OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# The Mardi Gras Mystery/Chapter 17

CHAPTER XVII
Mi-Carême
A NAMELESS gentleman from the effete North was enjoying for the first time the privileges of a guest card at the Chess and Checkers. In a somewhat perplexed manner he approached the secretary's desk and obtained a cigar. Then he paused, listening to the sounds of revelry which filled the club, and which came roaring in from the city streets outside.
"Say!" he addressed the secretary. "What's this Mi-Carême I've been reading about in the papers, anyhow? I thought everything was tight as a clam down here after Mardi Gras! It's still the Lenten season, isn't it? Mardi Gras doesn't come more than once a year? Then what's all the celebration about?"
The secretary smiled.
"Certainly, sir, it's still Lent. But the French people have what they call ​Mi-Carême, or Mid-Lent, and they certainly give it a big celebration! You see, it's a night halfway through Lent, when they can enjoy themselves to the limit—let off steam, as it were. We're having several dinner parties here in the club to-night, for the occasion."
A slightly built little man, who had much the air of a shy clerk—had it not been for his evening attire—approached the desk. He signed a check for a handful of cigars, which he stowed away.
"Please provide a fresh box of the El Reys later," he said to the secretary. "Most of my party is here, I believe."
"I'll send them up, Mr. Fell," answered the secretary, quickly. "Yes, I think the dining room is all ready for you, sir. By the way, Mr. Gramont was looking for you a moment ago—ah! Here he comes now!"
Jachin Fell turned. Gramont was plunging at him, a yellow telegraph form in his hand, excitement in his eyes.
"Look here, Jachin! This wire just came in from Hammond—you know, I left him in charge of things down at Bayou Terrebonne! ​Read it, man—read it! They've struck oil-sands at five hundred feet—and sands at five hundred, with these indications, mean a gusher at a thousand! Where's Lucie? Have you brought her?"
"She's upstairs. Well, well!" Jachin Fell glanced at the telegram, and returned it. "So oil is actually found! This is certainly going to be one big night, as Eliza said when she crossed the ice! Come along. Let's find Lucie and tell her about it——"
The two men turned away together.
After them gazed the man from the North, not a little agape over what he had chanced to hear. Before the wondering questions in his eyes the assiduous secretary made haste to enlighten him.
"That's Mr. Gramont, sir. They say that he used to be a real prince, over in France, and that he threw it up because he wanted to be an American. Mr. Fell is having a dinner upstairs—it's Mr. Gramont's engagement, you know—and the Mi-Carême ball afterward——"
"Oh, I know, I know," and the man from the North sighed a little. "I was reading all about that in the paper. Fell ​is one of the crack chess players here, isn't he?"
The secretary smiled.
"Well, he plays a very fair game, sir—a very fair game indeed!"
THE END
THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS
GARDEN CITY, N. Y.
# The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (1901)/Chapter 52

CHAPTER LII
THE PILGRIM BEHOLDS THE GLORY OF GOD
And behold, the Lord of Hosts sat on His throne on high, and there was splendour around Him from one end of the heavens to the other, and under His feet there was a gleaming as of crystals, emeralds, and sapphires, and His throne was of jasper, and around Him there was a beautiful rainbow. Thousands of thousands and ten times a thousand times a hundred thousand angels stood around Him, singing together: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord of the hosts! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory."
2. Then twenty-four elders fell on their knees before the throne, laid down their crowns at the feet of Him who lives in all eternity, and sang with a loud voice: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power, for according to Thy will do they abide, and have they been created."
3. I saw also before the throne another great host whom none could count; in it were men of all nations, and races, countries, and tongues; and as the angels carried upward those of God's saints who had died on the earth, the number ever increased, and the sound ever became louder. ​They exclaimed: "Amen, blessing and glory, wisdom, gratitude, and honour, power and strength to our God in all eternity! Amen."
4. Now did I behold splendour, light, magnificence, and unspeakable glory, hear sounds and notes that are inexpressible, witness things that were joyful and more wondrous than our eyes, ears, and heart can conceive.
5. Terrified by the sight of these so glorious heavenly things, I also fell down before the throne of divine majesty, ashamed of my sinfulness, and of being a man of tainted lips, and I exclaimed: "Lord, Lord, Lord, Thou who art a strong God, compassionate, merciful, long-suffering, and plentiful in mercy and justice! He who grants mercy to thousands, and forgives unrighteousness, trespasses and sin. O Lord! have mercy on me the sinner also, for the sake of Jesus Christ."
# The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (1901)/Front matter

