| OCR Text |
Show j ST. JOSEPH. ' Joseph, inopt'hffiio'ml saint of all, f ;itli uva.lt li vf heavenly blesnfr ti TI---I. j )!,. fir.-i in worship at tlie stall ! U'lv-ii -nrth adoringly was stilled. ,l the porfrjct man and just, " I Th' ruler of the living word, 'j Tuinlel f a holy trust I Winch srlfish craving- never stirred. 4 ' ij)..- inf;iiil Saviour l.ivr.J thp much, ' I 1 Ati his nH-rots with thee shared; 1 1 lion, his sruar&ian, true a.s such, wuli (ndrr feeling for him sared. ' , , :(.s oi 'li.iiiH-d that thou ehouldst be Ti.' nuiinff father of the Lord, , n'jid of that dear family I Inch lived on pious, sweet accord I ? ,V, i wort all wast marked for Ui'---. . iiM". Invinjr spouse and guide; j , v.r.-nmli .in Jesus' need, and he w.iv d strong in wisdom by thy side. . ;. ihou our friend in life and dea'th, ; 1 I nihwato our c ause, that we I y,:,y iMd in pca-e our latest breath j i Tt J'-siis, Mary, and to thet: i A ind-'iis in S(. Anthony's Meswen- ; -it. ' CHURCH CALENDAR. ! (l.eotion to St. Joseph.) h'-tfUy. rfi-St. Ludger, H. (,'. M.-ii.l.iy. 27 St. John Damascene, C. D. T I '.-l iy. -S St. Six-tus, P. C. A'. 1 ! 1 ies'!a y, 2!i St. Jonas and ("omp., M. M. . : '!"i:wisday. "0 .St.. John Climachus, Ab. ; :i l.i. I'l The Five Wounds. ST. JOSEPH. I The Lesson of His Life. 5 Everywhere and at all times men h.ie judged the qualities and actions 1 ilieir fi llowmen by their mere out-j out-j -v. 1 1 a pomp and glitter. Power, super- i " talents, brilliant success, actions u in. h l'ad to astonishing results these : i- what they admire, and to these they i .iy eulogies and raise monuments. It vould almost seem that even sanctity Mauds in need of this exterior splendor i 1 order to t 'serve the admiration of Mankind. Men appreciate the outward ; jii'ts of miracles and tongues because 'I ! the coh-brity which they attract; ' " !'"' those humble virtues which render Hi- saints agreeable to God are apt to ape the - -ion and rarelv excite ' 1 li'-ir admi- ;i St. Jose,-. . ' . as patron 'of the I in versa 1 n .1 is raised above all Hi. .other s; 1 . . ..f heaven,-' had none oi those bni a; t qualities which men always adir.ii e. The duties -of the ministry which he had to" perform m'YfT rose above the plane of humble, v ryday life. He was not called, like M..s.s ani Joshi.a, to give laws to nations ai'd to make kings tremble on -.li' ir throi es; to command the ole- , "i.iits and to change the ordinary ' """'s" f nature: to astonish the ' "i ld by his power, and to lead a peo-v peo-v 0 t the land of promise. He did not, ' 'he prophets and apostles, open eyes of the blind, heal the sick. 1 ing the dying back to the light and ' ' all the dead from the tomb. No ex-- ex-- 1 o-ridinary actions are related of him. ! ' !" speaks of him simply as a . j-ist man whose life was always regu- ' ,,r! I'.v will of God and in ron- ' " niity -uith the striotest rules of just- F!i - U of Gd is the primary source ' all justice: it fixes the duty of man J ; "id niaks the state in whi'ii he is ' e-l his sure way of salvation, i !! c it follows that submission to the 1 ri lot God Is the first mark of justice. 1 'Ikii man is subject to the will of God I ' 0 a complishes all his duties; his I 1 ' ty has no more obstacles to fear, and I I - H'tions Hi-o always inspired bv the ? 1 i:rst motives. Such are the virtues I wlii.-h Joseph gives as so striking an vample. His submission to the will of ? ' -d renders him a, model of justice in I j " l"ve of the state to which he was j ' '"'"I- and in the promptness of his j "d;tii'e to the divine commands. I -'nd ie tK-ed only reflect on these two I ; 'Hits to be convinced that he was I ally what the Holy Scriptures style I 1 '11 -a just man. i Thf tirst effect of submission to the I 1 ill of God is to kp-p us in the place " hi.-h He ha,s marked out for us. As is the Sovereign Master of our des- 1 ' a t as He proportions His graces i ' the state which He wishes us to be, (j '' f'li"ws that, man, submissive to His I " ''!. should content himself with the I iiiation in which he finds himself; ! : ' li not seek to rise above it against I f "il lof heaven, and should never " ' i to substitute arbitrary works and f himri' al perfection for the duties s ' ';i' h God demands and the perfection I 1 ' 1 1 -1 1 ho exacts. St. Joseph, reduced j 1 tli.