Readings for the Saints' days

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Introduction

Mrs Murray smiled at her little girl's eager face as she said, " I cannot now, my darling ; but if you like it, I will tell you, before you go to bed, the story of St Andrew."

" A story ! oh, thank you, thank you, mamma." And Mary began jumping about with delight.

Her mother gently checked her. " Listen, dear Mary ; the stories of the blessed Saints are chiefly told us in the Bible, and you know, when we are reading any of God's Holy Word, we must be quiet and reverent. If you will try and remember this, I will prepare a little history, which I will read to you on the Saints' Days as they come. We will try and find out what particular lesson we are to learn from each Saint — and what else, Mary?"

" Remember it, mamma," whispered Mary.

"Yes; all Scripture, you know, is written for our learning; and I think you are old enough now to understand the lessons that the examples of the blessed Saints teach us, and to profit by them ; so when you come to my room this evening we will begin."

" Now, dear mamma, please will you tell me about St Andrew?" said Mary, as she climbed up into her mother's lap just before bed-time, and nestled into her favourite attitude for listening to a story.

M gn&reto*

" He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour"

In the country where our Blessed Saviour Jesus Christ lived when He was on earth, there was a lake or large piece of water. This was often called a sea; for, although the water in it was not salt, it looked almost like the sea, and often great waves rose in it, and tossed the little boats sailing upon it, up and down.

It had two or three names, but you may call it, and remember it as, the Sea of Galilee.

Near this lake or sea was a small town, called Bethsaida ; and there two brothers lived.

The one whom I am going to tell you about to-day was named Andrew, and, because he was a very good and holy man, we call him Saint Andrew. A saint, you know, is a very good

ST ANDREW.

person, one who loves God, and strives to do His Holy Will. The history of St Andrew will explain to you all it means.

St Andrew was a fisherman, and he used to go on the water in a little ship to catch fish. Then he would sell the fish, and go and buy things he wanted with the money people gave him for them. I think even then St Andrew was a good man, because, as you will hear, he was one of the first people who listened to our Blessed Lord.

One day St Andrew was throwing a net into the water to catch the fish, when the Lord Jesus passed by. He called him, saying, "Andrew, follow me!" Directly, St Andrew rose up, left his nets, and went after his Lord, and the Lord loved him for being so ready to go with Him. All the while our Saviour was on earth, St Andrew was with Him, and was one of His disciples ; and when He sent twelve of His disciples to preach and teach the people, St Andrew was one. Each of these twelve was called an Apostle, that is, one who is sent. St Andrew loved the Lord Jesus Christ so much, that he tried to make others love Him too ; and we read in the Bible that he brought people to see Him, that they might know how kind and good He was. After a while, you know, wicked men crucified the Lord Jesus ; that is, they nailed His hands and His feet to a Cross ; and He died. You know why the Son of God

ST ANDREW.

thus suffered death. It was to save us from our sins. You also know that He rose again the third day from the dead ; and soon afterwards He ascended up into Heaven, going back to God. Then the Apostles all went different ways, and taught people in many countries to believe in the Blessed Saviour.

St Andrew went his way. What further I shall tell you concerning him is not contained in the Holy Scriptures ; but still we may believe it as being generally true.

In one place the people were very cruel, and used to kill any strange person who happened to come to their country. But St Andrew had God's message to take, and so God took care of him, and he passed safely through. In another place, the wicked people burned the house in which St Andrew was living, and dragged him out and trampled on him ; but again God took care of him, and he got well, and went on his way. At last the time came when his Master, whom he had served so well on earth, called him to come to Him in Heaven. St Andrew went to a city where the people did not pray to God or love Him, and they hated good St Andrew. Then they tried to persuade him to leave off praying, and at last they said, if he did not deny the blessed Saviour — that means a sad and dreadful thing, to say that the Lord Jesus Christ was not the Son of God — he should be killed. But St Andrew was glad ; for he knew

ST ANDRE W.

that any one, who was put to death for Christ's sake, should have a beautiful crown given him in Heaven, and should be one of God's holy martyrs. St Andrew, then, was glad to die rather than do a wicked thing. The cruel people fastened him to a cross and he died, praying to God to forgive those wicked people, even as Christ prayed for His murderers, and thanking God that He had called him to be a martyr.

