A PRIEST'S BREVIARY

"Why do you priests spend so much time in reading from a little black book?" Every priest has heard this question from his non-Catholic friends. The Catholic has a general idea that the priest is under an obligation to recite his Office every day, but few Catholics have any clear notion as to just what the Office is or why it is said.

When you see a priest reading his breviary did it ever occur to you that you have a share in that prayer, that you derive benefit from the recitation of that Office by him? He is taking part in the public prayer of the Church of which you are a member. Reflect that in this country alone there are more than 12,000 priests, who daily spend more than an hour in offering that public prayer to God for the Church and for all her members, and the clergy of the United States form a very small fraction of those of the universal Church. All over the world in monasteries and cathedrals the Divine Office is solemnly recited at stated hours; and every priest in every land lays aside his other duties at some time each day to raise his heart to God and to join in offering to Him the public homage of His Church on earth.

The book which a priest uses for the reciting of his Office is known as a breviary. Why is it so called? The word "breviary" would seem to indicate something short (from the Latin word "brevis," short or brief), and so many an overworked priest on a busy Sunday may well wonder why that word is used in connection with the tremendous long Offices which the wisdom of the Church imposes on him on that day.

The breviary contains the Office which all priests and clerics in Holy Orders are obliged to recite daily under pain of mortal sin unless they are exempted by a grave reason. It is divided into four volumes, adapted to the four seasons of the year, since all the Offices of the year in one volume

would be much too unwieldly for use.

These Offices are in Latin, and are made up of psalms, several canticles and many beautiful hymns; parts of sermons by the great Fathers of the Church, such as Gregory, Augustine and Chrysostom, many short prayers, versicles, responses and the frequent repetition of the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary and the Apostles' Creed.

It is divided into seven parts known as the Canonical Hours, and in the Middle Ages it was the general practice of the religious orders to recite each part of its own hour; but the secular clergy of our day and many of the religious orders and societies are not bound to observe this practice strictly. Each priest is obliged to say the whole Office of the day within the 24 hours of the day, but at any hour or hours that may be convenient, saying as much at a time as he may be able or willing to recite. Moreover, he has the privilege of "anticipating," or saying a part of the Office after 2 o'clock of the preceding day if he sees fit to do so.

RUINED

A Stupid Word for Money Losses In years of financial depression the contest for luxuries and comforts may become suddenly a struggle for the necessities of life. It is at such a time that the bright and brave-hearted woman is at her best. One whose religion was more than mere Sunday clothing heard her bad news one day as one would have expected her to hear it-calnily, almost derisively. Her husband came to her with a ghastly face. ghastly face. "Be brave, little woman," he said. "The market has gone to smash and I'm all in-every dollar gone! We'll have to begin the world again, penniless!"

"Is that all?" she asked in all sincerity, and without a touch of the theatricalism with which certain bravado-weaklings meet the solemn happenings of life.

"All? We are ruined!"

"That's a stupid word for money

loss-ruin! If a building tumbles down into rubbish, it's a ruin; if a human being goes to utter destruction, body and soul, it's ruin. But can the loss of money really ruin anybody? Can it ruin us? Shall we let it destroy us? Have we not each other and our children? Haven't we health, energy, ambition and fairly decent ideals? Suppose all these had been taken, children and all, instead of the money?"

"You would try to turn poverty into a blessing-thank God for love!" said the comforted man.

"I shall not turn it into a cursethank God for faith!" answered the valiant woman.

It is "inartstic" to end a story now. adavs. Still, what could the man do after that but redouble his energies and win once more a standing in the world? The woman, courageous herself, who can put new courage into a disheartened man turns him at once from the weary straggler on the downhill road into the spirited athlete climbing again the rugged path to the summit of Mount Success.

THE FAITHFUL PARISHIONER

Every pastor of a parish, in the midst of his own trials and cares, is comforted by his faithful parishioners.

They are the members of the congregation who practice their religion persistently, who frequent the sacraments, who lead Christian lives, who have pious homes, who are generous to charity, who belong to the societies of the parish, who send their children to Catholic schools, who subscribe for Catholic publications, who have a pew in church, who take part in the activities of the congregation, and on whom the pastor can depend when good example needs to be given or sacrifices have to be made in the interests of the faith.

Some members of a parish have no more to do with it or its pastor than they can't get out of and some do not even fulfill their strict duty in these

respects. But the faithful parishioner goes much further and in many ways shows his devotion to the church and his regard for the pastor. He is one of those on whom the priest can always rely for sympathy and co-operation.

THE "FUNNY" PAPER

A sin of omission for which a good many Catholic parents will one day be held to strict account is their failure to exercise careful supervision over the reading matter of their children. The negligence in this respect of some fathers and mothers who in ordinary matters are normally sane and prudent is almost incredible. Think of the comic (save the mark!) supplemer.ts of some of our unspeakable Sunday papers, sheets fairly reeking with the grossest vulgarity. Keep them away from your children, fathers and mothers! You cannot keep the purity of the home if you have these sensational papers in them. The daily papers of the kind are bad enough, the Sunday papers of this class are worse. But a certain class of readers may perhaps think that we entertain exaggerated ideas on this subject; so we welcome the opportunity of quoting a nonCatholic layman on the evil in question. Says Mr. Edward Bok, editor of The Ladies' Home Journal:

"The colored cartoons in the Sunday papers should be investigated by a society for the prevention of vice or a commisson lunacy, rather than by people interested in art. They are not art nor even decent caricature, but a low order of horseplay, fitted to the barroom rather than the family circle. Children should not be allowed to 'watch eagerly for these papers.' The blame rests with the parents. They can keep the yellow journals out of their houses as readily as immoral books or immoral people, if they wish. The truth is, the grown-ups like this colored rat-poison of the mind, and watch for it more 'eagerly' than the children. Its effect upon 'the artistic

Again and again we are reminded in the Bible of the value of the day. "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." "Give us this day our daily bread." "Why stand ye all the day idle?" "Son, go to work to-day in my vineyard." "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." The value of a day is continually emphasized in the Word of God.

