Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 29, 17 July 1902, Page 7

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR July 20, Sunday .-Ninth Sunday after fPentecost. St. Jerome Emihsn, Confessor. „ 21, Monday.— St. Alexiue, Confessor „ 22, Tuesday .-St. Mary Magdalen, Penitent. „ 23, Wednesday.-St. Apollinaria, Bishop and Martyr. „ 24 Thursday.— St. Vincent de Paul, Confessor. „ 25, Friday.— Sfc James, Apostle. „ 26, Saturday —St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin. BT. JEROME EMIMAN, ' CONFESSOR. St. Jerome Emilian belonged to a noble Venetian family dia tinguished for its many services to the State. Upon the death of his father, when he was about 15 yeara of age, he entered the army, to the peat affliction of hia mother, who soon beheld him fall into a dissolute way of life through the bad example of his companions Having received a commission from the Venetian Senate to relieve the garrison of Castlenuvo, which was invested by a German army Jerome succeeded in effecting an entrance to the citadel, and in re' polling for some time the assaults of the enemy. Upon the fall of the castle he was seized, loaded with chains, and oaßt into a dark dungeon In these straits he began to reflect with anguish on the state of his soul, and with sighs and tears acknowledged the justice of Oodin thus treating him according to his merits. Suddenly a ray of hope penetrated his heart when he thought of the tender Try.T r v.° y 2 v Ur BleSßed Lady ' and he made » v °" on the spot, in case of his deliverance, to visit barefoot her celebrated shrine at Treviso and there publish aloud her bounty in his regard. No sooner had ho pronounced the words of his vow than Mary appeared to him in the midst o, heavenly light, and giving hi.n the keys of his fetters and of the prison door, conducted him through the midst of the enemy to the very gates of Treviso. As soon as he oompleted the terms of his vow he returned to Venice, and renouncing the honors and offices of the State, devoted himself henceforth to the servioeof God and the relief of the afflicted poor. Jerome determined to establish a congregation of men who were willing to devote their lives to the relief of the needy and afflicted. The foundation of the new congregation was laid in the village of Somascha not far from Milan, and there Jerome trained his first disciples. A frightful pestilence having broken out in Berroago Je.ome ba-tentd thither to minister to the wants of the victims of the p ague. While employed in this charitable office he was i^^t&^szz&g* happiiyat Somaschaon ST. APOLLINARIS, BISHOP AND MABTYR St. Apollinaris, who was the first Bishop of Ravenna, and the only one of tins Church who suffered martyrdom, wa*. it is believed a disciple of St Peter. He is famous in Church history, although the acts of his life, such as we have them, are not authentic Hia panegyric v\ as pronounced by St. Peter Chrysologus, one of his successors Hungary claims him as its apostle. His remains, formerly kept at Cl( s«w (ancient s.-a harbor four miles from Ravenna), were traneh-rred in 549 into a vault of the same church. Pope Honorius founded a church at Rome in honor of St Apollinaris about the ST. VINCENT DE PAUL, CONrESSOR. St Vincent de Paul was born in 1576, The indications of ability which he exhibited 1. dto his being sent to school at Toulouse He was admitted to priest's orders in 1600 He laid the foundation of wh*t eventually fjrew into the great and influential Congregation or l nests of the Missions.' Vincent's preaching was of the most simple kind, singularly affecting and progressive. He founded the Ordtr of the ' Daughters of Charity 'at Paris in 1634. The Order is popularly known by the title of • The Sisters of Charity ' or Urey Nun?,' and its members have won for their Order as well as themselves the admiration, esteem, and well-deserved praise of all nations for their godlike ministration to the sick and afflicted, during times of war and peace. St. Vincent died at the advanced age of 8o at St. Lazare, September 27, 16G0 ; and was canonized by Clement XII. in 1737. ST. ANNE MOTHER OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN. According to old traditions, the saintly mother of the Blessed Virgin, whose name, Anne, signifies grace, was descended on her tatner s Hide from the tribe of Levi, and on her mother's side from the tribe of Juda. She was born in Bethlehem and was married while Htill a puro and pious virgin, to Joachim, a man of position' with whom she lived, occupied in pious works", and patiently conforming to the will of God in all things. When the pious couple had leached a very advanced age, in which they could scarcely expect to have children, an angel announced to them that they were to be blessed with a daughter whom they were to name Mary. And it occurred as foretold. In the autumn (September 8) following the announcement was born the holiest of God's creatures, the Queen of angels and of men, the chosen Mother of the Son of God, not so much the fruit of the body as she was the fruit of grace. Joachim and Anne brought this child Mary, at a very tender age, to Jerusalem, presenting her to the high-priest as an offering to God. to be brought up in the service of the temple How long Anne lived after this sacrifice is not known, but nhe is now enthroned among the elect in heaven with her beloved child in glory. The devotiCn towards St. Anne is very great among thß faithful. Her remainp, first buried at Bethlehem, in the tomb of her parents, then transferred by the faithful into the Church of the Sepulchre of Notre-Dame, in the valley of Josaphat, were, finally transferred into the Church of Apt, in Provence.