My little one, I want you to think that St Andrew followed the Lord Jesus all his life long, and did what his Lord liked. I want you to try to be like him ; for though we cannot see all that the holy St Andrew saw, or do exactly as he did, we can still follow his example. One way is by being ready to give up what we like to please another. Will you remember this when you think of St Andrew?

M C&omasu

The child-like faith, that asks not sight, Waits not for wonder or for sign;

Believes, because it loves aright,

Shall see things greater, things divine.

THERE is not so much known about the early life of St Thomas as I told you of St Andrew's. He was most likely a fisherman also, and went in his boat on the beautiful lake ; but the Bible does not tell us where he lived. He is mentioned as "Thomas, who is called Didymus" — the word Didymus means a twin ; so it is supposed that St Thomas had a twin brother or sister, that is, a brother or sister just as old as he was himself. No doubt he loved this twin very dearly.

We do not know what St Thomas was doing when the Lord Jesus Christ first called him to follow Him, but we do know that he was one of the twelve Apostles, and that thenceforth

ST THOMAS.

he was always with his Lord : so that, like St Andrew, he also "left all, and followed Him." He is not often mentioned in the Bible, but what is told of him shews us that he loved his Master very tenderly.

Once the Lord Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, and the disciples all tried to persuade Him not to go; for they said, the Jews (as the people who lived in Judea were called, and who, you know, did not love the Lord Jesus Christ, or believe in Him) would take Him and perhaps kill Him. But St Thomas said, "Let us go, that we may die with Him." He loved his Lord so much that he was ready to die with Him, rather than leave Him.

Now I must tell you of a sad part of St Thomas's history. Even the most holy saints sometimes do wrong ; for they need to pray always for God's grace, lest they should yield (that is, give way) to temptation. St Thomas's fault was want of faith. Faith, my child, is believing what we cannot understand. Even a little child can understand this. If we tell Baby not to touch the candle or the fire, because it will burn him, he believes us and does not touch it, although he cannot understand why it should hurt him ; so when God tells us things we do not understand, we must not doubt, or say, "How can this be?" but simply believe.

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ST THOMAS.

After our Blessed Lord had risen again from the grave, He was not always with His disciples, but only shewed Himself to them now and then. St Thomas was not with those who first saw Him after His Resurrection ; and when the other disciples said to him, " We have seen the Lord," he did not believe that the good news that Christ had risen was true; so he said sadly, "Except I put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe." This was very wrong ; but St Thomas was very unhappy. He had loved his Lord so dearly, he had suffered so much when the Lord was put to that cruel death upon the Cross, that he could not believe.

Eight days after our Lord's Resurrection the disciples were again assembled together, St Thomas being with them, and the doors shut, when the Lord Jesus suddenly stood in the midst. Being God, He knew all things, and knew St Thomas's doubting speech. He looked sadly yet in pity on him, and said, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold My hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side : and be not faithless, but believing." Then St Thomas did believe, and he said, "My Lord and my God!" Once more we hear of him while the Lord Jesus Christ was yet on earth. He was fishing with St Peter in the lake when the Lord appeared and spoke to them ; so we see that he was forgiven for his want of faith.

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After our Lord's Ascension, St Thomas is said to have gone into countries far away from his own home, and from the beautiful city of Jerusalem, teaching people about the Saviour. At last he came to India ; the people there have dark skins, and St Thomas half feared to go amongst them ; but it is told that he learnt in a dream that God would help him, so he went and worked for the Master he loved so well, winning many of the poor heathen to believe on Jesus Christ. He was remarkable for his love and gentleness. Those of the people, who would not listen to him, hated him because he was so good and holy, and because he wished them to leave their evil ways; and at last they determined that they would put him to death ; so one day when he had gone into a quiet place to pray to God, they followed him, and threw sharp spears and lances upon him, till he died.

