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Show I j ) ( I I burci) Universal j i . CHURCH CALENDAR. 13. S, Third of Advent. St. Lucv. E. Philip v. 4-7; G. John i, 19-2S. 338,-008 338,-008 ror families. " 1 14. M. St. Spiridion. 332,488 for re- ? I' conciliations. L 16. W. Ember day. St. Eusebius. 2TS.079 for the clergy. 17. Th. St. Lazarus. 543,923 for relig- -..L ,' w 38. F. Ember day. The Expectation. 'A 221,029 for seminarists, novices, ft ' 19. s. Ember day. St. Nemesion. V 480.550 for vocations. t -0. S. Fourth of Advent. St. Dom- '. i ) Sylos. E. I Cor. iv, 1-5; G. Luke iii, ,- 3-C 447.412 for parishes. J ' 21. M. St. Thomas. 145,339 for su- lerlors. 1 23. W. St. Servulus. 225,897 for mis- I sions, retreats. 24. Th. St. Delphinus, Vigil. 1,416,186 j for societies, works. 23. F. Nativity of Our Lord. 1,416,264 for conversions. 26. S. St. Stephen. First Martyr. ' ; 192.647 for sinners. I 27. S. Within Octave of Nativity. St. ? John. E. Ecclus. xv, 1-6; G. John, xxi, Is 19-24.-233,073 for tho intemperate. j I 28. M. Holy Innocents. 279,389 for j J spiritual favors. I I I 29. T. St. Thomas a Becket. 272.006 j ; for temporal favors. 1 30. vv. St. Sabinus. Mass of Sunday i within Octave. 1.766,950 for special, va- f rious. 31. Th. St. Sylvester I. For Messen- ger readers. ! "God harden me apainst myself. This coward with pathetic voice "Who craves for rest and ease and j joys." r 'Myself, arch-traitor to myself; My hollowest friend, my deadliest foe: My clog whatever way 1 go." "Vet One there is can curb myself, 'an roll the strangling load from me; jreak off the yoke and set me free." Christina Rossetti. Ixve is led by faith and'hope, which V . with eager step at last outruns them I J both when they faint and falter. "With weight of cares Upon the great world's altar stairs f Ifl 1 That spole through darkness up to 'r . h God." ".' . Many a wreck drifting: sin-driven i' uf' through the years floats o'er the tide , (f repentant tears to the golden shore of penance and there finds solace, it peace and calm. So lightly arc the judgments of God esteemed that men in their fatal blind- Iness seem to think it hardly wortli wlnle to stir hand or foot to escape them. Our hearts are like those exquisite thermometers where the slightest va- nation In the temperature occasions: an i instant rise or fall in the -quicksilver. : Through the wide portal of a moth er's heart have come the noble train f human virtues that have raised the . race from we know not how crude and degraded a stage in physical and mo- 1 ral being up to that high estate which j in its perfect flowering in the souls of I the redeemed has made men only a little lit-tle Jess than angels. j ne greatest strength and nobility of character lies always in taking a firm stand on (he side of right and allowing allow-ing outself to be influenced by noth- i ; ing that will -weaken this stand. When the soul is elevated above the things of this world. us St. Basil, and tho mind's eye is directed toward the i- true good, it is no longer exposed to j envy, because it no longer believes in the excellence of the treasures of this ! earth. j The envious man is always uneasy. always agitated by a thousand differ- ! ont passions, like a vessel tossed about ' on the restless waves: he Is eaten up by an eternal cancer, and his life, as one of the saints expresses it. '-. an apprenticeship to the torments oi' he!!. Whatever you do. son. you cannot escape es-cape the judgment of men. It is ;t persecution per-secution common to all. whether it springs from thoughtlessness or malice. The soul that meets sorrow fairly and squarely and accepts ner burden as coming from God. is preparing well for that day when "the stream has reached a dark, deep sea. and sorrow, dim and crowned, is waiting" for her. Medtation Is the key -which opens the doors of hea van and of hell so that vrc may see the unending bliss or the un-i un-i ending woe of the saint or the sinner. I For one who seriously medidates each day. for that one it is well night im- i possible to be lost. Mere earthly friendships are not fi wont t- last, their origin being so frail jimM? that tli slightest contradiction chills ' r and blights them; a change which can- 1 not come over those friendships which 1 are built up in God and are conse- I uently solid and enduring. St. Frau- i cis de Sales. j i Truth itself has assured us that we J) I cannot serve 1 wo masters. Xeverthe- ' ,1 less there are persons who