Bøger af Brother Hermenegild Tosf

Contains all the stories found in the Appendix of the large two-volume work entitled The Catechist As the author has stated in his Preface to the original edition of The Catechist, it is not presumed that these examples are to be read to those who are being instructed-though in most cases they may be-but preferably they are to be retold to the students by the instructor. For this reason the author has greatly abbreviated them, with the understanding that the instructor, as the occasion may require, will adapt the stories to the level of the students. THE NOBLEMAN AND THE CATECHISM.-A distinguished nobleman had gone to a religious house to make a retreat, and felt no little surprise at being presented with a Catechism to read . "What?" he said, "a Catechism! are you setting me down again to my ABC?" But on the Superior proposing him some simple questions on religion, the nobleman was quite unable to give satisfactory answers. "Know then," said the Superior, "that among' persons in the world, there are very few really instructed in their religion. This little book, which you seem to undervalue, is an abridgment of theology: even those who have learned it when young, should read it, in advanced years, that they may not forget what it contains." He ever afterwards carried a Catechism with him

Master Richard Raynal appears to have been a very curious young man, of great personal beauty J extre1ne simplicity, and a certain 1nagnetic attractiveness. He believed himself, further, to be in direct and constant communication with supernatural things, and would be set down now as a religious fanatic, deeply tinged with superstition. His parson, too, in these days, would be thought little better, but at the ti1ne in which they lived both would probably be regarded with considerable veneration. We hear, in fact, that a chapel was finally erected over Master Raynal's body, and that pilgrimages were made there, And, probably, if the rest of the work had been preserved to us, we should have found a record of 11firacles wrought at his shrine. All traces, however, of that shrine have now disappeared most likely under the stern action of Henry VIII.-and Richard's name is unknown to hagiology, in spite of his parson's confidence as regarded his future beatification. It is, however, interesting to notice that in Master Raynal's religion, as in Richard Rolle's, hermit of Hantpole, there appears to have been some of that inchoate Quietism which was apt to tinge the faith of a few of the English solitaries. He was accustomed to attend mass devoutly and to receive the sacraments, and on his death-bed was speeded into the next world, at his own desire, by all the observances prescribed by the Catholic Church. His attitude, too, towards the priesthood, is somewhat uncharacteristic of his fellows, who were apt to boast 'With apparent complacency that they were neither "monk, friar, nor clerk." In other matters he is a good type of that strange race of solitaries who swarmed in England at - that time, who were under no vows, but served God as it pleased them, not hesitating to go among their fellows from time to time if they thought themselves called to it, who were looked upon with veneration or contempt, according to the opinion formed of them by their observers, but who, at any rate, lived a simple and wholesome lile, and were to some extent witnesses to the existence of a supernatural Power at whose bidding (so they believed) they were summoned to celibacy, seclusion, labour, and prayer,

THE Christian family is the unit which goes to build up the Catholic Church. To vary the metaphor, the Holy Family of Nazareth was the mustard-seed out of which the vast tree of the Universal Church has grown. In Joseph and Mary and the Holy Child we have the prototypes and models of the Father, the Mother, and the children who form the Catholic Family. Indeed, it is the ideal of the Family which pervades the whole constitution and life of the Church. Our Lord in His parables frequently refers to Almighty God as the Father of the family (paterfamilias), or simply as the Father. Think of the touching parable of the Prodigal Son. Christ taught us when we pray to address God as "Our Father." St. Paul tells us that after Him "all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named" (Eph. iii. IS). As Joseph, the foster-father, or legal father, of Christ in the home of Nazareth was, as spiritual writers tell us, the vicar er vicegerent of the Heavenly Father on earth-so that Mary could call him to her Divine Son, " Thy father" (Luke ii. 48)-so do we style the vicar or vicegerent of Our Lord on earth, the visible head of His Church, the " Holy Father." And we love to speak of the Church herself as " Holy Mother Church," and are proud to call ourselves her children. Everywhere the same analogy of the Family life and relationship-Father, Mother, Children. The Christian Family, then, is a very sacred thing. I t is God's ordinary means for the salvation of souls. The Christian Home is a shrine, an ark in which is preserved the priceless treasure of the Faith, and with it the virtues of the Christian life and heritage. Any book which makes us realize better these great truths; which teaches us love and reverence for the Christian family and home and home-life; which teaches parents the sublimity of their office in God's plans and raises up their thoughts I to a higher conception of their privileges and duties; which teaches the adolescent the true sanctity and beauty of home, and, whilst filling them with a loving appreciation of what they owe to their parents, helps them to prepare themselves for the privileges and duties of Christian parenthood in God's good time-such a book is likely to produce very great good, not only spiritual, but even social, in these dark and deplorable days of materialism andthe forgetfulness of man's higher destinies. But the little book before us seems to me to fulfil this task with a quite unusual measure of success. It handles great and often very delicate problems with theological clearness and sureness, combined with great reverence. It inspires an enthusiasm for the high, sacred ideals of family and home. I hope it will be very widely read by parents-especially by young parents-and by young married couples and youths and maidens who are preparing for the holy state of Matrimony. In these times, when so much pernicious teaching is widespread in literature and on the platform concerning the marriage tie and its obligations, it is well that the sane authoritative teaching of the Catholic Church should be clearly set before men's minds.

