The Faminly Circle

New Zealand Tablet, 24 February 1921, Page 45

The Faminly Circle

ROSES. f *■ • I went to gather roses and twine them a ring, For I would make a posy, a posy for the King. I got a hundred roses, the loveliest there be, From the white rose vine and the pink rose bush and from the red rose tree. But when I took my posy and laid it at His feet * I found He had His roses a million times more sweet; There was a scarlet blossom upon each foot and hand, And a great pink rose bloomed from His side for the healing of the land. Now of this fair and awful King there is this marvel told, That he wears a crown of linked thorns instead of one of gold. Where there are thorns are roses, and I saw a line of red, A little wreath of roses around His radiant head. V * A red rose is His Sacred Heart, a white rose is His face, . And His breath has turned the barren world to a rich I, and flowery place. He is the Rose of Sharon, His gardener am I, And I shall drink His fragrance in Heaven when I die. ' —Joyce Kilmer. f GRACE AT MEALS. Always remember to make the Sign of the* Cross and say before eating : r “Bless us, 0 Lord, ’and these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through And before leaving the table say: “We give Thee thanks for all Thy benefits, 0 Almighty God, Who livest and reignest for ever. May . the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. - ■’ A FRETTING. % There is one sin which is everywhere and by everybody underestimated, and quite too much overlooked in valuation of character. It is the sin of freezing. It is common as air, as speechso common that unless it rises above its usual monotone we do not even observe { it. -AA--1 Watch any ordinary coming together of people, and see how many minutes it will be before somebody frets-that is, makes more or less complaining statements of something or other, which probably every one in the room or in the car or on the street corner, it may be, knew before, and probably no one can help. Why say anything about it? It is cold, it is/hot,, it . j s we C it is dry, somebody has broken an appointment, ill-cooked a meal, stupidity or bad faith somewhere has resulted in discomfort. * There are plenty of things - to fret about. It is simply astonishing how much annoyance may be* found in the course of every day’s living even of the simplest, if one keeps a sharp eye on : that side of things. Even Holy Writ says we are prone to “trouble’* as sparks flying upward. But even to the sparks flying upward in the blackest of smoke, there is a blue sky above; and the less time they waste oh the road the ■: sooner they will reach it. Fretting is all time wasted on the road. TREASURE OF THE ROSARY. The Rosary is at once the most comprehensive and comforting of all j private or family devotions. It unites the most holy prayers to the meditation of the principal mysteries in the lives of Our Lord-and the. . - Blessed Virgin. St. Dominic, to whom it ? was revealed gained a great many conversions to the Church by its means,and it has remained the most popular prayer ever since. The Rosary, said with devotion,‘is the surest,, aap simplest way of praising Our Lor.l and

