Bøger af Brother Hermenegild Tosf

OF all the English saints none figures more prominently in the history of the north of England than St Cuthbert. Reginald of Durham says that the three most popular saints of his day were Cuthbert of Durham, Edmund of Bury, and Aethilthryth of Ely; and he goes on to prove that Cuthbert was the greatest of the three. The saint's incorruptible body became the centre of a cult which, within a few centuries, had reached all parts of England and many parts of western Europe. Bede in his Prose Life puts into the mouth of the dying saint (c. 39) prophetic words which, though they seem peculiarly out of place on the lips of the humble-minded Cuthbert, were nevertheless destined to come true: "For I know that, although I seemed contemptible to some while I lived, yet, after my death, you will see more clearly what I was and how my teaching is not to be despised." Undoubtedly Bede's reputation had something to do with the widespread respect in which St Cuthbert was held, for the writings of the Jarrow monk, including his two Lives of St Cuthbert, were in constant demand from the eighth century onwards, not only in England but on the continent. Cuthbert, the disciple of Bede, who afterwards became abbot of Wearmouth and Jarrow, writes to Lull, bishop of Mainz (754-86), to say that he is sending him copies of the Life of St Cuthbert in prose and verse.l There are fourteen MSS of the Prose Life still preserved in continental libraries, the majority of which were written abroad; besides these there are several recorded in mediaeval catalogues and elsewhere and since lost, while eight of the Metrical Life also remain on the continent.4 That this popularity abroad was not entirely due to Bede seems to be evidenced by the fact that of the seven MSS of the Anonymous Life which still remain, it is almost certain that every one was written on the continent. In the ninth century his name appears in the Martyrologies of Florus of Lyons, of Wandalbert, of Rhabanus Maurus, of Ado of Vienne, ofUsuard, in Notker's Martyrology of Saint-Gall and in the Codex Epternacensis of the Hieronymian Martyrology. Alcuin in the same century could also say of him in an epigram: Laudibus ac celebrat quem tota Britannia crebris, Et precibus rogitat se auxiliare piis. In England many churches were dedicated to St Cuthbert, not only in the northern counties, but also as far afield as Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Dorsetshire, Somersetshire and Cornwall. In the Historia de Sando Cuthberto an anonymous author relates how Cuthbert appeared to King Alfred at Glastonbury and tells how the same king's dying commands to his son Edward were to love God and St Cuthbert.s Aethelstan on his way to Scotland, probably in 934, came to Chester-Ie-Street in order to bestow lands upon the saint and also treasures, some of which still survive. These are merely a few examples of the widespread cult which finally led to the building of the noblest of the English cathedrals and the establishment of a see at Durham more powerful in temporal authority and richer in estates than any other in the country. The chief authorities for the life of the saint are the two works that follow, the Life written by an anonymous monk of Lindisfarne, and Bede's Prose Life. The latter was not Bede's first attempt at writing a Life of St Cuthbert, for he had previously written a metrical version which was, as he explained in the Prologue to the Prose Life, "somewhat shorter indeed, but similarly arranged" (p. 147). The models for this twofold treatment of the subject were Sedulius' Carmen and Opus paschale, both of which were very familiar to Bede. Both Bede's versions are based upon the Anonymous Life, but both, in addition to filling out the concise account of the anonymous writer, have extra information to give.

THE terminology of Latin has a fixed meaning, no longer subject to the ehanges incidental to a living tongue. Hence the unfolding of the Sacred Sciences in that language, according to the time-honoured practice of the Catholic Church, possesses advantages, so many and so obvious, that almost every Catholic work on the Introduction to Scripture is written in Latin. While, however, the Catholic Church uses in her liturgy, and legislation, the Latin tongue, which is one and the same for the Italian, and the Scandinavian, she is careful to expound her ritual and laws in the vernacular of every country. Acting in this spirit I have employed the English, a language which is now spoken by 80 or 100 millions throughout the world, in the hope that by aiding towards a wider knowledge of God's Written-word, the love of Catholics for it will be deepened, and that amongst non-Catholics, earnest minds may be led to see the truth about the Bible. I feel, too, that at a time when the age is embittered with angry controversy on the authority of Scripture, it is desirable to have a direct statement of Catholic teaching on this solemn question. It is right to add, in affectionate memory of my dear brother, the late Bishop of Raphoe, that in a few places I have drawn upon notes be bequeathed to me. I am also under obligations to the lamented Dr. Dixon, who, before his elevation to the Primatial See of Armagh, filled the chair of Scripture in Maynooth, and left an enduring record of his pro- found Biblical erudition, in his "General Introduction to the Sacred Scriptures," published in 1852. In conclusion, I hope this little book will help to foster tender associations in the many loving and generous hearts, who pass year after year out of these halls, away from home, to the holy work of keeping the faith active among the sons and daughters of Ireland in foreign countries.

This work describes the solemn ceremonies of Holy Week as celebrated by the Pope at the Vatican under the Caeremoniale Romanum.

