THE FRIENDS 
 - OF JESUS • 
 
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THE STORY OF THE FRIENDS 
 OF JESUS 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
 
 MARY THE QUEEN. A Life of the Blessed 
 Mother for Her Little Ones. 16mo, 
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 THE LESSONS OF THE KING. Made Plain 
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 TALKS WITH THE LITTLE ONES ABOUT 
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 BENZIGER BROTHERS 
 
 NEW YORK CINCINNATI CHICAGO 
 
 36-38 Barclay Street 343 Main Street 211-213 Madison Street 
 
THE STORY OF THE FRIENDS 
 OF JESUS 
 
 BY 
 
 A RELIGIOUS OF THE SOCIETY OF 
 THE HOLY CHILD JESUS 
 
 "I have not called you servants, but friends.'** 
 
 NEW YORK, CINCINNATI, CHICAGO 
 BEJSTZIGER BBOTHEBS 
 
 PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE 
 
 1907 
 
USKARY of COWGRr ss 
 
 Two Cooles Received 
 
 OCT 23 »90? 
 
 Copyn^t Entry 
 
 ©e^t >v t<\*7 
 CLASS A XXc, t No. 
 
 OOPY S. 
 
 3T30-6- 
 
 Nffjtl obstat. 
 
 REMY LAFORT, S.T.L., 
 
 Censor Librorum. 
 
 Emptttnatur. 
 
 ^ JOHN M. FARLEY, 
 
 Archbishop of New York. 
 
 New York, May 22, 1907. 
 
 Copyright, 1907, by Benziger Brothers. 
 

 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. The Angels . 
 
 II. The Patriarchs and Prophets 
 
 III. Friends at Bethlehem 
 
 IV. Friends in the Temple 
 V. Friends in Egypt and Nazareth 
 
 VI. The Precursor .... 
 
 VII. The Gathering of His Friends 
 
 VIII. The Story of St. Peter and the 
 Eleven. (Before the Burial of Our 
 Lord) ...... 
 
 IX. The Forty Days .... 
 X. After the Ascension . 
 
 XL After the Ascension (continued) 
 
 XII. Friends at Bethany . 
 XIII. Zacheus. Friends at Jerusalem 
 An Afterword 
 
 7 
 17 
 30 
 45 
 
 50 
 64 
 
 81 
 
 94 
 112 
 122 
 133 
 140 
 157 
 165 
 
THE STOEY OF THE FRIENDS 
 OF JESUS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE ANGELS 
 
 "V^OU already know something, children, 
 -**- it may be that some among you 
 have learned a great deal, about many 
 of the friends who gathered about the 
 King while He lived and taught among 
 them, and who continued faithful to Him 
 to the end. 
 
 "But they were not so very faithful, 
 were they? Didn't they all run away 
 when Judas betrayed Him?" 
 
 Most of them did; but not all. His 
 Blessed Mother did not run away, nor 
 
 7 
 
8 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 St. Mary Magdalen, nor St. Veronica, nor 
 the women of Jerusalem; and they were 
 surely all His friends. St. John lost cour- 
 age for a little while, but he soon came 
 back again. He was standing with the 
 Queen and Mary Magdalen at the foot 
 of the cross, you know; and if St. Peter 
 was not there at his side, it was because he 
 was breaking his heart at the thought that 
 he had denied his Lord, and was too much 
 ashamed to come near Him. What, per- 
 haps, you do not know is that since our 
 Lord Jesus Christ is the Second Person of 
 the Blessed Trinity and true God as well 
 as true Man, and lived from all eternity, 
 He had friends among creatures from the 
 very beginning of things, although they 
 did not all live in one place or at one time. 
 It is piously believed in the Church that 
 after Almighty God had created the 
 
THE ANGELS 9 
 
 angels, He placed them, not in the high- 
 est heaven where they might behold what 
 is called the Beatific Vision, that is, the 
 visible Presence of God, but in some place 
 where they would be quite happy until 
 they had proved their fidelity to their 
 Creator, and that they were worthy of 
 the happiness of heaven. Afterwards He 
 showed them the Word Incarnate as a 
 little Babe, and bade them adore Him 
 as their Lord and God. 
 
 Now man, having a body, is a little lower 
 than the angels, who are pure spirits 
 and have no body at all. Some of them 
 — one third the Scripture tells us — 
 yielded to a thought of pride. They could 
 not make up their minds to worship God 
 under a form that was lower than their 
 own. In an instant they were hurled 
 down into hell, and are there at this 
 
10 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 moment. They have been there since 
 before the creation of the world, and 
 they were the first enemies of the King. 
 
 But two thirds of those beautiful bright 
 spirits obeyed the command of God, and 
 bowed down to adore the Second Person 
 of the Blessed Trinity as the Word made 
 Flesh — and they were the King's first 
 friends. St. Michael, whose Hebrew 
 name signifies "Who is like unto God," 
 was the leader of the angels who remained 
 faithful; and he is generally believed to 
 have afterwards been appointed guardian 
 of the chosen people of God, and later 
 still, of the Church of Christ. 
 
 St. Gabriel, another of the good angels, 
 is sometimes called the Angel of the In- 
 carnation, because he was sent to announce 
 to the Queen that she had been chosen 
 to become the Mother of Our Lord, and 
 
THE ANGELS 11 
 
 also — long before that — had told the 
 prophet Daniel in Babylon a great deal 
 about the time at which the Messias 
 was to appear. 
 
 A third " leader of the Choirs above " 
 is Raphael who loved the Incarnate 
 Word so dearly that he loved all men for 
 His sake. It was Raphael who was sent 
 to show the young Tobias the way to 
 "Rages, a city of the Medes," where dwelt 
 a man named Gabelus who owed the elder 
 Tobias a large sum of money. Raphael 
 taught the youth how to cure the blind- 
 ness of his father, and helped him in many 
 other ways before returning to his place 
 before the throne of God. 
 
 Angels told the shepherds of the birth 
 of the little King at Bethlehem. An 
 angel was sent to tell Joseph "To take 
 the Child and His Mother and flee into 
 
12 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 Egypt "; and it was an angel also who 
 let him know when they might return. 
 
 When the King was about to begin 
 His public life He fasted in the desert 
 for forty days and forty nights and then, 
 the Gospel says, "He was hungry/' 
 Satan, the chief of the rebel angels, 
 was permitted to tempt the Lord of 
 glory; but when Jesus said, " Begone, 
 Satan/ 9 the evil spirit was forced to de- 
 part for that time, and " Angels came and 
 ministered to Him." 
 
 They came again "and ministered to 
 Him" after the terrible agony and sweat 
 of blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. 
 
 They announced His resurrection to 
 the Apostles and to the holy women; 
 and after He had ascended into heaven 
 two angels appeared to the assembled 
 disciples and said: "Ye men of Galilee, 
 
THE ANGELS 13 
 
 why stand ye looking up to heaven? 
 This Jesus who is taken up from you, 
 into heaven, shall so come as you have 
 seen Him going into heaven." And we 
 believe that when He shall so come the 
 angels will summon to His judgment- 
 seat the living and the dead. 
 
 We speak of these blessed friends of 
 the King as being divided into nine 
 choirs or classes, as we might divide the 
 children in a school according to the branch 
 of study in which each has most distin- 
 guished himself. Thus we might say, 
 These are the good readers, these the good 
 writers, and so on. 
 
 But then some of the good readers may 
 be good writers too ; and some of the good 
 writers may be equally good at arithmetic 
 or grammar, and so you see, one child 
 might belong to two or even more divisions. 
 
14 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 It is just the same with the angels. 
 We call St. Michael an archangel, and the 
 archangels form the lowest choir but 
 one — yet he is looked upon as the Prince 
 of all the heavenly host. Now I will 
 tell you the names of the nine choirs, 
 and I am afraid we must devote no more 
 space to the angels — in this chapter 
 at all events. Perhaps we may add a 
 few words about some of them later. 
 
 These are the nine choirs: first, the 
 Seraphim, who are distinguished by their 
 ardent love of God ; second, the Cherubim, 
 to whom God has given a most wonderful 
 knowledge of Himself ; third, the Thrones 
 who come nearest to God after the Sera- 
 phim and Cherubim; fourth, the Domi- 
 nations; fifth, the Principalities; sixth, 
 the Powers. These three choirs have 
 the care of nations and governments. 
 
THE ANGELS 15 
 
 Seventh, eighth, and ninth, the Virtues, 
 Archangels, and Angels, "-Who are God's 
 instruments to perform His will, and His 
 messengers to announce His good pleasure 
 and to execute His commissions." 
 
 All of these beautiful spirits love ten- 
 derly the men of earth who have been 
 redeemed by the Precious Blood; but 
 those who form the choir of Angels prop- 
 erly so called, are especially interested 
 in us. They are sent by Almighty God 
 to protect us from evil, and to guard us 
 in danger. "He hath given His angels 
 charge over thee to keep thee in all thy 
 ways. In their hands they shall bear 
 thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot 
 against a stone." 
 
 Our guardian angels belong to this 
 choir. Our Lord said when speaking of 
 little children: "Their angels in heaven 
 
16 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 always see the face of My Father who is 
 in Heaven." 
 
 It is well to make friends of the angels 
 who are the beloved friends of Jesus; 
 and most of all with our own dear Angel 
 Guardian who can, and will, do so much 
 for us before the throne of God. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS 
 
 " TN the beginning was the Word, and 
 -*- the Word was with God, and the 
 Word was God. The same was in the 
 beginning with God. 
 
 " All things were made by Him, and with- 
 out Him was made nothing that was made. 
 In Him was life, and the life was the light 
 of men : And the light shineth in darkness, 
 and the darkness did not comprehend it." 
 These are the first five verses of the 
 Gospel of St. John, and if you have 
 thought about them at all when reading 
 the "last Gospel" in your prayer-book 
 at Mass, you have probably supposed 
 
 17 
 
18 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 them to be altogether above the compre- 
 hension of little people like you. That is 
 a mistake. There is very much in those 
 verses that you cannot understand — 
 but something also that you can. 
 
 When you say in the Angelus: "The 
 Word was made Flesh, and dwelt amongst 
 us," you know very well that by the 
 Word is meant the Second Person of the 
 Blessed Trinity who became Man in order 
 to redeem and save us. St. John teaches 
 us that "The Word was with God" in 
 the beginning ; meaning, not the beginning 
 of eternity, because there was no such 
 thing, but in the beginning before the 
 creation of the world. 
 
 You have learned in the last chapter 
 that the Word made Flesh, had friends 
 from the beginning, for the angels were 
 the first reasonable creatures, and they 
 
PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS 19 
 
 gained heaven by an act of adoration of 
 the Incarnate Word. Then Adam and 
 Eve were created and placed in the 
 Garden of Paradise, and fell by their dis- 
 obedience in eating of the forbidden fruit. 
 They repented of their sin, and although, 
 since God is infinitely just, they had to 
 suffer its punishment, yet as He is in- 
 finitely merciful, He would not leave 
 them entirely without hope. They might 
 not go to heaven with sin upon their 
 souls, and they could not, themselves, 
 make reparation for that sin; so God 
 promised that He would send His Only 
 Begotten Son to make the reparation for 
 them. You may be sure that Adam and 
 Eve were friends of Our Lord after that. 
 They spoke of Him to their children, and 
 to their children's children, and taught 
 them to look forward with longing to the 
 
20 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 coming of "The Seed of the woman " 
 who was to crush the serpent's head. 
 
 Adam was the first of the Patriarchs. 
 The word Patriarch means a very great 
 father, or the father of fathers ; and in the 
 first ages of the world the head of a family 
 was its ruler as long as he lived although 
 he might have many grown-up sons, and 
 these might have children and grand- 
 children. 
 
 Cain was Adam's eldest son, but he 
 was cast off because he slew his brother 
 Abel and would not repent of his wicked- 
 ness. Seth was the third son. He was 
 good, and is the second Patriarch and 
 friend of the Word. 
 
 Many others followed, one after another, 
 all friends of the King who looked forward 
 to His coming, but some of them were 
 more highly favored than others by 
 
PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS 21 
 
 Almighty God, and to some among these 
 He renewed the promise He had made to 
 Adam. When Abraham had shown him- 
 self ready to sacrifice his son Isaac at the 
 divine command, an angel said to him 
 on the part of God: "In thy seed shall 
 all nations of the earth be blessed, because 
 thou hast obeyed my voice." 
 
 Hundreds of years later, when the Jews 
 scoffed at the Messias, He said to them: 
 "Abraham your father rejoiced that he 
 might see my day: he saw it, and was 
 glad." 
 
 The Jews, therefore, said to Him: 
 "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and 
 hast thou seen Abraham?" 
 
 Jesus said to them: "Amen, Amen, I 
 say to you, before Abraham was made 
 I am." 
 
 Isaac was another great friend of the 
 
22 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 King among the Patriarchs, and the 
 promise made to Abraham was renewed 
 to him also, and in the same words: u In 
 thy seed shall all nations of the earth be 
 blessed." 
 
 Jacob was the son of Isaac and to him 
 Almighty God said, in that wonderful 
 vision wherein the Patriarch saw angels 
 going up and down the ladder that reached 
 from earth to heaven, "Thy seed shall be 
 as the dust of the earth ; thou shalt spread 
 abroad to the west and to the east, and 
 to the north and to the south ; and in thee 
 and thy seed all the tribes of the earth 
 shall be blessed." 
 
 Jacob himself, when dying, was in- 
 spired by God to renew the promise and 
 to foretell that, "The scepter shall not 
 be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler 
 from his thigh, till He come that is to be 
 
PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS 23 
 
 sent, and He shall be the Expectation of 
 nations. " 
 
 During the lifetime of Jacob his sons 
 and their children went into Egypt, and 
 the chosen people of God remained in that 
 country between two and three hundred 
 years. Many among them were, without 
 doubt, friends of the King; and at last 
 Moses was raised up — the first of the 
 prophets — a type or figure of the Mes- 
 sias — to whom Almighty God renewed 
 the promise in those wonderful words: 
 "I will raise up a prophet like unto thee." 
 All his life through Moses loved and longed 
 for the Messias. He was truly a friend 
 of the King. While he was leading the 
 Israelites through the desert, Aaron, his 
 brother, was appointed to the priesthood 
 with his family, and it became their busi- 
 ness to keep alive the hope of the coming 
 
24 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 of the promised Redeemer in the hearts 
 of the people. 
 
 After Moses many prophets were raised 
 up who foretold the coming of Our Lord, 
 and even how He would act and the cir- 
 cumstances of His life. David the king, 
 from whose family the Messias was to 
 come, and who is called "A man after 
 God's own heart" — not because he never 
 fell into sin, but because when he did fall, 
 he repented with all his heart — prophe- 
 sied the coming of the Wise Men with 
 their gifts : " The Kings of Tharsis and the 
 islands shall offer presents: the Kings 
 of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring 
 gifts." And the conversion of all na- 
 tions: "And all kings of the earth shall 
 adore Him; all nations shall serve Him." 
 
 David also foretold what the character 
 of the Messias should be, and His love for 
 
PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS 25 
 
 all who are poor and in trouble: "He 
 shall judge the poor of the people; and he 
 shall save the children of the poor, and he 
 shall humble the oppressors." "He shall 
 deliver the poor from the mighty: and 
 the needy that have no helpers." "In 
 Him shall all the tribes of the earth be 
 blessed; all nations shall magnify Him." 
 David prophesied much concerning the 
 Messias, but we have not space for more 
 here. Neither can I name all the prophets 
 who wrote of Him, and were His more 
 especial friends. I can tell you of only a 
 few. The Prophet Daniel, who lived in 
 Babylon, predicted that the Messias would 
 appear about four hundred and ninety 
 years after the king, Cyrus, had ordered 
 that the Temple at Jerusalem, which had 
 been destroyed by Nebuchodonosor, should 
 be rebuilt. 
 
26 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 Isaias foretold the Passion so clearly 
 that some unbelievers have refused to 
 own that he lived before Our Lord. He 
 told the people that Christ would be 
 descended from Jesse, the father of David, 
 and that He should be born of a virgin : 
 " Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear 
 a Son, and His Name shall be called Em- 
 manuel :" and the word Emmanuel means, 
 "" God with us." 
 