honoring His Mother. Therefore, we should try, especially in this month, set apart by our Holy Father for its particular practice, to acquire a deeper love for it..; The name Rosary was chosen to indicate its character. As the rose is composed of leaves, thorns, and flowers, so the Rosary supplies subject for meditation on the ' joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries of the Incarnation, redemption, and union of the soul with God. Those who say the Rosary frequently with devotion find meditation easy, because they acquire the habit of it unconsciously to themselves." In saying the Rosary we give our memories to God that He may dwell in our thoughts and enlighten us by His. Holy Spirit. Those who have lost the habit of considering the mysteries and petitioning . for the • fiist fruit might be stimulated to practice again what must be dear to them from home associations by having their memories refreshed; Joyful mysteries:—(l) Annunciation—humility ; (2) Visitation—charity ; (3) Nativity—poverty; (4) Presentation in the temple — obedience; (5) Finding in. the temple — seeking Jesus. Sorrowful mysteries :—(l) Agony in the Garden—contrition ; (2) Scourging—penance ; (3) Crowning with thorns mortification; (4) J esus carrying His cross—patience under trial (5) Crucifixion— abnegation. Five Glorious mysteries:— (l) Resurrection— conversion ; (2) Ascension—zeal ; (3) Descent of the Holy Spirit; (4) Assumption grace of a happy death ; (5) Coronation of —confidence in Mary. Thus the Rosary brings forth acts of faith, hope, charity, expressions of gratitude for blessings received, i epentance for sin, and resolutions of amendment. With Mary we seek Our Lord, and live in spirit with them the years of the hidden life. ALL’S WELL. When amid the roar of wind and sea, We hear the watchman’s cry, We still our rising fears, And sweetly sleep in peace. In life’s savage storms,’ When anguish wrings our hearts, We cry to God for help And never cry in vain. When launched on death’s dark voyage, Assailed by doubts' and fears, * May we hear above the storm Our Heavenly Watchman cry All’s well! All’s well! —Allan Macsherry. - HE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND. A motorist was showing off his car to an old sea captain, whose knowledge of recent developments on terra firma' is somewhat hazy. “How fast can she travel?” asked the captain, “Fifty miles an hour.” The old sea-dog grunted dubiously., His eye caught the steering-wheel. . Is that your wheel?” he inquired 1 “Yes.” 1 ■ “Then where’s your compass?” ... V^. “Don’t use one.” " . “Oh, she don’t work like a boat, then?” .... {y “Quite different.” - . . ~ ; I? . : Again the captain grunted as his eye wandered ' °y er the snorting contraption, until he caught sight of an extra tyre fastened on behind, when he demanded triumphantly: - * 'A-?.. - r : , ' - -NoWj sh . e ain’t like a boat, why in "the name ■(B Davy Jones do yer carry that there life-belt?” WOULD STAND A BETTER CHANCE. fe£;; Followed by seven sturdy and, eager-eyed children he woman the firm ' lips v entered’ the restaurant and looked around for a suitable ;table.v An obsequious waiter showed her to a comfortable corner and offered her the menu; anticipating a large order and a substantially. : m tuJl UP " ■

“Let me see! Beefsteak!" murmured the woman, thoughtfully. . Then she turned to her eldest daughter. “Steak for you, Bertha ?” she asked. “Yes, please, ma.” . “You, Reginald?” - “Yes, please, ma.” And so on till her seven children had plumped for beefsteak. Then she spoke to the waiter. “Bring me a nice, well-cooked steak and eight plates, please!” The astounded menial gasped. “Didn’t you hear me?” she demanded. “Yes, ma’am!" he said. “Only I was thinking that if your family sat at the table next to the lift and sniffed ’ard, they’d get more of a meal." SMILE RAISERS. Teacher: “What have the various ■ expeditions to the North Pole accomplished?" Dull Boy: “Made g’ography lessons harder.” “I began life without a halfpenny in my pocket,” said the purse-proud man to an acquaintance. . “I did not even have a pocket,” replied the latter, meekly. * * Aunt: “I’m amazed at you playing’ the. piano when poor little Fido has only just been poisoned. Little Doris: “It’s quite all right, auntie. I’m only touching the black keys." She thought herself awfully smart as a shop-assistant. “Do you keep fountain-pens?” the timid-looking man inquired, quietly. “No,” she snapped, “we sell them.” “Anyway," he said, as he strolled towards the door, “you’ll keep the one you were going to sell me. Good morning.” ( • Witness: “He looked me straight in the eye, and ” Lawyer; “There, sir, you’ve flatly contradicted your former statement.” Witness'; “How’s that?" Lawyer: “You said before that he bent his gaze on you. Will you please explain how he could look you straight in the eye with a bent gaze?” A doctor who was superintendent of the Sunday school in a small village asked one of the boys this question: Willie, will you tell me what we must do in order to get to heaven ?" Said Willie: “We must die." “Very true," replied the doctor, “but tell me what we must do before we die.” We must get sick," said Willie, “and send for you." William did not shine as a student, and his reports clearly proved this, yet he insisted to his mother that he was right at the top of his class. You see, ’ he explained when one of his reports was under scrutiny, “that ‘ E ’ is for ‘ excellent ’ and that ‘ D ’ is for ‘ dandy.-’ ” “But," persisted his mother, “the little girl across the street gets almost nothing but ‘ A’s ’ on her reports.” ' - “Well, mother," responded the boy, : “I hate to give her away, but that * A ’ stands for ‘ awful.’ " And it is said that he got away with it.