June 10 — Queen of Scotland

One week has elapsed since the day on which we beheld Clotilde arise, and from yonder land of Franoe won over to Christ by her, make known to the whole world, what is the special rdle of woman beside the cradle of a nation. Until Christianity oame, man altogether lowered in his own person and in the social order, by the consequences of sin, was wholly ignorant of the grandeur of the divine intention, in this respeot; philosophy and history never dreamed it possible that maternity oould be raised to such heights. But since the Holy Ghost has been given to man to instruct him, both theoretically and practically, in all truth, examples have been multiplied whereby the wondrous vastness of the divine plan has been dearly set forth, strength and sweetness herein presiding, as ever, at the counsels of Eternal Wisdom.

Scotland had long been Christian, when Margaret was given to her, not to lead her to the baptismal font, but to establish, amidst a population so diversified and so often at mutual enmity, as was hers, that unity which makes a Nation. Ancient Caledonia

1 St. John, xvi, 13. defended by her lakes, mountains, and rivers, had, up to the fall of the Roman empire, kept her independence. But, whilst herself inaccessible to invading troops, she had beoome the refuge of the vanquished of every race, and the proscribed of every epoch. Many an advancing wave that had paused and crouohed at the feet of her granite frontiers, had swept pitilessly over the Southern provinces of the great British island. Britons, Saxons, and Danes in turn, dispossessed and driven from their homes, fleeing northwards had successively crept in, and settling down, as best they might, had maintained their own customs, in juxtaposition with those of the first inhabitants, adding consequently their own mutual jealousies to the inveterate divisions of the Picts and Scots. But from the very evil itself, the remedy was to come. God, in order to show that he is master of revolutions, just as he is of the surging waves, was about to confide the execution of his meroiful designs upon Scotland, to such casual instruments as a storm or a political overthrow may sometimes prove to be.

At the opening of the eleventh century, Danish invasion had driven from the English shore, the sons of the Saxon king, Edmund Ironside. The orowned apostle of Hungary, Saint Stephen I, generously received the fugitives, at his court, welcoming in these helpless children, the great-nephews of a Saint, namely Edward the Martyr. To the eldest, he gave his own daughter in marriage, and the seoond he affianced to the niece of St. Henry, Emperor of Germany. Of this last mentioned union, were born three children, Edgar, surnamed Atheling, Christina afterwards a nun, and Margaret whose feast the Churoh is keeping to-day. Ere long by the turning tide of fortune, the exiles once more returned to their oountry and Edgar was brought to the very steps of the English throne. For,, in the meanwhile, the sceptre

ST. MARGARET, QUEEN. had passed from the Danish princes, back again to the Saxon line, in the person of their uncle, Saint Edward the Confessor, and by very birth-right, seemed destined to pass ultimately to Edgar Atheling. But, almost immediately after their return from exile, the death of St. Edward and the Norman conquest, again banished the royal Saxon family. The ship bearing these noble fugitives, bound for the continent, was driven in an opposite direction by a hurrioane, and stranded on the Scottish shore. Edgar Atheling, despite the efforts of the Saxon party, was never to raise up the fallen throne of his sires ; but his sister, the Saint of this day, made conquest of the land whither the storm, God's instrument, had carried her.

Having become the wife of Malcolm III, her gentle influence softened the fierce instincts of the son of a Duncan, and triumphed over the barbarism still so dominant in those parts of the country, as to separate them utterly from the rest of the known world. The fierce highlander and haughty lowlander, reconciled at last, now followed their gentle queen along hitherto unknown paths, thrown open by her, to the light of the Gospel. The strong now bent him down to meet the weak or the poor ; and all alike, casting aside the rigidity of their hardy race, let themselves be captured by the alluring charms of Christian charity. Holy penitence resumed its rights over the gross instincts of mere nature. The frequentation of the sacraments once more brought into esteem, produced seasonable fruits. Everywhere, whether in Church or in state, abuses vanished. The whole kingdom became one family, whereof Margaret was called the Mother ; for Scotland was born by her to true civilisation. David I. (inscribed like his mother, in the catalogue of the Saints) completed the work begun by her ; and another child

TIME AFTER PENTBC06T. of Margaret's, alike worthy of her, Matilda of Sootland, surnamed the " gocd Queen Maude," was married to Henry I. of England ; and thus, an end was put on the English soil, to the persistent rivalries of victors and vanquished, by this admixture of Saxon blood with the Norman race.

