The Catholic times. [volume], December 19, 1952, 1952 Christmas Supplement, Image 12

About The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current

Image provided by: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

                
dent N
at tw
th*
i broi
s »cho
Nur»
high!
a
s
lb
‘V
ilar
or, an
’oncep
electee
Cat!
he gro
Hotel
which
forme
men
iy of
Hote
hear i
a
athol.
one
1 o‘c
on.
Iter I
presh
f, ant
Iter I
pres
with
)unn,
ncy,
truste
ii lx
I
s?
I
abov»
lent i
-an I
cabir
•wer.
teent
S,
lesse
gton,
int.
MEV
'oils
is
ate
FOR
COL
If You Can
I Shortly «illci hrs cimsecrt utmn. the late Bishop James An
thony Walsh, founder of Mary knoll, was called to Rome.
While Europe he visited a famous mystic to discuss certain
items which concerned Maryr
the conclusion of their confer-
spiritual matters—probably i
knoll missioners in Asia. At
ence the mystic commented,
your making this trip. Yon
sent your Guardian Angel.”
Ihis remark, which has the im
pact of a new discovery though bas
cd on one of the oldest doctrines of
the Church, brings into our sphere
of operation a limitless number of
spiritual possibilities.
Distance No Barrier
Every year thousands of people
who an physically handicapped
make pilgrimages to famous
shrines to ask God to restore the
soundness of their bodies and
minds. But sickness does not lirn
it itself to those of means lor ev
ery individual who carries his ill
ness to the shrine, there are a hun
dred stricken persons at home or
in hospitals who have no money for
a pilgrimage. While a patient re
mains inactive, he can send his
Guardian Angel angels, theology
THE
GOD’S HEAVENLY MESSENGER SERVICE
i
Send Your Guardian Angel
By lhe Bl. Rev. Franrig Sadlier O.S.B.
Abbot, St. Ix'o, Florida
Bishop, there was no need of
could just as effectively have
'dis us, have the gift of "agility'’
skimming across the miles to
those parts of lhe world which
have been especially favored by
God and His Blessed Mother.
Send your Guard tun Auyel! This
is an open invitation to use God s
Heavenly Messenger Service. And
particularly at Christmas this
thought is in our minds, for was
it not io angels that God entrusted
the most important message ever
delivered to man?
Homework, Too
Not that the Guardian Angel is
a traveling agent exclusively- gen
erally, he has sufficient homework
to keep him busy in the immediate
vicinity.
One blue Monday a friend of
mine frowned at the work accumu-
CATHOLIC TIMES CHRISTMAS SUPPLEMENT
lated on his desk through a haze of
stale alcohol—a condition that, un
fortunately, was becoming chronic.
He needed no outside advice to
realize that the habit was ruining
his career. But a seemingly insur
mountable a u ment persisted:
Road-Piece
How lone the traveler
On December’s hill
How swift sets the sun
Against his will!
Only the snow and the sky,
And both immense,
Only the dark and the cold,
And both intense.
How would he see?
How would one endure—
The way would be lost,
The goal be obscure
For man, poor pilgrim,
Missioned to earth—
But for a Star, a Child.
And a Royal Birth.
—Crescence A. Burgunder
UPR
n*S z*A
Ai
THE RETAIL MERCHANTS
among the cures at Lourdes which ‘•Christianity must spread jat’ jn accomplishing God’s will.'
a pw
:., .« v'‘A& .. ..^ •■»••. ■•'.
ASSOCIATION OF COLUMBUS
3BSBT!
muvcihj
i “Whiskey is the one solace of my prayer. During the week he tried
I life. What can I find to take its it when, at the end of the day, his
[place?” (footsteps naturally turned towards
He sought a solution in religion,I what he called his “pause for pota
and the study of Catholicism I hies. But even with the Angel's
brought him into lhe Church. But I help it was not easy. It seemed that
his boredom persisted. So did thel^hile the Angel tugged at one side,
bottle and the cold desp.nr oi l’he tavern door tugged at the oth
repeated failure. He thought of |*‘r that was 13 years ago, and
marriage but frankly decided thatlthe Angel won the tussle.
his own Ide was hell enough wilh No St. Patrick In Florida
out the added worry of ruining the! When the Cassinese Benedictines
happiness of another. Then, one I first came to America, they settled
Sunday evening, something hap lin remote sections of the country
pened that changed his mental at-Lather than in cities. Accordingly,
titude. In the tapering oil" stage (they were placed under the patron