THE name of JOHN FISHER, the learned theologian, the saintly prelate, the heroic martyr, is familiar to everyone who has acquired the mere outlines of history; yet many deep students of the period in which he lived will be ready to confess that their knowledge is restricted to a few facts of his life, and perhaps the details of his death. The days in which his lot was cast were evil, and a man of his noble character could occupy no very conspicuous place in them, except by contrast, protestation, and martyrdom. He could not fill the foreground like Luther, Calvin, and Cranmer, or even like Cardinal Wolsey or Bishop Stephen Gardiner. And though the same remark applies to his friend and fellow-martyr Sir Thomas More, yet there were many circumstances that made the character of the latter more generally attractive to the biographer and to the reader. It was a new thing at that period for a layman to rival the best ecclesiastics in learning, eloquence, and theology, as well as in law and in statesmanship. The chancellor's charming family life, where virtue and letters, religion and wit, united with patriarchal simplicity, was, if not a new development of the social system, yet a return, after ages of ignorance and barbarism, to the best Christian traditions of the days of St. Basil and St. Paulinus. In his own family, too, the Blessed Thomas More found those who were capable of recording, as well as appreciating, his virtues, and of telling the incidents of his life and death throughout Europe. Thus multitudes are acquainted with the words and acts, the public and private life of More, whose knowledge of Fisher is merely that he was a learned and virtuous bishop, tyranically put to death by Henry VIII. The memories of the two martyrs are typified in the fate of their pictures. The picture of Sir Thomas and his household, by Holbein, still fresh, and often reproduced by the engraver, has made us all familiar with his gracious and noble aspect; while more than one old canvas or panel, without a history, and showing only a pale, ascetic face on a faded background, left the beholder uncertain whether he had been gazing on a Warham, a Tunstal, or a Fisher. But it is not yet too late. After lying long forgotten, an authentic portrait of the martyr bishop was found by Queen Caroline in a secret drawer in the royal palace, and we now know how he looked in 1527; for the sketch is by Holbein's faithful pencil. And so, too, by the opening of the national and of foreign archives, and the diligence of their guardians, documents unknown for centuries have once more been brought to light, and enable the student to fill in many details of Fisher's life and character. The Decree of Beatification begins: "ENGLAND, once called the Island of Saints and the Dowry of the Virgin Mother of God, as even from the first ages of the Church it had been renowned for the sufferings of many Martyrs, so also, when it was torn by the fearful schism of the sixteenth century from the obedience and communion of the Roman See, was not without the testimony of those who, for the dignity of this See, and for the truth of the orthodox Faith, did not hesitate to lay down their lives by the shedding of their blood. "In this most noble band of Martyrs nothing whatever is wanting to its completeness or its honour: neither the grandeur of the Roman purple, nor the venerable dignity of Bishops, nor the fortitude of the Clergy both secular and regular, nor the invincible firmness of the weaker sex. Eminent amongst them is JOHN FISHER, Bishop of Rochester and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, whom Paul III. speaks of in his Letters as conspicuous for sanctity, celebrated for learning, venerable by age, an honour and an ornament to the kingdom, and to the Clergy of the whole world. With him must be named the layman THOMAS MORE, Chancellor of England, whom the same Pontiff deservedly extols, as excelling in sacred learning, and courageous in the defence of truth."

The chapters are: Flower of Babies was Their King The Name We Love Best The King's Feast Candlemas Day The Gift of a Pope Easter The Cloud With the Silver Lining A Home of the Blessed Sacrament The Sacred Heart The Prince of the Apostles The Childhood of St. Dominic The Assumption of Our Lady October Roses The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin This book commences: OF all the feasts in the year there is no feast for little children like Christmas, the day on which our dear Lord became one of them! Everything about it is easy to understand, and very delightful. In the church there will be a wonderful Crib with certainly the dear little ChristChild in it, and our Lady and St. Joseph. Probably, too, there will be a donkey and a cow, possibly even some shepherds with nice woolly sheep. Once I happened to go into a church where there was just such a Crib, and what do you think I saw in it? A real, live, little baby of about four years old, who had wandered in from the street, and, seeing the stable, had climbed over the rail in front, and was close up to the manger playing with one of the woolly lambs! I suppose it was a little naughty, but I could not help feeling rather sorry when someone came and lifted the poor babe out and sent it away. One of the best ways to learn about Christmas is to go and kneel quietly in front of the Crib, look at it, and think for a little while. All kinds of thoughts and feelings will crowd into mind and heart. You will find yourself asking questions of your own soul.

We are all apt so to idealise the Saints whom we love to study and honour, and strive to imitate, that we are in danger of forgetting that they possessed a human nature like our own, subject to many trials, weaknesses and frailties. They had to struggle as we have to struggle. The only difference is that their constancy and perseverance were greater far than ours. Biographers are often responsible for the false tendency to which we allude. They like to give us the finished portrait of the Saints, and only too often they omit in great part the details of the long and weary toil that, vent to make the picture which they delight to paint. In the case of some of the Saints we are able to come nearer to the reality by reading the letters which have been preserved, in which in their own handwriting they have set down, without thought of those who in later days might read their words, the details of their daily life and struggle. Thus in the few selected Letters of the holy foundress of the Visitation which are now being published in an English translation we get glimpses of her real character and spiritual growth which may be more. helpful to us than many pages of formal biography. In one place she excuses the brevity of a letter because she is If feeling the cold to-day and pressed for time." In another she tells a Sister, "do everything to get well, for it is only your nerves." Nerves are evidently not a new malady nor a lately devised excuse. She knew the weariness of delay: "still no news from Rome. ... I think His Grace the Archbishop would be glad to help us. . .. Beg him, I beseech you, to push on the matter." Haste and weather had their effect on her as on as: I write in such haste that I forget half of what I want to say. ... we will make a chalice veil for you, but not until the very hot weather is over, for one cannot work properly while it lasts." What mother, especially in these days of sorrow and anxiety, can read unmoved the Saint's own words as she speaks of her daughter's death, and of her fears about her son. I am almost in despair ... so miserable am I about it that I do not know which way to turn, if not to the Providence of God, there to bury my longings, confiding to His hands not only the honour but even the salvation of this already half lost child. Oh! the incomparable anguish of this affliction. No other grief can come near to it." And then we feel her mingled grief and joy when at last she learnt that this, her only son, had given up his life, fighting for his King, after a humble and fervent reception of the Sacraments. Thus in the midst of the daily small worries of life, and of the great sorrows that at one time or other fall to the lot of all, we see a brave and generous soul, with human gifts and qualities like to our ownJ treading her appointed path to God. No one can read her words without carrying therefrom fresh courage for his life, and a new determination to battle steadfastly to the end.