The following are the words given in the Liturgy, concerning Saint Margaret :

Margaret, Queen of Scots, was most noble by birth, uniting in herself, from her father the blood of the kings of England, and from her mother the blood of the Caesars, but her greatest nobility was in her brave Christian life. She was born in Hungary, where her father was then an exile, and had passed a highly religious childhood, when her uncle Edward the holy King of England, recalled him to the royal prerogatives of his ancestors, and she came to England with him. A few years afterwards, upon the ruin of her family, she was escaping from England by sea, when the violence of the weather, or to speak more truly, the Providence of God, caused the ship to be driven upon the coast of Scotland. There her extraordinary graces of mind and of body so attracted king Malcolm ill, that by the wish of his mother, he took her fc> wife ; and of Scotland she deserved exceedingly well, during the thirty years of her reign, by the holiness qt her

Margarita, Scotorum regina, paterno Anglise regum, materno Csesarum sanguine clarissima, illustrior adhuc fuit Christiana virtute. Haec in Hungaria nata, ubi pater tunc temporis exsulabat, post exactam summa cum pietate puerilem seta tern, una cum genitore, qui a sancto Eduardo patruo, Anglorum rege, ad paterni regni fastigium vocabatur, in Angliam venit. Mox, alternante parentum fortuna, ex Anglira littore sol vena, vi tempestatis expulsa, seu verius divin® providentiae consilio deduota est in oram maritimam Scotise. Ibi oum ex matris imperio Malcholmo Tertio Scotorum regi, egregiis ejus dotibus capto, nupsisset, sanctimoni® et pietatis operibus, triginta quibus regnavit annis, toti regno minfice profuit.

ST. MARGARET, QUBBN. life and the abundance of her works of mercy.

In the midst of regal delicacies, she afflicted her body with hardships and watchings, being used to spend great part of the night in earnest prayer. Besides other fasts which she imposed upon herself, it was her custom to observe one of forty days before Christmas; concerning which fast she was so rigid, that she would not relax it even under sharp suffering. She took great delight in the public worship of God, and founded or renewed a number of churches and convents which she enriched at great cost with sacred furniture. Her healthy example drew the king, her husband, to habits of sobriety and to the imitation of her in her good works. She educated all her children in so holy a manner, and with such happy success, that several of them, like her own mother Agatha and her sister Christina, embraced a most holy course of life. The happiness of the whole kingdom was the object for which she constantly strove, and she successfully rooted out all the vices which had stealthily crept in, and established among the people a standard of living worthy of Christians.

The most remarkable feature of her life was the tenderness of her charity towards her neighbour, especially the needy. Of these she would not only order crowds to be relieved, but was accustom-

In ter regales delicias corpus afflictationibus ac vigiliis macerans, magnam noctis partem piis precationibus extrahebat. Praeteralia jejunia quae identidem usurpabat, integros quadraginta dies ante natalitia festa tanta cum severitate jejunare consuevit, ut ne in gravissimis quidem doloribus intermiserit. Divino cultui addictissima, templa plurima et coenobia partim ex integro excitavit, partim resarcivit, et sacra suppellectili ac largo censu ditavit. Begem conjugem ad meliorem frugem et ad similia suis exercitationibus opera saluberrimo exemplo traduxit, liberosque omnes tarn sancte et feliciter educavit, ut eorum plerique, quemadmodum et Agatha mater et Christina soror, sanctissimum vitae genus amplexi sint. Universi demum regni felicitati consulens, a vitiis omnibus quae furtim irrepserant populos expurgavit, eisque mores Christiana pietate dignos restituit.

