Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, Volume L, Issue 35, 6 September 1923, Page 3

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR. September 9, Sunday. —Sixteenth * Sunday after Pentecost. „ 10, Monday. — St. Nicholas of Tolentino, Con-, lessor. „ 11, Tuesday.— SS. Protus and Hyacinth) Martyrs , „ 12, Wednesday. —Feast of the Holy Name of / Mary. ~ 13, Thursday;—Of the Feria. ~ 14, Friday. Exaltation of the Holy Cross. ~ 15, Saturday.—Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Nicholas of Tolentino, Confessor. St. Nicholas receives his surname from a small town in the Papal States, where he spent the greater part of his life. 'He was remarkable for. his austerity, being accustomed to fast on bread and water several days in the week. In the pulpit and in the confessional his zeal and prudence were productive of an incalculable amount of good. He died in 1306. Exaltation of the Holy Cross. On this day we commemorate the recovery of the True Cross, which was left at Jerusalem by St. Helena, and which, haying been carried off by the invading Persians, was regained by the Emperor Heraclius in 628. Feast of the Seven Dolors of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the third Sunday in September there is also a commemoration of the sorrows of the Mother of God. Today the Church - singles out for our consideration one special dolor of Mary—her anguish while standing at the foot of the Cross. Grains of Gold TO THE MOTHER OF GOD. 0 Virgin, purer than the light! Mother of God ! thy welcome name, Linked by a mother’s dearest right, Still by Thy Son’s its place must claim. To form thy Jesus’ Sacred Heart, Mary! thy heart its life-blood gave; With His in joy it bears its part, With His it bleeds, mankind to save. In vain an entrance do we seek, To Jesus’ Heart, except,, through thine; To thy dear Son, 0 Mother! speak, And bid His Heart enkindle mine. DEPENDENCE ON GOD. The fishermen of Brittany, so the story goes, are wont to utter this simple prayer when they launch their boats upon the deep: “Keep me, my God; my boat is so small, and Thy ocean is so wide.” How touchingly beautiful the words and the thought ! Might not the same petition be uttered with as much directness every morning and evening* in our daily life: “Keep me, my God, keep me from the perils and temptations that throng around me as I go, si helpless, so prone to wander, so forgetful of Thy loving kindness. I am tossed to and from at the mercy of +he world; I am buffeted about by sharp adversity and driven before the storm of grief and sorrow. Except Thou dost keep me I must perish. Keep me, my God, for Thy ocean is so wide; the journey is so long, and the days and years are so many. In Thee, 0 Lord, do I put my trust.”— The Monitor, San Francisco. . REFLECTIONS. The crosses, which the Lord sends to His servants are very , sweet to them. — St. Hugh. Prayer places our understanding in the brightness and light .of God, and exposes our will to the heat of heavenly love.*—S,t. Francis of Sales. . ■> v. - .- It is. itself a sin against God, to think that riches are given you, to riot into your soul’s peril.—St. Cyprian. -; Before every action, at every step, let your hand form the Sign- of the Cross—St. Jerome, v ' ; , /