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Show ' . . CHURCH CALENDAR. The General. Intention for May. ; fuiid;iy. 14 Third after KasU'r. Pat ronage of St. Joseph. St. Pachomius. Monday, 15 St. John Baptist de la - Halle. - Tuesday. 16 St. Ubaldus. Wednesday. 17 St. Paschal. Thursday, IS St. Venantius, Friday, 19 St. Peter Celectine. Saturday, 20 St. Bernardiiie of Si-rnna. Si-rnna. THE FIRST CRUCIFIX. ' All birthday gifts that most delight A little heart of just throe years. Are each acclaiin'd with rapture till i A greater treasure yet appears. 'Tis hut a tiny wooden shed. I ; Whose open doors show rattle mild, j I A maiiRer, and the gifts of kings, A tentle Mother arid her Child. A happy face grows grave with joy. "Oh! this must little Jesus be! J 'And this His Mother dear. I think, I For He is safe upon her knee. A manger, too. and d-ar brow n beasts! i t-r. ii i.- m-, mt- iiiuy eei: ' oh. Mother see His little feet!" The crowning gift is nov display'!. Two dimpled h;mds in iuick accord Stretch forth to take a Cross that 1 K'a rs -.; The figure of the dying Lord. A troubled glance from creche to cross Is this Ihe Kaby grown to Man? A pause the hig tears gather fast As awe-struck eyes the wonder scan. , knew. He wore a crown of thorns That prick rd the little robin's breast 4 1 knew He died upon the cross, 1 never kneWsobs down the rest, Till, pointing; . to the cruel nails That mar the form so still and sweet, A cry breaks "Mother, see- His ' hands! Oh, Mother, Mother, see His feet!" O. M. .in the Tablet. MSGR. O'REILLY ILL. j He is the Oldest Living Prelate in the Church. I j Mser. H'l'narcl O Ueilly, the historian. mid now that Pope Leo is dead the old-esi old-esi living prelate in the Unman Oatho- j . !!' church, is seriously ill at Mount St. i ; Vini-ent'fs on the Hudson, the mother i lionso of the Sisters of Charity. Msgr. o'UHUy is 93 years old.- and close I friends among the clergy and laity ! ? v ho have seen him lately declare that he is slowly dying. He has been at Mount St. Vincent's, for more than ! : twenty years, and was accustomed to i - say mass every morning. ! Msgr. O'Reilly is the author of sev- j 'al w orks, notahly the life of Pius IX and one of Leo XIII. whose official historian his-torian h was. He has traveled in va- rious parts of the world and has been ! f signally honored by three popes. j ; THE DANGERS OF MIXED MAR- ! , RIAGES. A few comments on the evils 1 of mixed marriages, from the j M't nv. Dr. Henry, bishop j of Iown and 'nnnor. are likely to prove of seasonable import. The bishop finds a KiumiiK icnoeucy among ,ainoncs to I ti arry non-Cat holies, notwithstanding j the fact that experience in SS per cent j . of oases has proved them to turn out I unhappily. His lordship also notes fre- lt;ent instances of young "atholic men ', ; nd women marrying persons of a dif- fr-rent religion in non-Catholic churches as racil es- ,an increasing number of j applic ants for' dispensations which can ! ln granted only by th- holy see. "Leo XIII." says the bishop, "in hi j ' Kncyclieal of Feb. 10. JWSO. expresf-ed ? liiniself with no uncertain mind on the I subject wlin he wrote: ; " ''are must also be taken that the : faithful do not enter into marriage I with thos? who ar strangers to the 5 'aiholic fold, for whei) minds do not 1 ;:trrce as to the observances of religion. ii is scarrely possible to hope for agree- l i;.fit in other things.' J I "Mairiage." pays Dr. Henry. "Is a di- i ; :i,e institution, the Christian mar- j ria being- the perfect antetype of the j :o.ion of Christ with his church. . . . ; I The w ife should be subject to the hus- 5 b-.ud -is the church is subject to Christ. I ; Tli'-re are. it is true, precautionary I noitions inherent in mixed mar- ri.ii.-f-s, hut of themselves they do not I I j'-jnove th"se dangers. How often are f . ' re . conriiiions no sooner made than tir-y arc iompleteIy forgotten? In the j ' pm-hi majority of eases the preeau- I f iuy promises of safeguarding the ! ' fiili anri the practice of the Catholic j ! iri'Ek.ii aiKj the Catholic education of ?. children are left unfulfilled from indifference with which th Pro- 1 test a nt views every form of religion j .'' : iiiciifference in which his Catholi.; I jMihi'T freijtiently shares. The danger j :" 'ii'- I.1IHI l iih i'iniirii ir kc: j " i:e;, ihe husband is 'atholic and the i v non- "atholic. It w ill not surprise f oiif if thy become, when they grow j i i Id and careless Catholics with- I 7,,.;) for the faith, or with little I fa:i . if any kind. 'Whenever a Catho-' Catho-' !!. g ir ir woman has a desire r"' ! :nptaf" . become engaged to I ': vy a j-t , .-.! ,ide the communion ' ' r!i- church I Aii advice quoted in t ;. Mmitatio . V ..ild be kept in mind: i '. e. rtajn n an yaid: ' "Withstand the j -:! .idi.g: a:t r-iemedies come too ? 