Our lesson from St Thomas is, of faith — to believe without doubt or question, when it is our duty, even what we cannot understand, and to shew forth our faith by doing the things that Jesus loves — that so it may be a living faith, acceptable unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you'

The Saint, whom the Church remembers to-day, was not one of the twelve Apostles, nor one of our Lord's disciples; he did not even know the Blessed Jesus when He was on earth. St Stephen has a glory all his own. He was the first martyr- — that is, the first person whom the Lord called to die for Him. It is a glorious thing to be allowed to suffer for Christ: and now St Stephen sits on His right hand in Heaven, wearing a " radiant coronet, all gemmed with pure and living light," which is laid up in Heaven for martyrs.

My little girl can hardly understand yet why we think of St Stephen with so much reverence; but she must believe that he is one of God's holiest Saints, and by and by, as she grows older, she will understand more and more about it. Now I will tell you all I can about St Stephen. When the Lord Jesus

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Christ ascended into Heaven, He left this command to His disciples, " Go and teach all nations;" and this they did, and God so blessed their labours, that very soon a great multitude of Jews believed. Those believers, who were rich, gave the Apostles money to give away to the poor people ; and after a while it came to pass that a dispute arose (they did not agree about it) concerning the way that this money, called "alms," was given ; so the twelve Apostles appointed seven men to look after the alms, and give them away properly. These men were called deacons, and St Stephen was one. He also had to teach and to preach about the Lord Jesus. The first thing we are told of him is, "he was full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." You remember your hymn which says

" God the Holy Ghost is here, Dwelling in our hearts, to make us Kind and holy, good and dear."

I think you know what being filled with the Holy Ghost means. And again we read that St Stephen " did great wonders and miracles among the people;" and that, when he spoke about the Saviour, some, who had been in foreign countries, disputed with him, but " were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake."

ST STEPHEN. 13

But, after a little while, the wicked Jews, who had crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, began to hate His holy servant St Stephen, and thought how they might put him to death. They were very wicked people, and it is sad to have to tell you about them; but you will see how it was proved to them that God loved St Stephen, and watched over him in his trouble. Some of the Jews found men, who were ready to say anything for money, even what was not true; and they said things about St Stephen, which were wholly false; and the elders or chief men among them, who had power to judge and to punish wrong-doers, believed them, and brought St Stephen before them, and asked him a great many questions.

While they were talking to him, his face grew very bright — even like an angel's face. He spoke to them for a long time, and told them many good and beautiful things; but the hearts of the people were very hard, they would not listen to his good words. Then St Stephen looked stedfastly up to Heaven, and he saw a wonderful and comforting sight. He saw Heaven opened, and the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. After such a glorious sight, St Stephen did not fear what man could do to him; and though the cruel people threw great stones on him till he died, they could not make him ciy out; he kneeled down, and said "Lord Jesus, receive my

14 ST STEPHEN.

spirit;" and his last words were praying God to forgive those, who had caused his death.

He died so peacefully, that it is said "he fell asleep," as quietly and happily as a little baby falls asleep. But his awakening in glory we can only partly imagine; for "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor can our hearts conceive, the good things God has prepared for them that love Him."

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Jfp little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue ; but in deed and in truth?

St John is called Evangelist, because he wrote one of the four Gospels. The word Gospel means "good tidings" or news, and Evangelist means a bringer of good tidings. There were four Evangelists, and, under the guidance of God's good Spirit, these holy men wrote for our instruction an account of all they had heard and seen of our Blessed Lord's doings on earth. And the special message of good news that they had to give was, that Jesus Christ had died to save all people from their sins.

St John was quite young when he first began to go with our Blessed Lord. His father was a fisherman named Zebedee; and his mother's name was Salome. She was one of the women, who went to see our Saviour in the grave, and found Him risen. St John had a brother called James, of whom you will hear by

ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST.

and by. St John was doing his duty like a good son, when he was first called by our Lord. He was mending the fishing nets that were torn and worn; but when Jesus called him, "he left all and followed Him."

He was one of the twelve Apostles, — the twelve whom the Saviour specially called to be with Him, and sent to teach and to preach to all people. St John was the youngest of all the Apostles, but none were before him in love and devotion to our Lord. There is a great deal told us about him in the Bible — so much that I cannot now tell you nearly all; when you are older you will, I hope, read it for yourself. He was always with his Divine Master; and he was called "that disciple whom Jesus loved," so we may be quite sure he was very good, and never faltered in his ardent love and obedience. He seems to have treasured up every word that our Lord said, for the Gospel which he wrote is full of the conversations and sayings of our Blessed Saviour.