think other- wise; who discover n difficulty in , . -f Tiy- what our Redeeemer declares to be im- "'- , 1 possible; who endeavor to assimilate ' j V tllr' vicious maxims of the world with The sublime truths of the Gospel, j Mortal sins are the children of venial. wnicn. tnougn tney oe not deadly ! themselves, yet ere prolific of death, i You may think you have killed the 1 giants who had possession of your hearts, and that you have nothing to I 'Tear, but the giants will live again. they will rise from the dust, and before be-fore you know where you are. you will be taken captive anil slaughtered by the fierce, powerful and eternal enemies ene-mies of God. Holy Writ is. a treasure of priceless value. In reading the Holy Scriptures afflicted souls lind consolation, tempt- j ed souls secure a sure weapon against sin; wearied souls and disgusted find a delicious suavity; darkened souls re-ceive re-ceive light; cold and tepid jouls get fire which warms, and all souls find a sweet repose. Take up and read. t God attaches His graces to homes. seasons, places and objects, to a num- I ? her of circumstanaces which but raie-y raie-y coincide. Not to profit, then, by i graces is to expose ourselves never . v again to receive them. j Ejaculatory prayers are like spiritual V wings -wherewith the soul flies to God. unites itself to Ilim and lives a para- dlsaical life in Him. V . ! a The Number of Converts. , The number of converts to the Cath- ' i - olic church in the United States is en- I gaging the attention of our brethren in I Europe. The figures published in con nection with reports of the missions, preached in our churches, seem great to those who do not keep in mind the 3 relative value of statistics. Fifteen Thousand, the estimated yearly number of converts in England, Is very large in proportion to 23.000 for the United ' States, since the Catholics of England f tt re only one-fifth of our number, and 1 only one-eighth of the whole number of I ' Inhabitants, whereas we are about one-Eixth one-Eixth of our total population. j Careful and repeated inquiry about 1 - w w the number of converts to the church in this country has convinced us that three or four times 25,000 are received every year. Unfortunately, every estimate esti-mate must be regarded-more or less as guesswork so long as we have no reliable reli-able or certified statistics. Very few of the religious orders of the secular clergy engaged in giving missions keep rec ords of the converts made, and even the one which reports them most carefully docs not always distinguish between those who are received on account, as well as on the occasion, of the missions, and those who have been kept waiting for pastors for the instructions which are usually given to converts during the missions. Only sixteen of the dioceses report the number of converts, 4.000 in all, but these are not by any means the largest dioceses, nor those in which conversions tare the most numerous. A province of one religious order in which about 100 men have been engaged in the sacred ministry has averaged 1.000 converts for the" last twenty-five years. At this rate, every 1,000 priests would receive about 10.000 converts, and tho whole number of priests actually engaged in the ministry would receive at least 100.000 yearly. This figure may appear very large, but it is very small when one takes into account the number num-ber of priests and the number of religious, relig-ious, of women particularly, who lead inquirers into the church; and it is small also in comparison to the number num-ber of Catholics and to the vast non-Catholic non-Catholic population they influence. Rarely is any zealous priest without a convert under instruction, and in hundreds hun-dreds of convents the chapel is fre-quently fre-quently the scene of a baptism at which priest and neophyte meet the first time. It would be interesting to know the number of Catholics who have come into the church under such auspices, as contrasted with the number due chiefly or solely to missions in our churches"; and there would be additional interest in knowing what proportion of each set of converts remains faithful. The Messenger. Separated. "Some men are fond of work, and others are not." said Wilber. "Take Dawson, for instance. He is wedded to his work." "Not now." said Hickenlooper. "He's been divorced." "Divorced? What do vou mean?" asked Wilber. "He was bounced last Saturday." said Hickenlooper. December Lippincott's. |