Bøger af Brother Hermenegild Tosf

One does not think of Saint Patrick as an author, but as the Apostle to Ireland who drove the snakes out. The writings of St. Patrick himself must naturally be made the basis of any reliable history of the Saint. There is no doubt that the Confession and the Epistle to Coroticus were, as the Book of Armagh says of the former, originally written by his own hand. Every statement, therefore, in any Life of St. Patrick, ancient or modern, clearly inconsistent with the tenor of these documents must be rejected without hesitation.

The book will be read to little advantage if two salient ideas are not seized on and submitted to thorough examination: those of Philosophical Sin and of Material Sin. A firm grasp of what these two things mean must, the author is convinced, preserve the student from a deal of confusion and of error that are by no means uncommon. Possibly even the professor; some reviewers certainly. Those, for instance, who profess to find light and leading in the ethical writings of Kant, might decide whether the external act of murder or robbery, committed in good faith and with whatever motive you will, is wrong, according to that philosopher; might explain, if it is, where the categorical imperative comes in to make it wrong; and show, if it is not, how Kant's is anything else than an ethics-madeeasy system of moral science. Disciples of the Schoolmen, too, who admit no ethical quality in any act which is not free, might tell us whether the lunatic who attacks one with sword or gun is or is not an unjust aggressor; if not, why one may kill him in self defence; and if his assault is unjust, how it is not thereby stamped as ethical. Those, too, who require for moral goodness reference of an act to God as last end, might say how the concept of philosophical morality is not as intrinsically absurd as that of a square circle; seeing that the act of one who knows no God, and can refer no act to Him, can no more be conceived as good, in the sense of being referred to God as last end, than a geometrical figure can be conceived as being at once square and circular Similarly, those who defend probabilism on the ground that a doubtful law cannot bind, might ask themselves whether non-observance of such a law may result in material sin, however you may have convinced yourself that the non-observance is justified; and might, in case they find it so, think out the question how a law that does not bind can beget even material sin. These are some of the questions that occurred to me when reflecting on the two fundamental concepts of this book: Material Sin and Philosophical Sin. The book itself is the result of these and other such reflections.

The chief object which the author had in view in undertaking to write this book was to help, so far as his abilities permitted, in withstanding the spread of the prevailing naturalism, which is daily invading more and more our homes, the minds and lives of parents as well as of children. If we can preserve the Home from its influence, by making of every mother a supernatural woman, living a life of faith, loving above all things selfdenial and self-sacrifice, fondly attached to the heroic ways and virtues of our ancestors, the Home, in our midst, will bring forth supernatural men and women, unselfish, pure, truth loving, trustworthy, and devoted to the best interests of country and religion. What is attempted here may encourage others to pursue the same theme with far better prospects of success. This holy emulation would in itself reward the labour bestowed on this book; and who knows but, imperfect as it is, it may bring happiness to more than one hearth, light to more than one mind, and nobler aims to more than one life hitherto wasted. It is not only the ripe fruits which autumn pours into our homes that are treasured by young and. old alike; the very last withered leaves which the storms of the dreary November weather whirl along the roadside, or through the forest wastes, may serve as a welcome couch to the benighted wayfarer or the homeless outcast.

Let us consider the beginning of this sermon from Bishop Hedley: "THESE were the miracles by which Our Lord proved His Mission. They were necessary in order that the Jewish people might believe in Him. They were not to cease with His ascension. Signs, and even (as He had foretold) signs that seemed greater than any He Himself had wrought, were to be shown to the world, for the world's conversion, by His Apostles and the first preachers of the Gospel. But, in truth, it was not the bodies of men that Our Lord came to heal, but their souls. H is tender mercy was always ready to alleviate sorrow and suffering, and He has taught His followers to be of His spirit. But the prophecies, and His own words, point to a far wider field of wonder-working compassion than was offered by the blind and the lame who gathered round His progress through Judaea and Galilee. Let me recall the thirty-fifth chapter of Isaias. It speaks of the day of the Lord's coming. It foretells how the wilderness should rejoice and flourish as the lily; it speaks of blossom and beauty and glory; of strength for the feeble and courage fer the faint-hearted; the eyes of the blind were to be opened and the ears of the deaf to be unstopped; the lame man should leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb should be free; there should be fertilising streams, and "holy ways," and safety from every mischievous beast, in all the land of the redeemed. This is a prophecy which was to be realised, and which has been realised. Our Saviour Himself proclaimed its fulfilment when He said, "Come to Me all ye who labour and are heavy burdened, and I will refresh you."! He came to lighten, to lift from the backs of men, the burdens of humanity. He came to open our eyes and to heal our infirmities. Do not imagine that because we are here dealing with the spiritual order that we are not dealing with realities. The spiritual is as real as the material. Mind and will are as real as your hand, your eyes, your nerve, or your muscle. Nay, were it not for mind and spirit, what human reality would there be? The wondrous organs of a man's body would be only lifeless tissue, common matter. There would be no pain or pleasure-because there would be no vitality. There would be no human burdens-because there would be no human sensitiveness to feel them. The infirmities of the flesh are the infirmities of the spiritual soul. And if the spirit have burdens and weaknesses of its own-just as its spiritual endowments are its own-these must be even more real, more momentous, touching more deeply the essence and substance of things, than anything it can bear or suffer through the flesh; just as some monarch, who feels for the troubles of the poorest of his subjects, has to carry, in addition to all else, the solicitudes, the fears, the weakness, and the anguish of his own heart. To heal the spirit of man, to redeem him, to restore him, to set him once more in his place in this creation, with the beauty and the dignity that are his by God's wish-this is the office, the perpetual office, of Him Who, as He once passed through Palestine, so now passes to and fro throughout the ages till the consummation come. Is, then, the world smitten with disease? Is human nature sick and languishing? ...

