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Show Church Calendar. - 1 ?t. Placidus and Comp. 30,241 tr loal centers. I T St Bruno 29,967 for directors. -' Y St. Mark. 43,314 for promo- Th. St. Bridget 116,853 for the "p.01 St. Denis and Comp. ,6S3 for r'jT pfrdSt Francis Borgia. 100,529 for .up voung. n ; ISth after Pentecost. Mater-'n. Mater-'n. V. M.-E. I Cor.. 1, 4-9; G. " Vtt. ix. 1-8.-69,915 for first commu- GENERAL INTENTION. Recommended by His Holiness, Pius X. THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY. ,vjr Holv Father urges this month vrrs for the Christian family. No c'-Vot is more important and no re-cs re-cs will find a readier response in 0ur hearts. Tli importance of this month's in-tPinion in-tPinion is but too clear to those , who F,,( the efforts which are daily made , destroy the home, which is the very foundation of society and the seed-plot ..f tv, fVinrrh. Every attack upon the F-aliility of the married state, every 'ivoree law sanctioned, every marriage ror wealth and position, all tend toward to-ward the destruction of the family. Whatever aims at lessening parental nuthority. or at chilling the relations pf children to parents, is directed to-vard to-vard the death of the home. How widespread efforts with this tendency BrP. even the blindest can see. No march of invading army, destroy-Irp destroy-Irp all before it, leaving in its wake tmt smouldering ruins, can do the harm to civil society and the church, that any weakening of the marriage bond, any sanctioning a godless edu-c;ition. edu-c;ition. any training of children away from the guidance of their parents, can co t" the family and to the church and state. Hence with what fervor the members of the League of the Sacred Heart will this month pray for blessings upon the lionifs of all Christian nations. It is t:pnn the life led by our Blessed Savior in the holiest of homes which the world has ever seen, that we must all meditate these days. Civil ' laws, wealth, social position, marble palaces do not and cannot constitute the home. Only when the spirit of Nazareth reir.s can the home exist. Under whatever roof the husband wields his authority as Joseph did, where the mother models her life upon the life t.f Mary, and the children copy the life of the Boy of Nazareth, where this ! spirit is, though all else is absent, there i and only there is found the Christian ; family. THE CHRISTIAN FAMILY. Induigenced General Intention for October. The strongest tendrils of the human - lart are entwined around the mem- j bers of one's family. It is so in every ration and in every clime, among the ; rich and the poor, the learned and the ; ignorant, among the most refined citi zens and the most savage barbarians. ; It has been so from the beginning of history, and it will be so till the end of time. For this bond of mutual love i' i? a part, a precious part, of human ; nature, an admirable disposition of Di-' Di-' vine Providence to promote the welfare bv,d the happiness of mankind of the i Mpless infant, the thoughtless youth, ' of mature men and women, and of de- dining age. Cut away the tendrils of ; family affection from any human heart, ?:nd you have wrought moral ruin, you have produced a human monstrosity. Founded by the bountiful creator in the earthly paradise, the family, even after the fall of our first parents, has preserved many traces of its happy rriein. For It is still a little paradise in itself, a fair garden, in which bloom, 1:: rich abundance, the choicest flowers of the natural virtues. It is still a garden of delights, in which are tasted the purest and deepest joys of earth. The family, in its triple personality of father, mother and child, is an anhly reflection, though an imperfect one, of course, of that deepest of all mysteries, the Blessed Trinity. For. as i St. Paul writes to the Ephesians, it is "f ihe Father of Our Lord Jesus Christ that "all paternity in heaven and earth i named" (III., 15). The child, or children, chil-dren, bear the same relation to the parents as the Son of God does to His Heavenly Father; and the substantial : love of the Father, the Son and the Hoiy Ghost is beautifully represented i iy the fruitful love of the earthly ir, ether. Thus it is seen that, even before the incarnation, the human family possessed pos-sessed a sacred character; and it is not among Christians alone, but among all Jsationa and at all times that a special '; holiness has been felt to attach to the 'or.jueal and filial relations that bind ! th" family together in a triune mystery, j This nearness of the family to God ' - hr-on marvelously increased by that o'evjee of divine wisdom which the I Son of God in His Incarnation actually I tvoamo the child of a human family, ; yet without injury to the angelic pu- j ritv of Mary and Joseph. It was befitting that the marital un- of human hearts should in conse- 1 : ienre be ennobled by supernatural ; eir.vati-,n t0 lhe Kacrametolal dignity, as j i v-fis done by the Redeemer In the wise j Irovi.