Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 15 April 1915, Page 3

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR April 18, Sunday. Second Sunday after Easter, , ~ 19, Monday.Of the Eeria. ~ 20, Tuesday.Of the Eeria. ~ 21, Wednesday.—Solemnity of St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church. ~ 22, Thursday.—SS. Soter and Caius, Popes andMartyrs. ~ 23, Friday.—St. George, Martyr. >, 24, Saturday.—St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Martyr. Saints Soter and Caius, Popes and Martyrs. We know very little of these two Pontiffs except the manner of their deaths. St. Soter won the crown of martyrdom in 177; St. Caius, after many sufferings for the Faith, died in 296, in the reign of Diocletian, "whose kinsman he was. St. George, Martyr. St. George has been recognised as patron of England since the time of the Crusades. Unfortunately, no authentic details of his life have come down to us He is believed to have been a soldier, and to have suffered martyrdom about 303. St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Martyr. Born at Sigmaringen, in Germany, in 1577, St. Fildelis adopted law as a profession, in the practice of which his charity earned for him the title of ‘ advocate of the poor.’ Having become a priest and a member of the Order of Capuchin Friars, he was sent, in 1622, by the Propaganda to Switzerland to endeavor to win back the Calvinists to the Church, The extraordinary success of his mission excited the rage of some of these sectarians, who put him to death in the course of the same year. GRAINS OF GOLD. COMFORT BY THE WAY. I journey through a desert drear and wild, Yet is my heart by such sweet thoughts beguiled, Of Him on Whom I lean—my strength and stay— I can forget the sorrows of the way. Thoughts of His love the root of every grace Which finds in this poor heart a dwelling place, The sunshine of my soul, than day more bright, And my calm pillow of repose by night. Thoughts of His coming ! For that joyful day In patient hope I watch, and wait, and pray; The dawn draws nigh, and midnight shadows flee, And what a sunrise will that advent be! Thus while I journey on my Lord to meet, My thoughts and meditations are so sweet Of Him on Whom I leanmy strength, my stay—• I can forget the sorrows of the way. Idleness has no advocate, but many friends. Self-distrust is the cause of most of our failures. There is not a moment without some duty. Praise not thy work, but let thy work praise thee. The more noise you make about doing good, the less real good you do. Be what you are. This is the first step towards becoming better than you are. * It does not help much to tell people they are doing wrong; show them how to do right. ° True courage is not incompatible with nervousness; and heroism does not mean the absence of fear, but the conquest of it. The saddest thing in the world is to feel that we are alone the best thing in the world is to feel that we are loved and needed.