Jesus Christ built His throne upon the ruins of the world. Before the fruits of grace can be gathered the flowers of prosperity must fall. The present moment's grace may be that which will decide our eternity.--_Nepveu._ The Heart of Mary is a garden of delights, in which we can gather the most precious fruits. This most beautiful garden is closed against the impure spirit; it is full of Divine perfumes, cultivated by a Heavenly Hand, and adorned with the most charming flowers of virtue. Of these there are three which particularly attract our admiration, and fill the house of God with the sweetest fragrance--they are the violet of humility, the lily of chastity, and the rose of charity.--_St. Bernard._ The less you seek after praise and your own interests, the more do you deserve to be praised and rewarded by God. EXAMPLE. _Origin of the Rosary._ The Rosary of the B. V. M. in its present form was instituted by St. Dominic. But as early as the year 1094 Peter the Hermit had invented a kind of rosary of beads of wood, upon which the Crusaders, who were generally uneducated men, recited a certain number of _Paters_ and _Aves_, varied according to the solemnity of the feasts. Historians also relate that even before that time pious persons were in the habit of reciting a series of _Paters_ and _Aves_ upon knotted cords. In the East it was the custom to present crowns of roses to persons of distinction. St. Gregory Nazianzen, moved by ardent piety towards the Mother of Our Redeemer, offered to her, instead of a material crown of roses, a spiritual crown of prayers. It consisted of a long string of the highest praises and most glorious titles and excellent prerogatives of Mary. St. Bridget, Patroness of Ireland, who lived in the fifth century, developed this pious idea of St. Gregory by substituting for those prayers which were unknown to the people the more popular and more beautiful prayers of the _Credo_, the _Pater_, and the _Ave Maria_. And to regulate the number of prayers to be recited, the Saint adopted the method of the anchorets of threading beads of stone or of wood together in the form of a crown or chaplet. The word 'Rosary' signifies a crown of roses, and the prayers, the expression of the heart's affections, of which it is composed, are spiritual roses with which we adorn the head of our dear Blessed Mother. It is said that a holy solitary was watching one day a poor old woman reciting her rosary with great devotion, when he observed an Angel by her side holding a golden thread, upon which he strung a rose for every _Ave_, and a lily for every _Pater_; afterwards he placed this garland in the form of a crown upon the head of the old woman, and disappeared, leaving behind him a sweet fragrance of roses. This fragrance was often perceived in former days in churches, after the recital of the Rosary.