Nihil tamen aeque in ilia mirabile f uit ac flagrantissima caritas erga proximos, praesertim egenos, quorum numerosis gregibus non modo stipem affatim suppeditare, verum etiam treoentis

TIMB AFTER PENTECOST. q uotidie materna benignitate ed dapes prsebere, flexis geni- dred bus in morem ancillae ministrare, regiis manibus pedes abluere, et pressis etiam osculis ulcera fovere, solemne habuit. His porro aliisque piis sumptibus non regias tantum vestes et pretiosa monilia distraxit, sed ipsum non semel exhausit serarium. Toleratis demum ad atientisB miraoulum acerissimis doloribus, animam semestri corporis segrota- Putione purgatam Auctori suo rified ouarto Idus Junii reddidit, Quo temporis momento fa- lous cies ejus diuturni morbi macie ac pallore foedata, in- Creasolita quadam venustate tor, refloruit. Miris etiam post mortem prodigiis clara, et Clementis Decimiauctoritate in Scotiae patronam accepta, ubique terrarum religiosissime colitur. to give dinner to three hunof them every day, treating them with the tenderness of a mother, holding it a sacred privilege to wait upon them on her knees, like a handmaid ; washing their feet with her own royal hands, and even pressing her lips to their sores, with tender kisses. To meet the expenses of her charity, she sold not only her queenly raiment and her precious jewels, but more than once wholly exhausted her treasury. by grievous sufferin g which she bore with marvelpatience during an illness of six months, she resigned her soul into the hands of her upon the fourth of the Ides of June. At the moment of death, the bystanders saw her face, till then pale and worn with long sickness, flush again with a beauty to which it had become disused. After her death, she became illustrious on account of great signs and prodigies. By the authority of Pope Clement X, she was chosen patroness of Scotland, and she is honoured most religiously throughout the whole world, with the usual cultvs.

We hail thee, 0 Queen, truly worthy of the praises lavished upon thee by posterity, among the most illustrious of sovereigns ! Power, in thy hands, became an instrument of rescue for an entire population. Thine earthly passage marks the meridian of true light, for Scotland, Yesterday, holy Church commemorated in her Martyrology, him who was thy

ST. MARGARET, QUEEN. precursor in this far-off land, Colum-kille, who leaving Ireland, in the sixth century, had borne the faith thither. But Christianity crippled in its soarings, by divers combined circumstances, oould produce scarcely any of its civilising effects on the then inhabitants of the land. Only a Mother could perfect the supernatural education of the nation. The Holy Ghost who had chosen thee, 0 Margaret, for the task, prepared thy maternity in the midst of tribulation and anxiety : thus had he acted in the case of Clotilde ; thus does he ever act in the case of mothers. How mysterious and hidden did not the ways of Eternal Wisdom seem, as realised in thy person ! Thy birth in exile, far from the land of thy sires ; thy return home ; then fresh misfortunes ; then the tempest at sea ; and at last, thy being cast despoiled of everything, upon the crags of an unknown coast : what a list of disasters, and who among the worldly wise would ever have dreamed that herein was the direct course of a merciful Providence, to make the combined violence of men and the elements, serve the sweet purposes of His designs in thy regard ! Yet so it was ; and this was the very way thou wast moulded into the valiant woman, raised in all thy loftiness above the deoeits of this present life, and wholly fixed on God, the one supreme Good, alone untouched by earth's revolutions.

