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Show : : J l)rcft Universal J 9. P. Second of Advent. St. Xeoca-riia. Xeoca-riia. K. Rom., xv, 4-13; G. Matt., xi 2- 0.-687,407 for perseverance. ' 10. M. St. Melchiades. 536,259 for the joung. 11. T. St. Damasus. 498,641 for First Communions. j 12--T- ur Lad' f Guadaloupe. 4n8.678 for parents. 13. . Th. SL Lucy.-491.027 for reconciliations. recon-ciliations. 15 S. Octave.-St. Christina.-714,-FSfi for -work, means. I'.VT" f hll-t iv.. 4-7; G. John I. 19-28. ?o8,14a for the clergy. f CHURCH CALENDAR. !r THE GENERAL INTENTION Recommended by His Holiness, Pius X Christian Disinterestedness. Man like every living being-, naturally natural-ly seeks his own interest; otherwise, he vould die of hunger and wretchedness. But man is not an unreasonable animal -which sees only its own welfare and jursues it pitilessly and without remorse, re-morse, at the expense of its surroundings. surround-ings. Man has a heart which feels the sufferinge of his fellows and is capable cif undergoing privations, at times even death, for the sake of one he loves. In this case, his personal interest is subordinate sub-ordinate to that of another; he becomes disinterested. Before the coming of the God-man, who bpcame the victim for our salvation, salva-tion, the virtue of disinteredness was very rare; it has found its full development develop-ment only under the influence of Christianity. Chris-tianity. The perfect Christian, who pushes disinterestedness to its limits, deprives himself of all in order to resemble re-semble Christ; he practises poverty, (hastily and obedience in order to de- vte himself completely to the service of God and his neighbor. I To a. less degree than those who give themselves up entirely, but still to a considerable degree, do those Christians j practice disinterestedness Mho devote a i large part of their time to good works I flrd to the poor, without neglecting their i family duties and the obligations of their state of life. Need we say that these Christian men and women attain not rarely to an heroic degree of virtue? ! At any rate, there can be no true Christian Chris-tian without some degree of disinterestedness. disinterest-edness. If a man is entirely destitute of this virtue, he is actuated whollv 1y self-love, and unbridled love of self is the uncompromising enemy of the love of God. 'What part can the lover of self claim in Christ, who died for I 1ve of men? The most disinterested t man is the best Christian. ! . I The Path of Holiness. ! j The path of holiness is the path of I humility. The rule of God's providence : -1 has always been, ss it is now, accord- I , i"? to our Lord's words- "He that ex- l' nlteth himself shall be humbled, and f I ho that humbleth himself shall be t?x- f J alted."' And to be humble does not 1 consist in speaking pome humble ; I words, for the proud often do this to I pamper their p;ide. They are satisfied I with ;he appearance, taking a false I lumility as the real, but to be true I it must be rooted in the heart, spring- I ing from realization of our total de- " pendence on God otherwise it cannot l'1 lasting. It is easy enough to impose im-pose upon. othi&wbOvliaie.Ao:iud4se by appearances, but unless we are humble in the eyes of God we shall re- lurn as we came. The humility of our Messed Lord is our pattern, and "He i came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a re- J demption for many;" and he says to ! us; "Learn of me, because I am meek J and humble of heart, and you shail if'nd rest to your-soul." "For God re-sisteth re-sisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble." Catholic News. j The End Seat Hog in Church. By Mary B. O'Sullivan, in November j Donahoe's. I I There is an "end seat hog" even among the infants who follow "Sister" f I in eager haste, their white-stockinged J f legs twinkling in and out. When the pews are reached the scramble begins ; While "Sister" is teaching an infant -t CaDiolic to genuflect gracefully behind i J a breastwork of scholirly impedimenta I ; slate, bag. pencil bDX. etc. the other I toddlers engage in a struggle for su- S j premacy in end scats. Acting tn the S j principle that might is right an athletic j hrub gains possession and traces bc-r ' feet firmly against the kneeling bench, if , Having the wisdom of the serpent ?nd I j the endurance of a Spartan she ho'ds I l or -own. despite the pinches, thumps I Mid scratches of her baffled classmates. I The mind in the untilled state is not I over-scrupulous as to methods, and I conventional r?straint is not practiced ? by infant savages. A kindergarten po!- J ii'cian, noting: an end-spat holder Ual- J a need on the edge, with her fet locked t under the seat, assists her downfall by a sudden but firm pat on the back, and 1 quietly slips into the vacant place, j When "Sister" arrives on the scene the " kinriorgartner's hands are folded, hr i lace tranquil, while the dispossessed Is I making frantic efforts to regain her I I l ights. H is a ease of circumstantial ( I evidence, and if you have not the cour- j age to come forward as 3-wiines for I i llie defense the verdict vi!l bo an im- I t jusi on". th innocent - will Kiiffer. To ( ,: mold such varying elements into moJ- ; els of propriety is no easy task, and y?t I I "Sister" accomplishes it. Note the - "primers," who. a short year ago. were s '. as crude and unlettered as the "per- I i mlts" of this season. Sunday Observances. ; Speaking broadly, says the Pilot, who now keeps Sunday as a ir.y of wor- shiji except the Catholics? Little enough the best of us do. to be sure. i j hut that little is in striking contrast! ( To ihe practice of the non-Catholic poi-, lion of the population. The non-Cath- l die. dwelling near a Catholic church. . notes with a wonder ever jiew the f; crowds that flock to every one of tiie i four or five masses celebrated every j Sunday morn in ?r, and tli's without re- j