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Show J; I I J LhUTCl) ""victor, , ) which oyer- j j : ' "j I , 27 cometh the I : ,y ClnwersdL j CHURCH CALENDER. I Feb. 8 (Septuapesima Sunday) St. John de Matha, Confessor. Feb. (Monday) St. Yosimus, Pope , and ronfossor; St. Apollonia, Virgin I and Martyr. ' j 1 Fob. 10 (Tuesday) Prayer of Our i j Lord on Mount Olivet; St. "Scholastica, Virpln. . . Feb. 11 (Wednesday) Apparition of B. V. M. at Lourdes. Feb. 12 (Thursday) St. Telesphorus. l Pope and Martyr. Feb. 13 (Friday) St. Gregory II. Pope and Confessor. Feb. 14 (Saturday) St. Agatha, Pope and Confessor; St. Valentine, Martyr. . Self-control. Trune thou thy words, "thy thoughts control That o'er thee swell and throng; They will condense within thy soul And change to urpose strong. But he who lets his feelings run In soft luxurious flow . Shrinks when hard service must JLe done. And faints at every woe. Faith's meanest deed more favor bears, Where hearts and wills are weighed, Thou brightest transports, choicest prayers Which bloom their hour and fade. I Cardinal Newman. I CRITICISING PRIESTS. , Receives a Courteous But Stent j .. Rebuke, f "It is unfortunately a failing with I some good .Catholics," remarked CTur i Xext Door, gazing, contemplatively at I the glowing coals in the grate that cost $12 a ton by the way "that they j are given to criticism of their priests, j although they have the grace not to 1 do so in the presence of those not of I the faith. In fact they would resent anything of the kind coming from a Protestant, but when the company is composed exclusively of Catholics they consider the discussion of imperfec-' imperfec-' tions of their spiritual guides as a sort ; of family affair and privilege. A few evenings ago I was at a little gather ing in which a discussion was had regarding re-garding the irritable temperament of a reverend gentleman well known to i most of the company. One of tfie party, an ex-officer of the army, took no part in the conversation until one . of those who had most forcibly expressed ex-pressed his adverse opinion turned to jiiim and said: "'Now, colonel, you know Father . "What do you think of him?' "The colonel paused a moment and then replied: '1 am a Yankee, you know, and will answer your question by asking another. Suppose you were taken mortally ill at midnight during one of those blizzards that we are subject sub-ject to at this season, and should send lor Father , as you are in his parish; don't you know, as an undis-1 putable fact, that he would instantly leave his warm bed and tramp through j ithe storm and darkness to answer your call, at any risk to his life and health?' "Well 'Well yes, admitted the questioner. ques-tioner. . J " 'And when he sat by you in that I dread hour and gave yon such strength 1 end consolation as only a priest of God I can give, wouldn't you feel like cop- 1 doning that little petulance of temper I which his mother gave him and which J the sore trials of life sometimes oring I put? I tell you. boys, the best Mid j I , truest description of a priest that I j I ever read was this: 'He is a man who , has made a vow to be a saint.' And !: that covers the ground. In my long and varied life I never met one of them j whom 1 could not admire and rever- j ence. ! ."This courteous and gentle rebuke i effectually silenced the discussion." : The New Century. j ! Devotion of an Italian Catholic Boy. I shall never forget the impression ; s cne little incident in the Milan cathe- I ral produced upon me. In frornt of , i the steps leading up to the chancel, on ! I , a' sot of stone bed or platform raised ' 1 u about the height of an ordinarry' I j wlting table above lb- iloor, lay an !iion crofs with an iron rigure of the Savior extended upon it. There was absolutely nothing artistic, nothing worthy of a second glance, in this cru- ' cifix. But in the eys of the Italian worshippers, mainly women, it j Ft ood. for something, 1 know, not what, j They came, looked at. it, kissed it on the feet. r side, or brow, with a kiss as carelessly conventional as the hand- shake of fashionable ladips at an after noon tea. i T was looking at this scene with curious interest, speculu ling on the- iv-lati"n iv-lati"n of this ceremoni.-! to genuine religion, re-ligion, and. with. I am afraid, a tinge of pharaisaic Protestantism, wandering wander-ing how this spiritual tiquelte, if it mulii be designated by so large a name, was regarded by him who was tjhe supposed object of the supposed adoration, when a bv of perhaps 8 nv y years of age approached the table. He was so small Uiat he had a little difficulty in reaching t he c rucifix "with his lips. Itut in the devotion there was i nothing careless, nothing. conventional. He kissed the' image again and again I : cin the breast, the brow, the lips, pas- : ' Fiona tely as a boy of O.eep and demon I strative emotion might have kissed the 1 Ifned mother if she. lay before him on. ! her couch in death. And then, with one long, lingering look of love, he turned away, and I turned, too, not meaning that the 4ieau- ; ty of that scene should be spoiled by Ithe irreverent kisses of a