The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 16 May 1918, Page 45

The Family Circle

■ ' THE EXILE. ; v ■/ You smile at an old man’s fancy, -v * You wonder I should complain, When every want is satisfied. And I know not ache or pain; For sure the great God’s good and kind, And I thank Him night and day. But can I forget old Ireland, When my thoughts are there alway. You talk of your parks and gardens, * But I tell you they can’t compare With a country lane in Ireland When summer is in the air God gives of His own sweet beauty To every land, I know, But, ah ! you should be in Ireland, '*■ Where the hawthorn hedges grow. You boast of your asphalt pavement, ’Tis hard on an old man’s feet, And never a kind “God save you,’’ You hear on the busy street! But the winding roads of Ireland Lead up to the throne of God, And many’s the prayerful greeting They breathe in the dear old sod. Your houses are large and spacious, And furnished with regal store, And sure in the homes of Ireland No carpets are on the floor, But there is a gem surpassing The glitter of richest gold, The faith of the sons of Ireland, Where the evening “beads” is told. Though yours is a land of plenty. There are things that gold can’t buy, The lilt of the birds in Ireland, The grey of an Irish sky, The smile on the cheerful faces, The hearts that are quick to pray God keep you and guard you, Ireland, My heart is with you to-day. HISTORY OF THE HAIL MARY DATES FROM THE- YEAR 1515.

The Hail Mary, as we now recite it, dates from the year 1515. Originally it consisted only of the salutations of the Archangel and St. Elizabeth. Pope gory the Great ordered this primitive Hail Mary to be said at the offertory of the Masses on the fourth Sunday in Advent and there we find it as follows: “Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum; benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui”—“Hail Mary, lull of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”

In the thirteenth century, according to Durandus, it was recited after the Our Father, in beginning the divine office. Pope Urban IV., in 1263, added the Holy- Name of Jesus after the scriptural sentence, as the devotion of the faithful introduced the name of Max-y after the greeting.

The addition, “Holy Mary, pray for us sinners, Amen !” was made in 1508, and the Franciscans were accustomed to say, “Now and at the hour of our death.” A few years later Pius V. showed his approbation of the prayer, as we have it, by allowing its insertion in the Roman Breviary. It was about in this form that St. Ildefonsus, Bishop of Toledo, knew the Hail Mary. Still the Western Church did not accept it as a regular prayer until the eighth century. From the times, of the

Crusades "it % became the custom to say the . Hail Mary every morning and night at the sound of the church bells. ‘ : . --v

Pope Urban 11., 1090, ordained, from the day the army of the Crusades started that the church*- bells should ring three times—morning, noon, and night to remind the faithful of prayer. There exists a document from Eudes do Sully, Bishop of Paris, 1196, in which he urges his priests to see that the people knew and recited the Hail Mary. - THE CATHOLIC HOME. In every Catholic home (states St. Joseph's Parish Matjazin c) there should be at least (1) a large crucifix, (2) several holy pictures, (3), some statues of our Lord and His.saints, (4) holy water, (5) a Catholic paper, preferably our own Tablet, (6) some good Catholic books. Such a home will possess a truly Christian atmosphere which will tend to produce in the hearts that dwell therein a truly Christian spirit “NOBODY HOME.” An agent, approaching' a house, met a little boyat the gate and asked : “Is your mother home?” “Yes, sir,” said the boy, politely. The agent walked across the long lawn, and .after rapping several times without receiving an answer, returned to the youth, saying: “I thought you said your mother was at home.” * “Yes, sir, she is,” replied the boy. But I have rapped several times without receiving an answer.”

“That may be, sir,” said the boy. “I don’t live there.” a

HOW HE KNEW. It was the rush hour in one of those quick-lunch places where you help yourself and use the arm of your chair as a table. A man called for a piece of pie,, and chose a chair ; then, remembering that he wanted coffee, he dashed over to the service counter. When he returned with his coffee his chair was occupied by another hurry-up diner. Excuse me,” said the first man, “but that is my chair.” “How do you knovw it is your chair?” demanded the occupant in a surlyMone. “Because I can prove it,” stated the first man. “How can you prove it?” asked the occupant. \ By your trousers,” was the reply. “You are sitting on my pie.” HOW HE FELT. The conditions in the trenches were dreary in the extreme after the drenching and long-continued rainfall, but the irrepressible spirits of the “Pals” were not yet entirely quenched when the order came to leave the trenches. Hurry up out of this, my gallant soldiers,” was the cheery call of the sergeant to his waist-deep and rain-sodden men. “Soldiers!” came the derisive answer from one of them. “I’m not a soldier; I’m a blooming bulrush!” SMILE-RAISERS. Old Sea Dog (to gentleman viewing wreck) : “Yes, sir, that the Mary ITann, what was bound for Dundee wiv corfee.” Old Gentleman (hard of hearing): “Dear me! Coffins?” Old Sea Dog: “Corfins? Nah ! Corfee—what you makes tea of !”

“Humble as I am,” said a loud-voiced orator at a meeting, “I still remember that I am a fraction of this: magnificent empire.” “You are, indeed,” said a bystander, “and a vulgar one at that.”

•* The wandering artist had finished a picture of ■" the rising sun. v ' » -“That makes my mouth water/’ commented rustic onlooker/ *• 1 ■/

“Makes your mouth water!” exclaimed the artist. “What on earth’d’you mean?” '■*' “Why, it’s a fried egg, isn’t it?’’ replied the rustic..

Here is a “substitution” story that will take a lot of beating. It concerns a farmer who was given a shopwalker as farm laborer. The first morning he said to his new hand : “Take a horse and go to the station for a load of potatoes.” When he arrived, the station master said: “All right; but how are you going to take them without a cart?’ • t-.

“Dear me,” said the man, “I’ve forgotten the cart 1 ’ ’

So he tied up the horse at the station and went back for a cart! ,

“Mr. Smith,” said the boss, severely, “you got off yesterday afternoon, under the plea of being ill. I saw you afterwards going to the races, and you didn’t appear to be at all ill.” Mr. Smith was fully equal to the occasion. “You ought to have seen how sick I was after the second race, sir,” he said. The physician was soliciting information from the patient’s wife. “Does he grind his teeth in his sleep?” he asked. “Oh, no!” said the wife. “He don’t wear ’em to bed.” a Sammy (on leave) to old lady in his native village: “We were just going to cook our dinner one day when the enemy got our range ” Old Lady; “Dear me! Got your range, did they? Then, of course, you had nothing to cook your dinner on ?” The novice was not enjoying his first trip through the air and his more experienced companion regarded him in some amusement. “I say, Bill, what’s on your mind?” he demanded. “I was just thinking of Abraham Lincoln,” replied Bill, thoughtfully. “Abraham Lincoln?” “Yes. I was thinking how truthfully he spoke when he said a man’s legs ought to be just long enough to reach the ground.”