The poems are arranged in the order of the events of the Blessed Virgin's life, beginning with that earliest mystery made known to us by the Gospels, the Annunciation; hilt a chronological list of the poets is prefixed to the series, Our Lady, the Queen of whom the poets sing, is herself a poet; but her canticle of canticles hns properly no place among these poems in her praise, for when she is exalted she but magnifies the Lord. Fifty poets, in as many and about hair as many more or their sweetest utterances, give her here occasion to do so.

THE studies and discourses that are herein offered to the public deal with some general conditions of Christian life in the first three centuries of our era. Though already printed, at intervals and amid the pressure of grave academic duties, it is hoped that a certain unity of doctrine, purpose, and interest will not be found wanting to their collection as a series. In one way or another they illustrate certain phases and circumstances of those wonderful centuries before Constantine the Great, when the constitution and the institutions of the new religious society were developing on all sides within the vast Empire of Rome. The teachings of Jesus Christ were the pure, sweet leaven that permeated the decaying and unhappy society of antiquity, saved from its mass of corruption some germs of goodness and truth, of beauty and justice, and strengthened the State against those shocks that would otherwise have reduced it to primeval barbarism. A perennial charm must therefore attach to any narrative of the problems and vicissitudes of this era. This is particularly true of the sufferings of the infant churches, and the social changes their rapid growth could not fail to work in the Roman society that seemed to contain them, but of which, unknown to it, they were themselves the containing and sustaining soul, according to an admirable saying of the anonymous author of the Letter to Diognetus. It is not without some diffidence and a clear sense of the shortcomings of these pages that the author commits them to the indulgence of his readers.

THE same apology which prefaced the author's Conferences on Prayer must again find its place at the head of the present volume. Only because the following Conferences substantially represent what was preached, do they claim the title of Oxford Conferences. The outlines from which the spoken word sprang have been filled in with subsequent thought. And though much of the matter which came forward in delivery has necessarily been laid aside or forgotten the author hopes that no loss to the depth or clearness of the doctrine has been the result. If in treating, as he has done, of this difficult subject he has had any aim beside that of fulfilling the word of authority to go and preach, it has been to lure his hearers-and his readers -to the pages of St. Thomas and to the decrees of the Vatican Council. All that he has written has been with the object of serving, not indeed as a commentary, but as an introduction to these two treasuries of thought. For that end alone has he written; nor would his reward be trivial were some of his readers to follow his lead and find therein the joy that he has found.

Saint Athanasius says: "Whosoever will be saved: before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith, except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly." This work is an explanation of the Profession of Faith written at the holy Council of Trent.

This book begins: "SAINT BERNARD was born A.D. 1091, and died A.D. 1153. His life thus almost coincides with the central portion of the Middle Ages. He witnessed also what may be regarded as especially media: val events. He saw the First and the Second Crusades; he saw the rising liberties of the communes; the beginnings of scholasticism under Abelard were contemporary with him. A large Church reformation, and the noblest period of growth and influence that monasticism was destined to know, were social facts with which he was not only coeval, but on which he has left the deepest marks of his action and genius." The faith of the Saints is illustrated by the following story: "On another occasion he said to Brother Guibert, "Guibert, saddle the ass, go to the fair, and buy us salt." Guibert answered, "Where is the money? "Believe me," said Bernard, "I know not the time when I had gold or silver. He is above who holds my wallet and my treasures in His hands." " If I go forth empty, so shall I return." "Fear not, my son, go in peace. He who holds our treasures will be with thee in the way, and will grant thee all those things for which I send thee." Guibert received his abbot's benediction and obeyed, though still more than doubtful of the use of his errand. He proceeded on the ass-the solitary animal in the possession of the community-to the castle of Risnellum, where the fair was. As he approached his destination, he met a priest. "Whence comest thou, brother, and whither art thou bound?" He told his questioner the object of his expedition, and drew a sad picture of the misery and suffering to which he and all the monks under Bernard were reduced. The tale so wrought upon the priest that he took him to his own house, gave him half a bushel of salt, and fifty solidi or more. Guibert soon hastened back to Clairvaux, and told Bernard all that had occurred to him. "I tell thee, my son," said Bernard, "that no one thing is so necessary to a Christian as faith. Have faith, therefore, and it will be well with thee all the days of thy life."" Bernard worked valiantly to end the schism caused by Antipope Anacletus II against Innocent II.

