Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 15, 19 April 1923, Page 3

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR. April 22, Sunday. Third Sunday after Easter. ~ ; 23, Monday.St. George, Martyr. ~ 24, Tuesday.—St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen. • ',, 25, Wednesday.—St. Mark, Evangelist. „ 26, Thursday,—SS. Cletus and Marcellinus, Popes ■:'-.', and Martyrs. •:"•„ 27, Friday—Of the Feria. ~ 28, Saturday. Blessed Peter Chanel, Martyr. St. George. . St. George, Patron of England, was born in the year 280 at Biospolis or Lyada of Palestine. Tribune in the Guard of Diocletian, he suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia. His veneration is much spread in the Orient and in Russia. The saint is generally represented clad in armor, and riding a- white horse, charging the dragon (the devil) and transfixing him with his spear as he turns to flee. ■. St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Martyr. Born at Sigmaringen, in Cermnay, in 1577, St. Fidelis adopted law as a profession, in the practice of which his charity earned for him the title of "advocate of the poor." Having become a priest and a member of the Order of Capuchin Friars, he was sent, in 1622, by the Propaganda to Switzerland to endeavor to win back the Calvinist herotics to the Church. The extraordinary success of his mission excited the rage of some of these sectarians, who put him to death in the course of the same year. St. Mark the Evangelist. , , St. Mark, who was a Jew by birth, wrote, his Gospel at the request of the Romans, who wished to have set down in writing the Divine truths, which they had learned from St. Peter by word of mouth. Writing for Gentiles, he represents Christ, not in His character of Messias promised to the Jews, but as "the Lord of all •-. . . Who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil." St. Mark was sent by St. Peter to preach the Gospel in Egypt, where he received the crown of martyrdom in 69. His remains are said to have been transported, in the ninth century, to Venice., where a magnificent cathedsal bears his name. SS. Cletus and Mareellinus, Popes and Martyrs. St. Cletus, the third Bishop of Pome, suffered martyrdom under Domitian, about the year 89. St. Marcellinus occupied the Throne of St. Peter during a period of eight years. He died in 304, after having endured many sufferings for the faith in the cruel persecution of Diocletian. Grains of Gold A PRAYER. FOR PRIESTS. ' Keep them, I pray Thee, dearest Lord, Keep them for they are Thine— Thy priests whose lives burn out before Thy Consecrated Shrine. Keep them—Thou knowest, dearest Lord— The world—the flesh are strong And Satan spreads a thousand snares To lead them into wrong. Keep them for they are in the world Though from the world apart, When earthly pleasures tempt, allure, . Shelter them in Thy heart. Keep them and comfort them in hours Of loneliness and pain When all their life of sacrifice For souls seems but in vain. Keep them, and 0 remember, Lord, ■ • They have no one but Thee Yet they have only human hearts, With human frailty. Keep them as spotless as the HostThat daily they caress. • Their every thought and word and deed • Deign,. dearest Lord, to. bless. . ' ,: • : ' _, S •'.' —The Missionary.