Far from becoming either soured or dried up by suffering, thy heart firmly anchored, beyond the influence of this world's ebb and flow, on unshaken and Eternal Jjove, was ever up to the mark, in foresight and in devotedness, such as was needed to hold thee always at the height of the mission destined for thee. Wherefore, thou wast indeed that treasure worthy of being sought from the uttermost lProv. xxxi. 10—31. coasts ; that merchant ship bringing bread from afar, and all good things to the favoured shore on whioh she is cast. Tea, fortunate indeed were thy land of adoption, had she never forgotten thy teaohing and example ! Happy thy descendants, had they ever rememberedf that the blood of saints flowed in their veins ! Yet, worthy of thee in death, was at least the last Queen of Scots, as she bowed beneath the heads-man's axe, a brow faithful to her baptism, up to her last breath. But, alas, the unworthy son of Mary Stuart, by a policy as false as it was sacrilegious, abandoned at once both the Church and his own mother. Thenceforth heresy blighted the noble stem whence so many kings had sprung ; and this at the very moment when England and Scotland were first united under one sceptre's sway ! Nor may the treason of a James I, be redeemed by the fidelity of a second James, to the faith of his fathers ! 0 Margaret, thy throne is firmly fixed for ever in the eternal kingdom ; but abandon not thine own England, the land of thy sires, nor Scotland still more thine own, of which Holy Church has declared thee patroness. The Apostle Andrew shares with thee, the rights of patronage : in concert with him, then, preserve those who have been steadfast in fidelity, multiply' converts to the anoient faith, and prepare the way for a speedy gathering of the whole flock, into the fold of the one Shepherd.

1 Prov. xxxi. 10—31. 2 St. John, x. 16.

June 11. SAINT BAENABAS,

AP08TLB.

The promulgation of the new Alliance invited all nations to sit down at the Marriage-feast, in the kingdom of God ; since that day, the sanotifying Spirit is ever producing saints in every age, and at moments which correspond most mysteriously, to the deep and hidden designs of Eternal Wisdom, over the particular history of a people. Nor must we be astonished hereat : for Christian nations having, as such, their appointed part in the advancing of the kingly sway of the Man-God, this vocation imposes duties upon them and gives them rights, superior to nature's law; the supernatural order invests them with its inherent greatness ; and the Holy Ghost by means of his Elect, fosters not only their birth, but likewise their development. This wondrous working of divine Providence, as presented on history's page, is indeed admirable; where the hidden influence of sanctity in even the frail and lowly, is ever being divinely used to over-rule the powerful action of the mighty, who seem, in men's eyes, to be leading everything their own way. Now, among the saints strikingly appointed as channels of grace to nations, none are so particularly entitled to universal remembrance and gratitude, as are the Apostles, for they are laid as foundation stones of the edifice of Christian society, whereof the Gospel is both the strength and the primary law. The Church is ever watchful to prevent her sons falling into a dangerous f orgetfulness of this ; hence no Liturgical season is without its memory of some one or other of these glorious witnesses to Christ. But from the day that the world was delivered over to become the conquest of their zeal, the mysteries of man's salvation being all consummated, their names are more closely pressed together on the sacred records ; each month of the cycle now borrows its characteristic colouring, from the brilliant triumph of some one of these.

The month of June all aflame with the fires of Pentecost, sees the Holy Ghost setting upon its predestined foundations, the first layer of stones, in the Church's construction ; to tbis month, that is, belongs the honour of proclaiming the memorable names of Peter and Paul, wherein are summed up all the services and trophies of the whole Apostolic College. Peter declared the Gentiles admitted to the grace of the Gospel ; Paul was named their Apostle ; but still, before rendering the homage so justly due to these two leaders of the Christian people, fitting is it that nations should throng, in grateful veneration, around the sainted guide given to Paul himself, in the opening days of his apostolate, that is, around Barnabas, whose name is interpreted, the son of consolation, and by whom the convert of Damascus was presented to the terrified Church, anon so sorely tried by the violence of Saul the persecutor. The 29th of June will derive its chief radiance from the simultaneous confession of the two Princes of the Apostles, united

• Eph. ii. 20. 2 Acts, iv. 36.

ST. BARNABAS, AP. in death, as they had been one in life. Be then honour due, first of all, to him who first knit together this fruitful union, by leading to the Head of the infant Church, the future Doctor of the Gentiles. Barnabas presents himself before us, as a herald ; the feast which the Church is celebrating in his honour is a prelude to the gladness which awaits us, at the end of this month so rich in light and in fruits of holiness.

Let us read his history, drawn up, as it mainly is, from the Acts of the Apostles. Notwithstanding its brevity, there are, on the pages of the sacred Liturgy, few more glorious than this.

