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OW desirable it is to be a member of the Rosary Confraternity! This is a society with only one purpose-honor and glory to God through devotion to His blessed Mother. Rosarians are thus always advancing in grace through their pious practice, growing daily stronger in love of God. There is a deep consolation in knowing that you are progressing in spiritual life, by reason of your constant prayers becoming better able to withstand the temptations of the world. Many well-intentioned persons. pray a great deal, but because of lack of regularity in their devotion much of the sweetness of prayer is lost. The Confraternity furnishes the remedy for this, for its members have their prescribed laws, know their duties, and faithful to their promise fulfil them. What a pleasure it is to know that as a member of the great Confraternity you are joining your prayer to the general prayer that raises up from all parts of the world in honor of the blessed Mother of God! What rich blessings must descend on a family the parents of which are earnest members of the Confraternity!

Is it not well to fortify your soul in preparation for eternity? In this world where men take advantage of every opportunity of bettering themselves both financially and socially, is it not the height of folly to neglect the opportunities of bettering the condition of their soul? "What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his soul?" Holy Mother Church counsels her children to avail themselves of all laudable means to increase in virtue, to make their salvation more secure. Among all the devotions that she has

ever delighted in counseling, and lovingly insisting upon, the Holy Rosary occupies first place.

To develop in the hearts of the faithful a love for this wonderful devotion, she not only grants a rich indulgence for saying the beads, but she has established the Rosary Confraternity for promoting the spiritual betterment of its members. Just as a bouquet of choice roses is always more valuable, beautiful and acceptable than a single flower, so the bouquets that Mary offers to God through the Rosary Confraternity must be more fragrant and pleasing to Him than the single Rosary of individuals.

The Rosary is so universally loved and practised that there is scarcely any one who does not frequently use it. Now, since you say the Rosary so often, why should you deprive yourself of gaining the full indulgence attached to membership in ship in the Rosary Confraternity? Nominally, at least, you perhaps exceed the obligations imposed upon members, yet you deny yourself the rich indulgences because you have failed to have your name enrolled among the list of members. Resolve at once if you are not already a member of the Confraternity, to join its ranks and share in the rewards its members enjoy.

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The holy season of Lent, in which the whole Catholic world retires from frivolity and pleasure and enters into the desert of penance, is almost with us. To the true Christian there is a spirit of welcomeness in Lent, and this especially to Rosarians. Let every member of the Confraternity make the firm resolution to be faithful during this holy

time, and constantly meditate on the second part of the Rosary. Let him daily follow our Redeemer from the Garden of Olives, through Pilate's court, along the rough road to Calvary, and there let him stand beside Mary and, looking up into the face of the dying Saviour, cry out: "Have mercy on me, O God, a sinner!"

"There were many hundreds of Rosary Confraternities erected in the United States within the last fifty years, the records of which are kept at the House of the Dominican General at Rome. Since 1901, through the Apostolate of the Rosary in New York City, directed by the V. Rev. C. H. McKenna, three hundred and thirty-three Rosary Confraternities have been erected in various dioceses of the country."-Dominican Year Book, 1907.

THE DOMINICAN BEADS AND

INDULGENCES.

The richest of all indulgences granted to beads are the Dominican. The difficulty usually experienced, or at least expressed by many, has been done away with, the obligation of saying five decades uninterruptedly. Rosarians enjoyed one exception to this and that only in the fulfillment of their weekly obligation, the recitation of the fifteen mysteries. In saying these, Rosarians were allowed to recite decade by decade at their convenience during the week.

Pius X in an audience of October 13, 1906, granted to the Very Rev. Fr. Hya

cinth M. Cormier, Master General of the

Dominicans, extended the privilege of dividing the Rosary decade by decade to every recitation of the beads by members of the Rosary Confraternity; and at the same time the Holy Father declared that all indulgences granted to the Dominican beads may be gained in

such a recitation. These observations are to be made: First, that this concession is made only in favor of Rosarians; second, that at least a decade must be said at one time, whereby a fifth of all indulgences granted to the recitation of the five mysteries may be gained; third, that it is advisable for all faithful to become Rosarians, thereby taking advantage of this concession. To become a member of the Rosary Confraternity there is but one condition, to have your name inscribed in any place where the Confraternity is canonically established. The obligations arising are two-fold: first, to have your beads blessed by a Dominican or by a priest authorized to give the Dominican blessing; secondly,

to say the fifteen mysteries once a week. There are no initiation fees, no dues, no offerings of any kind nor are they expected. The sole object is to extend the prayer of the Rosary influencing the lives of the faithful for better and holier things.

"I am not sure of my salvation unless I have a true, ardent, and childlike devotion to Mary."-St. John Berchmans.

"I am called by all the mother of mercy. The mercy of my Son towards men has made me all merciful towards them."

"Whoever is in the night of sin, let him implore Mary."-Innocent III.

"If thou would not be lost in the tempest, cast thine eyes on the star, and invoke Mary."-St. Bernard.

"How can we show devotion to Mary? By becoming like her."-St. Louis.

"Thou art all fair in thy thoughts, in thy words, in thy deeds, from the beginning even to the end."-St. Anselm.

"Who has ever implored thy help, O Mary, and has been left unaided?"St. Bernard.

"I am a mother to all sinners who wish to amend their ways."-Our Lady's words to St. Bridget.

VOL. XXX

NO. 3

S

AVE for the difference in numbers and in race, the little caravan that came through the Pass of the Winds and halted within sight of Mt. Sinai, one day in February of a year ago, was very much like that great array, which, three thousand years before, had emerged from the same gateway. The motive was the same for both, -love for the true God. The route was the same, the mode of travel almost the same, for in the East there is no change. There man is not dissatisfied with the comforts that suited his fathers; the weapons, the clothing, the manners of primitive times are passed on from generation to generation. As if to

complete the parity, there was with us a Moses, though not as a leader; he was but a garrulous Mohammedan servant, chiefly needed to allay suspicion in the

breast of any fanatical followers of Mohammed, who might cross our path.

At Suez we had crossed the Red Sea into Asia, and on camels had set forth into the desert. The privations of the wilderness were not new to us; its burning days and chilly nights, its sordid inhospitality as regards food and drink.

affected us as it affected the men of old, and drew forth many a wistful if unspoken sigh for the land of plenty and comfort that had been left behind.

But