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Sample Pages from [em]American Cardinal Readers, Book Five,[/em] pgs. 247-249

St. Martin of Tours by Sister Mary Margaret, S.N.D.
(from the American Cardinal Readers, Book Five, pgs. 247-249)

"God of the Christians." Our Lord rewarded him by letting him find Christian teachers who taught him the Catholic faith. He became the bihsop of Tours and as a saint is honored as one of the apostles of France.

When Martin was a young man, he was sent to France with his regiment, for his pagan father had forced him to become a soldier in the Roman army. He believed in Christ,a nd tried to live a good life for His sake, so that even his pagan fellow-soldiers noticed how different he was from themselves; but he had not yet received Baptism, and was still but a catechumen. One cold winter's day, as his troop of cavalry came rattling down one of the old streets of Amiens, a poor old beggar, crouching by the roadside, the icy wind fluttering his rags about, held out his hands and cried for alms. Martin's heart was touched as usual, but having no money left to give, he took off his military cloak, cut it in half with his sword, and wrapped the warm folds about the shivering old man. The other soldiers laughed, but Martin rode on, happy to have been able to serve Christ's poor.

That night he received a wonderful grace in a dream. He saw Our Lord in heaven, surrounded with the angels. Upon Our Lord's shoulders was Martin's half cloak! "Martin," He said, "dost thou know this mantle?" Then turning to the angels, He added, "Martin, still only a catechumen, hath clothed me with this garment."

When St. Martin awoke he was very happy to think Our Lord had taken the kindness as done to Himself; but he also felt there was a gentle reproof in His words, for not yet having received Baptism. It was very difficult during his time of military service, but nevertheless he went to the priests and asked to be baptized.

Shortly after the left the army. He was so happy in his faith that he even succeeded in converting his mother.

Study Suggestions:

Questions on the Text. In this short story is told an incident in the life of St. Martin of Tours. Read it silently.
1. How did Martin happen to be a soldier in the Roman army? 2. In a brief paragraph relate the incident of Martin's meeting with the poor old beggar. 3. How did God reward Martin for his charity? 4. Whom did he succeed in converting later in his life? 5. Locate Tours on a map of France.
Words to Study. Catechumen; reproof.

Excerpted from American Cardinal Readers, Book Five, pgs. 247-249 Used with permission.

Sample Pages from [em]American Cardinal Readers: Book Eight[/em]

