PEARLS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE FOR OUR LITTLE ONES

New Zealand Tablet, 19 November 1914, Page 61

PEARLS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE FOR OUR LITTLE ONES

By the Rev. M. J.. Watson, S.'J. '■s (Author of -‘ Within the Soul/ and * The Story of Burke . and Wills/) ••' . ~

* * [All Rights Reserved.] v - IV. '' t : V - THE_ STORY ; OF A GARDENER. .- ; ‘ The Lord God ' took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it and to keep it.’— Gen. ii. 15. : • ' ■ * y ln ancient days, when pagan emperors ruled the world ; from the city of. Rome, a man named Phocas lived near the town of Sinope, in Pontus. He led the life of a hermit, sweetening his daily toil with hq)y contemplation and constant prayer. From early morn through the golden hours of the day he labored in his garden, training and pruning the fruit trees, tending the flowers, ' and removing hurtful insects and weeds; and his soul, at the sight of the abundance with which the earth repaid his industry, was wont to ascend in a rapture of love and thanksgiving ‘to God, the Giver of all good gifts. Around him he saw the white rose and the red filling the air with fragrance, the lilies, which held up their silver chalices to catch the rain and the dew of heaven; modest violets, ‘ covered up with leaves ; the passion flower, with its mystic symbols; and the * pastoral eglantine ’; and at his frugal meals he used cool, sweet roots of the earth, and the fruit of bush and tree —the blushing apple, the" purple clusters of the grape, the luscious fig, the golden pear, and the red heart of the pomegranate, for he shunned the gross and heating'meats obtained by the slaughter of innocent animals. Thus, he led a pure and blameless life, and with the abounding produce of his garden he fed the poor, the orphan and the widow,. and he was revered in all the country round for his gentleness and charity. He held it ever true, as the Lord .spake, that it was more blessed to give than to receive. Many of the homeless he sheltered, and his loving words sustained and strengthened the soul of the listener. The crowded street and the busy mart of the city he frequented not, but, content with little, he found happiness in his lowly cot- and garth, where" he studied Nature’s open book and learned secrets of true wisdom. In union with the singing birds, he praised the Divine Spirit for the marvels of Almighty power and love which he beheld in the flower and the leaf, and to him was revealed a heavenly vision, in which angels hymned . the Creator’s goodness unto men. And so he grew in faith and hope and love, his soul becoming indeed, in the sight of the Most High, ‘a garden enclosed,’ until he reached ; hoary age,- and the end of his earthly pilgrimage drew near. :.- ■ . _ ■ r ; ; He was well known to be a- follower of ; Christ, ■ and a hater of false pagan gods, and the Roman Governor, dispensing with the formality of-a public ;trial, sent some soldiers to put him to death. " One calm summer eve the executioners drew near his house, and entering, found him at supper. bade them welcome and gave them food and provided arresting place for the night. ‘ What errand brings you hither?’ he asked. * They replied : tWegseekr-a certain Phocas, who is a- Christian, and we are sent to slay him. Knowest thou the man ‘ I know him well, and ■ when morning dawns I will ; lead you to him.’ They were content and slept. 1 And Phocas went out into his garden and rejoiced beneath the moon and the silver stars that God had willed to grant him ; the martyr’s palm. No fear of death troubled his; soul, nor thought he of flight; but, taking a spade, he delved in the good, brown, soil, where roses and lilies clustered, the trees embowered a quiet ' nook, delved until he had made a deep trench. It was his -own' grave, whence he hoped to rise when ,the angel s trump should herald 1 the day of doom.

