Francis Spirago

“ He left the priest no peace until told what was meant, but first he had to give his word of honor that he would not take offense at the answer. Then the priest said: “ I will tell you who are the people who never sin: children who have not attained the age of reason, and idiots, or madmen who have lost their reason.” After this nothing more was said on religious topics. Seeing that man is as frail spiritually as he is corporally, no one can possibly venture to assert that he is without sin. ”

“ In 1866 Bernadette entered the convent of the Sisters of Mercy at Nevers; before her death she solemnly stated upon oath that all that she had related concerning the supernatural apparitions at Lourdes was strictly true. Lourdes is now visited every year by millions of pilgrims from all parts of Christendom, and is a thorn in the side of the adversaries of religion. For the Catholic Church, however, the facts of the occurrences at Lourdes are most valuable, as they shed glory on our faith and afford an incontrovertible proof of the truth of our holy religion. ”

“ The oppression of the poor and helpless is a sin so grievous that it even cries to Heaven for vengeance. In the year 1278 Rudolph of Hapsburg, the German emperor, was at war with Ottocar, the king of Bohemia. He defeated him in a pitched battle near Jedenspengen. At that time, in consequence of the great heat that prevailed, all the springs were dried up; the Emperor Rudolph suffered extremely from thirst, and no water could be got for him. Then two horse-soldiers rode to a distance in search of water for their emperor. ”

“ Had the acorn that fell been the size of a pumpkin, and dropped from the height it did, I should have been stunned, or at least my nose would have been broken. What we learn at school is quite true: God has ordained all things in creation with wisdom and forethought.” How foolish are those who think they know better than the all-wise Creator! ”

“ The prophets had foretold that the human race would be saved through the death of the King of glory. The Son of God took upon Himself the form of a servant, the nature of man; He came into the world, was not recognized by the world, and was put to death. ”

“ God is eternal. Two men died. Dives and Lazarus, and Lazarus was taken up to Abraham’s bosom, and Dives was buried in hell. And Dives begged God to allow Lazarus to give him one drop of water. Now, suppose God had done so, and Lazarus were permitted to place one drop on Dives’ tongue every million years, until all the water on the earth had been used up, would that time equal eternity? ”

“ We should have fallen into the sin of our first parents much more readily than they did, had we been in their place. In the employ of a prince there was a certain woodcutter who, while he was at work, was wont to inveigh against Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit, abusing them roundly for having transgressed so easy a commandment and thereby brought such unbounded misery on their posterity. ”

“ A cannonball, fired from the earth, would, provided it traveled all the way at the same rate of speed, take 25 years to reach the sun. Light, which travels 186,000 miles in a second, takes eight minutes to traverse the distance that separates our earth from the sun. There are some stars, the light of which does not reach us for years, or even centuries. The light of the polar star takes 60 years on its way to our earth.
The space of the universe is inconceivably vast. Our solar system, to which eight greater and about 280 lesser planets belong, is but an isolated group in immeasurable space. ”

“ That iron represents our human nature which tends to sink to the depths and stick fast in the mire of iniquity. God meant it to build for itself an eternal habitation in heaven, but it fell and sank. Then the Father cast His Son — the wood of the root of Jesse — into the stream of time, and lo! according as He sank into His humble earthly existence and the degradation of His passion and death, so our nature was raised up and restored to its original purpose, viz. to construct for itself — wielded by the Son — a heavenly mansion. ”

“ The youth was silent, and looked abashed. “ You will never be wise,” his mother said to him, “ if you do not believe in the Creator. The whole world will be an inexplicable puzzle to you and an enigma. Believe in God, and you will have the key to that enigma. Then only will you acquire true wisdom.” The hen indisputably existed before the egg, for the hen lays the egg, and has to hatch it if the young bird is to come out of it. Therefore God created the first hen.
Q. Were Adam and Eve innocent and holy when they came from the hand of God? ”

“ No one liked to say that God made the devils, so all looked at each other and were silent. At length a little girl ventured to say: “ Father, God made the angels, and some of the angels made themselves devils.” She was quite right; all that is good is from the Creator, but all the evil is the creatures’ very own. ”

“ Q. How many natures are there in Jesus Christ?
A. In Jesus Christ there are two natures, the nature of God and the nature of man.
St. Margaret
Christ gave proof of His divinity by His resurrection. St. Margaret, who suffered martyrdom in the year 284, was questioned by the pagan judge about the religion she professed. She answered that she was a Christian. “ Oh, how utterly foolish it is,” the judge exclaimed, “ to worship a man as if he were a god, — and such a man, too, who died the shameful death of the cross! ”

“ It is thus we examine and admire things and study the different ways in which our ideas may be modified and imitated in the material world. So, too, God contemplating His own divine essence forms a word, — the Word of God, the second Person of the Trinity, in whom all things had their first ideal existence; who though distinct from God, is God Himself since falling within the radius of the Divinity, and who was always God, for with God, to be and to know are simultaneous.
Q. Was Jesus Christ always man?
A. Jesus Christ was not always man, but became man at the time of His Incarnation. ”

“ The wisdom of God is displayed in creation. A man was lying in the shade of a spreading oak tree one hot summer’s day. As he looked idly about him, he saw a pumpkin vine trained on a fence, from which large, heavy pumpkins were hanging. ”

“ If we consider the universe, we shall assuredly be compelled to admire the omnipotence of God. A German prince was one day conducting a foreign ambassador over his palace and calling his attention to the strength of its walls, the beauty of its architecture and decorations. ”

