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Show I j Churcb Oniversal U HE general intention for I I DECEMBER. I Rec0tnmended by His Holiness Pius X ! The Spiritual Welfare of Soldiers. ! Throughout all the varied life of the p. , rch there is no class of her chil- IC who more need spiritual help than drHipr;' but who thinks of the souls , ' ,0e v ' fight their country's bat- I ! and P 1 their country's honor? I v t th " 1 ual Jan&ers of military I j , fpfare -r"at- A11 es of men I i 1 Under the shadow H lfthe J1 ti.e i iliever and the un-I un-I ivvrr 'n W) . - 'ed and the virtuous, S advent ! the patriot all find i . mnlovment. i.u- '.ningle. and are influ- j i 11 ' j V.. n;, - in jed environment. And I '."Tmiiuenr., - usually evil. The licen- ! ! ' lfsness f f crimps is proverbial. The I "u'lt is tl at t).e soldier must combat f J r t only hi.- own evil Inclinations, but i !'l oiii'iions, the example, the ridicule of I f i fe'loivs. And if it is difficult for the ivili in to tread alone the narrow path I f duty how almost impossible will it hlpome 'w here the priest is an unknown ... an unwelcome. guest? Thrre'ore we pray that God will in- I rrrase and muliply all that aims at I ie ir.oral uplifting and spiritual safe- ! cua-dinp of our soldiers. This will in- I n'de retreats to those about to enlist: j e jnciease of military chaplains, t(iat Maps and religious instruction ? miv be in easy reach of all: the forma- J tjp,; of soldiers clubs for mutual en- f'i ..nenuraRenient in godly living: the es- - tibliHhment of soldiers' libraries: the ! nnrous multiplication of alms for mil- ? Starv hospi'als and kin6Ved works: the ; prcanization of Red Cross societies, and aii other helps in time of war. Little ic being done for the cause of the sol-i sol-i : jjjtr: jt us not be blind to his great ! nf-pds. j Christus Imperator. f Th'Tt"5 a legend that's told that when I Jesus was born i 4nd laid on the manger of straw t p a far away city, in Rome, on that j morn - t k vision the Eemperor saw. i He beheld in a crystal the scene of the '. birth. j Anj its meaning flashed suddenly j clear, f nd Augustus the Great, though the 1 I ' lord of the earth, I Bowed to earth in an excess of fear. ! He saw that the empire he builded with ? : care ' "Would pass like the. leaves of the i trees I When winter winds whistle, an empire I more fair 1' Would be builded that never would cease 1 And Rome, the eternal, he famed for ' all time. Not because of Augustus the mild, ; ;ut as seat of an empire grand, van l and sublime, i . To be founded by Jesus the Child. t ; Augustus is gone, and his empire o'er-thrown. I j And his palaces crumbled away, f And his deeds and his virtues unknown, or but known I To the student of earlier day. While the Child, O! He lives, and today ; o'er the earth. With the holiest paens of joy. Countiess millions have gladness be- caue of the birth I- Of that wonderful Cave-born Boy. The grand gorgeous temples that tow-, tow-, ered to the sky, ! With marble and gold all aglow, By Caesars once builded, now mouldering moulder-ing lie, Htaps of ruins, moss-mantled and ' low. Ta?an glories have vanished. Rome's standards are furled. But by Tiber, today, is a dome. And the Child, from the Vatican, rules all the world, 1 Through His Vicar, the Pontiff of , Rome. Rev. Charles E. Coyle. Where Christmas Cards Are Made. Most Christmas cards are manufac- tured in Germany. The great bulk of r these are produced by chromo-litho-i praphy, of which Germany is the home. ) They ran be produced much cheaper I there than with us, wages being lower, ; and the atmospheric and other condi- f tions more favorable. The atmosphere has a good deal to do with chromo-lithography; chromo-lithography; for on a damp, foggy !. morning the printer finds his paper j stroteh'-s, and smudges and smears are I j the result. The manufacture, it may be t ; mentioned. Is going on all the year ; round; and while the cards are selling for Christmas, 190S, the publishers are ! busy selecting their designs for 1909. A Change of Sentiment. t The sentimental youth of this country has always had it "in" for the Catholic ' ehun-h berause of her common-sense ''PlHisition to everything that tends to lower the dignity of the marriage state, h is remarkable