The LABYRINTH OF THE WORLD
·COMENIUS·
COUNT LÜTZOW
THE LABYRINTH OF THE WORLD
# The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (1901)/Chapter 6

CHAPTER VI
FATE DISTRIBUTES VOCATIONS
(Fate, the Gate of Life.)
And we go downward by a dark winding staircase, and behold, before the door there was a wide hall full of young folk, and on the right side there sat a fierce-looking, old man, who in his hand held a large copper urn, and I saw that all those who came through the gate of life stepped up to him, and each one put his hand into the urn and drew from it a tablet on which something was written. Then each one of them went down one of the streets, some running and shouting for joy, while others crept along slowly, looked around them, groaned and lamented.
(The Callings are distributed.)
2. And I step near and looked at the tablets of some of them, and I see that one had drawn the ​word: Rule! another: Serve! another: Command! another: Obey! another: Write! another: Plough! yet another: Learn! another: Dig! another: Judge! another: Fight! and so forth. Impudence says to me: "Here vocations and work are distributed, and according to this distribution each one has to fulfil his task in the world. He, however, who apportions the lots is called Fate, and from him must everyone who enters the world receive his instructions."
(The Pilgrim begs first to be allowed to behold Everything.)
3. Meanwhile, Falsehood nudged me at the other side, thus indicating that I also should stretch forth my hand. I begged not to be obliged to choose any one lot directly without first examining it, and entrust myself blindly to fortune. But I was told that without the knowledge and the permission of the lord regent, Fate, this could not be. Then stepping up to him, I modestly brought forward my request, saying that I had arrived with the intention of seeing everything for myself, and then only choosing what pleased me.
(The Pilgrim receives the Permission.)
He answered: "Oh, son, thou seest that others do not thus; what is given or offered them ​they take. However, as thou desirest this, it is well." Then he wrote on a scrap of paper: "Speculare" (that is, "look around you," or "inquire"), gave it me, and left me.
# The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (1901)/Dedication

DEDICATION
My Most Gracious Lord,
I should not venture in this but too turbulent time, full of disquietude, to molest your Illustriousness, oh, most Illustrious Lord! by this short letter, far less by the dedication of a book, were it not that the book is of those that aim at strengthening our minds and tranquillising them in God. I will explain how the matter stands. As in this my retreat and my painful inactivity, separated as I am from the cares of my vocation, I yet neither may be nor wish to be idle, I began within the last months to reflect on the vanity of the world (which I had various opportunities of beholding in divers places). Thus then was this work, which I offer to your Illustriousness, born under my hands. The first part depicts the follies and inanity of the world, showing how mainly and with great labour it busies itself with worthless things, and how all these things at last end wretchedly, either in laughter or in tears. The second part describes, partly as through a veil, partly and openly the true and firm felicity ​of the sons of God; for they are indeed happy who, turning their backs on the world and all worldly things, adhere, and indeed inhere, to God. I admit that what I offer here is but begun, not completed. I see, indeed, that the subject is very abundant, and so fit for sharpening the mind and refining the style that it might, by the means of repeated new conceptions, be enlarged almost to infinitude. Yet such as the book is, I wish to collect its contents from my stray papers and to offer it to your Illustriousness, for what purpose I dare not now clearly to say. But the sagacity of the mind of your Illustriousness will perceive it while reading the book, or will be able otherwise to explain it. This only will I intimate, that I did not consider it inappropriate to offer this work to one who, after having a thousand times experienced the storms and sorrows of the sea of the world, has found repose in the most tranquil harbour of his conscience. Now it only remains to me to wish that your Illustriousness, safe from the world and Satan, should live gladly for Christ, and should joyfully and rightfully look forward to the future life that follows this one (alas, but a wretched one!). Meanwhile, may the blessed spirit of God our eternal Redeemer rule us, cheer us, console us, strengthen us. Amen.
* ↑ In Latin "Pro-Marchio." The representative of the sovereign, called in German "Landeshauptmann," in Bohemian "Zemsky hejtman," presided at the meetings of the Moravian Diet. Zerotin held this office for some years.
* ↑ Komensky writes "drama."
# The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (1901)/Chapter 53

