Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 25 April 1918, Page 3

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR April 28, Sunday. —Fourth Sunday after Easter. ~ 29, Monday.—St. Peter, Martyr. . ~ 30, Tuesday.-— St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin. May 1, Wednesday.— SS. Philip and James, Apostles. ~ 2, Thursday.— St. Athanasius, Bishop and Con- ; - fessor. . ~ 3, Friday. —Finding of the Holy Cross. ~ 4, Saturday.—St. Monica, Widow. - SS. Philip and James, Apostles. St. Philip was a native of Bethsaida in Galilee, and was called to the Apostleship on the day after the vocation of St. Peter. From several facts mentioned in the Gospels, he appears to have been specially dear to his Divine Master. After the descent of the Holy Ghost, he preached in Scythia and Phrygia. He lived to an advanced age, and finally - received the crown of martyrdom at Hierapolis, in Phrygia. St. James, surnamed the Less, on account of. his stature or youth, was a brother of the Apostle St. Jude, and a relation of the Blessed Virgin, being a son of her sister or cousin. He was called to the Apostolate in the second .year of our Lord’s public ministry. After Pentecost, St. James became the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and took a prominent part in the Council of the Apostles held in that city in 51. He was stoned to death by the Jews, A.D. 62. '• The Finding of the Holy Cross. This festival has been celebrated in the Latin Church since the fifth or sixth century. It commemorates the discovery of St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, A.D. 326, of the Cross on which our Blessed Saviour suffered. In the words of St. Jerome : ‘lf the ark was held in such high veneration by the Jews, how much more ought Christians respect the wood of the Cross whereon our Saviour offered Himself a bleeding victim for our sins ? Christ selected the Cross to be the glorious instrument of His victory, and the Cross is the standard under which all His followers must fight His battles.”

GRAINS OF GOLD. QUEEN OF THE MAY. The fairest of flowers, Sweet Virgin, we bring, To lay at thy altar While glad voices sing ; And each heart is weaving Its garland to-day, To crown thee, our Lady, The Queen of the May ! Life may hold its burden Of sorrow and tears, And sin may endeavor To darken the years— But wilt thou remember, Though far we may stray, How pure were our hearts when We crowned thee in May ? And so, while our voices Thy praised proclaim, In fond supplication We murmur thy name —- Ah !' grant that our souls At the end of life’s way May crown thee in heaven Our Queen of the May !

None but God, eternal and incomprehensible, Who fills all things, can afford true comfort to the soul and true joy to the heart.