IT would almost seem an impertinence to commend in these pages Sancta Sophia, the famous compendium of Father Baker's treatises on prayer and an interior life. The writings of this venerable servant of God have been in the hands of the public for nearly three hundred years, and have proved an invaluable aid to those who would seriously aspire to the practice of contemplation. The fruits of his labour are to be seen in the lives of the many souls his teaching has led through the difficult paths by which the heights of contemplation are reached. But though Sancta Sophia is useful and of interest to all aspiring to an interior life, it may be said to make its strongest appeal to the members of the English Benedictine Congregation, and to all who draw from the fountain of its spirit. For not only is Sancta Sophia the spiritual product of one of its most saintly sons, but it would seem to express the very spirit of the Congregation. As the constitutions drawn up in 16 I 7, and repeatedly confirmed and amplified in succeeding chapters, built up and established the outward form and observance of the Congregation, so the writings of Father Baker appe.ar to have largely influenced and fully expressed its spirit. For no otherwise can be understood the thorough examination to which his writings were subjected, and the subsequent official and almost solemn ratification they obtained from successive chapters, in which were gathered the leading spirits and restorers of the Congregation. This view is amply borne out by the history of the examination and approbation, by Father Leander Jones and Father Rudesind Barlow, of the original treatises, and the history of the compilation of Sancta Sophia. No one among the restorers of the English Congregation exercised more influence than Father Leander Jones, or, as he was usually called, Father Leander of St. Martin, and Father Rudesind Barlow. They were professed in Spain, pursued their studies at Salamanca, and obtained the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1607 and 1611 respectively they went to Doway, and before long Father Leander became Vicar of the Spanish Mission and Father Rudesind Prior of St. Gregory's. They were men of considerable learning andtheological attainments. The one held a theological chair and was Regius Professor of Hebrew for many years in Doway University; the other for a long period was Professor of Theology at the College of St. Vaast, and was largely consulted from all parts of Europe. They were held in high esteem in the Congregation, and were chosen to fill every post of responsibility and trust in its early years. Father Leander was its tirst President-General and Father Rudesind its second, and they were the leading spirits on the Commission deputed by the Chapter of 1633 to frame resolutions on the nature and substance of the Congregation. To these men was entrusted the task of examining and reporting on the writings of Father Baker. The opinion formed by Father Leander is best given in his own words: "They do all contain very sound and wholesome doctrine for the direction of devout souls, and fit and agreeable to our calling and Rule, and especially for the use of our dames the spirit of our holy Rule consisting principally in a spiritual union of our soul with God in affective prayer, and exercise of the will immediately on God, rather than in intellectual and discursive prayer, busying the understanding, as appeareth by our Rule, and the daily use of our choir office, which {or the most part consisteth of aspirations and affections, and hath very few discourses."

THE work of the well-known Jesuit Father, P. Daniello Bartoli, entitled Della Vitae Miracoli del B. Stanislao Kostka, ranks foremost in date, as in merit, amongst what may be called the original Lives of the Saint. Previous short biographies, written soon after his death, which first served to publish the fame of his sanctity to the Christian world, have passed out of general circulation, and are no longer ordinarily accessible. But whatever they contained, or contain, is given, with much additional matter, in Bartoli's Life, which was first published in 1670. In his person, St. Stanislas, as subsequently St. Aloysius in P. Cepari, had a faithful, laborious, and painstaking biographer, -one who loved the subject he took in hand, and accordingly wrote as those only who love can write. True, he had not the privilege which P. Cepari enjoyed of having been a contemporary of the Saint whose history he recorded, and of having lived on terms of daily confidence with him during the last years of his life; neither did he possess the singular advantage of which P. Cepari so diligently availed himself in the case of St. Aloysius, of being able to interrogate, after his death, the different members of the Saint's family, and other persons who had been intimately acquainted with him before he joined the Company of Jesus. But he wrote while the memory of Stanislas was still fresh in the Order, and at a time when many authentic traditions must have existed concerning him in the Jesuit house at Rome. Some of the older Fathers might still be then living who had conversed with and familiarly known those who in their youth had themselves known Stanislas and been his co-novices; he also consulted the Processes existing in his day, and his work bears every trace of the most careful adherence to well-established facts. P. Longaro's shorter but also very valuable Life was published near a century later, in 1766, thirty-nine years after the canonization of Stanislas. It has a peculiar charm about it, from the simplicity of its style, accompanied with an affectionate unction, of which his sweet Italian tongue is so congenial a vehicle. Love for the Saint, redolent of all that freshness which personal knowledge alone would seem able to impart, breathes in every page, and the reader is almost surprised when he observes the date of the work, and finds the Bull of Canonization at its close. There is also a Life of St. Stanislas written by an anonymous member of the Company, the authorship of which has never, it seems, been ascertained with certainty, but it is in every way inferior to that of Bartoli. A few other Lives have also appeared in Italian, but, as they do not contain any fresh details of the Saint's life, and none of them possess the merit or fulness of Bartoli's biography, they hardly require particular notice. The Abbe Gaveau's lately published Life of St. Stanislas has been consulted, chiefly with reference to the present state of devotion to the Saint in different countries, as well as to circumstances connected with his tomb, and the preservation of his relics in recent times. The book is written in a pleasing style, and makes very modest pretensions. The author, however, has evidently taken great pains to insure accuracy, and has been anxious to profit by all existing materials; for, being unacquainted with the Polish language, he sought nevertheless to avail himself of the biographies of Poland's patron written in his native tongue, and this he was enabled to do through the kindness of the Superior of the Congregation of the Resurrection, Father Jerome Kajsiewizc, who translated to him orally all passages of special interest in these works, and particularly in that of Father Skarga

This work of fiction is excellent for Catholic children. Reprinted from a hundred years ago, this will prove wholesome reading for children and adults alike. This book is photographically reproduced to preserve its integrity. Each page is hand inspected for flaws and these are corrected. This work begins: THE girl stood looking out of the sacristy window, twisting her long gloves idly through her fingers, her glance, meanwhile, fastened on the hurrying men and women who were passing on to the big gray factories at the other end of the town. The shrill whistles which announced that the day of toil had begun sounded in her ears, piercingly, almost menacingly. As she watched, and the last, long-drawn-out note of the siren quivered and died on the crisp air, the street seemed to clear almost magically, for not to be inside those gates when the whistle ceased meant the loss of a day's work-a thing no man or woman among them could afford. The girl, however, did not move as the street grew quiet, but stared out in abstracted fashion, and presently the low, humming sound of countless machines fell on her ears.

