The Family Circle

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LI, Issue 5, 31 January 1924, Page 53

The Family Circle

THE MOUNTAIN PATH. The mountain path that leads to Go >w Is rough and steep; Some spring ahead, and some go slow And some just creep, But none may mount to heights sublime By one grand leap. And here and there beside the path _,: Clear water flows, To quench the thirst of travellers; Sometimes a rose, Just one wild bloom, to gladden us On small bush grows. But mostly all is homely grass Of daily toil, With some sharp stones of bitterness Firm in the soil; And often rains of earthly grief Our visions spoil. But if we keep our heads well raised And look not down, If we go on when sunbeams dance, Or when clouds frown, Some day through mists will come a glint Of His dear crown. And that swift ray of loveliness, Far flung o'er space, Will" - our souls with great desire To see His Face, So that we end our journeying At greater pace. And in our efforts to ascend, We freely toss Aside the heavy gifts of earth, > Counting no loss; One treasure only must we keep: Our daily cross. . 0 summit of the mount of God! Art far? Art near? 1 know not, and I will not ask; My path is clear. I will but beg the grace I need To persevere. M. S. House, in the North-west Review. OUR CATHOLIC SISTERHOODS. Our Catholic Sisterhoods are the special pride, of every Catholic, for they minister to every form of human need, the refinement of the academy, the patience of the hospital, the humdrum of the school, the misery of the hovel. Nothing above their attainments, nothing beneath their tenderness, for they are the living expression of God's angels. These ladies of education and refine nent count for nothing the toils of a long day, provided that day has broadened the smile of hope on the face oi a colored Brother or Sister, provided that day has shot ever &o tiny a ray of awakening intelligence into the dark eye of the little Negro baby.— The Colored Claim (E. , St. Louis). ❖❖❖❖<&-&-$-$-»❖ SELF-CONTROL. There, then can be no doubt whatsoever, or this paramount duty of self-control. And, like so many other things, it is a question of habit in the natur; 1 order, of * grace in the supernatural. Habit is better than principle, and habits must be formed in youth if freedom is to be found in,old age. They are tyrants for good or ill. They carry you gloriously to freedom and honor, or rush head-

lqng with you to destruction. "More are made good by exercitation than by nature," said Democritus. And there never yet was a fine, pure soul that might not be ruined by evil habits, nor an evil inheritance that might not be sweetened and ennobled by good ones.Oanon Sheehan. SOME GOLDEN THOUGHTS. > The best of men are but men at their best. Only a. fool can make a mistake without learning something. To some people every incident is an accident, and every accident a calamity.. The mother who shapes the soul of her son is a greater scupltor i£an Michael Angelo. Even the man who is thankful for what he gets sometimes forgets to be thankful for what he doesn't get. When a fellow is always making new friends it may merely be a sign that his old friends are on to him. Occasionally a man finds it as hard to live up to his reputation as a woman does to live up to her photographs. Opportunity comes to a man once in a lifetime, but there is no limit to Ahe number of visits a man can make to opportunity. It is astonishing how much good goodness makes. Nothing that is good, is good alone; it influences others for good, and so on like a stone thrown into a pond which .makes circles that make wider ones and then others, until at last it reaches the shore. CANDLES: THOUGHTS FOR THE FEAST OF THE PURIFICATION. Candlemas is an ancient name for the feast day, February 2, when candles are solemnly blessed. The use of lights in the ceremonial of the Church dates back to the beginning of the Christian era. The gloom of the Catacombs in / the days when the infant Church was driven to perform the rites of the Holy Sacrifice at dawn and down in the depths was brightened, by candles. i Nor were the early Christian writers slow to recognise the beautiful symbolism that seemed to belong so peculiarly to the little waxen tapers that adorned the simple bare tables on which the sacred Mysteries were performed. Says one of them: "The wax, being spotless, represents Christ's most spotless Body; the wick enclosed in it is an image of His Soul; while the glowing flame typifies the Divine Nature united with the human in one Divine Person." Candles are used in the solemn administration of all the sacraments except Penance, which is given privately; but their most honorable office is about the altardoing lovingly, one would think, and in a lovely way, sentinel duty beside the earthly throne of the King, "the Light of the World," Who came to enlighten "them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death." "0 happy lights! 0 happy lights! Watching my Jesus livelong nights, Could I with you but take my turn, And burn with love of Him, and burn Till love had wasted me like you, ... Sweet lights! what better could I do?" Put away carefully the candles that you have had blessed. They are destined perhaps to do a holy service for you at the most important hour of your life. IN PRAYER. Lord, when in quiet prayer I go apart y To speak to Thee, my busy thoughts begin To gossip of the world; and hurrying in On every side, hopes, fears most strangely win A hushed repose from all this worldly din. * A silent talk with Thee, from heart to heart. 2-.-0 God, Thou wilt be kind, divinely mild; For while my spirit thus confusedly Wanders, Thou art its goal and Thou alone. V So, like a mother jwith her toddling child, , , Catch up the; heart ; that stumbles towards Thee And take it in botfi hands unto Thine own. —Rev. Francis P. Donnelly, S.J. y