These catechisms are reproduced from the original catechism Prepared and Enjoined by Order of The Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. Another publisher has made modifications in a few of the questions on fasting, which have been corrected to the original. The fast laws as they existed in 1958 in the United States are reproduced. These are priced economically to make they readily available for parent and others teaching the doctrines of the Divine and Catholic Faith. 1. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For First Communion Classes 2. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For Confirmation Classes 3. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For Post Confirmation Classes 4. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For The Use of Sunday-School Teachers and Advanced Classes

Tell Yourself why you come to Holy Mass. I come because God our Father calls me and bids me come. He expects me, is waiting for me and would miss me. I will not disappoint God. He likes me and loves me. Noone loves me half so much. I want to keep His love. I want to meet Him and get near Him and touch Him and love Him through Jesus His Son, our Lord, Who will soon be here on the Altar. Tell Yourself what you mean to do at Mass. I mean to give pleasure to God and thank Him and adore Him, and offer to Him the homage of our Lord's obedience unto death. I mean to think about our Blessed Lord, to grieve over His Passion, and be glad of His Resurrection and Ascension, and to rejoice that He offers again the Sacrifice that saves the world. I mean to creep into His Heart by the open Wounds and offer Him myself and all I do and say and think and all my love, that He may make them His own and present them to our Father in Heaven. Tell Yourself what you hope to get by the Mass. By the Mass I make sure of my place among God's dearest children and claim my share of the riches our Lord has won for us, and am fed with the Bread from Heaven-His Body and Blood.

HIS LORDSHIP THE RIGHT RKVEREND E. J. HORAN, Bishop of Kingston, having been summoned by the Sovereign Pontiff Pius IX.-of blessed memory-to the Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, most graciously invited me to accompany him to Rome-an invitation, it is unnecessary to say, as cheerfully accepted as it was graciously given. We reached the Eternal City toward the end of November, 1869. I left for home about the last days of April. During my stay of five months at the centre of Catholicity, I had ample opportunity-and under the most favorable auspices-to visit, time and again, the great monuments of ancient and modern Rome.: My excursions were almost daily; and I enjoyed the rare privilege of such a companion as His Lordship, perfectly conversant with the City of the Popes. In my rambles, I noted down the - more interesting objects, that they might be more vividly remembered On my return to Canada, they were found instructive: I was urged to put them into print. I hesitated, knowing how often, how graphically-and how much better than I could hope to do-these things had been described already. My "Notes" were thrown aside, and almost forgotten amidst the daily busy round of missionary work in the large and laborious parish of Brockville, Returned to Williamstown, I came across them, revised them, and, at the pressing solicitation of friends, consented to give them a lasting form, and in this shape present -them to 'my many friends and well-wishers-hoping they will kindly overlook their many deficiencies, and accept them as a very simple and very unpretending record of what I saw in "Rome and Other Places."

Father Leonard Goffiné (pronounced Goof fee nee) (6 December 1648 - 11 August 1719) was a German Catholic priest who wrote devotional texts which remain influential to this day amongst sincere Catholics. Many of the early settlers of the United States brought Goffine's instructions for the Sundays of the Year with them to the United States from the old country. When they were unable to assist at Mass on Sundays or Holydays of Obligation, they would stay at home to pray and keep the these days holy. They would recite the holy Rosary and read the sermon from Goffine for the day. One woman, whose parents and grandparents immigrated to the central part of the United States related the following story. Her family lived on a farm ten miles from the nearest church. On good days they could make the journey by wagon, but even then one of the older girls had to stay home with the babies and care of for them and thus could not assist at Mass. When weather was bad such a journey was impossible, so they would pray at home. She also related that for her first Communion, she went to a relatives house in the town near the church in order to prepare and for Holy Communion. She remarked that they took the dipper out of the water barrel so none of the children would violate the Communion fast, which was absolute at that time. It is with great pleasure that we bring this work back into print for the use of Catholic faithful today. Let us consider this on Advent: "How was Advent formerly observed? Very differently from now. It then commenced with the Feast of St. Martin, and was observed by the faithful like the Forty Days' Fast, with strict penance and devotional exercises, as even now most of the religious communities do to the present day. The Church has forbidden all turbulent amusements, weddings, dancing and concerts, during Advent. Pope Sylverius ordered that those who seldom receive Holy Communion should, at least, do so on every Sunday in Advent. "How should this solemn time be spent by Christians? They should recall, during these four weeks, the four thousand years in which the just under the Old Law expected and desired the promised Redeemer, think of those days of darkness in which nearly all nations were blinded by saran and drawn into the most horrible crimes, then consider their own sins and evil deeds and purify their souls from them by a worthy reception of the Sacraments, so that our Lord may come with His grace to dwell in their hearts and be merciful to them in life and in death. Further, to awaken in the faithful the feelings of repentance so necessary for the reception of the Savior in their hearts, the Church orders that besides the observance of certain fast days, the altar shall be draped in violet, that Mass shall be celebrated in violet vestments, that the organ shall be silent and no Gloria sung. Unjust to themselves, disobedient to the Church and ungrateful, indeed, to God are those Christians who spend this solemn time of grace in sinful amusements without performing any good works, with no longing for Christ's Advent into their hearts." And this on Lent: "Who instituted Lent? According to the fathers of the Church, Justin and Irenaeus, the fast before Easter was instituted and sanctified by Christ Himself; according to the saints Leo and Jerome, the holy apostles ordained it given by Jesus."

THERE was once a time, though alas! it is many hundred years since, when the Holy Catholic Church was a glorious building, all one, like the seamless vest of her Master, Christ. The remote cities of Egypt and Syria, Greece and Rome, Gaul and Britain, were all one body, in one Lord, one faith, one baptism. The voice of discord was scarcely heard within her. Heresy found no resting-place within the sanctuary. The Church was like the New Jerusalem above, which is the mother of us all. East and west, north and south, continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. These were happy times, a great deal too happy to last. It was a state of things too unlike this world; and it was easy to see, that as soon as ever the Church and the world became friends, one or other of the two must become very much altered: and as we all know that the world is very pliable, and has a way of seeming to give up a great deal, while in fact it gives up nothing at all, it was most probable that the Church would be the sufferer. Thus it turned out. She left her first love, and so the glories of her candlestick were dimmed. It is not necessary for my purpose, as practical to ourselves, to follow her course as she journeyed from east to west. Long time abode we in Rome, doing as Rome bid us, albeit she was a hard task-mistress.