superficial if not p.S'udo piety. What will be the history of that boy. I wonder? Will he grow up to be a second Savanarola? I ; Jialy surely needs one. She will not .J listen to Protestants: but she would I listen eagerly to a sincere, an earnest. , ' a devout, a genuinely patriotic Roman ii 1 Catholic, and though piety and pa triotism are just now at swords' points ' in Italy, they need not be. Or will he ' become a second Francis of Assisi, re- maining in the Church, loving the , Church, devoted to the Church, loyal I ; to the institutions of the Church, and wearing his heart out in an endeavor to I jill their fountains ith something of I the life which they once possessed j Rev. Lyman Abbot (Protestant) in The I Outlook. I An Irish Girl's Prayer. I Mother of God! we pray to thee, I , ' As our mothers have prayed before I . US! v Thou, who didst listen heedfully, To the prayer of the woman that bore : us! To their daughter's prayer will again ' - give heed ! Tis the self-sa"me prayer for the self- j ' ' .. same need! 1 Mother of God! our mother's love i Was a shield for men who wore it. And the deathful arts of a foreign drove Were powerless before it, I May our love shelter the loved ones as I el1 , 1 From the foreigner's taint and his j harmful spell! . I Mother of God! our mother's hearts ! . " " Were strong to face all danger. And they bore, with our fathers, their noble parts In combat with the stranger; So, too, may we dare for the cause of right In the battle our country has yet to fight! Mother of God! our mother's eyes Were deep and clear as the sea, And holy thoughts, brought straight from the skies. Made their home in their purity; And our fathers, looking upon their face, . Thought of God, and His love, and of Heaven's high grace. Mother of God! we too would dwell So constant, in God's pure, light That our eyes may reflect it, as Lu-rach's Lu-rach's Well Mirrors the stars at night! And the men who 'may read them will thence this lore To love their- Go and their country j more! O! Mother of God! in that holy hour, When the bridegroom comes to claim me. So I be decked w ith my mother's dower. My empty hands shall not shame me! And the dower which my Irish mother's moth-er's love to my Irish father has given. Was the third gold link in that chain of gold, which has drawn him upwardsto up-wardsto Heaven! Eblin a Ruin-: A Jubilee Suggestion. A capital suggestion for the celebration celebra-tion of the golden jubilee of the promulgation pro-mulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Im-maculate Conception is afforded by the pastor and parishioners of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Mt. Adams, Cincinnati, O. They have determined de-termined to erect on the pinnacle of their historic temple a colossal statue of the Blessed Virgin, which will be illuminated nightly by 3,000 candle power of electricity, the dispersion of light to be so effected that the image may be seen to advantage at great distances. Indeed it will be a landmark land-mark in the beautiful Ohio valley. Mt. Adams is situated on the north bank of the river and commands a view of the surrounding country for miles. The church on its edge was one of the first dedicated to Our Lady after the definition of her Immaculate Conception by the Vatican council in 1854 .and it has always been a favorite favor-ite sanctuary. The magnificent statue soon to surmount the pinnace will not only be an object of interest to all who behold it, but a reminder to the children of light of that celestial city whose walls ara purity and whose gates are peace. Ave Maria. It is perfidious and dangerous eloquence elo-quence that which can only be praised at the expense of holy doctrine, and which contains a poisonous beverage in a golden cup. St. Augustine. One ought absolutely to prohibit one's self the reading of bad books, that is to say, those that attack religion re-ligion and morals, either directly or indirectly; unwholesome meals, however how-ever they may be seasoned, ruin nevertheless, nev-ertheless, little by little, the strongest constitutions. Cardinal Berdil. Has a sensible man ever been seen to visit the abodes of people attacked with some violent pestilence, with the intention of amusing and diverting himself? AVho then can doubt that bad books carry with them a pestilence equally real? Descartes. By Rose Mulho.lland. . The Lord who fashioned my hands for working, Set me a task, and it is not done; I tried and tried since the early morning. morn-ing. And now to westward sinketh the the task that was kindly given To one so little and weak as I Somehow my strength could never grasp it. Never, as days and years went by. Others around me cheerfully toiling. Showed me their work as they passed away;' f Filled were their hanrlq to overflowing Proud were their hearts, and glad . and ray. - . . . Laden with harvest spoils they entered In at the golden gate of their rest: Laid their sheaves, at the fee tof the Master, . Found their places- among' the blest. Harpy be they who strove to help. me, Failir.ff ever in spite of th?ir aid; Fain would their love have borne me onward, But I was unsteady and sore afraid. j Now my task will never be finished. And when the Master calleth my name .