1 ' New Ycrk Freeman's Jour- :,. :. i RECOMPENSE. 1 J T .- e ,-i v tear a sniile is born. 1'. "!u dark despair there comes a iMoni; I Ti',;:ts rray sigh for things that die, T.,,; i,"),es lives on. I n. ' I ' "ary .wanderer traveling far. i ir,g where t lie angels are. jf :- f'-- l is eyes to darkening skies, m.d a sxar. i " hing eyes, deep veiled in night, ' for ihr morning light,- i ' " ai th" strife of hidden life, I "' i;rarer to the right. ' I " toii.-r on Life's stormy way, I y-U fi-e in the bitter fray, I r'.y.iU t'Mid afar the end of war, ! A d r st, ime day. t '' one our friends depart, hopps with the funeral cart: death reveals what life conceals: ' still, my Leart! !I Ciaham Du Rois, in Philadelphia 1 y.y uing Bulletin. j AGED CATHOLIC PRELATES. K.shop McQuaue of Rochester, who I . ! lp succeeded on his retirement by 4 vicar general of the diocese, is having ben consecrated as Bishop j ' Uoeh-ster in July 1868. Archbishop v'-iiain of Boston, one of the most ' ;"'rtani of the Catholic dioceses jn country, was consecrated in 1875. was born in Boston In 1822 and ' 'I'".- S3. Bis-hop McCloskey of Louis- j lr. ,vas consecrated in May, 1868. 'i e tiincese ovfr which he presides is i; ' "wn in Church designation as "!.udoviv.p)olitana." I I'ishop Hogan of Kansas City was I '..sf.,.,., as Bjhop of St. Joseph " September, 1S8. He was born in l.iui"rii-k in IS'JJt. and is 7G years old. ' ardlnal (Gibbons was consecrated as ! :,m archbishop in 1S6S. Archbishop T;yan of Philadelphia was consecrated l,1K"2- Ho was born in Tipjrary in !331. and is 74 years old. . -hhishot) ICbier of 'iwlnnati. who 4ied recently., was consecrated bishop !i ' in 1857 at Natchez, Miss., and became Bishop of Cincinnati in 1S83. Archbishop Arch-bishop Farley was consecrated in 1S95. He was born in 1S42 and is one of the younger prelates of the Church in tins country. Bishop McDonnell of the Diocese of Brooklyn was consecrated in 1S02. He was born in Brooklyn" in 18o4. Western Watchman. "VANITY OF VANITIES." "I have seen and contemplated two of the greatest rulers on the face of the earth the civil ruler of sixty-five millions and the spiritual ruler of two hundred and fifty millions of people.' I have conversed with the president and the Pope in thfir private apartments: apart-ments: and I am convinced that their oxaltc-d positions, far from satisfying the aspirations of their soul, did but I till them with a profound sense of . their grave responsibility. No one is better qualified than Solomon Sol-omon to express from experience an opinion on the power of the pleasures of sense to promote human happiness. Every creature ministered to his personal per-sonal gratification, he' yielded to every excess, he denied himself nothing that his heart desired: and. as the fruit of all this, he. declared that he was weary of life, and that all was vanity find vexation of spirit." Cardinal Gibbons, Gib-bons, DEVOTION TO THE MOTHER OF GOD. Every Catholic should love the month of May and the devotions to the queen of heaven. The one who does not is not a faithful member of the church so dear to the heart of the Divine Son. There is something peculiarly beautiful and attractive . about Mav devotions, however:-that appeals to ail hearts, be they innocent or sin-hardened. The simple prayers and hymns carry one back to the days of childhood when sin, and care and worry and the trials of afterlife were yet undreamed of, and, moved by such sweet memories, many heartfelt prayers ascend to the Throne of Grace in repentance and in hope. Repentance, for those who have sinned hope that graces and blessings may-continue. may-continue. CONFIDENCE. IN THE BLESSED VIRGIN. i Let us have confidence in Mary, and go to her in all our troubles. With her aid. and under her protection, we shall vanquish the infernal foes that battle against us: we shall conquer those enemies en-emies that often press us so hard; ,we shall come forth victorious from the fierce combat of life. Mary, with the kind hand of a mother, will lead us on to glory and happiness, for her maternal mater-nal heart sympathizes with us. her afflicted, af-flicted, suffering, exiled children. From her place beside the throne she intercedes inter-cedes for us, and we well know that with the scepter of intercessory power, pow-er, she rules that sacred realm of all mercy and love the sacred heart of Jesus. Home Journal and News. THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY. It has become evident that the sentiment senti-ment of the Catholics of the country demands the opening of the lecture rooms and laboratories of the Catholic T'niversity to young men prepared to follow undergraduate courses. The number of Catholic young men in the High school? throughout the country who are equipped to profit from the iciciiiit:M onereu in ine scientific scien-tific