-1 ni.t lowly condition, accepts i ' nh'iiit a murmur the orier of Divine I ' 'Vi iiMici-. He docs not appose to j ' ' d'cre.'s if heaven that vain rea- ! " mil: which has faith only in its own I lusions: which would seek to I ' anc" the appointed order of things.! I ' ii 1 1 1 - contrary, he abandons himself I 'i;-.!y t., the will nf God; he re- I i;s satisiied with the state to which j 1 is called, and does not seek to rise ; ''. e it by the means which vanity j sclfdove mivrht suggiest. i'-'iiiaps we do not appreciate in St. 1 ' ;'h ihis love of his state of life: it is inlply because that spirit of f : i'liiission to the wil lof God is not in 1). arts, and because His decrees are I 'ays sui" to meet with opposition "V'H'Ai-v th- d' not agree with our I ' a in linations. Not that we should I ': iri,.r the example of St. Joseph us j ' -iiiiiing that noble emulation J 1 i Ii inak.'S one aspire to reach lionor- s : :- fininciicc through the path of duty. I far from it: but it teaches us that ! ambitious views should always be j l."-ping with our state: that wo r ' iii'i think less of rising in the world 1 ''.an of rendering ourselves useful in 1 and making it better for our pres- ' : that fven in seeking dignities v v "Jbl rud-avor rather to obey (Jod. ho .alls us to them, than to satisfy i-s.-lvs: finally, it. tea.ches us that j ' fforts and our aspirations should : ' as be accompanied with a spirit of i'ct submission to the divine will. :hrr it -a!ls us to' fill a brilliant! ' 'ion or bids us samtify ourselves in " painful lalxirs of poverty and the - nrity of a private life. Th- n M effect of St. Joseph's sub-imn sub-imn to ihe will of (ol which we Ki admire is the promptness of ohoijjf.iico t. hf divine commands, i Hi" ordinary c ourse of human events hand of man alone appejiars to t :i lo everything; rod remains invisible .n ts through secoiidnrj' auses. In " hislory of St. Joseph, on the ron-1 ron-1 ' .n-. the linger of Ioi appears to ' u'dn everything. 1od vhoooseH all the ' 'a us and k-aves to the minister of His ' il nothing but the task of meditating ., ; Uif wonders which he sees acoom-'adied. acoom-'adied. The Lord commands, Joseph ''"vs. This is all that we fan learn ''""in the Scriptures concerning his 1 ministry. He is well tailed the hidden : a int of the new law. 1 uring his whole life, when God '"iniiaiids he fears no danger, he lre;oin i10 enemy, he shrinks from no la id ships, he refuses no saerilioo. Hc- ause ;nd wills it he retires without " tnunnur of the grotto of Bethlehem. i"..la.ie and dreai-- as it. is. and stands" nvrr his charge "a. fait bful - sent inl .the gnnlian and protector of his in- 1 fact Lord. Not a word of -o.mpla int ef ' "'is his lips when he is told to arise " 'h- middle of the night and take the "'old with his mother and fly J-fim. lie iieitlier qutions nor licti- sfiit5;. Gtlshe faithful man stUI- Jes L oLto,,hls tTusU the STuardiaji of Jesus and Mary. He suppresses all murmurs; he eeeks tor motives of disobedience neither in the weakness of the mother nor In the tender age of the child, nor in the iot Jgues and dangers of the journev; he asKs no questions concerning the dura-uon dura-uon of his exile, nor the time when his struggles are to cease; but, rising from r. is sleep, he takes the child and his mother and sets out without guide or fnSHi.Stailce' leavi& to God alone the iasK of watching over and protecting nei isned family. At the first sign 01 heaven's will he returns from exile t his native land with Jesus and Mary: for them he endures poverty and humiliation and remains until 'death the faithful and tried guardian and protector of his Lord. what an abmir able spirit of obedience! How eloquently eloquent-ly does it not teach us to sumbit without with-out murmur to the will of heaven! The exemplary submission of St. Joseph 10 the divine will thus rendered him. as we have seen, a model of justice jus-tice in ins love of state, his perfect patience, h;s entire resignation, and in the promptness of his obedience. It remains re-mains for us only to consider the re-v.ards re-v.ards which his justice merited. On earth justice rarely meets with temporal rewards. The impious, in the midst of pomj) and prosperity, fre-uucntly fre-uucntly are in the enjoyment of'gran-rteur of'gran-rteur iind riches. Their success seems to surpass their fondest desires; whilst the .nist. on the contrary, have often tor their portion only contempt and mdiffereiieo. Without the light of la uli we should perhaps not unfre- j oueiitly be tempted to imagine that the I lavors of heaven -arc the reward of I crime, and its disfavor the only recompense recom-pense of virtue. Joseph, whos evirtues merited the praise of the holy, spirit n the inspired writings, did not receive re-ceive for his reward temporal prosperity prosper-ity and success. Like so many other just men, he was poor ani 1).rseeuted, an object of scorn to his fellowmen. The distinctions of the world were unworthy of his merit; but (Jod extended ex-tended to him the prize of real great -ness he granted him the understanding understand-ing of the divine mysteries: he established estab-lished him protector of his chosen ones on earth, and he selected him to cooperate co-operate in his adorable