-The .-The Voice will find me still at my labor la-bor Weeping beside it In very shame. With emptv hands I shall rise to meet Him, And .when He looks for the fruits of . years . '. Nothing have I to lay .'before Him But broker, efforts and bitter tears. Yet when He calls I fain would hast- en- . j Mine eyes are dirn and their light is gone; And I am as weary- as though I carried car-ried A burden of beautiful work well done. I will fold my empty hands on my bosom, bos-om, Meekly thu3 in the shape of His Cross; And the Lord who made them frail and feeble Maybe will pity their strife and loss. A Lay Apostle. The average Catholic is not a propagandist. pro-pagandist. He has his own religion 1 and he dislikes to obtrude It on his Protestant neighbor. Of course, the dis- ! position is altogether gentlemanly. Other things being equal, the religious porselyte has little excuse in the eyes of the world for his existence. But other things are not equal. The Catholic who wishes to make his religion better bet-ter known has this plea. His religion is so much vilified, so much misunde-stood misunde-stood .that a prejudice is generated against him in his social and political relations. He meets with constant mis- I apprehensions of his belief among Protestants, whose friendship and good will are pleasant to him; and these misapprehensions are of a nature that imply stupidity, gullibility, duplicity and bad citizenship in the Catholitt body. If we value a friendship, it seems incumbent on us to make an effort ef-fort to disabuse our frriend of any misconceptions mis-conceptions he may entetaln of us whether these misconceptions are Individual Indi-vidual or collective. This is a fair excuse for some zeal in promoting Catholic' truth. Such zeal is not discoverable in the mass of Catholics, chiefly because their association asso-ciation with Protestants is quite limited. lim-ited. But among a growing class of Catholics there is apt to be a appreciation ap-preciation of such zeal. Those whose association Is large and more diverse j can appreciate' the value of an aposto-late aposto-late of the press. . 4. , It has been frequently noted that our Catholic reading circles and Put10" spirited organizations are even today mostly directed and engineered by public pub-lic school graduates, public school teachers and person? whose association associa-tion is quite largely with Protestants. Catholic college graduates and those brought up in exclusively Catholic associations as-sociations are not so active. The ex-: ex-: planation is not prejudicial to tne Catholicity of the latter. The former have a better appreciation of the value of intelligent zeal; and for the reasons I here outlined. Southern Messenger. RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. Mgr. Deneckere, secretary' of St. Peter's, fell down the stairs of his residence, resi-dence, fracturing his skull, and died instantly. - ; $ Rev. Father Andrew Michael, for years the beloved pastor of St. Magdalen's Magda-len's church at Madison, Ind., died on Tuesday night, after an illness lasting several weeks. The Very Rev." Fatner Whitmeef, superior su-perior general of the Pallottines, has returned to Rome from a long and fatiguing fa-tiguing journey to South America, where he visited the various houses of his order. Father Whitmee had the satisfaction of finding everything i a most flourishing condition.' He has resumed his duties' at San Sllvestro, in Caplte, with characteristic energy. 8- Mohsignor Denis O'Connell. the newly new-ly appointed rector of the Catholic university uni-versity at Washington, starts for his post about the middle of February, after, aft-er, probably, first visiting the Catholic universities of Freiburg, Bonn, Lille and Louvain. Preparations are being made by the Catholic community of Glasgow, Scotland, Scot-land, for the celebration of the thirteen hundredth anniversary of St. Mungo, which takes place this year. The chief Celebration will be held in the cathedral of that city. The centennial "anniversary of the birth of Padre Secchi, the great Jesuit astronomer, one time stationed at Woodstock, Md., will be commemorated commemo-rated in Rome. The Roman Catholic cathedral at Westminster is gaining color and richness rich-ness from the decoration and memorials. memori-als. The high altar is now in place, and a series of chapels, with ceilings adorned with mosaics, is approaching, completion. The baldachino over the high altar is supported by eight onyx monoliths from African quarries. On the 20th of next month the Holy 1 Father will have completed the years of Peter. Who would have thought in 1878 that the new pontiff, then 68 years old, would be one of the two destined to see the "years of Fet The more valuable presents which the Holy Father has received oh the occasion of the pontifical jubilee are exhibited at the Vatican. The total number is 32,000. A Roman correspondent correspond-ent states that a clause in the pope's will bequeaths this treasure to the holy see, excluding therefrom his family. The Very Rev. J. A. Zahm. provincial