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Show ? - : 1 hiirc!) ilniwal 1 I CHURCH CALENDAR. I Soxancsima Sunday. .. J ,;,, I. t. Luke viii, 4-15: The Parab. ui iiin v. Feb. L'ti St. Alexander, Pa. C. ! I ;.l inlay, Feb. I'T St. Leander, 1$. c. I tii '!-l;iy- l'"01'. -S St. liomanus, Ab. I Wednesday, March 1 St. David. B C I Thumlay, JUanh St. Simidk-ius.' I r '' I Fjifi-iv, March 3 St. Cuncgundis, 1 . I v .-.-.! m-Jay. March 4 St. Casamir, C. V MY BEADS. f P.Y FATHER RYAN. I j- , ... . Wowd beads! I would not part I ; ii on'.' of you for richest pern I ' : fl'sms in kingly diadem! I v the history of my heart. ' -. , I y : have Uil'l you every grief 1 ' . !! 1 bo days of twenty yean. J I have moistened you with tears f ; i your decades found relief. I , ' I'"!'- has lied, and friends have I 1 j" have died: but in niv n.etls . V w ' my friends, mv blessel i i.rads: : , : eonsoled me when 1 wailed j many and many a time, in Riiof, j My v.aiy lingers wandered round I l av . iicled chain, and always found I , M.mc Hail Mary sweet relief. H..H many a story you might, tell ;' inner life, to all unknown; I I 1 l asted you. and you alone. I ye kecii my secrets well. I " an- the only ebain wear A .in that 1 am but the slave. ' life, in death, beyond the grave, : .b-siis and His Mother fair. ( SPLENDID CHURCHES. 1 Why Catholics Are so Anxious to I Build Them. j Tl:c edifice which is constructed to s f'-Ta congregation of the faithful. h' house of God and the gate of j l.aveii." the chosen place for the di- 'ine sacrifice, the permanent abode of I T,iisi. really present under the sacra- I i-ental species in the sacred taher- I j.ai-le. tlie audience hall in which is , r. . tod the mercy throne of the King i" ''il'iry. should, of course, be the fin- ' t structure in any locality and fur- . 7 ished with the richest ornaments that I ihe loving worshipers can procure. The I inple of Soloinon was such by the di- :'t ie,-t older of God himself, and Catho- i Jas have always understood and un- I island today all over the earth that I Mieh a place should be, to the best of I i ur power, our places of sacred wor- hip. A poetic inscription written hv j 3 "l-iunatus about A. D. S50 for a I hurch built by, St. Felix in Nantes, 1 Fiance, bears witness to this convic- foil in the early ages, and the mas- I i tj.ieces of architecture since erected 1 I "ver the Christian lands testify to V " in every subsequent century. Rev. ; 1 T. E. Bridgett, C. S. R., has rendered I 1 lie verse as follows: i I "The sacred body of the Lamb Divine I A priceless pearl demands a golden shrine I In wealth and art with Solomon to ! vie, I 'Mol? ch, more fair, to faith's dis- 1 corning eye." I The more fully a people realize the I Ja.lmess of a church the greater, nat- ) ni-ally. will be their eagerness to lend f ! 'auty and dignity to the edifice and I i" all its furniture and ornaments. This Truth is evidenced by the facts of his- i'ry. for it was in the ages of faith I That the grandest churches were con- I Miucted. and they were provided with J -vessels and ornaments of gold and sil- j set with pearls and precious stones I i" an extent which far surpassed the I -m. nest display of kingly and imperial I Magnificence. Since the so-called re- I i.'iniation 1'ne same spirit of faith and I Live for the blessed sacrament has I Ti.ade Catholics do wonders of gener- 1l i ' in behalf of their churches, while in Protestant lands the houses of wort-hip have been shamefully neglected. 3i is only since the Oxford movement ! vived in England an appreciation of i f i!-'e blessed eucharist that a new spirit J I ' ' .respect for churches has been f ? i mused, first among Episcopalians and t ladually to some extent among others If ' f 'he sects. Pray we that they may I - 1 back the "precious pearl," and the f" 1 ; njstic setting will not long be delayed, j I Father Coj.j.ens. S. J., in New Voice. I THE OSTENSORIUM. I 5 y Its Origin and Its Use in the Cere- f ' monies of the Church. :1 ; A liKinsliance, called also ostens.o- j I and ortable tabernacle, is that I ' .i-f- altar utensil in which the blessed j ; a. -ram nt is exposed at benediction J : ! i borne in solemn nroeession outside I ' ihe -hurch on certain occasions. It I "usists f f two parts the foot, or stem, j v, ii!i which it rests, and the repository, 1 ' ' 'ae. in which the host Is exhibited. 'M:e stem is like that of the chalice, ' 1 its upper jiart is so formed as to ? 