CHAPTER LIII
THE PILGRIM IS RECEIVED INTO GOD'S HOUSEHOLD
When I had spoken thus, my Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, from the centre of His throne, spake these delightful words: "Be not afeard, my dear one. I am with thee, thy Redeemer and Comforter, therefore be not afeard. Thy misdeed has been taken from thee, and thy sin has been purged. Rather be glad and rejoice, for thy name is written down among those of the elect; if thou servest me faithfully thou wilt be as one of them. Whatever thou hast seen, use it in fear of me, and thou wilt behold yet greater things. Be careful of those things only for which I have called thee, and walk on that path to glory which I have shown thee. Abide in the world as long as I leave thee in it, as a pilgrim, a stranger, a foreigner, a guest; but remain with me as a member of my household. I give unto thee the citizenship of heaven. Be therefore careful in the world. Have a mind that is—as much as possible—lifted both upward to me and kindly downward to thy fellow-men. Use, then, worldly things as long as thou art there, but rejoice in heavenly ones only. Be compliant to me only, adverse and refractory to the world and the ​flesh. Guard within thee the wisdom that I have granted thee, and outwardly the simplicity that I have counselled thee; have a resounding heart, but a silent tongue. Be tender in thy feeling for the suffering of others, but hardy against the wrong that may befall thee. Serve with thy soul me alone, with thy body him whom thou canst or must. What I order thee thou must do; the burden I lay on thee thou must bear. Be to the world unbending, and cling ever to me. Let thy body be in the world, thy heart with me. If thou wilt but act thus, thou wilt be blessed, and wilt fare well. Proceed, then, my dear son, and remain true to thy calling until thy end, but gladly enjoy the solace to which I have led thee."
# The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart (1901)/Chapter 51

CHAPTER LI
THE DEATH OF FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS
(Death is pleasant to a Christian.)
Now when I had walked sufficiently among these Christians and beheld their deeds, I at last found that Death walked about among them also; but she was not, as in the world, of morose aspect, naked, unlovely, but she was folded up in the grave-clothes of Christ, that He had left in his sepulchre. She approached now this man, now that one, telling him that it was time that he should leave the world. Oh, how great was the joy and delight of those who received such news! Only that this should befall sooner, they were ready to endure all suffering, the sword, fire, pincers, and every torture. Thus did each of them fall into his slumber, peacefully, quietly, and gladly.
(What befell after their Death.)
2. Then I, who wished to see what would now befall them, beheld God's angel, who, according to His divine command, sought out for each of them a spot where he was to have his little chamber, ​and where his body should have rest. When it had been laid there either by friends or by enemies, or by the angels themselves, they guarded the sepulchre, that the graves of the holy might be preserved safely from Satan, and that not even the smallest atom of the dust within them should be lost. Meanwhile, other angels took the soul, and carried it upward with splendour and divine rejoicing. Then when I put my glasses of faith aright, I gazed upward, and beheld unspeakable glory.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. Faith, Hope and Charity

