Page:TheYoungMansGuide.djvu/85

 Mother, or  the  saints. No one  should  be without  a  book  on  the  Mass. Besides one's prayer-book,  one  should  have  manuals  of meditation  and  of  instruction  on  Christian virtues. More extended  devotional  treatises will keep  alive  the  piety  of  those  for  whom they are  suitable. But all  Catholics,  whatever their  condition,  should  make  use  oi spiritual  reading. It is  impossible  to  exaggerate the  effect  on  the  lives  and  characters  of Christians  of  the  words  of  holy  men,  of  the heroic acts  of  the  martyrs,  of  the  example  of the  lovers  of  Jesus  in  every  age,  of  the  contemplation of  our  Lady's  prerogatives  and goodness, and,  above  all,  of  the  story  of  Our Lord and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ. The 'Following of  Christ,'  and  Other  books  of  a  like nature, are  at  once  a  guide  to  virtue,  ac encouragement  to  prayer,  and  an  influence drawing the  heart  daily  nearer  to  God. The reading of  Holy  Scripture,  of  the  sermons  and conferences of  distinguished  preachers,  and of the  penetrating  devotional  books  in  which our language  is  by  no  means  deficient,  is adapted  to  sanctify  the  house,  and  to  keep out of  it,  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  that  flood of objectionable  printed  matter  which  overflows the  land  at  the  present  moment.

"Priests and  laity  can  not  do  more  for  souls than  to  encourage  by  every  means  in  their power  good  and  cheap  Catholic  literature  — instruction,  devotion,  tales,  and  periodicals  — and  to  bring  it  within  the  reach  of  every  class