Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 1 June 1911, Page 987

Friends at Court

©LEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR June 4, Sunday.—Pentecost Sunday. ~ 5, —Within the Octave. ~ 6, Tuesday. —Within the Octave. ~ 7, Wednesday. —Within the Octave. Ember Day. „ 8, Thursday.—Within the Octave. ~ 9, Friday. —Within the Octave. Ember Day. ~ 10, Saturday. —Within the Octave. Ember Day. , Pentecost Sunday. On this day, in accordance with the promise of Christ, the Holy Ghost, the Third Person of the Adorable Trinity, descended on the Apostles. ‘ This day,’ Butler remarks, ‘is the birthday of the Church. Christ had indeed begun to form His Church during His ministry on earth, when He assembled His disciples, selected His Apostles, and placed St. I’eter at their head. But by the descent of the Holy Ghost He completed His revelation, and gave to His Apostles a special and extraordinary assistance, by which they were directed and preserved from all error in teaching. He thus, as it were, infused a soul into His mystical body the Church —and endowed it with a vigorous principle of life and action. From this time its rulers, ministers, and officers, being completely commissioned and qualified by the miraculous effusion of the Holy Ghost, set themselves to exercise their respective functions in governing and propagating the spiritual Kingdom of Christ, which was then perfectly settled and established. GRAINS OF GOLD THE ANGELUS HOUR. Ave Maria ! Lingering, dying, Fades the day in mystic gloom ; Soft o’er the downs the west wind’s sighing, Sunk the great sun to his tomb. Sancta Mater ! Faintly stealing Over mead and leafy dell, • Hark ! the gentle cadenced pealing Of thy far-off Vesper bell! Ave, Ave ! pure and fair ! List, gentle Lady, to our prayer ! Ave Maria ! Shades are falling Round us; fled the golden glow. Hear thy children fondly calling; Shield us from our ancient foe. Sancta Mater ! Keep us near thee Till that dawn of faultless day— Rapturous morn, when we shall hear thee Claim us as thine own for aye! Ave, Ave ! pure and fair ! ' List, gentle Lady, to our prayer ! —Ave Maria. He that lives a life of going to do will die with nothing done. However brilliant an action, it should not be esteemed great unless the result of a great motive. A laugh to be joyous must flow from a joyous heart, for without kindness there can be no true joy. They are gladdening souls who mean exactly what they say and expect you to say exactly what you mean. The pyramid of knowledge is made up of little grains of information, little observations picked up from everywhere. One of the fundamental principles of religion is growth. Our devotion is not very warm if increased love and strictness do not keep pace with it. Manners are the happy ways of doing things. If they are superficial, so are the dewdrops which give such a depth to the morning meadows. The men and women who forget God in their struggling, inane, careless, money-seeking, or fame-seeking days forget the best that is in them — for human endeavours are limited, and human sympathy fails, and human joys vanish, and human ills persist; who forget that great, comforting Confidant —such people miss a wonderful peace. The greatest scientists in practically every department of recent science have been the firmest believers. This is no mere assertion founded on a few scattered examples, but, on the contrary, represents the true story of the position of scientists in this matter very thoroughly. There is not a single department of nineteenth century science in which representative discoverers were not faithful believers. You must pay no attention to the trouble and darkness which comes over your mind at times. We must sometimes feel our own emptiness, and see ! how wonderfully weak our nature is, and also how frightfully corrupt. Do not bo downhearted. Take each day as it comes, and serve God. Don’t make plans. God will call you at His own and your own time. That is the simplest, the safest, and sweetest course to follow.