This little catechism will prove valuable for children and adults alike who wish to review their catechism on a regular basis. It begins with a simple method of going to Confession and contains the basic unchanging truths of the Catholic Faith. We pray this little catechism will help many to be firm in the Catholic Faith.

he following pages are printed in their present form in consequence of the unexpected degree of publicity which has been given to the subject of which they treat. The circumstances of the case are briefly these: about two months ago, the author and one of his friends, Mr. Francis Ward, Solicitor, of Bristol, were arranging to take a short holiday; some members of the author's family had occasion about the same time to travel across France, and were in want of an escort; the author had long had a, desire to visit the mountain of La Salette, Sanctuaries of our Blessed Lady being a subject to which his attention had been for some time especially called, and on which he had both read and written mucB;- it was determined therefore that a visit to La Salette should be the end and object of their journey, which was so timed that they should spend the anniversary of the apparition upon the mountain itself. On their return, numerous friends were naturally anxious to learn the result of their inquiries; and to prevent the tedious repetition of the same tale, the author was invited to give a lecture upon the subject in the Catholic schoolroom of the town. This lecture was intended solely for Catholics, and notice of it was given at a time and place where none but Catholics were present, with an intimation that the sum received at the doors would be devoted to a local Catholic charity. By what means knowledge of the intended lecture came to the ears of the newspaper reporters, the author has not heard; but when their presence in the lecture-room was mentioned to him, he did not feel that this was any reason for disappointing those Catholics who were already assembled. The lecture, therefore, was given, and reports of it, for the most part incorrect and imperfect, appeared in the local papers. It was not until one of these maimed reports found its way into the Time, that the author felt called upon to depart from his original plan of publishing the narrative only in two consecutive numbers of the Rambler. Under these new circumstances, however, of unlooked for notoriety, he deemed it due both to himself and to his subject that no time should be lost in laying before the public a full and correct report of the whole history. Nothing more than this has been here attempted. The author has confined himself to a faithful narration of the facts that have occurred, and a candid exposition of the argument which may be deduced from those facts; and he believes that he has thereby dODe all that is necessary to convince unprejudiced minds of the reality of the apparition. He is well aware that to the great majority of Englishmen, the fact that an alleged event is of a supernatural character, is at once conclusive evidence against its existence; "we are sure," they say, "that all such narrates are necessarily false, because we are satisfied on a priori grounds that they could not possibly be true." For persons who argue thus, it is enough to say that the author has not written. To those only who are in a condition to listen to evidence, and to form a really fair and independent judgment upon the facts that will be laid before them, the following pages are addressed, and to them they are submitted with confidence.

The two Retreats the Notes of which are printed in the present volume, were given at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Roehampton, by the late Father Morris, in 1893 and 1879. The Retreat of 1893 has a special interest, as being the last that Father Morris gave to ladies in the world, and as having been given so shortly before his sudden death. Many doubtless of those who were present will have kept their own record of it, and for them these Notes may contain nothing new; with the writer they will regret the inadequacy of words (although written down as they were spoken) to convey to those who have not come under his personal influence an idea of the force and earnestness and persuasiveness of the speaker. It was not Father Morris's plan for the most part, and especially in treating of the life of our Lord, to arrange his meditations in points. His custom was rather to describe each scene as vividly and minutely as though he had been an actor in it. Almost did it seem that not by faith only, but with his bodily senses he had looked into' the Face of the Divine Teacher, and heard the words that fell from His blessed Lips. The impression so made cannot be reproduced. With the exception of one entitled "Confidence in God, the Lesson to be learnt from our Failures," and another on "Seeking first the Kingdom of God," the Instructions at the end of the volume were delivered to a small country congregation during the last Lent and Easter-tide that Father Morris spent on earth; and are valued by his friends as containing a few of his thoughts on those Sunday Gospels which he almost invariably chose as the subjects for his morning Sermons. In preparing these notes for the press, the writer has made as few alterations as possible, and has preserved throughout their colloquial form. This must be the apology for occasional abruptness, and for a want of finish which is never to be found in Father Morris's style in writing.

UNION with God is the secret of the lives of the Saints. They left. all to attain it, and trod in the one only path which leads up to it. We find tbem humbly and pimply seeking Him in the ways He has appointed, most especially affectionate to the Blessed Mother of God, and most fervently devout towards the glorious Sacrament of the Altar. The Saints by this divine onion became themeelves vessels of grace, ofwhich Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the living source. When a believer is worthy to receive Holy Communion-that is, when his soul is in a state of grace-it is not possible to reckon all tbe wonderful operations of grace which the participation of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ produces in him. These come from the interior union which takes place therein with J sus the God-Man. Our Lord has Himself given us to understand this when He says, - Whosoever eateth My Flesh and drinketh My Blood, he dwelleth in Me and I in him' (St. John vi. 57). All bread when it is eaten becomes one with man, becomes a part of his flesb, and of his blood, 'so, ' saitb St. John Chrysostom, 'He mingleth Himself with us, we become one existence with Him, whereby we are one whole with Him, being with Him one flesh and one body.' He becometh the Soul of our soul, as it were, and the Life of our life. The man no longer lives of himself; but' Christ liveth in him, ' according to St. Paul, and according to our Lord's own words; 'I live, now not I; but Christ

