of the stranger had come to pass. He now repented, and saw the abomination of his idolatry and the nothingness of his idols, the greatest of whom, Wotan, left his prayers unanswered. There was nothing left for him but to look for help from the God of the Christians, in whose name he had been baptized and whom he had treacherously abandoned.

A year passed.

On the day when the new parish priest celebrated with his people the anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Febanus stood, weak and miserable, with bloated face and glassy stare, as it had been his custom for some time, at the door of the church, which, excommunicated and contaminated as he was, he could not enter. Standing at the church door, he heard them repeat at the end of the service the beautiful prayer which St. Augustine offered for his mother, St. Monica, which at that time was often used in the western churches.

Suddenly Febanus raised his voice and cried. out: "Come to me, O citizens and friends, and see what great wonders God has done to me!"

The people hastened from the church and saw

with great astonishment Febanus standing before them, strong and hearty as he had been formerly, and no trace of his terrible affliction left. Praising God, they surrounded him who had been so wonderfully pardoned and he spoke to them: "You all know how wretched I have been since I dared to blaspheme the true God and his servant. My limbs were eaten away with sores, and bone and muscle were nearly destroyed, while every night I was tormented by frightful visions. But last night Sylvinus appeared to me, dressed in white garments, which radiated a heavenly light, and thus he spoke : "The Lord has mercifully regarded thy penance and thy contrition, and He makes it known to thee through me that thy sins shall be forgiven thee, in testimony of which thou wilt be healed to-morrow of thy affliction.""

The good people knew now for certain that their priest Sylvinus had been received into heaven, and when a few years afterwards they had to forsake their city, which was menaced by the barbarians, they exhumed his remains and took them with them to Batavis.

S

ECOND only to the hope that with God's assistance St. Michael's Almanac prove of spiritual help and benefit to the many, is the Editors' desire that its name become for readers and lovers of Catholic literature "familiar in their mouths as household words."

To vary its contents, so that various tastes may be suited, seems the most promising method whereby to effect this end; hence, the suggestion to insert a partial resume of Catholic events possessing peculiar American interest, has been acted upon the necessities of publication defining the limits as specified above.

Only in this tireless, work-a-day church of ours, whose laborers believe rest and rust to be in a great measure synonymous, would any chronicler assume that interesting matter could be gathered during the torrid spell.

The open doors of our great cathedrals suggest nothing of tropical inertia, and so within those of New Orleans on the Feast of the Visitation, July 2, 1899, a ceremonial of truly American interest was witnessed-the consecration of Most Rev. Francis de Paula Barnada, D.D., as Abp. of Santiago, Cuba, and Rt. Rev. J. H. Blenk, D.D., as Bishop of Porto Rico.

Scarcely had the echoes of the rejoicing chimes died away, when another city of the South heard the requiem peal for one who had worn graciously the purple of episcopacy-Rt. Rev. Thos. A. Becker, D. D., the convert Bishop of Savannah.

The early days of July saw, too, the solemn closing of the Council of the Bishops of Latin America and their reception by the Holy Father, while among domestic items recorded were the opening of the Catholic Summer Schools-one holding its eighth session at Cliff Haven, on Lake Champlain the other its fifth at Madison, Wis. Those who follow the progress of educational movements were gratified by Mr. Timothy Reardon's bequest of $5,000 to the Catholic University of America for the purpose of founding a theological scholarship for Baltimore Archdiocese.

In Newark, N. J., was laid a cornerstone, above which is destined to rise a magnificent cathedral at the estimated cost of a million dollars.

Occasional paragraphs, yet designated as "war news," continue to furnish unpleasant reading for the American Catholic voter educated in the belief of his individual responsibility in the governing methods of this great republic. As, for instance, the cannonading of churches in the Philippines-their raiding and desecration, carried even to the extent of breaking open the Tabernacle and masquerading in the sacred vest

ments.

Such reading also was the report of the government commission engaged in investigating matters in Porto Rico, which recommended that priests be permitted to renounce the vows of celibacy, and that divorce laws be admitted! This, too, without any evidence whatever that the parties most concerned desired those "Americanizing" experiments.

The course taken by Congress in discontinuing the appropriation for Indian schools, conducted by our religious orders, gave further subject for thought and doubtless helped the Catholic taxpayer to a clearer understanding of his status. under the government, whose war budget he is privileged to help replenish.

As the echo of such thought crystallized in deed, was the action of the German Catholic Societies of Chicago, who proclaimed the formation of a union for the avowed purpose of organizing Catholic influence and defending church institutions. The resolutions adopted at their meetings are certainly worthy of reproduction in their entirety, did space allow, as are those of the Holy Name Society of Brooklyn, N. Y., who promotly followed the inspiring example of our German brethren.

