We trust that this little book will appeal to Pastors, and Directors of sodalities, to the Children of Mary in particular and to all Catholic girls in general.
To Pastors this little guide will supply suggestive reading for exhortations; to Directors and Prefects of sodalities it will lend assistance by means of its Conferences; to the Children of Mary in particular and to all Catholic girls in general it will furnish helpful spiritual reading at home, and serve also as a complete Prayer-Book, specially adapted to their needs, in all their devotions at church.
The Conferences, in connection with other pious exercises, originally appeared in German under the title Mit ins Leben. Their author is the Rev. P. Coelestin Muff, O.S.B., of Einsiedeln, Switzerland. This good Religious speaks to young women from a heart that glows with charity, and is consumed with zeal for God’s glory and the salvation of souls.
We see in him a man of God and a man of culture—one who is broad-minded and large-hearted, wise and sympathetic, with the experience of years as a Director of young girls in a Catholic Institute.
We revised the English translation of the Conferences, eliminated parts of the original matter that seemed to us undesirable, added a few new features, substituted portions of well-known hymns in place of some of the author’s verses, and endeavored to bring the whole book into greater harmony with the views and customs of Catholics in our own country.
The latter part of this volume, consisting of Devotions, Prayers, and Pious Exercises, is mainly our own compilation and adaptation and was prepared with a view to making the book more generally useful.
At the end are added Father Clarke’s short but very excellent and practical Meditations on the Life of Mary for the Month of May.
May our dear Lady of the Sacred Heart, the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, deign to accept this little volume, which we most humbly dedicate to her; may she from her heavenly throne bless this work, so that it may be a firm guide to her servants and her children in the way of perfection.
F.X. Lasance
Notre Dame Convent,
Walnut Hills, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary—“Help of Christians,”
May 24, 1905.