AMONG all the nations of antiquity highway robbery, we find, was reckoned as a capital offence. [n the penal code of the Romans its punishment was crucifixion, at once the cruelest and the most shameful of deaths: "the reason of which," according to St. Gregory of Nyssa, was this - "that the robbers thus banded together did not shrink from murder as a means to their end. They even held themselves in readiness to do it (as was proved) by their choice of arms, supplies, and places of resort. Hence it was that they were subjected to the penalty thereof." The banditti of those times behaved pretty much in the same way as do their modem successors in such countries as are unhappily still infested by this scourge of society. They lived chiefly among the mountains, dwelling in caves, prowling about armed to the teeth, or lying in ambush near the highways, attacking the passers-by, robbing and stripping and wounding them, and often leaving them half dead. Well, indeed, for them if they were not killed outright. For proof of this deplorable state of things having existed in Judea at the time of our Lord, we have only to open the Gospel. We find it there in the parable of the man who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Nor is this the only place where robbers are spoken of in the sacred text. In the history of the Passion we find mention of Barabbas, a robber and a murderer. And again we read that two robbers suffered death together with the Son of God. Some may wonder that the Gospel, usually so sparing of details, should make such frequent allusion to this class of evil-doers. It may appear surprising that our Lord should take, as the subject of one of his most beautiful parables, the incident of a man falling into their hands. But if we look into history, whether sacred or profane, the reason of this is quickly to be found. In Josephus and others we read that at this time, and until after the destruction of Jerusalem, the Holy Land was completely overrun with brigands. If, on the other hand, we consult the Holy Gospels, we see that our blessed Lord and Teacher was in the habit of adapting His lessons to the capacity of His hearers, and exemplifying His doctrines by reference to those things with which they were most familiar. Hence it was natural, if we may so speak, that, in a country infested by robbers, He should make use of such a parable as that of the Good Samaritan. It may be interesting to note the causes of this so general lawlessness. They would appear to have been twofold. In the first place, the Jews, knowing themselves to be the chosen people of God, were ever impatient of all foreign yoke, and continually strove by all means in their power to throw it off. And in the next place, their alien rulers were at no pains to conciliate, but, on the contrary, cruelly oppressed them. The tyranny of the Syrian kings had been past bearing. The Roman rule was far milder, but still very galling to a free-minded people. A deep-seated feeling of hatred was continually fermenting in the hearts of the nation, and not infrequently broke out into street riots, and even open revolt. Quelled and dispersed by the soldiery, the rebels were still unsubdued. Driven out of the towns, they fled up into the mountains, and there, turning robbers, still continued to set the usurping authorities at defiance. Herod lowed his reputation, and later on his throne, to his successful raids against these very brigands. Let us listen to the account of the struggle handed down to us by Josephus: "When Herod was still quite young, his father, Antipater, confided to him the government of Galilee, albeit he was only fifteen. But his youth was more than made up by his energy and courage.and at that time governor of Syria.

KNOWLEDGE of the theory and practice of the spiritual life is essential to solid virtue. Without it the soul drifts on a sea of doubt and uncertainty, and wastes time, grace, and opportunity of merit and spiritual progress. With this knowledge an ordinary good will suffices to appreciate how sweet is the Saviour's yoke and how light His burden. Like the ladder which the patriarch Jacob saw reaching from earth to heaven the service of God becomes attractive in proportion to our knowledge and application of the teaching of holy faith. A favorable sign of Catholic life in our day is the desire for religious information among our people. Not only are the clergy and the religious alert and anxious to use every means to qualify for their labors and to promote their spiritual welfare, but there is a growing class among the laity that relishes the higher things. While "The Narrow Way" is specially intended as a Manual of the Spiritual Life for the Laity, it will equally serve as a handbook for postulants, novices, and seminarians that will introduce them to the principles of the spiritual life and enable them to appreciate and derive profit from larger works. May Providence use this Manual to lead many souls on the "Way to intimate union with a loving and merciful God.

Note this is a six volume set of wonderful meditations. How the Venerable Author has treated each meditation, and made it bear on the scope of the division to which it belongs, can be tested only by diligent practice. Certain it is, that he has brought to the work all the knowledge of a profound theologian, the experience of a consummate master of spirits, and the light and unction of a soul in close and habitual intercourse with God. Hence, whilst the points of the meditations fLre stored with sound reasoning and alignment, the colloquies are so many out-pourings of the heart in prayer, always natural and impressive not unfrequently sublime. It may be added, that every expression of the soul, and every tone of the heart, so they be in earnest and rightly disposed, will not fail to find an echo in those deep and devout breathings. Nor are the quotations from Scripture and the Fathers the least excellence of the work. They are scattered through the meditations, pointing and sanctioning the truths set forth, with a force, frequency, and appositeness which bespeak a rare amount of scriptural and patristic learning. Those who, through God's grace, feel happily drawn to aspire to this "science of the saints," will find in the Introduction a course of instruction admirably adapted to initiate and lead them on. Nor will it be consulted without profit even by the more advanced. As a proof of the estimation in which this work has ever been held, it may be observed that it passed through three editions within one year after its first appearance, and has gone through at least fourteen more subsequently. Note this is a photographic reprint of the original. Each page is hand inspected for errors.

The saints were real people like you and I. The only difference is that they sought Almighty God with their whole heart, soul, mind, body and strength. And yet they ran into the same difficulties as we do. They had to deal with day to day problems and affairs. Through their letters we can learn a lot about their character and how they dealt with the day to day problems of every day life. And consider Saint Alphonsus founded a congregation and then was made Bishop of a Diocese. He lived to a very old age, which means he was dealing with many things for decades.