The Church has always prohibited evil books from the time of the Apostles. Saint Paul oversaw the burning of millions of dollars of evil books as reported in Acts. On the 25th of January, 1897, the late Pope, Leo XIII., gave to the world an important letter, entitled, Officiorum ac Munerum," dealing with the Legislation of the Index and its gravity and far-reaching influence entitle it to more wide-spread knowledge than it has hitherto attained Though intended primarily for the direction of Bishops an other ecclesiastical functionaries, occupying positions o responsibility, yet its import affects tho public at large t so great an extent that its contents deserve to be place within the reach of all. Hitherto little has been done I this country to secure this end. Commentaries have alread appeared in most European languages; but until the issu of the present work, nothing had come before the public I an English dress to bring the people of these countries I touch with the most recent legislation on the Index The Pontifical letter referred to was intended, by it illustrious author, to form a preface to certain Rules which had been adopted and approved by the Congregation o the Index in reference to the Prohibition and Censorshi of Books; and these two documents, together with the Sollicita ac Provida of Benedict XIV., which also finds place in the present publication, bring the Church's legislation on the Index up to date. The scope of the entire Constitution, and, therefore, of the present work, which purports to be a scientific commentary upon it, will be best understood from a brief analysis of the treatment followed in both. At a time when the world is flooded with pernicious literature, and the poison not alone of immorality, but of unbelief, is being slowly but surely instilled into the public mind, the importance of a book dealing with such a subject cannot be exaggerated. The evil is prevalent in Europe, America, and Australia, and, no doubt, much of the danger to Church and State, that is at present menacing most of our European countries, springs largely from the unbridled licence of the Press. Even here in Ireland, there are grave apprehensions entertained for the future from the same source. That the Bishops of the country are not unmindful of this danger is evidenced from the fact that in the Appendix to the Acta et Decreta of the Synod of Maynooth (1900), just published, the legislation dealt with in this work is given in full. Let us hope that tho present book will prove helpful to both the Clergy and laity of the country who wish to place themselves in touch with the latest legislation on the Prohibition of Books; the Censorship of the Press, and the Rules of the Index.

A collection of hymns to the Blessed Virgin Mary

The author of this Manual, while calling it a History of the Roman Breviary, has been far from supposing that so great a subject could be exhaustively treated in so few pages. His object has been to summarise, and on some points to state more precisely, and with all possible clearness, the results reached or led up to by such learned writers as Cardinal Bona, Cardinal Tommasi, Thomassin, Dom Gueranger, and Monsignor de Roskovany. In summarising these results, he has in every case verified them by reference to their original sources, being determined that, though his work was to popularise the subject, it should be work at first hand, and give direct information. He has even been led to revise them, not considering himself forbidden to make researches on his own account, to classify in accordance with his personal observation, and to draw conclusions on his own responsibility and at his own risk. But in thus treating this vast subject it has not been possible for him to avoid seeing how many unexplored countries are still to be found in that ancient continent. We are still without a critical edition of the Liber Responsalis of the Roman Church; we have no collection or scientific classification of the most ancient Ordines Romani; no catalogue of.the Roman liturgical books from the eighth to the thirteenth century; no catalogue or classification of monastic breviaries of dates anterior to the thirteenth century, or of breviaries, whether Roman or non-Roman, from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century; we have not even a descriptive account of printed Roman breviaries' Not to speak of documents which might be published relating to the various reforms of the Roman Breviary in the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries. A man might gladly devote years to such researches, but then, the book we would write would not be a Manual: a collection such as the Analecta Liturgica of Mr. Weale would be none too large. So one must needs restrain oneself, and be content simply to strive to keep in the right track, and guide others along it. The author has endeavoured to avoid those practical questions of ritual which depend either on moral theology or on the decisions of the Congregation of Rites; and still more to keep clear of the prejudices which, in France at least, have too long embittered such questions. His aim has been to treat the subject from the standpoint of Christian archaeology and the history of Christian literature. More fortunate than some liturgical writers of the last generation, we are now able to speak of liturgy, without being influenced by external considerations; we can criticise and we can admire without reference to any other matter; taking for the guiding principle of our appreciation those admirable words, worthy of S. Gregory, though they are not his, non pro locis res, sed pro rebus loca nobis amanda sunt. Newman, while still an Anglican, could write this remarkable passage: "There is so much of excellence and beauty in the services of the Breviary, that, were it skilfully set before the Protestant by Roman controversialists al the book of devotions received in their Communion, it would undoubtedly raise & prejudice in their favour, if he were ignorant of the circumstances of the case, and but ordinarily candid and unprejudiced." It is this excellence and beauty of the Roman office which I have endeavoured to express, just as I have myself been sensible of it. And as to the circumstances of the case, alluded to by Newman, I have considered it my duty to analyse them just as they are, without attempting to minimise them, being well convinced that they would not tend to diminish the genera.! Impression of esteem and admiration wbich the Roman Breviary must produce, whether considered as regards its contents or the sources from Which they are drawn.

Catholic marriage law may appear complicated, but in 1908 it was simplified, and this simplification was kept later on in the Code of Canon Law, which varies little from the decree Ne Temere. An understanding of this decree will help in the solution of marriage cases today. The chief advantage of the decree on the engagement and marriage contracts which came into force 19 April, 1908 arises from the fact that it is a uniform law for the Catholic of the Latin Rite practically in all parts of the world The decree of the Council of Trent in the famous chapter "Tametsi," which was meant to be of universal application failed of its purpose for lack of the necessary legal promulgation Hence all those vexed questions about the places when and where not the decree was binding, in which the post-Tridentin period abounds. Questions relating to marriages contracted prior to 19 April, 1908, will have to be decided according to the former laws on the form of the marriage contract in different countries For these we refer our readers to the many handbook of Moral Theology. The following pages present a concis and yet complete explanation of the new law, together wit the several official declarations that have been issued by th Holy See since the appearance of the decree. The decree is divided into fifteen numbers or articles most of which contain several sections. We will take them u one after the other in the order of the decree, giving first correct translation of the article and then a brief commentary in which the declarations of the Holy See pertaining to the article will be explained.