'inble the fays issuing from the 1 ia iit sun. In its ienter there is a j ? -' alar aperture in which the lunula, I hiiittte. with the blessed sacrament I : 1 ii-sed. is placed during exposition. I M "list ranees date their origin from I institution of the Feast of Corpus I - sii. which was first set on foot by I ' " i !. bishop IJepe, in 1246, at the t ' nation uf a holy nun named Juli- I . h freijuently saw in a vision a I ' 1 lii '. us moon with one dark line on I - surface. The moon represented the "i ! ;h and the dark line indicated a. j ! that was wanting among those i,.lly elehrated, and this feast w;fs ' specially directed toward the - - ! saciament. This bd to the in-' in-' ' -..-ii'.ii of the Feast, of the Blessed i.iinent, or Corpus Christ!, which I Frban IV, in 1264, extended to I universal church. . ' some of the churches of the Cis- 1 ian unli r in France instead of the j v ,h monstrance there is employed a j s -.H statue of the Blessed "Virgin, so j i.-tru ted that the sacred host may ; lac. d in its hand during the lime ': ocposit ion. The prestnt shape of I " liionstiance, imitating the radiant I 'i . recalls the divine splendor of the '-'!-. is countenance at his transfigu- : ion 011 Mount Tabor and that saj-- I 3 c of the psalmist: "He has placed his 1 i" i iiade in the sun" (Psalm xviii. 61.) The material of the monstrance may ef gold, silver, brass or copper gilt. V!." base should be wide and it must i ' surmounted by a cross. In the mid-'' mid-'' of t;ie monstrance .there should be ' receptacle of such size that a latge ' "st may easily be put into it. On the 'i'm and back of this recptacle there fiiould be a crystal, allowing the host 1,1 be seen, the one on the back open--s like a door. The circumference of ihis receptacle should be of gold, or if j f other material it should be gilt and , t-mooth and polished. I The lunula, or lunette, is made of the j fame material as the monstrance. If 1' bf made of any other material than told, it must be gilded..- In form it may be either of two crescents or of two crystals incased in metal.' Jf. two crystals crys-tals are used, it is necessary that they be so arranged that the sacred host Vs not in any way touch the gISH. In some cases the lunula is of silTer i, gold. The upper part of the monstrance mon-strance is generally of the precious metals, or at least gilt or silvered, al-1 al-1 though the lower portion is occasional-1 occasional-1 1 of bronze artistically wrought. In many casts it is of most costly materials mate-rials and workmanship.- ", - . . ." The monstrance is not consecrated by. a bishop but is. simply blessed by a I nest,-who uses the form of blessing a lion" C r oStensorium The Na- LOSING ONE'S SOUL TO SPITE THE PRIEST A Type of "Fallen Away" Catholic Who Represents the Very Climax of Unwisdom. (From the Ave Maria.) Of all the unfortunate mortals who oeiong to the far too numerous class Known as "fallen-away" Catholics, the most lllogucal is suielv he who has abandoned the chuich because of some J, .or fancied injustice received at the hands of one of the church's ministers. min-isters. As if God's claim upon our love and service depended upon the eon-duct eon-duct of our parish priest! "A common com-mon sop to one's conscience," says a contemporary essayist, "is to grow" eloquent elo-quent over the shortcomings of the clergy; i,ut it js doubtfuI jf God Vi.m Judge us by what the clergv do." Yet. because Father A ten or tifteen years ago rashly judged or unjustly up-bra,ded up-bra,ded Mr. B the-latter, as some of his sympathetic neighbors will tell you, "has never put his foot inside the church from that day to this." The same neighbors, with their half-hearted deprecation, not to say their actual condonation, of his unjustifiable un-justifiable action, are anvthing-but robust ro-bust children of the church, and in one sense are more culpable than the recalcitrant Catholic himself. The sense of injury, fostered and fed until un-til it has grown to be a monster pas- 1011. mav liartialK- ovnl,l i u cannot, of course, palliate, his insensate insen-sate conduct: but the cold-blooded, deliberate de-liberate approval of such conduct bv Catholics who profess, to be sensible men and women is a piece of follv that would be incredible were it not" often met with. Losing one's soul "to spite the priest" is surely the verv climax of unwisdom, and . to justify it is a work more congruous to the enemv of mankind than to a genuine Christian. CHINESE C0"NVERTS. Four Celestials in Baltimore Apply to Priest For Instruction. 