 The Prophet Micheas declared that the 
 Messias would be born in Bethlehem : " And 
 thou Bethlehem Ephrata art a little one 
 among the thousands of Juda: out of 
 thee shall He come forth unto me that is 
 to be the Ruler in Israel: and His going 
 forth is from the beginning, from the days 
 of eternity." 
 
 Aggseus foretold that the Messias should 
 visit the Temple: "Yet a little while and 
 
PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS 27 
 
 I will move heaven, earth, the sea, and the 
 dry land ; and I will move all nations : and 
 the Desire of all nations shall come : and 
 I will fill this house (the Temple) with 
 glory. Great shall be the glory of this 
 last house more than of the first ; for, in 
 this place, I will give peace. " 
 
 Jeremias, another prophet, speaks of 
 the massacre of the Innocents and the 
 grief of their mothers: "A voice was 
 heard on high of lamentation, of mourning 
 and of weeping ; of Rachel weeping for her 
 children, and refusing to be comforted 
 because they are not." Osee predicted 
 that the Messias should go to Egypt, and 
 should be recalled by God Himself: 
 " Israel was but a child when I loved 
 him; and I called My Son out of Egypt." 
 
 I am afraid that this chapter is too long, 
 and yet I have given you the names of 
 
28 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 very few of the early friends of the King, 
 and only the words they uttered about 
 Him as a Child. David, Daniel, Isaias 
 and Jeremias foretold almost everything 
 that He would be, and do, and suffer ; and 
 nearly all of their prophecies are more beau- 
 tiful than any poems that have been written 
 since. The fifty- third chapter of Isaias is so 
 full of beauty, and describes the sufferings 
 of Our Lord so perfectly, that as soon as 
 you are old enough you should learn it by 
 heart if you take but one verse each day. 
 I must just tell you what the Prophet 
 says of the sufferings borne for us by the 
 King — and of how we, you and I, 
 children — have repaid Him: " Surely He 
 hath borne our infirmities, and carried 
 our sorrows ; and we have thought Him as 
 it were a leper, and as one struck by 
 God and afflicted." 
 
PATRIARCHS AND PROPHETS 29 
 
 But He was wounded for our iniqui- 
 ties, He was bruised for our sins: the 
 chastisement of our peace was upon Him, 
 and by His bruises we are healed. All 
 we, like sheep, have gone astray, every one 
 hath turned aside into his own way; 
 and the Lord hath laid on Him the in- 
 iquity of us all. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 AT BETHLEHEM 
 
 ^TTHEN the first-born son of a king 
 * * arrives in his father's palace, his 
 coming into the world, some small portion 
 of which he is expected some day to rule, 
 is welcomed with rejoicings throughout 
 the land. Bells are rung, bonfires lighted, 
 cannons are fired, the glad tidings of the 
 birth of the king's heir are sent at once 
 to the sovereigns of other countries who 
 are his father's friends ; and people come as 
 soon as may be to offer congratulations 
 to the happy parents, and to see and pay 
 their respects to the baby prince. 
 Now it happened, nearly two thousand 
 
 30 
 
AT BETHLEHEM 31 
 
 years ago, that there was born the Son, 
 not merely of a king, but of the King of 
 Kings; and He was born not the heir to 
 a kingdom, but, at that very moment, 
 Ruler and Master of the whole world. 
 You remember what Father Faber says: 
 
 " Dear little One, those tiny hands 
 That play with Mary's hair, 
 The weight of all the mighty world 
 This very moment bear." 
 
 It is true that this mighty Sovereign 
 left His Father's palace to be born for 
 our sakes in a poor stable, and that He 
 came "When all things were in quiet 
 silence and the night was in the midst of 
 her course. " The people of Bethlehem 
 who had closed their doors and refused 
 a shelter to His mother on that winter 
 night heard no bells and fired no cannon ; 
 indeed, neither bells nor cannon were in 
 
32 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 use among them then — and they sent no 
 messengers to distant sovereigns, for they 
 did not know that He had come. It is 
 true that "He came unto His own, and 
 His own received Him not"; but the 
 little King had a royal welcome for all 
 that. St. Luke tells us about it. He 
 says that Mary the Queen "Brought forth 
 her first-born Son, and wrapped Him up 
 in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a 
 manger, because there was no room for 
 them in the inn. 
 
 "And there were in the same country 
 shepherds watching, and keeping the 
 night watches over their flocks. 
 
 "And behold an angel of the Lord 
 stood by them, and the brightness of God 
 shone round about them, and they feared 
 with a great fear. 
 
 "And the angel said to them: Fear 
 
AT BETHLEHEM 33 
 
 not; for, behold, I bring to you good 
 tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the 
 people. 
 
 "For this day is born to you a Saviour 
 who is Christ the Lord, in the City of 
 David. 
 
 "And this shall be a sign unto you. You 
 shall find the Infant wrapped in swaddling 
 clothes, and laid in a manger. 
 
 "And suddenly there was with the 
 angels a multitude of the heavenly army, 
 praising God, and saying : 
 
 "Glory be to God in the highest; and 
 on earth peace to men of good-will." 
 
 So you see, His first friends the angels, 
 were the messengers sent by His Father 
 to announce the tidings of the birth of the 
 little King. The music of their singing 
 rang out upon the midnight air in glad 
 rejoicing; and instead of the bonfires 
 
34 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 wherewith earth is illuminated in honor 
 of a prince's birth, those beautiful angels 
 shed over Bethlehem the glory of heaven. 
 
 While shepherds watched their flocks by night, 
 
 All seated on the ground ; 
 The angel of the Lord came down, 
 
 And glory shone around. 
 
 "And it came to pass, after the angels 
 departed from them into heaven the 
 shepherds said one to another : Let us go 
 over to Bethlehem, and let us see this 
 word that has come to pass, which the 
 Lord hath showed to us. 
 
 "And they came with haste; and they 
 found Mary and Joseph, and the Infant 
 lying in the manger, 
 
 "And seeing, they understood of the 
 word that had been spoken to them 
 concerning this Child. 
 
 " And the shepherds returned, glorifying 
 
AT BETHLEHEM 35 
 
 and praising God, for all the things they 
 had heard and seen, as it was told unto 
 them. 
 
 "And all that heard wondered; and at 
 those things that were told them by the 
 shepherds." 
 
 That is all that we are told in the Holy 
 Gospel about the shepherds who were, 
 with the exception of His Blessed Mother 
 and St. Joseph, the first friends of the 
 little King after His birth at Bethlehem. 
 They must have been good, simple folk, 
 and very dear to God ; or He never would 
 have sent the message first to them. 
 There is a tradition that the fields in 
 which "They watched their flocks by 
 night," belonged to the Temple at Jerusa- 
 lem ; and that the sheep were those which 
 were to be offered in sacrifice at some 
 future time. 
 
36 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 If this was so, then those shepherds 
 were humble servants of the House of God. 
 We do not know what became of them 
 after that first Christmas night ; but they 
 certainly spread abroad among the people 
 of Bethlehem, the tidings that had been 
 brought to them from heaven. "For 
 all that heard wondered; and at those 
 things that were told them by the shep- 
 herds.' ' 
 
 And so came about the first fulfillment 
 of that part of the prophecy of Isaias 
 which declares that, "The meek shall 
 increase their joy in the Lord, and the 
 poor men shall rejoice in the Holy One of 
 Israel. " 
 
 But although the shepherds were the 
 first friends who were invited to visit 
 the little King upon the night of His 
 birth, they were not the only ones. Many, 
 
AT BETHLEHEM 37 
 
 many years before, when the Israelites 
 were journeying through the desert, a 
 prophecy of the coming of the Messias had 
 been uttered, in spite of himself, by one 
 who was not a friend of the Word. A 
 magician named Balaam had been sent 
 by his own chief to curse the Hebrews; 
 and, by the power of God, he was com- 
 pelled to bless them instead. And, in 
 spite of himself too, he was forced to fore- 
 tell the coming of the King in these words : 
 "A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a 
 sceptre shall spring up out of Israel.' ' 
 
 The people to whom Balaam belonged 
 never forgot those words ; and a tradition 
 was spread abroad among the desert 
 tribes that a star should one day appear 
 in the sky, and that any who would 
 follow its light should be led to the feet 
 of the Saviour who was to come. And 
 
38 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 their wise men, it is said, watched night 
 after night upon the hilltops throughout 
 the ages, until at last the star arose, that 
 beautiful star that led the three kings to 
 Bethlehem. 
 
 "When Jesus was born in Bethlehem 
 of Juda, in the days of King Herod, be- 
 hold, there came Wise Men from the East 
 to Jerusalem, saying : Where is He that is 
 born King of the Jews? For we have 
 seen His star in the East, and are come to 
 adore Him. 
 
 "And King Herod, hearing this, was 
 troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 
 And assembling together all the chief 
 priests and the scribes of the people, he in- 
 quired of them where Christ should be born. 
 
 "But they said to him: In Bethlehem 
 of Juda. For so it is written by the 
 prophet : 
 
AT BETHLEHEM 39 
 
 " And thou Bethlehem, the land of Juda, 
 art not the least among the princes of 
 Juda: for out of thee shall come forth 
 the Captain that shall rule my people 
 Israel. 
 
 "Then Herod, privately calling the Wise 
 Men, learned diligently of them the time 
 of the star that had appeared to them. 
 
 "And sending them into Bethlehem, 
 said: Go, and diligently inquire after 
 the Child, and when you have found Him, 
 bring me word again, that I also may 
 come and adore Him. 
 
 "Who having heard the king, went 
 their way: and behold the star which 
 they had seen in the East went before 
 them, until it came and stood over where 
 the Child was. 
 
 "And seeing the star they rejoiced with 
 exceeding great joy. 
 
40 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 "And entering into the house, they 
 found the Child with Mary His Mother 
 and falling down they adored Him; and 
 opening their treasures, they offered Him 
 their gifts; gold, and frankincense, and 
 myrrh. 
 
 - u x\nd having received an answer in 
 sleep that they should not return to Herod, 
 they went back another way into their 
 own country. " 
 
 Truly those three Wise Men were the 
 friends of the Word made Flesh. If 
 "His own received Him not," He was 
 right royally welcomed by these strangers, 
 who first of all traveled hundreds of miles 
 to find Him, and then "falling down they 
 adored Him" and offered Him such gifts 
 as were presented to monarchs in those 
 days: "Gold, and frankincense, and 
 myrrh." 
 
AT BETHLEHEM 41 
 
 They had not dreamed that the star 
 would lead them to a stable; they ex- 
 pected to find the Child and His Mother 
 in the palace of the king. But His 
 poverty and lowliness made no differ- 
 ence to them. " Falling down " before the 
 Babe who was " wrapped in swaddling 
 clothes and laid in a manger/ ' they adored 
 Him as their Lord and their God. 
 
 The Gospel does not give us the names 
 of the Wise Men. It is from the prophecy 
 of Isaias we learn that they were kings. 
 But it has been a constant tradition 
 among the faithful that they were called 
 Gaspar, Melchior, and Baltassar. More- 
 over one of them is said to have been black. 
 According to the same tradition the Wise 
 Men, on their return to their own country, 
 preached the Gospel to their people and 
 at last won the crown of martyrdom 
 
42 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 in extreme old age. Their sacred relics 
 were found in Persia, and from thence 
 sent to Constantinople, and at last to 
 Cologne, where they are still honored. 
 
 So the first friends of Jesus at Bethle- 
 hem were poor shepherds — the next were 
 Wise Men — and kings. The last of 
 His friends, of whom we read as belong- 
 ing to Bethlehem, were little children 
 — younger even than you. 
 
 "Then Herod, perceiving that he was 
 deluded by the Wise Men, was exceeding 
 angry; and sending, killed all the men- 
 children that were in Bethlehem, and in 
 all the borders thereof, from two years 
 old and under, according to the time which 
 he had diligently inquired of the Wise Men. 
 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken 
 by Jeremias the Prophet saying : A voice 
 in Rama was heard, lamentation and great 
 
AT BETHLEHEM 43 
 
 mourning : Rachel bewailing her children, 
 and would not be comforted because they 
 are not." 
 
 Perhaps you wonder how little babies 
 u of two years old and under" can rightly 
 be called friends of the Word made Flesh, 
 when they were almost too young to 
 know any one but their mothers ; and had, 
 in all probability, never seen the Holy 
 Child. Holy Church teaches us that Al- 
 mighty God, in His infinite mercy and love, 
 gave to these little ones, before they were 
 slain, the use of reason, so that they 
 understood that their blood was being 
 shed for the Messias, and were glad to die 
 for His sake. 
 
 She calls the babes "Little flowers of 
 Martyrs " and invokes them in her prayers 
 for the departing soul. Purple or violet, 
 which is the color of mourning, is worn 
 
44 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 by the priest when saying the Mass of the 
 Holy Innocents out of sympathy with the 
 sorrow of the poor mothers who "Would 
 not be comforted because their little 
 ones were not." 
 
A 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 FRIENDS IN THE TEMPLE 
 
 ND behold, there was a man in 
 Jerusalem named Simeon, and this 
 man was just and devout, waiting for the 
 consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost 
 was in him. 
 
 "And he had received an answer from 
 the Holy Ghost that he should not see 
 death, before he had seen the Christ of 
 the Lord. 
 
 "And he came by the Spirit into the 
 Temple. And when His parents brought 
 in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according 
 to the custom of the law, He also took 
 Him into his arms, and blessed God and 
 said: 
 
 45 
 
46 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 "Now dost Thou dismiss Thy servant, 
 Lord, according to Thy word, in peace ; 
 
 " Because my eyes have seen Thy salva- 
 tion, which Thou hast prepared before the 
 face of all peoples. 
 
 " A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, 
 and the glory of Thy people Israel. 
 
 "And His father and His Mother were 
 wondering at those words that were 
 spoken concerning Him. 
 
 " And Simeon blessed them and said to 
 Mary His Mother: Behold this Child is 
 set for the fall, and for the resurrection of 
 many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be 
 contradicted: And thy own soul a sword 
 shall pierce, that out of many hearts 
 thoughts may be revealed." 
 
 Holy Simeon was an old, old man. He 
 had served God faithfully during all the 
 years of his long life, and must have spent 
 
FRIENDS IN THE TEMPLE 47 
 
 much time in the study of the prophecies, 
 especially of those which spoke of the 
 coming of the King. He loved the prom- 
 ised Messias so dearly that to see Him 
 just once was the great wish of his heart. 
 Day by day he prayed that he might live 
 until his wish was accomplished ; and at 
 last, "He received an answer from the 
 Holy Ghost that he should not see death, 
 until he had seen the Christ of the Lord. 
 
 "And he came by the spirit into the 
 Temple," that is, the Holy Ghost in- 
 spired him to go into the House of God 
 just when Mary and Joseph carried Jesus 
 to Jerusalem and the Temple to present 
 Him, according to the law, to the Lord. 
 
 Simeon took the God of heaven and 
 earth into his arms and spoke that beauti- 
 ful canticle which has been sung ever 
 since at evening in the Church of God. 
 
48 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 "Now dost Thou dismiss Thy servant, O 
 Lord, according to Thy word, in peace. " 
 
 "And did Simeon die then?" 
 
 I cannot tell you. He probably passed 
 away soon, for, as I said, he was very 
 old ; but we are not told of his death, nor 
 indeed anything more at all about him. 
 Tradition tells us that he was the son of a 
 famous doctor of the law, named Hillel; 
 and that he was himself the father of 
 Gamaliel who taught St. Paul. But all 
 that we know with certainty about holy 
 Simeon is the story told by St. Luke. 
 
 Another friend of the King came to the 
 Temple, or rather was already there, when 
 the Queen brought her Son to His Father's 
 House "To do for Him according to the 
 custom of the law. 
 
