Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 18 November 1920, Page 3

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR. November 21, Sunday. Twenty-sixth (last) Sunday after Pentecost. ~ 22, Monday.—St. Cecilia, Virgin and '-Martyr. ~ . 23, Tuesday.—St. Clement, Pope and Martyr. ~ 24, Wednesday.—St. John of the Cross, Confessor. ~ 25, Thursday.—St. Catherine , Virgin and Martyr. „ 26, Friday.—St. Silvester, Abbot. * ~ 27, Saturday.—Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr. St. Cecilia was a member of a noble Roman family. Betrothed by her parents, against her own wishes to Valerian, a pagan, she succeeded in converting him and his brother to the Christian religion. On this coming to the ears of the Prefect of the city, the two brothers were beheaded. The same sentence was passed on St. Cecilia, but owing to the clumsy manner in which the executioner performed his task the holy virgin lingered for three days in great agony, A.D. 230. St. John of the Cross, Confessor. St. John was a Spaniard. He received his surname from his special devotion to the Passion of Christ. He was associated with St. Teresa in reforming the Carmelite Order, of which he was a member. At the time of his death, in 1591, St. John was in his fiftieth year. S. Catherine, Virgin and Martyr. St. Catherine, a native of Alexandria, arid illustrious for her brilliant talents and profound learning, was, after suffering many cruel torments, beheaded by order of the Emperor Maximin 11., in the beginning of the fourth century. St. Silvester, Abbot. St. Silvester was born near Loreto, in Italy, in 1177. At the age of 40 he retired into a desert, in order that, free from worldly cares, he might be able to devote more time to prayer and contemplation. Having been followed by a number of disciples, he founded "several monasteries, to which he gave the strict rule of St. Benedict. Sf. Silvester died in 1267.

GRAINS OF GOLD A PRAYER. Only a little strength, Lord; For I am often weak: Only a ray of hope, Lord For life is often bleak! Give me a little light, Lord, That I may clearly see, And that I may keep, Lord, The path that leads to Thee! Give me a friend or two, , Lord, Whose hands will help me on; On whom, I may lean, Lord, As Thou didst once on John. Strength and hope and light, Lord, , And but one thing more — The great grace to find, Lord, Thee, when life is o’er I K. REFLECTIONS. A family without prayer is like a house without a roof it has no protection.—Jay. There is a reality in sorrow that is not in mirth. — Vaughan. An inward cheerfulness is an implicit praise and thanksgiving to Providence under ail His dispensations. Great principles find their proper issue in the faithful performance of little duties. —Farrar. Mary drew the Divinity to descend upon her by the gentle force of her humility.St. Catherine of Siena. He who lives but for God is never sad, save at having offended God.—: Francis' de Sales. No man can be generous with God who has not a great, broad love of his neighbors. Father Faber.