226 FORTY DAYS OF ST. SWITHIN. 



AUG. 13. St. Hippolytus, priest and m. a.d. 252. 



St. Cassian. 



St. Radegundes, queen of France, 587. 



St. Wigbert, abbot, 747. 



Obs. One of the most illustrious martyrs who suffered in the reign 

 of Gallus was St. Hippolitus, one of the twenty five priests of 

 Rome who had the misfortune to have been engaged in schism, but 

 this fault he expiated by his public repentance and a glorious mar- 

 tyrdom on the 13th of August. 



Marsh Groundsel Senecio paludosus full fl. 



Marvel of Peru Mirahilis Jalapa full fl. still. 



Sweetscented Marvel of Peru Mirabilis longifiora fl. 



Dichotomous Marvel of Peru Mirabilis dichotoma fl. 



The Sweetscented Marvel of Peru ha^ white flowers, which, as in 

 the two other kinds, close during the day, and expand when the 

 sun declines, like the Indian Nightflower, which its countiymen 

 have named Sephalica, because they believe the Bees sleep upon its 

 blossoms. The sweetscented species is not, however, agreeable to 

 every one, since its scent is of Musk, which many persons dislike. 

 It is a native of Mexico, and flowers from June to September. The 

 Clammy Marvel of Peru has violet flowers. 



As Assumption Tide, as it used to be called, is uow at hand, we may say 

 something of the devotions paid by good Catholics to llie Blessed Virgin Mary. 

 It is remarkable that the most benevolent, devout, and energetic minds that 

 have ever adorned the church have been always the most devoted to the Virgin, 

 a remark that has not escaped the most insignificant as well as the most 

 profound writers of Church History. And the devotions to Our Lady have 

 always been mixed up with the most beautiful imagery, and the hymns to tier 

 adorned with the finest language and the soblimest ideas. We quote the fol- 

 lowing from a popular work of the present day: — " An interestine ceremony 

 takes place in Spain every Saturday night, called the Rosario del .Aurora, or 

 dawn rosary, and which lasts till the dawning of the Sabbath sun. Devout and 

 pious emotions, blended with a sobcrmeasured gaictv, find utterance in a pecu- 

 liar hymn, which is remarkable for its sweetness and its melancholy ; and the 

 hours Which are commonly given to repose are here consecrated to the pathe- 

 tic effusions of natural but excited religions feeling. In Andalusia, when 

 any one has died in the villages, the Uosario del Aurora visits the nearest rela- 

 tive of the dead before the break of day, and conducts him to the tomb of the 

 departed, where he kneels down, encircled by his friends, who pour forth their 

 plaints and their prayers. They who have never witnessed scenes like these 

 may fancy theni in all their vivid and imposing imagery, twilight, and tears 

 and hvmiis, and the grave. No delirium of joy, no bitterness of sorrow, ever 

 left a 'deeper impress than this funeral picture has stamped on him who has 

 once been present. Thus are the religious feelings blended with the dailv pur- 

 suits of life, and those pursuits become elevated and sanctified by devout 

 aesociatioDS." 



