Friends at Court

New Zealand Tablet, 12 June 1919, Page 3

Friends at Court

GLEANINGS FOR NEXT WEEK’S CALENDAR - 1 , » * . June 15, Sunday.—Trinity Sunday. ~ 16, Monday.—Of the Feria. ~ 17, Tuesday.—Of the Feria. ~ 18, Wednesday.—SS. Mark and Marcellian, Martyrs „ 19, Thursday.—Feast of Corpus Christi. ~ 20, Friday.—Of the Octave. ~ 21, Saturday.—Of the Octave. Trinity Sunday. / To-day we' are not asked to imitate the virtues of one saint, or to contemplate the merciful dealings of God with man. We are taken up, as it were, into the Holy of Holies, and invited to gaze on the radiant perfection of God as the Blessed see Himone God in Three Divine Persons. Until the fourteenth century this feast was not generally celebrated in the Church, for the reason that all festivals in the Christian religion are. truly festivals of the Holy Trinity, since they are only means to honor the Blessed Trinity, and steps to raise us to It as the true and only term of our worship. As Pope Alexander writes in the seventh century. “The Roman Church has no particular festival of the Trinity, because she honors It every day, and every hour of the day, all her offices containing Its praises, and concluding with a tribute of glory to It.” Feast of Corpus Christi. As the Adorable Trinity is the essential and primary object of all religion and of all festivals, so the august Eucharist is the perpetual sacrifice and the holiest worship we can render to the Trinity. In other words, every day is a festival of the Trinity which we adore, and of the Eucharist by which we adore It. The special feast of the Blessed Eucharist, which we celebrate to-day, was instituted in the thirteenth century. “Without doubt,” says Urban IV., in the Bull of institution, “Holy Thursday is the true festival of the Holy Sacrament, but on that day the Church is so much occupied in bewailing the death of her Spouse that it was good to take another day, when she meant to manifest all her joy and supply for what she could not do on Holy Thursday. ” •——.— J GRAINS OF GOLD, “IF I’D BUT THINK.” If I’d but pause to think, sweet, gentle Jesus, Each time an unkind thought rests in my heart, A pointed spear Thy tender side is piercing ; And from the wound those precious blood drops start. And if I’d pause to think," meek, loving Jesus, That every time an angry word I speak, A cruel thorn Thy noble brow is pricking ; How quickly then a softer tone I’d seek. And every time I act, O wounded Jesus, In deeds that all but love and kindness show, Thy sacred hands upraised for aught but blessing With nails are pierced till from them blood streams flow. I’d strive to think, speak, act, to please Thee, Jesus, I’d place a rose crown where a thorn’d.one lay ; And comfort that pure Heart all bruised and aching. Then in my heart sweet peace would dwell alway. Anna Mary Bornman, in the Catholic Columbian. REFLECTIONS. A return to God can never be too late to be accepted. He is a Father, and loves His children as long as His love can reach them. Adversity may be a stern preceptor, but is none the less a most efficient one. Crosses always point upward, revealing the hidden worth of things unseen.