The object of this little book is to promote devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Mother of God, by giving special prominence to lwr Divine Maternity and to the fact that it was God Himself who gave us the example to honor her, and thence to the conclusion that all the honor, love and confidence "bestow upon her is entirely in accordance with the will and example of God Himself, the fulfilment of her own prophwcy that all generations shall call me blessed. (Luke 1. 4S). All this is found in the Explanation of the Hail Mary the best and most beautiful of prayerseafter the Lord's Prayer. To enhance his explanations, the author has added a few " Selections" from Bossuets Sermons on the Blessed Virgin, Monchain's Meditations, and the Church Histories of Darras and Rohrbacher. The clients of the Blessed Virgin Mary will find the book well adapted for spiritual reading during the Month of May and on her principal Feasts.

A CERTAIN traveller, returning to his home from a distant country, came, at nightfall, to the entrance of a vast forest. Being unable to tarry or retrace his steps, he was obliged to pass through the forest in the darkness of the night. As he was about to enter these gloomy woods, he met with an old shepherd of venerable aspect, of whom he asked the way. "Alas!" said the shepherd, "it is not easy to show you the way. The forest is crossed by hundreds of paths which wind in every direction, and very much resemble one another. They all, except one, lead to the abyss." "To what abyss?" said the traveller. "The abyss which surrounds the forest," said the shepherd. "Moreover, the forest is not safe. It is filled with robbers and wild beasts. It is infested in particular with an enormous serpent, which commits the most frightful ravages. Scarcely a day passes but we find the mangled remains of some unhappy traveller who has fallen a prey to it. And yet, you must absolutely pass through this forest, in order to. arrive at the country to which you are going. Touched with compassion, I have stationed myself at the entrance of this dangerous passage, in order to guide and to protect all that enter this forest. At certain distances along the route I have stationed my sons, who are animated with the same sentiments as myself, and fulfil the-same offices of charity. I hereby offer you my services and theirs, and I will accompany you if you desire it." The air of candor of the old man, and the tone of honesty in which he spoke, inspired the traveller with confidence. He accepted the proposal. With one hand the old man took his lamp, and with the other he seized the arm of the traveller, and they instantly set out on their journey. After having travelled for some time, the traveller began to feel that his strength was giving out. t'Lean on my shoulder," said his faithful guide. The traveller did so, and, thus supported, continued his journey.

Reverend S B Smith is the author of a three volume work, 'Elements of Ecclesiastical Law', which is an excellent resource for pre 1917 Code Canon Law. This work is A REPLY TO THE PAMPHLET "POINTS IN CANON LAW" AND TO THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC QUARTERLY REVIEW OF OCTOBER, 1878. ON page 76 of our Elements of Ecclesiastical Law, we say that the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore is not approved in forma specifica. Against this teaching the Pamphlet advances these arguments: I. If the Baltimore Decrees be not confirmed in forma specijica, (a) "they are no permanent standard of action for our Bishops, and the latter, when ruling according to them, are at sea" 1; (b) "they are void at Rome," that is, "have not, even when rightly interpreted, and rightly applied, any binding force whatever" 2; (c) "are less convenient, and certainly of no more binding force in case of an appeal, than mere diocesan enactments"3; (d) "the Pope's command that the decrees should be inviolably observed is a mere empty formula presuming nothing." 4 2. If the Baltimore Decrees be not confirmed in forma specijica, it is (as we ourselves hold in our Elements, page 76) allowed to appeal to the Sacred Congregation of the Propaganda against them. But decrees against which an appeal may be made" are void at Rome," "are no permanent standard of action," etc. Therefore, etc.

A VENERABLE Irish priest, shortly before his death, presented me with a little leather bound volume of meditations, whose much-thumbed pages indicated that it had been long his vade mecum. The title of the work was Memoriale Vitae Sacerdotal is, and it bore on its initial page the imprimatur of Most Rev. Daniel Murray, Archbishop of Dublin, and the information that it was used as a text-book in the Seminary of Maynooth just one hundred years ago. As I read I was captivated by its charm, its vigor, its cogency, its meatiness, and above all by the spirit of priestly zeal and charity that it breathed. It seemed as if our Lord were speaking directly to me; and this was not strange, for it was largely a mosaic of Scripture texts, most aptly chosen and most deftly applied. The inspiration came to me to present this volume in English dress that it might he acceptable to our busy English-speaking clergy who have not the leisure to translate the subject matter of their meditations, nor the inclination to peruse the voluminous tomes that have been more recently published. I am quite conscious that many of the crisp, concise Latin sentences may have suffered somewhat in the translation; but I hope, however, that sufficient of the beauty of the original casket has been preserved to attract attention to the jewels within. Such as it is, I offer i.t to my brother priests, hoping that it may prove an assistance to them in more faithfully fulfilling the duties of their ministry and in walking more closely in the footsteps of our Divine Model. I wish to express my gratitude to Rev. Father Kuenzel, of Dubuque, 'whose name is not unknown to clerical readers. He had undertaken a translation of the same work, but, upon learning that I had the task all but completed, he graciously expressed his willingness to retire in my favor, adding: "I am glad that someone has translated that golden little volume."

