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Show Church Tin 1 N , which oyer- era 9 cometh the universal. j Church Calendar. , Penticost Gospel, St. John xiv, 23-31: s Descent of the Holy Ghost, i ! i ' ' Sunday, May IS St. Vincent. M. ; i ' Monday. May 19. St. Peter Celestin, ! ' r. C. Tuesday, Maq 20. St. Bernardine of : Siena. C. i , "Wednesday, May 21. St. Felix of i Cantalice, C. , . Thursdav. May 22. St. Julia, V. M. Friday. May 23. St. John Baptist i 1 ' Kossi. C. Saturday, May 24. Our Lady Help of I : J t Ch- : ' PREPARATION TOR FIRST COMMUNION". COM-MUNION". The zeal, M-hich the priest having immediate im-mediate charge of souls, ever feels and ; manifests for the spiritual progress of the children of his parish, arises from a keen appreciation of one of his most important duties, while it is prompted I ' and directed by the holy spirit, who I has given him so sublime a vocation. I ' Yes, God inspires the priest with a deep and practical sympathy for those I innocent souls: and the minister of I ' , God. true to his heavenb" calling, at I ' all times and in all ways, takes the i ' liveliest interest in the youth that form so precious a portion of the flock com- mithted to his care. He is to them an - Instructor, a guide, a protector, aj I i father. ' ' i More especially will this part of his ministerial labors become greatly en- ; deared to him, as the time approaches ! I for preparing the young In their first I holy communion and for receiving the I sacrament of confirmation. Then, in- deed, above all times, will his zeal be . ardent and his efforts unremitting.. " True, he has all along experienced genuine spiritual delight while ener-I ener-I , ; getically devoted, in word and work. I to al lthe members of his flock, old and , young alike teaching divine truth and I dispensing divine grace, looking for the j blessed reward w hich awaits those who Instruct and lead others unto justice. But it is now, when imparting the ne- ' eessary instructions and directions to i ' youthful minds and hearts, for two f , most solemn actions, that he realizes i a special responsibility in the premises, I fully conscious that his position re- quires that he prove himself a faith- s ful spokesman and agent of the Most : High, in unfolding whose "wonderful V testimonies" he is impelled to exclaim ; with the royal prophet: "The declara-' declara-' lion of thy words giveth light; and f ; giveth understanding to little ones." I j He understands well that the present ; j is the critical moment, the turning ' point in a child's life being thorough- . j ly convinced that in proportion to the J i degree of preparedness with which j children approach holy communion for the first time, or according to the j measure of their intelligently trained piety or disposition before receiving i the sacrament of confirmation, will be the marked character of their lives as practically fervent Catholic men and women. Hence, he is all alive to the duty of the occasion: diligently in- I structing, wisely advising, vigilantly I ; correcting, paternally encouraging s I those tendpr charees. for several weeks j before the momentous events, and even I i terminating his assiduous labors for a f j short spiritual retreat. In behalf of the adults of his parish, who are pre- j paring for the same two sacraments, he will, of course, manifest a propor- tionate degree of patient painstaking. j And in all this, the pastor of souls s has already a foretaste of the joy and I" consolation that shall be his, while j ; . even after contemplating in advance ; ' ( the good to the church and hence to ; society which will be effected by his i generous efforts; and, at that decisive hour, when God shall call him from k , earth, this joy and consolation will be abundantly intensified. Catholic School ; ; j Journal. j FIVE MINUTE SERMON". A : 1 Short Instructions For Early Masses : by the Paulist Fathers. 5 j "Let every man bespeak swift to hear. ! but slow to speak." Epistle of the Day. This is certainiy a very practical in-I in-I etruction. And the first part of it, at any rate, seems to be very easy to car ry out in practice. We can live fully up to it. after a fashion, with very lit-j lit-j tie effort. It is not hard to be swift to hear all the news that is going; to fill i our neaas with all sorts or information, which, to say the least, is of no man- I ner of use to us. And we may, per- haps, be particularly swift to hear any thing which is to the discredit of any ' ' of our acquaintances. We are all more or less inclined that way. ; But this can hardly be the meaning of. St. James' precept. For if we are swift to hear of these matters, we are ly no means slow to speak of them. Quite the contrary; they circulate very ; , rapidly. Of course it may be neces- ! sary sometimes to speak of the faults of others to some prudent person for advice, or sonic cither good reason: but : ' even this should not be done hastily or carelessly. "Slow to speak." is the only part of St. James' instruction which fits this matter. But this really was not quite the matter which the apostle had in mind. $ There are occasions plenty of them - n which we are by no means swift to hear. Good listeners, in really profitable profit-able conversation, are rather rare. We nil think that our ideas are as good as those of the next man or woman, and ; indeed probably a good deal better. If any one is telling a story about some interesting event, we think we could , tell it much better, or that we have a much better one to tell. If he Is giv ing the result of his observation or experience, ex-perience, we think ours is much more i valuable and important. "While he is talking, we are thinking much more ( about what we are going to say than I about what he is saying. And if we are arguing about something, we pay 1i mine an rin ii hi m iinr ailment on uie j other side, but wait with impatience ! if we wait at all to bring forward our ! much superior arguments for our own. ' And. particularly, how hard it is for us to accept advice in general! We I ought not to receive, but to give it. I It is very hard for us to believe that I someone else has more ability or better I . . I judgment than ourselves. About some I things, yes: about many, perhaps; but I not about the particular matter in hand. j St. James, then, wouid give us a les- ' ' : "t son in humility, the hardest of all vir- jj ' ! tues to acquire thoroughly, and yet the 3 ! foundation of all supernatural ones. It I ! will be well If we can take it to heart. i But there is another and a deeper meaning in his words. He warns us I elsewhere in his epistle. most Rtrongly, against sins of the tongue. 