 "And there was one Anna, a prophet- 
 ess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe 
 
FRIENDS IN THE TEMPLE 49 
 
 of Aser: she was far advanced in years, 
 and had lived with her husband seven 
 years from her virginity. And she was a 
 widow until fourscore and four years; 
 who departed not from the Temple, by 
 fastings and prayers serving night and day. 
 Now she, at the same hour, coming in, con- 
 fessed to the Lord ; and spoke of Him to all 
 that looked for the redemption of Israel." 
 And that is all that we know about Anna. 
 But since she was eighty years old, and had 
 spent nearly sixty years in the Temple, 
 " Serving day and night/' we may sup- 
 pose that she must have known the Queen 
 when she was spending her childhood in 
 the holy place, whither, as you know, our 
 dear Lady was taken by her parents when 
 she was only three years old. The greatest 
 saints often live lives that are hidden in 
 God, and of these were Simeon and Anna. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 EGYPT AND NAZARETH 
 
 "TT7E live at a time, and perhaps in a 
 * * place, when and where it is entirely 
 the fashion for every one to come forward 
 and make himself heard and seen as much 
 and as often as possible. Even little 
 children like to "have a part" when a 
 play is going on, or to " speak a piece" at 
 an entertainment, and feel disappointed 
 — sometimes angry, I am afraid — when 
 not called upon or invited to do either 
 one or the other — or to sing or play. 
 There is no great sin perhaps in this love 
 of publicity; but it most certainly is a 
 quality not to be found among the saints 
 of God. 
 
 50 
 
EGYPT AND NAZARETH 51 
 
 Some of them did come out before the 
 world, it is true; but we always find, on 
 studying their lives, that this was done 
 only at the call of God, when His honor, 
 their neighbor's salvation, or the duties of 
 their state of life demanded it. As soon 
 as possible after his or her public duty was 
 fulfilled, the saint who had been com- 
 pelled to come forward retired into pri- 
 vacy again. 
 
 We have seen that Simeon and Anna 
 were hidden saints — we know only one 
 story about them ; the Three Kings made 
 one visit to Bethlehem, and after that we 
 hear of them in the Gospels no more ; and 
 even of the Blessed Mother of God what 
 the evangelists tell us would fill little more 
 than the page of a good-sized book. 
 
 But of all the saints of God the most 
 hidden is, perhaps, St. Joseph, the foster 
 
52 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 father of the Word made Flesh. We know 
 that he belonged to the tribe of Juda and 
 the family of David; that he was a car- 
 penter and lived at Nazareth, a city of 
 Galilee, and that he was espoused to a 
 virgin named Mary who must have been 
 his near relative, and who was the chosen 
 mother of the only-begotten Son of God. 
 There is a tradition that when Mary the 
 Queen had reached the age at which it 
 was the custom for Jewish maidens to be 
 given in marriage, the chief priests who 
 were her guardians in the Temple, had 
 much ado to choose a spouse for her among 
 the many men of the tribe of Juda who 
 wished to obtain her as a wife. At last 
 they resolved to leave the matter in the 
 hands of God; and desired the suitors 
 each to bring his rod, or walking staff, 
 and leave it in the Temple for the night. 
 
EGYPT AND NAZARETH 53 
 
 This was done; and in the morning the 
 staff of St. Joseph was found covered with 
 lovely pink almond blossoms, and by this 
 they knew that Almighty God wished him 
 to become the spouse of Mary. 
 
 The wedding was probably celebrated 
 in Jerusalem with great festivities as the 
 custom was; and then St. Joseph led his 
 bride to his home in Nazareth, after 
 promising to love and care for her as his 
 sister rather than as his wife. St. Luke 
 tells us what happened next: "The Angel 
 Gabriel w r as sent from God into a city of 
 Galilee called Nazareth, To a virgin es- 
 poused to a man named Joseph, of the 
 house of David; and the virgin's name 
 was Mary." 
 
 You know what the angel's message 
 was, and how Our Lady "rising up in those 
 days, went into the hill country with 
 
54 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 haste" to visit her cousin St. Eliza- 
 beth. 
 
 "Did St. Joseph also go to the house 
 of Zachary?" 
 
 The Gospel does not say; but surely 
 it is most likely that he did not allow 
 Mary to travel more than seventy miles 
 unattended. Probably the Blessed Mother 
 went down from Nazareth at about the 
 time of one of the great festivals, and then 
 St. Joseph would be sure to go. 
 
 Mary stayed three months with her 
 cousin, until St. John the Baptist was 
 born, when she returned to Nazareth and re- 
 mained there with St. Joseph until " There 
 went out a decree from Caesar Augustus 
 that all the world should be enrolled." 
 
 Csesar Augustus was the emperor of 
 Rome and the ruler of the whole civilized 
 world. The Jews were under the sway 
 
EGYPT AND NAZARETH 55 
 
 of the Romans, and they hated it, for 
 their masters were pagans and they were 
 the chosen people of God. Csesar Augustus 
 determined that all his subjects should 
 be enrolled — which is the same thing as 
 having a census taken — partly because 
 he wished to know over how many people 
 he ruled, partly in order to find out what 
 income should be paid to him out of the 
 taxes levied on the conquered nations. 
 So, "All went to be enrolled; every 
 one into his own city. And Joseph also 
 went up from Galilee out of the city of 
 Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David 
 which is called Bethlehem, because he was 
 of the house and family of David, To be 
 enrolled with Mary his espoused wife." 
 
 And in Bethlehem that night the Holy 
 Child was born in a stable after St. Joseph 
 had tried in vain to find a shelter in the 
 
56 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 houses of the little town. "There was no 
 room for them in the inn." 
 
 The shepherds were invited by angels, 
 the kings were led by a star, to the 
 manger; and grace was given even to 
 King Herod had he chosen to avail himself 
 of it. But he would not. Instead he 
 would slay the innocent children of Bethle- 
 hem, and the little King would be among 
 them of course, and so one enemy whom 
 he feared would be put out of the way. 
 
 But God was watching over His own. 
 " Behold an angel of the Lord appeared 
 in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and 
 take the Child and His Mother, and fly 
 into Egypt : and be there until I shall tell 
 thee. For it will come to pass that Herod 
 will seek the Child to destroy Him. Who 
 arose, and took the Child and His Mother 
 by night, and retired into Egypt : and he 
 
EGYPT AND NAZARETH 57 
 
 was there until the death of Herod. That 
 it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 
 the prophets saying : Out of Egypt have 
 I called My son. 
 
 "And when Herod was dead, behold, 
 an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep 
 to Joseph in Egypt, Saying: Arise, take 
 the Child and His Mother, and go into the 
 land of Israel, for they are dead that 
 sought the life of the Child: Who arose 
 and took the Child and His Mother, and 
 came into the land of Israel. 
 
 "But hearing that Archelaus reigned in 
 Judea in the room of Herod his father, he 
 was afraid to go thither ; and being warned 
 in sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee. 
 And coming, he dwelt in the city called 
 Nazareth ; that it might be fulfilled which 
 was spoken by the prophet: That He 
 shall be called a Nazarene." 
 
58 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 Now you would like to know, I am sure, 
 how long the Holy Family remained in 
 Egypt, and how old the little King was 
 when they came back across the desert, 
 and arrived in their own beloved country 
 once more. But I am afraid that no one 
 can tell you, because the dates are not 
 given anywhere. Father Faber supposes 
 that the Holy Child was too old to be 
 carried, and too young to walk any great 
 distance — that he must have been be- 
 tween three and five years old. Others 
 believe that Our Lady and St. Joseph 
 remained in exile seven years ; while others 
 again hold that Herod died very shortly 
 after the massacre of the Holy Innocents. 
 
 We should like to know the truth, but 
 in reality it does not much matter how it 
 was. One thing is certain ; that the Holy 
 Family returned to the House at Naza- 
 
EGYPT AND NAZARETH 59 
 
 reth after an absence that could hardly 
 have lasted less than two or three years, 
 and that they had not intended to return 
 thither, but to remain in Judea. 
 
 The house, if it had been empty, as 
 seems most likely, must have been out of 
 repair; and St. Joseph had to set to work 
 to make it fit to live in. Then he must 
 reopen his carpenter's shop and seek for 
 employment among the people of Naza- 
 reth; he — the descendant of kings. 
 
 In the course of each year three great 
 festivals are observed among the Jews: 
 that of the Passover, in memory of the 
 deliverance out of Egypt and the Passage 
 of the Red Sea; that of Pentecost fifty 
 days later in memory of the giving of the 
 Law to Moses on Mount Sinai ; and that 
 of the Tabernacles to commemorate the 
 journey through the desert. The Pass- 
 
60 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 over is the greatest of the three ; and for 
 that festival the Jews came to offer 
 sacrifice in the Temple at Jerusalem 
 from all parts of the world. Women were 
 not obliged by the law to go, although 
 the more devout visited the Holy City 
 when it was possible to do so. Boys were 
 not bound to make the journey until 
 they were twelve years old. So St. 
 Joseph, we may be sure, went at least 
 once a year to Jerusalem, and as soon as 
 the Holy Child had attained His twelfth 
 year he and Our Lady went too. 
 
 "And His parents went every year to 
 Jerusalem at the solemn day of the Pasch. 
 And when He was twelve years old, they 
 going up into Jerusalem according to the 
 custom of the feast, And having fulfilled 
 the days, when they returned, the Child 
 Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and His 
 
EGYPT AND NAZARETH 61 
 
 parents knew it not. And thinking that 
 He was in the company, they came a 
 day's journey and sought Him among 
 their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And 
 not finding Him they returned into Jeru- 
 salem seeking Him. And it came to pass 
 that after three days they found Him in 
 the Temple sitting in the midst of the 
 doctors, hearing them and asking them 
 questions. And all that heard Him were 
 astonished at His wisdom and His answers. 
 And seeing Him they wondered. And 
 His Mother said to Him: Son, why hast 
 Thou done so to us ? Behold Thy father 
 and I have sought Thee sorrowing. And 
 He said to them: How is it that you 
 sought Me? Did you not know that I 
 must be about My Father's business? 
 And they understood not the word that 
 He spoke unto them. And He went down 
 
62 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 with them, and came to Nazareth, and 
 was subject to them." 
 
 This is the last mention to be found of 
 St. Joseph in the Gospels, excepting that 
 after Our Lord had begun His Public 
 Life and was preaching at Nazareth, the 
 people said: "Is not this the son of the 
 carpenter?" That was all. We are not 
 •told where or how he died ; but the tradi- 
 tion of the Church is that the foster- 
 father of Our Lord passed to his rest a 
 short time before the beginning of the 
 Public Life ; and that he died in the arms 
 of Jesus and Mary in the holy house at 
 Nazareth. 
 
 St. Joseph is the particular friend and 
 patron of children, both girls and boys, 
 because he took care of the Holy Child 
 Jesus, and of His Blessed Mother when she 
 was really little more than a child. He 
 
EGYPT AND NAZARETH 63 
 
 is the special patron of Christian death- 
 beds, in memory of his own most blessed 
 and happy death; and when the Spouse 
 of Christ was in grievous trouble in the 
 days of Pope Pius IX. the Holy Father 
 ordered that the foster-father of Christ 
 should be everywhere invoked as patron 
 of the Universal Church. Father Faber 
 says : — 
 
 " There be many saints above 
 
 Who love us with true love; 
 Many Angels ever nigh — 
 
 But Joseph, none there be 
 
 Who love us like to thee. 
 Dearest of saints, be near us ! 
 
 Oh, be near us when we die." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE PRECURSOR 
 
 "TT7HAT a hard word! We don't 
 * " know the meaning of it — and 
 can't spell it even." 
 
 Those are precisely the reasons why it is 
 set down here; that it may be explained 
 to you — and that you may learn to 
 spell it when you see it written; for you 
 will yourselves, in all likelihood, have 
 occasion to write it some day. 
 
 The word precursor means a person 
 or thing which goes before something, or 
 somebody; else, to prepare the way for 
 that something or somebody. Thus we 
 say sometimes that war is the precursor 
 
 64 
 
THE PRECURSOR 65 
 
 of famine; those sudden violent gusts of 
 wind that rush across some portions of 
 the country on hot summer afternoons 
 are the precursors of thunder-storms. 
 
 St. John the Baptist was the Precursor 
 of Our Lord. His coming, like that of 
 the Messias Himself, had been foretold by 
 Isaias the prophet hundreds of years 
 before he actually came: " Behold, I 
 send my angel before Thy face, who 
 shall prepare Thy way before Thee. A 
 voice of one crying in the wilderness: 
 Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make 
 straight His paths. Every valley shall 
 be filled, and every mountain and hill 
 shall be brought low; and the crooked 
 shall be straight; and the rough ways 
 plain ; And all flesh shall see the salvation 
 of God." 
 
 St. John the Baptist was born six months 
 
66 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 before the first Christmas, and his parents 
 were Zachary and Elizabeth, of whom the 
 Holy Ghost says that they "Were both 
 just before God; walking in all the com- 
 mandments of God without reproof." 
 
 Zachary was a priest, so he was of the 
 tribe of Levi, and of the family of Aaron ; 
 and Elizabeth was the cousin of Our Lady, 
 and belonged probably to the tribe of 
 Juda. Both had grown old in the service 
 of God; both had spent their lives in 
 longing and prayer for the coming of the 
 Messias ; and both longed for the blessing 
 of children, although they had given up 
 praying for that, believing that it was not 
 the will of God to give them a son. 
 
 But one day, as Zachary was taking his 
 turn to offer incense in the sanctuary, 
 "There appeared to him an angel of the 
 Lord, standing on the right side of the 
 
THE PRECURSOR 67 
 
 Altar of Incense. And Zachary, seeing 
 him, was troubled, and a fear fell upon 
 him. But the angel said to him: Fear 
 not, Zachary, for thy prayer is heard: 
 and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a 
 son, and thou shalt call his name John. 
 And thou shalt have joy and gladness, 
 and many shall rejoice at his nativity. 
 For he shall be great before the Lord; 
 and shall drink no wine nor strong drinks : 
 and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, 
 even from his mother's womb. And he 
 shall convert many of the Children of 
 Israel to the Lord their God. And he 
 shall go before Him in the spirit and 
 power of Elias; that he may turn the 
 hearts of the fathers unto the children, 
 and the incredulous to the wisdom of the 
 just, to prepare unto the Lord a perfect 
 people. And Zachary said to the angel, 
 
68 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 Whereby shall I know this ? for I am an 
 old man, and my wife is advanced in 
 years. And the angel answering, said to 
 him : I am Gabriel who stand before God. 
 And am sent to speak with thee, and to 
 bring thee these good tidings. And be- 
 hold, thou shalt be dumb and shalt not 
 be able to speak, until the day whereon 
 these things shall come to pass, because 
 thou hast not believed my words which 
 shall be fulfilled in their time. And 
 when he came out, he could not speak to 
 them (the people) and they understood 
 that he had seen a vision in the Temple. 
 And he made signs to them, and remained 
 dumb." 
 
 Six months later the same angel 
 Gabriel was sent "Into a city of Galilee 
 called Nazareth to a virgin espoused to a 
 man whose name was Joseph, and the vir- 
 
THE PRECURSOR 69 
 
 gin's name was Mary." The Angel told 
 Mary that she was chosen by God to be 
 the mother of His only-begotten Son, the 
 long-looked for Messias ; and also that her 
 cousin Elizabeth was to be made happy 
 by the birth of a son in her old age. "And 
 Mary, rising up in those days, went into 
 the hill country with haste, into a city of 
 Juda. And she entered into the house 
 of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth. And it 
 came to pass that when Elizabeth heard 
 the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped 
 in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with 
 the Holy Ghost: Then Elizabeth said: 
 Blessed art thou among women, and 
 blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And 
 whence is this to me, that the mother of 
 my Lord should come to me? And 
 Mary abode with her about three months ; 
 and she returned to her own house." 
 
70 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 And all this time Zachary had remained 
 dumb. His little son was born, and when 
 he was eight days old the neighbors and 
 kinsfolk "Came to circumcise the child, 
 and they called him by his father's name, 
 Zachary. And his mother, answering 
 said : Not so : but he shall be called John. 
 And they said to her: There is none of 
 thy kindred that is called by that name. 
 And they made signs to his father how he 
 would have him called. And demanding 
 a writing-table, he wrote, saying : John is 
 his name. And they all wondered. And 
 immediately his mouth was opened, and 
 his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing 
 God. And fear came upon all their 
 neighbors: and all these things were 
 noised abroad over the hill country of 
 Judea. And all they that heard them 
 laid them up in their hearts saying: 
 
THE PRECURSOR 71 
 
 What an one, think you, shall this child 
 be? For the hand of the Lord was with 
 him. And the child grew and was 
 strengthened in spirit, and was in the 
 deserts until the day of his manifestation 
 to Israel." 
 