ANY a time, care-worn and burdened denizens of earth feel themselves impelled to cry out; Is there a God who cares for us? Is prayer of any avail? Is faith not all a matter of training, of environment, of imagination, of nervous excitement or of mental exaltation? Is there any palpable evidence under the sun all but compelling an affirmative answer to the first questions and a negative to the last? Is there any visible witness to the Divine guidance of the Catholic Church as Jehovah gave to the Jews of old and as Christ gave to men when He walked among them? Is there a voice from Heaven which comes to people as it came to Saul on the road to Damascus and which, dispensing with a long course of study, argument and even preparatory prayer, suddenly bids the infidel to say: "Lord, what wilt Thou that I do?" The most stolid when acquainted with the facts must answer: 'Yes, at Lourdes there is all that and more! There indeed are literally verified the significant words of the Catholic liturgy Vidi aquam, etc., i.e.: I saw water issuing from the right side of the temple and all to 1vlwrn that water came were saved or made whole; yes, practically all who go there and thousands who can not repair thither, but who either prayerfully or even unconsciously or indifferently use that water, have been and are healed altogether or partly, physically or spiritually, of the most inveterate and hopeless diseases. And as when Our Saviour was on earth it was chiefly His chosen people who were directly benefited by His ministrations, nevertheless at times, as with the Canaanite woman, His mercies were extended even to the heathen, so in our days, while the bulk of those cured at Our Lady's grotto, are members of His Church, Protestants, Jews and Mahommedans, are in certain cases the recipients of Mary's extraordinary favors. Witness those published in the Ave Maria a few years ago by an English priest, Dr. R. Howley, and the numerous cures obtained at the chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes of the Georgian Fathers in Constantinople by Mussulmans and Israelites.

These catechisms are reproduced from the original catechism Prepared and Enjoined by Order of The Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. Another publisher has made modifications in a few of the questions on fasting, which have been corrected to the original. The fast laws as they existed in 1958 in the United States are reproduced. These are priced economically to make they readily available for parent and others teaching the doctrines of the Divine and Catholic Faith. 1. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For First Communion Classes 2. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For Confirmation Classes 3. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For Post Confirmation Classes 4. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For The Use of Sunday-School Teachers and Advanced Classes

IT was not by chance, brethren, as the Church teaches us by the words of St. Gregory, read in the matins of this festival, that St. Thomas was not with the other Disciples when Jesus came. His Divine Master permitted him for a time to doubt, as He also permitted Lazarus, whom He loved, to die, of whom He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God; that the Son of Man may be glorified by it." In the unbelief of Thomas there were, as we now see, deep purposes of grace both to him and to us.

The Rosary is a key devotion among Catholics, and yet many recite it poorly at best. These conferences given over a century ago are just as important today as they were then, as truth is timeless. Father Frings explains the Rosary and how we may gain fruit from its proper recitation, while meditating on this holy mysteries. As an aid to meditation, we are adding the Scriptural Rosary at the end of this work. We encourage Catholics to seek out other works, that will help in meditation.

This book was originally published in 1923 and is useful for historical research. THIS is just one little word about the general aim of this book, which is not meant to be controversial. The Catholics in Russia fully realise from the outset that if anything is to be achieved at all, they must work in the spirit of love. This is the reason why those who have rallied together around our common cause remember that no malice should be borne for the sufferings of the past, no malice for the still greater sufferings of the present and for those looming ahead in the future. In the past the Catholics in Russia had a Christian Government and a Christian Church to struggle against, and the odds were then not so terrific. In the gigantic struggle of to-day more fearful forces have come into play. The Church in Russia fights not only against political enemies, but against the embodied spirits of darkness. And yet the great truth stands clear before every Russian Catholic that the gates of hell, even of the reddest of hells, cannot prevail against his Church. And this realisation is what helps him to go through everything with a stout heart. If I were called upon to use an argument with an unconvinced non-Catholic, my strongest shaft would be: Go to Russia and see how Catholics live there, and then come back and tell me whether people whose beliefs are not on the rock of truth can stand one tenth of what they endure. Russia with her tormented and tortured Catholics presents one more proof of the truth of the Catholic Faith. These proofs are surely unnecessary for Catholics, but they are sorely needed by those to whom Christianity is an empty name. And to such the few Russian Catholics would like to send their message of trust and hope, convinced, firm, unshakable through unimaginable horrors; hope in God's mercy, and trust in the faith revealed by his Church. As I write these lines, a word has reached me from the far North that many of those who shared with me the infinite joys of the inward life in God's Church are in danger of their lives on account of the Faith. I trust my readers will permit me to ask their prayers on their behalf and for the many unknown who suffer yonder for God's truth.

