Bøger af Brother Hermenegild Tosf

THE following "Notes on Christian Doctrine" are notes from which, about forty years ago, I gave Lectures on Christian Doctrine to the Students at Hammersmith Training College. I endeavoured to put into a small compass as many Theological truths, dogmatic and moral, as circumstances permitted. I have done my best, both then and in a recent revision, to make them exact and correct. How far I have succeeded it is for others to judge. His Eminence the Cardinal Archbishop, in whose Diocese the work is published, has graciously allowed me to prefix his "Imprimatur," without any further censorship. I alone, therefore, am responsible for any faults which may be falmd in the book. It only remains for me to add, that I humbly submitevery statement in it to the judgment of Holy Church.

This work divides into considerations for the four seasons, Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. Let us consider this consideration from Spring: "Some fifty years after the great Florentine's death, there lived in an obscure street in Ravenna one of those artists in iron and brass, of which the towns in Italy then were full. You may see their handiwork still in cathedral gates, in the iron fretwork around a shrine, in the gratings around the Sacramental altars in episcopal churches; and if you have not seen them, and entertain any lingering doubts, look up your Ruskin, and he will make you ashamed. These were the days \vhen men worked slowly and devoutly, conscious that work was prayer, and that they were laboring for the centuries, and not for mere passing bread. We cannot do it now, for we toil in the workshops of Mammon; and neither Janus, nor fame, can give the inspiration of that mother of art, called faith. Well, this artist's name was Jacopo Secconi; and he had an only child, a daughter, whose name was Beatrice, called after the great poet who had made his last home at Ravenna. The old man, for he was now old, never tired of speaking to his child of the great exile; and Bice never tired of questioning her father about Beatrice, and the wonders of Purgatory and Heaven. Once a month, however, a dark shadow would fall upon their threshold; a brother of Jacopo's, from Florence, who would come over to see his niece, for he loved her; but she did not love him. For, after the midday meal, the conversation of the two brothers invariably turned upon Dante and Florence, and Dante and Ravenna. No matter how it commenced, it veered steadily around to the everlasting topic, and on that they held directly contradictory views."

This work comprises the lives of Saint Vincent Ferrer, who lived during the Western Schism, Saint Bernadine of Sienna and Saint John Capistran also known as San Juan Capistrano. Of Saint Vincent Ferrer we read: "Two circumstances however proved to Constance that there was something unusual about the child she was going to bring forth. One was the entire absence of the physical suffering which she had experienced in other pregnancies; the other, that, strange as it may seem, she often heard a sound like the barking of a dog proceed from her womb. This last sign was interpreted as. betokening the coming of a great and holy preacher, for, as the Bishop of Valencia remarked to her, a dog is a not inadequate image of a preacher." The following story is instructive: "A tavern keeper came to beg the support of his preaching on the duty of paying debts, for the man had sold some wine on credit and could not get his money. 'Very good, ' answered the Saint, 'I shall say how guilty those people are who keep their neighbour's goods. But I should like to know what sort of wine it is that you sell.' The publican fetched a bottle, saying, 'Taste and see how good it is.' 'Pour some of it on my scapular.' 'But I shall spoil it, ' replied the man, perhaps m some trepidation. 'That is my affair. Do as I tell you.' To the publican's great astonishment the bottle produced wine and water: the wine fell on to the ground, whilst the water remained on the scapular. Then Vincent remonstrated strongly with the man for his unjust adulteration, and the publican, touched with contrition, made good his cheating, and entered the Saint's company." Of Saint Bernadine of Sienna we read: "THERE was more than an ordinary connection between St. Vincent Ferrer and the Saint who shares with St. Catherine the patronage of the city of Siena. In 1408,1 that is in the tenth year of his own ministry, when the great Spanish Apostle was preaching at Alexandria in Lombardy, he foretold that his mantle should descend upon one who was then listening to him, and he bequeathed to this Eliseus those parts of Italy which his ardent voice was not to reach. 'Know, my children, ' these were the words of his prophetical spirit, 'that there is amongst you a religious of. St. Francis, who will shortly become famous throughout Italy." The wisdom of Saint Bernadine can be seen in the following: "Obedience and silent communings with God were his rest, the oasis of his ministry, for there is an absence of hurry, a calmness about the occupations of the busiest saints which is not one of the least marks of holiness. They made unto themselves inner lives independent of outward circumstances, so that when God saw well to alter these, or even to take away what might seem to be the daily bread of their working faculties, they proved happiness to be distinct from all this, and realized the observation of a great thinker, who says that it is in us and in God." Let us consider this question: "IT is a question which admits of a variety of judgments amongst Catholics whether God shows greater love for a soul when He causes it to be born in the true faith, or when He seeks it out in the darkness of heresy and brings it to the knowledge of Himself as the true Light The same sort of question applies to vocations. Is it more blessed for the soul by, as it were, a spontaneous and uniform growth of holiness, which is itself the gift of God, to make choice of Him, or to be singled out as the object of a special predilection by His breaking in with loving violence upon a course of previous indifference or worldiness?" And then we come to Saint John Capistran: "St. Vincent Ferrer and St. Bernardine of Siena were both marked with their vocation from their earliest years of reason, but St. John Capistran was one of those to whom God vouchsafed to do violence. His natural character made him a hero, his correspondence with unusual grace made him a saint."

Bridget also known as Birgitta of Sweden received revelations from Almighty God and these are recounted in several books. 1.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 1 (books 1-3) 2.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 2 (Book 4) 3.The Book of Questions of Saint Bridget (Book 5) 4.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 4 (Books 6*, 7, 8*, 9*) 5.The Book of the Angel (Book 11) 6.The Life and Prayers of Saint Bridget (including the fifteen prayers of Saint Bridget) * indicates part of the book is missing.

