chief epochs of feeling in human life for implanting and nourishing into life the germs of the great spiritual truths of which she is the divinely appointed Guardian and Teacher.

This principle is embodied in every phase of her teaching, but for the purpose of illustrating the truth which we are here considering we need not look beyond her Sacramental System. Her seven sacraments are seven channels of divine grace through which her children receive assistance from on High for the building up of supernatural virtues and for the development in their souls of a Christian character. But she also utilizes her sacraments as educational agencies through which she implants in the souls of her children in each of the great epochs of human feeling the germs of the divine truths that will guide them safely through this world of darkness to the portals of eternal life.

When race instinct stirs to their depths the hearts of the father and the mother and fills them to overflowing with joy because a child is born to them, the Church brings the child to the baptismal font and in the presence. of the rejoicing parents she claims the new life for the realms of light. Hand and foot, eye and ear and tongue and budding wisdom are all claimed for the service of God and for the higher life of the soul.

Joy is the dominant tone in the ritual of the baptismal ceremony. The evil one and his machinations are banished, the fetters of sin and of a material world are stricken from the child's soul, the Heavenly Father is called upon again and again to protect with loving kindness and to nourish with the food of Heavenly Wisdom the soul that is just beginning its earthly career.

Hope and joy and eternal life are promised in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, and while the babe is being regenerated by the saving waters of baptism, while Divine Grace is being infused into his soul, the Church through her baptismal ceremony with its symbolism and the lessons of its ritual implants in the hearts of the parents the great fundamental truths that must guide them in their efforts to bring

up their child to a life of virtue and in their efforts to teach him to walk in the ways of the Lord.

The first seven or eight years of the child's life are occupied mainly in the building up of suitable adjustments to his physical environment. When towards the end of this period the great, puzzling, outer world begins to reach his intelligence and to fill it with questioning wonder, when fundamental principles are for him still shrouded in obscurity and when they seem to him to blend into their opposites like the colors in a sunset sky, the Church leads him into the confessional and with loving kindness helps him to read his riddles.

She teaches him that no matter what his companions or acquaintances may say to the contrary, all conduct that conforms to the Will of God is right and leads to happiness and to Heaven, while all conduct that conflicts with the Divine Will leads to wretchedness and eternal misery. She teaches him that the secret of beauty dwells in all that harmonizes with the mantle of beauty in which God has clothed every work of his hands, and that whatever fails to harmonize with this essential beauty is ugly even though it should appeal to the tastes of the depraved. Finally, she teaches him that God is Truth and that whatever is in agreement with the truth which He has embodied in his Creation or which He has revealed through his Prophets, his Divine Son, and the living voice of his Church is true, and that whatever fails of such agreement is false, however plausible its seeming. With this three-fold standard engraved upon his young soul while it is glowing with joyous wonder over the revelation that is being unfolded to him on every side, he is sent out into life to conquer his world.

Race instincts manifest themselves at an early period in human life. From the tenth to the twelfth year the dawn of emotions and passions whose meaning is still obscure to the child begins to trouble the quiet of his soul. At this juncture the Church leads him to the Communion rail and in the midst of flowers, bridal wreaths, lights and music, accompanied by all the joy that breathes in her ritual, she teaches him the great lesson of love for Jesus and fellow man.

She teaches him that love is the key to the world of emotion and passion that is stirring the depths of his soul. She impresses upon him, in a way that he will never forget, that all love that harmonizes with the love of God and of fellow man, all love that is founded on truth and justice and that is permeated with generous self-sacrifice leads to joy and gladness, whereas all love that ignores the rights of others and the welfare of society and that is blinded by selfishness and out of harmony with the love of God and fellow man leads to wretchedness here and to eternal misery hereafter.

The Church calls upon the parents and the friends of the child to join with her in filling his soul on the happy occasion of his first Holy Communion with such joy and sweetness that in the stress of the storms of temptation and passion that are about to break over him he may be induced to return again and again to the Sacred Banquet and there renew in the love of Jesus Christ his strength for the combat.