From volume 5 of the work.
Faith, Hope and Charity, Saints, the names of two groups of Roman martyrs around whom a considerable amount of legendary lore has gathered; though the extent of sound historical data possessed concerning them is so slight, that until very recent times the most eminent scholars failed to distinguish between them. However, the extent and antiquity of their cult and the universality with which their names are found not only in the various early martyrologies of the Western Church, but also in the Menaia and Menologies of the Greeks, render the fact of their existence and martyrdom unquestionable. Setting aside the purely legendary accounts that have come down to us (see Migne, P.G. CXV, 497; Mombritius, Vitae Sanctorum, II, 204), we find that in the reign of Hadrian, a Roman matron Sophia (Wisdom), with her three youthful daughters, Pistis, Elpis, and Agape (Faith, Hope and Charity), underwent martyrdom for the Faith, and were interred on the Aurelian Way, where their tomb in a crypt beneath the church afterwards erected to St. Pancratius was long a place of resort for pilgrims, as we learn from various indubitable documents of the seventh century, such as an Itinerarium (or guide to the holy places of Rome compiled for the use of pilgrims) still preserved at Salzburg, the list, preserved in the cathedral archives of Monza, of the oils gathered from the tombs of the martyrs and sent to Queen Theodelinda in the time of Gregory the Great, etc.
Later surely than the reign of Hadrian, but at what time is uncertain, another band of martyrs, Sapientia (Wisdom) and her three companions, Spes, Fides and Caritas (Hope, Faith and Charity), suffered death and were buried near the tomb of St. Cecilia in the cemetery of St. Callistus on the Appian Way. Despite the meagreness of these authentic details, the explicit references in the documents cited to a band of martyrs, mother and daughters, whose names are always given in Greek, and who are buried on the Aurelian Way, and to another band of four martyrs, interred on the Via Appia, whose relationship is not indicated and whose names, though the same as those of the martyrs of the Aurelian Way, are yet always given in Latin, certainly point to distinct groups. Nor is the coincidence in names remarkable, seeing that the early Christians so often (according to De Rossi) took in baptism mystical names indicative of Christian virtues, etc. Thus Sophia, Sapientia, Fides and the like are common names in early Christian inscriptions and martyrologies. The Roman martyrology names on 1 Aug., "the holy virgins, Faith, Hope and Charity, who won the crown of martyrdom under the Emperor Hadrian" and, on 30 Sept., "St. Sophia, widow, mother of the holy virgins, Faith, Hope and Charity". In some places, on 1 Aug., St. Sapientia is also venerated; but generally owing to the confusion of the two groups, none of the second group receives special recognition. In the Eastern Church the feast is kept on 17 September.
John F. X. Murphy.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. Eustachius and Companions

From volume 5 of the work.
Eustachius and Companions, Saints, martyrs under the Emperor Hadrian, in the year 118. Feast, in the West, September 20; in the East, November 2. Emblems, a crucifix, a stag, an oven.
The legend relates that Eustachius (before baptism, Placidus), a Roman general under Trajan, while still a heathen, saw a stag coming towards him, with a crucifix between its horns; he heard a voice telling him that he was to suffer much for Christ's sake. He received baptism, together with his wife Tatiana (or Trajana, after baptism, Theopista) and his sons, Agaplus and Theopistus. The place of the vision is said to have been Guadagnolo, between Tibur and Praeneste (Tivoli and Palestrina), in the vicinity of Rome. Through adverse fortune the family was scattered, but later reunited. For refusing to sacrifice to the idols after a victory, they suffered death in a heated brazen bull. Baronius (Ann. Eccl., ad an. 103, 4) would identify him with Placidus mentioned by Josephus Flavius as a general under Titus.
The Acts are certainly fabulous, and recall the similar story in the Clementine Recognitions. They are a production of the seventh century, and were used by St. John Damascene, but the veneration of the saint is very old in both the Greek and Latin Churches. He is honored as one of the Holy Helpers, is invoked in difficult situations, and is patron of the city of Madrid and of hunters. The church of Sant' Eustachio in Rome, title of a cardinal-deacon, existed in 827, according to the "Liber Pontificalis", but perhaps as early as the time of Gregory the Great (d. 604). It claims to possess the relics of the saint, some of which are said to be at St-Denis and at St-Eustache in Paris. An island in the Lesser Antilles and a city in Canada bear his name.
FRANCIS MERSHMAN
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. Fergus

