyr. Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To drink of that chalice of suffering which Hie Redeemer of mankind drained to the dregs has fallen to the lot of all the saints, but most of all to the Mother of God. Owing to the closeness of the sacred tie which bound her to her Divine Son, she felt most keenly every danger which threatened Him, and every pang that wrung His Sacred Heart. Her seven principal sorrows, commemorated to-day, were the prophecy of St. Simeon, the flight into Egypt, the loss of the Child Jesus, the meeting with her Divine Son, on the way to Calvary, the Crucifixion, the taking down from the Cross, and the burial of our Lord. St. Matthew, Apostle. Before being called to follow Christ, St. Matthew was a tax gatherer, and bore the name of Levi. Aftei the Ascension, he preached for some time in Judea, and, under Divine inspiration, wrote his Gospel to convince the Jews that Christ was the long-expected Messiah. St. Matthew afterwards proceeded to the East, where he won the crown of martyrdom. St. Thomas of Villanova, Confessor. St. Thomas was born near Villanova, in Spain, A.D. 1488. From his parents he inherited that charitable disposition which was his distinguished characteristic during the whole course of his life. He was also remarkable for a profound humility, which caused him to shun the admiration of the world, and which his appointment to the Archbishopric of Valentia served only to render more 'evident. St. Thomas died in 1555. St. Linus, Pope and Martyr. St. Linus, the immediate successor of St. Peter, received the martyr’s crown after a pontificate of 1 years. GRAINS OF GOLD. THE HEART OF HEARTS. God’s Sacred Heart —O sweetest words • That ever waked the slumbering chords Of music in a human heart More tender than the breeze that floats And sighs amid the wind-harp’s notes, When evening’s lonely steps depart. The Heart that loved us first and best, And showed its depth by such fierce test, Lj Our cold, forgetful hearts to move; jf ' One tear God’s anger had appeased, ' One sigh man’s fearful doom released. Yet He would die, His love to prove. Let us be content in work to do the things we can, and not presume to fret because it little. To discourage is to enfeeble; to destroy self-con-fidence is to limit the spur to noble action. What modern nations need at this time is not a new gospel, but the practice of the old one.