 It is a pious belief that when the Holy 
 Innocents were massacred at Bethlehem, 
 St. Elizabeth, who, you remember, was 
 the cousin of the Blessed Mother, became 
 terrified lest the jealous fury of Herod 
 might be aroused against her own little 
 son ; so she fled with him into the wilder- 
 ness. It is said that Zachary died whilst 
 John was an infant ; and his mother when 
 the boy was about seven years old. Who 
 took care of him after that is not known; 
 and although some pretty legends are 
 told of his lonely life in the wilderness, 
 we must not stay for them now. Just 
 
72 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 before Our Lord began His Public Life, 
 and when John was about thirty years of 
 age, we read: — 
 
 "John was in the desert, baptizing, and 
 preaching the baptism of penance unto 
 the remission of sin." This was not the 
 Sacrament of Baptism which was not yet 
 instituted, but only a ceremony that 
 prefigured the true Baptism. 
 
 "And there went out to him all the 
 country of Judea, and all they of Jeru- 
 salem, and were baptized by him in the 
 river Jordan, confessing their sins. And 
 John was clothed in camePs hair, with a 
 leathern girdle about his loins. And he 
 ate locusts and wild honey. And he 
 preached, saying: There cometh after 
 me one mightier than I, the latchet of 
 whose shoes I am not worthy to loose. 
 I have baptized you with water, but 
 
THE PRECURSOR 73 
 
 He shall baptize you with the Holy 
 Ghost." "Did St. John really eat 
 locusts?" 
 
 Persons who have traveled in that part 
 of Syria where St. John lived, declare it to 
 be most likely that he really did, for the 
 poor people of that country eat them to 
 this day, and, what is more, think them 
 very good when roasted and rubbed down 
 to powder. The wild honey is still to be 
 found stored by the bees "in the hollow 
 places of the rocks." As for the camel's 
 hair and the leathern girdle, they were 
 worn by shepherds and herdsmen, and by 
 all the poorer dwellers in the wilderness at 
 that time. St. John's poverty was of his 
 own choosing, for Zachary had property 
 at Ain-Karim which, after his death, 
 belonged rightly to his son. But John 
 preferred to share the lack of all things 
 
74 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 with the Messias whom he loved so 
 dearly, but whom he had never seen 
 until : — 
 
 "It came to pass in those days that 
 Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and 
 was baptized by John in the Jordan. 
 And forthwith coming up out of the water, 
 he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit 
 as a dove descending and remaining on 
 Him. And there came a voice from 
 heaven, saying, Thou art My beloved 
 Son: in Thee I am well pleased. And 
 this is the testimony of John, when the 
 Jews sent from Jerusalem Priests and 
 Scribes, to ask him: Who art thou? 
 And he confessed, and did not deny : and 
 he confessed: I am not the Christ. 
 And they asked him : What then ? Art 
 thou Elias? And he said I am not. 
 Art thou the prophet? And he an- 
 
THE PRECURSOR 75 
 
 swered: No. When the messengers per- 
 sisted in asking who he was, he answered : 
 I am the voice of one crying in the 
 wilderness: Make straight the way of 
 the Lord: as said the Prophet Isaias. 
 Then they asked him why he baptized 
 if he were neither Christ, nor Elias, nor 
 the prophet. And he said: I baptize 
 with water; but there hath stood one in 
 the midst of you whom you know not. 
 The same is He that shall come after 
 me, who is preferred before me: the 
 latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy 
 to loose." 
 
 You know most people in those days 
 wore sandals; that is, soles made of thin 
 strips of wood or leather, bound to the 
 foot and leg by straps that were called 
 latchets. When a guest entered a house, 
 a slave was sent to loosen these latchets, 
 
76 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 remove the sandals, and assist the visitor 
 to wash the dust of the road from his feet. 
 " These things were done in Bethania 
 beyond the Jordan where John was bap- 
 tizing. 
 
 "The next day John saw Jesus coming 
 to him, and he saith: Behold the Lamb 
 of God, behold Him Who taketh away the 
 sins of the world. The next day again 
 John stood, and two of his disciples. 
 And beholding Jesus walking, he saith: 
 Behold the Lamb of God. And the 
 two disciples heard him speak, and they 
 followed Jesus. " 
 
 There reigned at that time over Galilee 
 a man named Herod, the grandson of 
 that Herod the Great who had caused 
 the massacre of the Holy Innocents. 
 This Herod was almost, if not quite, as 
 bad as his grandfather had been, and 
 
THE PRECURSOR 77 
 
 among other crimes had committed that 
 of marrying the wife of his brother Philip 
 while her husband was still alive. St. 
 John the Baptist, knowing of this wicked- 
 ness, reproved Herod for his sin, and was 
 thrown into prison. 
 
 "But Herod the Tetrarch, when he was 
 reproved by John for Herodias, his brother's 
 wife, and for all the evils which Herod had 
 done, he added this also, above all, and 
 shut up John in prison. " Still it seems 
 that his disciples could visit him, for we 
 are told that "When John had heard in 
 prison the works of Christ, he called to him 
 two of his disciples, and sent them to 
 Jesus, saying: Art Thou He Who is to 
 come, or look we for another ? 
 
 "And Jesus, making answer, said to 
 them: Go and relate to John what you 
 have heard and seen. The blind see, the 
 
78 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the 
 deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor 
 have the Gospel preached to them. And 
 blessed is he that shall not be scandalized 
 in Me." 
 
 After the messengers of John had gone 
 back to their master, Our Lord spoke of 
 the Baptist to His own disciples, declaring 
 His Precursor to be: "A prophet — and 
 more than a prophet. This is he of 
 whom it is written: Behold I send My 
 angel before Thy face, who shall prepare 
 Thy way before Thee. Amen, I say to 
 you, there hath not risen among men that 
 are born of women a greater than John 
 the Baptist : yet he that is the lesser in the 
 kingdom of heaven is greater than he." 
 
 Herodias, the wicked woman whom 
 Herod had married, hated John the 
 Baptist because he had declared her 
 
THE PRECURSOR 79 
 
 marriage to be unlawful; and "Laid 
 snares for him, and was desirous to put 
 him to death, and could not : For Herod 
 feared John, knowing him to be a just and 
 holy man, and kept him, and, When he 
 heard him, did many things : and he 
 heard him willingly. And when a con- 
 venient day was come, Herod made a 
 supper for his birthday; for the princes, 
 and tribunes, and chief men of Galilee. 
 And when the daughter of the same Hero- 
 dias had come in, and had danced and 
 pleased Herod and them that were at table 
 with him, the king said to the damsel: 
 Ask of me what thou wilt, and I will give 
 it to thee. And he swore to her : What- 
 soever thou shalt ask, I will give thee, 
 though it be the half of my kingdom. 
 Who when she was gone out, said to her 
 mother: What shall I ask? But she 
 
80 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 said: The head of John the Baptist: 
 And when she was come in immediately 
 with haste to the king, she asked saying : 
 I will that forthwith thou give me, in a 
 dish, the head of John the Baptist. And 
 the king was struck sad. Yet because of 
 his oath, and because of them that were 
 at table with him, he would not displease 
 her. And sending an executioner, he 
 commanded that his head should be 
 brought in a dish. And he beheaded him 
 in prison, and brought his head in a dish : 
 and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel 
 gave it to her mother. Which his disci- 
 ples hearing, came and took his body, and 
 laid it in a tomb." 
 
 Afterwards that blessed body which had 
 never, since it came into the world, been 
 the slave of sin, was carried to Alexandria. 
 The head of the Baptist was taken to Rome. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE GATHERING OF HIS FRIENDS 
 
 TF you take your map of Palestine — 
 -■- there is one in the big Bible if you can- 
 not find it in your atlas or geography — 
 you will see that a river, the Jordan, 
 rises in Mt. Libanus at the extreme north, 
 and flows through the whole country from 
 north to south, emptying itself at last into 
 the Dead Sea. In its course the Jordan 
 forms several lakes, of which the largest 
 is the Lake of Genesareth, often called 
 the Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias. 
 This lake is fourteen miles long, and six 
 broad, and now, as in the time of Our Lord, 
 contains great quantities of fish. Its 
 
 81 
 
82 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 shores are bare and rather desolate, but 
 many famous cities once stood upon its 
 banks, and among them, to the north- 
 west, was Capharnaum. 
 
 The name signifies "The lovely Place/ 7 
 or " The town of Consolation ; " and in this 
 city by the sea dwelt many friends of the 
 King — among them Peter and Andrew, 
 and James and John. They had not 
 always lived at Capharnaum ; their birth- 
 place, and that of Philip also, had been 
 Bethsaida, a city only three miles away. 
 But it was their dwelling place in man- 
 hood, and here they followed the humble 
 trade of fishermen ; James and John living 
 with their father Zebedee, and Peter who 
 was married, in a house- of his own ; An- 
 drew probably shared the home of his 
 brother, and the four were partners in 
 trade. 
 
GATHERING OF HIS FRIENDS 83 
 
 If you have read the story of the "Call 
 of the Disciples" as it is set down in the 
 Gospel, you have thought, perhaps, that 
 Peter and Andrew, and James and John, 
 saw the King for the first time when He 
 walked that day by the Sea of Galilee, and 
 said to them: "Come, follow Me." But 
 this was not so. Ever since they were 
 twelve years old, the boys had gone down 
 every year to Jerusalem for the great 
 festival, and the people of Capharnaum 
 and the other cities by the sea would be 
 pretty sure to have journeyed with those 
 coming from Cana and Nazareth ; for it was 
 the custom to travel in companies. More- 
 over, James and John were nearly related 
 to Our Lord. Andrew was the disciple of 
 St. John the Baptist, and first learned that 
 Jesus was the Messias "in Bethania beyond 
 the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 
 
84 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 "Again the following day, John stood 
 and two of his disciples. And be- 
 holding Jesus walking he said: Behold 
 the Lamb of God. And the two disci- 
 ples heard him speak, and they followed 
 Jesus. And Jesus turning, and seeing 
 them following Him, saith to them: 
 What seek you? Who said to Him: 
 Rabbi (which is to say, being inter- 
 preted, Master), Where dwellest Thou? 
 He saith to them : Come and see. They 
 came and saw where He abode, and 
 they stayed with Him that day. And An- 
 drew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one 
 of the two who had heard John, and fol- 
 lowed Him. He findeth first his brother 
 Simon, and saith to him: We have found 
 the Messias, which is, being interpreted, 
 the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. 
 And Jesus looking upon him said : Thou 
 
GATHERING OF HIS FRIENDS 85 
 
 art Simon, the son of Jona : thou shalt be 
 called Cephas, which is, being interpreted, 
 Peter. On the following day he (Andrew) 
 would go forth into Galilee, and findeth 
 Philip. And Jesus saith to him: Follow 
 Me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the 
 city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth 
 Nathanael, and saith to him: We have 
 found Him of whom Moses and the Law, 
 and the Prophets did write, Jesus, the Son 
 of Joseph of Nazareth. And Nathanael 
 said to him : Can anything of good come 
 out of Nazareth? Philip said to him: 
 Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael 
 coming to Him, and He said of him: 
 Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there 
 is no guile. Nathanael saith to Him: 
 Whence knowest Thou me? Jesus 
 answered and said to him: Before that 
 Philip called thee, when thou wast under 
 
86 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael 
 answered and said : Rabbi, Thou art the 
 Son of God. Thou art the King of 
 Israel." 
 
 These four, Peter, Andrew, Philip, and 
 Nathanael (who was afterwards called 
 Bartholomew) were present with Our Lord 
 and His Blessed Mother at the marriage 
 feast at Cana in Galilee. 
 
 "Now there was a marriage feast at 
 Cana of Galilee, and the Mother of Jesus 
 was there. And Jesus also and His dis- 
 ciples were invited to the marriage." 
 And there the King worked His first 
 miracle of turning water into wine at the 
 prayer of His Mother. 
 
 " After this He went down to Caphar- 
 naum, He and His Mother, and His 
 brethren, and His disciples, and they 
 remained there many days." 
 
GATHERING OF HIS FRIENDS 87 
 
 And who were "His brethren"? For 
 certainly the Queen had no other son than 
 He who was also u The only-begotten 
 Son of God." 
 
 Those who are styled in the Gospel "the 
 brethren of Jesus" were certain near 
 relatives, the sons of Mary of Cleophas. 
 It has been supposed by some writers 
 that their father was dead, and that St. 
 Joseph had adopted them according to a 
 custom among the Jews. St. Matthew 
 and St. Mark tell us that the names of 
 these near and dear friends of the King 
 were James, Simon, Judas (not Judas 
 Iscariot) and Joseph. Later on, James 
 (called the Less to distinguish him from 
 James the brother of John and Simon) 
 was numbered among the Apostles. 
 
 When the festival of the Pasch was 
 drawing near, Jesus went down to Jerusa- 
 
88 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 lem with His disciples and there met 
 another who was to be His friend, although 
 at first not a very brave one. 
 
 "And there was a man of the Pharisees 
 named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 
 And this man came to Jesus by night, 
 and said to Him: Rabbi, we know that 
 Thou art come a teacher from God; for 
 no man can do those signs which Thou 
 dost unless God be with Him." 
 
 The King did not reproach Nicodemus 
 with His cowardice, as you or I might 
 have felt tempted to do. Instead of that, 
 He explained to him the truths of faith; 
 and because Nicodemus was a clever and 
 learned man, and was really in earnest, 
 Our Lord spoke to him of very high and 
 difficult things, not easy to understand. 
 In spite of his seeming want of courage, 
 this Pharisee and ruler of the Jews be- 
 
GATHERING OF HIS FRIENDS 89 
 
 came a true and steadfast friend "Who 
 remained faithful in all the distresses of 
 his friend." 
 
 Nicodemus helped Joseph of Arimathea, 
 after the crucifixion, to bury the sacred 
 body of Our Lord. And being later on — 
 perhaps after the Ascension of the King — 
 turned out of the Synagogue, he retired to 
 the country house of his friend Gamaliel, 
 the teacher of St. Paul, and there died 
 after many years. 
 
 Our Lord had many friends who dwelt 
 by the Sea of Tiberias, but we have 
 not space for an account of all. There is 
 one, however, who must not be omitted, 
 for like Peter and Andrew, James and 
 John, and Philip and Bartholomew, or 
 Nathanael — he was called by the King 
 to be one of the twelve who, like St. Paul, 
 were to be shown what great things they 
 
90 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 should do in His name. This favored 
 one was Levi, or Matthew, the Publican. 
 Do you know what a publican was? 
 You do know that the Romans had con- 
 quered the Jews, and ruled their country, 
 and made them pay taxes for the support 
 of the army which was to prevent the 
 Jews themselves from rising against their 
 foreign masters. The men employed to 
 collect these taxes were nearly always 
 Jews themselves, for the tax-gatherers 
 were well paid, and the Jews loved money 
 then as now. They were hated and looked 
 down upon by their own countrymen, and 
 often despised by their Roman employers ; 
 but, if not strictly honest at all times, they 
 were rich men. "And Matthew was a 
 publican." He gathered taxes from those 
 who carried merchandise from one side 
 of the Sea of Galilee to the other, and tolls 
 
GATHERING OF HIS FRIENDS 91 
 
 from the passengers who crossed the Lake 
 or inland sea in ships. St. Luke and St. 
 Mark speak of this Apostle as Levi, but he 
 calls himself Matthew, and was probably 
 known by that name after his conversion. 
 
 The King had cured a man sick of the 
 palsy, who was let down to Him through 
 the roof of a house. "And when Jesus 
 passed by from thence He saw a man 
 sitting in the Customs, named Matthew, 
 and He saith to him: Follow Me. And 
 he rose up and followed Him." 
 
 Soon after this Matthew invited the 
 King and His disciples to supper and asked 
 many of his friends who were publicans 
 like himself to meet Our Lord. The 
 Pharisees were angry and shocked because 
 the King ate "with publicans and sin- 
 ners/' and they told His disciples so. 
 When Our Lord heard of this He said: 
 
92 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 "They that are well (that is, good and holy 
 people) have no need of a physician, but 
 they that are sick: Go, then, and learn 
 what this meaneth, I will have mercy, 
 and not sacrifice. For I am not come 
 to call the just, but sinners, to repent- 
 ance." 
 