CONTENTS

To THE BOYS AND GIRLS OF OUR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS.... iii
INTRODUCTION... ix
A CHRISTMAS CAROL. Charles Dickens... 1
THE POWER OF PRAYER. ..John Henry Cardinal Newman.... 72
THE HOLY CROSS Eugene Field ....73
ON THE DEATH OF EUGENE FIELD. Slason Thompson..... 88
LETTER: EUGENE FIELD TO HIS FRIEND MR. GRAY Eugene Field .....90
WITH TRUMPET AND DRUM Eugene Field.... 92
THE BARREL ORGAN. Alfred Noyes.... 93
WATER Jean Henri Fabre.... 102
NATURE Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. ......111
AT HIGH MASS. Rt. Rev. Msgr. Robert H. Benson.... 112
NOX IGNATIANA Rev.James J. Daly, S.J ....113
THE BLESSED VIRGIN William Wordsworth...... 114
THE TRAGEDY OF JULIUS CAESAR William Shakespeare..... 115
THE LEGEND BEAUTIFUL .Henry Wadsworth Longfellow...... 223
THE WILD RIDE. Louise lmogen Guiney..... 227
LETTER TO MRS. BIXBY ...Abraham Lincoln.... 229
REVERENCE FOR LAW. ...Abraham Lincoln...... 230
THE GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. Abraham Lincoln. .......231
OUR MARTYRED CHIEF ...James Russell Lowell..... 232
ABRAHAM LINCOLN WALKS AT MIDNIGHT ..Vachel Lindsay.... .234
JIMMIE THE WIND. Frank H. Spearman. .....236
THE NAMES OF OUR LADY .Adelaide A. Procter.... 257
THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS. Oliver W endell Holmes..... 260
MEMORIAL DAY ADDRESS..Wroodrow Wilson..... 262
LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN. Joyce Kilmer ....266
LETTER TO SIDNEY COLVIN Robert Louis Stevenson....... 268
LETTERS FROM ROME. ...Rt. Rev. Msgr. Robert H. Benson..... 276
AFTER A RETREAT. Rf. Rev. Msgr. Robert H. Benson.... 279
THE CONVICT TRAIL. William Beebe.... 280
THE GENTLE ART OF CHRISTMAS GIVING. Joyce Kilmer...... 294
THE NEW SCHOOL. Joyce Kilmer..... 305
THE SPIRES OF OXFORD. ..Winifred Letts. .....307
HISTORY OF NEW YORK BY DIEDRICH KNICKERBOCKER (Chapter 4, Book 3) Washingoton Irving ....308
CONSCIENCE OR KING? ...Mrs. Lang. ....315
MAKERS OF THE FLAG. ...Franklin K. Lane. .....337
SEA FEVER John Masefield. .....340
MISTRESS CASTLEMAINE'S CHRISTMAS DINNER. ...Rev. Daniel A. Lord, S.J. ....341
THE SOUL OF JEANNE D'ARC Theodosia Garrison..... 363
THE AMERICAN BOY. ..Theodore Roosevelt.... 366
HOWE'S MASQUERADE Nathaniel Hawthorne..... 374
THE PASSING OF CHRIST. .Rickard Watson Gilder..... 396
THE FIRST FLOWER Nicholas Cardinal Wiseman ...400
148TH PSALM The Holy Bible.... 410
THE ANGELIC CHORUS. ..D. J. Donahoe ...411
LITTLE DARBY Thomas Nelson Page..... 412
REVEILLE. Alfred Edward Housman.... 481
THE LAST LEAF Olilver Wendell Holmes... 483
A DISSERTATION ON ROAST PIG Charles Lamb ...485
RUST Jean Henri Fabre..... 495
THE PROPHET LOST IN THE HILLS AT EVENING.Hilaire Belloc....... 501
SALUTE TO THE TREES ...Henry van Dyke.... 502
ON SONG Hilaire Belloc.... 504
THE SOLITARY REAPER ...William Wordsworth...... 510
OXFORD REVISITED. John Henry Cardinal Newman.... .511
THE SIGN OF THE CROSS. .John Henry Cardinal Newman..... 513
A BUILDER'S LESSON John Boyle O'Reilly.... 514
ALICE BRAND Sir Walter Scott ....515
MARZIO'S CRUCIFIX (Excerpt from Chapter XI) F. Marion Crawford... 520
REQUIEM. Robert Louiis Stevenson.... 539
PROSPICE Robert Browning... 540
CROSSING THE BAR. Alfred Tennyson... 541
SUGGESTIONS FOR HOME READING FOR SEVENTH, EIGHTH AND NINTH YEARS.... 543

The Blessed Virgin by William Wordsworth
(from the American Cardinal Readers, Book Eight, pg. 114)

Mother! whose virgin bosom was uncrost
With the least shade of thought to sin allied;
Woman! above all women glorified,
Our tainted nature's solitary boast;
Purer than foam on central ocean tost;
Brighter than eastern skies at daybreak strewn
With fancied roses, than the unblemished moon
Before her wane begins on heaven's blue coast;
Thy Image falls to earth. Yet some, I ween,
Not unforgiven the suppliant knee might bend,
As to a visible Power, in which did blend
All that was mixed and reconciled in Thee
Of mother's love with maiden purity,
Of high with low, celestial with terrene!


Excerpted from American Cardinal Readers: Book Eight 1929, Neumann Press, Used with permission.

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