This is a fifteen volume set, which is being brought back into print for the edification of the Faithful. Anyone who wishes to appreciate the timeless Tridentine Mass and liturgy will find this set a valuable aid in that endeavor. Dom Gueranger has produced a most excellent work, which began the liturgical movement. We pray that this set of books will bring many more to a true appreciation of the Latin Mass and the Divine Office of the Catholic Church. At one time, under the impulse of that Spirit, which animated the admirable Psalmist and the Prophets, she takes the subject of her canticles from the Books of the Old Testament; at another, showing herself to be the daughter and sister of the holy Apostles, she intones the canticles written in the Books of the New Covenant; and finally, remembering that she, too, has had given to her the trumpet and harp, she at times gives way to the Spirit which animates her, and sings her own new canticle. From these three sources comes the divine element which we call the Liturgy. The Prayer of the Church is, therefore, the most pleasing to the ear and heart of God, and therefore the most efficacious of all prayers. Happy, then, is he who prays with the Church, and unites his own petitions with those of this Spouse, who is so dear to her Lord, that he gives her all she asks. It was for this reason that our Blessed Saviour taught us to say our Father, and not my Father; give us, forgive us, deliver us, and not give me, forgive me, deliver me. Hence, we find that, for upwards of a thousand years, the Church, who prays in her temples seven times in the day, and once again during the night, did not pray alone. The people kept her company, and fed themselves with delight on the manna which is hidden under the words and mysteries of the divine Liturgy. Thus initiated into the sacred Cycle of the mysteries of the Christian year, the faithful, attentive to the teachings of the Spirit, came to know the secrets of eternal life; and, without any further preparation, a Christian was not unfrequently chosen by the Bishops to be a Priest, or even a Bishop, that he might go and pour out on the people the treasures of wisdom and love, which he had drunk in at the very fountain-head. For whilst Prayer said in union with the Church is the light of the understanding, it is the fire of divine love for the heart. The Christian soul neither needs nor wishes to avoid the company of the Church, when she would converse with God, and praise his greatness and his mercy. She knows that the company of the Spouse of Christ could not be a distraction to her. Is not the soul herself a part of this Church, which is the Spouse? Has not Jesus Christ said: Father, may they be one, as we also are one? and, when many are gathered in his name, does not this same Saviour assure us that he is in the midst of them? The soul, therefore, may converse freely with her God, who tells her that he is so near her; she may sing praise, as David did, in the sight of the Angels, whose eternal prayer blends with the prayer which the Church utters in time.

Although there is not a time, not a day, indeed, I might say, not an hour, in human existence, when man should not be working for his eternal salvation, yet the holy season of Lent, in particular, is a time during which the Christian must think quite especially of his sanctification, and the salvation of his immortal soul. "Behold," I would exclaim with St. Paul, respecting this holy season, "now is the acceptable time now is the day of salvation." (II. Cor. vi. 2.) These are the days when, looking upon the Son of God who fasted for our sins. looking upon Christ crucified, who gave up His blood and life for t.he sake of our offences, we should fast, perform works of penance, die to our sins, and thereby make sure of our eternal salvation. To this great and holy end our holy Church, who has the salvation of souls always in view, has ordered us to fast according to the will of Jesus Christ. She has chosen the period preceding the holy festival of Easter as a time for fasting, because, during this time, our Divine Redeemer suffered for our sins, and that we may do penance with Him for our own transgressions. During this time does the Church put on the color of mourning, to remind us to wail over our sins and errors, and sincerely to repent for them. During this time she orders doleful anthem to be sung during the Divine service, instead of hymns of joy, to make us feel the grievousness and misery of our sins. Towards the end of Lent she demands of us to blot out our sins, by tears of contrition, and a perfect confession amI penance, as Christ blotted them out on the cross by His blood. And finally, our holy Church demands of us, that when we have, in union with our Lord. done sufficient penance for our sins, and have risen with Him to a new life, we should intone a joyous Allelujah on the day of the Resurrection, after haying gained victory over sin, as He did over death, and placed the salvation of our souls in safety, during the holy season of Lent. Behold the object of fasting. And that the faithful should feel themselves more and more impelled to do their utmost to attain this object. It is the sacred duty of the priest continually to urge them thereto, and to keep before their souls the necessity of penance. And thr return to God; ill it word, the necessity of saying their souls. Well, now! I will fulfil this sacred duty, by showing you that you are created for the purpose of making your souls happy everlastingly, by truly serving God, and not only during this holy season, but during the whole of your lives living, virtuously performing good works, and by completely dying to your sins. During this important season of the ecclesiastical year I shall endeavor to lay all these truths to your hearts: by explaining to yon (in the order of its important contents) the parable of the barren fig-tree, as Jesus Christ relates it to us in the Gospel of St. Luke. (xiii. 6-9.)

This book was prepared for use in the Catholic Schools in the United States and is an excellent resource for Catholics and others who are home-schooling. Of this book Cardinal Gibbons said: "Father Gilmour's Bible History, published by you, is a work that richly merits, as I am sure it will receive, the liberal patronage of the Catholic schools and academies throughout the country. I am delighted-with it." Henry Edward Cardinal Manning also endorsed this work. Let us consider a sample lesson on the holy Job: Contemporary with the patriarchs there lived in Arabia a man named Job. He had seven sons and three daughters; for possessions he had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred asses, besides many servants. He was much esteemed on account of his great wealth, but much more so for his piety. On a certain day God said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, how there is none like to him on the whole earth?" Satan replied that it was easy for Job to serve God, that he was rich and blessed in all his actions; but, "Touch him," said Satan, "and he will curse you and abandon you." God gave Satan permission, only not to touch his person. Soon after this, while the sons and daughters of Job were eating and drinking together in the house of their eldest brother, there came a messenger to Job to tell him how the Sabeans had taken his oxen and his asses, and slain his servants. The messenger had hardly finished when there came another, telling how fire had fallen from heaven and consumed his sheep and his shepherds. There came still a third, saying the Chaldeans had taken his camels and slain his servants. And while he was yet speaking there came a fourth with the sad news that the house in which his children were feasting had been blown down by a wind and all were killed. When Job heard these things, rising up, he rent his garments, and, falling down, adored God. " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away," said he; "blessed be the name of the Lord." So Job sinned not, and God rejoiced in His servant. Satan again appeared before the Lord and said, if God would but touch Job's person, He would see Job would curse Him. God put Job in Satan's power. Then Satan struck Job with a grievous ulcer, so that he was covered with sores from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot. Job scraped his sores with a potsherd. Job's wife, seeing this, came and upbraided him for his folly. But Job answered, "If we have received good from the hand of God, why will we not receive evil?" So again Job sinned not. When Job's friends heard what had. befallen him, three of them came to condole with him. Seeing him, they wept, and, sitting down, for seven days and seven nights no one spoke, for they saw how great was his grief. At length Job opened his mouth and began to lament his suffering; but his friends only reproached him with his faults. Job would not confess that he was guilty, but stoutly maintained his innocence and his confidence in God. This confidence was not misplaced, for Job was delivered from his afflictions, and had possessions twice as great as before. Again he had seven sons and three daughters, and after this li, ed a hundred and forty years, and saw his children's children to the fourth generation. He died an old man, full of joy and happiness. Job is a figure of Jesus Christ, who, bruised from the top of His head to the sole of His foot, and scorned as a man covered with iniquities, complained not. We see also in Job's case how far sometimes God permits the devil to exercise his powers.