The Golden Jubilee of the foundation of the German Order of "Christian Charity" occurred. in August, and coincident with it, the Silver Jubilee of its establishment in the United States, where it has taken root and flourished, as many another fair seedling wafted at the Master's bidding from foreign soil.

Other events of the month were the consecration of Rt. Rev. Frederick Eis, D.D., as Bishop of Marquette, Mich.; the decision to erect a Catholic chapel on the Military Reservation at

West Point, N. Y., for which act of tardy justice, it is said on good authority, we owe our gratitude to a Catholic lady who prefers to remain unknown, and the commencement of the Marist College on the Catholic University grounds at Washington.

In the Catholic news of September, we find grouped by welcome coincidence the names of the three great founders of our religious orders, recalled by the never ceasing activities of their spiritual children. In Staten Island an Augustinian Convent and Academy, under the patronage of Our Lady of Good Counsel, were dedicated by the beloved Papal Delegate, himself a son of St. Augustine; in Washington our American Cardinal performed the same high service for the Franciscan Fathers, opening Mt. St. Sepulchre, a mother house of the order among us; while the gentle St. Dominic was recalled less happily, but not less effectively, by the burning at Nyack, N. Y., of "St. Agnes' Home for Destitute Children," which was in charge of Dominican Sisters. The story of that fire, where "not a single child was burned, but several of the Sisters terribly injured in saving them," is one more proof of the perpetuation of that greater love that giveth life at the call of duty.

More than locally important were such gatherings as the Silver Jubilee Convention of the Catholic Young Men's National Union, held at Newark, N. J., and the protest against blasphemy of Brooklyn's Holy Name Society, attended by 15,000 members.

Philadelphia's National Export Exposition assumed new interest from the announcement, now customary indeed, when the City of Penn would fain be impressive and irreproachable, that Abp. Patrick John Ryan had been selected to deliver the opening benediction.

The educational is much to the fore in this month's happenings, our University receiving promises of $50,000 each from the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Knights of America for endowment of "chairs," as well as $10,000 from a Baltimore lady to establish the study of Gaelic, and the College of St. Francis Xavier, in New York, placing one free scholarship at the disposal of each Catholic pastor there.

In Loretto, Pa., a bronze statue of the farfamed Prince-pioneer-priest, Rev. Demetrius Gallitzin, was unveiled to mark the centenary of this storied colony of the Alleghanies.

September saw the appointment of Abp. Chapelle as Apostolic Delegate to the Philippines.

October the annual meeting of the Archbishops of the United States, at Washington, and the third convention of the Priests' Eucharistic League at Philadelphia.

Scanning the death roll of November, we find among others the names of Rt. Rev. Dr. de Goes

briand, Bishop of Burlington, Vt., of whom a non-Catholic Vermont publication noted that he left as assets a ring, a cross, a purple robe and $2.92 in U. S. currency; and of the venerable Mgr. Nicholas Cantwell, V. S., of Philadelphia, well beloved and appreciated.

On the 23d of this month, the cornerstone of the chapel, before mentioned, at West Point, was laid; apparently, too, that palpable grievance of the Catholic soldier and seaman-the scarcity of Catholic chaplains in the army and navy, was receiving general attention.

December's first week must remain memorable for American womanhood, as witnessing the foundation of Trinity College for the higher education of women at Washington, where it will be under the direction of the Notre Dame Sisterhood.

This last month of the old and the first month of the new year were filled respectively with anticipation of, and participation in, the greatest of modern religious events-the opening of the year of Jubilee. Elsewhere in these pages its spiritual significance is discussed with the fullness. due its importance. Descriptions of the pomp and ceremonial wherewith Catholic America welcomed the season of boon and blessings filled the many pages of New Year publications, both religious and secular. Better still, the memory lingers greenly in myriad hearts, moved to a revival of medieval fervor by this spectacle of more than mediaval splendor and enthusiasm. The story of that wondrous New Year's Eve of 1900, when, for the first time within memory, the solemn music of midnight mass bells, blended with the din and fanfare of civic celebration, varied little in the great cities of our great land, "In acknowledgment of benefits received from God through the course of the present century, and that yet greater favors be implored to begin the new era auspicicusly," had the Holy Father decreed this rare observance, and its spirit animated the faithful, fully alive to the opportunities of the occasion. They crowded every edifice of their faith, from the magnificent city cathedrals, where princes of the church officiated, to the simple village chapel and lowly oratory, sharing the selfsame privileges. Everywhere arose the strains of the Te Deum, voicing a people's gratitude, and everywhere in the wake of the celebrants followed curious throngs, of whom, many coming but to criticise, remained to believe and pray. Rome "noble Rome, the mistress of the earth," seemed very near to the sympathetic heart of Catholic America in those opening days of 1900Rome, whence had issued this edict obeyed throughout the Christian world-Rome, whose venerated walls sheltered once more 100,000 pilgrims, the children of all lands, gathered to begin together the Holy Year, within the shadow

