The age-herald., 1900-12-30
ACT OF PREPARATION
 AND CONSECRATION
Speca Services at Catholic Churches Today and tuesday.
THE POPE ISSUES A DECREE
Impressive Ceremonies to Mark the Close of. the Old and the Beginning of the New centuries-The Mu-
 sical Programme.

The year 1900 has been a Holy Year and in the Catholic Church throughout the world the close of the nineteenth century and the first day of the twentieth will be marked by many impressive ceremonies and acts of devotion. A decree from Rome, dated on the 16th of Novemebr reads in part:
 Now that the present century is draw ing to a close, and new one is about to begin, it is eminently fitting that there should be a solemn conseerat.on to the King of Ages, Christ Jesus, of all Who have been redeemed by Him throughout the world. This is proper in order that due gratitude may be shown for special favors received from Him in the past, and also that in the troubled state of society in which we find ourselves, we may have from His mercy and clemency even more effectual aid to enter upon happy future. Anticipating this closing of the century, our Holy Father, by decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, dated the thirteenth day of last Nocember. granted the same privilege for this year as for last, viz: that at midnight which ushers in January of the year 1901 the Most August Sacrament of the Eucharist may be exposed for ador- alton in churches and chapels and that in Its Presence one mass of the Feast of the Circumcision of Our Lord and the Octave of the Nativity may be read or sung; and that moreover, the faithful, by special privilege, may receive holy communion either during outside of the mass.
 "W hilst pondering upon some new means Of increasing the piety of the faithful in connection with so solemn an event, the Holy Father was earnestly requested by many prelates and pious societies to so or der the celebration that the faithful of the whole world, always eager to participate in, the rich treasury of spiritual indul- sbOl1ld invited n and adore the Blessed Eucharist, and thus strive to repair the injuries done to the Divine Maj esty and unite themselves more closely to His most tender Heart.
 
 How long the adorable Eucharist should remain exposed is left by His Holiness to the prudence of the Ordinaries-provided that time be within the twelve hours speci- fled above"
 Bishop Allen in a pastoral letter trans mitting the decree to his priests says:
 While thanking God for favors we should also give vent to the sorrow that fills our hearts for all our sins, and more especially for our secret or forgotten sins, and for the scandal given to others through them.
 We earnestly recommend that on the last Sunday of the century an hour be set apart in the afternoon or evening, for a service of reparation during which the stations of the cross may be made and then the act of conservation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus recited before the Blessed Sacrament exposed for benediction.
 "At midnight, December 31, when about to begin mass the priest will expose the BlesseZ Sacrament and leave it on the al- tar for one hour for the veneration of the faithful or if the mass be a high one, un- til the close of the mass and the singing of the Te Deum in Latin or English. The priest will then replace the Blessed Sacra- ment in the tabernacle until or o'clock when it should be again placed on the high altar and left there until noon for the ado ration of the people. The faithful, one and all, should be urged to come to the sacred tribunal of penance and receive the broad of life at the midnight mass, and thus fit themselves to gain the plenary indulgence granted by our Holy Father.
 During the midnight mass few words may aptly be spoken in reference to the event which we are called upon to cele- brate."
 At St. Paurs church the devotons at the Stations of the Cross will begin at o'clock this afternoon and at the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows these devotions will begin at 7:SO D. m.
 There will be a solemn high mass at St. PauPs at midnight (Dec. 31). The choir will sing the Te Deum in English and the Kyrie Gloria and Credo from MemoMs mass and Ine SanctuS ana ABnuS Oe1 IrOn GOuHOu $ "Messe Solennelle" There will be low mass at 7:SO New Years morning and a high mass at 1OSO on that day, New Year being a day of obligation. At the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows there will be a high mass at midnight, a low mass at 8 o'clock and a high mass at 10 o'clock The rector, Father Meurer, will be assisted in the services today and Tues day by Father Baarens, o. S. B., of St. Bernard Abbey.
 Christmas Stockings. From the Syracuse News. street urchn stood peering into the window of a toy shop one evening just be- fore Christmas watching a prosperous la ther buying presents. Bigger and bigger | the boys eyes grew the purchasing went on Finally when 1t was all over and the l man left the store, the lad sidled up to | him. and with great diffidence asked: "Wuz all them things you bought fer one boy, mister?" why, yes-certainly,' said the man pa- | tiently, as he turned away with his bun | dles under his arm. The street boys eyes grew bigger yet Gee whizv he whispered under his l breath Rich mems boys must wear big l stockings"
 Caution IndispensabIe.