The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-05-20
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are not long services but short and
prayerful, full of JUNCTION and the
occasion of great blessings The
churches should be filled for these
deyotions, for besides being union
of prayer to the Queen of May, at,
tendance at them is also mark OF
public homage, and one that will be
very pleasing to the Mother of God.
Ii even private prayer to the Blessed
Virgin is of such proved efficacy, what
must be the power of the prayer of
those who meet together for each of
these thirty-one days, solely for the
purpose of giving glory to her and
begging her protection! Surely the
world has need of 'Mary's watchful
care, and what surer way than this
is there of obtaining it?
Where it is found impossible to at
tend such devotions it should not be
difficult to substitute some special
home prayers. There are many
families in our land who keep up the
pious practice of erecting the May
Altar" in their homes. The statue
of the Blessed Virgin is placed in a
CONSPICUOUS position in one of the
rooms, and the children are taught
to bring the prettiest of wild flowers
to lay at Mary's feet Will not heaven
smile on these homes that so honor
it's Queen, and reserve for them choice
blessings?
In every home, at least, it will be
possible to recite the Rosary every
evening. There is no form of devo-
ton that We would SO much wish to
inculcate in the hearts of our readers
as this of the Family Rosary. 1t has
been for centuries the great safe
guard of the Irish people; it has been
their own special devotion; it has kept
them good and pure, and has brought
the blessings of God on countless
homes. In some places we fear this
beautiful practice is now gradually
dying out. In Gods name let it be
revived, Let this month of May mark
new beginning in this holy prae-
tice, and let fathers and mothers once
more unite their household every
evening to beg the blessing of God
and the protection of Mary on them
selves and all their undertakings.
Wherever, too, it is at all possible
to attend Mass daily and receive Holy
Communion every morning during
May, this should be done. 1t is
Mary'c witch FL Load oVorvopo IN hor
Son, and there can be truer way of
honouring her than by being present
at the renewal of that great Sacrifice
in which she had SO large a part,
and towards which all her life tended.
Then by the reception of the Blessed
Eucharist we unite ourselves to Mary S
Son and thus give joy to her heart,
which never throbbed but in union
with His, and which is one with His
i'll the union of eternal lqye.
These, then, are the devotions by
which Mary's month can be sancti-
fed and with little trouble made
really into a time consecrated to her
But besides devotion there is another
thing also-there is service, Is there
nothing we can do for Mary? Is
there no way by which we can prove
that our devotion is true and sincere
Can we lead no others to the feet OF
her Son? The service of Mary is not
hard. 1t is not difficult to try to make
our lives just little better by the
overcoming of some special fault, Oh
the acquiring of some special virtue.
There is just one virtue to which
we shall refer, and we make mention
of it because it is one in which every
one can improve, and it is virtue in
which Mary herself excelled. 1t is
the homely virtue of kindness. The
amount of good that can be done b,
the kindly word and the thoughtful
act is incalculable. The number oil
hard hearts that are softened. the
vices that are overcome, the unhappy
homes that are sweetened-all through
the influence of our kind heart, are
without number. Life is hard enough
for most people, they have enough Oh
the trials and sorrows that fall tc
everybody's lot without the addition
of sharp tongue and an unsympa
thetic heart in their own family circle
The husband and father who vii
try to put aside his gruffness, and
learn to feel for those who are toiline
all day in the hard monotonous rounC
OF home duties; the wife and mother
who will not make miserable by
nagging and scolding the evening that
should be consecrated to the domes
tic peace and joy of union Of hearts;
the children who will not be peevisl
and sulky, but will, by their willing
ness to help and their sunny laugh
ter make themselves a joy to theil
happy parents all these will brins
down on their homes the blessing o.
Mary and the happiness that dwell
within the Holy Home of Nazareth.
Every little thing that we do fol
the Mother of God will not only make
ourselves happier and holier, but will
bring down abundant blessings on us
and on those with whom we come in
contact. And Just as May leads to
June, and the month of May prepares
our hearts for the month of the Sacred
Heart, so Mary will bless us and lead
us even closer to the Heart of hel
Divine Son and the bright reward oil
His elect.
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