Barnabas, called also Joseph, a Levite, was born in Cyprus, and was the one designated by the apostles, together with Paul, to preach the Gospel of Christ, to the Gentiles. He haying land, sold it, and brought the money to the apostles. Being sent to Antioch to preach there, he met with a great number of people already converted to the faith of Christ, the Lord, which thing filled him with much joy, and he multiplied his exhortations, that they might persevere in the faith of Christ. His word had great success, for he was looked upon by all as a good man and one filled with the Holy Ghost.

Travelling thence to Tarsus, there to seek Paul, he came with him as far as Antioch. They here passed one year with

Barnabas Levites, Cyprius genere, qui et Joseph, cum Jraulo Gentium Apostolus ordinatus est ad prsedicandum Jesu Christi Evangelium. Is, agro vendito quern habebat, redactam ex eo pecuniam attulit Apostolis. Missus autem Antiochiam praedicationis causa, cum ibi multos ad Christi Domini fidem converses esse comperisset, incredibiliter laetatus, eos hortabatur ut in Christi fide permanerent. Qua cohortatione multum proficiebat, quod ab omnibus vir bonus et Spiritu Sancto plenus habebatur.

Profectus inde Tarsum, ut qusereret Paulum, cum eo Antiochiam venit. In ejus urbis Ecclesia annum com-

1 Ant. Oct. Ap. ad Bened.

» Acts, ix. 27. morati, christians fidei et vitse illis hominibus prsecepta dederunt : ubi etiam Je«u Ohristi cultores primum Chris tiani sunt appellati. Discipuli autem Pauli et Barnabse suis f aoultatibus christianos, qui in Judaea erant, sustentabant, eo mittentes pecuniam per Paulum et Barnabam. Qui per - functi illo charitatis officio, adhibito Johanne cui cognomen erat Marcus, redierunt Antiochiam.

Cum autem Antiochise in Ecclesia, cum cseteris prophetis et doctoribus, Paulus et Barnabas in jejunio et oratione Domino deservirent, dixit Spiritus Sanctus : Segregate mihi Saulum et Barnabam in opus ad quod assumpsi eos. Tunc jejunantes et orantes, imponentesque eis manus, dimiseruntillos. Itacjue S»eleuciam venerunt, mde in Cyprum: ac multas prseterea urbes regionesque, praedicantes Evangelium summa cum audientium utilitate, peragrarunt. Postremo Barnabas, digressus a Paulo, una cum Johanne qui cognominatus est Marcus, navigavit in Cuprum : ibique circiter septimum Neronis annum, tertio Idus Junii, ad apostolici muneris laudem martyrii coronam adjunxit. Ejus corpus, Zenone imperatore, repertum est in insula Cy pro; ad cujus pectus the Faithful who formed the Church of this city, labouring to instruct them in the Christian life and in faith ; and here also it was, that the worshippers of Jesus Christ were first called Christians. The disciples of Paul and Barnabas aided with alms, the Christians that were in J udea ; and sent these subsidies by the hands of Paul and Barnabas. Havine nerformed this work of charity, joining unto them John, surnamed Mark, they returned to Antioch.

Whilst Paul and Barnabas were serving the Lord in the Church of Antioch, fasting and praying with the other prophets and doctors, the Holy Ghost spoke and said : Separate Me Paul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them. Then with fasting and prayer, they imposed hands upon them and let them depart. They went to Seleucia, and thence to Cyprus ; besides this, they passed through many towns and countries preaching the gospel everywhere with much fruit, amongst all who heard them. After this Barnabas separated himself from Paul and together with John surnamed Mark, returned to Cyprus. Here, about the seventh year of the reign of Nero, on the third of the Ides of June, he joined the martyr's crown to the dignity of an Apostle. In the reign of the Emperor Zeno, nis body was discovered, in the

BT. BARNABAS, AP. erat Evangelium Matthsei, Island of Cyprus : on his 'Barnabse manu conscrip- breast lay a copy of the Gostum. pel of Saint Matthew, written by the hand of Barnabas himself.