how the whole world t is emin to recognize the sound views I .'f the- ,d church. Five years have made a vast change in the opinions of "risible non-Catholics on the divorce question. Not more than that time has passed since practically we stood alone in opposition. From pulpit after pulpit came denun-eiations denun-eiations of our interference with indi-vi'lual indi-vi'lual rights, of the "tyranny" or Rome uhieh cm impelled the badly mated to regain re-gain chained to one another. Today, somehow. Protestantism is getting into !l!'e. but alas', not before Protestantism has i,,st its grip. It makes little different differ-ent nowadays what attitude the Protestant Prot-estant chu relies are taking or going to 'ake m thf question of divorce. They Live i,n tne strength which might have made thHr attitude worth consid-c'iK. consid-c'iK. And the worst of it is that in 'amkr:!)- t0 the f00lish of the love-. 1"'n "affinity" class, they have weakened weak-ened soin.-w hat our own influence as v-eii. I;t the catholic church can look back j v "h prido to the fact that consistently j she han stood out against a disease j v hicli she knew would eat the heart out 1 Jf soejKy, if it were permitted to grow. I Jhe principles that have stood for ages 1 cannot lightly be thrown aside because 1 , ? wxlern demand for more license, I hii-h is th real name for what too 'nany .-an "liberty." From Extension. 1 i1ray this bright and glad JCew Year A r-.i--, fr'm its garden of snow, ln'o the Ix arts I hold most dear -May softly and peacefully blow. And may the warmth of golden light, U l'h radiant beams from above, : ''r,k down upon this seed so white And make it a flower of love. Ald may this rose of fragrance rare trie-lose in its heart as a shrine, love. whn of its leaves made bare, ill show us a Love all Divine. Madge Whitney. Papal Recreation. Il is known that the principal recrea-; recrea-; jn''ri of his holiness, Pius X, is the sing-on sing-on of the religious choirs. Music is the )'" y that has a charm for him. He ti"'1 ,a:te for Pa'ntlng and litera-i litera-i A He little resembles the popes he uows. one recalls the great delight the late L,eo XIII took in belles- lettres and the pleasure he had in mak- I mg Latin verses. The Holy Father was I always very proud of the poetic pieces had composed in the language or v irgil. One of our ambassadors it was Le-febvre Le-febvre de Behaine thought he had round an excellent method to ingratiate ingrati-ate himself with the sovereign pontiff. He copied some of the Latin verses of Leo XIII and placed them in the crown of his hat. When he presented himself to the pope he arranged it so that he could ciuote the Latin of the Holy Father. As he was reading it, without appearing to oo so, from the bottom of his hat, the mischievous Leo, whom nothing escaped, es-caped, said to him in very good French: 'Your excellency, I thank you for your too indulgent memory, but your hat seems to trouble you. Put it aside, I beg you!" Le Cri de Paris. Need of Catholic Paper. "There is always much misrepresentation misrepresen-tation of Catholic teaching and Catholic purposes; some of It notwithstanding an admirable disposition on the part of many of our leading dailies to be high-minded high-minded and impartial. It is the office of the Catholic editor to expose the mistakes mis-takes of an erring press and make the truth stand forth. A Catholic paper makes useful knowledge accessible. For a small price it gives us an abundance of interesting news, puts us in touch with the endeavors of the church throughout the world-wide field of labor. la-bor. Thus it fosters that spirit of fraternal fra-ternal union and co-operation whence comes the power to achieve great things for God and country. Archbishop Christie. A Celtic Belief. One of the earliest and quaintest of Christmas legends is current among the Irish peasantry. They believe that even as the ox and the ass of Bethlehem Bethle-hem are said to have fallen upon their knees when our Infant Savior was born in the manger, so all domestic cattle cat-tle on the stroke of midnight that heralds Christmas day prostrate themselves them-selves in silent worship. This belief gives rise to a kindly feeling towards the brute creation. Hold It Important. Many of the German