5 There is nothing else for the con- irol of which the grace of God . is more urgently needed. And we f ' ought to know, on account of our sins, how little we have of that grace habitually: and we ought to presume ; that others, whose sins we know little about, have much more of It than we have. We ought to fear sin in our own ! ; ' words, especially if they are hastily i a ppoken; we ought t believe that the ; , t ,; grace of God is in those of others, un- : j less the contrary plainly appears. If it I tfoes, then Indeed may be the time for V ' us to speak; but with deliberation, slowly and carefully, and with a sense of our own unworthiness. This is the deeper feeling of humility which the words of the apostle should produce in our minds. And we all know, if we stop to think, how much we need it. Let us pray, then, that God may give it to us. ANCIENT ROMANS. By Rev. H.'G. Hughes. Who does not know the old Roman studentJthe priest, often bishop, who passed the days of youth and early manhood within the walls of the great Alma Mater in her happier days, and came away with am undying, unquenchable un-quenchable love for her set deep in his heart? Let not any such who may chance upon these lines be offended at the title placed above themfor to be an ancient Roman needs not more than a ripe middle age. It is not length of days, but rather the sad and sorry changes that have come so quickly, and, like a whirlwind, have swept away so much that was lovely and pleasant to "behold, that made the writer choose this heading to his theme. How full of quiet dignit3- are those worthy men! With how calm a visage do they look out upon the world of today! Others may prate of progress prog-ress and of the need of keeping up with the times. They have seen, they have lived in other times, as far removed from ours by change as if centuries had lapsed between. Each is in truth a "laudator temporis acti." And who shall blame them? For the old majestic majes-tic Rome has set her seal upon them, and they walk through life upon a higher level for it. Each' carries with him sweet memories of the days that are pastmemories which are a fount to strength in the evil days that have succeeded. To have lived in Rome before be-fore her enemies possessed her; to have made one in her glorious religious pageants pa-geants of the past: to have seen the pope as king, his rights acknowledged and acclaimed by all; to have seen Holy Church exercising unhindered her influence in every sphere of life; to have drunk in learning at the feet of masters who were giants in their day: is not this to have lived a life well worth the living? Is it any wonder that an almost imperceptible accent of pity should be discerned as those last representatives for us of things that have been, speaking of the days of their youth, draw a contract between their own lot as Roman students and that of those who wax eloquent upon their own experiences of the Holy city? Readers of that charming volume vol-ume by the great Cardinal Wiseman, in which, in masterly style, he records his own recollections of life in Rome will understand my meaning. Many there are still with us who lived in Rome during the days that followed upon those whose history is so vividly portrayed in that memorable book. And each has his own store of recollections; recol-lections; never, perhaps, written, but oft and again recounted to sympathetic ears. One will tell how it was the proud privilege of his college to walk close to the vicar of Christ in some great annual procession, or to carry the canopy over his venerable form a duty kings have not disdained in the splendid ceremonies of Corpus C.hristi, when the great square of St. Peter's was compassed round about by the illustrious il-lustrious throng of the "highest in God's church. Another will tell how he was chosen to preach the sermon in St. Peter's before pope and cardinals cardi-nals which by immemorial yearly custom cus-tom had been delivered by an alumnus of his own particular Alma Mater. I well remember the enthusiasm with which a worthy priest described to me the kindly action of the kindly Pio Nono who came to him in person to present him with the commemorative medal given on such an occasion, and which had by some mischance been forgotten. Others will tell of chance meetings with the holy father during a ramble in the gardens of some princely prince-ly villa without the walls, and of gentle condescension and fatherly kindness shown to unknown youths by the most exalted personage upon earth. Then there were the grand days of high festival, fes-tival, when the pope in person graced with his august presence this or that church in the city, and perhaps himself sang the high mass of the day. . Meetings, Meet-ings, too, are well remembered with illustrious men whose names are now a part of history. Tales are told of a kindly word of encouragement from some great one. which snurred the hearer on to great accomplishments and higher effort. Memories are there, too, of great teachers, known now only by the volumes that line the walls of college libraries, whose spoken words, more stirring than printed page, are laid up in many a heart, kindling still an enthusiasm that will last as long as life. Many a scene, too, may be recalled re-called at will, witnessing to the deep and fervent piety of the Roman people; to their whole-souled devotion to the church, their love for their prelates and priests. And. above all, the ancient Roman will live over and over again those happy moments when he knelt, perhaps for the last time, at the feet of the common father of the flock, to receive re-ceive his blessing and to hear from his apostolic lips that "godspeed" which made his heart burn within him, and bound him closer than ever to the cause of God, his vicar and his church. Not all this is changed. Some of these privileges, if more rarely, are still to be enjoyed. But much, alas, has changed:, and the ancient Roman, revisiting re-visiting the scenes of his youth, mas-come mas-come away indescribably saddened. Some, indeed, I have known, who refused re-fused to face the sight, willing rather to dwell upon the happy visions of the past, than to look upon so much that Is sad in the present.1 The younger generation will not, perhaps, entirely enter into such feelings. They have not known, except by hearsay, another state of things than now exists. They count it still, and. justly, as it was of old. a high privilege to call themselves by the name of "Roman," and they, too. when the time comes, will look back with pride, and in their turn enkindle en-kindle in others love and admiration for that which is, and ever must be, undying, in the holy city, that majesty which, for all time, as In a glorious mantle, wraps her round. Donohue's Magazine. |