Once, a great man in Jerusalem sent to tell Jesus that his little daughter was dead. He took only three of His disciples, one of whom was St John, when He went to that house of mourning. St John saw how our Blessed Lord called back the spirit of the child, and gave her life again, and restored her to her parents. This was one of the many times St John was

ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST. i;

chosen to be with the Lord Jesus when He did "marvellous things."

At that last Supper which our Lord ate with His disciples, before the wicked traitor Judas betrayed or gave Him up to the cruel Jews, St John was close to Him, leaning on His breast; as if he loved Him so dearly, he could not leave His side. Afterwards, when our Saviour was in the palace of the High Priest, in the hands of those who sought His death, St John went in with Him. And again, when He was on the Cross, He spoke to St John and told him to take care of His mother, the blessed Virgin Mary, and to be a son to her. In dutiful obedience to his Lord, St John took her home with him to his own house and took care of her, and lived with her — so it is believed — for fifteen years, until she died, and he was free to spread the glorious tidings of the Gospel into all lands, as the other Apostles were doing. We hear a little about him in the Acts of the Apostles soon after our Lord's Ascension ; he was often with St Peter, and once wicked men put them into prison for a while. And once they went together into the Temple for prayer; and at the gate, which was called " Beautiful," they saw a lame man. His feet were all bent under him, and he had never been able to walk. He looked up at them, and asked for money. St Peter speaking for both answered, "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give

18 ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST.

I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk ;" and he took his right hand and lifted him up; and immediately the poor bent ancle bones became strong and straight like yours, and he stood upright, and went with them into the Temple, praising God. This was a great miracle, which God had wrought by the hands of His servants, St Peter and St John. I told you St John was quite a young man when Christ was on the earth; he lived to be a very old man; and the whole of this long life he spent in doing his Master's work — that of teaching people to believe on Him. I cannot tell you the half of all he did, but two stories are told of him which you will like to hear.

Once the heathen Emperor Domitian ordered fierce men to throw holy St John into a large vessel of hot boiling oil. But, instead of its hurting him, God shielded him from the heat, and he came out unharmed. You would think after this, that the Emperor would have believed on God, but his heart was very hard, and he sent St John to a desert island, called Patmos, where he lived for many years bearing a daily martyrdom for Christ's sake. There God comforted him, and shewed him marvellous and beautiful things — visions of Heaven, and visions of things that will come to pass some day. All these things St John wrote down in the book called "the Book of Revelation."

The other story I promised to tell you is this : St John,

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ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST. 19

when he was on a visit to one of the places where he had preached about Jesus Christ, chose a young man, whom he caused to be taught carefully, that by and by he might teach others. After a while St John came back to that city, and asked for the young man. A very sad tale was told him. The young man had left his kind teachers, and, worst of all, had left off doing what was right, and had gone away into the hills with some men who were robbers, and had become their captain. St John determined to go and see if he could find him ; so he went alone into the mountains. There he was taken by one of these robbers, and led before the captain. He, when he saw St John, felt how wicked he had been, and tried to turn away from the holy Apostle. St John went after him as far as his failing strength would let him, and then implored the young man to stay and listen to him; and he spoke words so full of love and earnestness, that the young man repented, and forsook his evil ways, and returned to following after God.

St John died a very old man. He teaches us in his writings and in his holy life to love Christ first, and then all our fellowcreatures for Christ's sake. If we love Christ, my child, we must try to do what He bids us, just as I know my little Mary likes to do what will give me pleasure; and St John has said, "Little children, love one another."

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These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.

There is. not much to tell you about the Holy Innocents. They were "only little babies, knowing neither good nor harm," when they were called on to give up their lives for Christ's ; but, because it was for Jesus Christ that they died, the Church places them in her glorious Army of Martyrs. They could not do Christ's holy will on earth, but to them it was given very early to sing His praises in heaven; and we may believe that a golden crown and a golden harp was given to each little one, when they entered into the golden gate. They would never sin or sorrow more, "being without fault before the Throne of God;" and that our Lord especially loves little children we know, for he has said " Of such is the kingdom of heaven."