lesigns three prerogatives vouchsafed to Joseph alone, and alone fit to be the revom-peiiise revom-peiiise of his virtues. ATien Almighty. God decreed that the august mystery of the Incarnation should be accomplished. Joseph was the one chosen to be not only the confidant, con-fidant, but the faithful guardian of the divine secret. The son of God when! about to descend on earth to assume! our human nature, would have a mother. This mother could not be tther than the purest of virgins, and her divine maternity, could not impair her incomparable virginity. Kntil euch time as the son of Mary was recognized recog-nized as the son of God, his mother's honor had need. of a -jirotector. Some man. therefore, was destined to bo called to the Jiigk- honor of being Mary's spouse; this .privileged mortal was Joseph, the most, chaste and the niost just of men. . .' But he was not only, chosen to t he glory of having to protect; the mother of the incarnate mord; he was only called to exercise an adopted paternity over the very son of God. So long as the mysterious cloud was over the saint of aaints Jesus was known by men as the son of Joseph and the carpenter's carpen-ter's son. "When Mary after three days of mysterious separation found the child Jesus in the temple disputing with ithe doctors, she thus addressed him: "Thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." And the evangelist adds that, he "was subject to them." ' 7. "What wonder, then, if this foster-father foster-father of the son of God was prefigured prefig-ured in the Old Testament, and that by one of the most glorious of patriarchs? patri-archs? Listen to St. Bernard, who thus compares the two Josephs: "The first was sold by his brethren and led into Egypt, thus prefiguring our " Savior's Sa-vior's being sold; the second, to avoid Herod's envy, led Jesus into Egypt. The first was faithful to his master and treated his wife with honor; the second, too, was the most chaste guardian guar-dian of his spouse, the Virgin mother of his Lord. To the first was given the understanding1 and the interpretation interpreta-tion of dreams: to the second the knowledge of and participation in the divine mysteries. The first laid up stores of corn, not for himself, but for all the people: the second received the living bread that came down from heaven and kept it for himself and for I the whole world." Thus we have seen the glory and power of the just on earth are not the certain measure of their merit and holiness; but far different is the case when the links which bind them to earth are severed. As the gifts which they then receive are the true reward of theiir sanctity it follows that they must be proportionate to their merit. The more resplendent their life has been with virtues the greater the homage hom-age and veneration to which they are entitled after death, ,and the holier they have been in the sight of God the more perfectly they have accomplished his will, the higher teh. degree of au-tority au-tority and power to which they are raised. This reflection, then will make it easy for us to understand how great must lie the power of St. Joseph with God, and how worthy he is of our homage. Always subject to the divine v, ill, hia life was but one uninterrupted succession of virtuous actions; every instant added but fresh lustre to his ! merits. He is, therefore, before God the most powerful of the saints as he was the most just of the children of men. How great must be the power of his intercession with that Son whose 1 love he never, ceased to merit! And I this is why the Church hails him as her patron and protector, and why devotion de-votion to him prevails wherever true faith exists. Justly, then, we; may apply to ourselves our-selves the words which of old were ad-jrocc ad-jrocc in 1he needy ones of Egypt te ad Joseph "Go to Joseph." Let us go to Joseph with confidence, asking ask-ing of him not temporal favors. -which might be the cause of our ruin, but grace to persevere in well doing. Let us learn from him to be contented with the lot which Providence has granted us: to be submissive to the will of beaven. to be charitable in our dealings deal-ings with our fellowmen; in a word, to walk as he did in the path of justice. Our supplications will then be worthy of Joseph; he will bear them to the throne of the omnipotent God; the Iord will bestow upon us His benedictions, benedic-tions, and if. like Joseph, wc are not rewarded with earthly consolations, we may confidently hope for an abundant reward in the better life to come. Ave Maria, . " j "A RETURN TO THE OBSERVANCES OBSERV-ANCES OF THE EARLY CHURCH." (From the Christian Work and Evangelist Evan-gelist Presbyterian.) Whatever may have been the precise origin of the Lenten season, concerning which there is no