 St. Matthew remained with Our Lord 
 until after the Ascension, and then 
 preached the faith in Palestine during 
 several years. He wrote his Gospel for 
 the Jewish converts in his own country, 
 and afterwards went into the far East, 
 and suffered martyrdom in Parthia. His 
 relics were brought to Italy, and placed in 
 a church at Salerno. Each of the four 
 evangelists is represented by an emblem 
 or sign : Of these St. John's emblem is an 
 eagle ; St. Mark's a lion ; St. Luke's an ox ; 
 and St. Matthew's a man, because in the 
 
GATHERING OF HIS FRIENDS 93 
 
 first chapter of his Gospel he gives a table 
 of the human descent of Our Lord from 
 David. It is in St. Matthew's Gospel 
 also that we find the story of the Wise 
 Men. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE STORY OF ST. PETER AND THE ELEVEN 
 BEFORE THE BURIAL OF OUR LORD 
 
 TT is a great pity that the story of St. 
 -*- Peter would take up more space than 
 we can afford if told entirely in the words 
 of Holy Writ, for no other can be half 
 as beautiful — but so it is. We must do 
 the best we can under the circumstances, 
 and give you as much of the Gospel nar- 
 rative as possible. 
 
 St. Peter lived at Capharnaum with his 
 family, for he was married; and he fol- 
 lowed the trade of a fisherman in partner- 
 ship with his brother Andrew, and with 
 James and John, the sons of Zebedee. 
 
 94 
 
THE STORY OF ST. PETER 95 
 
 You have read how Andrew brought 
 him to the King who changed his name 
 from Simon Bar-Jona, which means Simon 
 Son of John, to Cephas, or Peter, meaning a 
 rock. A little later as "Jesus was walking 
 by the Sea of Galilee " He saw Peter and 
 Andrew and called them again to follow 
 Him, promising that thenceforth they 
 should be fishers of men. On that same 
 day He called James and John, and from 
 that time "Peter and James and John" 
 were His chosen companions and most 
 intimate friends. One of them — John — 
 became "the disciple whom Jesus loved"; 
 Peter He made Head of His Church; 
 James was the first of the twelve to suffer 
 martyrdom for the faith. 
 
 Our Lord seems to have lived in Peter's 
 house during some part, at least, of His 
 residence in Capharnaum, and it was from 
 
96 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 Peter's boat that He preached to the people 
 when " The multitude pressed upon Him," 
 and in Peter's boat also that He so often 
 crossed the Sea. 
 
 On the day when the Sermon on the 
 Mount was preached, the King worked 
 many miracles, and "When Jesus was 
 come into Peter's house, He saw his 
 wife's mother lying, and sick of a fever. 
 And He touched her hand and the fever 
 left her, and she arose and ministered to 
 them." 
 
 Very shortly after this when "The 
 multitudes pressed upon Him to hear the 
 Word of God, He saw two ships by the 
 Lake," and "Going into one of the ships 
 that was Simon's He desired him to thrust 
 out a little from the land. And sitting 
 there He taught the multitudes out of the 
 ship." When the sermon was over, Our 
 
THE STORY OF ST. PETER 97 
 
 Lord told Peter to launch out into the sea 
 and let down his nets, and: "Simon 
 answering said : Lord, we have labored all 
 the night and have taken nothing. But 
 at Thy word I will let down the net." 
 And he did "let down the net/' and took 
 so many fishes that the net was broken — 
 so many that when the partners came to 
 help them " they filled both the ships so 
 that they were almost sinking." 
 
 Then " Peter fell down at Jesus' knees, 
 saying: Depart from me, Lord, for 
 I am a sinful man. And Jesus saith 
 to Simon: Fear not: from henceforth 
 thou shalt catch men." When the King 
 went to the house of Jairus where the 
 daughter of the ruler lay dead, "He 
 admitted not any man to follow Him but 
 Peter and James and John." 
 
 After the miracle of the multiplication 
 
98 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 of the loaves and fishes, the people tried 
 to seize Our Lord and make Him king; 
 but His kingdom was not of this world, 
 and He "Fled into the mountain to pray, 
 Himself alone/ 7 whilst Peter and the others 
 took boat to cross the sea. 
 
 It was dark night when a great storm 
 arose, "And the ship in the midst of the 
 sea was tossed by the waves/ 7 and "Pres- 
 ently Jesus comet h to them, walking 
 upon the sea, and He would have passed 
 by them.' 7 All on board saw Him and 
 were terrified, for they thought it was a 
 spirit, but Our Lord said: "Be of good 
 cheer; it is I, be not afraid." Then Peter 
 cried: "Lord, if it be Thou, let me come 
 to Thee upon the waters. 77 And he 
 said: "Come. 77 But Peter 7 s faith was 
 not strong. He was afraid and began to 
 sink, and cried out: "Lord, save me! 7 ' 
 
THE STORY OF ST. PETER 99 
 
 Then Jesus stretched out His hand say- 
 ing: "0 thou of little faith, why didst 
 thou doubt ?" 
 
 The storm ceased as Our Lord and St. 
 Peter gained the vessel, and they that 
 were in the ship worshiped the King, 
 saying : "Thou art truly the Son of God." 
 
 In spite of His miracles, the people 
 were slow to believe all that Our Lord 
 tried to teach them; and when He ex- 
 plained the doctrine of the Blessed Sacra- 
 ment, they were scandalized. "After this 
 many of His disciples went back and 
 walked no more with Him." The sacred 
 Heart of the King was wounded then, as 
 you would be if your friends were to desert 
 you, and "He said to the twelve: Will 
 you also go away? And Simon Peter 
 answered Him: Lord, to whom shall we 
 go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. 
 
100 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 And we have believed and have known 
 that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God." 
 At another time Our Lord said to His 
 disciples "Whom do men say the Son 
 of man is? And they said: Some say 
 that Thou art John the Baptist, and others 
 Elias, and others Jeremias, and others 
 that one of the former prophets is risen 
 again. Then Jesus said to them: But 
 whom do you say that I am? Simon 
 Peter answered and said: Thou art 
 Christ, the Son of the Living God. And 
 Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed 
 art thou, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh 
 and blood hath not revealed it to thee, 
 but My Father who is in heaven. And I 
 say to thee that thou art Peter, and upon 
 this rock I will build My Church, and the 
 gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 
 And to thee will I give the keys of the 
 
THE STORY OF ST. PETER 101 
 
 kingdom of Heaven, and whatsoever 
 thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be 
 bound also in Heaven; and whatsoever 
 thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed 
 also in Heaven." 
 
 From this time forth the King began to 
 prepare His disciples for His Passion, and 
 told them that He must die, and in two 
 days rise again. At first they did not 
 understand clearly, but when at length 
 the truth entered their minds, " Peter, 
 taking Him, began to rebuke Him, saying : 
 Lord, be it far from Thee. And Jesus 
 said: Get thee behind Me, Satan: thou 
 art a scandal to Me because Thou dost 
 not relish the things that are of God, but 
 the things that are of men." 
 
 Six days later Jesus took Peter and 
 James and John up into a mountain to 
 pray. And he was transfigured — or 
 
102 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 changed — before them. His face be- 
 came bright as the sun, and His garments 
 all white and shining; and Moses and 
 Elias appeared talking to Him. They 
 spoke of the death He was to suffer in 
 Jerusalem: presently Moses and Elias 
 were about to depart, and Peter said to 
 Jesus: " Master, it is good for us to be 
 here ; if Thou wilt, let us make here three 
 tabernacles — one for Thee, one for Moses, 
 and one for Elias/ ' 
 
 Then a bright cloud overshadowed 
 them, and a voice came out of it, saying : 
 "This is My most beloved Son in whom 
 I am well pleased. Hear ye Him." 
 
 The three Apostles fell down terrified, 
 but Jesus touched them, told them not to 
 be afraid, and charged them too "to tell 
 the vision to no man, until the Son of 
 man be risen from the dead." 
 
THE STORY OF ST. PETER 103 
 
 St. Peter, with the other Apostles and 
 disciples, was present at the raising of 
 Lazarus, and witnessed the triumphal 
 entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. 
 Over and over had they heard what the 
 Prophets foretold; over and over Our 
 Lord Himself had warned them that He 
 must suffer and die. But even yet they 
 did not understand. At last He said to 
 them quite plainly: "You know that after 
 two days shall be the Pasch, and the Son 
 of man shall be delivered up to be cruci- 
 fied." When the day of the Pasch was 
 near at hand, "Jesus sent two of His 
 disciples, Peter and John, saying: Go 
 and prepare the Pasch that we may eat" : 
 and He bade them find "A large dining 
 room furnished, and there prepare ye for 
 us. 
 
 "And the disciples did as Jesus had 
 
104 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 appointed them, and they prepared the 
 Pasch." 
 
 When Holy Thursday came, the King 
 took supper with His Apostles — the 
 last supper He was ever to take with them. 
 It was not a common supper, such as was 
 eaten every day, but a religious obser- 
 vance ordered by the Law, and it was not 
 taken all at one time. St. John says: 
 "When supper was done/' meaning when 
 the first part of the ceremony was over, 
 Our Lord rose, put off His outer garment, 
 and " After that He putteth water into a 
 basin and began to wash the feet of the 
 disciples. When He came to Peter, Peter 
 saith to Him, Lord, dost Thou wash my 
 feet? Jesus said: What I do thou 
 knowest not now, but thou shalt know 
 hereafter. Peter saith to Him: Thou 
 shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered 
 
THE STORY OF ST. PETER 105 
 
 him : If I wash thee not, thou shalt have 
 no part with Me. Simon Peter saith to 
 Him: Lord, not only my feet, but also 
 my hands and my head." 
 
 When the washing of the feet was 
 finished, they sat down to take the second 
 part of the supper, and the King gave 
 the disciples an instruction on humility. 
 At the end of this "He was troubled in 
 spirit," and told them that one of them 
 — one of His own — was about to betray 
 Him. St. John was leaning on the bosom 
 of Jesus, and Peter said to him: "Who is 
 he of whom He speaketh?" John asked 
 the King: "Lord, who is it?" and Jesus 
 answered: "He it is to whom I shall 
 reach bread dipped." And when He had 
 dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas 
 Iscariot. A few moments later the mis- 
 erable creature went out to betray his 
 
106 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 Master, and the King told the others that 
 He must soon leave them. " Peter said: 
 Lord whither goest Thou? Jesus an- 
 swered: Whither I go thou canst not 
 follow Me now, but thou shalt follow here- 
 after. Peter saith to Him : Why cannot 
 I follow Thee? I will lay down my life 
 for Thee. Jesus answered him: Wilt 
 thou lay down thy life for Me? Amen, 
 amen, I say to thee, the cock shall not 
 crow till thou deny Me thrice. " 
 
 Peter loved his Master dearly and could 
 not believe that he should really deny 
 Him. Our Lord went on with His in- 
 struction, and said presently: "All you 
 shall be scandalized in Me this night. " 
 Peter answered at once: " Though all 
 should be scandalized in Thee, yet not I ; 
 I will never be scandalized." And Jesus 
 said to him : " Amen, I say to thee, to-day, 
 
THE STORY OF ST. PETER 107 
 
 even this night, before the cock crow twice, 
 thou shalt deny Me thrice.' ' But he spoke 
 more vehemently: "Although I should die 
 together with Thee, I will not deny Thee." 
 
 Poor Peter! How little he knew! 
 
 At last all the ceremonies of the Paschal 
 Supper were ended, and more than all, 
 the King had instituted the great sacrifice 
 of the New Law, and with His own hands 
 had given their first communion to His 
 disciples. Then they sang a hymn of 
 thanksgiving, and set out to walk over 
 Mount Olivet to the Garden of Olives; 
 and then He left the other disciples out- 
 side the gate, and taking Peter and James 
 and John, He went into the Garden to 
 pray. He said to the three: "My soul 
 is sorrowful even unto death: stay you 
 here and watch with Me. Pray, lest you 
 enter into temptation." 
 
108 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 Then He went to a little distance and 
 entered into His Agony. Presently He 
 returned to the three "and found them 
 sleeping for sorrow. And He said to 
 Peter: Simon, sleepest thou? Couldst 
 thou not watch one hour with Me ? Watch 
 and pray that ye enter not into tempta- 
 tion. The spirit indeed is willing, but 
 the flesh is weak." He went back to His 
 prayer and His Agony, and "When He 
 returned, He found them again asleep, for 
 their eyes were heavy, and they knew not 
 what to answer Him." No wonder. 
 They must have been ashamed. "Then 
 He cometh to them the third time and 
 said to them: Behold the Son of Man 
 shall be betrayed into the hands of 
 sinners. Rise up, let us go. Behold, he 
 that will betray me is at hand." 
 
 Judas Iscariot was at hand with a band 
 
THE STORY OF ST. PETER 109 
 
 of men sent by the Chief Priests. Our 
 Lord went forward to meet him, and when 
 Judas said: "Hail Rabbi/ ' and kissed 
 Him, Jesus said to him: " Friend, whereto 
 art thou come? Dost thou betray the 
 Son of man with a kiss?" "They came 
 up and laid hands on Jesus, and they that 
 were about seeing what would follow said 
 to Him: Lord, shall we strike with the 
 sword?" Peter neither asked nor waited 
 for permission. He "drew out his sword," 
 and cut off the ear of a servant of the 
 High-priest named Malchus. He had not 
 yet learned the ways of the King. 
 
 Jesus said: "Suffer ye thus far." And 
 when He had touched his ear He healed 
 him. When the King was bound and led 
 to the house of the High-priest, the dis- 
 ciples "leaving Him, all fled away; but 
 Peter followed afar off." St. John must 
 
110 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 have "followed afar off," too; for know- 
 ing a servant of the High-priest, he took 
 Peter with him into the outer court, and 
 seems to have left him there by the fire. 
 " Presently a maid servant saw Peter 
 and said: This man also was with Him. 
 But he denied Him saying: Woman, I 
 know Him not. Another said: Thou also 
 art one of them; and Peter answered: 
 Man, I am not." After a little while 
 "Another certain man affirmed, saying: 
 Of a truth this man also was with Him; 
 for he also is a Galilean. And Peter 
 said: Man, I know not what thou 
 sayest. And immediately the cock crew. 
 And th€ Lord turning looked on Peter"; 
 and "Peter going out wept bitterly." 
 And to the end of his life he never ceased 
 to weep because of that threefold denial. 
 He crept away and hid himself in his 
 
THE STORY OF ST. PETER 111 
 
 misery and shame. We hear no more of 
 Peter until the morning of the resurrec- 
 tion. The other disciples trod the sorrow- 
 ful way, for we are told by St. Luke that 
 during the crucifixion "All His acquaint- 
 ances and the women who had followed 
 Him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding 
 these things.'' And St. John says: "Now 
 there stood by the cross of Jesus His 
 Mother, and His Mother's sister, Mary of 
 Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When 
 Jesus therefore had seen His Mother and 
 the disciple standing whom He loved, 
 He saith to His Mother : Woman, behold 
 thy son. And after that He saith A to the 
 disciple: Behold thy Mother. And from 
 that hour the disciple took her to his own." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE FORTY DAYS 
 
 ^V\7"E are not told whither the Apostles 
 * * betook themselves after the burial 
 of the King ; but they must have remained 
 together. Even Peter had returned to 
 them, for when Mary Magdalen, on visiting 
 the sepulcher early in the morning on the 
 first day of the week, found the stone 
 rolled away and the sepulcher empty, 
 she ran "to Simon Peter, and to that 
 other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith 
 to them: They have taken away the 
 Lord out of the sepulcher, and I know 
 not where they have laid Him." 
 Peter and John both ran to the sepul- 
 112 
 
THE FORTY DAYS 113 
 
 cher. John got there first, but he waited 
 for Peter, who entered the sepulcher 
 and found it empty. Then John, too, 
 entered the sepulcher, "and he saw and 
 believed. " In spite of all the King had 
 told them, "they knew not the scripture 
 that He must rise again from the dead"; 
 so "they went away again to their 
 houses." 
 
 The King, after His resurrection, went 
 first to see His Blessed Mother, and then 
 appeared to Mary Magdalen. Next, He 
 went as a stranger to Emmaus with two 
 disciples whose names are not mentioned, 
 but they "knew Him in the breaking of 
 bread," and returned to Jerusalem to 
 the eleven, who told them "the Lord is 
 risen indeed, and hath appeared unto 
 Simon Peter." 
 
 While they were speaking of these 
 
114 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 things on that same Easter Sunday, Our 
 Lord appeared to them all — excepting 
 Thomas, who was not with his brethren 
 at the time. "And while they believed 
 not, but wondered for joy, He said: Have 
 you here anything to eat ? And they 
 offered Him a piece of a broiled fish and 
 a honeycomb. And when He had eaten 
 before them, taking the remains, He gave 
 to them." 
 