There are 83 Dominican Abbeys in Ireland. "The use of the word" Abbey" in Ireland, to designate a Dominican house and church seems to have arisen since the suppression of the religious houses in the sixteenth century. .. Convent, from the Latin word Conventus, is the more correct appellation." This work gives a brief account of the foundation of each.

the Real Presence and of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, which are adduced in the following brief summary, wiH be fonnd orthodox, and entirely in accordance with the teaching of the Church. It will appear they are founded on Scripture and tradition not only, but are even the result of perusing extracts on the same subject, taken from the writings of the most approved, of the most distinguished Theologians, whom God has raised up in a special manner, to defend his doctrine. The compiler has ventured no opinion of his own; he has merely condensed the arguments, of the most eminent Doctors 'aforesaid scholars, who by their vast erudition by their profound research have placed the Real Presence, the Mass, every dogma of faith, above all cavil exception and contradiction; from these shining lights who have so illumed the Catholic Church by their teaching, who have shed so much lustre of the Christian world by their doctrine, has he lit his faint burning lamp, from them has he derived his glimmer of knowledge. Be it also observed he has the satisfaction of inform;"& his readers, this, his unpretending little. work, is printed with the permission of three learned dignitaries of the Church. May it prove acceptable to a charitable public; true, it is a feeble essay in the way of literature. "It is a grain in the balance." "It is a jot, an iota," to the treasure of science. But we are to call to mind, notwithstanding the rich in the abundance of their wealth sacrificed to the Lord of the Temple, whole hecatombs of bulls and goats, the same good Lord would vouchsafe to accept from the poor man the slight offering of a kid!

The papers and documents from which we have compiled this work, have not been taken at random. They are the result of fifteen years of laborious research; and have been supplied: - (1.) By Brothers who have lived with Father Champagnat, who have been eye-witnesses of his conduct, who have looked closely into his actions, taken part in his labours and heard his instructions. These Brothers have given us their written notes. To verify these notes, we have specially interrogated each of them upon their contents, in order to ascertain the accuracy of each statement, and to collect from the Brothers themselves, whatever further information our questions might elicit. (2.) By a great number of other persons who have lived with Father Champagnat or have known him intimately. These persons are either venerable Ecclesiastics or pious laymen who knew him or assisted him in his work. (3) By the Father's own writings and a large number of letters which he had written to Brothers or to other persons. 'Ye have read all these letters, over and over again, with the greatest attention. 'Ye have also found most useful information in a number of letters written to our pious Founder by Brothers and all classes of persons. (4.) By our own recollection; for we have had the advantage and happiness of living nearly twenty years with our venerable Father, of holding office in his council, of accompanying him in many journeys, of discussing with him many things concerning the Rule, the Constitutions, and the method of teaching which he left his Brothers, and generally on all that relates to the Institute. We may say, therefore, in all sincerity that, in writing this Life, we have recorded what we have seen and heard, and what has been to us a subject of serious study for many long years. How edifying soever the Life of Father Champagnat may be, we should have but a very imperfect knowledge of him if we confined ourselves to the mere narrative of his life and actions. Imposing actions, grand undertakings, and toilsome and protracted works, are little in themselves; that which gives them value and shows their excellence, is the spirit which animates them. It is this spirit which pervaded all the sentiments and dispositions of our good Father, that we have undertaken to make known in the Second Part of this work, which, we think, is the more edifying, and which will be found the more useful to the Brothers. We might have called this part 'the Rule in Practice, ' for in it, Father Champagnat appears to us a perfect model of all the virtues proper to our state. Particularly is he a model of humility, poverty, mortification, zeal, exactitude, and regularity. After the example of our divine Master, he began to do and then to teach; that is, before giving any Rule, imposing any practice of virtue or piety, he first observed it himself. Finally, what renders this part of his Life extremely interesting, is that it brings both his example and instructions before us at the same time. In it we shall often hear his very words as spoken or written by himself, in his own instructions, letters, and manuscripts; sometimes these words will be conveyed in notes furnished by Brothers, sometimes our own recollection will come to our aid. When we give his instructions and exhortations, we do not pretend always to quote his words verbatim: which would be morally impossible; but when we have been unable to do so, we have, at least, faithfully expressed his opinions and sentiments. Moreover, we have the firm and conscientious belief that our book faithfully portrays the spirit which animated Father Champagnat, that it summarises his instructions, his maxims, his sentiments concerning the practice of virtue, the Rule and the manner of observing it. and that it contains nothing which is opposed to, or inconsistent with, his life and teachin

I N the course of my work as a missionary priest, for many years past, I have been brought in contact with many thousands of all classes of the community. Among them all, none have interested and encouraged me more than the girls who earn their living by their own hard labor. I have often admired the beautiful examples of Christian virtue and character I have found among them; their heroic patience and contentment with their lot; the innocence and purity of their lives; their noble self.denial and disinterestedness, and the singleness of mind with which they look above this world and aspire to perfect themselves in the love of God. This has led me to wish to do something for them; to contribute what little I could to lay a solid foundation in some, and to increase in others what has been already well begun, so that they may become beautiful and fragrant flowers in the garden of the Lord. I feel that my work will not be in vain, for the hearts of these good girls are a good soil, which, as Scripture says, receives the seed of the Word with thankfulness, and produces abundant fruit. My work has been a pleasant one, and I have striven to keep but one thing in view, and that is to do as much good as possible. If the good girls for whom I have written it find pleasure and profit in it, my whole purpose will have been accomplished.