THERE is a very beautiful treatise of St. Thomas Aquinas on the adorable Sacrament of the Altar. It is hard to know which to admire more, the fulness and precision of its arrangement, or the way in which he brings in the words of the Holy Ghost from the Sacred Scriptures. From this treatise, and nearly always in its very words, I have arranged these Meditations for the Servants of the Holy Ghost. In fact, all that was needed was to number or letter the divisions of the book so that they could be easily seen. The prayers and thanksgivings I have added. I have put the teaching of the Saint by itself, and the words of the Holy Ghost by themselves. In this I have only carried out what St. Thomas has himself done in the treatise. For the more part he has, after stating and explaining his points, put the texts by themselves, referring to the first point. the second point, the third point, and so on. Putting them all together, therefore, is only carrying out what this Angelic Saint has done. It will be always easy to see to what parts of the Meditations the texts reler, as they are marked with corresponding letters and figures. You must observe, however, that there are some divisions in the Meditations in which no texts are found. In this case, of course, you will not find the corresponding letters or figures among the texts. This arrangement makes the treatise very easy to use as Meditations. Besides, I have made this book for the Servants of the Holy Ghost; and my one hope is that it may bring their souls nearer to God, and make them dearer to Him. Therefore I have called these texts, as they stand by themselves, 'The Voice of the Holy Ghost.' This is a voice in which His Servants will rejoice, and in which they will ever find sweetness and strength, refreshment and light and rest. He is our Sanctifier and Comforter, who makes us and keeps us the children of God. When you understand the Meditations clearly you will go on finding new meanings in the words of Scripture which bear upon them. You would then be able to make a great number of most fruitful meditations day by day from the texts alone. We do not half enough use the words of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures of God. If you read those words in a spirit of obedience to the Vicar of Christ and in the light of the Holy Ghost, whom you love, you will find in them untold heights and depths of meaning. They are practically inexhaustible, being ever ancient and ever new, ' like God Himself. They are very bright with the finger of Him who spake by the Prophets. By themselves they seem to come to us with more of the power of God; with more of His light and more of His love. They are the former and latter rain of which the Prophet speaks: the dew of the light; a sea of the wisdom of God, in which our spirits are steeped. Call to mind the way in which the Saints have always loved and adored the words of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures. St. Charles had a very great love and reverence for the Scriptures of God. For the last six years of his life he always read them on his bare knees and with uncovered head. Acts of love and praise are left to yourselves, that you may make them out of your own hearts, by the help of the Spirit of God. You will see how He will teach you, if only you will let Him. I have taken this wonderful little book of St. Thomas on the Venerable Sacrament of the Altar for the first Volume of our 'Library of the Holy Ghost, ' because the most adorable Sacrament of the Altar is part of the greatest work of the Holy Ghost. It is not that the Incarnation is His greatest work, and the Blessed Sacrament His next greatest. They are two parts of the greatest work that He has ever wrought. The mystery of the Tabernacle is a continuation of the mystery which St. John revealed when he said, 'The Word was made flesh.

THESE pages aim to give an honest presentation of the branches of science touched upon in the Sacred Scriptures as compared with the Sanle branches studied from a purely natural or secular standpoint. Astronomy, Optics, Geology, Biology, and Anthropology, in many portions of the Bible stand out in clear prominence, therefore these branches will form the subject matter of my comparative study. The fair Blinded reader will, I think, be convinced that no well established fact or principle of science is contradictory to any passage of the Bible properly and honestly interpreted. There is no bending of science to suit the scriptural text. The teachings of science drawn from the latest and most correct sources are put down independently of any ulterior motive. The passages of Scripture said to contradict science are then taken up, and the apparent conflict is harmonized. Science has undoubtedly made transcendent progress within recent years. This progress is due in great measure to the continual changes occasioned by the rapid frequency of new discoyeries. Indeed there is no feature of science as extraordinary as its changeableness. The science of twenty years ago is to-day almost obsolete. Every new discovery puts in hazard or greatly modifies some old favorite theory. The science text-books of our youthful days would be much more harmful than helpful in the hands of the pupils of to-day. Under such circumstances is it not strange indeed to see the arrogance with which many so-called scientists condemn everything that stands in the way of their ephemeral theories? The holiest convictions and most sacred and best established traditions of the race must vanish at the touch of these sciolists. However, it can be truthfully stated that it is only the braggadocios and tyros of science that are so presumptuous. Or to be more precise, this arrogance is but the expression of agnosticism parading in the garb of science. The great men who have done most for science are not of this temper. The Copernicuses, Newtons. Ampers, Faradays, Oersteds and Henrys were modest men. The great physicist, Clerk-Maxwell, declared towards the close of his life that all the agnostic hypotheses he had ever known need a God to make them workable. Sir William Thonlpson, professor of natural philosophy in Glasgow University, and who has probably done more for the advancement of physical science than any other living man, had this to say recently " One word characterizes the most strenuous of the efforts for the advancement of science that I have made perseveringly through fifty-five years; that word is failure; I know no more of electric and magnetic force, or of the relation between ether, electricity and ponderable matter, or of chemical affinity, than I knew and tried to teach tlly students of natural philosophy fifty years ago in my first session as professor." A considerable amount of space comparatively is devoted in these pages to Geology, although it would appear that only a few passages of scripture really bear upon this science. Still Geology in one of its branches, Paleontology, or the science of fossils, enters largely into Biology, Anthropology, the treatment of the questions of the Antiquity of man and the Deluge. What we know of prehistoric Biology and Anthropology we learn entirely from the study of fossils. Hence a great deal of Geology is given which may at first sight seem unnecessary, or even foreign to the subject matter under consideration. But to avoid continual reference to Geology when treating of the other sciences I thought it best to give all its results under one caption.

Liberal Protestantism triumphantly affirms, in the name of history, that the Catholic dogmas concerning the Sacraments are purely human doctrines, and even that these Christian rites were borrowed from Paganism. Other errors have also been put forth of late in regard to the relation of history to sacramentary theology. Called upon by his functions to submit those biased and exaggerated doctrines to a critical examination, the author has carefully studied the facts with the aid of a rigorously scientific method. The result of this impartial examination has been to show that an exclusively Christian inspiration presided over the origin of our dogmas regarding the Sacraments and over the origin of those Sacraments themselves, and that between the scriptural and patristic data in this matter and the sacramentary definitions of the Council of Trent, there exists a conformity sufficient to satisfy any reasonable mind. Very competent persons, whose authority has special weight with the writer, thought that this work which had been useful to many, might be useful to others too. For this reason is the present volume published. This study of positive sacramentary theology is based on the traditional conception of the development of dogma, that which St. Vincent of Lerins outlined in the fifth century, which Newman has set forth so powerfully in modern times, and which the Vatican Council has made its own: "Sacrorum dogmatum is sensus perpetuo est retinendus, quem semel declaravit Sancta Mater Ecclesia, nee unquam ab eo sensu, altioris intelligentice specie et nomine, recedendum. Crescat igitur et multum vehementerque proficiat, tam unius hominis, quam tot ius Ecclesice, Getatum et sceculorum gradibus, intelligentia, scientia, sapientia: sed in suo duntaxat genere, in eodenl scilicet dogmate, eodem sensu, eadelnque sententia." This doctrine of the development of dogma finds indeed in sacramentary theology a particularly striking application. For the historical development of the Catholic dogma coincides fairly well with its logical development.