of that same St. Peter's, where jubilee pilgrims of six centuries ago kissed the sacred ground formed from the dust of martyrs. No domestic news was read so eagerly as the foreign letters detailing the wonderful celebrations there-the solemn Consistory-the Papal procession and the opening of the Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica by the anointed hand of the venerable Pontiff. Naturally, a fresh impetus was given to all works of charity, and many valuable suggestions and much profitable discussion of matters relating to the church militant, ensued. The lepers of Japan, with those heroic helpers of theirs, the Sisters of the Infant Jesus-the victims of India's frightful visitations of famine and disease-the distressed missions for colored Catholics in our own South-the grievances of the faithful Filipinos, forced to submit to insult from splenetic bigots, sometimes wearing the uniform that made them appear representative of the nation they disgraced rather than represented-all these acquired new interest in view of the universal brotherhood brought so forcibly before us by this universal celebration. As a consequence, the Foreign Mission and Indian Famine Funds showed increase, though not indeed proportionate to the vital necessities they represent. Significant, too, was the note of disapproval which greeted the speech of a Western Senator, who, on the floor of the "House" where religious intolerance is supposed to enter not, referred to the Filipinos "as steeped for centuries in religious superstition!" Side by side with the comments called forth by this impolitic outburst, there appeared, in many instances, the obituary notices. of two of Mother Church's favored sons and servants, whose life records alone were ample refutation of some charges, implied rather than expressed, by the aspiring orator of the Senate. Father Sylvester Malone of Brooklyn and Dr. Edward McGlynn of Newburg, passing within the same week to their heritage of recompense, left each behind a reputation for solid patriotism and devotion to their fellow-men sufficient to silence the slanders of centuries, even though dressed for this revival in the choicest garb of collegiate eloquence.

The West, within the same period, lost a devoted prelate and wise guide in the person of Bishop Rademacher of Fort Wayne Diocese, than whom, says an exchange, a more gentle, kindhearted man never drew breath. The possibilities for sectarian mission work presented by the new occupation of Cuba and the Philippines, continued to occupy the attention of our divided brethren, engendering some discussion that scarcely savored of apostolic emulation. For the temporary annoyance which must result to Cuban Catholics from the attempts of the newcomers to earn their missionary stipend, there was abundant compensation in the appointment of Mgr. Sbaretti

as Bishop of Havana. Allied as he is by racial ties with the people over whom he now presides, the new Bishop can scarcely garner, even among his own, more flattering harvest of esteem and affection, than he succeeded in doing during his sojourn at Washington, as Chancellor and Auditor of our Papal Legation there.

Culled from the records of February are happenings, some pathetic, some instructive, and all prideful for the Catholic reader. Such is the story of the heroic daughter of the church-Sister Stanislaus of St. Joseph's Order, who died a martyr's death in St. Louis, while attempting to rescue a pupil from a burning classroom-and the contemporaneous announcement, that the Sisters of the Holy Cross at Salt Lake City had for the time being resigned their school duties, so as to care for the smallpox patients there, deserted by secular nurses.

If deeds like these are the outcome of Catholic training, and none may deny the fact, why are our people not more united and insistent in their demand for the extension and recognition of such training on its deserved basis? The voice of the educator is loud in the land, advocating now this system and now that, while we, who possess the only system that can stand the test of time, because founded on the truths of Eternity, seem content with the semi-toleration that permits the bare right of existence.

In a February issue of the New York Freeman's Journal, Dr. McSweeney of that city, gives a graphic synopsis of the Catholic educational question-its past trials, present limitations and future requirements-with such valuable suggestions as might be expected from one who took early place in the vanguard of Catholic progressiveness.

Another self-evident truth to which our people, as a body, fail to give adequate weight, is that education cannot be supposed to end with schooldays, nor be considered altogether the province of the teacher. It is continued in the office, workshop and factory, to which our children, according to social conditions, graduate, and there the average Catholic parent seems content to send his boy and girl, with no better daily escort and companion than the up-to-date newspaper, which is best described by silence, and the yellowcovered novel, that like the poison phial on the pharmacy shelf bears visibly the sign of warning against its contents. All know how familiar the pharmacist has need to be with each special antidote, for despite of warning the poison finds its victims; so should it be our care to provide for this more desperate emergency, where eternal death is the danger to be averted. Discussing this evil, the "Ave Maria" once said, "The remedy for printed falsehood is printed truth, to be provided in abundance and without delay."

The recent experiment of the preacher who