AFTER years of patient but loving labor, the compiler of this volume has achieved a, vork of scholarly distinction, of elegant artistry, and withal of practical utility. It is a work of scholarly distinction. The field of Latin hymnology is vast in extent and rich in resources, and translators have roamed far and wide amid its fertile reaches for highly varied blooms and fruits. The compiler has therefore had many rich stores to draw upon, but he has wisely restricted himself to very definite limits of choice. The hymns of the Roman Missal and Breviary form a thesaurus by themselves. Many of them are world famous classics. Some of them have won translation and commentary that fill volumes devoted to them singly. All of them deserve rendition into English verse and, indeed, have been more than once so rendered. Father Caswall and Archbishop Bagshawe, each for his own day, translated all of the Missal and Breviary hymns. Caswall did more, it is true, finding other treasures in the Parisian and various Monastic Breviaries. His competency for the task he essayed, vas manifold and excellent, and his Lyra Catholica will doubtless forever remain a Catholic classic. Bagshawe confined his attention to the Roman liturgical hymns, setting himself the somewhat ungrateful task of closely literal translation. In our own day, Judge Donahoe has published two series of Early Christian Hymns, including very many from the Roman liturgy, and has merited the high praise accorded him by critics. Catholic renderings into English of individual liturgical hymns are well-nigh innumerable. While Catholics have naturally been active in such appropriate work, it may seem at first blush astonishing that Protestants should hayc issued so many volulnes of translation, history, commentary and appreciation of our Latin hymnody, and should have exhausted the language of eulogy in appraisal of the masterpieces-the Dies Irae, the Stabat Mater, the Lauda Sion, the Golden Sequence, and the like. Charles Warren found sufficient matter in the history and the translations of the Dies Irae for a good-sized volume. Dr. Colcs, an American physician, gave a volume to the Stabat Mater. Judge Noyes unostentatiously issued his Seven Great Hymns of the Medieval Church, and the book ran through many editions. The name of Protestant editors and translators of our Latin hymns is legion. One of the most earnest and reverent students of Latin hymnody, and perhaps the nlost felicitous of all the translators, 'vas an Anglican clergyman, the Rev. J. M. Neale, D.D. The distinction achieved by Father Britt in the present volume, ho, vever, does not lie in the fact that he has ventured, with catholicity of literary taste, to include renderings by other than Catholic pens. Orby Shipley in his Annus Sanctus and the Marquess of Bute in his Roman Breviary had already drawn a sharp contrast-the former excluding, the latter including, non-Catholic renderings. But the present compiler has, more largely than any other, given representation to non-Catholic pens. He has mainly sought for translations that should best combine a just literalness, vith the just freedom ill phrase and form accorded by literary canons in the art of translation. There is obvious danger, on the one hand, that the ray of doctrinal truth will suffer refraction when it passes from the medium of the Latin idiom into the medium of the English tongue. On the other hand, there is danger that excessive devotion to literalness in phrase rather than in thought will issue in idiomatic awkwardness, questionable rhyming, stilted or crabbed rhythm

My dear brethren, when Pope Pius IX, on May 23, 1877, gave audience to a number of pious pilgrims he said to them: "Have courage, my dear children! I exhort you to fight against the persecution of the Church and against anarchy, not with the sword, but with the rosary, with prayer and good example." This Pope, who with great wisdom and strong hand has guided for thirty-two years the bark of Peter, which in many violent storms had been "rocked to and fro, he who well knew the great dangers of our times, regarded the rosary as a conquering weapon. What great confidence his successor, Pope Leo XIII, placed in the veneration and invocation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, by means of the rosary! He exhorted all Christianity to pray the rosary daily during the month of October, in order to obtain assistance in these distressing times. In his brief on this occasion Leo XIII says: It has been a favorite and prevalent custom of Catholics, in times of need and danger, to take refuge in Mary, and to seek consolation from her motherly concern." Thus the firm reliance and confidence rightly placed by the Catholic Church in the mother of God is stanchly avowed. As a matter of fact, Mary, the immaculate Virgin, free from original sin, the chosen mother of God, is endowed with such power by her Son, as no other creature, man or angel, has ever received or can receive.

Who owns the land? To this question two answers are given: The land is the common property of all men, or the land of each country belongs to the whole people of that country as their common property. This is the answer of Communists, Socialists and Agrarians. The rest of mankind deny this common landownership and maintain that the land is owned in severalty, either by individuals or by corporations. The best known and most enthusiastic advocate of common landownership is Henry George; the most prominent defender of private ownership in land is Pope Leo XIII. How can private property in land be done away with? Will its abolition not cause a disturbance in all social conditions, which would be worse than the misery of which we now complain. We need not fear: no violent measure is required to bring about the desired change. We will leave every landowner in the quiet" possession" of all he has; but for the privilege of possessing land and of enjoying the blessings of such "possession," we will make hiIn pay the State or the community a "land tax," equal to the profit which accrues from land as such, regardless of labor and improvement ("land rent," "land value''). In this manner we shall really make all land common property. For, the individual "possessor" of a particular piece or tract of land, who pays the State for the use of such land, is in reality llothing more than a tenant of the State or the Community.