 As the body of the King, after His res- 
 urrection, was a glorified body, He had no 
 longer any need of food; but He ate 
 before His disciples to prove to them that 
 it was He Himself, and not a mere spirit, 
 who had come to visit them. When they 
 had eaten, Our Lord said to His Apostles : 
 "As My Father hath sent Me, I also send 
 you." When He had said this, He breathed 
 on them and He said to them: "Receive 
 
THE FORTY DAYS 115 
 
 ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins ye shall 
 forgive, they are forgiven; and whose 
 sins ye shall retain, they are retained." 
 
 Thomas was one of the friends of Jesus 
 who was given to looking at the dark 
 side of things. He did not believe Mary 
 Magdalen's story — nor even that St. 
 Peter had seen the Lord. To him the 
 resurrection seemed too good to be true. 
 So when they said to him: u We have 
 seen the Lord"; he answered: " Unless 
 I shall see in His hands the print of the 
 nails, and put my finger into the place of 
 the nails, and put my hand into His side, 
 I will not believe." 
 
 Did he think that the King would not 
 know what he said ? 
 
 The next Sunday when the eleven were 
 together — and this time Thomas was 
 with them — Jesus stood in the midst of 
 
116 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 them again, and said to Thomas: "Put 
 in thy finger hither, and see My hands; 
 and bring hither thy hand and put it into 
 My side; and be not faithless, but be- 
 lieving." Thomas said at once: "My 
 Lord and my God." Jesus said to him: 
 "Because thou hast seen, Thomas, thou 
 hast believed ; blessed are they who have 
 not seen and have believed." 
 
 After that the eleven must have gone 
 into Galilee — to Capharnaum — for they 
 saw the King next at the sea. There were 
 together Simon Peter, and Thomas, and 
 Nathanael, and the sons of Zebedee, and 
 two other of the disciples. At the in- 
 vitation of Peter they all went out in a 
 boat to fish, and after laboring all night 
 had caught nothing. In the morning 
 Jesus stood upon the shore, but they did 
 not know Him. And He asked them if 
 
THE FORTY DAYS 117 
 
 they had any meat, and when they an- 
 swered, "No," He said: "Cast the net on 
 the right side of the ship and you shall 
 find." 
 
 They cast the net, and caught so many 
 fishes that they were unable to draw it in. 
 John said to Peter: "It is the Lord." 
 And Peter threw himself into the sea to 
 meet his Master. Jesus knew that they 
 were tired and hungry — Peter at least 
 must have been cold and wet; so, "When 
 they came to land, they saw hot coals 
 lying, and a fish laid thereon, and bread." 
 He had made ready a meal for them just 
 as their mothers might have done; and 
 said: "Come and dine." Then He served 
 them Himself. "And Jesus cometh and 
 taketh bread, and giveth them; and fish 
 in like manner." 
 
 After they had eaten Jesus said to Peter; 
 
118 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 " Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me 
 more than these? He saith to Him: 
 Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love 
 Thee. He saith to him:. Feed My 
 lambs. He saith to him again: Simon, 
 son of John, lovest thou Me? He saith 
 to Him: Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that 
 I love Thee. He saith to him: Feed 
 My lambs. He said to him a third time : 
 Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me? 
 Peter was grieved because He said to him 
 a third time: Lovest thou Me? And 
 he said to Him: Lord, Thou knowest all 
 things: Thou knowest that I love Thee. 
 He said to him: Feed My sheep. Amen, 
 amen, I say to thee: when thou wast 
 younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst 
 walk where thou wouldst ; but when thou 
 shalt be old, another shall gird thee, and 
 lead thee whither thou wouldst not. 
 
THE FORTY DAYS 119 
 
 And this He said, signifying by what death 
 he should glorify God. And when He had 
 said this, He said to him: Follow Me." 
 
 Peter knew now that his Lord had, 
 indeed, forgiven his threefold denial — 
 and that he was still to be head of the 
 Church on earth. Perhaps he wondered 
 that the King should have chosen him for 
 so high an honor rather than John, who 
 was walking behind. So Peter said to 
 Jesus: "Lord, what shall this man do? 
 Jesus saith to him : So I will have to 
 remain till I come, what is it to thee? 
 Follow thou Me." 
 
 So poor Peter was invited to mind his 
 own business ; and "A saying w r ent abroad 
 among the brethren that that disciple 
 dieth not." Our Lord had said nothing 
 of the kind, but people seem to have been 
 as ready to spread a report in those days 
 
120 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 as in these. And Our Lord left them in 
 their belief, for St. John outlived them all. 
 
 The King appeared to the eleven many 
 times during the days before His Ascension. 
 He promised again that after He had 
 returned to Heaven He would send the 
 Holy Ghost who should teach them to 
 observe all things whatsoever He had 
 commanded them. He promised also that 
 they should work miracles in His name; 
 and then "He opened their understanding 
 that they might understand the Scripture." 
 
 But the forty daj r s were ended at last, 
 and "He led them out as far as Bethany, 
 and lifting up His hands, He blessed them. 
 And it came to pass, whilst He blessed 
 them, He departed from them, and was 
 carried up to Heaven. And whilst they 
 were beholding Him going up to Heaven, 
 behold, two men stood by them in white 
 
THE FORTY DAYS 121 
 
 garments, who said: Ye men of Galilee, 
 why stand ye looking up to Heaven ? 
 This Jesus who is taken up from you into 
 Heaven, shall so come as you have seen 
 Him going into Heaven." 
 
 Then they returned to Jerusalem to 
 the " Upper Chamber" to await the com- 
 ing of the Holy Ghost. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 AFTER THE ASCENSION 
 
 " A ND when they were come in (from 
 -*-- **- Mount Olivet) they went up into 
 an upper chamber, where abode Peter and 
 John, James and Andrew, Philip and 
 Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, 
 James of Alpheus and Simon Zelotes, and 
 Jude the brother of James. All these 
 were persevering with one mind in prayer 
 with the women, and with Mary the 
 Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren. " 
 It was then that Peter proposed that one 
 should be chosen from among the as- 
 sembled disciples to take the place of the 
 wretched Judas who had already suffered 
 122 
 
AFTER THE ASCENSION 123 
 
 some part of the punishment of his 
 treachery and crime. 
 
 The disciples named two of their 
 number, Joseph surnamed the Just, and 
 Matthias, as being most worthy of this 
 honor, and then the two drew lots, "and 
 the lot fell upon Matthias," who was 
 thenceforth numbered among the twelve. 
 
 On the day of Pentecost, ten days 
 after the Ascension, whilst the Apostles 
 and disciples were still in the upper room, 
 the Holy Ghost, the Paraclete, descended 
 upon all of them in the form "of parted 
 tongues as it were of fire." "And they 
 were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
 they began to speak with divers tongues, 
 according as the Holy Ghost gave them 
 to speak." 
 
 Many of the foreign Jews who had 
 come to Jerusalem for the feast of the 
 
124 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 Passover had remained for that of Pente- 
 cost, and many more had arrived. It 
 soon became known that the disciples 
 of Jesus spoke so that every one under- 
 stood what was said, no matter what the 
 language of the listener might be, and the 
 people of Jerusalem were all amazed, and 
 said: "Are not these men Galileans ?" 
 But others supposed they must have drunk 
 too much wine. "But Peter, standing up 
 with the eleven," addressed the multitude, 
 and soon convinced his hearers that he, 
 at least, was "not full of new wine." 
 He preached Christ crucified so well that 
 three thousand of his hearers were con- 
 verted and baptized. 
 
 And now we have come to the time 
 when the disciples of Jesus were to 
 separate in order to preach the Gospel 
 throughout the world. Until the day of 
 
AFTER THE ASCENSION 125 
 
 Pentecost they had remained together, 
 and in reading the story of St. Peter you 
 have learned the history of the twelve. 
 
 But henceforth each will lead his own 
 life, serve His divine Master through years 
 of labor and suffering, and at last suffer 
 martyrdom for the King. Of the latter 
 days of most of these friends of Our Lord, 
 very little is certainly known; but St. 
 Luke, who was a disciple of St. Paul and 
 one of the four evangelists, wrote, besides 
 his Gospel, a book called the Acts of the 
 Apostles, wherefrom we learn much con- 
 cerning Saints Peter and Paul; but little 
 about the eleven, and of some of them 
 nothing at all. 
 
 " James the brother of John" preached 
 the faith in Judea, and was slain by Herod. 
 Thomas carried the Gospel to the far East, 
 .jid suffered martyrdom in India. Of 
 
126 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 St. Andrew little is known except that 
 after striving to evangelize the west of 
 Asia he was crucified in Achaia. James the 
 Less was the first bishop of Jerusalem, 
 and was thrown from a pinnacle of the 
 Temple by the Jews. He wrote an epistle 
 for the instruction of all the faithful, and it 
 is called "The Catholic Epistle " because 
 it is not addressed to any particular people. 
 Bartholomew (Nathanael) preached in 
 Phrygia, and was flayed alive. Philip 
 was stoned to death in Phrygia. Simon 
 Zelotes carried the Gospel into Egypt and 
 Persia. He is said to have been crucified 
 in the latter country. St. Jude, or Thad- 
 eus, taught in Mesopotamia and Armenia, 
 and was finally shot with arrows in 
 Persia. Like St. James the Less St. 
 Jude wrote a letter to the Christians 
 of the universal Church. Thanks to St. 
 
AFTER THE ASCENSION 127 
 
 Luke, I can tell you more about St. 
 Peter. 
 
 On the day of Pentecost, after the con- 
 version of the three thousand persons, 
 Saints Peter and John cured a lame man 
 "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth/' 
 and afterwards preached to the people. 
 The Chief Priests were very angry when 
 they heard of this, and ordered the Apos- 
 tles "to preach no more in that name." 
 
 r. 
 
 Saints Peter and John were thrown 
 into prison, whence they were freed by an 
 angel, and the next morning were found 
 preaching again. Then they were 
 scourged, and "went from the presence of 
 of the Council, rejoicing that they were 
 found worthy to suffer reproach for the 
 name of Jesus." 
 
 The Christians of Jerusalem sold all 
 that they had, and laid the price at the 
 
128 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 feet of the Apostles, who divided the money 
 among all. "They had all things in 
 common. " But a man named Ananias 
 and his wife Saphira, having sold a field, 
 kept part of the price, and pretended that 
 they had brought all. First one and then 
 the other denied this when questioned by 
 St. Peter, who told them that they had 
 lied, not to him, but to the Holy Ghost. 
 They fell dead one after the other, leaving 
 us an awful example of the severity of 
 temporal punishment, and of the hatred 
 God feels for a lie. 
 
 St. Luke relates that "Peter, as he passed 
 through visiting all, came to Lydda" where 
 he healed a man named Eneas of palsy, and 
 that at Joppe he raised to life "a certain 
 disciple named Tabitha, which by in- 
 terpretation is called Dorcas, " who "was 
 full of good works and alms-deeds. " And 
 
AFTER THE ASCENSION 129 
 
 "he abode many days in Joppe with one 
 Simon a tanner.' ' 
 
 Although St. Peter was a disciple of Our 
 Lord, and had been left by Him Head of 
 the Church on earth, he had not yet given 
 up the observance of the Law of Moses; 
 nor did he know in how far it was now to 
 be set aside. By this law the people of 
 God were forbidden to hold unnecessary 
 intercourse with Gentiles, and to eat 
 certain meats which were considered un- 
 clean. While the Apostle was staying 
 with Simon the tanner, he had a vision one 
 day of a sheet that seemed to be let down 
 from heaven, containing "all manner of 
 four-footed beasts, and creeping things of 
 the earth, and fowls of the air." And 
 there came a voice to him: " Arise, 
 Peter: kill and eat." But Peter said: 
 "Far be it from me; for I never did eat 
 
130 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 anything that was common and unclean." 
 The voice said: "That which God hath 
 cleansed, do not thou call common." 
 This was done three times. Very shortly 
 after messengers came from a Gentile 
 Centurion named Cornelius, begging him 
 to go to Cesarea, where Cornelius lived, 
 and there instruct the Roman officer in 
 the faith. Peter understood then that 
 the vision he had seen signified that even 
 Gentiles and pagans were to be received 
 into the Church of Christ. He went 
 to Cesarea, instructed Cornelius and his 
 family, and "Commanded them to be 
 baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 On his return to Jerusalem "the Apostles 
 and brethren who were in Judea" asked 
 St. Peter why he had done this; and he 
 told them of his vision, and "having heard 
 
AFTER THE ASCENSION 131 
 
 these things, they held their peace and 
 glorified God, saying : God then hath also 
 to the Gentiles given repentance unto 
 life." 
 
 The chief city of the East at that time 
 was Antioch, and for this reason St. 
 Peter became bishop of the place, the first 
 in which the disciples of Our Lord were 
 called Christians ; but he traveled through 
 Judea and Samaria, and went often to 
 Jerusalem. It was now that " Herod 
 the king stretched forth his hand to afflict 
 some of the Church," and " killed James 
 the brother of John with the sword." 
 
 Finding that this cruelty pleased the 
 Jews whose favor he was anxious to win, 
 Herod threw Peter into prison, but while 
 he "was sleeping between two soldiers, 
 bound with two chains," an angel freed 
 the Apostle from his fetters, and led him 
 
132 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 through the gates of the prison, which flew 
 open of themselves at their approach. 
 After "they had passed through one 
 street" "the angel departed from him" 
 and Peter went to the house of "Mary the 
 Mother of John, who was surnamed Mark," 
 and told the disciples who were assembled 
 there what had happened. Then "Going 
 out, he went into another place" where he 
 could be concealed from Herod and the 
 Jews. The wicked king died horribly 
 that same year, and then Peter returned 
 to Jerusalem. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 after the ascension (Continued) 
 
 A FTER the death of Herod the Apos- 
 -*--^- ties who had not yet dispersed into 
 all lands continued to preach in Judea and 
 the countries in the west of Asia. They 
 did not oblige the pagans who were 
 converted to observe all the ceremonies 
 of the Law of Moses, for St. Peter had 
 learned, in his vision at Joppe, that many 
 of these were to be set aside. But the 
 Jewish converts did not like to see their 
 old observances given up; and some of 
 the Apostles were on their side. 
 
 At last, about seven years after the 
 death of Herod, the matter came to an 
 
 133 
 
134 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 open dispute, and then "The Apostles 
 and Ancients assembled to consider the 
 matter. " 
 
 Do you know what a General Council 
 is? No? It is a meeting of as many 
 bishops and archbishops as can be brought 
 together in one place by invitation, or 
 with the consent of the Pope, to consider 
 some question of faith, morals, or impor- 
 tant discipline which needs to be decided. 
 The Council must be presided over by the 
 Pope as Head of the Church, or by some 
 one w T hom he has chosen to represent 
 him ; and all the decisions arrived at must 
 be approved by him. Although the ques- 
 tions discussed in this Council held by 
 the Apostles at Jerusalem did not relate 
 either to faith or morals, strictly speaking, 
 but only to what are called matters of 
 discipline, it was nevertheless of the ut- 
 
AFTER THE ASCENSION 135 
 
 most importance at the time, because the 
 Jews had been brought up to look upon 
 observances as of equal consequence 
 with articles of faith. 
 
 "And when there had been much dis- 
 cussion among them/' and each one had 
 stated his opinion, St. Peter as Head of 
 the Church stood up, and, after making 
 a discourse, settled the dispute by saying : 
 "It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost 
 and to us, to lay no further burdens upon 
 you than these necessary things; that 
 you abstain from things sacrificed to 
 idols and from blood, and from things 
 strangled, and from fornication; from 
 which things keeping yourselves you shall 
 do well. Fare ye well." 
 
 The story of the Council at Jerusalem 
 is the last we learn from St. Luke about 
 St. Peter, but the fathers of the early 
 
136 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 Church tell us that he removed his See 
 from Antioch to Rome, then the chief 
 City of the world, and there established 
 the Papal throne for all time after con- 
 secrating St. Ignatius (not St. Ignatius of 
 Loyola) Bishop of Antioch ; in his stead. 
 