The author begins: "In the midst of contradictory beliefs of every description, the world is at a loss to know what should be accepted as true. Theories are conceived, as it were, over night; long-established customs are abandoned; doctrines of unquestionable authenticity are ruthlessly overthrown, - in a word, chaos reigns in the world of thought and deed. But one institution retains the stability of centuries; and men and women of judgment hopefully turn their eyes to her, the one whom ages and changes have not altered-the Roman Catholic Church. It is with the hope that this book may aid Catholics to remain faithful to the Church and stand by her in these difficult times, and that it may be the means of attracting the many, who are sincere in their efforts to find a trustworthy guide through the maze of beliefs and unbeliefs, to a more thorough investigation of the 'Catholic Church, that it is given to press." In the chapter on the Church as a Sign of Contradiction, the author writes: "Simeon, the seer, some nineteen hundred years ago took a little infant in his arms and made the remarkable statement, "Behold this child is set for the fall and resurrection of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be contradicted," a bystander might have ridiculed the thought that the child of apparently unknown parents could ever rise to such heights as to be the occasion of the success and failure, the rise and fall of individuals as well as of nations. And yet this Child, the Son of God, has been a sign of contradiction, and has exerted a tremendous influence upon the nations of the world and their destinies.

"THE Spirit breatheth where it will," and the Spirit of God moves souls to aspire after perfection by divers ways. One feels that he is called to higher contemplation; another to an active life "Thou art careful, and art troubled about many things." Both are inspired by the breath of the Holy Spirit. Many others devote themselves to both the active and the contemplative life, laboring not only for their own perfection, but also for the salvation of the neighbor; and this is the best, the most perfect. Yet it is one and the same Spirit that guides all and, by widely divergent ways, leads to one and the same end. 2. Everyone must resolutely go forward on the way by which the Spirit conducts him if he would please God and attain the perfection determined by Him. Whoever wastes his opportunities for perfecting himself, or embraces them sluggishly, will with difficulty gain life eternal, and merit the happiness promised the true servant of God. If he does not follow the path pointed out to him by the Holy Ghost, he will, with very great danger to his soul, seek another more in accord with his own tastes and inclinations. Many are called by the way of tribulation and persecution. Such would greatly err were they to seek peace before the time. 3. Many are called by the way of poverty and lowliness. These would run great risks should they strive after a life of comfort and honor. Others are invited to tread the path of silence and seclusion. Should they remain in the noise and bustle of the world, hardly shall they be saved. In short, one treads this way, another that, but all under the workings of thc same Spirit. Whom they follow, and by Whom they must let themselves be guided.

Promises Made by the Blessed Virgin to St. Dominic and Blessed Alanus in Favor of Those Devoted to Her Rosary 1. To all those who shall recite my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and very great graces. 2. Those who shall persevere in the recitation of my Rosary will receive some signal grace. 3. The Rosary will be a very powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, deliver from sin and dispel heresy. 4. The Rosary will make virtue and good works flourish, and will obtain for souls the most abundant Divine mercies; it will substitute in hearts love of God for love of the world, and elevate them to desire heavenly and eternal goods. Oh, that souls would sanctify them .. selves by this means! 5. Those who trust themselves to me through the Rosary will not perish. 6. Those who shall recite my Rosary piously, considering its mysteries, will not be over .. whelmed by misfortune, nor die a bad death. 7. Those truly devoted to my Rosary shall not die without the consolations of the Church or without grace. 8. Those who shall recite my Rosary will find during their life and at their death the light of God, the fulness of His grace and will share in the merits of the blessed. 9. I will deliver very promptly from purgatory the souls devoted to my Rosary. 10. The true children of my Rosary will enjoy great glory in heaven. 11. What you shall ask through my Rosary you shall obtain. 12. Those who propagate my Rosary will obtain through me aid in all their necessities. 13. I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Rosary Confraternity shall have for their intercessors in life and death the saints of heaven. 14. Those who recite my Rosary faithfully are all my beloved children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. 15. Devotion to my Rosary is a special sign of predestination. "This is the most precious treasure of the Vatican," once exclaimed the saintly Pius IX, showing to a band of pilgrims his beloved rosary. It is likewise your treasure, Christian soul. You possess nothing more beautiful, nothing more excellent: nothing more beautiful, for the Rosary is the model and ideal of prayers, at once a prayer of praise, of thanksgiving and of petition; nothing more excellent, for the Blessed Virgin herself gave us this devotion, the practice of which has converted hundreds of thousands of heretics and millions of sinners, and has strengthened faith and love in the hearts of countless Christians. The Rosary is the barometer, as it were, of Christianity. Wherever the Rosary devotion is cherished, the Catholic Faith is still in its vigor and reigns in the hearts and lives of Christians. On the other hand, wherever the Rosary is neglected or contemptuously cast aside, there the Catholic Faith has dropped to the freezing point, there pride and false education guide the heart. One who prays the Rosary cannot forget the mysteries of Redemption, for the Rosary prayers are not only a rule of faith, but they contain a summary of Catholic doctrine as well, and embrace all that a Christian should believe, hope for, love and practice. The Rosary is a perfect catechism. It teaches Christian truths exactly and completely, and illustrates them beautifully. Truly, we may say that the Rosary contains an infallible means for obtaining heaven.

Gerard's mother speaks of him: "My child found his only pleasure in the church, on his knees before the Blessed Sacrament. He used to remain there so long that he would forget the dinner-hour. In the house, young as he was, he prayed all day. He was born for Heaven." Let us consider his strong desire for Holy Communion at a young age: "This holy child, already so dear to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was not seven years old, when already his soul yearned for the Bread that cometh down from Heaven. One day during Mass the little boy felt a secret inspiration to go up with the people and receive Holy Communion. The priest, seeing that he, vas hardly more than a baby in appearance, passed him by. The child went back to his place in the church, the tears flowing down his cheeks. But the next night the great Archangel St. Michael came to console him, bearing the body of his Lord. This miraculous Communion was, doubtless, one of the great reasons for Saint Gerard's life-long devotion to the Prince of the Angelic Hosts." Gerard's life was one filled with miracles.

