Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 2 March 1916, Page 3

Friends at Court

QLEANINQS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR Mju-ch 5, Sunday. l Quinquagesima Sunday. . >"'» ' 6, Monday. — SS. V Perpetua ' and 7 Felicitas, . „ , Martyrs.' • _ ~ 7 i Tuesday.— St. Thomas Aquinas, Bishop, Con- .' . ■ fessor, and Doctor. » , 8, Wednesday ,-t- Ash.. Wednesday.a, 9, . Thursday.— Frances of Rome, Widow, ; d;. ~ 10, Friday. The Forty Martyrs.■; : : ~ . 11, Saturday. —Of the Feria. . , ’ - ' / Ash Wednesday. •' ,v ; ;- ; ; The . custom of sprinkling ashes on the head as ' a sign iof humiliation -.and sorrow was common in- the East, frequent mention being made of it in the Old Testament. The Church has adopted this ceremony as an appropriate beginning of the penitential season qf Lent. On Ash Wednesday the time appointed for the fulfilment of the precept of Paschal Communion ' begins. ‘ .;, s'" . .; ■ \ . v 'St. Frances of Rome, Widow. , St. Frances, a native of Rome, exhibited from her childhood a remarkable ’ love of solitude and prayer. As she grew up these qualities became more marked, though she never, under pretext of engaging in private devotions, neglected the duties of her state of life her motto being A married woman must,' - when called upon, quit her devotions to God at the altar,' to find Him in her household affairs.’ After the death ‘ of her husband, St. Frances entered an Order of nuns which she herself had founded. She died in 1440, being then in the fifty-sixth year of herbage. GRAINS OF GOLD. LAGS DEO OMNIPOTENT!! He hath done all things well, -the ancient stars it , .:; . That trail their burning splendor o’er the skies But melodise His name on viewless bars. And worship Him with unguessed harmonies. Lo! \Nature’s eager song soars on the night, \V To shower His Throne with "light. He hath done all things well,the mighty sun, That great mediciner of earthly things, From age to age—yea, till its course be run, - Shall sing His glorious imaginings, d ; ; A million suns might wheel in close array,— “ More dazzling He than they. He hath done all things well,—the humblest flower That lifts its head, above the barren clay, Doth praise His perfect handiwork each hour, / The while it lives its little life away. What man could fashion yonder rose-bloom rare, >• ‘ • , . And make it half so fair? * / ' He hath done all things well,—He shaped my soul To feel the' gripping splendor of His reign; And I am more than all the worlds that roll Along the fiery paths of His domain. Exultantly, yet meekly, I accord, '• - . Vj ■ _ High homage to the Lord. ' ■ —Ave Maria. ■ ; >;