The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-02-15
THE LEMON SEASON
ANNOUNCEMENTS IN CATHOLIC
 AND EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.
Letter of Bishop Edward P. Allen Read at Both Masses at St. Peter's Church Yes
 terday.

In St. Peters Catholic Church at hign mass yesterday, Rev. Father Hush fA OBrien made the announcements or the Lenten season which begins WednesdaF, and read to congregation the rules or the church for observing Lent. During Lent n mass will be said at o'clock at St. re ter's Church. The blessing and distriou- ton of ashes will be made before mass begins. This days marks the beginning or the forty days of fasting and abstinence: The name. Ash Wednesday. Is derlVeo from the ashes which are put on the lore head on the morning of this day. the ash- es being produced from the palms blest on Palm Sunday.
 During Lent. there will be a short ser mon or instruction at 7:3O o'clock every Tuesday night, and this service Will be followed by benediction. On Friday even iDRs at the same hour. the Stations of the Cross will be said, followed bv benedic- ton.
 In regard to the Holy season of Lent, time of prayer. of sorrow for sins. or seclusion from the world and It's amuse- ments and of generous aims giving. the following letter from Bishop Edward F. Allen, of Mobile, bishop of the diocese, was read at both masses:
 Mobile, Ala. Feb. 9th, 99O4- Dearly Beloved Brethren::
 The Lenten Season, commemorating the AVA y wv NdyS ldSt Ot OuI hhSNSSA~h fA the desert, reminds us that 1t is our duty to initiate our divine Master in his peni- tential exercises, for Christ is our Model and Guide in all things. He was without sin and yet He suffered for all sinners. not indeed to exempt them from penance but to pay the price of our Redemption.
 In doing penance for our sins we are consoled by the assurance of St. Paul. that: "If we suffer with Christ, we may also be glorified with Him." Rom. viii, IT. However inadequate our penitential ex> ercises may be, they seem in the divine economy of mans redemption to be part of the price to be paid for the eternal joys of Heaven. Therefore St. Paul says: "I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared to the glory to come which shall be revealed to us." Rom: viii. IS. --..
 There are two roads to Heaven" says a famous servant of God, "the road of innocence and the road ofpenance." Those who have lost their innocence have aI-i ready departed from the easy way and if they wish to gain Heaven, they must airy, the road of Penance. They must take up their cross and follow Him. "Who bore our inflrmities and carried our sorrows" Isairs, 5S-4.
 There Is no other way to gain eternal life: for says St. Augustine: "He who made us without our concurrence, will not save us without our cooperation" Hence we must labor and toll in a spirit of penance as long as we are permitted to dwell here on earth. The works of pe- nance recommended to us during this holy season are prayer, fasting and almsgiv- ing. Lent is a time for diligent self-ex- animation and deep reflection on the truths of religion. As Faith cometh by hearing" (Rom. x, ID. we ought to avail ourselves of every opportunity of hearing the Word of God expounded, bearing in mind that he who speaks to us from the altar or pulpit speaks as the ambassador of Christ; for to him our Lord addressed these words of our Lord: "He that hear eth you heareth Me and he that despiseth you despiseth Me-" Luke, x, 16.
 The Lenten season is a time for gener- ous almsgiving and for the devout recep- tion of the sacraments On the first Sum crees of the Third Plenary Council of Bal tImore, the collection of the Home and Foreign Missions will be taken up throughout the diocese. The reverend clergy are requested to read this letter and urge the collection on Quinquagesima Sunday and on the first Sunday in Lent. From the funds derived from this collec- tion. many struggling missions at home and abroad are relieved and strength ened
 There is no better way of showing our gratitude to God for the gift of faith than by giving generously to support those who are laboring in season and out of season to extend Gods kingdom here on earth. In this connection we cannot praise too highly the work done by the Society of the Propagation of Faith. This Society has been organized in many of the par ishes of this diocese and 1t should be es- tablished in all, for we are deeply indebt- ed to 1t for help given to the diocese in the past.
 The Sth of December. 1904. will be the fifteenth anniversary of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Concep- tion. It is the wish of our Holy Father that not only the day itself should be commemorated but also the Sth of each month during this year. On that date every month a votive mass of the Inn maculate Conception, having a Gloria and Credo, should be said, except on doubles of the first class or other privileged days At the end of the mass, the Litany of the Blessed Virgin and the Memorare should be recited or chanted by the choir. We exhort the faithful to assist at mass on these days and participate in the devo- tions in honor of Mary Immaculate, who is the pat=oness of our beloved country as well of our Cathedral Church.
 Praying God to bestow the gift of His grace upon all the faithful entrusted to our care, so that the Lenten season may in truth, "be an acceptable time, a day of salvation" for all, I am
 Faithfully yours in Christ,
 EDWAD P. ALLEN,
 Bishop of Mobile. Feast of the Commemoration of the Pas-
 sion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
 The word Lent" is of Teutonic origin and means spring time and in its origi- nal meaning of church usage it was the