Bridget also known as Birgitta of Sweden received revelations from Almighty God and these are recounted in several books. 1.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 1 (books 1-3) 2.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 2 (Book 4) 3.The Book of Questions of Saint Bridget (Book 5) 4.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 4 (Books 6*, 7, 8*, 9*) 5.The Book of the Angel (Book 11) 6.The Life and Prayers of Saint Bridget * indicates part of the book is missing.

The gift of prophecy is of divine origin. Saint Columbkille prophecies in part: "The professors of science shall not be rewarded, amiability shall not characterize the people, prosperity and hospitality shall not exist, but niggardliness and destitution shall assume their place." Indeed this appears to be a perfect description of today! The famous prophecies of Saint Malachy are included and the Popes that fulfilled them up until the original date of publication over a hundred years ago. A fragment attributed either to Saint Colubkille or Saint Kiernan reads: "One of them shall do the abbot in my church, and he will not sing matins; neither the Pater or Credo shall be there recited, no scientific language, but a foreign jargon." One of the prophecies of Mac Auliff: "Then-Oh strange and dark the story-Active are the old and haory, And the battle red is raging-raging among the young and old.; Daughter cheats the bother bore her. Sons will trat their fathers sorer; Neighbors rob their neighbor's store, or on their cattle lay hold. Age no more shallbe respected-women sell themselves for gold. Virtue, beauty, all be sold." From the predictions of Mac Cumhaill: "He is a treacherous man who would falsify a letter in a lay- For a great battle will be fought that shall draw signs from your hearts; a fire without embers (look before yon) each shall meet in his path. Confusion! the treacherous churls will fly away."

THE faithful children of the Church, throughout the Catholic world, as well as every true religious, cherish the devotion to the Most Holy Virgin, strive to obtain its true spirit and observe all the practices it enjoins, because they feel that this devotion satisfies the innermost wants of the soul, opens up an unfailing fountain of divine grace, and procures for us the purest - the most inexpressible joys. Among the most efficacious means which our Holy Mother the Church has instituted to promote and foster this devotion in our souls, there is none more beneficial in its effects and influence than the holy practice of regular and daily meditation on the prerogatives, the life, the virtues, the glorious mission of Mary; of contemplating, by the light of faith, the Most Blessed Virgin, the master-piece of the Creator, the model of all virtues, the exalted Mother of the Incarnate Word, the Queen of Heaven, raised in glory far above the cherubim, yet, tenderly hearkening to our supplications, shedding around us the love of her own heart, accepting our humble offerings, and bestowing upon us those celestial treasures which flow through her as the channel of divine mercy. It is impossible to meditate on the attributes of Mary without being filled with the most intense desire to honor her name and invoke her intercession so to live as to merit her protection now, that hereafter we may participate in her glory. Who can behold her in anyone of the aspects in which she presents herself to our piety without experiencing, in his heart, the love of the most exalted virtue? The object of the present work is to render some aid in the proper performance of this holy and salutary exercise. We shall consider in order: 1. The life of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. 2. Her virtues. 3. Her exalted greatness and her patronage. 4. The devotion of which she is the object. The Meditations will be sufficiently numerous: I. For all the Feasts of the Most Blessed Virgin. 2. For every day in the month of Mary. 3. For the Saturdavs on which no particular feast occurs.

When we think of devotion to the Sacred Heart, we think of Saint Margaret Mary. However, this devotion goes back further in history to Saint John Eudes, who wrote on the subject. And now we see that the Carthusians also were following this devotion before Saint Margaret Mary. A glance at these pages will show how justified was Dom Le Masson in claiming that the devotion revealed to St. Margaret Mary and made popular by her effotts was already an old one in the Carthusian Order. Dom Cyprien, before re-editing Dom Le Masson's work, had already written on Lansperge the Carthusian and Devotion to the Sacred Heatt. Lansperge had, in fact, a special part in the propagation of the Devotion in the sixteenth century: but he only developed what was a tradition of long standing in his Order. Ludolph the Carthusian had already written before the middle of the fourteenth century in his Life of Christ those words which have been chosen for the opening pages of our present anthology; and from that time on the tradition remained unbroken. Nor was it confined to one Charterhouse, or to one Province of the Order. It is not surprising that many of the writers whose works are quoted belonged to the Rhineland Province, for the Charterhouse of Cologne, which had the reputation of displaying the greatest love for learning of all the Houses of the Order, had a marked influence on the Province. But the pen was not the only instrument used for spreading the Devotion. Not content with writing about the Devotion to the Heart of Jesus, these apostles of love contrived to engrave Its image on the very walls of stone with which their Monasteries were built. The escutcheon reproduced as a frontispiece is worthy of partic'llar notice. It forms the key-stone of an arch at the Grande Chartreuse in that part of the old cloister which was built after the fire of 1473. A cross is seen rising out of a tomb, with the three nails, the rod and the sponge on a reed on the right, and on the left three dice, pincers and hammer, and a scourge. Above are the thirty pieces of silver, and the crown of thorns is hanging on the right arm of the cross. These arms of the Passion are common enough: what is exceptional in the shield of the Grande Chartreuse is the heart in the centre of the cross, with a large wound entirely penetrated by a lance. This has been reckoned as the oldest known carving of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. This work consists of thirty elevations to the Sacred Heart followed by a week devoted to the Sacred Heart. A section is devoted to prayers for all occasions, including preparation for death.

Bridget also known as Birgitta of Sweden received revelations from Almighty God and these are recounted in several books. 1.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 1 (books 1-3) 2.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 2 (Book 4) 3.The Book of Questions of Saint Bridget (Book 5) 4.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 4 (Books 6*, 7, 8*, 9*) 5.The Book of the Angel (Book 11) 6.The Life and Prayers of Saint Bridget * indicates part of the book is missing.

