Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 12 September 1918, Page 3

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR '" j * Sept. 15, Sunday.—Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary. ~ 16, Monday.-—SS. Cornelius and Cyprian, Popes and Martyrs. ~ 17, Tuesday.—Stigmata of St. Francis, ConfeSSOi*. ~ 18, Wednesday.—St. Joseph Cupertino, Confessor. Ember Day. Fast and abstinence. ~ 19, Thursday.—SS. Januarius and Companions, Martyrs. ~ 20, Friday.—SS. Eustace and Companions, Martyrs. Ember Day. Fast and abstinence. ~ 21, Saturday.—St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. Ember Day. FastDay (no abstinence). The Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To drink of that chalice of suffering which the Redeemer of mankind drained to the dregs has fallen to the lot of all the saints, but most of all to the Mother of God. Owing to the closeness of the sacred tie which bound her to her Divine Son she felt most keenly every danger which threatened Him, and every pang that wrung His Sacred Heart. Her seven principal sorrows, commemorated to-day, were the prophecy of St. Simeon —the flight into Egypt, the loss of the Child Jesus, the meeting with her Divine Son on the way to Calvary, the Crucifixion, the taking down from the Cross, and the burial of our Lord. Stigmata of St. Francis. God, not content with enriching His saints interiorly with every grace, has also vouchsafed to bestow on certain of them external signs of their conformity to their Crucified Lord, by miraculously imprinting on their bodies the marks of His five Sacred Wounds. One of those who were favored with this extraordinary grace was the seraphic St. Francis of Assisi. St. Matthew, Apostle. Before being called to follow Christ, St. Matthew was a tax gatherer, and bore the name of Levi. After the Ascension he preached for some time in Judea, and under Divine inspiration wrote his Gospel to convince the Jews that Christ was the long-expected Messias. St. Matthew afterwards proceeded to the East, where he won the crown of martyrdom. GRAINS OF GOLD. MATER DOLOROSA. .Vary, to thee have many names been given, .411 loving offerings, spotless Queen of Heaven ! Touching, inspiring, tender, prayerful, true, /Endearing thee to faithful souls anew. .Royal are they, in attributes most rare; ZJazzlingly bright those gems, serene and fair On thy pure brow unfadingly they shine, h inking thy sinlessness with Love Divine ! Of titles thou hast legion, Mother dear; /t'estful and sweet they fall upon the ear. Oh, but among them one supreme must be, So that sad hearts, crushed by life's misery, A sorrowing Mother thou, may find their balm in thee! ■ —Mary E. Mannix.

Keep the will free when anything naturally pleasing offers itself, some opportunity, some plan that you would naturally like; wait before you decide, and look to God, consult His will before you choose.—Father Maturin.