little difference of opinion among scholars, the . fact remains re-mains that it has been observed by Cbrilian churches for more than 1.000 vears, d that ever since the reaction from the extremes of the Trotestant reformation the Lenten season has grown in the favor of the churches of all denominations. Indeed, it requires but a brief ret rospect to notice the difference between the then and now. Tears ago the prejudice against the ob servance of Christmas began to pass away, until now we see the Christmas sermon and the Christmas pervice installed in-stalled in the worship service of all the Christian churches; so it Is, the old-time prejudices are vanishing and Christian people are seen everywhere utilizing whatever of good can be had from a return to the observances of the early church. It is no occasion for j surprise, therefore, that in due time the season of Lent should again find favor with the churches, regardless of denominational de-nominational lines. It is surely well that it is so. It is true religion is not a thing of time and circumstance; but it is also true that religious worship is a matter of order, involving specific periols, and that the religious nature is helped by a community of observance by Christian people ow whatever denominational de-nominational name. RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. (From the Ave Maria.) "A little philosophy," says Bacon, "inclineth man's mind to atheism: but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religiou." The history of the world verifies his statements with wonderful accuracy. It is the shadlow dabbler in science that pretentiously preten-tiously dogmatizes about the non-existence of a personal God, and attempts to account for the world and man by "eternal matter," "energizing force," and the like meaningless phrases. Deep scholars and consummate scientists indulge in-dulge in no such extravagance. "An undevout astronomer is mad," says Young. "I had rather," declares the Philosopher quoted above, "believe a.ll the fables and legends in the Talmud and the Alcoran than that this universal uni-versal frame is. without a mind." One of the most eminent scientists of th enineteenih century, the illustrious Abbe Moigno, goes further and pro-claims pro-claims that the most -profound scholar ship, far from leading one into opposition oppo-sition to the belief in a personal God, does- not entail the slightest doubt as to the verity of Catholic doctrine in its integrity. "I have lived," he wrote, "seventy-three years, I have read eerything, and gone to the "bottom of everything, and I have never been troubled by the least doubt, the smallest small-est temptation against the faith. I hae ulwaya believed, and believe now-more now-more than ever, all the truths of the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic church and that, too, with a belief tranquil and serene, strong and lively, and, I repeat, without a single cloud's coming between dogma and my mind. I have fathomed, so far as I have been able, all the mysteries of religion and of science, and never has my faith been shaken. Consequently, my words are those of a witness at once. enlightened, convinced and reliable." Of cognate interest and import is the pronouncement of Lord Kelvin to j the students of the medical school of I Sfc. George's hopsital, London, thus reported: re-ported: - "He should add to the subject he had mentioned, another human nature. It was with that they had to deal, and that carried them far beyond head matter. mat-ter. Let them not imagine that any hocus-pocus of electricity or viscous fluids would make a living cell." The general result of an exceedingly The general result of an enormous amount of exceedingly intricate and thoroughgoing investigation by Huxley and Hooker and others of the present age, and by some of their predecessors in both the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries, was that 110 artificial process pro-cess whatever could make living matter mat-ter out of dead." In these days, when sensation-loving ministers and ultra-pedantic university professors magisterially dismiss the fundamental truths of Christianity as no longer worthy of credence by an en-. en-. lightened world, it is refreshing to read the testimony which real scholars and genuine savants bear to the perfect harmony of scientific truth and Catholic, Catho-lic, dogma. As a matter of fact, the whole group of rationalists, pantheists, and agnostics of our time constitute in the firmament of history nothing more than Ruskin's "dim comet wagging wag-ging its useless tail of phosphorescent nothingness across the steadfast stars." The Cleveland, O., Knights of Columbus Co-lumbus are holding their second annual retreat this week. Pope Pius absolutely denies the report re-port that had gained currency in Rome to the effect that he would pass the coming spring at Castle Gandalfo. In conversation with Signor Sala, the pope said that he would deviate in no way from the usages of his predecessors predeces-sors and would not quit the Vatican. The German Catholic Central Society Soci-ety has planned for a grand celebration of its golden jubilee, to take place in Cincinnati on the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th of next. September. It is composed com-posed of several hundred benevolent societies, so-cieties, with a membership of over 50,-000. 