papers comment on the importance of the autograph letter let-ter sent by the German emperor to the Holy Father on the occasion of his episcopal epis-copal jubilee. The National Zeitung writes: "Prussia is the only great Protestant state with an embassy at the Vatican. The fact that the king of Prussia Prus-sia is the only one who congratulated the pope is well worthy of attention." Pondered in Her Heart. The eastern kings before Him knelt, And rarest offerings brought; The shepherds worshipped and adored The wonders God had wrought; They saw the crown of Israel's King, The future's glorious part And all these things the Mother kept And pondered in her heart. The Rockfort Star, a non-Catholic paper, utters a splendid eulogium on the Catholic priesthood, on the occasion of Father Heaney's brave work in' the mines at Cherry. "Wherever death and danger stalk a priest of the Roman Catholic church may be found. No danger is too great and no situation too severe for him to go if there are men needing the offices of the church. "Celibate, wedded to the church, carrying car-rying with him the consolations and sacraments, nothing deters him from his duty. If he dies it is only one soldier sol-dier fallen from the ranks and another steps up. "Father. Damien is known the world over for his wvrk among the lepers of Molokai, but other Damiens have worked and died unknown to fame. The priest who went down the mine faced unknown dangers, but he went. He knew there might be use for the offices of his position if perchance some poor miner had survived and needed consolation of the Mother Church as his life passed out. The mental and spiritual spirit-ual calm from his ministration even to one man. was ample excuse for his going. go-ing. "This accounts in large measure for the strong allegiance of the membership of this church, and those of us who are not Catholics must admit it. AVherever danger is, where death stalks, where he is needed, the priest goes, unquestioning, unquestion-ing, following his duty." To Repair Cathedral at Mayence. After a thorough examination by experts, ex-perts, it Mas found necessary to make extensive repairs on the old cathedral at Mayence, Germany. The walls were found to be badly damaged in several places, and one of the towers is about to collapse on account of defective structural struc-tural iron. As soon as the weather permits per-mits repairs will begin, as also will the erection of a new Catholic church in what is popularly called the new town of Mayence. Sisters of Charity in Spain. The grand order of the Sisters of Charity Char-ity of Spain numbers at the present time 6,543 members. The maintain 200 hospitals. hos-pitals. 20 insane asylums, 40 foundling hospitals and 248 homes for the aged and refuges for the young. In addition to this the Sisters teach 56,000 pay scholars, 15,600 poor children free of cost and 880 scholars at night schools. They also attend the sick in the prisons and military hospitals. And these noble women are the ones who were marked for persecution by the Socialist Saint Ferrer. Catholic Chief Justice. It is with pleasure, says the True Witness of Montreal, we learned that Sir Louis Jette, former lieutenant governor gov-ernor of Quebec, had been named chief Justice of the court of king's bench, for he is, in all respects, worthy of the honor and appointment. Sir Louis Jette is a man of whom all Catholics and Canadians may justly feel proud. An eminent Jurist and a peer among men of worth, he is, likewise, a sincere son of mother church. With the interests of law and order placed in the safekeeping of such men as he. Canada is bound ' to prosper, and our ideals cf honor and integrity must necessarily grow all the nobler and truer. Lady Jette will continue con-tinue to share her distinguished husband's hus-band's claim to our respect and admiration. admira-tion. They have given a son worthy of them to the church and the unequaled Jesuits. May the new chief Justice be long spared to us for Canada's greater and the empire's fuller boast. The Sanctuary Lamp. A little flame burns night and day Before the sacred shrine, A trembling flame all ruby red For Thee, dear Jesus mine. Oh, that I could such vigil keep And my devotion show, The llame my weak yet trusting heart, My love the ruby glow! Ellen Foley. Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain, who has been called to England owing to the serious illness of her brother, Prince Leopold of Battenberg, attended by the Duchess of San Carlos and the Duke of Santo Mauro, heard mass on Sunday at St. James's church, Spanish place, Lon don. Canon Gildea, senior chaplain to the Spanish embassy, received her majesty. maj-esty. Among those present were the Spanish Ambassador and Mme. de Villa Urrutia. The Godless School. The Spanish bishops, seeing the ruin which Godless education is bringing on France and the disaster for which anti-Christian anti-Christian teaching was responsible at Barcelona, are on the elert against the danger that threatens their country. They have addressed to the government a joint letter in which they point out that the so-called neutral schools at Barcelona laid the seeds of the revolutionary revolu-tionary outbreak in that city, and in view of the report that the premier intends in-tends to allow M. Lerroux and his friends to reopen those schools, they call upon the ministers to see that the provisions of the Concordat between Spain and the pope are duly observed. M. Moret's position has, under the circumstances, cir-cumstances, become very difficult. On the one hand, he cannot well disregard the Concordat, and on the other, he is pressed by some of his principal supporters sup-porters to afford the admirers of Ferrer free scope to continue his propaganda. What course is he to take? If he violates vio-lates the Concordat he will arouse Catholic feeling against him, and if he declines to comply with the demands of the Lerroux party, they will attack, instead of assisting, him. It is scarcely scarce-ly probable that the promoters of the anti-Christian education movement will succeed. The vast bulk of the Spanish people have been made aware of the anti-patriotic and immoral tendency of the "neutral" school in France, and they have no desire to see the Spanish primary schools turning out "apaches" to 'the detriment of Spain. Catholic Times. Plays. The Most Rev. Paul Bruchesi, archbishop arch-bishop of Montreal, has issued a Pastoral Pas-toral Letter condemning the plays presented pre-sented at the Academie de Misique in that city. In answer to a respectful letter let-ter from the management of that theatre thea-tre acknowledging "the just remon strances ' addressed to them and promising prom-ising that they "will in future keep a strict watch to see that the plays presented pre-sented should be in perfect accordance with what you have a right to demand," the archbishop points out that "similar promises have been made before and have not been kept," and insists upon a reliable censorship of competent and honorable men before he will remove his strictures upon that theatre. Private Audiences. Among those received in private audience audi-ence by Pius X within the past week have been his Grace Archbishop Sto-nor; Sto-nor; the Right Rev. Bishop Kennedy, rector of the American college; the Right Rev. Bishop Stanley, Titular of Emmans, and the Right Rev. Linn-borne, Linn-borne, Holy Cross congregation, bishop of Dacca, who came to bid farewell to the Holy Father prior to his departure for his diocese. Dr. Linnborne sailed on the 3d inst. for Bombay, and expects ex-pects to arrive at Dacca on Christmas eve. Audiences have also been granted to his Eminence Cardinal Gotti, Prefect Pre-fect of Propaganda, and Mgr. Bonzano, Rector of the Urban college "De Propaganda Prop-aganda Fide," who presented to His Holiness the new students of the great missionary institute in which Levites representing every nation are prepared for the priesthood. The Marquis de Soveral, Portuguese minister, has forwarded to Sir Edward Fithian, vice president of the Anglo-Portuguese Anglo-Portuguese chamber of commerce, the Order of Knight Commander of Our Lady of the Conception of Villa Vicosa, conferred upon him by the king of Portugal in recognition of services respecting re-specting arbitration and Anglo-Portuguese trade. The Marquis de Soveral has also forwarded to Sir John Roper-Parkington. Roper-Parkington. by command of the king of Portugal, the Order of Knight Commander Com-mander of Our Lady of the Conception of Villa Vicosa. ' |