THIS book is an album of Dominican pictures. The pictures are word-painted and not limned in crayon or oil; they are drawn with a graphic pen and not painted with an artist's brush. They are pictures all the same-lifelike, faithful, and true. Each chapterand there are nearly a hundred of them-is a portrait, the original of which once lived in a Dominican cloister, in a Convent home, in an ancestral hall, in a princely or noble mansion, or, like Jesus at Nazareth, in a lowly cottage amongst simple, humble, working folk who earned their daily bread by the sweat of their brow. They are offered to the reader for his study, his admiration, and maybe even for his imitation. There are lights and shades in all these pictures, as there are lights and shades in every human life, if we except one, that was ever lived, or will be lived, from Eden to Jehosophat, from the dawn of creation to its doom. Each of these pictures tells its own story, each teaches its own lesson, each preaches its own sermon, each is a picture from life and from a holy life-for each is the life of a Saint. The word Saint is used in its comprehensive sense. All, the stories of whose lives are here briefly told, are not canonized Saints. Some are only Beati or the beatified of Saint Dominic's Order. They await the Church's final seal. Not one of the very large number beatified by the voice of the people, but not as yet declared blessed by the voice of the Church, finds a place in this book. There are several portraits introduced into this Dominican series over which Saint Dominic has no right or claim. They are painted here because they have a claim upon him and his, on account of signal services rendered to the Order in the hour of the Order's need. Saint Augustine of Hippo, whose Rule Saint Dominic adopted in accordance with the decree of the Fourth Lateran Council prohibiting the introduction of new religious Rules; Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Dominic's twin brother, "brought forth together by Holy Mother Church," as the old chronicler puts it, although their ways were divided and their lives were lived apart; Saint Servatius, who, on a memorable occasion, did spiritual yeoman's service in the interest of Saint Dominic's sons; Saint Mary Magdalen, and Saint Catharine, the Virgin Martyr of Alexandria, each of whom is called "Protectrix of the Order," for reasons given in their respective Lives. To these are added two Feasts intimately connected with Dominican life and work-the Feast of Our Lady's Patronage and the pre-eminentIy Dominican Feast of Rosary Sunday. These Lives are necessarily" short," since all have to be compressed between the two covers of a single octavo volume. Their very brevity may add to their charm, and may induce many to read them. L'appetit vimt en mangeant. Perhaps, having read these, they may be drawn to read other Lives of the same Saints which are more exhaustive than these, owing to the limited space allowed to each, can possibly be. Though necessarily miniatures, the pictures in this album are faithfully drawn-drawn from life. The principal authorities from which the facts are taken are Marchese's "Diario Domenicano," the Lessons in the Dominican Breviary, and the excellent work, "L'Annee Dominicaine." Although the "Annee Dominicaine" already numbers sizteen large volumes, the compilers have only yet reached the end of the month of August. Consequently the writer of these little sketches had not had the invaluable help of that work in drawing up the histories of the Saints whose Feasts occur in the four months subsequent to August. For, as will be seen, the order followed in these short Lives is neither alphabetical nor chronological; it is the one suggested by the Calendar of the Dominican rite.

Many do not know about Saint John Eudes. (This was written prior to his canonization.) The Breviary tells us that he is the author of the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary in his fight against the terrible heresy of Jansenism in the 1600s. Of this we read that John Eudes is: "Blessed Margaret Mary's precursor in promoting a special devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and styled by the Sovereign Pontiff himself, Pius X., the originator of their liturgical worship." Let us consider this: "The first adorer of the Sacred Heart was the Blessed Mother herself. The first line of Father Faber's hymn to St. John the Evangelist calls him" Saint of the Sacred Heart." With him Divine Love carried into reality the fancy of human love, making him" rather feel than see the beatings of His Heart." Long afterwards St. Gertrude in one of her ecstasies asked St. John why he had not explained for the good of the Church all the beatings of the Heart of Jesus, having himself drunk them in from Their source as he leaned on the bosom of Our Lord; and this favoured Apostle of the Sacred Heart replied to the holy Virgin that the full persuasive sweetness of that Divine Heart was reserved to be revealed at a later time when the world should have grown old and be sunk in tepidity, that it might thus be rekindled and reawakened to the love of God." And this on Eudes' progress: "More fully than any other before the wonderful revelation, in which Jesus said, "Behold this Heart, so loving and so little loved!" Father Eudes entered into the spirit of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart; but this, instead of lessening, increases the glory of Blessed Margaret Mary. Not he with his marvellous powers of sacred eloquence, and with his devoted disciples to second his efforts, and with his wide influence already acquired over priests and people-not he, but a timid, cloistered nun in an obscure village was chosen to inaugurate that mighty development of the devotion to the Heart of our Divine Redeemer as the living symbol of His Love, which has ever since been so marvellously blessed by God -never and nowhere more marvellously than in our own day and in our own country. In the development of this devotion Father Eudes followed the usual order, Per Mariam ad Jesum, "Through Mary to Jesus." From the dawn of bis spiritual life he cherished a chivalrous allegiance to the Queen of Heaven, and he soon learned to dwell lovingly in his prayers and sermons and writings on the tenderness and holiness of her Immaculate Heart. The greatest, perhaps, and certainly the longest of his' works, has for its theme and its name, "Le Coeur Admirable de la tres sacree Mere de Dieu, ou la Devotion au tres Saint Coeur de la Bienheureuse Vierge Marie." This has just been reprinted, very carefully edited and annotated, in the very admirable edition of his complete works with which the filial piety of his sons has enriched the ascetic literature of the Church. In this series it fills three large volumes (sixth, seventh, and eighth), containing between them eighteen hundred ample pages, full of solid learning and the most ardent piety; full also of holy prayers like this: - "0 Jesus, only Son of God, Who hast willed to be the only Son of Mary, and to place us in the rank of her children and Thy brothers, make us sharers, we beseech Thee, in the love that Thou bearest to her, as also in the love that she bears to Thee, in order that we may love Jesus with Mary's heart and that we may love Mary with the Heart of Jesus, and that we may have only one heart and one love with Jesus and Mary."