50,-000. In this connection there will be held a "Catholic Day" similar to the famous Katholikentage of Germany. THE FRENCH CRISIS. W. L. S. writes in the Catholic World for March on the French crisis: "Our fellow- Catholics in France are at this moment prostrate before a storm of persecution as relentless and vindictive save that, out of deference to modern feelings, it Is free from bloodshed as any that has ever before devastated the Christian church. M. Combes professes to be working merely for a 'Iaisized state.' But that euphemism euphem-ism disguises from nobody is real .pur? pose of destroying religion and of creating cre-ating a nation of infidels. There can be no other explanation of the elaborate devices of hatred and sacrilege which he is employing against the Catholicity of France. From the brutal driving out of helpless nuns into the streets, to the shameful spying upon public servants to see that none of them shall say their prayers Combes has not only drawn upon the arsenal bequeathed him by his predecessors in the office of grand persecutor, but he has contrived new measures of his own for the ruin of faith, which for cruelty entitle him to a place not far from Nero, a.nd for ingenuity in-genuity raise him ro a position by the side of Voltaire. History will present him to posterity as the man under whom ancient and Catholic France decreed de-creed that no virginal life, consecrated to the orphaned and the sick, was permitted per-mitted to exercise merry and display self-sacrifice on her soil, and that no man who knelt to his creator should draw a salary from the state: "The causes which have fallen together to-gether to produce in our time such a man as Combes, and such a situation as the present cris5s, are many and complicated, com-plicated, and take their rise not In today to-day of yesterday, but far back in French history, and deep down in the character of Frenchmen. To unravel all these causes and trace them to their origin would be a long task, and perhaps per-haps for our generation an impossible one. But, whatever be the other ele ments behind the disaster, of one element ele-ment we may be erta.in; and that is, that Catholics hav exposed themselves to this attack by some deadly blunder, some fatal fault. On the face of available avail-able statistics the Catholics of FraJice number 37,000.000. The professed infidels, infi-dels, who hate religion for religion's sake, are an insignificant minority of some few thousands. Yet. today the believing be-lieving multitude are lying t prostrate before the . unbelieving ' handful. . crushed. ; humiliated, helpless and hopeless. Something must have gone ' terribly wrong. Some deplorable futil- ity must have been not only committed , but persisted in. What is it? How has it bn allowed to go 50 far? In ' no spirit. of unsvnrpathizing criticir-m. but with a. sincere desire to dirpct the. , attention of American Catholics to a lesson from which they may h.ve something themselves to learn, we shall endeavor to answer these questions in a frank manner and hi plain speech. M. Dabry's newly published book, mentioned men-tioned at the head of this articlefi will serve as a guide. "A proof of the existence of a modern spirit in France, ready to make favorable favor-able terms with religion if it had been encouraged, may be seen in the interchange inter-change of letters between Leo XIII and President Grevy in isss. The pope complained com-plained to M. Grevy of the recent anti- Catholic legislation. The president answered an-swered that he deplored the extreme measures adopted by the chamber: but pleaded that the anti-republican spirit of the Catholics was the cause of it. He besought the pope to bring them to a more safe and tractable mind, and a.dded: "I can do very little against the enemies of the church: but you can do a great deal against the enemies of the republic' "This wish of the pontiff ca.me certainly cer-tainly from his heart. -He saw. then what we see now., that upon the realization reali-zation of it, depended not only the prosperity, but almost the existence of Catholicity in France. Probably the result of no other project of his entire pontificate