 From Rome, St. Peter wrote two epistles 
 to the faithful, one fifteen, the other 
 thirty years after the Ascension. He made 
 many converts, but was at last imprisoned 
 with St. Paul in a frightful dungeon called 
 the Mamertine. Before he was seized, his 
 people besought the Head of the Church 
 to leave Rome, and so escape the fury of 
 the Emperor Nero, and Peter, after a 
 time, consented to go. 
 
 As he was passing through one of the 
 gates of the City, he saw Our Lord coming 
 towards him, carrying His cross, and cried 
 out: "Lord, whither goest Thou?" "I 
 
AFTER THE ASCENSION 137 
 
 am going to Rome to be crucified again 
 instead of thee/' answered the King — 
 and Peter returned. He remained in 
 prison nearly a year, and then St. Paul 
 and himself were led out to martyrdom. 
 St. Paul as a Roman citizen was beheaded, 
 but St. Peter was condemned to be 
 crucified — a punishment usually in- 
 flicted only on slaves. It was the death 
 he would have preferred before any other, 
 but remembering how he had denied his 
 Lord, he begged that he might be nailed 
 to the cross with his head downwards ; 
 and this was done. 
 
 The body of St. Peter was first buried in 
 the catacombs and afterwards removed to 
 the Church of the Vatican, which is now 
 called St. Peter's. His martyrdom oc- 
 curred in a.d. 65. 
 
 St. John, "The disciple whom Jesus 
 
138 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 loved/' was made Bishop of Ephesus, 
 and lived in that city with Our Lady, who 
 had been given into his care by her divine 
 Son. He is said to have visited Jerusalem 
 about twelve years after the Ascension, 
 when the Queen died and was buried 
 there. 
 
 St. John preached throughout the west 
 of Asia, and he also visited Rome, where 
 he was imprisoned, and sentenced to be 
 thrown into a great caldron of boiling 
 oil, from which he came out by the power 
 of God, unharmed. Sixty-four years after 
 the Ascension he was exiled by the Em- 
 peror Domitian to the Island of Patmos, 
 and there he had that wonderful vision 
 wherein he saw Heaven opened, "and the 
 Lamb standing as it were slain. " He 
 himself wrote the account of this vision in 
 a book which is called the Apocalypse. 
 
AFTER THE ASCENSION 139 
 
 You will take great pleasure in reading it 
 some day, but you will not understand it all. 
 
 After some time the Apostle returned 
 to Ephesus, where he lived to be very old. 
 Every one whom he had known and loved 
 in the happy days when the King taught 
 His Apostles and called them His friends, 
 had gone before when the summons came 
 to John. 
 
 He never forgot Our Lord's lessons on 
 charity; and when he was too old and 
 feeble to preach long sermons he used to 
 say to his disciples: "My little children, 
 love one another. " He died at Ephesus 
 when he had reached the age of one 
 hundred and one. 
 
 Besides his Gospel and the Apocalypse, 
 St. John wrote three epistles addressed to 
 the churches of Asia, of which he had 
 charge. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 FRIENDS AT BETHANY 
 
 A BOUT a mile to the east of Jerusalem 
 -^-^- rises Mt. Olivet, or the Mount of 
 Olives, and on its eastern slope stands the 
 village of Bethany, or rather El-Azarieh ; 
 but it was called Bethany in the time of 
 Our Lord. In this village dwelt a family, 
 every one of whose members was dear to 
 the heart of the King, and it was to their 
 quiet home that He often retired when 
 teaching in Jerusalem, and found there the 
 peace denied to Him by His own priests in 
 the City of His love. It was here, too, that 
 He sought refuge during the sorrowful days 
 that followed Palm-Sunday, when the Chief 
 Priests and the Pharisees were seeking Him 
 
 140 
 
FRIENDS AT BETHANY 141 
 
 that they might put Him to death ; and 
 the house that sheltered Him was that of 
 Lazarus and his sisters, Martha and Mary. 
 
 Lazarus is believed to have been a man 
 of wealth and consequence among the 
 Jews before his conversion, of which the 
 exact time is not known. His eldest 
 sister Martha is supposed to have looked 
 after his household, and Mary lived with 
 them. Although it is not expressly stated 
 in the Gospel that this Mary, Mary Mag- 
 dalen, and the Mary out of whom the King 
 cast seven devils were the same person, 
 this is generally believed. 
 
 Mary was young, beautiful, and rich. 
 She owned a villa at a place called Mag- 
 dala on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, 
 and led a life so scandalous that no re- 
 spectable person cared to speak to her, 
 or to be seen in her company. She was 
 
142 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 known not only in Magdala and Caphar- 
 naum, but in Jerusalem, too, as "Mary 
 the Sinner"; and is said to have met Our 
 Lord for the first time when He raised to 
 life the son of the widow of Nairn. Then 
 grace touched her heart ; she repented 
 with her whole soul, "And many sins were 
 forgiven her because she loved much." 
 
 Shortly after the raising to life of the 
 widow's son Jesus was invited to dine in 
 the house of a Pharisee named Simon, 
 who probably lived at Capharnaum, or at 
 some one of the cities by the Sea of Galilee. 
 St. Luke, who tells the story, does not 
 give the name of the place. 
 
 Then: 
 
 " To the hall of the feast came the sinful and 
 fair, 
 She had heard in the City that Jesus was 
 there/ 1 
 
FRIENDS AT BETHANY 143 
 
 and, " Kneeling beside Him she began to 
 wash his feet with her tears, and to wipe 
 them with the hairs of her head, and 
 anointed them"; for Mary had brought 
 with her an alabaster box of ointment 
 wherewith to anoint the sacred feet of her 
 Lord. 
 
 Simon was scandalized, and said to 
 himself that if Jesus were a prophet, 
 meaning a holy man, He would surely 
 have known what kind of woman this was. 
 Our Lord said: "Simon, I have somewhat 
 to say to thee." But he said: "Master, 
 say it." Then Jesus asked the Pharisee 
 which of two debtors would love a merci- 
 ful creditor most; the one to whom a 
 debt of five hundred pence had been for- 
 given, or another who had owed only 
 fifty. Simon said: "I suppose he to 
 whom most had been forgiven." And 
 
144 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 the King answered: "Thou hast judged 
 rightly." 
 
 Then the Master reminded Simon that 
 he had given no kiss of welcome, no 
 water for the feet of his guest; neither 
 had he anointed the head of Jesus with 
 oil — and these acts of courtesy were 
 customary among the Jews. "But she, 
 since she came in hath not ceased to kiss 
 My feet, and with ointment hath anointed 
 them. She hath washed My feet with 
 her tears, and hath wiped them with the 
 hairs of her head. Wherefore I say to 
 thee, many sins are forgiven her because 
 she hath loved much." And He said 
 to her: "Thy sins are forgiven thee. 
 
 "And it came to pass that He traveled 
 throughout all Galilee, Preaching the Gos- 
 pel of the Kingdom of God, and healing 
 all diseases and infirmities among the 
 
FRIENDS AT BETHANY 145 
 
 people. xAnd certain women were with 
 Him, Mary Magdalen out of whom seven 
 devils were gone forth; and Johanna 
 the wife of Chusa, Herod's steward, 
 Susanna, and many others who ministered 
 unto Him of their substance. " 
 
 It happened once when Jesus was in 
 the house at Bethany that whilst Martha 
 was busy seeing that everything was 
 in good order, and preparing dinner for 
 their guest, Mary sat at the Master's 
 feet listening to His discourse instead of 
 helping her sister. Martha was rather 
 annoyed, as was really only natural, and 
 said: "Lord, hast Thou no care that my 
 sister has left me alone to serve? Speak 
 to her therefore, that she help me. 
 
 "And the Lord answering, said to her: 
 Martha, Martha, thou art careful and 
 art troubled about many things. But 
 
146 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen 
 a better part, which shall not be taken 
 away from her." We might almost be 
 tempted to think that the King was a 
 little hard on Martha; but it was not so. 
 And she did not think so either. But He 
 wished to teach her that communion — 
 conversation — with Him is of more 
 value than anything else, and that it is 
 not well to be too anxious over household 
 cares. 
 
 In the third year of Our Lord's public 
 life the Jews were exasperated because the 
 King said among other things, "I and the 
 Father are one"; and "They took up 
 stones then to stone Him." Our Lord 
 retired with the twelve to "That place 
 where John was baptizing first," and while 
 He was there, messengers came from 
 Martha and Mary to tell Him that Lazarus 
 
FRIENDS AT BETHANY 147 
 
 was sick. Our Lord said : " This sickness 
 is not unto death, but for the glory of God ; 
 that the Son of God may be glorified by 
 it," and "He still remained in that place 
 two days." On the third day Jesus said: 
 "Let us go into Judea again." But the 
 disciples begged Him not to venture to a 
 place where His life was in danger. The 
 King knew that life and death were in 
 His own hands, and that His hour was not 
 yet come, although it was indeed very 
 near. Thomas, always ready to see the 
 dark side, said: "Let us also go that we 
 may die with Him," and they set out. 
 
 It was a long journey from that part of 
 the Jordan to Bethany, so that when 
 Our Lord reached the village He found 
 that Lazarus had been dead four days. 
 Martha came to meet the King and said 
 to Him: "Lord, if thou hadst been here, 
 
148 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 my brother had not died." Jesus an- 
 swered: 'Thy brother shall rise again." 
 Martha went to call Mary, who at once 
 came out to meet her Lord, and many of 
 the Jews, of whom there was a great crowd 
 in the house, followed her, supposing that 
 she was going to visit the tomb of her 
 brother. She too told Our Lord that if 
 He had been there, Lazarus would be still 
 living. "And Jesus wept." The Jews 
 therefore said: " Behold how He loved 
 Him." When they came to the tomb, 
 Our Lord said: "Take away the stone"; 
 but Martha reminded Him that her brother 
 had been dead four days. Our Lord 
 answered: "Did I not say to thee, that 
 if thou believe thou shalt see the glory 
 of God?" The stone was rolled away 
 from the grave and after saying aloud a 
 prayer to His eternal Father, Jesus cried 
 
FRIENDS AT BETHANY 149 
 
 with a loud voice: " Lazarus, come forth. 
 And presently he that had been dead 
 came forth, bound feet and hands with 
 winding . bands ; and his face was bound 
 about with a napkin. Jesus said to them : 
 Loose him, and let him go." 
 
 Many therefore of the Jews who were 
 come to Martha and Mary, and had seen 
 the things that Jesus did, believed in 
 Him. 
 
 But there were others who carried the 
 story to the Chief Priests and the Phari- 
 sees. These gathered a Council and said: 
 "What, do we, for this Man doth many 
 miracles ? ' ' And Caiaphas the High-Priest 
 said to them: "You know nothing. 
 Neither do you consider that it is expe- 
 dient for you that one man should die for 
 the people, and that the whole nation 
 perish not." From that day therefore 
 
150 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 they devised to put Him to death. " Where- 
 fore Jesus walked no more openly among 
 the Jews ; but He went into a country near 
 the desert, into a city which was called 
 Ephrem and there He abode with the 
 disciples." 
 
 When the great festival of the Pasch 
 approached, the Scribes and Pharisees, 
 believing that Jesus would certainly go to 
 Jerusalem, "Had given a commandment 
 that if any man knew where He was, he 
 should tell, that they might apprehend 
 Him." 
 
 But the King, six days before the Pasch, 
 went to Bethany, and the people of the 
 village must have been His friends, for 
 they did not betray Him, although He 
 did not remain in concealment, for "They 
 made Him a supper there in the house of 
 Simon the Leper." Not that Simon was 
 
FRIENDS AT BETHANY 151 
 
 suffering from leprosy at the time, for if 
 that had been the case, he might not have 
 remained in his house, much less could he 
 have invited a party to supper. Martha 
 helped to serve — she had not lost her 
 love for housekeeping — and Lazarus sat 
 at table. During the supper Mary came 
 in with "a pound of ointment of right 
 spikenard, of great price, and anointed 
 the feet of Jesus ; and wiped His feet with 
 her hair. And the house was filled with 
 the odor of the ointment. " 
 
 The Apostles were there, and Judas, 
 who carried the purse of the little company, 
 said: "To what purpose was this waste? 
 The ointment might have been sold for 
 three hundred pence, and given to the 
 poor. 
 
 " Now he said this, not because he cared 
 for the poor, but because he was a thief. " 
 
152 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 And the other disciples murmured. But 
 Jesus rebuked them, saying: "Why do 
 you trouble this woman? for she hath 
 wrought a good work unto Me. Amen 
 I say unto you: wheresoever this Gospel 
 shall be preached in the whole world, that 
 also which she hath done shall be told for 
 a memory of her." 
 
 And so it is. In every Catholic Church 
 throughout the world, when the holy 
 sacrifice is offered on the feast of St. 
 Mary Magdalen, this story is read at the 
 Gospel. And moreover she is honored 
 with a Credo in the Mass, as is no other 
 woman except the Queen. 
 
 During the week that followed Jesus 
 taught daily in the Temple, returning 
 at evening to Bethany, until the night of 
 Holy Thursday when He was betrayed 
 by Judas into the hands of the Priests. 
 
FRIENDS AT BETHANY 153 
 
 There is no mention of Lazarus or of 
 Martha but Mary was with the King 
 during the terrible time of the Passion, 
 for: " There stood at the foot of the cross 
 of Jesus Mary His Mother and Mary 
 Magdalen/ ' and the other devoted women 
 who had "ministered to Him of their 
 substance " during His Public Life. She 
 was present at the burial of the King. 
 "And there was Mary Magdalen and the 
 other Mary sitting over against the sepul- 
 cher, and beheld where He was laid. And 
 returning they prepared spices and oint- 
 ments/ ' for it was the custom among the 
 Jews to embalm and anoint the bodies 
 of their dead. 
 
 It was unlawful to do anything whatever 
 on the Sabbath, but on the first day of the 
 week — our Sunday — the holy women 
 came to the sepulcher and found that the 
 
154 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 body of the Lord was not there. "Mary 
 (Magdalen) stood without weeping," but 
 presently she stooped down and, looking 
 into the sepulcher, saw two angels who 
 asked her why she was weeping. She 
 said: "Because they have taken away 
 my Lord, and I know not where they have 
 laid Him." 
 
 Then she turned away and saw standing 
 near her some one whom she believed 
 to be the gardener. He said to her: 
 "Woman, why weepest thou? whom seek- 
 est thou?" 
 
 She said at once : * ' Sir, if thou hast taken 
 Him away, tell me where Thou hast 
 laid Him, and I will take Him away. 
 Jesus saith to her: Mary." 
 
 Then Mary knew. And the risen King 
 told her to carry the glad news to Peter 
 and the others, and to tell them that their 
 
FRIENDS AT BETHANY 155 
 
 Lord was about to ascend to His Father. 
 "And they, hearing that He was alive, 
 and had been seen by her, did not believe." 
 
 There is little more to tell of the dwellers 
 in Bethany. We may be sure that they 
 remained with the disciples during the 
 forty days, that they saw the Master often, 
 and were witnesses of His glorious As- 
 cension into Heaven. 
 
 There is a tradition which is very gen- 
 erally believed that after the Ascension, 
 perhaps at the time when "Herod 
 stretched forth his hand, and slew James 
 the brother of John with the sword," that 
 Lazarus and his sisters were driven out 
 by the Jews, and that they put to sea in 
 an open boat which carried them safely 
 along the Mediterranean to the south of 
 France; and that Mary of Cleophas and 
 Mary of Salome went with them. 
 
156 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 There Lazarus preached the faith to 
 the people of Provence, and was the first 
 Bishop of Marseilles, whilst Martha lived 
 with him and managed his house, as she 
 had done long before at Bethany. But 
 Mary found a cave in a rock called Rocher- 
 la-Baume, and there she took up her 
 abode and lived as a hermit, doing penance 
 for the sins of her youth. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 ZACHEUS. FRIENDS AT JERUSALEM 
 
 T I1HE Jews often accused the King of 
 -*- associating with " Publicans and 
 Sinners " ; and He told them that He had 
 not come to call the just, but sinners, to 
 repentance. One of these Publicans, or 
 tax-gatherers, who was called by Our 
 Lord, was named Zacheus, and he was the 
 chief, or overseer, of them all. 
 