of the congregation of the Holy Cross in America, whose headquarters are at Notre Dame, Ind., has gone to Paris to look after the interests of his order in France, which, in accordance with the terms of the association's laws, is liable lia-ble to confiscation at the hands of the French government. - The bishop of Puebla, Mexico, the Rt. Rev. Ramon : Ibarra y Gonzales, proposes to build at Puebla a small theatre for the poorer class of people, where moral and educational.playa.,can be presented. He will defray the expenses ex-penses out of bis private purse. Documents elevating the Rev. Patrick Pat-rick F. O'Hare, rector of the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, Manhattan avenue and Milton street, Greenpoint, to the rank of domestic prelate have been received in Brooklyn. This ranK carries with it the title of monsignor, and entitles the holder to wear purple. Monsignor O'Hare's parish is one of the largest in Brooklyn, and it was only recently that the church debt was wiped out and the building consecrated. The first free kitchen for the poor of Rome, instituted by the Catholic Charity Char-ity association, was lately opened. Tables Ta-bles were laid for 100 poor persons and blessed by Cardinal Vannutelli.. A number num-ber of ladies waited on them and the municipal -authorities and lady- patronesses pat-ronesses on the committee were present. pres-ent. The irremovable rectors and consult-ors consult-ors of the diocese of St. Louis. Mo., have agreed upon the following list for the office of coadjutor bishop with right of succession: Bishops Joseph Edward Dunne of Dallas, Tex.; Bishop John J. Glennon of Kansas City, Mo., and Bishop Bish-op S. G. Messmer of Green Bay, Wis. The Church News association of New York has discovered that nearly three- fourths (317.000 out of 451.000) of those who go to church on Sundays are Catholics. Cath-olics. Yet, some people call this "a Protestant country." Cardinal SerafirioVannutelli has been I appointed vice chancellor of the Catholic Cath-olic church in succession to Cardinal : Parocchi, who dledJan. 15. The pope received In private audience Francis McNutt and Mrs. McNutt of Washington, D. C. who presented to him a Jubilee gift of four magnificent columns of alabaster from Tivoli. These have been erected in the throne room, to hold candelabra o;i each side of the throne. The Rev. J. Tynan, D. D., of Farn-worth, Farn-worth, Bolton, England, and a member of the Salford Diocesan School association, asso-ciation, in thanking Mr. Redmond for the action of the Irish party in the final stage of the education bill, informs him that the repairs clause means a saving of at least $25,000 per annum to the Catholic schools in the diocese of Sal-ford. The wills of two eminent English divines di-vines have just been proved. Dr. William Wil-liam Vaughan, bishop of Plymouth, and brother to Cardinal Vaughan, who died at the -age of 88, left an estate valued at $770; whilst Dr. Joseph Angus, An-gus, formerly secretary of the Baptist Missionary society, and subsequently president of Regent's Park college, left an estate which has been valued at $134,175 gross. The oldest school of music in the world is in Rome. It dates back to the year 1566, and the great Palestrina was its first president. Pope Gregory XIII formally recognized its foundation in 1584 as a congregation of the musicians of Rome, under the invocation of St. Cecelia. It still bears the title of the Academy ot St. Cecelia. Its first centenary cen-tenary was celebrated with much ceremony cer-emony in 1648. The year 1770 was remarkable re-markable for having admitted wind instruments in-struments into the church, and 1771 is still more remarkable for having admitted ad-mitted the first woman into the academy. acad-emy. The school now possesses an unusually un-usually fine chorus and orchestra, and whenever any great event is to be solemnized sol-emnized in Rome the academy is called on to direct the musical part of it. In its concert rooms are heard the best musicians of Rome and of the world. $ The recent death' of the Right Rev. Monsignor Crpskell.. D. D., ex-provost of. the Chapter of Salford, England, re moves the oldest priest in Great Britain and Ireland, and gives the place of doyon of the sacerdotal state to his holiness, Pope- Leo XIII. Monsignor Croskell was born on Jan. 20, 1808 and was therefore almost 95 years of age two years older than the present pope. He -was ordained on June 13, 1835, and was thus over sixty-seven years a priest. To Tiis zeal is due the building of St. Chad's, Manchester, in 1845, and he was a good friend to the hundreds of poor Irish emigrants during dur-ing the years '46 to '49. In 1853 he was appointed provost (dean) of the Chapter Chap-ter of Salford, a position which he held till 1S97, when he resigned. Like many other venerable servants of God, the "old provost," as he was familiarly called, wished to die in apostolic poverty, pov-erty, and he himself designated the priests who were respectively to sing his Requiem Mass with special injunctions injunc-tions against any panegyric both requests re-quests being religiously fulfilled. |