Some time ago, while on a visit in one of our monasteries, I was invited to give a sermon on the Sacred Heart of Jesus in our church there. The opportunity arose at the inauguration of a statue destined to commemorate the consecrating of local Catholic families to the Sacred Heart. I willingly answered this kind invitation, and wishing to instruct the faithful in the true significance of the homage they were paying, I set about to study the inner meaning of this beautiful devotion, a devotion which has latterly spread itself in so nlarvelous a manner over all the world. Indeed, the first thought which devotion to the Sacred Heart suggests to our minds is that of infinite love on the part of our divine Redeemer. It was this love which urged Him to give Himself entirely to us in His passion and death, as well as in the institution of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. It appeared to me equally manifest that this devotion, while it reminds us of the love of Jesus toward us, is ordained to inspire our hearts with the Harne of reciprocal love, and this is especially shown in the imitation of those virtues which chiefly adorn that loving Heart, the virtues of humility and charity. However, it seemed to me that still more could be said about this devotion, if only it were studied in relationship to the Sacred Person of our divine Redeemer. In fact, considering the nature of the homage paid to the Heart of Jesus in the twofold light of faith and theology, I found in it a newer and higher signification, perhaps not so obvious as the first, but certainly not less true and appropriate. This signification is the regal dignity and sovereignty of the Heart of Jesus over our hearts, a truth fitly expressed in the well known invocation: "Heart of Jesus, the King and Center of all hearts." Now the relationship between us and the Sacred Heart of Jesus is based on the fact that our divine Redeemer has been set over us as King and Sovereign by His eternal Father. But unlike temporal sovereigns, who wield their power by force, Jesus Christ holds His blissful court in our hearts, bending them gently, yet overpoweringly whithersoever He will. That His ends may be accomplished, it is enough that we should refrain from hindering the operation of His divine grace and let ourselves be guided by Him, conforming our lives to His life and our desires to His desires. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, considered in this light, includes all He did and suffered to gain His sway over our hearts. It sums up all we should do, as subjects, to share in the fruits of the Redemption. The love which Jesus bears us, symbolized by the living flame leaping forth from His Heart, earned Him the glorious title of King of our hearts. Like-wise, by submitting ourselves entirely to Him as His servants and subjects, we become His purchased people. This idea, certainly not new, but perhaps somewhat neglected, was what I sought to set forth to my audience, not only in the discourse I had been asked to give, but in a series of sermons which followed it.

Father Faber writes in Growth in Holiness: "I should also mention old Walter Hilton's Treatise to a Devout Man of Secular State, though it is not easy to procure." It is with great pleasure that we make this work easy to procure. We have added the second part from Father John Henry's Manual of Self-Knowledge and Christian Perfection

THE object of this work is to state in plain and popular speech, the reasonableness of certain great truths which lie at the foundation of Christian belief. It has had its inspiring motive in the conviction-one which must be to every Christian mind a source of strength, solace, and security-that Christianity claims to rest upon a reasonable basis, and has the highest interest in using, in prizing, in defending the light of human reason with which God has endowed us. Religion means nothing if not the service of God, and God Himself requires that our service shall be "reasonable" (Rom. xii. 1), and that we shall not only possess, but be ready to give, "a reason for the hope that is in us" (1 Peter iii. 15). This cordial appreciation of the value and claim of human reason is a characteristic of Christianity, upon which we can hardly insist too much in an age of doubt and denial, and, I might add, of philosophical systems which are not uncommonly built upon an initial act of treason to our rational nature. We hold that it is reasonable to believe in the existence of a Personal and Intelligent God. We hold that we have reasonable evidence for believing that this God has spoken to mankind. And, God being Truth, we hold that it is supremely reasonable to believe whatever He has said to us. God speaking to us is Revelation, our believing what He says is Faith. Thus Faith and Revelation have their groundwork in reason-reason, which tells us that God exists; reason, which assures us of the fact that He has spoken; reason, which inculcates the duty of believing what He says. Never, then, can the Christian disparage human reason, without at the same time disparaging the very ground which underlies the spiritual house he lives in. He can never forget that the light of Reason, not less than that of Revelation, proceeds from Him, the light of Whose "countenance is signed upon us" (Ps. iv. 7), and" Who is the Light which enlighteneth every man who cometh into this world" (John 1). The Catholic Church has shown her wisdom in watchfully defending the right and the veracity of human reason against those who had impugned it. She did so against Luther, who, in teaching that our nature was wholly vitiated and corrupted by the fall, described human reason, the highest part of it, as a "beast," and heaped upon it some of the most vilifying epithets which he could find in his vocabulary of vituperation. She did so against De la Mennais, who sought unwisely to diminish and depreciate the scope of natural reason, with a view to magnify and expand the domain of Faith in the sphere of human judgment. She did so at the Vatican Council, when she vindicated for human reason its sublime function as serving as the natural basis of the truths of revelation. As long as the Catholic Church is the guardian of Faith, so long must she continue to be the defender of Reason.

THE attempt to hold intercourse with the inhabitants of the unseen world is not, as some seem to imagine, a practice peculiar to these modern times. It was resorted to long before the Greeks inquired of Apollo in his temple at Delphi through the mouth of the Pythoness and before the Romans consulted the Sibylline oracles at Cumae and at Tibur. Nor is it a practice confined to civilized and cultivated races. The savage man, too, in his lonely hut on his desert island, has at all times been in the habit of evoking the spirits of the other world, whether he believed these spirits to be genii, disposed to favour and to benefit mankind, demons bent on working harm or mischief, or the souls of the dead seeking for rest amidst their former haunts and environments History records how extensively spiritistic practices were carried on during the middle ages, and what severe laws, both civil and ecclesiastical, had to be enacted in order to check what was then held to be a dangerous and harmful superstition. The object of this book is to set forth: as clearly and concisely as possible, what the teaching of Catholic Theology is on this difficult subject, and where the pathway of safety may be found, not only for Catholics but for all believers in historic and dogmatic Christianity. For it is in the historic Christian Faith alone that we have the true standard by which the momentous problems presented by modern spiritism can be fairly and adequately judged. Our object then will be to discover whether, according to this standard, we can reasonably hold the belief that we are, by means of these spiritistic practices, really put in communication with the spirits of the dead, and whether we may look upon these communications as containing newer and truer disclosures as to the spirit-world and to spirit-life, and as to history and science and the general moral and intellectual progress of mankind. We shall endeavour to set forth in these pages, as faithfully and as clearly as possible, what the teaching of the Fathers and Doctors reflecting the mind of the Catholic Church is on this deeply important subject, and shall draw our deductions from those fundamental principles upon which the laws of the universe are founded, submitting each statement to the judgment of the Church, which is "the pillar and ground of the truth." The phenomena shown to be taking place in connection with recent experimental research are, as is well known, many and wonderful, and the problems presented by them are of the greatest possible importance and significance. It is only the serious study of them, in the light of Catholic Theology, which can lead the inquiring mind to a discovery of the real agents responsible for Their production, and enable it to determine the question as to the lawfulness and morality of spiritistic practices.