To thee, 0 Barnabas, we offer the gratitude of the nations. Thou didst watch, 0 faithful Xievite, beside the figurative sanctuary of the days of expectation, observing the coming of the Lord God, until at last the true ark, the Inoarnate Word, having appeared in Sion, thou didst at once take thy plaoe at his side, to defend and serve him, the ark of holiness, that had come to rally all nations, to give unto them the true manna, to establish amongst all a new oovenant ; this was to require from the sons of the Old Testament, the sacrifice of the privileges that had been theirs, sinoe the first prevarication of the Gentiles. Though a member of the favoured tribe of Levi, prompt wast thou to abandon its sacred titles which thou didst recognise to have been but limited, and to be now set aside ; yea, outstepping mere precept, thou didst not hesitate to renounce all thy family possessions and give them up, together with thyself, to the Church yet in her infanoy and scorned by the Synagogue. Therefore, the Holy Ghost would not be out-done in generosity ; to thee he reserved the signal privilege of presenting to the Gentiles, their apostle. Saul was thy friend; blinded by the prejudices of his sect, he scorned to follow thine example ; and the Faithful trembled at his very name, seeing in him their most relentless persecutor. But silently thine intercession arose from earth, and blending with that of 'Stephen, pleaded a strong prayer for the murderer. The hour of grace had sounded ; and thou

1 Lev. viii. 35.

TIMB AFTER PENTBCOST. wast the first in Jerusalem, to hear of its victory ; oh the strength of thy testimony alone, the terrified assembly of believers opened their doors to the reoent convert.

Thus appearing before the Church, as guarantee for the future Dootor of the Gentiles, to thee belonged the honour of leading him forth to the scene of his labours. Thine it was not, to be numbered among the Twelve by our Lord, yet thine authority was of a kind that almost equalled theirs. After the baptism of Cornelius, thou wast delegated, by the apostles to Antioch to direct the evangelisation of the Gentiles. There Paul, the new laoourer, was joined to thee ; and then did the word of salvation falling from thy lips, begin to produce conversions so numerous, that the Faithful were then called, for the first time Christians, to distinguish them at onoe from both pagans and Jews. The emancipation of the nations was thus accomplished and Paul in the eyes of all, as also according to the language of the Holy Ghost himself, was still but thy disciple and thy client. For which reason the Divine Spirit was pleased that thou shouldst share in common with him, that solemn ordination whereby he was constituted Apostle of the Gentiles. But very soon after this, the greater good of souls required that thy journeys and labours, hitherto inseparable from his, should be divided. Thine apostolate was then directed more specially to the Island of Cyprus, so abused in pagan times, by the demon of voluptuousness : there hadst thou first seen the light and now thou didst gladly devote thy sweat and even thy blood to diffusing throughout this thy native Isle, the purifying light of the Son of God.

But the Pentecostal fires burning in thy breast,

1 Acts, xi ; xii. 26 ; xiii. 1.

ST. BARNABAS, AP. urged thee ever forwards and onwards to more distant missions. Of thee it was written as of Paul : I have set thee to be the light of the Gentiles : that thou may est be for salvation unto the uttermost part of the earth} Thus, Italy also heard thy sweet voice, redolent of the joy and consolation of the Paraclete ; she beheld thy noble countenance, the serene majesty whereof had made the pagans of another land mistake thee for one of their gods, veiled under human features. Bergamo, Brescia, and other places, especially Milan, claim thee as their Father. Then, 0 Barnabas, from thine exalted throne, look down and ever protect the faith thou didst deposit in these spots, which, more fortunate than the fated cities of Cyprus, have remained faithful. Vouchsafe to protect the Order, so useful to the Church, which claims thy powerful patronage ; may its apostolate continue to carry out thiDe own, and may its members deserve unto the day of doom, the high esteem in whioh it was held by Saint Charles Borromeo, thy glorious successor in the see of Milan. In one word, 0 Father of the Gentiles, extend thy solicitude to all nations, for all, without distinction, were confided to thee by the Holy Ghost, suffer them to enter into the way of light so exquisitely described in that precious Epistle whioh bears thy blessed name: may the Gentile world beoome the true temple, of which that of Moriah was but a figure.