“ ON OUR FIRST PARENTS AND THE FALL
Q. Who were the first man and woman?
A. The first man and woman were Adam and Eve.
The Hen’s Egg
The world did not come into existence without a Creator. A young man who had finished his studies at the high school came home with an overweening idea of his knowledge and wisdom. Amongst other foolish theories which he enunciated, he asserted that the world was not made, it came into existence of itself, and was not the work of a Creator. His mother, a simple but sensible woman, let him run on, and listened in silence ”

“ ON SIN AND ITS KINDS
Q. Is original sin the only kind of sin?
A. Original sin is not the only kind of sin; there is another kind of sin, which we commit ourselves, called actual sin.
One of the Exceptions
No man is without sin. Many individuals in the pride of their hearts imagine themselves free from sin, because they do not steal, or murder, or commit any crime for which society would condemn them. Once, in the presence of others, a gentleman said to the parish priest: ‘‘ I never go to confession. Father; I really have no sins to confess. ”

“ Q. Are the three Divine Persons equal in all things?
A. The three Divine Persons are equal in all things.
The Doxology
Cardinal Bona thinks that the first part of the Doxology or “Glory be to the Father,” etc, was composed by the apostles themselves. The Council of Vaison, 529 a.d., was the first to ordain the singing of it at the end of each psalm. The second part, “ As it was in the beginning,” etc., was added by the Council of Nicaea in 325 as an offset to an Arian heresy. As often as the Doxology is recited, the head should be bowed in adoration of the mystery of the Trinity. ”

“ In the present day, examples are more necessary than ever, because almost all the catechisms and manuals of religion now in use are written in a dry, concise style, with no other aim apparently than that of intellectual improvement. Thus unless the catechist weaves examples into the instruction given, the heart and the will remain untouched, and religious teaching becomes distasteful to children on account of its being so dull. The use of appropriate examples and illustrations is quite in accordance with Our Lord's method of teaching ”

“ His mother continued: “ That is impossible, for the egg comes from the hen, therefore the priority of existence belongs to the hen.” Her son answered: “ Perhaps you are right, mother.” But she said again: “ Yet you must not forget that there is never a hen that did not originally come out of an egg.” ”

“ It is impossible for man exactly to define the nature of God. Nero, the tyrant of Syracuse, one day summoned the philosopher Simonides to his presence and asked him what God actually was. The philosopher said he must have a day for reflection before answering the question. ”

“ At that moment a man of whose presence he was unaware came out from behind a screen, and said: “You are a good lad, for you have the fear of God before your eyes. Take as many apples as you like; you are welcome to them.” Had the boy not resisted the temptation to steal, he would probably have been punished. How useful the remembrance of God’s omniscience; it deters from sin and averts the consequences of sin.
The Bag of Pearls
A traveler having lost his way in the desert, wandered about for two days and nights without anything to eat or drink. ”

“ We are all born with an inclination to evil rather than to good, and this is in consequence of original sin; but we can and should practice that self-correction in which virtue properly consists. A physiognomist, after a study of Socrates’ face, decided he was a man inclined to lewdness, anger, drunkenness, and many other vices. ”

“ The Lord who reigns above needs neither pillars nor foundations to support the immeasurable dome He constructed; He upholds it by His omnipotent will alone. One must needs respect so great a Potentate! ”

“ The boy looked up and smiled. “It would be easier,” he replied, “ to empty all the sea into this trench than to fathom the mystery of the Holy Trinity.” Our finite intelligence can no more comprehend the nature of the infinite Deity than the waters of the ocean can be confined in a vessel of human manufacture.
Q. What is a mystery?
A. A mystery is a truth which we cannot fully understand. ”

“ Yet as they knew the missionary to be an upright and honorable man, they did not doubt him but believed his statement. If we give credence to the word of a man of known integrity, how much more ought we unhesitatingly to believe the word of God. ”

“ It is believed that when God created the angels and wished, before admitting them to the everlasting joys of heaven, to test their obedience. He revealed to them the future humanity of His only begotten Son and bade them all fall down and adore. Lucifer and his followers, pure spirits as they were, disdained to worship a soul clothed with a mortal body, and so were cast into hell. ”

“ No one but herself saw the apparition, yet every one observed that at the time she was rapt in ecstasy. Once a doctor held a lighted taper under her hand, but she did not move a muscle, and evidently felt no pain. He made the same experiment when the apparition had disappeared; she then screamed with pain. Twice during this period the figure failed to appear; then Bernadette returned home sorrowful and in tears. The priest of the place did not . interfere at all in the matter; yet the enemies of religion declared that it was a fraud, concocted by wily priests. ”

“ Only one thing is beyond our power to comprehend, that we inherit the sin of Adam; this is and ever will be a mystery of faith.
Q. What other effects followed from the sin of our first parents?
A. Our nature was corrupted by the sin of our first parents, which darkened our understanding, weakened our will, and left in us a strong inclination to evil.
The Spots of Ink on a New Dress
Disobedience has evil effects. A lady had a handsome dress of sky-blue silk made as a present to her grown-up daughter at Christmas. On Christmas eve the tailor brought it home. ”

“ A. The chief creatures of God are angels and men.
Pasteur's Experiments
On the third day God created the trees and green herbs; on the fifth and sixth He created living creatures. Those who assert that God created everything at once, and that the things He had called into being were developed successively on the several days of creation, are greatly mistaken. It is quite impossible that the germs of vegetation should have existed on the first day, for the earth was then in a state of incandescence, and fire destroys life, both vegetable and animal. ”

“ The miser is his own worst enemy. A certain miser, who grudged himself the bare necessaries of life, was seriously ill. As he grew worse and worse, he was at length prevailed upon to have medical advice. The doctor diagnosed his malady and declared that he had at most three days to live. He exhorted him to send for the priest and prepare for death. When he had gone, the miser did not follow his advice and summon the priest ”