Part of the Sabbatine Privilege is for those who can read to recite daily the Little Office of Our Lady. And yet, this recitation can be dry as dust without a proper understanding of these holy prayers. Although this book has been written primarily for the use of religious, I have borne in mind the wants of that everincreasing number of the laity who prefer to find their devotion in the Church's prayers, where all is staid and sober and short, rather than in the utterances of private individuals, which are often the reverse. In days gone by the Little Office in English was the favourite devotion of our Catholic forefathers. Happy for England when our prayers once more take such forms, and we build our spiritual life on the simple direct spirit of Holy Mother Church, instead of 011 those so-called devotions which the late saintly Cardinal Manning was wont to count as some of the greatest evils of the Church to-day. As to the book itself. I have divided the treatise into three parts: - In the THEORETICAL part, I inquire into the nature and excellence of Liturgical Prayer; and then discuss the materials which compose the Little Office; lastly, I give an historical account of the growth and development of the Prayer as we have it to-day. In the PRACTICAL part, I consider the best means of saying the Office with fruit and according to the mind of the Church, and I also make various suggestions to this end, and treat of some difficulties. The EXEGETICAL part consists of a full and complete Commentary, drawn from the Fathers and great mystical writers, on every verse of the Psalms, together with a full explanation of the hymns, lessons, responsories, antiphons, versicles, and prayers. To this is added by way of Appendix a Ceremonial and the latest decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites upon the subject. As to the use to be made of this book. It is not intended to be read through once and then laid aside, as a mere book of reference. But, as the Office is a daily work, so should this treatise be made a daily handbook for reading and studying now one part, and then another. I recommend that first of all the book be read through, in order to grasp the general subject. Then that portions of the Third Part be studied daily. On retreat days, the First and Second Parts may be read with advantage. Again, a verse of a Psalm with its commentary may be usefully taken as the subject of mental prayer, and the lights which are gained during the recitation will prove abundant food for this time. And for spiritual reading, slow and thoughtful, what can be better than a commentary on the Psalms; for here we have the Holy Ghost speaking to us directly in the words of the Scripture i and His saints explaining them to us. The main point I want to arrive at with those who use this book is the value of the Public Prayer above all private prayer, and the consequent necessity of making a deliberate study thereof.

Are we not tempted to say, like the apostles of old, "How can these things be?" Nothing is so wounding to heart that loves another, as coldness and indifference on the part of the loved one. We feel this every day in the natural relations of life, and yet we fail to perceive the depth of our insensibility towards that Sacred Heart, who has so loved us as to die for us; and a still greater miracle, who deigns, veiled in the sacred species, to go on dwelling with us and amongst us, though we seem as if we knew Him not. It is to bring such thoughts home to our minds, to kindle greater love in onr hearts, and to furnish to devout souls fresh motives for adoration and thanksgiving, that this Book has been written. The translation has been admirably done by the same pen which has previously given us the "Reflections and Prayers for HoIy Communion," with a Preface by his Grace the Archbishop of Westminster, of which work he speaks as a valuable addition to our books of devotion, being in a high degree, real and solid.

These catechisms are reproduced from the original catechism Prepared and Enjoined by Order of The Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. Another publisher has made modifications in a few of the questions on fasting, which have been corrected to the original. The fast laws as they existed in 1958 in the United States are reproduced. These are priced economically to make they readily available for parent and others teaching the doctrines of the Divine and Catholic Faith. 1. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For First Communion Classes 2. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For Confirmation Classes 3. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For Post Confirmation Classes 4. A Catechism of Christian Doctrine For The Use of Sunday-School Teachers and Advanced Classes

This book begins: "I THINK you're behaving like an absolute idiot," said Jack Kirkby indignantly. Frank grinned pleasantly, and added his left foot to his right one in the broad window-seat. These two young men were sitting in one of the most pleasant places in all the world in which to sit on a summer evening - in a ground-floor room looking out upon the Great Court of Trinity College, Cambridge. It was in that short space of time, between six and seven, during which the Great Court is largely deserted. The athletes and the dawdlers have not yet returned from field and river; and Fellows and other persons, young enough to know better, who think that a summer evening was created for the reading of books, have not yet emerged from their retreats. A white-aproned cook or two moves across the cobbled spaces with trays upon their heads; a tradesman's boy comes out of the corner entrance from the hostel; a cat or two stretches himself on the grass; but, for the rest, the court lies in broad sunshine; the shadows slope eastwards, and the fitful splash and trickle of the fountain asserts itself clearly above the gentle rumble of Trinity Street. Within, the room in which these two sat was much like other rooms of the same standing; only, in this one case the walls were paneled with whitepainted deal. Three doors led out of it - two into a tiny bedroom and a tinier dining-room respectively; the third on to the passage leading to the lecture-rooms. Frank found it very convenient, since he thus was enabled, at every hour of the morning when the lectures broke up, to have the best possible excuse for conversing with his friends through the window.