When the instincts of chivalry are in their first glow and when they are beginning to manifest themselves in the boy's willingness to fight for his honor and for the honor and welfare of father and mother, of home and of country, the Church leads him to the altar and in the joy of Pentecost renewed teaches him that while it is manly to fight for one's honor and one's home and honorable to die for one's country, that there rests upon him a still higher obligation to fight for the honor of his Heavenly Father and to die if need be for the truths of the Heavenly Kingdom into which he was born by baptism and in which he is continually nourished by the love of Jesus Christ.

Few things possess value for the child or for the youth unless they are shared in by the members of the home group, but as maturity approaches the bonds of this solidarity are gradually dissolved and the young man and young woman are brought face to face with life and are called upon to perform their parts in the world and to make their contributions to the welfare of the race. If race instincts are strong in them and in their hearts the cry for home and wife or husband and children is louder and clearer than any other call,

the Church blesses them and in her Nuptial Mass, while pouring out to them her sympathy and her joy, she engraves upon their minds, filled with enthusiasm and lofty ideals, and upon their hearts, overflowing with love, the lessons that will help them to make their many sacrifices in order that there shall be two in one flesh and that they may bring into the world children and educate them for the Kingdom of Heaven.

If, on the other hand, as maturity approaches, the call to a higher life is felt, and if the tide of youthful ardor turns towards wider fields of action and towards closer union with the Saviour and Redeemer of the world, the Church leads. these chosen souls into her sanctuary and shows them how their lives may be rendered enduringly helpful by being interwoven with the lives of their fellows in religious organizations that work unceasingly for the uplifting of the race to higher spiritual levels.

To such of her sons as feel themselves called to share more intimately in the priesthood of Jesus Christ and to be the bearers of succor to those who labor and are heavily burdened, the Church offers the sacrament of Holy Orders. And in each and every case, whether in the ceremony of the religious profession or in the conferring of Holy Orders, the ritual of the Church breathes solemn joy. The Church on these occasions appeals to all that is best in the candidate and in his soul, glowing with zeal and enthusiasm, she implants the great fundamental truths that must guide him and support him throughout all the coming years of labor and of patient endurance.

And at the very last, when death calls a child of the Church to his reward, she is by his side to close his senses to the sights and sounds of this world and to open to him the portals of that larger life to which there shall be no end. And in his heart, stirred with deep emotions in the presence of the coming change, and in the hearts of relatives and friends, softened by grief and sympathy, she implants the great fundamental truth that we are in this world but as wayfarers and as children far from home.

THOMAS EDWARD SHIELDS,

BOOK REVIEWS.

The Blind Sisters of St. Paul, by Maurice de la Sizeranne. Translated by L. M. Leggatt. New York, Benziger Brothers, 1907. Pp. 303.

Madame Louise de France, by Leon da la Brière. Translated by M. Brown. New York, Benziger Brothers, 1907. Pp. 209.

These two works constitute volumes V and VI respectively of the International Catholic Library. A more than usual interest attaches to the first, inasmuch as the author is totally blind, having lost the use of his sight in his eleventh year. Yet this serious drawback has not hindered him from developing his rich fund of natural talents under the benign influence of Catholic faith, and making his life of darkness one of great benefit to others. He is the director of two excellent periodicals for the blind, one known as the "Valentin Haüy," the other the "Louis Braille." Besides the book under review, two others have come from his gifted pen, "Impressions et Souvenirs d'un Aveugle," and "Les Aveugles par un Aveugle." The latter merited the distinction of being crowned by the French Academy. In his work on the Blind Sisters of St. Paul, he tells the interesting story of the humble origin and development of this unique religious community, whose aim is to render the blind useful members of society, and thus relieve them of the sadness coming from the sense of utter dependence on others. Their house in Paris is a refuge and school where blind girls and women, according to their varied tastes and capacity, are taught housekeeping, reading, writing, music, sewing, knitting, brushmaking, and printing of books for the blind. The manifold labors of this establishment, which numbers about sixty sisters, are divided among those who are blind as well as those who can see, the blind sisters forming one-third of the community. The detailed description of their varied occupations from day to day is told in a way to absorb the attention of the reader, and leads to an interesting and common-sense apology in behalf of religious vocations of women, especially of the blind. All this is preceded by an admirable study of the psychology of blind women, which fascinates both by its wealth of novel information and by its literary charm. Much praise