From volume 6 of the work.
St. Fergus Cruithneach
Died about 730, known in the Irish martyrologies as St. Fergus Cruithneach, or the Pict. The Breviary of Aberdeen states that he had been a bishop for many years in Ireland when he came on a mission to Alba with some chosen priests and other clerics. He settled first near Strageath, in the present parish of Upper Strathearn, in Upper Perth, erected three churches in that district. The churchs of Strageath, Blackford, and Dolpatrick are found there to-day dedicated to St. Patrick. He next evangelized Caithness and established there the churches of Wick and Halkirk. Thence he crossed to Buchan in Aberdeenshire and founded a church at Lungley, a village now called St. Fergus. Lastly, he established a church at Glammis in Forfarshire. He went to Rome in 721 and was present with Sedulius and twenty other bishops at a synod in the basilica of St. Peter, convened by Gregory II. His remains were deposited in the church of Glammis and were the object of much veneration in the Middle Ages. The Abbot of Scone transferred his head to Scone church, and encased it in a costly shrine there is an entry in the accounts of the treasurer of James IV, October, 1503, " An offerand of 13 shillings to Sanct Fergus' heide in Scone". The churches of Wick, Glammis, and Lungley had St. Fergus as their patron. His festival is recorded in the Martyrology of Tallaght for the 8th of September but seems to have been observed in Scotland on the 18th of November.
St. Fergus, Bishop of Duleek
Died 778, mentioned by Duald MacFirbis, Annals of the Four Masters, Annals of Ulster.
St. Fergus, Bishop of Downpatrick
Died 583. He was sixth in descent from Coelbad, King of Erin. He built a church or monastery called Killmbain, identified by some as Killyban, Co. Down, and afterwards was consecrated bishop and ruled the cathedral church of Druimleithglais (Down). He was probably the first bishop of that see. His feast is kept on the 30th of March.
Ten saints of this name are mentioned in the martyology of Donegal.
C. Mulcahy.
# Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Sts. Felix and Adauctus

From volume 6 of the work.
Martyrs at Rome, 303, under Diocletian and Maximian. The Acts, first published in Ado's Martyrology, relate as follows: Felix, a Roman priest, and brother of another priest, also named Felix, being ordered to offer sacrifice to the gods, was brought by the prefect Dracus to the temples of Serapis, Mercury, and Diana. But at the prayer of the saint the idols fell shattered to the ground. He was then led to execution. On the way an unknown person joined him, professed himself a Christian, and also received the crown of martyrdom. The Christians gave him the name Adauctus (added). These Acts are considered a legendary embellishment of a misunderstood inscription by Pope Damasus. A Dracus cannot be found among the prefects of Rome; the other Felix of the legend is St. Felix of Nola; and Felix of Monte Pincio is the same Felix honoured on the Garden Hill. The brother is imaginary (Anal. Boll., XVI, 19-29). Their veneration, however, is very old; they are commemorated in the Sacramentary of Gregory the Great and in the ancient martyrologies. Their church in Rome, built over their graves, in the cemetery of Commodilla, on the Via Ostiensis, near the basilica of St. Paul, and restored by Leo III, was discovered about three hundred years ago and again unearthed in 1905 (Civiltà Catt., 1905, II, 608). Leo IV, about 850, is said to have given their relics to Irmengard, wife of Lothair I; she placed them in the abbey of canonesses at Eschau in Alsace. They were brought to the church of St. Stephen in Vienna in 1361. The heads are claimed by Anjou and Cologne. According to the "Chronicle of Andechs" (Donauwörth, 1877, p. 69), Henry, the last count, received the relics from Honorius III and brought them to the Abbey of Andechs. Their feast is kept on 30 August.
Stokes in Dict. Christ. Biog., s. v. Felix (217); Acta SS., Aug., VI, 545; Stadler, Heiligenlexicon, s.v.
FRANCIS MERSHMAN