'From the Baltimore Sun.) ? Four Chinamen of this city, including a father and two sons, have announced their intention of becoming members of the Catholic church, and another has expressed a desire to do so. . About two months ago a Chinaman called on Rev. Thomas M. O'Donoghue, pastor of the Immaculate Conception Catholic church. Division and Mosher streets, and said he desired to attend the church with the intention of becoming be-coming a member. He said his two sons and a fellow-countryman would like to follow his example. The visitor received encouragement and all four began at once to attend the services and receive instructions under the direction di-rection of Rev. Father O'Donoghue. The task was found to be a difficult one on account of the Chinamen not knowing much of the English language but some progress has been made. The men attend regularlv the servWc UnH seem to be impressed with them An effort will be made by the pastor to secure se-cure a Chinese catechism. The fifth Celestial, Charlie Gee Quee is quite intelligent. He was born in California, is 34 years old and. conducts a laundry in Pennsylvania avenue, near Robert street. Before coming to Baltimore Bal-timore he was a cook in an American family in California and the name of Charlie was given him by his emplover His real name is Gee Quee. His parents par-ents are dead. Charlie. Gee said yesterdav that h has attended a Sunday school on Fulton Ful-ton avenue, but did not know the denomination. de-nomination. THE MADONNA. John Ruskin says: "After careful examination, neither as an adversary iMjr as a .friend, of the influences of Catholicism, I am persuaded that the worship of the Madonna has been one cf the noblest and most vital graces, and has never been otherwise than productive of holiness of life and purity pur-ity of character. There has. probably, not been an innocent home throughout Europe during the period t Christianity in which the imagined presence of the Madonna has not given sanctity to the duties and comfort to the trials of the lives of women: and every brightest and loftiest achievement achieve-ment of art and strength of womanhood woman-hood has been the fulfillment of the poor Israelite Maiden. "He that is mighty bath done great things' in me. and holy is hi.nsame." - A shrine near Venice, called the Madonna Ma-donna of the Sea, drew froin Ruskin this tribute: O lone Madonna Angel of the Deep-When Deep-When the night falls., and deadly winds are loud, ... "Will not thy love be with us .while we keep Our watch upon the waters, and the , gaze ; . Of thy soft eyes that slumber not, nor sleep ? ,. - Deem not thou, stranger, that such trust is vain: Faith walks not on these weary waves alone. Though weakness dread, or apathy disdain The spot which clod has hallowed for his own. They sin who pass it lightly ill-divin- . big ... The glory of this place of bitter prayer. GRACE BEFORE MEALS. The church has established prayers which should be said before and after, meals. In religious communities these prayers are always said, and are somewhat some-what long. But for the faithful goner-ally, goner-ally, the church has made them so short that even the most simple peo-7le peo-7le can and should say them always before and after mealt. The prayer 1-' fore the meal is this: "Bless us, O Lord, and these thy gifls we are about 10 receive through thy most gracious bounty, through Jesus Christ. Our Lord. Amen." And -when the meal is over we. should say: "AVe thank, thee, C) jord. for these, thy gifts, through J sus Christ, Our Lord. Amtn." That is not much to ask from any cne of us for the food that nourishes our body. And yet how few there are ho ask God's blessing on the food they are about to eat, or to thank Him for the victuals they have eaten. It sesms to me that many a quarrel nnd many a complaint made about the 1 food, or the way it is cooked or served. I ould be averted if the blessing of God had descended-upon the. eaters l and th;ir food before the meal began: and. again, that better health and more peace in the family would result if all. when they got up from the table, would say, in all sincerity of heart: "We thank thee. O Lord, for these thy gifts." And they are God's gifts. Let us confess. that the teachers of simplicity often have loved exaggeration. exaggera-tion. But it is equally true that all the great workers have lived in tht temperate tem-perate zone, far from tropical luxury and far from arctic poverty. Dr. Newell New-ell Dwight Hillis. Le'anness of soul is the portion of him who has gotten his wealth by fraud; but he who chooses poverty rather than dishonorable gain is "richer -than -the mighty " ' ' " .' ", |