You know the story of the Holy Innocents: how the wicked king of Judea, Herod, when he heard that wise men had come

THE HOLY INNOCENTS. 21

from the far east country — led by a beautiful star, which shone brightly in the dark sky, and which went on and on till it came and " stood over the place where the young Child was," and thus shewed the wise men that here was He whom they sought — Herod thought that the wondrous Babe, whom men called " King of the Jews," would in some way hurt him and make his power less.

If Herod had gone to see the Infant Christ, and His mother, the blessed Virgin Mary; but, above all, if he had asked God to teach him, he would not have been afraid of this ; but he thought only of himself. And so he sent his cruel soldiers to kill every little baby in all those parts, hoping that amongst them they would find the Child of whom the wise men had told him. But God had spoken to Joseph, who took care of Mary and the Infant Saviour, and told him to take the young Child and His mother away by night into Egypt, and so He was safe from the wicked king.

My Mary, God sometimes now calls little babies to come to Him; and I will tell you what is said of such little ones: "Out of the mouth of babes, Thou hast perfe£led praise." And those who are on earth can praise him too by being bright and happy, and by remembering that "from Him all good things come." Then they will join the heavenly host even while they are yet in this world, in "singing praises to God and to the Lamb."

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" Oh, what, if we are Christ's, Is earthly shame or loss, Bright shall the crown of glory be When we have borne the cross ; Keen was the trial once, Bitter the cup of woe, When martyred saints, baptized in blood, Christ's sufferings shared below!'

THIS day is set apart in remembrance of one great event in the life of St Paul. All through his long life we may think of him with profit, learning steadfastness and holy love from his example ; but this one incident stands out alone in his history, shewing how he was called to be one of the " glorious company of the Apostles." He was not one of the twelve, but, as he says himself, he was called "last," as "out of due time."

When you are older, and can study his holy and glorious life, and the epistles, or letters, which he wrote, you will understand, better than any words of mine can tell you, how, as the Collect for to-day says, " Through the preaching of the blessed apostle St Paul, God has caused the light of the gospel to shine throughout the world." That you may understand why St Paul needed to be converted, I must tell you what was the state of mankind in that part of the world where the Lord Jesus Christ lived when He was on earth.

At the time of our Saviour's Ascension the most powerful people were the Romans. The city where their emperor reigned was called Rome (we are called English, you know, because our country is England). The Romans had sent armies far and wide and had conquered many countries, so that their empire was the largest in the world. They were heathens, they did not know or love the true God, but prayed to idols, which they ignorantly believed could hear them and would answer their prayers. Then there was Judea, the country where our Lord lived, and where stood the beautiful city of Jerusalem with her crown of towers. This is always called the Holy Land, for that place must be for ever hallowed where our Lord once trod. The people of Judea were called Jews. You know that the Jews would not believe in Him, but crucified the Lord of Glory. This is very sad to think of, for the Jews were God's own chosen people; and, long before, He had brought their fathers out of Egypt, where they were in cruel bondage, and led them through the wilderness into this goodly land of Judea. God punished them for their wickedness; for, very soon after the Lord Jesus went back to Heaven, the fierce Roman armies took the beautiful city of Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple, where He had taught so often ;— that grand and stately Temple, built of pure white marble, which had been eighty years in building; — and, ever since, the Jews have been scattered about, and have never gone back to their own land. When we first hear of St Paul, the Romans had not conquered Jerusalem ; and some of the Apostles were teaching and preaching there about the blessed Saviour, and many of the Jews believed on Him. All that time St Paul was called Saul; and the first time we hear about him was when the holy martyr St Stephen was stoned, as standing by and watching his martyrdom ; it is written, w Saul was consenting unto his death." He was a Jew, and very bitter against all who believed on the Lord Jesus. He thought he was doing God service by hindering the spread of the new religion. So he went about finding people who believed on Christ, and putting them in prison. He was travelling for this purpose to a city called Damascus, when our Blessed Lord and Saviour, in His Infinite Love, revealed Himself to him.