This is a fifteen volume set, which is being brought back into print for the edification of the Faithful. Anyone who wishes to appreciate the timeless Tridentine Mass and liturgy will find this set a valuable aid in that endeavor. Dom Gueranger has produced a most excellent work, which began the liturgical movement. We pray that this set of books will bring many more to a true appreciation of the Latin Mass and the Divine Office of the Catholic Church. At one time, under the impulse of that Spirit, which animated the admirable Psalmist and the Prophets, she takes the subject of her canticles from the Books of the Old Testament; at another, showing herself to be the daughter and sister of the holy Apostles, she intones the canticles written in the Books of the New Covenant; and finally, remembering that she, too, has had given to her the trumpet and harp, she at times gives way to the Spirit which animates her, and sings her own new canticle. From these three sources comes the divine element which we call the Liturgy. The Prayer of the Church is, therefore, the most pleasing to the ear and heart of God, and therefore the most efficacious of all prayers. Happy, then, is he who prays with the Church, and unites his own petitions with those of this Spouse, who is so dear to her Lord, that he gives her all she asks. It was for this reason that our Blessed Saviour taught us to say our Father, and not my Father; give us, forgive us, deliver us, and not give me, forgive me, deliver me. Hence, we find that, for upwards of a thousand years, the Church, who prays in her temples seven times in the day, and once again during the night, did not pray alone. The people kept her company, and fed themselves with delight on the manna which is hidden under the words and mysteries of the divine Liturgy. Thus initiated into the sacred Cycle of the mysteries of the Christian year, the faithful, attentive to the teachings of the Spirit, came to know the secrets of eternal life; and, without any further preparation, a Christian was not unfrequently chosen by the Bishops to be a Priest, or even a Bishop, that he might go and pour out on the people the treasures of wisdom and love, which he had drunk in at the very fountain-head. For whilst Prayer said in union with the Church is the light of the understanding, it is the fire of divine love for the heart. The Christian soul neither needs nor wishes to avoid the company of the Church, when she would converse with God, and praise his greatness and his mercy. She knows that the company of the Spouse of Christ could not be a distraction to her. Is not the soul herself a part of this Church, which is the Spouse? Has not Jesus Christ said: Father, may they be one, as we also are one? and, when many are gathered in his name, does not this same Saviour assure us that he is in the midst of them? The soul, therefore, may converse freely with her God, who tells her that he is so near her; she may sing praise, as David did, in the sight of the Angels, whose eternal prayer blends with the prayer which the Church utters in time.

This work of fiction commences THE guard was a stout man with a red face, and he had a queer way of puffing out his words, one at a time. Had the ordinary number of passengers crowded the cars there would have been the usual number of comments on the thin, wheezy voice in such a great big body. "Birmingham next! " he called, as the train came to a halt at the little wayside station. There were a half-dozen listeners-no more. Trains from New York to the White Mountains are not crowded at Thanksgiving time. Suddenly the guard, busy with the lights, dropped them, bending over to assist a slim young lady to climb up the steps that led to the platform. Perhaps this civility was due, in great part, to the fact that the light from those same lanterns had fallen on a witching pair of blue eyes, raised to his confidingly before she placed her foot on the step. Entering the car, she sat down near the door, putting a leather dressing-case he carried on the seat beside her, and throwing a costly fur muff on top of it. "This is much nicer," she said, musingly. "More secluded. I Wonder what Dick will say when he gets that telegram? That one woman knows bow to keep her word, I suppose." She laughed. "Traveling is so monotonous, and so tiresome-when one travels alone."

This short but beautiful treatise, though written for the benefit of Benedictine monks, is so full of spiritual wisdom, and of gentle and loying piety, that no one can read it without feeling himself moved to devotion. In language of inexpressible sweetness and power, it sets before us the threefold office of divine worship-praise, than ksgiving, and prayer; and with maxims culled from the writings of Saints and Fathers of the Church, develops this threefold office throughout the several hours of the Divine Office. Should a beginner find the number of subjects laid down for meditation too great a strain on his intellect, nothing can be easier than to single out the chief ones and dwell on them, not for the space of one psalm only, as the author directs, but during two or three. A like easy arrangement will at once remove any difficulty that may be met with by ecclesiastics not using our monastic Breviary, which Abbot Cisneros had in view in allotting the subjects for meditation to the several canonical hours. Let us consider this wise advice: "IN the second book of Paralipomenon, chapter the twenty-ninth, it is written: My sons, be not negligent; the Lord hath chosen you to stand before Him, and to minister to Him, and to worship Him. Since, then, God has chosen the religious man as His minister, to worship and serve Him, he ought to know how God is to be served. For, as Gerson says, nothing so beseems a religious as the worthy and careful performance of divine worship- to-wit, of the canonical hours, which our father and captain, St. Benedict, calls in his Rule the work of God; more especially because it is the first duty of a religious, as St. Jerome says, to employ himself in praising God, offering Him hymns, psalms, prayers, and sacrifice; and by these means to appease the anger of God against His people, and bewail the sins of his brethren. Wherefore a monk must be watchful and diligent in worthily discharging the debt of his service to God, lest the fearful curse of Jeremias the prophet fall upon him: Cursed be the man that doth the work of God with negligence."

Let us consider this from Saint Francis youth: "WHEN Francis was thirteen, in 1580, M. de Boisy resolved to send him to Paris to study at the University. He wished him to reside at the College of Navarre, as it was to it all the young nobles of Savoy were sent; but it had not too good a reputation, the students were a bit wild, and the discipline lax. Francis feared he would be led away by wicked companions and become depraved, so he entreated his father to let him go instead to the College of the Jesuits. Then, as always, he had a particular affection and reverence for the sons of St. Ignatius, and he had heard that at their college the spirit of piety and of holiness reigned supreme. His mother agreed with him. She, too, ardently desired to place her son with the Saints Peres, feeling that under their care he would be secure from danger to soul or body. With some difficulty she succeeded in persuading her husband, but finally he gave a reluctant consent." In order to understand the saints, we must read their lives, not just their works. And Saint Francis de Sales has written many wonderful works. This book will give a great insight into this wonderful saint.

Bridget also known as Birgitta of Sweden received revelations from Almighty God and these are recounted in several books. 1.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 1 (books 1-3) 2.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 2 (Book 4) 3.The Book of Questions of Saint Bridget (Book 5) 4.The Prophecies and Revelations of Saint Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden volume 4 (Books 6*, 7, 8*, 9*) 5.The Book of the Angel (Book 11) 6.The Life and Prayers of Saint Bridget * indicates part of the book is missing.

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Lk 23:34) O loving tenderness of Jesus towards men! St. Augustine says that when the Savior was injured by His enemies, He besought pardon for them; for he thought not so much of the injuries He received from them, and the death they inflicted upon Him, as upon the love which brought Him to die for them. But some may say, Why did Jesus pray to the Father to pardon them, when He Himself could have forgiven their injuries? St. Bernard replies that He prayed to the Father, not because He could not Himself forgive them, but that He might teach us to pray for them that persecute us. The holy abbot says also in another place: "O wonderful thing! He cries, Forgive; they cry, Crucify." Arnold of Chartres remarks that while Jesus was laboring to save the Jews, they were laboring to destroy themselves; but the love of the Son had more power with God than the blindness of this ungrateful people. St. Cyprian writes, "Even he who sheds the blood of Christ is made to live by the blood of Christ." Jesus Christ, in dying, had so great a desire to save all men, that He made even those enemies who shed His blood with torments partakers of that blood. "How can you look," says St. Augustine, "at your God upon his cross; see how He prays for them that crucify Him; and then deny pardon to your brother who has offended you!" St. Leo writes that it was through this prayer of Christ so that many thousands of Jews were converted at the preaching of St. Paul, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles; while (says St. Jerome) God did not will that the prayer of Jesus Christ should continue without effect, and therefore at that very time He caused many of the Jews to embrace the faith. But why were they not all converted? I reply that the prayer of Jesus Christ was conditional, and that they who were converted were not of the number of those of whom it was said, You have resisted the Holy Ghost.