This is volume 2 of a 2 volume set. The method I have adopted throughout is, -First, to state the Doctrine of the Catholic Church on each point, as defined by the Fathers of the Council of Trent. Secondly, to demonstrate that such Article of Faith is clearly delivered in the Holy Scriptures. Thirdly, to annex copious illustrative reflections, notes, and references, from eminent Protestant and Catholic divines, literary characters, &c. Whilst I humbly entreat indulgence for the defects and imperfections you will discover in this work, I ask of you to peruse it piously, consistently, candidly, prudently, and attentively. Piously-by fervently supplicating the Father of Lights for those aids and graces, which are necessary to fix in the mind the light of truth, and to dissipate the clouds of prej udice. Consistently-placing before your reason the real articles of the belief of the Catholic Church; studying their harmony, and tracing out their connexion; following the chain of proofs, which establish, and the series of authorities which enforce them-placing the Catholic of ages past by the side of the Catholic of the present day. Candidly-with no bias upon your mind but the love of truth; no propensity in your heart but the desire of eternal happiness; and every prejudice and partiality laid aside; weighing the answers of the Catholic with the same care with which you weigh your own. Prudently-consulting not a man who, ignorant and prejudiced, misrepresents and vilifies the Catholic Religion, but a clergyman who has studied in the Universities of the metropolis of Catholicity, and has been long in the habit of teaching the Catholic Doctrine, as professor of Divinity in the same metropolis, and other Catholic cities, -who therefore, it may be presumed, knowing it, win represent it faithfully. Attentivively- with that degree of interest which I proportioned to so great a subject, and to the expectation of future happiness. Inattention to the discovery of religious truth is- as real a moral depravity as is the neglect of religious practice. To conclude, should any expression appeal to you illiberal or severe, I trust you will neither attribute it to the feelings of my heart, nor to be prejudiced, bigoted mind, but justly appreciating my endeavours, you will believe that, animated by charity FOR ALL, my sole and earnest wish is, to instil and impress a conviction of truth. "Now to God and our Father be glory, world without enll, Amen." Philipians, 4, . v.20. IN presuming to publish a Second Edition of these Scriptural Lectures, I beg to inform my Catho1ic and Protestant friends, that I have not merely confined myself to the amendments of the first, but, under advice, I have incorporated the notes of the former Edition in the text of the present; submitted the Scriptural proofs that so fully substantiate the "Trinity of Persons, and the Divinity of Jesus Christ;" and, independently of many material additions to the body of the Work, annexed a Lecture on the " Veneration pard by the Catholic Church to the Blessed Virgin Mary," (the substance of a Discourse delivered in the Church of the Most Holy Trinity, Bermondsey, Sunday Evening, Jan. 5, 1840, ) and another on the Supremacy of the Pope. Thus I indulge a fond hope, that if the First Edition, divested of the present improvements, was favourably received, the present will not be less acceptable. To conclude, I feel it a duty, in justice and can dour, to add, that in arranging the Lectures, I am very much indebted to the irrefragable writings of the venerable and learned Bishop of Melipotamus, the Right Rev. Dr. Wiseman, and to Fletcher, Husenbeth, Coombes, and Waterworth's excellent Apologies in defence of Catholicity.

JOHN OF ANTIOCH was born about the year 347, of a noble family. His father, Secundus, held a high rank in the imperial army; he died early, and left a very young widow, in the bloom of age and beauty, and amply endowed with wealth. Many suitors sought to obtain the hand of St. Anthusa. She remained faithful to the memory of her husband. and devoted to the education of her only son. She brought him up in all the knowledge of the age and in strict piety, which she enforced by her example. St. Anthusa, amid all the perils of Antioch, guarded her son John with the same care which her Contemporary, St. Monica, bestowed in the small circle of an African town 0f her Augustine. She was happier in one thing. The heathen charms of Antioch exerted no such power over her son John as the like seductive beauty of Carthage exerted over the young Augustine. The prayers and the care of St. Monica and St. Anthusa were equally zealous. In the one case, after. the most terrible fall, lasting over a period of at least fourteen years, the African mother had the unspeakable joy of seeing her son's mind delivered from the most dangerous heresy of the day, and was allowed to die in the arms of the new-born Christian, who could share all her hopes of eternal life, which are recorded in the beautiful dialogue between mother and son preserved for us by that son, who was to be the greatest doctor of the Church. In the other case, the Antiochene parent to whom was applied that expression of the admiring heathen, 'See what mothers these Christians have, ' had the still rarer gift of rearing a son who never fell, who pursued from beginning to end a holy life, who was crowned with a confessorship exceeding the glory of many martyrs, and whose least merit is that he was the greatest preacher of the Eastern Church, and gave to the language of Plato, eight hundred years after him, in its decline, a glory equal to that which the Athenian gave to it in its prime. Let us consider one of these leaves from Saint John Chrysostom: "Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas. Since thou hast proclaimed My Father, He says, so will I name thy father to thee: which was almost saying, 'As thou art the son of Jona, so am I the Son of My Father'. For it was superfluous to say, 'Thou art the son of Jona'; but as He had spoken of the Son of God, in order to show that as Peter is the son of J ona so He is the Son of God, of the same substance as the Begetter, He added further: And I say to thee thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church-that is, on the faith of this confession. Then He shows him many men who are ready to believe, and He strengthens Peter's will and makes him pastor. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ' If they shall not prevail against it, how much less against Me. So be not troubled, for thou art soon to hear that I am to be betrayed and crucified.' He goes on to speak of another honour: And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. What does And I will give thee signify? As the Father gave thee to know Me, so do I also give it to thee. He did not say: 'I will invoke the Father, ' although the power shown forth was so great and the gift was so unutterably magnificent, but I will give thee. Tell me what hast Thou given? The keys of the kingdom of heaven, that whatsoever thou dost bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou dost loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. How, then, was it not His to give to sit on His right and on His left Who said, I will give? Do you see how He leads Peter up to the most ineffable knowledge, how He reveals Himself, and shows Himself to be the Son of God, through that double promis