John Ruskin hung a beautifully illuminated motto over his bed. It contained but one word-"To-day." He desired every morning on arising to be reminded of the value of the new day.

How may we live a profitable and helping life? Ruskin gives us this wise counsel: "Let every day's dawn of morning be to you as the beginning of life, and let every setting sun be to you as the close; let every one of these short lives leave its sure record of some kindly things done for others -some goodly strength and knowledge gained for yourselves."

WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH THE CHURCHES?

Some time ago the editor of the Delineator addressed the following question to a number of prominent religious leaders: "What is the matter. with the Churches?" The following rejoiner was made by Cardinal Gibbons:

If

"What is the matter with the churches? That there is something amiss with them appears to be suggested by this question. we take into consideration the great wealth in church property, the apparent activity of those engaged in church work, the guilds, conventions, and missionary unions, we may at first, hastily form the conclusion. that the churches are doing a great work, and accomplishing all that is to be expected of them.

"But when, on the other hand, we frequently read of church membership decreasing, and of the moral excellence and intellectual greatness of the people who never attend church, we begin to take the matter more seriously, giving it a closer and more earnest investigation. When we find that instead of expounding the Word of God the clergyman discourses of almost every imaginable subject except religion, we ask with some misgiving, Has religion lost all attraction? Are the churches going the right way about accomplishing the end of their institution, which should be to teach. man his duty to God?

"It must be borne in mind that the American people are at heart a religious people. In few countries are religion and religious men treated with more consideration. Almost every public function is opened by an invocation and closed by a benediction. Yet our people are falling off in their attendance at church. There is no gainsaying this statement.

"What, then, is the cause? Many of Our countrymen do not consider church-going as a binding obligation in any sense. Frequently it is asserted that we can worship God in our

own hearts and home; we can interpret the Bible for ourselves; and although, in reality, they very seldom do one or the other, the pretense is sufficient to drug their consciences. We must not lay the whole blame on the laity. Almost any excuse would seem to justify a man in absenting himself from church services when the subject of religion, that is to say, duty to God and duty to our neighbor for God's sake, is seldom inculcated. Finally, another cause can be traced to the fact that many of the societies for the advancement of education, for the development of athletic sports or for mere social purposes have added a Sunday service such as many people were accustomed to assist at formerly in the churches.

"What, then, is the remedy? It will be found by giving to the people in the churches, something of God, some spiritual gift, some good which it would be impossible for them to get elsewhere. Let the minister of God speak as "one having authority," and our religiously inclined people will throng the temples of Divine worship. "I may add that we have no reason to complain of our Catholic people. In the cities, the churches are crowded at each of the five or six Masses offered on Sunday; in the rural districts in good weather and in bad, Catholics seldom find any difficulty so great, any condition so intolerable as to have to dispense with their obligatory attendance at the Divine services on Sunday."

CEREMONIES OF THE MASS Protestants, who do not understand the ceremony of the Mass, often won der what there is in it to attract such close attenion. To them preaching and hymn singing are the accepted forms of public worship.

It would therefore be well to tell our non-Catholic friends that all the ceremonies have a meaning and relate to the Passion of Christ. When, for instance, the priest begins the function he kneels at the foot of the al

tar and there he presents Christ in the bloody sweat in the garden of Gethsemane. Then he goes up the steps and kisses the altar, and we are reminded of the kiss with which Judas betrayed the Master. Then he goes to one side of the altar and then to the other side and back to the center of it, and we recall how our Saviour was led before Annas and Caiphas and Pilate and Herod and back to Pilate and finally to the hill of Calvary.

The priest washes his hands, and we think of Pilate doing the same and declaring that he is guiltless of this innocent blood. When the consecration takes places and the Host is raised above the priest's head to be seen by the congregation we behold Jesus nailed to the cross and lifted up to die.

And so the sacred drama goes on— He dies, He is buried. He rises again, He ascends to heaven, and the Holy Ghost comes down to bless the Church and abide with it forever. With that blessing, given by the priest, the words are heard, "Go, for Mass is over," and the people, having taken. part in offering the holy sacrifice, depart in peace, thanking God for the grace of their presence at such celestial mysteries.

Is it any wonder that the Mass is a magnet and that Catholics do not need preaching or music or reading to increase its charm?

WE HAVE NO QUARREL

We have no quarrel with those who do not believe as we do. "that's their business," if they choose to put it that way, but we who are Catholics have a quarrel with him who is a lie to the faith he holds, with him who has not the courage of a More, or the faith, and loyalty and perseverance of a Columbus. To be big enough to believe, and strong enough to assert what we believe, and have courage enough to do what we assert, is the mission of the lay apostle.