THE Minor Writings of St. Teresa, -: Minor because they occupy but little space in print, although as a revelation of the beauty and grandeur of her soul they equal the Life and the Interior Castle, comprise the Poems, the Conceptions of the Love of God, the Exclamations and certain Maxims. While the Exclamations and the Maxims are fairly well known to English readers, the Poems and the Conceptions will probably come as a surprise to many of them. It is necessary to say a few words by way of Introduction. " I know one," says the Saint in her Life, evidently speaking of herself, "who, though she was not a poet, yet composed, without any preparation, certain stanzas, full of feeling, most expressive of her pain they were not the work of her own understanding; but in order to have a greater fruition of that bliss which so sweet a pain occasioned her, she complained of it in that way to God." This was when she had reached what she describes as the "third water" or the third state of prayer, which leads to "spiritual inebriation." It is an overflowing of the heart which can no longer contain the abundance of bliss infused into it. Alluding to the verse of the psalmist, Cum dilatasti cor meum, -When Thou didst dilate my heart. St. Teresa considers that such graces, even of a less high order, cause, or require a widening of the heart, because they do not follow the narrow measure of poor humanity. l What, then, must it be when grace comes in a mighty stream, a perfect torrent? Like a river it precipitates itself down the sheer rock into a narrow basin which cannot hold it, but casts it up again with double vehemence, though not in the form of a solid mass, but dissolved into a myriad of atoms which break up and reflect the sunlight in the delicate hues of the rainbow. Thus the vehemence of the spirit seeks an outlet, not by bursting its prison walls with elemental force, but by converting itself into sweet song. In moments of emotion the sober word is incapable of following the rush of thought. The love-stricken swain sings in verse the praises of the object of his passion. The ardent patriot rouses inert multitudes with mighty song; the prisoner in his dungeon, the sufferer on his pallet, finds solace and revives hope in accents that vibrate in countless hearts. Thus, in a higher order of things, the soul yearning for the Supreme Good bursts into verse; the prophet's words become a war song; the wailing of the downtrodden, of him that is humbled by his fellow men, or all but crushed under the heavy hand of God, is turned into lyrics. More than that! Is there not a song reserved for those who are purchased from the earth, a new canticle which no man can say but the hundred and forty-four thousand ?" Who could tell the song when the morning stars praised Me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?" Above all, is not God himself the first and the greatest of poets ? For, what is the universe but one great poem? Are not the Incarnation and the work of Redemption as it were the setting to music of the Word of Go

WHAT is this Mrs. McCann row about? What is the Decree Ne temere? Such are the questions we hear asked on every side. People defend or condemn the agitation about Mrs. McCann according to their different religious beliefs and political opinions. To some, like Mr. Campbell, KC., it is the protest of freemen .. against an act of intolerable aggression on the part of a foreign power." To others it is partly a political agitation, and partly the work of the old microbe of Protestant ascendency and intolerance, which was supposed to have been exterminated, but which, they say, is still with us, alive and active, producing a paroxysm of passion, because, forsooth, the Pope of Rome did not enter into diplomatic relations with the ministers of the "Reformed" religion in Ireland before promulgating his recent marriage regulations. Speaking of Rome, The Church of Ireland Gazette writes: .. It is not long since her priests dare not perform a marriage between a Protestant and a Roman Catholic."* There is the cause of the agitation, people say: the memory of the days of full-blown ascendency, and madness at the thought that the Catholic Church now insists on having the marriages of Catholics in Ireland, even mixed marriages, celebrated according to general ecclesiastical law. I offer no opinion myself about the relative merits of these explanations. I prefer to treat of the doctrine and discipline of the Church in relation to Christian marriage. And it will be found that the Church's marriage doctrine is sacred and sublime, and that her discipline is not unreasonable even in cases such as the case of Mrs. McCann.

KNOWLEDGE precedes Love. This volume is intended for intellgent lay readers-Protestant and Catholic-who are not content that their intellectual relations with their religious crerd should, in these days, be simply mediocre, or below mediocrity; and who aspire to have such intellectual conceptions of their religion as befit self-respecting persons, in duty bound at all times to be ready to give a reason for the faith that is in them.

Let no reader suppose that in the fee pages here set before him he will find either the life or, miraculously trapped, the spirit of Teresa of Avila. The present attempt is a portrait, or rather, it is notes for a portrait; it is an apology not for Teresa but for this writer's constant admiration of her. Teresa's mortal life, the vessel which contained her, withheld a residue when her flame had left it. This residue is a dust very rich in unusual elements. But to build back with it to what it was four hundred years ago, when the life of a human soul informed it, can only be impressionistic work. Since therefore all statement, all surmise set out henceforward here will be quite sincerely arbitrary, that is to say, freely developed from one writer's long reflection on a markedly individual and dangerous fellow creature, it will be best if th!.t writer pass without delay from the third to the first person singular. I write of Teresa of Avila by choice which is passionate, arbitrary, personal. No one need agree with anything I have to say - but they must not, either, be hurt thereby. I am free here to speak freely about a great woman. But I am not writing of the canonized saint. I propose to examine Teresa, not by the rules of canonization, but for what she was - saint or not - a woman of genius. Women of genius are few. If there have been some female stars in science, medicine or the plastic arts, I must be forgiven if I ignore them here, where I pursue only the idea of genius expressed in the word, and in action arising from the power of the word. Reducing then, for purposes of convenience, our discussion of genius in woman to her power in and because of words - which is the most probable way for the expressive to reach the inexpressive - and searching for examples of it we find very few. We know or can argue the reasons - but there is not space to dispute them here. That dying Europe is thick incrustated with the glories of male intelligence and may presently vanish before woman has had time or chance to make her possible impression on a superb, doomed effort - that is clear enough. But, before catastrophe cracks in all our dreaming faces, let us enumerate our precious things and people. Let us say our personal says. I say, with great regret, that within the two thousand or so years that my very poorly trained vision can take in, genius has hardly ever flowered in a woman. We can jump back beyond those two thousand years and boast of Sappho. But we have only fragments, rumours of her - and in any case we have to wait for a woman to match her until England and the nineteenth century. It is strange; all the variable, definable furies, styles and freedoms could pass over Europe - we could have Virgil, Lucretius, Dante, Ronsard, Shakespeare, Racine, Madame de La Fayette and Miss Jane Austen - but there was still no tracking down of a woman who could be called genius until Emily Bronte's burning shadow flung out. Not as broken, not as indefinable as Sappho's, but strangely sympathetic to her legend, and just as unsatisfactory. And they are the only female geniuses of our recorded knowledge in literature.