The supreme importance of a knowledge of the Acts need hardly be insisted on. Even a slight acquaintance with the nature and contents of the book is quite enough to place beyond dispute its entire usefulness, and even necessity, for the Church historian, the theologian, the Christian apologist, and the preacher. This a few points will easily illustrate. St. Luke in his Gospel tells us of the fulfillment of the promise of redemption in the Incarnation, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Lord; and in this book he records the beginnings of the Christian Church and of the final dispensation of the Holy Ghost in the regeneration and salvation of men's souls. The Acts are therefore a record of the continuation of Christ's work on earth and of the fulfillment of His last solemn promise to His disciples. Shortly before His Ascension the Saviour told His Apostles that, beginning at Jerusalem, they should soon go forth into the whole world" preaching the Gospel to every creature and to all nations," and that, fortified by the Holy Ghost whom He would first send upon them, they should "be witnesses unto him in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the uttermost parts of the earth." St. Luke in this his second book has shown us how all these predictions were verified. In the first seven chapters of his work he describes the establishment of the Church and the preaching of the Gospel in Jerusalem. In chapters eight and nine the spread of the Gospel to the other parts of Judea and to Samaria is recounted. And in the remaining chapters we are told how the Church was extended and the glad tidings carried to all nations, even to the heart of Imperial Rome. In the book of Acts, then, we have an authentic and reliable account of the beginnings of Christianity and of Church organization.

The Great Problem for each one of us to solve is: How shall I travel along the journey of life that I may attain the happiness of Eternal Life? The solution of this problem is attempted in these short sermons. In a few words the solution is: Avoid evil and do good. Although only the first sermon is on The Great Problem and most of the others on subjects suggested by the Gospels of the different Sundays, still all have the same end in view and the same central idea pervades the various sermons. Most of them are "Five-Minute Sermons" for early Masses; some, however, are longer and would consume fifteen minutes or more in their delivery. If necessary, the short sermons could be developed into long ones, and most of the longer ones (e. g. by taking one point) could readily be shortened to "Five-Minute Sermons." In these sermons, no attempt has been made to be eloquent. The aim of the author was to tell the truth clearly and clothe the important old subjects in plain language that would be easily understood. It is hoped that they possess the essential qualities of brevity and clearness; that they are in perfect harmony with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and that they may aid many, who heard them or who read them, in solving The Great Problem.

This work consists of 99 "moral briefs" on various subjects. These include the seven capital sins and a consideration on the opposition of faith and error. Sections are devoted to the duties of the various states of life, such as religion and marriage. The various duties in regard to life and property are also considered. This work is a photographic reproduction of the original to insure faithfulness to the original work. Each page is inspected for any problems and prepared for publication, so that the work is complete.

ST. CATHERINE of Siena bids us fill our memory with thoughts of the Precious Blood of Jesus. This the writer has attempted to do in the following pages. Those who thirst for the love of God and for the salvation of souls, yet feel oppressed by the consequences of their sins, and are diffident about the efficacy of their prayers, will find in the devotion to the Blood of our Redeemer a source of consolation and encouragement altogether too little known and appreciated. The Church elevates the chalice every morning at Mass for our adoration and as a propitiation for our sins, and her liturgical prayers are replete with invocations to the Precious Blood, to awaken our confidence in this Blood of the Atonement. "Having therefore, brethren, a confidence in the entering into the holies by the blood of Christ" (Heb. X, 19). Our Eucharistic Lord is glorified in the Blessed Sacrament by the devotion to His Divine Blood, trampled under foot in the Passion, but now acclaimed with joy by us, the chosen people of the New Law, as the Price of our Redemption. IIis Blood be upon us and upon our children for the sanctification of our souls!

What did alcoholics do before there was Alcoholics Anonymous? Let us consider a few parts of this holy man's life: "He was not quarrelsome when drunk, but went quietly home to bed when the public-houses had closed for the night. No matter how much drink he had taken the night before, he was up in time for his work, which started at 6 a.m., and left the house clean and tidy in his person. He acquired the habit of taking the Holy Name in vain and of using strong language when talking with his fellow workers, and he began to neglect the Sacraments, though he went to Mass on Sundays. His prayers consisted of blessing himself when he got out of bed in the morning, as he was, usually, too drunk to say any prayers going to bed. For two, if not three, years before his conversion he had not been to the Sacraments of Penance or the Holy Eucharist. "The picture which Matt Talbot presents to us at this period is that of a young fellow going fast on the road to ruin; the craving' for drink gradually mastering him; the duties of his religion almost completely neglected; and the duties to his parents entirely ignored. The picture is dark, but it is not all black. All his troubles came from the one sin-indulgence in drink. He had no other vice and his moral character was irreproachable." And let us consider the day of his conversion. "Matt was sileiJlt for a time, and finally turning to his mother said, "I am going to take the pledge." She smiled rather incredulously, and said, "Go, in God's name; but don't take it unless you are going to keep it." He answered, "I'll go in the name of God." He went to the room in which the boys slept, washed himself carefully, and, taking his cap, turned to leave the house. As he stood at the door his mother turned to him and said gently, "God give you strength to keep it."" He took the pledge, which at that time was a pledge to give up drinking for a period of time. "On the present occasion, Matt had made up his mind to take the pledge for three months as he doubted his ability to keep it for any longer period. He had be'en about three years from confession, so he went to confession in the College and took the pledge when his confession was ended. He then returned home, and on Sunday morning attended the 5 a.m. Mass at st. Francis Xavier's Church, Upper Gardiner Street, where he received Holy Communion." Let us consider what started Matt on to the life that has caused his life to become known: "He had now to consider what steps he should take to enable him to keep his pledge. If he continued his ordinary course of life it would mean meeting his companions at the most dangerous hours, namely, after the day's work had finished. To avoid them without giving offence he could not remain in the neighbourhood of his home after worki, ng hours, and he should, thel'e, fore, go where they would not think of looking for him. His decision was, to go to daily Mass at 5 a.m. in St. Francis Xavier's Church, Upper Gardiner Street, and after the day's work was done to visit a distant Church where he could pray for strength to keep his promise." This book goes on to relate Matt's life of sanctity after first making the pledge and the struggles he had to become a Saint. And he did it without the help of others in AA, only the help of his confessors and family. Let us hope this life will inspire others to overcome their habits of sin, whether they be drink or any other habit, for the cure is the same, prayer, penance and resignation to the will of God.

