where, with all we love on earth and in heaven, we hope to pass our eternity. For each of us, soon "time shall be no longer"; meanwhile "Sursum Corda" — Mater Mea.
17.— What Is It that Secures happiness in a home
Before everything religion. Let all love well our good God; let all observe the commandments of God and the Church; let all say their prayers morning and night, let all put their trust in divine Providence. In the next place, union; let the members of the household be affectionate toward one another, having only one heart and one soul, not saying or doing anything that can pain any one of them. Then again, the spirit of sacrifice; we must be ready to do without something in order to make another member of the family, en joy it, we must give up our own personal tastes to conform to the tastes of others. Finally, pliancy of character; not to be hard to deal with, touchy, sour, proud; not to be obstinately rooted in one's ideas, not to grow impatient about mere nothings, but to have a large mind and a generous heart. The home of a family whose members possess these qualities is a paradise on earth.
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There are other things than merely food and clothing, which make up a good home. Love and kindness are essential to a happy home; — not the mistaken love and the foolish kindness which give way to every selfish whim of childhood, but the patient, far-seeing virtues that look beyond the present to the child's future life here and hereafter.
