CAPG's Blog 

The image of the Holy Virgin of Częstochowa (derivative, after 1714), collection of Radomysl Castle

I

LADY and Queen and Mystery manifold
And very Regent of the untroubled sky,
Whom in a dream St Hilda did behold

And heard a woodland music passing by :
You shall receive me when the clouds are high
With evening and the sheep attain the fold.
This is the faith that I have held and hold,
And this is that in which I mean to die.

II

Steep are the seas and savaging and cold
In broken waters terrible to try;
And vast against the winter night the wold,
And harbourless for any sail to lie.

But you shall lead me to the lights, and I
Shall hymn you in a harbour story told.
This is the faith that I have held and hold,
And this is that in which I mean to die.

III

Help of the half-defeated, House of gold,
Shrine of the Sword, and Tower of Ivory;
Splendour apart, supreme and aureoled,

The Battler's vision and the World's reply.
You shall restore me, O my last Ally,
To vengeance and the glories of the bold.
This is the faith that I have held and hold,
And this is that in which I mean to die.

Envoi

"He was bishop of Gortina in Candia. He had faithfully observed the divine law from his childhood, and governed the church of Gortina fifty-four years. Not content with preserving those of his flock in the purity of their faith, he laboured so effectually to increase the fold, that he converted a great number of pagans, and at the end of his life had the consolation to see almost the whole city submit to the true religion. He was apprehended at the age of eighty-eight, and upon his refusal to sacrifice to idols, was threatened with death, and exhorted to have pity on his venerable old age. "Do not regard my old age," he replied: "the God whom I serve has promised to renew my youth as that of an eagle.” The judge seeing him resolute, condemned him to the fire. This sentence filled the holy prelate with joy. Being cast into the flames, they left him untouched, and upon the surprise of the miracle, he was set at liberty. But the governor, being again provoked by new information of his zeal in the conversion of heathens, ordered him to die by the sword.

It is an ill sign, if you find all in peace about you. For the malice of the devil is so great against those, who live up to their duty, and give example of good to all who are witnesses of their conversation, that he seldom fails of giving those disturbance by an inward war, or by raising enemies against them. If you experience this his perverseness; to be dejected with the thoughts of your being unhappy, or to be impatient under the trouble, is that which will give him matter of triumph. For it is a part of his victory, to cast those into discouragement, whom he cannot draw into sin. But if you can keep up your spirits in the midst of his attempts, and learn to rejoice in what you suffer in the cause of virtue, and for being faithful to your God, the victory will be yours, and though encompassed with flames, you will escape without hurt. Therefore never yield to dejection, if you desire to overcome." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

Leonhard Beck: Saint Ulrich of Augsburg 

A FAULT AND ITS REPARATION.-When St. Ulrich was promoted to the see of Augsburg, the town had just been devastated by the Hungarians and the Sclaves; all its monuments were destroyed, the churches in ruins, the cathedral reduced to ashes, the clergy driven away, and the flock scattered. The bishop restored the ruined structures, rebuilt the churches, surrounded the town with a girdling wall, gathered his flock about him, re-established discipline, regulated the ecclesiastical chant and the public services of the Church, in a word, gave back life to his entire diocese. But these external cares did not absorb all his time, he still found sufficient to devote to works of piety, and his clergy might in every respect have taken him for their model. Having reached a great age, however, he thought he had done enough, appointed his nephew bishop in his stead, and retired to the abbey of St. Gall. Such a mode of acting being contrary to the discipline of the Church, the bishops of the province cited him to appear at Ingelheim, in order to hear his sentence. The aged man, with all humility, avowed that he had committed a fault, and begged, with tears in his eyes, that pardon might be accorded to him. His prayer was granted, but he had to resume the government of his diocese, where he died in 973, at the age of eighty.

MORAL REFLECTION.-The avowal of a fault is the best apology. 'Be not ashamed to confess thy sins, but strive for the justice of thy soul."-(Eccles. iv. 31.)