IT is only very gradually that we are obtaining a real knowledge of the Middle Ages. Hitherto it has been one of those subjects which no one could approach without getting into a passion. Just as no one can talk soberly of Mary, Queen of Scots, so it would appear as if few could keep their tempers in speaking or writing of the mediceval time. The fact is that it is only by little that we can understand a period so very different from our own. A chaotic time is always a time of great contrasts, when profound ignorance exists side by side with considerable learning in individual instances, when heresies are wild and monstrous, while faith is touchingly sim pIe and devoted. The real difficulty is to estimate the condition of the masses. It requires a patient spirit of research into minute details and dry statistics, united with a reverential admiration, a sifting criticism as well as a devout imagination, to avoid overweighting isolated instances and attaching undue importance to outstanding and striking features. I am not going to enter upon this dangerous ground. My only anxiety is to protest against what I cannot but consider a great error, both historically and ecclesiastically, the assumption that the Middle Ages are the model time of Christianity.

THE "Exclamations of the Soul to God" were written by S. Teresa, according to the Bollandists, in the year 1579. They are the outpourings of her soul before God after Holy Communion. The" Directions on Prayer and on the Life of Prayer" have been extracted chiefly from L' Esprit du Ste. Therese, published in 1775 by M. Emery, afterwards Superior of S. Sulpice, who selected such passages from the. Various writings of the Saint as, although directly addressed to religious, convey a practical lesson to all who aim at leading a life of close union with God. The Novena preparatory to the Feasts of s. Teresa is written by an unknown hand. Its dedication to Madame Louise de France, Novice Carmelite, fixes as its date the year 1770, when the daughter of Louis XV. left his brilliant and dissolute court for the solitude of Carmel, and received her father's conversion as her reward. This work begins: "o my life, 0 my life, how canst thou endure to be separated from thy true Life? In what canst thou busy thyself'in this deep solitude? What canst thou do, when all thy works are so full of defects and imperfections? O my soul, who can console thee, exposed as thou art upon this tempestuous and stormy sea? I weep when I consider what I am, and I weep still more that I have lived so long without weeping. o Lord, how sweet are Thy ways! but who can walk therein without fear? I tremble lest my life should pass away without doing any thing for Thee; and when I try to serve Thee, nothing that I do contents me, because I can do nothing to repay Thee the least part of the debt lowe Thee. I feel that I would consume myself in Thy service; but when Ilook upon my own misery, I see that I can do nothing good but what Thou Thyself enablest me to do."

By giving to the public the present Life of Venerable Pere Eymard the publishers have added to Eucharistic literature a volume of no little interest. It opens to our gaze the secret recesses of a soul who, to purchase "the pearl of great price in the monstrance set," gave all that he had. He relinquished home, family, the closest spiritual friendships, health, life itself to possess what to him was the one thing necessary- Jesus Hostia. The following pages reveal the workings of grace in one whom the Holy Spirit led to most exalted heights of love divine. While living in closest mystic union with his Divine Master, Pere Eymard also taught others to love and serve devotedly Him who so craves the affection of men. For this ardent apostle the Blessed Sacrament was more than a mere Presence. It was the living personality of Jesus of N'azareth with His oft-repeated "Come to Me." Very aptly has Pere Eymard been called "the Priest of the Eucharist." He is still in our midst, exerting his uplifting influence over souls by the work of his zealous spiritual sons, the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament. This Society has placed before English readers the four volumes from Pere Eymard's pen which portray his character more clearly than any mere Life could do. Still a short account of the incidents of his fifty-seven years will cause readers of these pages to delve more deeply into his writings and there learn the secret of becoming adorers in spirit and in truth. Such is his message to us of the twentieth century, a message which is fraught with much meaning if we would respond to the pleadings of the Sacred Heart in these days of daily Communion and annual Eucharistic Congress.

What is Canonization? How is it done? What does it import to a Catholic? How does it differ from beatification? What is meant by the title of Venerable, and by the Holy See decreeing that a man has practised virtue in an horoic degree? What is the amount of authority attaching to each of these acts of the Church, and in what sense are they acts of the Church? What sort of obligation, if any, do they lay Catholics under what sort of value, considered simply as questions of evidence, have they to others? And what sanction, if any, do tho biographies of the saints borrow from the fact, that the Church has made their cultus matter of precept or permission. And what sort of authority do the peculiar formation and jealous scrutiny of the processes give them, simply as human testimony judicially sifted. This book proposes to answer these important questions.