gard to heal rr cold often indeed, as r in the- case of house-mothers and do ll mestics, at the cost of grave personal i I inconvenience. If the non-Catholic ".e ? sufficiently moved by curiosity to enter, f he will hear Christ's gospel read and I most uncomfortably plain spoken denunciation de-nunciation of the sins to which men nnd women are subject, the congrega-; congrega-; lion taking it in good part, nor ever looking for the pleasant discussions of I runout topics which have long been fj substituted for the sermon in most of Hie rrotesta.it churchcc, in the vain S hope of holding the people. How does the Catholic church man-ngi- to hold her multitudes, at least for the morning mass? Because wise (with Cod's wisdom and wise with her long experience in human nature, she has not been eontent with iterating the Divine Commandment, T;eincrnbor to keep holy the Sabbath day," but she has definitely set forth the irreducible minimum of Sunday observance, with- .4 j """ " " f ? '" 1 lUu.iliiifc, ii, ii w'-'n mmm 4 " 'V : out which her followers stand guilty of mortal sin.. It is not enough to go to church on Sunday at such time and to such service as is most pleasant or convenient. They must go to the specific spe-cific service, the Supreme Act of worship wor-ship of the Sacrifice of the Mass. Therefore, they must go in the morning. morn-ing. Only the gravest reasons excuse a Catholic from this foremost duty. But is the church satisfied with the Catholic who contents himself with tne Irreducible minimum, and devotes the rest of the day to sljep or amusement? Does his practice represent the ideal of Sunday observance? By no means. To be hi the mind of the church on the observance of Sunday, we should not only attend mass but vespers, and devote de-vote a portion of the day to increasing our knowledge of our holy faith or Instructing In-structing others. Not until this duty has been rendsred generously to the Lord of all our days should we feel free for the family gatherings and other innocent in-nocent amusements permitted on Sunday. Sun-day. We speak not now of hard man-' ual labor on Sunday. It may be almost taken for granted that only they who must continue week day labors on the Lord's day; and though such are excused ex-cused by Jielr necessity, so far as the work is concerned, they are still obliged to hear mass, and as far as possible, masses are provided at hours that fit their circumstances. St. Vincent de Paul Mission, In these uncertain times, in the midst of the avaricious, sinful race for wealth, while thousands are maimed, crippled by the so-called "Car of Progress," there are to be found little oasis in the desert of human wretchedness -.where unfortunates can find rest and reconciliation recon-ciliation with God. Such a place is St. Vincent de Paul mission at 75 Sangamon street, whose work is to reach out a helping hand to those in the lowest depths of sin and misery, lift them up to a place of respectability re-spectability and bring them to the fold of God. . This institution established last year (1G05) has accomplished by the grace of God and through the zeal of faithful workers results both surprising and of incalculable benefit. During the year about sixty have made confession and approached the sacraments for the 'first time in many years, while hundreds have been brought to a realization of their lost condition, and received an impetul; toward to-ward the Holy Mother Church. Converts also have been received through the medium of the mission. We have given out about sixty beads, sixty scapulars, and thirty suits of clothes. The mission is open every evening, and in addition we have entertainments every Wednesday evening, when we have priests of the different parishes in the city address the men, give pledges, hear confessions, etc. The entertainments, consisting of vocal vo-cal and instrumental music, recitations, etc.. attract the men to our mission who would otherwise seek amusement in concert halls and saloons. We are grateful to our laSy consult-ors consult-ors for their faithful and great work during the past year. Indeed their cooperation co-operation is absolutely necessary to the success of the "mission. f Although results have bedi gratifying gratify-ing we are not ratisfied wiUI our present pres-ent limited facilities, "as experience shows us that to be entirely successful in permanently reclaiming men from sin and intemperance we must have a place where they will be free from the contaminating influences to be found in cheap lodging houses and saloons, as it is very difficult for a penitent to reform re-form and begin a life of purity and constancy to God amid the- environments environ-ments of the saloons and notorious resorts. re-sorts. Therefore, those who have charge of the work, contemplate the establishing of a home for Catholic men, where the rescued may find refined Christian influences in-fluences and be free to a great extent from temptatios- After the home is established we ex-pe-ct to make it self-sustaining by charging a reasonable price for shelter, enough to insure absolute cleanliness, comfort and the permanency of the home. If there is any surplus it will be used to support the mission proper. Now, gentle reader, we have given you some idea of the nature and scope of the work which we are doing. We invite you to visit the mission and investigate in-vestigate its work. We need your co-operation in the way of money, beds, bedding and other household articles. We ask you in the name of the Society So-ciety of St. iVncent de Paul to help us to carry on this work for the glory of God and the uplifting of humanity, remembering re-membering the words of our blessed Savior, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my i brethren ye have done it unto me. Send remittances care of Rev. Father Fa-ther Sheridan.. 135 W. Adams street, or D. C. Leary, chairman, 19S W. Madison street. Chicago New World. |