Bishop Ullathorne interviewed both Melanie and Maximin and reproduces these interviews about the holy apparition. These interviews contain a complete account of the apparitions with the exception of the secrets, which are on the Index of prohibited books. IN the month of May, 1854, the writer of this book left England in company with three friends, to visit the Holy Mountain of La Salette. Though impressed already with all I had read or heard of an event, which had proved the source of conversion or of consolation to so many thousands of Catholics, I resolved to take no further impressions from books written on the subject, as an immediate preparation. By the Divine Mercy, I received consolations on that mountain which deepened the interest I had already taken in its mystery. I had the best opportunity of conversing with most of those persons who from the beginning, have been concerned with the subject, its history, and its investigation; and especially with those whose names are most before the public, or who have had the care and direction of the Children. I had interviews with the Children of the Apparition themselves. And, in the course of my enquiries, I more than once suspended my judgment, and cautiously revised the grounds of my conclusions. I spoke with able men who held various degrees of doubt, as well as with earnest believers. And for this purpose I had peculiar facilities afforded me. And ever since I left the Holy Mountain I have felt a strong desire urging me to impart to the Catholics of England more detailed information than they possess of this remarkable event of our times, -remarkable, if we do no more than consider the great spiritual results which have flowed from it. Mr. Northcote's pamphlet has done something, but it is little more than an introduction to a subject, at that time scarcely known in England beyond a few vague reports. My duties will not allow me time to draw out as full a statement, or to argue it as completely, as I could wish to do. But I will do something towards it. And for more ample information I must refer my readers to the able works already published in France. Of these books I have made considerable use.

The Church offers, in every age, in her Saints, Apostles, and Martyrs, brilliant examples of virtue, zeal, and heroic courage. While all are holy, there are still some, whose lives present features, at once so touching and sublime, that time can detract nothing from the interest which attaches to their names in every Catholic heart. Pre-eminent among these, is St. Cecilia, the gentle queen of Sacred Song, distinguished alike for her attachment to holy Virginity, her apostolic zeal, and the unfaltering courage by which she won the martyr's crown. The author has followed with fidelity, the ancient Acts of St. Cecilia, the authenticity of which the reader will find satisfactorily defended in his pages. For less important details, he has claimed the right generally accorded to historians, of receiving probable evidence, where certain proofs cannot be ob- tained. On such authority, he has, for example, assumed with the learned Bosio and others, that the virtues of our Saint formed the crowning glory of the illustrious family of Cecilia Metella. The recital does not terminate with the death of Cecilia. The discoveries of her tomb, in the ninth and sixteenth centuries, form not the least interesting portion of the work. The description of the church which was once her dwelling, and the witness of her sufferings and triumphs, brings those scenes so vividly before us, that Cecilia seems to belong, as all the Saints of God most truly do, as much to our own day, as to the period when she still combated on earth. We will not speak of the pleasure and instruction the author has afforded by his faithful pictures of the celebrated Ways of Ancient Rome, and the sacred cities of the dead, concealed in the holy shades beneath. For this, and much other interesting information, we refer the reader to the following pages, content, if, by our own humble labors, we have contributed to the edification of our Catholic brethren, and to the glory of Him who is admirable in His Saints.

IN the second year of the reign of Henry VII, which was the year 1486, there lived a woman called Agatha Shipton, at a place caned Knuresborougb, in Yorkshire. She came of poor parentage, who died and left her, at the age of 15, destitute. After their decease she still lived in the old house; but being now deprived of those helps she formerly enjoyed, she was obliged to seek relief from the parish; which she did, but with so much regret and grief, that she seemed in her begging rather to command alms, than in an humble manner to desire it. The Devil looked on her poverty to be great. He told her that he could pierce through the earth, and ransack its treasures and bring what precious things I please from thence to bestow on those that serve me. I know all rare arts and sciences, and can teach them to whom I please. I can disturb the elements, stir up thunders and lightnings, destroy tile best of things which were created for the use of man, find can appear in what shape or' form I please. It will take too long to describe my power, or tell you what I can do but I will only tell thee what thou shalt do. That being done, I will give thee power to raise hail, tempests, with lightning and thunder; the winds shall be at thy command. and shall bear thee whither thou art willing to go, though ever so far off, and shall bring thee back again when thou bast a mind to return. The hidden treasures of the earth shall be at thy disposal and pleasure, and nothing shall be wanting to complete thy happiness here. Thou shalt, moreover, heal or kill whom thou pleaseth; destroy or preserve either man or beast; know what is past, and assuredly tell what is to come. -Here note by the way, the Devil is a liar from the beginning, and will promise more by ten miIlions than he knows he is capable of performing, to the intent that he may ensnare and damn a soul. This so ravished Agatha, that she fell to the ground in a profound and deep trance: Doe of her neighbours coming in at this time, wondered to see Agatha laying on the floor motionless; however, out of pity, she endeavoured to awaken Agatha; but using what means she could, it all signified nothing; she shook and pinched her, yet still she lay insensible. This woman being strangely amazed, ran out amongsh the rest of the neighbours, crying out that poor Agatha Shipton was suddenly struck dead, and desired them to go into the house with her, and be eye-witnesses of the truth; whereupon several went and found what this woman said to be seemingly true; but one wiser than the rest, stooped down, and perceiving that she breathed, said, "Friends, ye are all mistaken, Agatha is not dead, but in n. trance, or else she is bewitched;" she had scarcely uttered these words, before Agatha began to stir, and soon after raising herself on her legs, cried out in a very distracted tone, "What do you here, vile wretches? cannot I enjoy my pleasures, but ye must be eaves-dropping? get ye gone, yc have nothing to do here;" and hereupon she fell a dancing, which they wondered at, because they could hear no music. At length, Agatha turned about, and seeing they were all gone, said, "If ye are resolved thus to disturb me, and will not go, I will make ye."