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Show I Cburcft Universal I I 1 CHURCH CALENDAR. j Dec. 1. T. St. Kligius. 1,604,342 fur I thanksgiving:!?. 2. W. St. Bibiana. 1.S91.606 for the afflicted. Y 3. Th. St. Francis Xavier. 230,846 for the sick, infirm. 4. F. First Friday. St. Barbara. 216,838 for dead associates. 5. S. St. Sabas. 270,046 for local cen- j ' ters. j f j'p GENERAL INTENTION I 1 ' Recommended by Our Holy Father, 1 Pius X. I . THE LAY APOSTOLATK. There is danger of Catholics imagln- , Ing that the work for the salvation of f wouls is the special duty of priests. This, Jj indeed, is true in the sense that it is their duty, hut it Is not a duty belonc- InP to them exclusively. They are hound to labor for that noble end In season and out of season. But laymen are not excluded frorn the same glorious work in their measure and according to their opportunities. Members of the church, if not on their guard, are apt to fancy that if they attend mass, receive the sacraments and pay their pew rent their whole duty as Catholics is fulfilled. ful-filled. All those things, of course thev should (-.-.., uir.v lldK Ullifl OUIIrt IHHIS HOI merely toward themselves, but toward ihe church and toward their neighbor. t In the army of the church the priests Jare the officers and the faithful are the soldiers. The soldiers are expected to do hard fijrhting. They are in the army of Christ not alone to secure their personal per-sonal safety, but to toil and fight for the advancement of the interest! and welfare wel-fare of the church. This is especially the case today. There are people whom the priest can never reach, there are organizations he canr.ot enter, places where he will not be received, works for good he may not undertake. In all of these a layman can very often exert an influence. Every Ev-ery layman according to his position is bound to fit himself to exercise this V apostolate. The broader his education, V the higher his station, the greater his r'vi wealth, the more wide-reaching will be i'L bis power. This he must not be deterred 'H A from ucinsr from the lack of zeal t VI "' the fear of losing caste, nor on the 4 other hand from cowardice or human ( respect. Needless to add. this lay apos- f tolate belongs in a special sense to our lromoters. 1 NOBODY KNONWS, BUT Nobody knows of the holes to mend, )-oDoay Knows or the buttons lost; Nobody knows of babes to tend. Nobody knows what the groceries cost: Nobody knows of the socks to darn. Nobody knows of the patching done: Nobody knows here we'll end this yarn : Nobody knows but mother. Los Angeles Examiner. Nobody knows of the shoes to buy. Nobody knows of the yearly tax. Nobody knows when the gas bill's high; Nobody gets the ax. Nobody wears his last year's suit, "What, again? Well, rather; Nobody gets the eternal boot, No, not one, but father. Minneapolis Journal. Nobody knotvs of the fashion tip. Nobody knows of the newest sheath; Nobody knows where such things slip When they are gone from underneath; Nobody knows of shoes that pinch. And other things that twist her; Nobody knows, and that's a cinch, Nobody knows but sister. Indianapolis Journal. Nobody knows of the devil's pranks. Nobody knows of the type he's pied. Nobody knows of the hosts of cranks Who kick on the dope In the pat. in- J side. Nobody knows the subscribers' scowls. Or how these awful breaks occur; Nobody knows how the public howls-Nobody howls-Nobody knows but ye editor. Las Vegas Age. The Mass Better Than Flowers. (From the Tablet, Brooklyn.) One of the methods in vogue of honoring hon-oring the dead at their funerals is the presentation of flowers, wrought into appropriate designs. These floral pieces I are expensive and sometimes meaning less. Often they are in fantastic shapes and express rather the art of the florist V. ' lhan the respect for the dead which they are intended to convey. - ' Flowers are the symbol ..f the life, th beauty and the joy which are passing. pass-ing. They endure in all their lovely freshness for a day and then they w itb-er itb-er away. The type which is sought is the emblem of death. They are peculiarly pecul-iarly out of place at a funeral. There, 'v, ,f nowhere else, there is evidence enough already of the decay which 1 touches man and nature. j- Some, it is true, seek to conceal the ; J repuJsiveness of death by heaping the "coffin with flowers. And among the wealthy some go so far as to line the ! sides of the open grave with beds of flowers. But both of these succeed only j in accentuating the gloom of death and j the honor of the grave. The open arms of honest Mother Earth are preferable to the deceit of flowers. the gloom of det-th. For him there is no death. True life lies beyond the grave. The open grave is bright and glorious with the resurrection; it is the vestibule to the joys of heaven. There is no need of a lining of perishable flowers. Those flowers are meant to hide the circumstances of death from those who fear to die. Pomp cannot add to or take from death. The simpler a funeral Is in its circumstances the more solemn and more fitting. The heaping up of flowers ! is always expensive. It invites a bur- den which many are unable to bear; it is often the expression of mere hy-(f hy-(f pocrisy. Not seldom does it happen that if those who care least for, the dead are J( the best able to send costly flowers and to pretend a grief which they feel not. , 'i Flowers, moreover, sometimes minis- f ter to the vanity of the living. Unthink- uriaw.Tro ...,?... . ...... .. v. deceased by the quantity and quality of the flowers that are sent to his funeral, f In reality, successful rascals often have sr the most flowers to decorate their tombs; possibly because they need them the most. It takes, indeed, a heap of 1 I'.owerg to conceal the Injustice they have done. But their reputations wither with the flowers. Neither lasts long. And, at best, what possible good can j flowers do the dead man? His closed I "yes cannot see their beauty; his ; pinched nostrils cannot perceive their j fragrance. They all seem a mockery in - the face of the dread reality which they I seek to decorate. But is there anything to take their plaee? Is there anything which will express the love and reverence which the living would pay the dead and at the same time avail those who sleep? The answer is ready for the Catholic: "The mass:" What better way of marking mark-ing respect for the dead than the offering offer-ing of the sublime sacrifice of the mass, and what of such avail for him as the Divine Victim who is immolated on our altars? Instead of flowers, which wither with-er and die, let Catholics have masses said for their dead relatives. This is more Catholic, more sensible, infinitely more effective. Over in the Tyrol, we are told, there Is a custom which might well be Introduced Intro-duced here. When a man dies his friends and relatives send cards to his immediate family, informing them that the senders are having so many masses said for the repose of the soul of the deceased. de-ceased. It is customary for Catholic societies to send a floral offering at the funeral of a member. These floral pieces cost from $10 to $50. They serve no purpose whatever: they are a perfunctory tribute. trib-ute. They come by a standing vote on the minute book of the society. The committee look- after them; the bulk of the members scarcely know that they are there. And to what purpose are they? How much better a novena of masses for the repose of the soul of the departed de-parted brother and friend! AVe have read lately of some Catholic societies here and there throughout the country adopting this Catholic and salutary sal-utary practice. It is an innovation so practicable and so desirable that there should be no delay in introducing it. The Irish Bird-Charmer. Wid more or less o" tuneful grace, As fits a Celtic singer, I've praised the "great bird of our race," The stork, the blessin'-bringer. When rlrst to my poor roof he came, How sweetly he was sung to! I called him every dacint name That I could lay my tongue to. But, glory be: that praise from me So pleased the simple crayture His visits here have come to be A sort o' second nature. I'm glad to see him now an' then, But, glory be to heaven: If here he isn't back again. An' this is number seven! Och! though this gift o song may be In maivny ways a blessin', It brings some popularity That gets to be disthressiu'. Now, mind, I love this Irish bird We cniilfln't llin An', shure. I'll not take back a word I ever said about him. But now when all these mouths to feed Ate up our little savin's. The birds whose visits most we need Are ould Elisha's ravens. Begor! if they were 'round these days An' I could make them hear me. ' I'd sing them such a song o' praise 'Twould keep them always near me. T. A. Daly. Mr. Dlnkelspiel on Gas. Mr. Dinkelspiel. in a Chicago paper, gives up his impression of the pleasures and convenience of gas: I haf learned much knowledge on der gas subject vich hidderto I vas ignorant abouid. , . Der vord Gas is descended from dtr ancient lankvlch of der Persians, und It means "hot air in cantitiiv " Gas is divided into two classes, to vit: Gas dot burns and gas dot frightens fright-ens der meter so it chumps. Both dese classes will be found, in your gas bill efery month. Der style of gas vich burns not and spins der meter is der most popularity mit der. gas trust. "Who was it discofered der gas meter?" I inkvired politely to der president pres-ident of der gas trust, udderwise known as der big flame. "A skientist vas vun day looking for perpetual motion," responded der pros- i ident, mlt a faravay smile on der ouid-sklrtings ouid-sklrtings of his face. "Und he found it. yes?" I busted in. ! "He found der gas meter," der j resident resi-dent continuationed. "Den all dese years ve haf had per petual motion midouid knowing it'." I eggscllamed. "Veil," said the president, "I vould chudge from der bruises on some .if cur bill collectors dot certain peoples suspected sus-pected der truth." Ve both laughed contemporaneous-lessly. contemporaneous-lessly. "Vy," I inkvired, "vy do you charge such bright prices for such dark gas?" "Dare vas sigs reasons," set der president, pres-ident, silently. "Could you specimen dem to me?" I pursued. "Mit pleasure," set der president, raising his hand for silence. "Der fairst reason is dot gas is a ne- ' cessity, und der udder five reasons is dot ve need der money." Clasping my p-cketbooks firmly mit both hands. I made a Sow bow at der gas president and blew myself ouid. His Reason. The village postmaster and one of tho leading politicians were holding an earnest conversation nenr the entrance of the postofflce.- Perched upon the steps a street urchin was drinking in, every word of the discussion, when the nactnr nf nun rf dm i i , . ... V1MV. , ,,,.,fcc viiuii:;ies came out of the building. Recognizing In the urchin one of his Sunday school boys, he called him aside and began: "John, it is wrong, vtry wrong, of you to try to pry into the affairs af-fairs of others. Don't you know tnat it is impolite to listen to the conversation of grown-ups?" "Sure, I know it is impolite. ' replied Johnnie, "but it is all right this time, 'cause Deacoti Smith said he'd sive me a quarter if I found out what hem two men were talking about." The Cure. He talked too much far too niuch.s Already he had driven his taciturn companion nearly wild. He had touched on subjects innumerable, discoursed with volubility on anything and everything. every-thing. Onward went the unending stream of speech. And all the while ...c . vi uuv uai'ini O 'JUUl UIIU 11U- geted and squirmed until the other was well-nigh beside himself with disgust. Finally the walking dictionary took from his pocket a cigarette. "I'm a great smoker," he remarked. 'Yes. I'm a great smoker great smok-I smok-I er. I'm one of those nervous men, you know; one of those high-strung, restless fellows who always must have something some-thing in their mouths. Yes, you tee, I'm so nervous, as I said; that I simply must ,yes must have something all the time in my mouth." "Try a gag." suggested his compan- j ion. I |