 Zacheus lived at Jericho, and one day, 
 hearing that the Messias was about to 
 pass, he ran on before and climbed up 
 into a tree (for he was a little man), in 
 order to see Him. And when Jesus came 
 to the place He looked up and said: 
 
 157 
 
158 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 "Zacheus, make haste and come down, 
 for to-day I must abide in thy house." 
 And he made haste and came down, 
 and received Him with joy. The Jews 
 were displeased, but Zacheus said to the 
 King : " Behold, Lord, the half of my goods 
 I give to the poor ; and if I have wronged 
 any man of anything I restore him four- 
 fold." Jesus said to him: "This day is 
 salvation come to this house ; because he 
 also is a son of Abraham. For the Son 
 of man came to seek and to save that which 
 was lost." 
 
 The evangelists say no more about 
 Zacheus; but according to tradition he 
 crossed the Mediterranean with Lazarus 
 and the two Marys, and finished his life 
 in the south of France, where he is still 
 honored under the name of St. Amadour. 
 
 Another friend of the King's of whom 
 
ZACHEUS 159 
 
 we read only once in the Gospel is St. 
 Joseph of Arimathea, "A noble counsellor, 
 a good and just man, who was also himself 
 looking for the Kingdom of God, and was 
 a disciple of Jesus, but in private for fear 
 of the Jews." After Our Lord's death: 
 "He went in boldly to Pilate, and begged 
 the body of Jesus. " "And (Pilate) gave 
 the body to Joseph." "And Nicodemus 
 also came, he who at first came to Jesus 
 by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and 
 aloes, about a hundred pounds. " "Joseph 
 of Arimathea laid the body of the Lord 
 in his own new sepulcher," "wherein no 
 man had as yet been laid." "And he 
 rolled a great stone to the door of the 
 sepulcher and went his way." 
 
 Joseph of Arimathea must have been 
 among the disciples after the Resur- 
 rection and have been present in the 
 
160 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 upper chamber on the Day of Pentecost. 
 He is believed to have carried the Gospel 
 into Britain, and to have built the first 
 church there, at Glastonbury. 
 
 Among the women of Jerusalem Our 
 Lord had many faithful friends, besides 
 those who had "followed Him from Gali- 
 lee." One of these was the wife of Pilate 
 himself, of whom we read that: "As he 
 (Pilate) was sitting on the Judgment seat, 
 his wife sent to him saying: Have thou 
 nothing to do with that just' Man. For 
 I have suffered many things this day 
 in a dream because of Him." Her name 
 is said to have been Claudia Procula ; and 
 tradition declares that she became a Chris- 
 tian after the death of Our Lord. 
 
 On the sorrowful Way of the Cross 
 "There followed Him a great multitude 
 of people and of women, who wailed and 
 
ZACHEUS 161 
 
 lamented Him. But Jesus turning, said 
 to them: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep 
 not over Me, but weep for yourselves, and 
 for your children. " 
 
 The King thought more of their sorrow 
 than of His own; and He knew that a 
 time was coming when Jerusalem would 
 be besieged by the Romans, and the 
 children of those very women would die 
 miserably of starvation, or be crucified 
 upon the city walls. Their fathers had 
 invoked upon them the vengeance of 
 God when they cried : "His Blood be upon 
 us and upon our children;" and how they 
 must suffer He knew only too well. 
 
 When you are making the Stations of 
 the Cross you see that the sixth Station 
 represents a woman offering a linen cloth 
 to Our Lord, and underneath you read the 
 words: " Veronica wipes the face of Jesus 
 
162 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 with a cloth. " The name Veronica is 
 made up of two Greek words which signify 
 "Holy Image"; and the tradition is that 
 this friend of the King, seeing His sacred 
 face covered and His eyes blinded with 
 the precious blood, was moved with pity 
 and indignation. She came out of her 
 house holding a cloth, or veil, of fine 
 linen, and with that she tenderly and 
 reverently wiped the face of Our Lord. 
 On looking at the cloth afterwards Ve- 
 ronica found the portrait of that blessed 
 Countenance imprinted on it — all dis- 
 figured as it was with bruises and blood. 
 The name of the woman was — it is said — 
 Seraphia; but from that time she was 
 known as Veronica, because she possessed 
 upon a linen cloth the true image of the 
 Holy Face. 
 
 And now I have told you, not all there 
 
ZACHEUS 163 
 
 is, but all that we have time and space to 
 tell now, of at least some of the friends 
 who knew and loved the King. There 
 were many more ; many whose names we 
 do not know, as the seventy-two disciples 
 who were sent out "two and two" to 
 preach the word, and who returned to 
 their Master rejoicing because they could 
 heal diseases and cast out devils in His 
 name. One hundred and twenty were in 
 the upper chamber on the Day of Pente- 
 cost ; and there must have been many more 
 scattered up and down throughout Judea, 
 Samaria, and Galilee. And there were the 
 little ones whom He had forbidden the 
 Apostles to drive away from Him, saying : 
 "Suffer the children to come unto Me, 
 for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven." 
 
 Would you not like to meet them all 
 some day ? 
 
164 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 The grace of God is never wanting to 
 them of good will; so it lies with our- 
 selves, Children, with you and me — 
 with all of us — to decide whether or not 
 we shall claim fellowship with those 
 blessed ones. Whether or not we shall 
 win and keep the right to say to them one 
 day: "We have known and loved you 
 for the sake of Jesus and His Blessed 
 Mother. Welcome us now into His realm 
 of glory, for we, too, are the friends of the 
 King." 
 
AN AFTERWORD 
 
 TT seems to be the custom now-a-days to 
 -■- write what is called "A Foreword/' in 
 books for the grown-ups, by way of intro- 
 duction to the subject about which they 
 are to read. We will follow a fashion of 
 our own, Children, and finish our book 
 with an "Afterword," in order to introduce 
 to you some friends of the King who loved 
 Him dearly, and whom He loved, al- 
 though He did not see fit to call them to 
 Him during His life on earth, as He called 
 St. Peter and the eleven. 
 
 You know that even as early as the 
 first Whitsunday the number of the 
 disciples was greatly increased, so that 
 
 165 
 
166 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 the Apostles were kept busily employed 
 in receiving and instructing the new con- 
 verts. Then complaints were made that 
 the wants of the poor were not properly 
 attended to, and "The Twelve" chose 
 " Seven men of good reputation, full of 
 the Holy Ghost and of wisdom " who were 
 to be their assistants in the distribution of 
 alms, and these were the first deacons. 
 
 One of them, a young man named 
 Stephen, "full of grace and fortitude, did 
 great wonders and signs among the 
 people," and moreover when some of the 
 foreign Jews who were in Jerusalem, dis- 
 puted with him "They were not able to 
 resist the wisdom and spirit that spoke. " 
 
 "Then these men became angry, and 
 accused Stephen before the Chief Priests 
 of having spoken words of blasphemy 
 against Moses, and against God." 
 
AN AFTERWORD 167 
 
 Stephen was brought before the Great 
 Council, where he proved clearly enough 
 that he loved and venerated both Moses 
 and the Law; but he accused the Chief 
 Priests and Scribes of persecuting and 
 crucifying the Messias, just as their fathers 
 had persecuted the Prophets who fore- 
 told His coming, and they were so enraged 
 that they condemned the holy deacon to 
 be stoned to death. "But he, being full 
 of the Holy Ghost, looking up steadfastly 
 to heaven, saw the glory of God, and Jesus 
 standing on the right hand of God." 
 
 They seized him then, and casting him 
 outside of the city, stoned him, and they 
 "Laid down their garments at the feet 
 of a young man named Saul." 
 
 This young man was a Pharisee, a 
 native of the City of Tarsus in Cilicia, 
 who had been brought up at Jerusalem 
 
168 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 by a learned doctor named Gamaliel. He 
 may have seen the King, but he never 
 owned Him to be anything better than 
 an impostor, and he hated and persecuted 
 every one who honored the name of 
 Christ. After the death of Stephen he 
 obtained, letters from the High-Priest 
 empowering him to search the Synagogues 
 of the large city called Damascus for any 
 Christians who might be there, and to bring 
 those whom he should find " Bound to 
 Jerusalem." 
 
 But the King loved Saul, and as the 
 persecutor drew nigh to Damascus, "A 
 light from heaven shined round about him 
 and falling on the ground he heard a voice 
 saying to him: Saul, Saul, why perse- 
 cutest thou me?" Saul said: "Who art 
 Thou, Lord? and He: I am Jesus whom 
 thou persecutest." Saul trembled and 
 
AN AFTERWORD 169 
 
 cried: "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to 
 do ?" Then the Lord told him to go into 
 the city and that there he should learn 
 what he was to do. 
 
 Saul was blind when he arose, and his 
 men led him by the hand to Damascus, 
 where he remained without seeing for 
 three days. A Christian named Ananias 
 who dwelt in the city was sent by the 
 King in a vision to restore his sight ; " And 
 rising up he was baptized." The Jews 
 of Damascus were furious when they heard 
 that Saul, the persecutor, had himself 
 become a follower of Christ : they tried to 
 take his life, but the disciples " conveyed 
 him away by the wall, letting him down 
 in a basket.' 7 
 
 At Jerusalem he was introduced to the 
 Apostles by a disciple named Barnabas, 
 but again the Jews sought to kill him; 
 
170 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 and at last he had to leave the Holy City 
 and take refuge in Tarsus among his 
 friends. He continued to preach the 
 faith in Cilicia and Arabia during several 
 years, and in a.d. 43, about ten years 
 after the death of Our Lord, was sent for 
 to join the Apostles at Antioch, then the 
 capital of the East, and the seat of the 
 See of St. Peter. Here, by special com- 
 mand of the Holy Ghost, Saul and Bar- 
 nabas were set apart for the office of 
 preaching, and from that time Saul was 
 considered one of the Apostles. 
 
 In a.d. 44, Saul went with Barnabas 
 to the island of Cyprus where they made 
 many conversions ; among others that of 
 Sergius Paulus, the Roman Governor of 
 the island, in whose honor the Apostle 
 changed his name from Saul to Paul. A 
 disciple named John Mark whose mother 
 
AN AFTERWORD 171 
 
 had a house at Jerusalem whither St. 
 Peter had gone after his return from 
 prison, traveled with Saul and Barnabas, 
 assisting them in their work. After a 
 while John Mark grew tired of the hard 
 life, and the constant journeyings, and 
 went back to Jerusalem; but the others 
 visited nearly all the great cities of Asia 
 Minor, preaching and working miracles 
 wherever they went. At Lystra St. Paul 
 cured a man who had been lame from his 
 birth, and the people took him and 
 Barnabas for gods. The priests brought 
 oxen to offer in sacrifice, but the Apostles 
 convinced them that they were men 
 working by the power of God. The 
 people of Lystra were a lightminded folk. 
 Some Jews came to the city from Antioch 
 and Iconium "and persuading the multi- 
 tude, and stoning Paul, drew him out of 
 
172 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 the city thinking him to be dead." But 
 Paul had yet much to do and to suffer for 
 the King. "He rose up and entered into 
 the city, and the next day he departed 
 with Barnabas for Derbe." 
 
 Some time after this there arose a dis- 
 pute about the necessity for circumcision, 
 for the Jewish converts could never quite 
 make up their minds to set aside the cere- 
 monies of the Old Law. Paul and Bar- 
 nabas went to Jerusalem to consult with 
 St. Peter and the others on the subject, 
 and were present at the first General 
 Council, wherein it was decided that the 
 ancient ceremonies were no longer of obli- 
 gation. 
 
 Paul and Barnabas carried the news 
 of this decision to Antioch, and afterwards 
 they visited again all the cities wherein 
 they had preached, in order to see the new 
 
AN AFTERWORD 173 
 
 converts, and confirm them in the faith. 
 Barnabas wished to take John Mark, but 
 St. Paul had not forgotten the former 
 weakness of poor John, so he said "no." 
 Then the friends agreed to separate. 
 Barnabas sailed for the island of Cyprus 
 with John Mark; and Paul, taking a 
 disciple named Silas instead of his old 
 friend and companion, went back through 
 Derbe, and Lystra, and Iconium. 
 
 Later on John Mark became the dis- 
 ciple and companion of St. Peter, at whose 
 dictation he is believed to have written his 
 Gospel, and by whom he was consecrated 
 Bishop of Alexandria. He lived to be 
 very old, and at last laid down his life for 
 the faith. We are glad to know that, 
 thanks to the kindness of Barnabas and 
 St. Peter, John Mark remained the friend 
 of the King to the end. 
 
174 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 When St. Paul reached the city of 
 Troas he had a vision wherein a man of 
 Macedonia in Greece besought him to 
 "Pass over into Macedonia and help us." 
 At Troas, too, Paul met Luke, " The 
 beloved Physician," who became a Chris- 
 tian and never left his master again. St. 
 Luke wrote his Gospel in Greek for the 
 instruction of the Gentile converts, and 
 also the book which is called "The Acts 
 of the Apostles," although it is really a 
 history of the establishment of the Church 
 in Syria. 
 
 St. Luke went with St. Paul into Mace- 
 donia, and at Thyatira a woman named 
 Lydia was baptized with her household; 
 and a girl who was possessed by an evil 
 spirit followed Paul and his companions 
 crying out: "These men are the servants 
 of the most high God, who preach unto you 
 
AN AFTERWORD 175 
 
 the way of salvation/' St. Paul com- 
 manded the spirit to go out of the girl, 
 and her masters, finding that she could 
 no longer earn money by her fortune- 
 telling, accused him before the magis- 
 trates of disturbing the city. 
 
 The Apostle was scourged and thrown 
 into prison, but a great earthquake in the 
 night threw open the prison doors and 
 broke the chains of the Christian prisoners 
 who however did not attempt to escape. 
 The gaoler thought they were gone and 
 was about to kill himself, when St. Paul 
 said: "Do thyself no harm, for we are all 
 here." The man was baptized with his 
 whole house and in the morning the pris- 
 oners were set free by the magistrates. 
 
 St. Paul with his companions preached 
 in many of the Greek provinces and then 
 returned to Asia; but to tell you of all 
 
176 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 their travels would take too long. After 
 many years of labor and preaching he 
 returned at last to Jerusalem, where he 
 was seized by the Jews in the Temple and 
 would have been slain had not a Roman 
 tribune interfered. He had Paul taken 
 into the Castle of Antonia and ordered him 
 to be scourged. 
 
 In those days certain persons who were 
 not born in Rome enjoyed the privileges 
 of Roman citizens, just as many foreigners 
 can, if they will, become naturalized 
 Americans now. It happened that St. 
 Paul was one of those persons, and he 
 reminded the officer that a Roman citizen 
 might not be scourged. Shortly after 
 he declared that, being a Roman citizen, 
 he had a right to be tried in Rome, and 
 at the court of Caesar himself. This was 
 true, and they had to get ready a ship and 
 
AN AFTERWORD 177 
 
 a party of soldiers to take the Apostle 
 and his companions across the Medi- 
 terranean even to Rome, where St. Peter 
 already was. 
 
 After some wonderful adventures they 
 reached the Eternal City and the Christians 
 were thrown into prison although the 
 imprisonment -was a very light one, for 
 St. Paul was allowed to live in his own 
 house under guard, and to go out whenever 
 he pleased. He was set free and returned 
 to the East, at the end of two or three 
 years. In a.d. 64, the Apostle again 
 visited Rome and made many converts 
 even in the household of the Emperor 
 Nero. For this he was thrown with St. 
 Peter into a dungeon called the Mamertine, 
 and eight months later the two Apostles 
 suffered martyrdom on the same day. St. 
 Peter was fastened to a cross with his head 
 
178 THE FRIENDS OF JESUS 
 
 downwards; St. Paul, being a Roman 
 citizen, was beheaded. They were both 
 buried in Rome and their feast is kept on 
 the twenty-ninth of June. 
 
 St. Luke remained with his beloved mas- 
 ter until his martyrdom. He afterwards 
 preached the faith in many countries, and 
 at last suffered martyrdom in Greece. 
 He was a painter as well as a physician 
 and several pictures of the Blessed Mother 
 still exist which are said to have been his 
 work. One of these is venerated in the 
 Church of St. Mary Major at Rome. 
 
 St. Paul during his imprisonment at 
 Rome wrote long letters to the converts 
 in other places and between his two 
 visits he wrote to the faithful in Rome. 
 Portions of these epistles are read every 
 day in the Mass. 
 
 PRINTED BY BENZIGER BROTHERS. NEW YORK. 
 
Standard Catholic Books 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 BENZIGER BROTHERS, 
 
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