work especially is very large. Then students are of an age when they cannot can-not be subjected to the non-Catholic influences which dominate in universities univer-sities of equal equipment. Since the univvsity has? appealed to the Catholics Catho-lics of the United States, it seems only just that the work of a large corps of professors of unusual eminence, together to-gether with an excellent apparatus, should be placed at the service of every young man capable of taking advantage advan-tage of the opportunities offered. The undergraduate courses r so arranged that they lead w ithout deviation to practical success in life. i TRIFLING WITH FAITH. Too many Catholics hold their faith too lightly, and do not appreciate at anything like its true value this most precious of all gifts. They are proud of being Catholics, ready to boast of j being Catholics, ready sometimes to ; fight for their faith, when they do not show its influence on their lives. They regard it as a kind of inheritance come down from a long line of ancestors who preserved it amid a thousand trials and persecutions, and which, ns a matter mat-ter of course, they are to transmith unsullied to future generations. But here is the fallacy it is no heirloom, heir-loom, entirely at their behest and under their control, ft is a precious gift from the garden of Cod, His gift to man, that will live in this cold world of ours only by constant care, that can thrive and blossom only by the most zealous and anxious watchfulness. Those who are ever ready to criticise the Church and its teachings, to arraign priest. Bishop, and even the Vicar of Christ himself before the court of their judgment, judg-ment, are piaying a dangerous game. Their faith is in danger. Those who neglect their religious duties, . who sympathize , with every rebellion against the constituted authority in the Church, have a faith that is rapidly dying and that needs a miracle to save and restore it. Men live and men die, but the Church remains. You cannot sever faith from the Church. Cut off from the Church, faith is lost in this land, where vice and error in every form and under every seductive guise menace our faith. We need especial watchfulness. Every parent should implant into the heart of his children a love for the faith and a high idea of its value that through life they may look upon the very idea of losing it as the greatest of perils. They should Instil it into their mind that loyalty to the constituted authorities, above all. to the Vicar of Christ, is one of the greatest guarantees of faith. Catholic Kecord. SOCIETY'S EULWARK. The Church and Her Teachings the Savior of Society. Man is by nature a being fashioned for society. His instincts, his needs, demand society: they demand the guarantees guar-antees and the encouragements of Dciety. He depends for his existence and for his growth upon the family, the first of all social units: individual and family depend for the undisturbed enjoyment of their most sacred rights upon the higher social form the state. It is the superior ability of the body politic that secure.0 "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The great movements which improve im-prove and elevate the human race spring from the emulation which so-cety so-cety supplies, and they are carried to success through the co-ordination of distinct forces under the law of unity, which is the abiding principle of order, power and beauty. For man the absence of social organization means much warfare with his fellows, the paralysis of his energies, and barbarism barbar-ism as hi? permanent condition. Man, the perfectible being us nature intended intend-ed him, is not possible outside of society. so-ciety. Society requires a central authority, a government. We are here con- fi-onted with the great problem which underlies all philosophy the-const taction tac-tion of society upon principles which, while guarding' it from anarchy, will guard it with no less jealousy from despotism. - Anarchy is the total disruption of the social framework. Authority is needed to avert -this evil; but authority sug- I gests the danger of an evil no less fatal, fa-tal, the abuse of authority, or despotism, despot-ism, which, under pretence of warding off ruinous rioting, crushes out with iron heel the rights which it was instituted in-stituted to preserve. Anarchy and despotism des-potism are the Scylla" and Chary b,d is-of is-of civil society. Death lurks in both and will come as surely and swiftly from one as from the other. Never in the -history of . the world was the difficulty of the social problem felt so keenly by humanity as it is today. to-day. Society is unstable; it reels as if drunk with wild passion. At one moment it is trembling on the brink of final dissolution amid the clamors and violence of Communists and Nihilists: at another