'STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

New Zealand Tablet, 26 November 1914, Page 19

'STAND FAST IN THE FAITH'

(A Weekly Instruction specially written for the N.Z. . Tablet by ‘Ghimel.’)

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Question No. 1. What is meant by the ‘Truce of God ’ ?

Answer. The Truce of God was an institution of the Middle Ages. It was first introduced towards the end of the 10th century’ by the Council of •Charroux, and for the next two centuries or more was very strictly observed in France, Italy, and England. Fighting amongst petty princes and their retainers was fairly common in those days, and this truce was designed to limit and ultimately to do away with these private feuds. The length of the truce varied somewhat in different places, but as a rule it lasted from Thursday evening to Sunday evening, and during this period hostilities were strictly forbidden. These particular days ’ were chosen out of respect for the Prince - of Peace: Thursday, being the day of His Ascension, Friday and Saturday the days of His' Passion and Death, Sunday, that of His Resurrection. In some places the period of the Truce embraced the times from Advent to the Epiphany, from Lent to the octave of Pentecost, and included also tile feasts of the Blessed Virgin. Severe penalties, for example, excommunication, and deprivation of 'Christian burial, were enforced against . those who violated the terms of the truce. On •the whole the institution worked well and did much to tame the fierce passions of men. .-

Question 2. ; When and why was the Feast of the Holy Rosary instituted ? Answer. The feast was instituted' to commemorate the victory gained on sea at Lepanto (near the Gulf of Corinth) by Don John of Austria, who was commander of the 'Papal, Spanish, Venetian, and Genoese fleets, over the Turkish fleet. The fight took place on the first Sunday of October, 1571. . The Rosary had ? been said in public for some days to ask a blessing on the Christian forces, and .on the Sunday itself large processions were, held by the members of the Rosary Confraternity. Pope Saint Pius V. naturally attributed the victory (the first great defeat of the Turks on sea) to our Lady’s, powerful help, and accordingly ordered

a commemoration of the Rosary to be made on that day. One of Pope Leo 2£lll,’s happy inspirations was to grant a plenary indulgence on tins feast as often as one visited the Rosary chapel or the statue of our Lady in any church in which the Rosary confraternity has been duly "erected. ' Question 3. ‘ What answer am I to give to a Protestant who will insist on telling me that the Rosary is only a devotional toy and must result in distracting the Christian soul from the love of God?’ ' Answer. One of the best answers I have met with is to be found in that delightful story of the late Father Benson, Jig II hat Authority. The heroine, Isabel Norris, had many prejudices against Catholic practices, one of them being against what Seemed to her a mechanical and superstitious method’of praying. One day she saw the Rosary beads in the hands of* an old nun who in those troubled days of Queen Elizabeth was obliged to live with her sister ,in her house in the country. ‘ The’©ld lady’s, eyes were half closed and her lips just moving, and the beads passing slowly through her fingers.’ This troubled the Protestant maiden and she proceeded to ask her old friend, ‘How can prayers said over and over again like that be any good?’ ‘Mistress Margaret was silent for a moment. “ I saw young Mrs. Martin last week," she said, “ with her little girl in her lap. Amy had her arms round her mother’s neck and was being rocked to and fro, and every time she rocked she said O Mother! ” But then,” said Isabel after a moment’s silence, “ she Was only a child." “ Except ye become as little children," quoted Mistress Margaret softly. “ You see, my.lsabel, we are nothing more than children with God and His Blessed Mother. To say Hail Mary !. Hail Mary ! is the best way ,of telling her how much we love her. And then this string of beads is like our Lady’s girdle, and her children love to finger it and whisper to her. And then we have our Pater Nosters too ; and, all the while we are talking, she is showing us pictures of her dear Child, and w© look at all the great things He did for us, one by one ; and then we turn the page and begin again." ’ A Catholic finds in his sweet}, blessed beads a golden chain that 'binds him fast to" Jesus and His Mother fair, and a Catholic priest-poet but gives expression to the feelings of millions in these touching lines : : '

For I have told you every grief In all the days of twenty years, And I have moistened you with tears, And in your decades found relief.

Ah ! time has fled, and friends have failed And joys have died; but in my needs Ye were my friends, my blessed , beads ! ' And ye consoled me when I wailed.

For many and many a time, in grief, My weary fingers wandered round Thy circled chain, and always found In some Hail Mar}' sweet relief.

How many a story you might tell Of inner life, to all unknown ; I trusted you and you alone, But ah! ye keep my secrets well.