he was making an honest effort tolage of the Guardian Angel and re
go to bed reasonably sober. Imaih so today.
Through the day he had been I ln i89o, when our own Abbey
drinking mildly. Now, at sundown, |was founded here at St. Leo, this
the urge for a “nightcap Lection of Florida had the charac
Strong and yet, he knew that the |ter of an outpost—a land of pal
nightcap would, as always, prolong (motto and prejudice. The acreage
itself into the small hours ol the|M.JS uncleared and as lhe Brothers
morning. He decided Io got out of|Morked by lhe side of Lake Jov|la
the bouse for a while. (in the sandy soil where citrus trees
Tug-Of-War |now grow, they were aware of the
St. Patrick s Cathedral invited lever present rattlers, water mocca
him as he walked along Fifth Ave-Lins and the small but venemous
nue. He went in and sat in one of (coral snakes. One wonders how of
the rear pews. It was quiet in theLcn the Guardian Angel guided
edifice at that hour, although a few (footsteps away from deadly fangs,
sightseers did walk reverently] S O S .!
through the aisles He noticed that, I In Arkansas there Was a Benedic
for lhe most part, they were in cou Line missioner, Father Matthew,
pies. And their apparent content-(who rode the Ozark trails for the
ment caused a sense of loneliness (greater part of his long life. One
to envelop him. No doubt, it was |mght he unsaddled his mule and
this loneliness which brought the (prepared to settle down under the
thought of his Guardian Angel to (stars, as he frequently did in the
mind. With a wry smile he nun (mountains. While tethering his an
mured to his invisible companion. Lmal he saw a light through the
“Angel mine, if you would only get (trees and thought that a new set
me past the tavern door!” (tier must have arrived. He re-
The thought, half jocose at the (mounted quickly and went to ac
start, persisted until it gradually |cept the inevitable hospitality
assumed the serious character of a |the trail.
December 19. 1952
I He rode for hours and the hfht
I remained at an even distance in
I front of him. It was not until the
I morning sun was breaking over rhe
|hills that he reached the cabin. He
I must have ridden all of 20 miles,
yet the light always seemed only
a hundred yards ahead.
The cabin was deserted when he
entered, and there was no light.
But a low moan came from a neigh
boring pine grove, and there Fa
ther Matthew found the settler,
pinned beneath a tree which hail
veered when he felled it. Wilh a
shovel and an axe he freed the pin
ioned man and brought him back
to the cabin. When able to talk
the settler asked how the priest
had happened to be on that remote
trail. Father Matthew replied,
“Your Guardian Angel came after
me.”
I Angel's Express
One of my confreres found it
necessary to send out begging let
ters (Heaven help him!) and he
said that he was sending his Guard
ian Angel along with each letter to
keep it from premature burial in
the wastebasket. A little argument
ensued about overworking his ba
loved Guardian, to which the priest
replied, "If Bishop Sheen can send
an Angel out through his radio mi
crophone and television camera, I
can certainly send mine along on
a postage stamp.’’
1 often wonder, as 1 drive along
the highway, what restraining force
it is that prevents little children
from dashing onto the roadway af
ter a muffed baseball or a wayward
puppy. And the consoling thought
comes to me: their Guardian An
gels watch over them.
------------o----------------
I Christinas Candle
I A tradition among German peo
Ipie is to have one large candle
I burning before the crib to remind
I all that the Holy Child, the Light
I of the world, is with us.” Around
I the crib are other candles, one for
leach member of the household, and
I these are lighted from the one
I large candle to show that light”
I comes to all from Him who is the
I Light.
I In some parts of Germany and
(Austria. children carry bread, eggs,
I salt and incense to church to be
I blessed. Bread and eggs are given
Ito the poor, the salt is kept as a
01 reminder that every member of the
I family must be “salt of the earth,
I never to lose its savor,” and with
I the incense the whole house is
I filled with an odor of sweetness, a
I symbol of that sweetness of charity
(which must bind the family one to
■another.
This is a good week to buy
Christmas Seals and help w the
battle against tuberculosis.