As soon as morning came, and.'the birds began to ; sing, his ; guests arose, t and he ministered while they broke their fast. When they asked ;v‘ Canst thou show us the man we seek?’- ‘ I can/ and he beckoned them Ito follow'. He led them. to the grave which, he had dug, and said: ‘ I am-Phocas. I worship Christ, the ' God of ;< Heaven, and willingly do I give my life . for Him.’ : Full sorely grieved they, and were - loath to kill one who treated them in such kindly fashion, but the Governor’s command they dared not shirk, and, as he knelt,'smiling by the trench, they struck ;one swift, merciful blow, . and buried him in the sweet, flower-decked earth, which he had loved so well. St. ■ Phocas suffered- martyrdom about the year 303. His feast is kept on the 3rd July, and he is the object of special devotion in the churches "of the East. One of the Greek Emperors erected,a great temple in his honor in the city of Constantinople. Prayer To Be Said Often. , .i ‘May my soul die the death of the. just, and may my last end be like unto theirs.’ Hymn for a,Martyr. O thou, of all Thy warriors, Lord, - ... Thyself the crown and sure reward ' ' - Set us from sinful fetters free, Who sing Thy martyr’s victory. , Right manfully his cross he bore, And ran his race of torments sore ; For Thee he poured his life away ; With Thee he lives in endless day. THE FAMILY CIRCLE; WHO LIKES THE RAIN ? ‘l,’ said the duck. ‘ I call it fun, ; . 3 ..., For I have my pretty red rubbers on; They make a little three-toed : track ' ' In the soft, cool —quack! quack!’ ‘l,’ cried the dandelion, ‘I! My roots are thirsty, my buds are dry.’ ; And she lifted a touzled yellow head Out of her green and grassy bed. ~ * I hope ’twill pour! I hope ’twill pour!’ Purred the tree toad at his grey back door; ■■■ •• ‘ For, with a broad leaf for a roof, I am perfectly weatherproof.’ Sang the brook, ' I laugh at every drop, . And wish they never need to stop, Till a big, big river I grew to be, And could find my way to the sea.’ \ ; * I,’ shouted Ted, * for I can run, ; - With my high-top boots and raincoat on, ‘ Through every puddle and runlet and pool I find on my way to school.’ ; NOT •FLATTERING. . - Two red-faced ; individuals, attired in corduroys and gaiters, were strolling , through a picture gallery, where they looked, and apparently felt, decidedly out' of. place. But at last"they brought up before a picture which really seemed to please them—a portrait of a lovely girl with a particularly ugly bulldog. - ‘ This is something like, Dick said one. ‘ What is it called?’ > . ~ Dick referred-to the catalogue. _ V’f ?‘.‘‘Beauty and the Beast/’ ’ he said. ■ “Jh •j -i The other man looked closer at the bulldog. : ~ ‘ Ah!’ he sighed, appreciatively, he is a beauty, tool’ < •'

AN AWKWARD BLUNDER. :. ' . The governor of the prison was escorting a party of women visitors through the building. They entered a room where three women were busily sewing. As they turned to leave- the room one of the visitors said : What vicious-looking 'creatures ! What are they in for? They really look capable of committing any crime.’ ‘Well,’ replied the superintendent, you see, they have no other home. That is my private sitting-room, and they are my wife and two daughters.’ ABOUT THE UNIVERSE. To form some idea of the largeness of the earth one may look upon the landscape from the' top of an ordinary steeple, and then bear in mind that one must view 900,000 similar landscapes to get an approximately correct idea of the size of the earth. Place 500 earths like ours side by side, yfet Saturn’s outermost ring could easily enclose them. Three hundred thousand earth globes could be stored inside the sun, if hollow. If a human eye every hour were capable of looking upon a fresh measure 4 of • world material 5400 square miles large, that eye would need 55,000 years to overlook the surface of the sun. : To reach the nearest fixed star one must travel 20.500.000. miles, and .if the velocity were equal to that of a cannon-ball it would require 5,000,000 years to travel that distance. Besides single stars, we know of systems of stars moving round one another. Still, we are but a short way into space as yet. Outside our limits of vision and imagination there are, no doubt, still .. larger spaces. The Milky Way holds at least 20,191,000 stars, and, as each is a sun, we presume it is encircled by at least 50 planets. Counting up these figures, we arrive at the magnitude of 1,000,955,000 stars— a thousand million' stars ! Who can comprehend it? . Yet this is only a part of the universe. The modern telescopes have discovered more and similar Milky Ways still, farther away. We. know of, some 3000 nebulae which represent Milky Ways like ours. Let us count 2000 of them as being of the size of our Milky Way; then 2000 by 20,191,000 equals 40.382.000. suns, or 2,019,100,000,000 heavenly bodies. SAVING MOTHER STEPS. There are so many steps for mother to take every day. She is kept busy, trotting about from morning till night. Her work is unending. Does it ever occur to you to save mother steps by offering, to run up or down stairs for her to fetch some needed . article ? A helping hand in the kitchen is always acceptable. Willing feet to run errands will not ,be refused. Mother’s hands and feet get tired, and she is ready and glad to make . use of service proffered by her boy or girl. Such service is sweet to her, and how happy it will make you who offer it! Mother would be less weary, too, at night, if she did not have to repeat things so often ! Prompt obedience would save her voice, as willing errands her feet. One way of serving God is to serve mother. Our Saviour was obedient to His parents and did their bidding. He had nothing to regret, when recalling His boyhood days. Help your mother, boys and girls! -Save her all you can and thus lengthen her days! Remember that ‘ Hofior thy father and mother is the first commandment with promise!