NEVER has the necessity of an intellectual defence of Catholic principles been more imperative and general than in our days, when every department of human knowledge is made to yield weapons for a concerted and systematic attack on the very foundations of supernatural belief. The front of the attack has broadened, for, it is no longer confined to the scientific world, but extends to popular literature. H'ence what was formerly the duty and privilege of the clergy becomes now the universal task of all educated Catholic laymen. Every reflecting Catholic must render to himself an account of the faith that is within him. None but an enlightened faith will be proof against the crafty and villainous onslaught of modern infidelity, which is magnificently equipped for its work of destruction. Ignorance of fundamental principles is the treacherous rock on which faith has frequently been wrecked. Many a man harbours in his heart a secret distrust of his most sacred convictions, because he has never taken the trouble to examine the strong foundation on which they rest. Thus a man owes it to himself to investigate the rational grounds of his faith and to study the motives which have prompted his firm assent to revealed truth. It will give him a peaceful sense of intellectual assurance when he finds that, in adhering to revelation, he does not abdicate reason, but elicits the most sublime act of enlightened reason. The little effort devoted to such studies will be amply rewarded by a deepening of religious convictions and a greater cheerfulness of faith. Particularly is it to be deplored that the clamorous methods of infidels so readily mislead the young, who do not realize the utter worthlessness and shallowness of their plausible objections. There is only one remedy, and that is a thorough knowledge of the intellectual basis of faith. It is most opportune to enable young men to justify their faith to themselves and to make them see that it is the infidel, and not the believer, who stands condemned by reason and common sense. Religious knowledge must keep pace with the general progress of one's education or else a weakening of the faith that seems discredited by the new information will be the inevitable result. From a serious inquiry into the impregnable foundations of divine truth a joyous faith will spring that glories in the consciousness of its strength and falters not in the presence of difficulties brought forth by infidelity and sectarianism. The Catholic Church has a right to expect that her sons be able to vindicate her claims against the arrogance of her enemies. The honour of the Church lies in the hands of her children. They should acquire such knowledge as will make it possible for them to refute the specious arguments of irreverent infidelity and to discover the flaws in the logic of heresy. Every man should make it his duty to come to the defence of the position and claims of his Church and by sound arguments to silence, if not to convince, her adversaries. It is also a duty of the more educated Catholics to come to the rescue of their less favoured brethren and to protect them by judicious instruction against the persistent attempts of unbelievers to undermine their simple faith. Here are lofty aims for our Catholic laymen, a splendid opportunity for the exercise of the lay apostolate.

THERE is always a difficulty about our treatment of the supernatural. However we may have tried to bring it home to, our understandings, and to master it in all Its details, there is always a consciousness that we have failed. Even when we call to our assistance the Word of God, and the Fathers of the Church, to enable us by study to comprehend our subject fully, yet there remains an uneasy feeling that we have mastered not OUI subject, but our idea of it-that our words have merely gone to express our own ideas, but have been utterly inadequate to describe that supernatural truth to the minds of others. In a certain sense, this is more true of the mystery of the Immaculate Mother of God than of any other mystery of Christian Revelation. Because in approaching all other mysteries we acknowledge them to be mysteries, and confess our own inability to comprehend them; but in speaking of God's Mother, we grow through familiarity, perhaps, into the mistake of believing that we are speaking of a subject that comes within the range of human knowledge. And it is only when we have recognised the truth that if the Incarnate God be the greatest of all mysteries, the Mother of the Incarnate God must participate in that mystery, that we shelter ourselves under our humility, leaving to God the knowledge of His mysteries, and retaining only our wonder and admiration for Him and them. This mystic character has been given to the Mother of God by her close relations with her Divine Son. The Incarnation of Our Lord Jesus Christ conferred upon His Mother a dignity proportioned to His humiliation. He humbled Himself, and she was exalted in the humiliation. He became Man, and she became the Mother of Ged. The deeper He descended, the higher she ascended. He emptied Himself of His glory, and clothed her with It. He concealed all His supernatural powers and qualities, and descended upon earth to mingle amongst men, and behold! He raised His Mother at the same time from her place amongst men, and endowed her with supernatural powers and supernatural graces. He robbed earth of a great deal that He might make a larger compensation to earth-taking from earth a Mother, and giving it a Son; taking from earth its purest and holiest daughter, from men their best-loved sister, and giving Himself in return; infinitely purer, infinitely holier than she, and yearning to be better beloved through her and for her sake. And thus Jesus met His 1fother half-way betwixt heaven and earth; she, raised to meet Him, and He, descending to meet her; there Mother and Child were united, and there united and inseparable they live for ever in the thought of Christians.

This work covers four points: I. The Origin of Protestantism. II. The Church, the Popes and Civil Society. III. The Bible and Tradition. IV. The pretended intolerance of the Catholic Church.

There never was nor ever will be on earth an institution, so wonderful and so worthy of our study as the Catholic Church, She comes down from God the Son, as he came from his eternal Father, and coming to earth, she continues his work of redemption, She is the extension and the continuation of the atonement of Christ. The Holy Spirit, coming from Father and Son, comes down to earth to form the church out of the scattered children of Adam, binding all Christians into the Mystic Body of Christ, The Son her Head, the Holy Gliost, her Soul, the church penetrates to all nations, teaching with the authority of God, redeeming every member of the fallen race, raising lip men weighted with sin, healing tile diseases of society, preparing her members for the glories of heaven. Happy the peoples who sit at her feet, listening to her teachings, feeding on her sacraments, dwelling in peace under her laws. Bride of the Lamb of God who taketh away the sills of his members, the heavenly Jerusalem, the City of God, formed of tho chosen people, she fills the world with the glories of her Founder. In the following pages will be found complete explanations of her divine constitution and her organization, which enabled her to survive the numerous revolutions, which overturned every human institution of the ancient world, showing how she flows down from the divine nature of "The Word of God." A careful study of the following pages will sholl' the reader that the divine Constitution of the chnrch is a worthy work of God's only Begotten Son.

