GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 26, 26 June 1902, Page 7

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR

June 29, Sunday .-Seventh Sunday after Pentecost. S9 Peter and Paul. .. 30. Monday.— Commemoration of St Paul, Apostle. 7 V T^ c j day ;-° ctavp of the Fea9t of »t. John the Baptier. 2, Wednesday.— Visitation of the Bleßsed Virgin Mary. 3, Thursday .—St. Paul I , Pope and Confeisor. „ 4, Friday.— St Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr. >, o, Saturday .-St. Anthony Mary Zaccharias, Confessor.

ST. PETER, APOSTLE.

Tv • SS ct f' P uT of L . tbe A P°Bt]e«, and the ardent lover of his Divine Master, before his vocation to the apostleship was called SS»r n "nr- - 6 T %T °' I™? brother ° f St St. Peter originally resided at Betbsaida, a town much enlarged and beautified by Herod the Tetrarcb, in Upper Galilee, on the banks of Sn i f n 6t6 t of <*£«>areth. This town was honored by the presenoe of Our Lord Who, m the course of His ministry, preached and wrought miracles m it. Its inhabitants, however, were for the most part a etupid and obstinate set of people, ana their abuse of the grace that was offered them deserved the dreadful woe which Christ denounced against them. St. Peter and St. Andrew were religious, docile, and humble in the midst of a perverse and worldlyminded people. They were educated in the laborious trade of fishing which was their father's calling. From I'ethsaida St. Peter removed to Capharnaum, probably on account of his marriage for his wife s mother dwelt there. Andrew accompanied hia brother thither and they still followed their trade as before. Simon believed in Christ before he saw Him. In his heart first of all grew up the conviction and from his lips came the confession : 'Thou art the Christ .the Son of the living God.' And so Our Lord chose him, and fitted him to be the rock of His Church. Ten years after the Ascension he went to Rome, the centre of the majestic Roman Empire, where were gathered the glories and the wealth of the earth and all the powers of evil. There he eßtablished his chair, and for 25 years labored with St. Paul in building up the great Roman Church. He was crucified by order of Nera and buried on the Vatican Hill.

COMMEMORATION OF ST. TAUL, APOSTLE.

After hie Baptism St. Paul sp.>nt three years preparing himself in Politude and prayer for the work of thi Apostolate. At the end of that time he proceeded to Jerusalem to confer with St Peter During hifl ats-y in the Holy City he preached in the synagogues with such ri'ccf-9 that the fanatical Jews endeavored to take away his life. The missionary cireer on which he thus enterel terminated only with his death. The history of dm labors, journeys and Bufferings occupies the gnafei part of the Hook of the Acts of tho Apostle-. In the midnt of bin labors he fonrd time to write to tho different churches the fourteen Epi^le^ which form portion of the New Testament, and which manifest ao clearly his lively faith hia zpal for souls, and enpeciiJly his a-dent love of hifl crucified Lord. St. Laul was beheaded outside Rouie, near the place where the magnificent basilica which bears his name now stands

ST. IREN.EUS, BISHOP ASD MARTYR

St. Irenseus was born between 130-1(0 at Smyrna, Asia Minor and bad from his earliest youth the happiness of being instructed by St. Polycarp and other apostolic men His deep attachment to the Chnt-t.an doctrine did not prevent him from studying the Greek poets and philosophers., especially ll,, mer and Pla'o. With a view to missionary work, he jmrneyed to Gaul, where he was ordained priett by Pbotinu?. Bishop of Lyoi s who snff >icd martyrdom in the persecution of Marcus A urelim (178). lienceus was nominated to succeed him as bishop by Pope Eleutheiius, to whom he had been sent on an ecclesiastical mission. In this office he nhowed untiring zeal and energy for the good of the Churches in Gaul. Moreover by means of his writings in defence of the unity and purity of the faith, which was endangered by th^ Gnomic*, he made his influence felt far beyond the limits of Gaul. Finally, he proved himself worthy of his name (Eirenaios, the Peaceful) by effecting a happy compromise between the East and the West in the dippute concerning Easter, which had gone so far as to cause an open rupture between the two sections of the Church. In the great persecution under Septimus Severus, tho shej.hprd suffered martyrdom with many of his flock (June 28th, 202). Of hid writings only fragments remain, with tho exeption of the work Againut Hi nsus in five book?, which he wrote principally to refute the Gnostics' heresies. The exiting Latin verges !<? very arcient and accu-ate and was usel even by Tertulliau. In this work the author dit-cusgra nearly all the Catholic dogmas ; among others. Tradition, the Primacy of the Roman See, the Incarnation, the Ildy I ucharist the Sacrifice cf the Mass, and the Resurrection. '