Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 5 February 1920, Page 3

Friends at Court

.GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR. Feb. 8, Sunday.—Sexagesima Sunday. „ 9, Monday .—St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop, Confessor, and Doctor. „ 10, Tuesday.—St. Scholastica, Virgin. „ 11, Wednesday. Blessed Virgin Mary of Lourdes. ~ 12, Thursday.—Seven Holy Founders, Confessors. „ 13, Friday.—Of the Feria. ~ 14, Saturday. Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

St. Scholastica, Virgin.

St. Scholastica was a sister of St. Benedict; and, like him, she embraced the religious life at an early age. She was for several years superioress of a community of nuns at a little distance from Monte Cassino, where her saintly brother was abbot. St. Scholastica is supposed •to have died about the year 543.

Our Lady of Lourdes.

The pilgrimage of Lourdes is founded on the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin to a poor fourteen-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubiroux. The first apparition occurred on February 11, 1858". There were eighteen in all; the last took place on July 16 of the same year. In 1873 the great "National" French pilgrimages were' inaugurated. Pope Leo XIII. authorised a special office and a Mass in commemoration of the apparition, and in 1907 Pope Pius X. extended the observance of this feast to tho entire Church; it is now observed on February 11.

GRAINS OF GOLD

AFTER A RETREAT. What hast thou learnt to-day P Hast thou sounded awful mysteries, Hast pierced the veiled skies, Climbed to the feet of God, Trodden where saints have trod, Fathomed the heights above ? Nay, This only have I learnt, that Cod is love.

What hast thou heard to-day? Hast heard the Angel-trumpets cry, And rippling harps reply; Heard from the Throne of flame Whence God incarnate came Some thund'rous message roll? Nay, This have I heard, His voice within my soul.

What hast thou felt to-day ? The pinions of the Angel-guide That standeth at thy side In rapturous ardors beat, Glowing, from head to feet, In ecstacy divine ? —Robert Hugh Benson. REFLECTIONS. An aim in life is the only fortune worth the finding, and it is not to be found in foreign lands, but in the heart itself. Faith has a sort of vision of its own; but there is no light in which it can distinguish objects except the light of prayer. The light of prayer is as the beam of steadfast day. Father Faber.

What we are, and where we are, is God's providential arrangement—God's doing, though it may be man's misdoing; and the wise way is to look your disadvantages in the face and see what can be made out of them.

Love makes us constantly desire the presence of him whom we love; this love and this desire were consequently the reason why Jesus chose to remain with us in the Tabernacle.

What a great blessing is a friend with a breast so trusty that thou mayest safely bury all thy secrets in it, whose conscience thou mayest fear less than thine own, wh« can relieve thy cares by his conversation, thy doubts by his counsels, thy sadness by his good humor, and whose very looks give comfort to thee.—Seneca.

Calmly wait all crosses grasping Think 1 this life will soon be o'er, And we'll find these heart hopes flowering Where flowers bloom to die no more!