it is rushing with the mad shriek of despair into the. ruthless grasp of military Caesarism, or worshipping wor-shipping idolatrously the irresponsible absolutism of the State. Doctrinaires have lied to society. In barkening to them, society renounced the principles of life with which its divine author had endowed it. and.it is paying the penalty of its apostacy. What those principles are. the Church, the faithful I custodian of the revelation of God. tells us. Her teaching saves society. Arch-bishop Arch-bishop Ireland. THE RUSSIAN CHURCH. I The essential difference between the Roman Catholic church and the Russian Rus-sian (more correctly the Greek) Catholic Cath-olic church is that the latter does not acknowledge the supremacy of the Holy Father. There are a number or smaller points on which the two churches differ, hut the one stated is the one great and important one. "MY VESPER PRAYER." Filled with weariness and pain. Scarcely strong enough to pray In the twilight hour I sit Sit and muse my doubts away O'er my broken purposes. E'er the coming shadows roll I will breathe as vesper prayer "Jesus Savior of My Soul." Let me to Thy. refuge fly. How the words my thoughts repeat, To Thy refuge Lord I come. Though unfit to touch Thy feet. . Once I gathered sheaves for Thee v Dreaming I could hold them fast, Now I can but idly sing, O receive my soul at last. I am weary of my fears. , Like a child when night comes on In the shadow Lord I pray, "Leave, O leave me not alone." Through the tears I still must shed, Through the conflict yet to be, Though I falter while I pray, "Still support and comfort me." All my trust in Thee Is stayed, Does the rhythm of the song Softly falling on my heart. Make its purpose firm and strong? Can it be it is Thy peace Now descending while I sing. That my soul may sleep tonight "Neath the shadow of Thy wing." Thou of life the fountain art. If I slumber on Thy breast, If I bring myself to sleep, Sleep and death alike are rest. Through the shadows that are past, Through the shadows yet to be, ; Let the ladder of my prayer, Rise to all eternity. Note by note its silver bars, May my soul in faith ascend, Till I reach the highest round In that kingdom without end. Not impatiently, dear Iiord, Though I bow my head and sigh, "Jesus Savior of My Soul. Let me to Thy refuge fly." KATHARINE A. ENNIS. Stamford, Conn. HE WILL STILL SAY MASS. Even Though the Poor Priest Has Lost His Right Arm. The New York Sun says: Infonna-Rome Infonna-Rome that the pope has announced that he will confer the extraordinary honor on the Rev. Luis Martin. S. J., the provincial pro-vincial of the Jesuits, of allowing him tion was received in this city from still to say mass, although his right arm has been a mputated. One of the strictest rules of the Catholic Cath-olic church is that in regard to what are designated the "canonical fingers" of the priest. These are the thumb and index in-dex finger of each hand, which alone are allowed to touch the Blessed Sacrament. Sac-rament. They are specially anointed with holy oil when the priest is ordained. or-dained. In celebrating mass the priest, i immediately after he has placed the I sacred host on the corporal after the I elevation, joins the thumb and index finger of both hands and never sep-i sep-i arates them until the communion is over unless he touches the sacred host. It will be remembered that Father Martin, owing to a cancerous affection, j had to have his whole right arm amputated am-putated three weeks ago. This would ordinarily have prevented his ever celebrating cel-ebrating mass again. When the pope learned of the operation, and that Father Fa-ther Martin was rallying from its effects, ef-fects, he paid that "so beloved a priest should not be deprived of the consolation consola-tion of his daily mass." Another priest will have to assist him at the altar, however. HIGHER CRITICISM. The startling denials of the divinity of Christ, utter d in recent years by prominent ministers of religion outside out-side the Catholic church show clearly that Protestantism is losing ground after four hundred years of stubborn onslaught. As a result of the principle prin-ciple of "private interpretation" the truths and myserPs which are the very foundations of Christianity are in our day being relegated along with the' fables "Of " the heathen deities .to the myths of antiquity. And no argument ar-gument will stay the hand of the iconoclast. icon-oclast. While th? dissenting Christian world is being overturned by what is known as "higher criticism," in string contrast con-trast is the position' of the Catholic church which, after nineteen hundred years, is still strong in her conservatism conserva-tism as regards the essentitt teachings of her' founder. Not persecution or calumny or ridicule or the machinations machina-tions of wily