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 PRESENTATION

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PRESENTATION

can Council, Sess. Ill, c. i.) It is also of faith that God is in an especial manner really and substantially present in the souls of the just. This indwelling of God in the souls of the just is attributed by what the- ologians call appropriation to the Holy Ghost, but in reality it is common to the three Divine Persons.

Ascetkal. — To put ourselves in the presence of God, or to live in the presence of God, as spiritual writers 3xpress it, means to become actually conscious of God as present, or at least so to live as though we were thus actually conscious. It is a simple act which involves the impression of the unseen Being with whom we have immediate relation and familiar converse, whose goodness towards us is assured, and who loves us with an everlasting love; who exercises a particular provi- dence among us, who is present everj'where and "who", in the words of Cardinal Newman, "is heart- reading, heart-changing, ever accessible and open to penetration" (Grammar of As.sent, 112). The simple child as well as the advanced contemplative may thus represent God as present to the mind, and live in the consciousness of His presence. It is only the angels and blessed who can behold the face of God.

The servant of CJod or the devout soul may be mind- ful of His presence in another way, namely, by the ex- ercise of reason directed by faith. He sees God in the earth, the sea, the air and in all things; in heaven where He manifests His glory, in hell where He carries out the law of His justice. He thinks of Him as pres- ent in all things within us and without us, and espe- cially as dwelling secretly in his innermost soul, hidden from all our senses, yet speaking, as it were, to the conscience with a voice that is in us but not of us; the voice of One who is with us yet over us.

Devotional. — One may therefore practise the devo- tion of living in the presence of God: (1) by a lively faith in that Divine presence, that God is near us and within us as Elias says: "the Lord liveth ... in whose sight I stand" (III Kings, x\-ii, 1; cf. IV Kings, iii, 14); (2) when distracted the mind may be easily brought back to the remembrance of God's presence by the simple reflection: "The Lord is here"; "The Lord sees me"; (3) when occupied with conversation or business by breathing from time to time some secret aspiration or affection for God and then keeping the mind recollected ; (4) in dereliction of spirit, by keeping God in mind more faithfully, knowing that nothing can come between Him and the soul but grave sin, through which His special operation in the soul by grace ceases. Men may be said to come to God as they become more like Him in goodness, and to with- draw from Him, when they become unlike Him by their wickedness.

As the immediate preparation for mental prayer, it is fitting and necessary "to place ourselves in the pres- ence of God ". This is to be done by an act of faith in the Divine presence, from which should follow: (1) an act of adoration; (2) an act of humility; (3) an act of sorrow or contrition; (4) an act of petition for light and grace. These acts may be made in the interior of the soul.

BLOSIU3. Institutio Spiritualis, English version by Wilber- FORCE (London, 1900); Devine, .4 Manual of Mystical Theology (London. 1903) ; St. Fb.\ncis de Sales, Treatise on the Love of God; Tyrrell, Hard Sayings (London. 1898) ; Lessius. De perfectioni- bus divinis: de Immensitate Dei: Vallgonera, Myatica Theologia Dili Thoma (Turin. 1890). ArTHUB DeVINE.

Presentation, Order of the, founded at Cork, Ire- land, by Nano (Honoria) Nagle (see below). In 1775 she entered with some companions on a novitiate for the religious life. With them she received the habit 29 June, 177G, taking the name of Mother Mary of St. John of God. They made their first annual vows 24 June, 1777. The foundress had begun the erection of a convent close to that which she had built for the Ursulines, and it was opened on Christmas Day, 1777. They adopted as their title "Sisters of the Sacred Heart", which was changed in 1791 to that of "Pres-

entation Sisters". Their habit was similar to that of the Ursulines. The second superioress was Mother Mary Angela ColUns. Soon after her succession a set of rules, adapted from that of St. Augustine, was drawn up by Bishop Moylan, and approved by Pius VI in Sept., 1791. Tliis congregation of teaching sisters was raised to the status of a religious order by Pius VII in l.SOO.

Communities from Cork were founded at Killarney in 1793; Dublin in 1794; and at Waterford in 1798. A second convent at Cork was established in 17>99, by Sister M. Patrick Fitzgerald; and a convent at Kilkenny in 1800, by Sister M. Joseph McLoughlan. At the present day, there are 62 convents, and about 1500 sisters. Each community is independent of the mother-house, and subject only to its own superioress and the bishop of its respective diocese. The schools, under the British Government Board, have for their fii-st object the Catholic and moral training of the young, which is not interfered with by the Govern- ment. The secular system followed is the " National ", superseded, in many cases, by the "Intermediate", both of which ensure a sound English education; to which are added domestic economy, Latin, Irish, French, and German. The average attendance of children in each of the city consents of Dublin, Cork, and Limerick is over 1200; that in the country con- vents between 300 and 400, making a total of 22,200 who receive an excellent education gratis. For girls who are obliged to earn a living, work-rooms have been established at Cork, Youghal, and other places, where Limerick lace, Irish point, and crochet are taught. The first foreign country to receive a Presen- tation Convent was Newfoundland in 1829, when Sisters Josephine French and M. de Sales Lovelock went from Galway. There are now fourteen houses of the order on the island and about twenty in the LTnited States, the first of which was founded at San Francisco by Mother Xavier Cronin from Kilkenny in 1854.

In 1833 a house was founded by Mother Josephine Sargeant from Clonmel at Manchester, England, from which sprang two more, one at Buxton and one at Glossop. Their schools are well attended ; the num- ber of children, including those of an orphanage, being about 1400. India received its first founda- tion in 1841, when Mother Xavier Kearney and some sisters from Rahan and Mullingar established them- selves at Madras. Soon four more convents in the presidency were founded from this, and in 1891 one at Rawal Pindi. Their schools are flourishing, com- prising orphanages, and day and boarding-schools, both for Europeans and natives. At Rawal Pindi the sisters do much good work among the Irish soldiers, who go to them for religious instruction. In 1866 Mother Xavier Murphy and some sisters left Fermoy for a first foundation at Hobart Town, Tas- mania, under the auspices of its first archbishop. Dr. Murphy. There is a branch of this house at Launces- ton. St. Kilda, Melbourne, received sisters from Kildare in 1873, and Wagga Wagga a year later, with Mother M. John Byrne at their head. From these two houses numerous others branched forth to all parts of Australia; to-day there are over twenty con- vents, about .500 nims, and thousands of children at- tending their schools. M. de Sales Whyte.

Presentation Order in America. — About half a century after its establishment, the Presentation Order "sent four sisters from the Galway convent to Newfoundland, at the request of Dr. Fleming, Vicar Apostolic of the island. The mother-house is at St. John's; there are now (1911) thirteen convents, 120 nuns, and over 2000 pupils. In November, 1854, some Presentation Nuns arrived at San Francisco from Ire- land. Mother M. Teresa Comerford and her sisters had great initial difficulties; but Archbishop Alemany succeeded in interesting prominent Catholics of the