-ion He made for the sanctifica- w of married life. And now the Chris- 'ian family is an object of veneration J to ar.c-l? and to men. As the father ! , nr.d mother, bending together over the i fragile of their infant child, behold with i mures their several charms reflected ; i:. tha Matures of their common off- prinqr. so the three persons of the ; lOts-o Trinity behold with pleasure ! ir triune beauty reflected in the ua- ; '"-.h supernatural perfections of Christian family. Tor this august institution it was l:,iii:i; thit a perfect model should be pr..p.,s.-r!. such is that most perfect of f . :i ealthiy homes, the Holy Father of : N'az-Mvth. Novcr did the all-seeing eye r'r 'lod himself rest on any portion of i'l erection with more delight than it i 'ii'l on that earthly Trinity, Jesus, Mary i -' '1 .ioF. ph. a principal reason why j telipiciu? orders and congregations are surh favorite objects of God's special ve is because they are imitations of 'e Hr,iy Family of Nazareth; and sim-i sim-i 'teily. though to a less degree of per- I -"'-tii.-!, every Christian family is a re-: re-: I K"luction. The PcnPrai intention of the coming month rails for earnest prayers in be-: be-: j I'f of the millions of Christian fami- ,lrs on earth, that they may become 1 "ro ?nd more like unto that ideal : : t.orlf). thaT a 0f them may be Viotetefl Bajnpt the various dangers "'"f'-tting them. For the arch-enemy of ; : "';r race, the evil spirit, is carrying "n. esperiaih- in our time, a variety of ost fierce attacks on the Christian family. He is striving with might and main to rob it of its sacredness by the promotion of merely civil marriages, to disrupt it by the terrible crime of divorce, di-vorce, to poison its life-blood by fostering fos-tering mixed marriages, to obstruct its fertility by tempting the parents to unnatural un-natural crimes. The demon assails the family by fostering in its members the spirit of worldliness, which is so di rectly opposed to the spirit of Christ; by promoting in them the love of independence in-dependence which is the snirit of the arch-rebel Satan; by stimulating in them an extravagant yearning for pleasure, thereby demoralizing every solid virtue. Till lately the main combat com-bat of the powers of darkness was against the church, the pope and the child in the school; now it is equally fierce against the marital union of the Christian parents. It is for the friends of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to unite their prayers and efforts against the enemies of God. The voice of our beloved supreme pontiff pon-tiff marks out the point on the battlefield battle-field where our efforts are presently most needed. True, each one of us by himself is extremely feeble; but corn-bind corn-bind in the vast army of the apostle-ship apostle-ship of prayer, under the guidance of Christ's vicar on earth, and in union with the prayers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we constitute a power for doing do-ing good the full extent of which is beyond be-yond all human calculation. Messenger of the Sacred Heart. Compensation. The gifts of the years and the wheeling wheel-ing seasons. The gifts of the days and the golden hours Are manifold. . More than fate's few treasons Are the radiant joys, like great white flowers. That the kind years scatter along our way Joys that are sweet as the fleeting breath Of the flowers of an ardent, redolent Aiay, Or as calm as death On a winter day. l The pulse of spring, or an old love story; The cries of the birds, low lisping of rain. Or the golden gray of the dawn's first not these counsel against all pain? The mad, glad music of hurrying streams The hard-like sound of the wind in the trees, And the silver flash where a bird's breast gleams, TVe are given these. And the night for dreams. "What more can we ask of the Gods of life? Yet the beautiful Gods have given us more They have given the sea where the winds hold strife. And the resonant boom of the surf on the shore. They weave all day with a tangled skein On a great white cloth for the sunset's sun-set's bars. Huge poppies they crush for the crimson crim-son stain: And they grieve the stars Unto tears for rain. Yet some of us sorrow for days that are done, For suns that have set. for flowers that are dead. TVe count our memories, one by one. Of the pallid years that have long since sped. Till the song of the wind seems a sobbing sob-bing tune. And the glad dawn gray with a mist of tears. " With averted eyes we reject the boon Of the "glorious years For a vanished June. But for hearts that mourn and for tired ' eyes The merciful years have gifts of peace. And a brooding joy that is calm and wise, And knowledge, at last, and pain's surcease, For the kind Gods scatter tneir great gifts still. And the gentle years remember to bring The winds and the birds and the leaves, until With the joy of spring The world's a-thrill. And ever and always while time endures en-dures The years will take what the heart loves best. And ever the passing of time insures A solace and balm for the soul's unrest. un-rest. , xt The swift years work for their own great ends. Ruthless, they reck not of dear joys slain, But with eager hands do as God intends. in-tends. And for poignant pain Make royal amends. |