'Read Me or Rue It' and 'How to Avoid Purgatory' are accompanied by several other useful instructions and several devotions for the Poor Souls in Purgatory. The devotions include the 'Novena for the Relief of the Poor Souls in Purgatory' and the 'Daily Pilgrimage to Purgatory. The Office of the Dead is included for use with the burial as well as for private devotion. 'How to Grieve for your Dead' is also included to help those who have lost a loved one.

"A NSELM, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109, while William Rufus and Henry the First ruled England, was neither Norman nor Saxon, but Italian, born in 1033 at or near Aosta, the chief place in a mountain valley near the St Bernard Passes." Thus begins the life of Saint Anselm, which precedes this book. SAINT ANSELM'S PREFACE. I was obliged to complete the work hereto subjoined more quickly than was advisable, and therefore to make it briefer than I could wish, on account of some who had transcribed the first portions for themselves before it was as yet finished and ripely considered. For I should have inserted and added many things that I have left out, had I been allowed to produce it in quiet and with sufficient time. But in great trouble of spirit (which how and why I have suffered, God knoweth), I began in England, and finished it while a wanderer in the Capuan province. I have called it, from the matter whereof it treats, "Why was God made man?" and have divided it into two books. The first of these contains certain objections of unbelievers who reject the Christian faith because they think it contrary to reason, with the answers of the faithful; and finally, setting Christ aside, (as though He had never been) proves by logical arguments that it is impossible for any man to be saved without Him. In a like manner, in the second book, (as though nothing were known of Christ) it is shown no less plainly by reason and in truth, that human nature was made to this end, that at some time man in his completeness, i.e. in body and soul, should enjoy a blessed immortality; and that it is necessary that, what man was made for, to that he should come: but that only by one who is man and God, and of necessity by all which we believe of Christ, could this be done. I request all who choose to transcribe this book, to place at the beginning of it this little preface, with the chapters of the whole work; so that into whosesoever hands it may come, he may see as in its countenance whether there be in the whole form aught which he will not disdain.

LAW and life are correlative terms. As God is the Author of life, so is He the Author of law: 'By Me kings reign, and lawgivers decree just things' (Prov. viii. 15). This general truth is particularly seen in that Divine society, the mystical Body of Jesus Christ, which is quickened by the ever abiding presence of the Holy Ghost, Himself the Lord and Life-giver. From the earliest days of the Church, law has existed as essential to her existence. The keys of the kingdom, symbols of power, were of old given to one who was bidden to confirm his brethren and to feed the flock. This charge to Blessed Peter was not only to teach infallibly, but also to govern with Divine authority the Church over which he was set as head. Thus, we see him, after the Ascension, standing up in the midst of the disciples and pre siding over the election of Matthias, who was numbered with the eleven. The Prince of the Apostles exercised jurisdiction by that first sermon on the Day of Pentecost when he preached 'Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God' as 'both Lord and Christ;' and he opened the Church by baptism on that same day to ' about three thousand souls.' The Petrine privileges are for all time. They are bestowed for the Church, not for the individual man. They were instituted for US in this twentieth century as well as for the first followers of Christ's Name. Hence the Vatican Council, following those of Lyons and Florence, decreed that the Pope as successor of St. Peter has ordinary and immediate jurisdiction throughout the whole Church. From the Day of Pentecost till now the successors of Blessed Peter, as Vicars of Christ, have been the divinely appointed lawgivers in the Church. Judgment has been locked up in their hearts, and the law has been sought from their lips. From the Holy See, as from a new Sion, has gone forth the law that rules the people of God. Peter has never failed his brethren, he has always risen to the occasion; and his judgments stand because they are based upon truth and mercy. 'Peter is no recluse, ' eays Newman in an eloquent passage, 'no abstracted student, no dreamer about the past, no doter upon the dead and gone, no projector of the visionary. Peter for eighteen hundred years has lived in the world; he has seen all fortunes, he has encountered all adversaries, he has shaped himself for all emergencies. If there ever was a power on earth who had an eye for the time, who confined himself to the practical, and has been happy in his anticipation, whose words have been deeds and whose commands prophecies, such is he in the history of ages who sits from generation to generation in the Chair of the Apostles as the Vicar of Christ and the Doctor of the Church.' As the life of the Church is marked by a perpetual growth and development down the course of the ages, ever changing, never altering, so is the history of her law. Each new phase of life requires a new manifestation of law. Popes have watched the times, and have directed the current of legislation towards the need. Whether in the Catacombs, in the Lateran, or close by the Tomb of the Fisherman, or whether at Lyons, Avignon, or at other places where the Pontiffs tarried, there were they in the place of their jurisdiction; and there have they set forth decrees to the whole Christian world. It may be fairly said that no country has contributed more to the formation of the Corpus Juris Canonici than England; for, as no country was so closely united to the Holy See as ours, so to none came more decretals in reply to questions submitted by English bishops to their supreme head.

"How do I know whether I have a vocation or not?" How often this question has risen to the lips of many a young boy or girl, who has come to realize that life has a purpose, only to be brushed aside with an uneasy "I am sure I have not," or a secret prayer that they might be saved from such a fate! How little they know the happiness they are throwing away in turning from God's invitation, for such a question, and such a feeling, is often the sign of a genuine vocation. In the first place, a vocation, or "a call to the priesthood or the religious life," in contradistinction to the general invitation, held out to all men, to a life of perfection even in the world, is a free gift of God bestowed on those whom He selects: "You have not chosen Me," He said to His Disciples, "but I have chosen you," and the Evangelist tells us that "Christ called unto Him whom He willed." Often that invitation is extended to those whom we would least expect. Magdalene, steeped to the lips in iniquity, became the spouse of the Immaculate; Matthew, surrounded by his ill gotten gains; Saul, "breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the Christians," each heard that summons, for a sinful life in the past, St. Thomas teaches, is no impediment to a vocation.