The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-02-16

ceSSltated the reduction of the Vatican
household to almost one-half of it's
population. Those remaining have
been placed upon war rations, to which
the Holy Father also has been obliged
to subject his own table
Relics of Cure d'Ars.-A priest of
the diocese of Louisville, Ky, has now,
for nearly 80 years, been in possession
of Il small copper statuette of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, kept on the table
of the holy Cure of AIRS, and much
cherished by him, and said to have
been the gift of the Cures mother
He has also two of twelve very
small volumes of the New Testament,
in Latin, and still preserved, as the
Cure left them, in his bedroom on the
book shelves close of his poor cot, at
AIRS in France.
Frescoes Perish in ConfIagration.-
Dispatches from Madrid state that fire
started in the royal palace at La Gran
ia, and before it could be checked
spread to nearby church, which with
the palace was destroyed. Govern
ment troops were summoned from Sc
govia to fight the fire. Very few of
the valuable pictures and art objects
in the palace were saved. The loss
will aggregate several million dollars.
in 1924. 1t was adorned with frescoes
by Spanish artists and in the chapel
were the tombs of Philip V and his
wife, Isabella Farnese.
A Mark of Faith.-An Irish priest
late Conception made eloquent COM
ment on the remarkable fact that
where devotion to the Blessed Virgin
waned there also devotion to her Son
became cooler. ''Reformers" had over
thrown her shrine throughout Great
Britain, replacing them with temples
"of soulless faith, faith which'
might be the hallmark of respecta-
bility, but which had not in it that
God-inspired enthusiasm that raised
men above the sordid things of this
world" When the Blessed Mother
was banished from her churches the
nation sustained the loss of a moral
and religious power from which it was
suffering still, said the preacher
Memorial to Nun Poetess.-A beau
tifu1 memorial has been unveiled at
the Mount Pleasant Convent, Liver
pool, to the late Sister Mary Xavier,
the pOetess of the institution and the
author of several well-known hymns.
1t takes the form of a statue, erected
in niche in one of the halls of the
college, and most tastefully and sym
pathetically carried out from her own
designs by her brother, Mr.. Bernard
Partridge, the cartoonist of Punch"
The gifted religious was well-known
to English-speaking Catholics every.
where through her volume of verses,
In HYMNS ct Canticis." Many of her
hymns, including Just For Today"
and Martyrs of England" have been
translated into Italian.
Cardinal 6Iesses Troops. - There
was a magnificent scene in Milan
Cathedral recently. A large number of
French troops passing through Wis
tied the Cathedral, where Cardinal Fer
rari, Archbishop of Milan, Italy,
preached a stirring discourse. He ex.
hOrted the immense congregation to
have perfect confidence in the Italian
and allied armies and to pray without
ceasing for victory After the service
the Cardinal distributed medals to the
French soldiers, who formed a guard
of honor for him, and specially bless
ed the regiment, afterwards receiv
ing the officers and conversjng with
them for some time. The people show
great enthusiasm for the troops, lay
ishing gifts of tobacco, flowers and
chocolates on the men, both French
and British, who pass through the city
on their way to the front.
The Brentwood Diocese.-The new
Informed Diocese of Brentwood, Eng
land, lately carved out of that of West
minister, and comprising the County
of Essex, whereof the Right Rev. Ber
nard Ward, son of the late Ideal"
Ward and brother of the late editor
OF the Dublin Review, is Bishop, has
been placed under the patronage of
Our Lady of Lourdes, with Saint
Ereonwald and Saint Edmund of Can
terbury as secondary patrons. Of the
two last-named saints, the former was
Saxon Bishop of London, and the lat
ter is chosen because so many of the
clergy of the new diocese were stu
dents of ST Edmund's College, Ware,
of which the Bishop was president.
Labors on Western Front-On the
western front the heroic labors of the
Catholic chaplains in the performance
of their duties on the field of battle,
has led to their being specially men
toned in the dispatches of Sir
General Haig. Among those espe-
cially mentioned are the following:
Rev. DIR. Francis Aveling, formerly of
Westminster Cathedral and the Catho-
lie Missionary Society; Rev. Michael
Cullen, S. j., formerly Catholic Rector
of Yarmouth; Rev. Oswald Dolan, of
Sheffield; Rev. William Fitzmaurice,