Page:TheYoungMansGuide.djvu/77

 Quench Thou  in  us  the  flames  of  strife, And bid  the  heat  of  passion  cease; From perils  guard  our  feeble  life, And keep  our  souls  in  perfect  peace.

Father of  mercies! hear our  cry; Hear us,  O  sole-begotten  Son! Who, with  the  Holy  Ghost  most  high, Reignest while  endless  ages  run.

— Lyra  Catholica,

CERTAIN father,  who  was  a complete  unbeliever,  caused  his children to  be  educated  in  Catholic  institutions. A friend  spoke  to  him  about  this strange method  of  proceeding. The unbeliever,  who  was  a  man  of  education,  replied: "I  know  only  too  well  what  a  hell upon  earth  infidelity  is,  and  I  am  not  so unnatural  a  parent  as  to  allow  my  dear  children to  share  my  fate."

Thus can  unbelief  be  termed  a  hell! Listen to this,  my  youthful  reader,  and  note  it  well; it is  the  confession  of  one  who  was  himself an unbeliever. This unbelief,  which  is  a  hell in itself  and  leads  to  hell,  is  the  fatal  poison in modern  society,  and  this  poison  is  presented under all  sorts  of  different  forms,  especially in two;  namely,  in  speech  and  in  writing.

2. Too  often  are  people  to  be  found  the present day  who  rail  against  religion,  and know nothing  of  Christianity  except  the  fact