governments have been able to swerve her from th nath nf duty. She has guarded zealously the sacred legacy which she received from the apostles, and 'he gates of hell hav? not prevailed against her. Sceptics and atheists may have been irreverent in derision of . her dogmas, but neither human intellect' nor' diabolical malice have sufficed to win away '.from her the millions of souls who accept her teachings as the word of God. The strength of the Catholic church in . our days of unbelief, Ijes, apart from the support of God. in her mar- I vellous system of government. The Church will not brook disobedience to I her laws: 'hor on the other hand does I she multiply her dogmas to tax unduly the faith of hsr children. Whjle she insists oh. the necessary truths she allows the widest difference of onin-ion onin-ion in matters that have not bee.i defined. And 'she speaks ex cath-dra only when the faithful would be imperiled im-periled if she remained silent. Besides she is not bound -down to one method of arriving at th truth. Iter dogmas do not stand or fall with the literal or figurative sayings of the Bible. Her dogmas will never contradict con-tradict the Scriptures. On the contrary, con-trary, they are derived mostly from the sacrfd writings, but the Scriptures are not the only source bv which she knows how to teach -and, guide her children in ; this valley of'" tears. In her search for the truth tradition plays no less a i.art than the w ritings of thv Apostles. And" naturally-enough. .-The. truths of' religion cannot" alp be writr ten in one book. Nor could the Apostles Apos-tles had. they lived ' themselves-to the end of the worid havp written . all the things don-1 'by Jesus while. He was on earth.- Besides, unless God Him-; self directed their handwriting, it would have been impossible to avoid some obscurity. There is imperative, therefore, another means by which the truth may be discovered, or, having been discovered, may be interpreted to the safety and spiritual comfort of the human race. In the government of the Church tradition serves her where the Scriptures fail. By tradition she may learn what is obscure in the Scriptures and even whut is not contained con-tained in the Scriptures at all. By tradition she can discern what is spoken figuratively and what is to be taken literally in the Book of Revelation. Revela-tion. Confident, therefore, that she is the "pillar and ground of truth." the Church is not afraid of scientific in-j in-j vestigation. One truth cannot contradict contra-dict another. As her utterances ex cathedra must be true if God is faithful faith-ful to His promises, no fact of science sci-ence and no methods of criticism can disprove what is authoritatively stated as the word of God. Thus the Church welcomes higher criticism just as she looks with favor upon the discoveries of modern science. Neither the one nor the other will ever be found in conflict with her teachings, and for this rtason the Church will not yield one iota to theories unsupported, fact Providence Visitor. QUEEN OF THE MAY. fBy Sr. M. Carmelite, in Rosary Mag azine.) O thou Virgin-Mother, all stainless and blest, With thy little Child Jesus adored on thy breast, 'Tis thine eyes fill the skies with our sunshine today 'Tis around thee we're crowning thee Queen of the May! ' Now when blows the bloom fairest 'mid gay woodland bowers. Birds caroling rarest to listening wild flowers, J 'Tis with praises of birds and blossoms today We're surrounding, we're crowning thee Queen of the May. From hillslope and garden, from dingle and dell. . Come laden the children who love thee so well. Come bringing thee brightest of garlands gar-lands today-Singing today-Singing round thee, we're crowning thee Queen of the May. In our chaplet of 'beauty lie prayers at thy feet; Then caress thy true-lovers, pure Maiden urnst sweet. Bless the hands and the hearts and the flow-el's today That, surrounding, are crowning thee Queen of the May. Lady Mary, we love thee, we'd die for thy sake; If thy smile would not shine, oh, our fond hearts must break; But these poor hearts so sure of its shining today Gaily round thee dance, crowning thee Queen of the May. From the sunny-haired Babe in thy beautiful arms. Mother dearest, we'll steal sweetest heavenly charms. And His graces we'll twine in our May-wreath May-wreath today-Wreathing today-Wreathing round thee, all crowning thee Queen of the May. v THE COMiNG OF MAY. Hail, Fairy Queen, adorned . with flowers. Attended by the-smiling hours! 'Tis thine to deck the rosy bowers In colors gay. 'Tis thine to drees 1 he vale anew. In fairest verdure bright with dew; And handbells nf 'the' mildest blue Smile in thy way. Rich est; tfi gs folio w lnihy train. Thou )riilgest 'Jpraise of Mary's name. And so we' "hail- thy gentle reign O lovely May. Le Couteulx Leader. |