In the present volume, the same manner of treatment has been preserved as that which characterized the preceding ones, a familiar and colloquial treatment which avoids formality and has been found to help the interest of the reader and to stimulate personal applications. The purpose of these little volumes is not to preach nor exhort, though these are excellen t things in their place, but rather to encourage and stimulate those who are good to become still better, and perhaps to induce others, poor sinners, who have ordinarily no sort of taste for spiritual writings, to get into the way of reading a bit now and then as an antidote against the prevalent worldliness and a gateway to better things. We ask, of all who read them, a prayer for the writer. We are so often busy with the things that perish! The necessities and pre-occupations of our mortal life so often weigh us down and distract our hearts. Our earthly and mortal part, the corruptible body, so tyrannizes over and oppresses our immortal and spiritual soul! Everyone who has any aspirations after heavenly things must experience at times this groaning of the spirit under the necessities of the flesh. The author of the Imitation, who has admirably expressed for all time so many of the motions of men's souls, has given voice also to this groaning. "It is truly a misery," he says, "to live upon earth. The more a man desireth to be spiritual, the more this present life becomes distasteful to him; because he the better understands and more clearly sees the defects of human corruption. For to eat, drink, watch, read, rest, labor, and to be subject to other necessities of nature is truly a great misery and affliction to a devout man, who desires to be released and free from all sin." All literature, even the pagan, is full of this crying out of the spirit against the oppression of the flesh. Sad to say, the body has much the advantage in this constant lusting of the flesh against the spirit. It has a thousand needs which must be swiftly answered, a thousand insistent demands which it takes much time and energy to appease. The body, say the old writers on spiritual themes, is like a crumbling wall which must be incessantly shored up and mended, for it is ceaselessly falling into pieces. "Y ou say that I have a soul," said the Chinese merchant to a missionary, "why should I worry about it'? It gi ves me no pain. I t grows neither cold nor thirsty nor hungry. It makes no demands on my care. Whereas my body requires all the tending I can give it, and in the end it is to perish despite all my care. Why should I spend time, then, caring for my soul, which takes such good care of itself'?" Few Christians would dare to repeat in so many words the saying of this carnal old pagan. Yet, how many are tempted to act on the theory his words express!

St. Alphonsus Liguori has stated that one of the clearest tokens that a person is on the way to eternal happiness is an eagerness to hear the word of God. The writer of these instructions has uniformly found, during the experience of many years, that this excellent disposition exists in a high degree of perfection among the inmates of our convents. And yet very many of those devout souls are so situated that for months they cannot hear any religious instruction, at least not such discourses as apply the sacred truths of revelation to the peculiar needs of their holy vocation. It is to supply this want of oral addresses that these pages are respectfully presented; they are chiefly intended to be read in community, where a little effort of the imagination may suffice to produce about the same impression as if they were uttered by the lips of a priest of God. Let us consider this excerpt: "First then the nature of holiness. We will take as our instructor in this important matter our dear Lord Himself. He gave this great lesson for all future ages on the night before His sacred passion, when He discoursed for the last time in this life with His Apostles. Let us imagine that we are seated with them before the Divine teacher, treasuring up in our loving hearts every word that falls from His sacred lips. He spoke as follows; St. John, who was present, has recorded the very words: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he will take away; and everyone that beareth fruit, he will purge it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abide in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without me you can do nothing. If anyone abide not in me, he shall be cast forth as a branch and shall wither, and they shall gather him up and cast him into the fire, and he burneth. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you. In this is my Father glorified that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples" (XV, 18)." And this should show that these instructions, although written for religious apply to all Christians: "St. Teresa tells us clearly, in that remarkable autobiography which she wrote by the order of her confessor, that she was a very imperfect religious during nearly twenty years, and that she was converted by prayer. To quote her own words: "I wish," she writes, "that I could obtain leave to declare the many times I failed, during this period, in my obligations to God, because I was not supported by the strong pillar of mental prayer. I passed through this tempestuous sea almost twenty years, between these fallings and risings, (though I rose very imperfectly, since I fell again so quickly, ) and in this kind of life, which was so far below perfection, I made almost no account of venial sins; and for mortal ones, I feared them, it is true, but not so much as I ought to have done, since I did not avoid the dangerous occasions. " And the Saint adds: "The reason why I have given this account is. . that it may be understood how great a blessing God bestows on that soul which He disposes to practise mental prayer with a good will, even though she were not SO well prepared for it as she should be. But if she perseveres therein, whatever sins she may commit, whatever temptations may be presented to her, or whatever falls she may receive in a thousand different ways from the devil, I consider it certain that our Lord will, in the end, bring her safe to the port of salvation. ""

The following instructions on the Seven Sacraments, given in the Church of St. Thomas Aquinas, Brooklyn, N.Y., during the year I888, were not originally intended for publication. The editor of the NEW YORK FREEMAN'S JOURNAL, who for the greater part of that year was a regular attendant at the services in our Church, requested permission to pub1ish them weekly in the columns of that paper, and kindly offered to have them electrotyped. These Instructions were prepared at a time when other activities incidental to the management of a new parish, and the direction of the Archconfraternity of the Guard of Honor, left but little time for literary work of any kind. It was only at the urgent request of priests in different parts of the country that we consented to have them published in book form. In our own estimation, they have but little merit. If they meet the approval of the clergy, they will soon find their way into Catholic families, and will, we trust, be of some assistance to the priest in his great mission as the Teacher of Mankind. We commence this morning a course of brief instructions on the Sacraments. As the Sacraments are the channels through which grace is conveyed to our souls, it win be of great advantage, before entering on the subject in view, to say something on grace, its nature, its divisions, its necessity, its source, and the means of obtaining it. What is grace? This is a difficult question to answer in a brief and popular way. If you are to understand the answer at all, you must listen with all the attention of which you are capable. What is grace? What is blood? It is a liquid which, circulating in our veins and arteries, maintains in us the life of the body. If by any accident-for instance, by a wound-all our blood were to flow out, our thoughts would be congealed in our brain, our hearts would cease to beat, and our limbs would refuse to move. This, you know, would be death. Now, the grace of God is to the life of our soul what blood is to the life of our body. Let grace depart, let it flow out from a poor soul, and that moment that soul is dead before God.