was watched by him with so intense an anxiety as this appeal to a perishing church and nation. He made it in the name of France, glorious in her Catholic histoiry; in the name of hiimself, whose life witnessed to his love for the fair land, and noble people; and in the name of Christ, qui aime les Francs." OLD-FASHIONED DEVOTION. (From the New York Sun.) Dr. James J. Walsh began last week a series of lectures in the Carnegie Lyceum on "The Women of the Renaissance," Re-naissance," which is to be continued or: Thursday forenoons rluring Lent. The initial lecture was all that might have been expected from a man of ripe scholarship, whose learning is mellow ed by humor, a genial philosophy and never failing enthusiasm. However, it is the occasion, not the content, of Dr. Walsh's lectures which is the chief interest. in-terest. They are given in support of a charity which has had at its service a greater wealth of devotion than- of money. About ten years ago a woman, of slender means, but with the heritage of a great name, gentle nature and a tender heart, -went down to the lower east side to nurse and comfort indigent sufferers from cancer, the most hope-loss hope-loss and terrible of diseases. She lived in a two-room tenement, to which she brought as many helpless, dying cancer victims of the neighborhood as the apartment would hold. To others she ministered in their own homes. Moved by her zeal, a number of women wo-men joined in the work of mercy. Some followed her in consecrating themselves wholly to it. A sisterhood was formed, calling itself the Servants of Relief. The two-room tenment hospital developed devel-oped into the St. Rose's Free Home for Incurable Cancer, in Cherry street, to which the sisterhood eventually added the Rosary Hill Home, at Hawthorne, Westchester county. It is for the purpose of paying, off the sma.ll debt on the modest buildings in which these institutions are housed that, the lectures are given. This way of going about, it is unostentat ious arid old fashioned, like the virtues on which the.-charity.:is founded. LENT. Winter days are sad and dark. All the "world seems withering: Yet the spring is coming. Hark! Birds begin to sing. Sunset scarcely brings a. blush Scarce a smile the dawn of day! Still the spring i coming. Hush! Men and women pray. Once again wide open stand Portals of another Lent; Let us enter, hand in hand, With a fixed intent. Very simply to. -accept Whatsoe'er his hands, dispense, Who, a sinless mourner,; wept Tears of penitence. To his cross aain we turn; Love thereat her chalice fills, Till her weeping eyes discern Daybreak on the hills. Hush! the spirit voices pray; Hia.rk! the spirit voices sing; Nearer draws our.easter day God's eternal spring. THE BEST LENTEN DEVOTION. One of the most fruitful, and excellent excel-lent practices for the observance of Lent is daily attendance at the holy sacrifice of the mass. . The Irish Messenger Mes-senger gives the following reasons which should induce those who can do so to practice this devotion: It will make your heart light and cheerful. It will throw a holo of happiness over your days. It will keep your conscience clean. It will bring you into constant contact con-tact with the source of all grace. It will teach you how to live on terms or closest intimacy with God. Your understandlinng will be enlightened enlight-ened and your will strengthened. All the treasures of gold and precious stones which the earth contains are outweighed by one mass. To assist at daily mass is a practice which is easy and consoling. The early risinf. which it usually necessitates is itself a great blessing of the. natural order. OUR DUTY IN LENT. What shall we do in -Lent? How-shall How-shall we make it different from the ordinary seasons of the ecclesiastical year? Shall we go' through it, haphazard, hap-hazard, as it were; or shall we really make up our mindst to deny ourselves in certain definite ways, and really try to keep Lent as if it meant a season or individual self denial? Surely the latter way is not only the true Catholic way: but it is the manly one, the upright up-right one." the best and wisest way. So what shall we do about it? We shall make up our minds to do some conquering con-quering of self in the matter of early rising and spring out of bed ath a fixed hour; say our morning prayers as if they were worth saying; go to mass every day if we can, or as often as we can : attend the Lenten sermons, make the way of the cross, say the rosary, deny ourselves something we really like at meals. As to fasting, if we really real-ly cannot fast, at least we need not eat or drink between meals, and at least we need not turn our regular meals into feasts; we can, most of us, deny our-, our-, selves some little thing. Sacred Heart Review. |