Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 15 May 1913, Page 3

Friends at Court

OLEANINQS FOR NEXT WEEK'S CALENDAR May 18, Sunday. —Trinity Sunday. ~ 19, Monday.—St. Peter Celestine, Pope and * ' Confessor. ~ 20, Tuesday.St. Bernardine of Siena, Confessor. ~ 21, Wednesday. —St. Felix of Cantalice, Confessor. ~ 22, Thursday.—Corpus Christi. „ 23, Friday.—Of the Octave, ~ 24, Saturday. Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians. St. Peter Celestine, Pope and Confessor, St. Peter, a native of Souther Italy, spent the greater part of a very austere life in solitude. In his old age he found himself unexpectedly elected Pope. He endeavoured in vain to decline the proffered office, but at length yielded to the importunities of kings and cardinals. Considering, however, that through inexperience of the world ho was unfitted for the government of the Church, ho resigned the Pontificate after four months, with the object of spending the remainder of his days in the retirement of his monastery. • He died about eighteen months after his resignation, A.D. 1296. St. Bernardine of Siena, Confessor. St. Bernardine, a native of the Republic of Siena, in Italy, gave early proof of solid piety, and particularly of a tender devotion to the Mother of God. His charity to the sick was not less remarkable than his patience in bearing his own infirmities. Having become a priest, it is incredible how much good he effected by his preaching in various parts of Italy —a result due not so much to his natural gifts as to the burning zeal which inspired his words. St. Bernardine died in 1444, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. St. Felix of Cantalice, Confessor. St. Felix was born at Cantalice, in the Papal States, in 1513. As a lay brother in the Capuchin Order, he gave a perfect,example of humility, obedience, and mortification. He died in Rome at the age of 72. GRAINS OF QOLO AT SEA. Lord, Who art wonderful upon the deep, Whose ways unknown are in the trackless sea, ■ Whose footsteps hidden in its mystery (Where winds and waves in endless freedom sweep), Whose watchful eye is never closed in sleep: Thy sea-borne servants put their trust in Thee Bring them to havens where they fain would be, Their outward and their homeward goings keep. Lord, when life's billows rage tempestuously, Amid the storms of sorrow, doubt, and fear, Still, as of old, be Thou forever near; From every peril set Thy loved ones free; And when at last the harbor lights shine clear, Show us the haven of Eternity. — Ave Maria. God planted us just where we grow, and blossom and fruit must be drawn, not from the meadow on the other side of the road, or from the mountain beyond the valley, but from the soil now about our roots, and the air and rain and sun above us playing on our leaves and branches. I As long as the vital bond of your friendship with I God remains unbroken, the world, the flesh, and the ■ devil will seek in vain to sway you from your moral B steadfastness. It is only when you forget to converse t devil will seek of vain to sway run the risk moral steadfastness. It is only when you forget to converse with the Heart of Jesus that you run the risk of falling ■ away from the first standing ground of your integrity.