THE Apostolate of St. Peter Claver is unique. In the history of God's Saints we read of heroic souls giving themselves as slaves in exchange for Christian captives. Two orders, the Trinitarians and the Order of Mercy had this for their object. From 1198 to 1787 the former redeemed, from the Moors of Africa, 900,000 white slaves, while the latter from 1218 to -1632 ransomed 490,736, and added a fourth vow to the usual three, viz: "To take the place of a captive if there were no other means of effecting his ransom." But St. Peter Claver's vocation was different. He was in a new world whose aborigenes were rapidly dying out; a new business had sprung up-the slave traffic-by which Negroes were brought from Africa to work in America. Strange commerce! Unholy scheme of money making! Banking houses, mercantile circles, clerks, skippers, et id genus omne, were engaged in this traffic in human flesh. In spite of the commercial loss represented by the bones scattered along the bed of the Atlantic, and over the trackless deserts of Africa, the profits of this traffic were enormous, consequently flesh and bones weighed lighter than the traders' gold. St. Peter Claver's call was to these slaves; surely a unique vocation. No sympathy was his; no encouragement, nothing but open hostility, ill-concealed contempt, or at best an irritating apathy. For forty years he met the incoming slave ship, to repeat day by day the same round of work. In his life there are no startling or diversified events, no frequent voyages. St. Peter Claver crossed the seas but once, and never quitted, for the rest of his life, the country to which obedience restricted him. He performed no important negotiations, established or reformed no religious order, made no brilliant changes of places or circumstances. His actions are heroic, his miracles stupendous; but they are always the same, ever in the same place and for the same despised Negro slaves. What was done yesterday St. Peter Claver repeats to-morrow. So his forty years of labor roll on in a crucified sameness. Variety in suffering, as in pleasure, change of place as of work renders them more relishing, now every and any alternative was denied to St. Peter Claver, who for instance, a thousand times kissed and sucked loathsome ulcers; a feat which is regarded as heroic in other Saints when done but once. Nature had nothing to cling to in those forty years of Christ-like sacrifice among the slaves of Carthagena. This fidelity to duties so painfully monotonous was an essential element in the holiness of his life. In Christ crucified he found the power and the wisdom of God. And it took the strength of Christ to continue on so faithfully. This life of St. Peter Claver is brought out in order to stimulate vocations to the Negro Missions, which even now have the characteristics of Claver's vocation. True! slavery is gone but many of its effects remain; remain not only on the Blacks but also on the Whites. Much as men are willing to forgive those, who wrong them, yet they' never forgive those whom they themselves have wronged. Wretched paradox! The poor Negro is never forgiven because he is black and because he was a slave. His vices are thrown up to him by those who engendered them; his services of two-and-a-half centuries are the reason why they who were benefitted have not a good word for him. The vocation to the Negro Missions is truly Claverine. In place of the slave-ship, we have the cheap, badly built tenements; instead of the middle passage, there are now the back streets and alleys. But the atmosphere surrounding the Negro Missions is about the same as Claver found it in Carthagena; neglect, apathy, hostility, misrepresentation.

SOME years ago it was reported that an American sailor had fitted up for himself a small boat with a covered deck, in which he attempted to cross the Atlantic alone; and it was also said that he accomplished his task, and brought his boat safely to our shores. Something like this sailor's "heart of oak, cased in triple brass," seems to me her courage who set her frail bark to traverse the ocean of St. Augustine, and to give in the compa s of a small volume a notion of the beauty, the vastness, the proportion, and the grandeur of mind in one who is said to have acted upon a larger number of men than anyone since the time of St. Paul. I would fain hope that she also has brought her bark safe to shore, and that such as think it worth their while to read the words herein selected of that great Saint and Genius no less great, will be able to form some notion of the personal character, the doctrine, the faith, the hope, and the charity of the man who ranks among the Fathers of the Church as St. Paul among the Apostles. Works of St. Augustine, translated at Edinburgh, make fifteen octavo volumes; the Oxford translation of the Fathers makes several more. Both together are far from containing all that has been preserved to us. It is requisite to say that neither of these series has been used or even referred to by the Translator. Both the choice of passages and the translation itself are her own. My task has been only to review the whole when completed. The edition of St. Augustine used is that of the Benedictines, Paris, 1679. Let us consider one of Saint Augustine's leaves: "WHAT will that happiness be where there will be no evil, where no good thing will be wanting, where we shall be engaged in the praises of God, Who will be all things to all? For I know 110t what other occupation will be ours in that place where weariness will be no more, nor any laborious necessity. The psalm also gives me a lesson on the subject in the words, Blessed are they, 0 Lord, who dwell in Thy house, they shalt praise Thee for ever and ever. The incorruptible body in its outward figure and inward structure, which body we now see divided into various members according to our needs, will then make progress in the praises of God, because those needs will be no more, but happiness, full, certain, secure, and everlasting will be ours. Every detail now hidden, connected with physical harmony as it exists inwardly and outwardly throughout the bodily structure, of which details I have already spoken, will not then be hidden, but together with the other great and wonderful things there will enkindle in rational minds the praise of so mighty a Creator at the sight of the intellectual beauty thus displayed. I dare not venture an opinion as to how those bodies are to move about, because I am not able to form one. Their movements and their rest will be in keeping with their appearance itself, for in that place no want of harmony will exist. The body will be at hand to carry out the wishes of the spirit, nor will the spirit take delight in anything which is not becoming to both spirit and body. It will be the reign of true glory, where no man will be subject to be falsely praised or flattered, and of true honour, which will be denied to no one deserving of it, nor offered to any undeserving of it, nor will any undeserving man covet it there, where only the perfect find a place. It will be the reign of true peace, because no man will suffer contradiction either from himself or from others. The reward of virtue will be the very Giver of virtue Himself, for He, than Whom nothing better or greater can exist, promised Himself as its reward. What else do the words signify which He spoke through His prophet, I will be their God, and they shall be My people, unless it be, "I will satisfy their cravings, I will be all those things which men may honestly desire, life and health and food and plenty, glory, honour, peace, and all good things? "